Jack Ate The Beanstalk Episodes

EPISODE 5: Frog Legs HI, Everyone! Here is the 5t...

Jack — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 07:59:00 +0000

EPISODE 5: Frog Legs

HI, Everyone! Here is the 5th podcast of Jack Ate the Beanstalk.

I'm sorry it took awhile and I'm sorry but I caught a cold so I'm stuffed up on the podcast.

This week I tried Frog Legs. People think of French food when they hear frog legs but I found out that the French people don't eat frog legs that much. Asian cultures also eat frog legs, but in America, frog legs are eaten in Cajun culture down in Louisiana.

There are different ways to prepare it, but most of the time it's fried. That's how I ate it this time.

By the way, I got the frog legs at an asian market.

I liked them. They did taste like chicken but they also tasted like fish.

Don't forget to download my podcasts on my website and on iTunes.

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Puzzler Question: "What do some people in the Caribbean call frog legs?"

Answer: Mountain Chicken. They call it that because these frogs are big and taste like chicken and they live in the mountain regions of some of the islands. They are so popular that this type of frog is now endangered.
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Recipes

Frog legs (about 1 lb.)

Ingredients
Bread crumbs or Ritz crackers, crushed finely
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
Eggs
Butter
Olive Oil
Milk

Preparation
1. Soak frog legs in milk for at least an hour. This takes away the strong taste from the meat.
2. Batter the legs by dipping in an egg wash and then coating with breadcrumbs, mixed with salt and pepper.
3. Saute or deep fry in butter and olive oil and garlic until golden brown on both sides.
4. Remove the legs and let cool on a rack.

Enjoy!

EPISODE 2: Dinuguan (Chocolate Meat) HI, Everyone...

Jack — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 05:37:00 +0000

EPISODE 2: Dinuguan (Chocolate Meat)

HI, Everyone! This is Jack and here is the second podcast of Jack Ate the Beanstalk.

This one is on Dinuguan. Dinuguan is filipino dish. It is a simple stew, made with pork. It's kind of like adobo, but it adds pig's blood. Dinuguan is like a lot of filipino food. It uses vinegar and garlic. The blood makes Dinuguan very dark and thick. It looks almost black. It also makes the stew kind of gritty.

My special guest for this podcast is my great Uncle Harvey, who is a great cook. He has a lot of filipino recipes and cooks a lot for our very big family. Maybe I'll end up loving it. What do you think? I can tell you that a lot of people in my family DO NOT like it, but a lot of people also LOVE it. Don't forget to download my podcasts on my website and on iTunes.

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Puzzler Question: "What is the name of the 'bloody' breakfast sausage eaten in England?"

Answer: Blood Pudding
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Recipes

Uncle Harvey's Dinuguan

2 lbs. pork butt
6-8 cloves of garlic
1 round onion
1 tomato
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup patis (fish sauce)
1/4 cup vinegar, approx.
1 pint blood

Finely chop/crush the garlic, onion and tomato in a food processor.
Remove fat from the pork butt and cube the meat into 1/2 inch squares.
Brown the meat on high heat for about 5 min.
Combine ingredients in pot and saute.
Add soy sauce and patis and part of the vinegar. Save the rest of vinegar if needed at end, as the blood also has vinegar mixed in it.
Add blood.
Simmer on medium low heat.

Serve over rice.

EPISODE 3: 1000 Year Old Egg HI, Everyone! This i...

Jack — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 09:43:00 +0000

EPISODE 3: 1000 Year Old Egg

HI, Everyone! This is Jack and here is the third podcast of Jack Ate the Beanstalk.

This is an interesting podcast! Ever heard of Green Eggs and Ham? I don't think this was what Dr. Seuss was talking about.

I have met a lot of people who love 1000 year old eggs (or century eggs). After trying it, I don't think it's so bad. I don't think I will eat it again. It was fun trying to find it in Chinatown. 1000 year old eggs are preserved in dirt or clay for days or months but not for 1000 years. The smell is really strong. My dad kept gagging during the filming.

Don't forget to download my podcasts on my website and on iTunes.

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Puzzler Question: "What animals preserve their food in a way just like the 1000 year old egg?"

Answer: Dogs! (and Wolves) Actually, any animals that bury their food. Dogs bury their food to hide it from other animals but also to preserve it so they have food for later. Burying food in dirt, clay, or sand is one of the oldest ways of preserving. Packing food tightly in dirt keeps oxygen off of the food and stops bacteria growth and rot.
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Recipes

1000 Year Old Egg & Tofu

1 block of silken tofu, sliced into bite-sized slabs

place on top of the tofu:
1 thousand-year-old egg, peeled and sliced into cubes

mix and then pour on top of the whole thing:

a few dashes of soy sauce
a little drizzle of sesame oil
a handful of thinly chopped scallions
a small amount of chopped garlic (optional)

Enjoy!

EPISODE 4: Chicken Feet HI, Everyone! This is Jac...

Jack — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 07:36:00 +0000

EPISODE 4: Chicken Feet

HI, Everyone! This is Jack and here is the fourth podcast of Jack Ate the Beanstalk.

This week I am trying chicken feet. That's what I said. Chicken Feet. It is considered a delicacy in Asia. It is also eaten in Jewish culture. But most people think it's not a good thing to eat. I think most people think it's dirty.

Mostly people eat it in soups. The little bits of meat and cartilage fall off the bones and people like to suck the meat or cartilage from the toes. You can find chicken feet at most dim sum restaurants, where they deep fry it and steam it with black bean sauce.

It can be found in most asian markets. The cost per pound is sometimes more than the cost per pound for regular chicken meat. It looks gross in the pile at the store. They look like alien hands. Great. Sounds good.

I ended up not liking them. We cooked them Thai style with a little bit of chile sauce. I didn't like it because it didn't have much meat and seemed fatty and kinda greasy.

Thank you to my Aunty Shan for recommending chicken feet for this podcast. Thanks.

Don't forget to download my podcasts on my website and on iTunes.

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Puzzler Question: "What other bird's feet is eaten in Asia?"

Answer: Duck
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Recipes

Pork or chicken thigh can be used instead of feet.

Ingredients
150 gms Chicken Feet
350 ml Water
2 Tablspoons Salt
1 Teaspoon White Pepper
100 gms Green Chinese Cabbage

Ingredients for Red Sauce
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
2 Tablespoons Red Wine
2 Tablespoons Chilli Sauce
2 Tablespoons Ketchup
1 Tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Oil
4 Garlic Cloves

Preparation
1. Into a saucepan, put the water, salt and white pepper and bring to the boil.
2. Add the chicken feet, boil for 30 minutes then remove from the water, keeping the water in the pan.
3. Clean the chinese cabbage and soak in the hot water the chicken feet were cooked in for 2 minutes (to soften and partly cook them). Remove and place on a plate.
4. Remove the bones of the chicken feet so that only the meat and skin remain.
5. To make the red sauce, put oil into a frying pan, chop the garlic and fry for 20 seconds to release the smell.
6. Add all the other red-sauce ingredients, and stir over the heat for 1 minute.
7. To serve, pour the red sauce over the chicken feet and vegetables.

Serve With Sticky Rice.

Enjoy!

EPISODE 1: JackFruit Jack Ate the Beanstalk is He...

Jack — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 06:35:00 +0000

EPISODE 1: JackFruit

Jack Ate the Beanstalk is Here!

Hi, and welcome to JackAtetheBeanstalk.com. My name is Jack and I go to Island Pacific Academy in Kapolei, Hawaii.

This started out as a school project. I decided to create a podcast and website about foods that I wouldn't normally eat. Or try. I wanted to find out where the foods that most people would avoid come from, how they're prepared, and why people eat it, and sometimes LOVE to eat it. My first podcast is about the Jackfruit. I brought a jackfruit home from the farmers market on Sunday. It was big and partially yellow. We also bought canned jackfuit as well. So I brought that home and I tried it. It was hard to open because the skin was so hard. When we opened it the sap ozed out all over the table. The sap was so sticky and gooey. It's like gum and it's really hard to get out. We had to scrub extra hard on the table because the jackfruit sap got stuck on the table. We tried the taste of the seeds and the meat. It really had no taste to it. I think the one we got wasn't ripe. I also tried the canned jackfruit. I didn't really get the real taste of the jackfruit because it was kept in a can of syrup. In my opinion, it wasn't too good. I don't really have a taste for jackfruit.

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Puzzler Question: "What gum is said to be based on the flavor of the JackFruit?"

Answer: Wrigley's JuicyFruit
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Recipes

Kathal Pualo (Raw Jackfruit Pulao)
Servings:1

Ingredients:
2 cup Long grain rice washed and soaked 30 minutes
1 cup Raw jackfruit segments deseeded & quartered
1/2 cup Cabbage shredded coarsely
1 x Onion cut in thin strips
5 x Green chillies finely chopped
1 tsp Ginger and garlic paste
1 tbl Coriander
1 sprg spring onion finely chopped
1/2 cup Curds
2 tbl Coconut scraped
2 tsp Lemon juice
1/2 tsp Sugar
Salt to taste
2 tbl Milk
3 tbl Oil

Method:
Boil rice in salted water, till done, but each grain is separate.
Drain, spread in a plate, keep aside to cool.
Heat oil in a heavy saucepan or earthen handi.
Add jackfruit, fry till light golden, drain.
Keep 2-3 pieces for garnish, sprinkle on rice.
To same oil, add onions, stir fry till dark brown, drain.
Sprinkle on rice, keeping 1 tablespoon for garnish.
Also keep aside 1 tablespoon coconut for garnish.
To same oil, add cabbage, chillies,ginger, garlic, stir fry for 3-4 minutes.
Add curds, stircook till whiteness is gone.
Add spring onions, lemon, sugar, salt, stir for a minute.
Add coconut and mix.
Pour over rice. Mix gently till well blended.
Transfer to handi or casserole.
Srpinkle 2 tablespoon milk.
Top with garnish of coconut, coriander, jackfruit and onions.
15 minutes before serving, bake covered in hot oven for 10 minutes.
For handi dum cover with lid, seal with chapati dough.
Place over slow fire for 20 minutes.
Break seal before serving.
Serve hot, with thick gravy vegetable or with curd or raitha.
Making time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Makes: 6 servings bowl