Porky Roll with Spring Green

With Spring's arrival, wider variety of vegetables are showing up in the market, at a less expensive price too. I'm not sure about other seasonal countries, but vegetables sold here during winter can be 3-folds more expensive than summer time! This is largely due to agriculture difficulty, and raising vegetables in conservatory environment makes the produce a little costly.

Asparagus is one of such dear vegetables, and it is the best season to enjoy them now. In Japan, Asparagus is called a ' Spring-time vegetable ', together with bamboo shoots, special cauliflower and etc. The simple Pork Roll that I'm sharing today, wraps asparagus and other ingredients to create a colorful center, with fragrant sauteed skin outside. A very ' Spring-time ' dish, the Japanese would call it.

Recipe ( Porky Roll with Spring Green ) makes 8 rolls

Ingredients

Pork slice of ham's thickness : 8 slices

Asparagus : 3 sticks

Carrot : 1 stick

Cheeze : Use as prefered ( I'm using ' Baby cheeze ' bars here, not sure if it's available elsewhere )

Vegetable oil for saute : 1 tablespoon

Salt and pepper


1. Salt and pepper pork slices and put aside.
2. Cut asparagus, carrot and cheeze into strips of approximately 5 cm length, thickness of carrot and cheeze should be around that of the asparagus.
3. Place 1/2 teaspoon of salt, into water enough to boil carrot and asparagus. Upon boiling, place carrot in and boil for 30 seconds, then place asparagus in to boil. Retreive all at about 50 seconds later. Do not boil for too long. Shower boiled vegetables under running water for 2 seconds and put aside.

Wild Tips : Boiling vegetables in salted water gives vegetables a brightly colored finish. It adds a little saltish flavor to vegetables, and enhances the taste. A cold shower for boiled vegetables removes heat thus retains crunchiness.

4. Spread pork slice across, remove extra fats if prefered. Place asparagus, carrot at one end of the pork slice, then a strip of cheeze on top. Roll the slice across. Complete the rest. Rolls should not fall apart easily.

5. Heat oil in flat pan at medium fire, place rolls into pan with winded end facing down, and saute. Flip rolls to saute different sides and achieve a good looking brown. Do not cook for too long or the meat will be toughened.

Some Japanese families claim that pork dishes are a good source of ' energy replenishment '. Many families consume pork dishes especially after sports day, a great hike out, or after a strenuous day of labor.

For our home... umm... we don't practise this exactly though.

Simply, the cheezy blend of this dish, complete with Spring greens makes my husband happy like a child.