Panko

Mushroom & Pork Meatballs with Broccolini Rice

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Made this last night for dinner.  I only had thinly sliced Brussel Sprouts, so used them in place of the diced broccolini.  It was a wonderful dinner.

How to Make Mushroom and Pork Meatballs with Broccolini Rice
Instead of roasting a whole pork tenderloin or slicing and searing, try giving it a coarse chop in the food processor for incredibly rich and tender meatballs. Because the pork is so lean, the meatballs cook in just 8 minutes.
Prep Time . 35 Mins . Total Time . 35 Mins
Serves 4 (serving size: about 6 meatballs, 1/4 cup sauce, and 1 cup Broccolini mixture)
EMILY NABORS HALL

Instead of roasting a whole pork tenderloin or slicing and searing, try giving it a coarse chop in the food processor for incredibly rich and tender meatballs. Because the pork is so lean, the meatballs cook in just 8 minutes. Broccolini, a cousin of broccoli, have long stalks and small buds; they’ll add plenty of texture to the rice mixture once sautéed and chopped. Sriracha can be found in any grocery store and is worth keeping in your pantry. The chile kick and vinegar tang can perk up tacos, noodle soups, and stir-fries.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups shiitake mushroom caps (about 4 oz.)
  • 10 ounces pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2-in. pieces
  • 6 tablespoons whole-wheat panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
  • 1 bunch Broccolini, finely chopped
  • 1 cup unsalted chicken stock, divided
  • 2 tablespoons rice or apple cider vinegar, divided
  • 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 2 (8.8-oz.) pkg. precooked brown rice (such as Uncle Ben’s)

How to Make It

Step 1

Place mushrooms and pork in a food processor; pulse 15 to 20 times or until finely chopped. Place pork mixture in a bowl with panko, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and egg; stir to combine. Divide and shape pork mixture into 24 meatballs (about 1 tablespoon each).

Step 2

Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add Broccolini; cook 2 minutes. Place sautéed Broccolini in a bowl; set aside.

Step 3

Add remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil to pan. Add meatballs; cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides.

Step 4

Combine 3/4 cup chicken stock, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, and Sriracha in a bowl; add to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes or until meatballs are done. Combine remaining 1/4 cup stock and cornstarch in a bowl; stir into meatball mixture. Cook 1 minute or until sauce is thickened.

Step 5

Heat rice according to package directions. Stir rice, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar into sautéed Broccolini. Serve with meatball mixture.  I put 1.5 cups of brown rice in 2.5 cups of water in an 8 x 8 inch glass dish and cooked in the oven for an hour.  Think I need a new rice cooker. 

Mushroom & Pork Meatballs with Broccolini Rice

Panko

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For years we all ground our own breadcrumbs and I often still do for some dishes, but when I discover Panko I switched in most cases, as it is lighter and more crunchy.

In the late ’90s, chefs started talking about the glories of a Japanese breadcrumb called Panko. This light and airy bread version of breadcrumbs was only available in Asian markets and some higher-end luxury gourmet grocery stores. They were pale and large compared to traditional American crumbs, and they fried and toasted up in a more crunchy manner. People took notice and home cooks begin experimenting with this new-to-them style of crumb. By the early 2000’s Panko was readily available in the US.

If they are just breadcrumbs, why are they so different looking and why do they cook up so uniquely? And can I make my own the way I do with regular breadcrumbs?

Breadcrumbs while simple to make just are not the same and sadly you cannot make panko at home because the bread isn’t baked, but cooked on a metal plate with electrical currents.

Audrey Wilson writing for the Hawaii Tribune Herald wrote that “Panko, which means “bread child” in Japanese, has a very interesting food history. When we think of a Japanese main staple, we immediately think of rice. Not only is it eaten at most meals, but their favorite drink, sake, is made from rice. Their vinegar for sushi is made from rice.

So how did bread come into the food picture in Japan?

Portuguese traders and missionaries came to Japan around the 15th to 17th centuries and brought with them their “pao duce,” or bread, and their sponge cake, “bolo de Castelo.” The very popular Japanese “kasutera,” or castella cake, is based on the Portuguese sponge cake and their bread, or “pan,” is soft and billowy in the inside is like the Portuguese pao duce.

 

It is believed that it was the Portuguese who introduced frying to the Japanese as there is no record of oil, or “abura,” prior to the Portuguese landing in Japan. So when you eat a shrimp tempura, thank a Portuguese for this wonderful entrée.

What is fascinating to me is the story of the creation of the breading for tonkatsu, panko, which became a household word, however, was undocumented.

The invention of panko happened during World War II. While the Japanese were at war with the Russians, they wanted to eat bread out in the battlefields. Unable to bake the bread, the Japanese used their tanks’ batteries to quickly “bake” their bread. They discovered that the bread was extremely light and airy, with very small air pockets.

This method of using electric current to bake bread with no brown crusts is how panko is made today at Upper Crust Enterprises.

Masashi Kawaguchi started Mrs. Friday panko-crusted shrimp fish sold to restaurants and in the frozen section, food service, cash and carry outlets. He brought the panko from Japan, but the best flour comes from the United States, Canada, and Australia. Mr. Kawaguchi thought this did not make good business sense to ship the flour from America to Japan, then back to the United States as panko, so sent his son Gary to Japan to learn how to make panko.

Mr. Kawaguchi opened two plants 35 years ago and the present location in Little Tokyo is now run by Gary Kawaguchi. One of the cleanest, most monitored factories we have seen, it is an impressive operation. We had to remove all jewelry, wear a hairnet, (Jim had a beard net) clean and wash our hands twice before we began our tour around the panko factory.

The bread dough is carefully mixed, kneaded, and risen twice, just as you would if baking bread at home. The bread goes through a specially made “oven” for 1 1/2 hours where each huge loaf of bread is electrocuted. When the bread comes out, the loaves are whitish slabs of “bread” that looks and jiggles like tofu. Tom tore off a piece of bread for us to taste.

The bread was soft and billowy and tastes like bread should.

These loaves are air-dried on large racks overnight. The next day, a special food processor cuts these loaves into long crumbs. Unlike their competitors, Upper Crust has healthy looking panko flakes, not tiny crumbs.

By weight, their panko gives 26 percent better yield per pound because of the larger, slivery crumbs with an airy texture.

Asked whether gluten-free panko would be a future product and he said the gluten in wheat flour was necessary to get the texture and airy panko crumbs. Tom suggested using crushed rice crispies, corn flakes or dehydrated potato flakes for coating when cooking for someone with gluten intolerance.

 

Today, producers make the crustless loaves, let them rest for a day or so, then put them through a sort of mill or grinder with screens to make the bread shards. They then bake the shards at high heat to remove any remaining moisture, giving them that signature texture.

The Japanese first learned to make bread from the Europeans, and panko is derived from pan from the Portuguese and -ko, a Japanese suffix indicating “flour“, “crumb”, or “powder” (as in komeko, “rice powder”, sobako, “buckwheat flour”, and komugiko, “wheat flour”).
Panko