Recipes Can Meet Dietary Needs: Goose

by Susan Braverman

Food as Herbs, Health, and Medicine

Summer Volume: 1996 Issue: 3(2) page(s): 21

There are some foods that we love to eat. Many are high in fat and/or sodium and no mater how they are modified, dietary guidelines can not be met. Goose is just such a food. It should be left only for special occasions because it is a meat that has an exceptionally high fat content.

However, below is a recipe that can be modified somewhat. It is for Goose in Spicy Sauce. Changes can be made to lower both the fat and the sodium. First allow me to present the original and then offer modifications that do not change the taste very much. These small variations in sodium and fat leave them higher than we would like, but lower than they would have been if we followed the original recipe.

Goose in Spicy Sauce
Ingredients:
1 goose, about six pounds
3 Tablespoons sea salt (kosher salt is a sea salt)
For the Spicy Sauce:
10 cups water
1 and 1/4 cups dark soy sauce
1 piece Chinese slab sugar (or you can substitute one-quarter cup dark brown sugar)
80 grams galangal* (optional) See below
5 cloves garlic
4 star anise (or one-eighth teaspoon dry anise seed)
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn
1 sprig coriander
For the Garlic and Vinegar Dip:
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
4 Tablespoons rice vinegar
Preparation:
1. Clean and dry the goose with paper towels
2. Rub salt over the skin and in the cavity; then let stand for one hour.
3. Bring the spicy sauce to the boil and cook the goose in it over gentle heat for about one-and-a-half hours.
4. Cool the goose completely and cut into serving pieces.
5. Pour spicy sauce over the goose and serve with the garlic-vinegar dip and garnish with the coriander.
There are several ways that this recipe can be modified:
1) The sea salt can be decreased to 1 Tablespoon.
2) Use only low-salt (also known as low-sodium) soy sauce
3. Decrease the total amount of soy sauce, no matter the kind to half a cup
4. Serve more people. This will reduce the portion size and decrease both the fat and the sodium.
5. One can decrease the fat a bit further by cooking the goose in water for about three-quarters of an hour then discard that water and place the goose in the spicy sauce to cook for the other three-quarters of an hour. This will decrease the amount of fat that will melt into the sauce.
Note 1: An acceptable substitute for galangal, though not the same flavor, is to use one tablespoon ginger root
Note 2: Remember that this dish is for special occasions, only. If one modifies it further the taste of the dish will be compromised. Keep inmind that there needs to be enough of a portion to consider this a treat!

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