Damsel in dis Dress wrote:
> I challenge every single person who has participated in Those Threads
> to post one recipe, to try to get the newsgroup at least partially
> back on track.

Pea Soup (aka Ground Pork and Peas)

A typical ABC (american-born-chinese) family recipe. No surprises, but
care with the details will give you a "comfort food" rewarding dish.
-aem

Ingredients

1 lb. ground pork
2 TB garlic, chopped
2 TB ginger, chopped
4 scallions
11 medium-size dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water until soft
1 small can water chestnuts or 11 fresh, peeled and sliced
1 cup frozen peas (regular size work better than petite)
soy sauce
rice wine or dry sherry or dry vermouth
fresh ground black pepper
sesame oil
1 TB cornstarch mixed with 1 TB cold water

Mise en place

1. Chop garlic and ginger. Set half of it aside.
2. Mix pork with remaining garlic and ginger and 1 TB each soy sauce
and wine. Set aside.
3. Slice mushrooms, squeeze excess water from them. Set aside.
Reserve soaking water.
4. Drain, rinse and drain water chestnuts. Set aside.
5. Microwave frozen peas for 2 minutes. Set aside.
6. Slice scallions including as much green as still crisp. Set aside.
7. Mix cornstarch slurry. Set aside.

Process

1. Heat a wok or other heavy pan over high heat. Add 1 or 2 TB peanut
oil. When the oil begins to produce wisps of smoke, add the reserved
garlic and ginger, then the pork and the mushrooms and stirfry. Add a
pinch of salt and a generous number of grinds of black pepper. The pan
must stay very hot to fry, not steam, the meat.

2. When the pork has all browned (2 or 3 minutes) add the peas.
Season with salt and pepper (and an optional pinch of sugar), then stir
in. Keep the heat high.

3. Stir in the water chestnuts and scallions. Add the reserved
mushroom water (but not the debris that settled to the bottom). Let it
come to a boil. If there is less than at least 1 cup of liquid add
more water or chicken broth. You want a soupy consistency at this
point.

4. Make a well in center of wok and add 1/4 tsp sesame oil and the
cornstarch slurry. Stir until it begins to thicken and glaze, then
give it all another stir, lower heat to simmer for a couple of minutes,
just until peas are fully cooked.

5. Serve over steamed white rice.
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Notes: 1. For this recipe, the fattier pork you can find, the
better. If you grind your own, use pork butt or shoulder and extra
fat.
2. Canned water chestnuts are okay. Drain and rinse
them well in fresh cold water, then drain again. Fresh water chestnuts
are tedious to peel and slice but very much worth the effort. If you
are lucky enough to see them at an Asian market, grab about eleven of
them for this dish.
3. A few snowpeas, sliced in half diagonally if large,
make a nice garnish. If using, fry them before step 1 for 20 - 30
seconds, then remove from wok.