On Sunday, January 14, 2018 at 5:45:54 AM UTC-10, cshenk wrote:
>
> Actually, in Japan I did that fairly often. Ground beef was very
> expensive and as it got more so, they'd trott out the 70% 'lean' (I kid
> you not!). Even that was 3-4$ a lb more than stateside. Someone once
> said they caught it at 65% but I'm not sure if they were serious.
>
> When it gets like that, folks start experimenting with less expensive
> fillers. He's some of the things I've used (not all in the same batch):
>
> Carrots
> Bok Choy (chopped fine)
> Mustard greens (chopped fine)
> Potatoes
> Eddo (small taro, not poi type)
> Tofu
> Green beans (chopped fine, pre-steamed)
> Cabbage (chopped fine)
> Cauliflower (I didnt care for that one but tried it on a recommendation)
> winter squash types
> Obviously bread crumbs, crackers, rice and such
> Raw oats from the Quaker box
>
> Charlotte saw a sheet of nori out from making riceball packages and
> filled one with some of the mix then wrapped it like a cigar and we
> steamed that for an interesting difference. It didnt taste much like
> 'meat loaf' but it was fun to try something different and worked well
> enough to hold it together.
>
> I'd say my rule of thumb was not more than 1/4 'other stuff'. Eggs
> were considered 'optional' due to cost (between 25-40yen each,
> depending on season, they don't lay as much in winter so cost more).
>
> Oh, a yen is pretty close to a penny for most simple calculations. It
> was normally a little less most of the time I was there so that would
> have been from 23cents to 37cents or so per fresh 'semi range free'
> egg. We don't really have a catagory to match what they do there.

That's some good ideas. My plan is to make a meatloaf stuffed with pork tamales. Perhaps I can also put some Spam in there too. That would be nice.