Soboro

While that might sound like nonsense, it is a recipe for ground meat that I made the other day, then used on a bun like a sloppy joe, that got me thinking about making sloppy joes while I’ll make tomorrow.

What is soboro?

Saute finely diced onion, I didn’t have any, so I used shredded carrots and dried onion flakes. Caramelize 2 tablespoons of sugar, then deglaze with 2 tablespoons of sake, I didn’t have any so I use rice wine vinegar but water would work just as well.

A pound of ground meat, salt, ground pepper, minced garlic and ginger, 2-3 tablespoons each of dark soy sauce and oyster sauce, and enjoy. It is supposed to have a nice strong flavor to play against plain rice.

This soboro got me thinking, as I said about sloppy Joe’s, which got me remembering Granny’s Great Goop. Increadible comfort food, in spite of the name. It is basically sloppy joe mix served on top of masked potatoes.

I use a pound of ground beef, although any ground meat or combo or even TVP could be used. Saute it, with chopped onion and bell pepper until browned. Stay and watch, set check it alarms, whatever you need to do to keep it from burning. Add garlic once the meat is brown and saute about a minute or two to get that garlic browned and mixed into the rest of the meat.

I add salt and pepper, then I add a can of chopped tomatoes, a can of tomato sauce and a small can of tomato paste. Then simmer until it is nice and thick. If I get impatient, I mix 2 teaspoons or 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in some cold water, then add the slurry to the mix to get it thicker.

As I am usually enjoying this alone, I will measure out 1/4 or 1/3 cup of instant mashed potatoes from one of those just add water bags. I then add double that of water, 1/2 or 2/3 cup. I have even used a full bathroom water size cup as the measuring cup, 1 full for potatoes and 2 full of water.

Feel free to change it up. Try using BBQ sauce in place of tomato sauce and a can of Mexican chopped tomatoes. Use it on a bun, or over rice, or over mashed cauliflower. Add in any other veggies you want to add. Try it topped with cheese or with bacon. Those make everything taste better, don’t they?

I started with experimenting with a new dish, used a few easy cooking and prepping techniques, then realized that it was similar to a dish I already know, and now I am starting to think of ways to change it up, like a spicy version with BBQ sauce and a few hot peppers, topped with cheese on a bun. If I was going Italian, there is marinara sauce and thick pizza sauce. Maybe a pound of the good sausage links instead of ground beef or start with a teaspoon of Italian seasoning blend, taste and adjust up if needed. On a bun, topped with mozzarella or pizza cheese… Hmm… sounds good.