Television Talent Dietary Tips: Polynesian Ha’ka For A Healthy, Mostly Texan, Part Polynesian Chili Ha’ka, With A Hint of The Philippines.

 
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One of my purposes here to continue advising Clients about menu and dietary concepts designed to help them look, feel and most importantly, perform at their very best, in front of a camera.

It occurred to me the other day that Texas and Polynesian cooking share allot in common. 
  

Both Texans and Polynesians do quite a bit of cooking outdoors and indoors, they make (boil) stews and things like Chili.
 

People in my home state of Texas argue more about Texan cooking than they do politics. Most Texans don’t think that highly of politicians anyhow, which is one reason our elected officials only meet every two years and have six weeks to get their legislative business done.
 

We figure that gives them two years to hash out their differences and therefore six weeks ought to be enough time for passing laws. If nothing else, this practice saves money.

I can’t help but think Washington would do better by Americans, if Congress’s time for passing laws had a shelf life. They seem to wait to the last minute anyhow. Maybe they should take a look how things are done in Texas.


 

What we do care passionately about is our native cooking. People argue about whether brisket should be cooked outside fat side down or up and if it should be marinated or not. No one ever changes anyone’s mind, and the end product is always tremendous.
 
Note: Unlike other parts of the US, Texans generally don’t baste their ribs, chicken or brisket as it cooks. Bar-B-Q sauces and other condiments are served on the side.

The other great debate is over Chili. Non Texans use ground meat. That is a sin to us. We use cubed pork, lamb, goat or beef. 

Another sin committed by non Texans, in our opinion, is that they use the wrong beans, like kidney beans. Chili that is overly bean heavy is also considered sinful.

This is supposed to be a Texas meal, in which meat is the main course and beans are a side dish. Same hold true for beans in Chili. They are second fiddle to meat.
 
Texas Cooking has a very heavy Mexican influence, too. We generally use pinto beans for about every kind of Tex-Mex dish. We also like jalapeño peppers in about everything except ice cream and desserts. Some people add onions, garlic and jalapenos to mashed potatoes (Skins on is traditional).
 

Chili’s main ingredients are meat(s), garlic, onions, carrots (optional), tomato sauce, salt, oregano, Chili powder, cumin and without a doubt, Cilantro.
 
Some people feel that their Chili needs a drink. Purists would consider nothing else than Mexican beer. 

We believe that American beer can’t even come close to what they make down in Mexico. So, some folks put a bottle or two in the pot, depending on its size. Has to be Mexican beer, preferably dark.
 
Other fundamentals debated in Texas are whether you sear the meat and sauté the vegetables, first. I think it’s best not to sear or sauté anything. Doing so puts weight on the food, making it sink to the bottom of your pot and thus makes more work and burns the clock.
 
This being said, once you begin, the process is no different than cooking Chili Polynesian Ha’ka style, than my previous postings.  

Absolutely the same technique I have been describing here for a month or so for Italian or Filipino dishes, prepared Ha’ka style. (Links to previous relevant blogs will be provided at the end of this post)

The beauty of cooking like Polynesians is:

• No sugar, salt or oil
• No unnecessary extra steps
• Easy and fast to do
• Everything is cooked together
• Inexpensive
• Very healthy
• Allows you make multiple future meals

I have made some minor adjustments, though. I recommend using a wok and suggest you use whatever ingredients you want, assuming you know what the basic ones are.
 

The basics are some kind of meat, onions, oregano, basil and garlic. Feel free to add other vegetables like carrots, spinach, cabbage or my favorite Pechay.
 
This Ha’ka does have a five minute step the others didn’t. Cover a quarter liter of dried beans in water 24 hours ahead of time. 

What this does is soften the beans and makes cooking them faster.  I use white Filipino beans. One reason is I have never seen Pinto beans in The Philippines and other is, I like them. 

A major benefit of using local Filipino beans is that they have been cleaned and picked over already. All dried beans in the Western Hemisphere have to been cleaned up and washed. 

Here, they don’t. You rinse them off and you are good to go.

So, once again bring a couple of quarts of water to a boil and put in a half kilo of meat with 1/4 kilo of drained pre-soaked beans. Cover the wok and bring it up to a rapid boil. Then reduce it to a rolling boil.

You have about ten minutes to kill, so cut up your vegetables and add them to the Ha’ka. Yesterday on a whim, I put in about a cup of shell pasta. 
 
Remember to keep an eye on the water level. You want the water to cover, not immerse, your food. Stirring is to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom and everything is blended.  I think I added more water four or five times, yesterday.

For vegetables I use pechay, beans, carrots, onions and garlic. Spices are Chili Powder or ground Chili seeds, cilantro, ground cumin, basil, oregano and a little soya sauce. 

Your Ha’ka is now far enough along for you to add everything.  Sir and see how the Ha’ka is doing and add 500-750 milligrams of tomato sauce. Stir it and it’s ok to cheat a little. I did. I put in a package of mushroom gravy. Stirred/folded it all together. Tasted it and added what spices I though it needed more of.

Turned off the fire and left it covered for about ten minutes and it was ready. I made enough for lunch, served some of the staff here and stored five more meals for myself.

 
I am sure some of my countrymen and women would be most likely howling over how I made the Chili, if they knew. So, don’t tell any Texans you may know.
 

I would respectfully reply that I am a Texan and that I will do whatever I want, as is my right a citizen of the Lonestar State.  Our golden rule is simple.  Do what you want.  

Just be sure not to bother another person.
Furthermore every real Texan knows and appreciates that rules are made to be broken, if you have a good reason. Furthermore, there would not be a Texas if everyone just followed the crowd.
 
Also, you may want to consider adding a packet of dried coconut cream and join me in my heretical ways.

Here are the links to previous Polynesian Ha'ka Cooking:
 

http://johnsheehan17.blogspot.com/2012/12/fast-easy-to-do-healthy-cooking-from.html

http://johnsheehan17.blogspot.com/2013/01/polynesian-haka-goes-italian-great-for.html

Polynesian Ha’ka Goes Italian: Fast, Easy and Healthy

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This morning I thought about all the holiday leftovers you may have. I have a really easy, fast way to make new meals from any left leftover turkey, lamb, pork, beef or whatever you have.

I don’t know if you saw “Fast, Easy To Do, Healthy Cooking From Polynesia And The Philippines In One Pot,” which I posted here a few weeks ago. If not, there is a link below for your convenience. 

That article like this one, is about how you can prepare several tasty servings quickly, cheaply and easily, in a Wok.
 
I used to prepared meals in what I would call the old fashioned way, after OD-ing on way too many cooking shows. I used to spend hours preparing meals, that I have now found out can be done in about 30-45 minutes. There is a bonus too. You can reheat these Ha’kas in a just few minutes. 

I used to take all kinds of unnecessary, time consuming steps. I sautéed, I boiled and I fried, then assembled it all.  I don’t have allot of time for all that these days, like most people. Imagine my relief when I found that I didn’t have to do all that work and still be able to enjoy great meals. 

I have no idea how much I am saving now on energy, doing everything at once, with the final product being just as good as the ones I labored over. I do know it saves lots of time and is cheaper.

I use a Polynesian Ha’ka cooking (boiling) technique, as I mentioned a few weeks ago. The method is simple. 

Polynesians combine all their ingredients, pretty much all at once, in a pot. The trick of it is being sure you have enough, but not too much water. You are not making soup.

You can decide too, what vegetables go into your Ha’ka. My Trinity is onions, garlic, and pechay, a cousin of Chinese cabbage, which tastes like spinach, (To me) when cooked.
This generic Ha’ka recipe is really simple and you decide what ingredients go into it. It is very healthy way to cook, as well as saves you time. 

I usually make enough for four of five meals. You simply heat what you need up again with a little water in a non-stick pan.
You will note in this article, as with the last one, I don’t use oils, sugar or much salt. 

My basic spices are basil, oregano and black pepper. You can also add bay leaves, fennel seed, chilies or cilantro too, if you want.

The basic premise here is you can do about whatever you want. Another premise to cooking Ha’ka style is ignoring everything you have been told about cooking techniques, because they really aren’t necessary, unless you host a Television Cooking Show or are selling Cook Books.
 

This Ha’ka is Polynesian Cooking Goes Italian. Last time it was Filipino. I have found though, that many of the spices used in Polynesian, Filipino and Asian cooking are pretty much the same. The real difference with this approach is that there is no frying.

Here’s how it works. You will need pasta, onions, Tomato sauce, garlic, pechay plus meat, pork, lamb or poultry. This is where holiday left overs can find their final resting place. And, don’t worry if you combine different leftovers. This will still be great.

If you are starting from scratch, bring about quart of water to a boil, in a covered wok and put your meat (Half pound) in. first. (If using leftovers, chop them up and put them in later with the tomato sauce.) After a few minutes, it will be half cooked and then put in about a pound of medium shell pasta and stir. This is when you have to keep an eye on the water level.
 
You want to keep the pasta and meat nearly covered by the water, but not like you are making soup. The pasta, vegetables will begin thickening your Italian Ha’ka.

When pasta is half done put in your vegetables and spices. You may want to consider adding eggplant, zucchini or both, too. Stir every few minutes and keep your water gently boiling, slightly covering your ingredients. 

If you find the pasta is sticking to the bottom of the wok, you don’t have enough water.
Put in your leftovers and tomato sauce. I use about 500 grams. It just depends how thick you want your Ha’Ka to be. 

Buy tomato sauce that doesn’t have any additives like sugar, salt, or anything you can’t pronounce.


After about five minutes you are about done and can let your Italian Ha’ka cool. I store future meals in Tupperware. 

You can reheat using a little water. No microwaving since I have been told, that destroys all the nutrients. Plus reheating with water is just as fast.

You are good to go. You can top your meal with a little cheese or maybe a touch of wine or dark cane vinegar.

 
One reason too that this is a very healthy cooking technique is because of how you cook the food. You don’t loose any of the ingredients’ natural vitamins and minerals.

Below is the link to my previous article about Polynesian-Filipino Ha'ka Cooking in a Wok.
http://johnsheehan17.blogspot.com/2012/12/fast-easy-to-do-healthy-cooking-from.html