A traditional Yemen style beef shank entree!
There are many good traditional recipes from around the globe in this food blog site. The definition of a traditional recipe is a food item that has been prepared the same way, with the same ingredients with no changes, repeatedly for many years. Traditional recipes are almost always standardized recipes. A standardized recipe is written with measurements or proportions, so the recipe will reproduce the original finished food item. Standardized recipes can have variables in in the recipe. Optional ingredients, optional quantities, optional cooking methods and ways that the recipe can be applied are some of the variables that are part of many standardized recipes. Descriptive recipes are a brief description of the ingredients, cooking method and order of preparation with no exact measurements and sometimes with no description of the quantity of ingredients at all. Many old traditional Arabic, Egyptian, Hebrew, African and Persian recipes are written with a descriptive format. A descriptive recipe can be very difficult for a novice cook to interpret. A cook who is familiar with a region's cooking techniques, ingredients and flavors does have an easier time when following the instructions in a descriptive recipe. There are a couple of Arabic and Moroccan recipes in this blog that I learned by interpreting a short descriptive recipe. Many times, a complete Persian recipe is one sentence. For example: "Soak rice two hours, rinse, cook till tender, add seasoned yogurt lemon saffron olive oil garlic onion marinated lamb pieces, surround with rice and bake in mold till crust forms." For many Persian cooks, that is enough information to make a perfect tah-chin of lamb! For an outsider, just trying to figure out which type of rice to use in that descriptive recipe can take an hour of research. Research is always good and many things are learned, but many people cannot devote that kind of time. This is where chefs like myself come into play. Persian, Arabic and African chefs write recipes to share, with the hope that people will try cooking their great food and experience the traditional flavors of their cuisine. Food is the language of peace and understanding, so it is important to respect food traditions worldwide. In the western world, cooks are used to reading recipes that have precise measurements and detailed instructions. To middle eastern chefs, this approach is sometimes viewed as remedial on a professional level, but patience is part of the recipe sharing game. My step grandfather was a great Syrian Lebanese chef, so I learned the old world cooking methods and flavors at an early age. This makes it easy for me to decipher a great tasting traditional middle eastern short descriptive recipe and it makes it easy for me to cook the recipe, so I can write the recipe in a format that westerners will take notice of. Out of respect for tradition, I take no shortcuts and I omit no traditional ingredients because of personal taste issues, so the recipe is respected in the land from where it originated. Passing the recipe onto westerners who may have never heard of such a recipe does promote interest the cuisines of other cultures, therefore patience, peace and understanding is also promoted. By posting a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich recipe, people in the western world may view that recipe as being normal and kind of boring. To some readers in the middle east and asia, a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich recipe may actually be something unheard of and something exciting to try. The vice versa can be applied to Persian kufta meatballs. Everybody knows how to make kufta (kefta, keffatah, kafta etc) in the the middle east and it is a normal everyday recipe. In the western world, many cooks view kufta as an exciting new recipe that they must try. To sum it all up, a Hawaiian traveler visiting friends in Iran may be surprised to see them cooking an exotic grilled cheese and tomato sandwich for part of the welcoming meal. In return, an Arabic family visiting friends on a potato farm in Idaho just might be surprised to see their friends cooking kufta meatballs as part of the welcoming meal. Its a small weird world, now that internet cooking information comes into play! Hor'i is an old traditional Yemen beef shank recipe that is well worth giving a try. In my own opinion, Hor'i is possibly the very best beef shank recipe of them all! I do not make this statement lightly. Yemen style beef shank does taste great! A Yemen spice blend call Hawayij is part of this recipe. Like most African and middle eastern spice blends, the spices should be ground shortly before they are needed, so peak aromatic flavors can be achieved. Green cardamom is sometimes available in western world middle eastern markets, but not always. Green cardamon is much more aromatic than dried powdered cardamom. Green cardamom is part of a Hawayij spice blend. If no green cardamom is available, then fresh ground dried cardamom is the next best choice.
Hawayij - A Yemen Spice Blend: I use an old brass hand turned Turkish spice grinder to grind spice mixtures. A Turkish spice grinder is also used as a Turkish coffee grinder. The texture of the grind can be adjusted from fine powder to coarse grains. There are a few different styles of Hawayij and some can require several more spices. This recipe is the most basic Hawayij and it is a standard recipe. This recipe makes more Hawayij than what is needed for 1 portion of Hor'i. Store any extra Hawayij in a small jar. Place these in ingredients in a Turkish spice grinder, spice mill or a mortar and pestle: - 1 tablespoon of black peppercorns - 1/2 tablespoon of caraway seeds - 1/2 teaspoon of saffron threads or 2 teaspoons of safflower saffron threads - 1/2 teaspoon of green cardamom seed Note: Use regular cardamom seed if none is available. Indian and middle eastern markets are the best places to find green cardamom seeds or green cardamom seed pods. The Bouncing Bear link at the bottom of this page is another source. I got the freshest greenest cardamom pods that I have ever seen from that source! Grind the spices to a powder. Add 1 teaspoon of ground turmeric. Use the spice mixture soon after it is ground, so the aromatic flavors are at their peak!
Hor'i - Yemen Stewed Beef Shank: This recipe makes 1 portion! There are no complicated cooking techniques involved in the traditional recipe. Select 1 large beef fore shank steak that is 3/4" to 1" thick. The bone must be attached. The beef shank should weigh 10 to 12 ounces. Place the beef shank in a sauce pot. Cover the beef shank with 1" of extra water. Place the pot over medium heat and bring the liquid to a gentle boil. Skim the foam and impurities off of the surface of the liquid, till only a few impurities appear. Add 3 partially crushed cloves of garlic. Add 3/4 cup of small chopped onion. Add 1/2 cup of chopped fresh peeled seed plum tomato. (concasse) Add 1 tablespoon of tomato puree. Add 2 pinches of crushed dried red chile pepper. (chile caribe) Add 1/2 teaspoon to 3/4 teaspoon of the Hawayij spice mixture. Add sea salt or Kosher salt. Reduce the temperature to very low heat. Cover the pot with a lid. Slowly simmer for 3 to 4 hours, till the beef shank becomes very tender. Only add water if necessary, to barely keep the beef shank covered with liquid. After the beef shank becomes tender, remove the lid from the pot. Raise the temperature to low heat. Simmer and reduce the sauce, till it becomes a thin rich consistency. Presentation: Place a portion of plain basmati rice on a plate. Carefully use a spatula to place the beef shank against the rice. Spoon the sauce over and around the beef shank. Garnish the Hor'i with an Italian parsley sprig.
I did say that this recipe is simple! A guest who tastes this recipe would never think that the list of ingredients was small and a simple stewing method was used, after tasting the Hor'i. The flavors are very complex and satisfying. This is one of the greatest tasting traditional comfort food recipes that there is! Yum! ... Shawna
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