Ginger Pork Sesame Pita Wrap

I haven’t had gyro in a long time. I mean, really long time, years at least. It seems as if the name gyro has temporarily disappeared from my food vocabulary. And if it’s new to some, you’ll find a whole debate on how it’s pronounced. I’ve noticed that lately as I experiment with new foods, I put classic ethnic foods on the backburner. Last week, I felt the same thing about pad thai which I hadn’t made in over a year--so I did. 

But I’m no expert in Greek food to show you how to prepare gyro like Aleczander, down at the local deli. I’ll let him and his brothers take care of that. But I can show you my version of pita wrap that you won’t find anywhere else.

What makes this wrap unique is the sauce. It’s a mix of traditional tzatziki sauce, Japanese ginger tea, and tomato sauce. Japanese ginger tea isn’t really tea. It’s more like ginger syrup made with lemon juice, sugar, bitter orange (called “daidai”) juice, fresh sliced ginger and honey. Typically, people drink it by adding a couple of tablespoons of this concentrated ginger tea into a cup of hot water. Unfortunately, I don’t have the recipe for making the ginger tea since I used the one from a jar which was given to me as a gift. But I bet you can easily make it by mixing these ingredients and adjusting it to your taste. You can also try Eric’s version of ginger syrup if you must have a recipe to follow.

I cooked the pork in the ginger syrup. Only used about three to four tablespoons for about a pound of pork just to add the subtle, sweet gingery flavor. Then I sliced it thinly. Don’t worry if the flavor isn’t strong enough, you can always drizzle some more before serving.

The tomato sauce is no secret actually. It’s straight from the can, the stewed and chopped kind. It was very similar to the full, deep, and concentrated tomato sauce I had with yogurt sauce, barbequed lamb kebab on freshly made naan bread at the farmers market, the original inspiration for this post. Heat it up a little bit and spoon some over the pita along with the other stuff. I used the canned not just because it was similar to the Indian chutney but also because it was plain enough to be mixed with other flavors.

I did follow traditional recipes for tzatziki sauce and pita bread. I added the sesame seeds to the pita bread once the dough was formed, just like Challah and Chinese buns. Sesame seeds to me are like a bridge of Far East Asia to the other side of the continent. They are used with rice and accompanying meats and vegetables in Asia, while they are used on breads and for spreads in the Middle East and Mediterranean. But really, tahini and neri-goma are the same thing. By adding sesame seeds in pita was my way of bringing the ginger syrup to tzatziki sauce without making them feel awkward next to each other in the pita bus.

Fresh greens was a perfect way to add the dietitian part of me. Although using lean pork meat and Greek yogurt alone made the wrap already pretty healthy, the addition of lettuce raised it a grade. You get fiber, calcium, and lean protein, all in one. Only I wish I could pop out new recipes like this every day.