Yesterday, because I like to cook and I like punned / themed food, I decided to celebrate the Year of the Ox, by cooking an ox related dish! …Only I decided to work with buffalo, cause I couldn’t get ox, and then I finally settled on bison because that’s what they had at the fancy hippie mart. Come to think of it, if I had been smart I would have gone to the cheapo grocery store to pick up some oxtail. But my roommates would have been less likely to eat it, so maybe this compromise ended up being better anyways.
I had to do a LOT of compromises – like for instance, I balked at paying $1.25 for a wimpy bundle of green onions at the fancy hippie mart, so I just used yellow onions instead. Plus I totally forgot to get a bundle of mint, but I did have wilting cilantro so I threw that in instead. If I had to do this over again, I would have just skipped hippie mart altogether, in favor of the cheapo grocery store (which actually does have a good selection of meats, in addition to the cheapo Smithfield / Tyson crap).
Anyway, who cares! Here’s the recipe, as I would do it under ideal non-airhead circumstances:
NEW YEARS BISON BALLS (yeah, okay, I’ll come up with a fancier title later):
Ingredients:
1 lb of ground bison
1 egg
1 package vermicelli noodles
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
2 cans coconut milk
1 cup cilantro, chopped roughly
1 bundle of fresh mint, plucked
(optional) crushed peanuts
Spices and things:
4 tbsps Chinese five spice
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp sugar
soy sauce
canola or vegetable oil
- In a mixing bowl, mash up the ground bison with the five spice, the garlic and onion powder, and the egg (cracked of course, unless you like bits of shell in your bison balls). Get your hands dirty and really mix this up! Of course you could use technology, like a food processor maybe, or a spoon – but in the spirit of the Ox you should really do the tough stuff yourself.
- Turn the oven on to broil, 500 degrees. Shape the meat mix into individual balls, arrange on a greased baking pan, place in oven. I think it took 10 – 15 minutes or so for these to cook thoroughly, but definitely keep an eye on these. You want the bison balls to be seared but not charred and on fire!
- While these are broiling, saute the green onions in oil, a tbsp of soy sauce, and the sugar. Cook the onions till they are caramelized (brown and sweet).
- While the onions are caramelizing and the bison is broiling, boil some water for the vermicelli noodles! Follow the directions on the package – usually you’re directed to bring the water to boiling, turn the water off and soak the noodles for 3 minutes, but this varies according to brand and noodle type.
- While all that other stuff is going on (hm, this dish involves a lot of multi-tasking) , heat the coconut milk in a separate pan just enough to warm it, but not so that it starts simmering or boiling. Mix in a pinch of salt.
- Now, when everything is done – combine it all! Mix the caramelized onions into the noodles, throw in the bison balls and pour the heated coconut milk over it. Pile the chopped cilantro, mint, and peanuts on top. Enjoy the fruits of your hard labor, you Ox!
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