Cooking – Page 11

Fermentation Nation: Shio Koji – Chicken Wings and more

April 10, 2014 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

I'd been reading about what an amazing flavor enhancer Shio Koji was for a couple of years. Apparently it really delivers that "sixth flavor". This fermented product made is from rice, inoculated with aspergillus oryzae, a "domesticated mold" used in the making of sake, miso, and other products, with salt added. The enzymes in shio koji; proteases,breaks down the proteins to amino acids, of which glutamate, has a major part of delivering the "umami", lipase breaks down fats, and amylase, which breaks down starches into simple sugar. There's apparently a lot going on here…..

So naturally, when I saw something marinated in Shio Koji on a menu, I couldn't help but order it, which turned out to be a terrible mistake. It left me disappointed and let's be frank, kind of pissed off.

How could something that has been raved about in Japan over the last couple of years be so….well….weak? So on one of our trips to Nijiya, I bought a bottle. The Missus thought I was nuts. This mildly grainy, gluey substance did what?

It does taste like salty, crude, rice wine…….the stuff you'd make in a jail cell……

I went in blind and decided to grill some chicken wings……

Here's the first recipe:

1 1/2 pounds chicken wings
1 cup Shio Koji
1 Tb Garlic Powder
1 tsp ginger juice
togarashi

I marinated about 6 hours, then grilled.

One thing for sure……this thing will burn quickly if you're not careful. The wings were really tender, the skin actually got somewhat crispy, the flavor was good. A flavor like mild miso marinade, so complex, perhaps a tad too salty……I went overboard with the shio koji….but as salty as it seemed, we weren't bothered with any of the effects of too much sodium. It could have been sweeter, but man….we were hooked!

The Missus wanted me to do this again….the next day! This time I wanted a more well rounded flavor, without drowning out all the wonderful "umami" from shio koji….which is pretty hard to do. So here's the marinade for the same 1 1/2 pounds of chicken wings. Marinaded overnight.

1/3 cup shio koji
1 Tb grated garlic
1 Tb ginger juice
3 Tb mirin
1 Tb hoisin
togarashi

This time, we decided to really push our luck and grill over bincho!

I should mentioned that I don't put togarashi in the marinade. I sprinkle it on right before grilling. Man, this stuff goes really fast and I had to be on top of it. In the end, there was some char….which by the way, is delici-yoso….

Other than having to really be on top of the grilling, this stuff is a total no-brainer……

After our first foray into wings, I went to look for other uses and told the Missus that folks are using shio koji for salad dressing, and you know what, the Missus really got into it.

It does make a really good dressing, with balsamic vinegar, sesame oil, and I don't know what else the Missus puts into the salad. I hate fruits in my salads; but man, the strawberries are really wonderful in this….even the chia seeds! Sorry to say, the Missus can't even tell me portions and such……otherwise I'd give you a recipe. But we had salads three days in a row……

Why isn't everyone using this?

I guess the next step for us is to make our own shio koji, right?

Stay tuned…….

Sunday Sandwiches – the Condiment Edition: Balsamic – Mirin Onion Jam

March 23, 2014 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes, Sandwiches

Nothing takes a sandwich beyond the level of being just something between two slices of bread, then a nice complimentary condiment…..mustard, ketchup……"secret sauce", sweet onions……

Or perhaps something like this…..

Recently, I had to smoked some chicken for the Missus to take to work.

After the chicken was done, I decided to take advantage of the smoke and try some of these really cheap thin cut shoulder chops….

In what seems a lifetime ago…well, at least the mid-90's would be for some of the folks who read the blog, I was in Atlanta, off and on, for over a year. I usually stayed near Emory University and right up the street, past the CDC was a place called Dusty's BBQ (which sadly closed down in 1999 after 27 years). I remember having lunch there one day and striking up a conversation with a very nice gentleman who it turned out was a professor at Emory. The one thing I recall him saying was, "it's amazing what smoke can do to the cheapest, simplest, cuts of meat." So I decided to smoke the cheapest ($1.09/lb) cut of meat I could find.

I also wanted to raise things a bit….not by adding BBQ sauce or anything, but just by adding one thing…..I love making Mirin Caramelized Onions, so I went for Balsamic Onion Jam.

I used some of my pork rub to tie the flavors together…….I don't use much salt in my rub, so that's why I will adjust the salt at the end. Don't use the good balsamic for this, the cheap stuff you get from Trader Joe's will do…… I do something kind of different, I start in the dry pan….yes, you do lose liquid this, but you also get more of a stronger flavor. It does seem like a lot of sweet stuff, but it really tastes great with, say, pulled pork? But what doesn't taste great with pulled pork?

Balsamic – Mirin Onion Jam:

2 large onions sliced thin
2-3 Tb Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tb pork rub (optional – you can use a combination of smoked paprika, oregano, granulated garlic, etc)
2 Tb turbinado sugar
1/4 cup mirin
2 Tb grated or minced garlic
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

– Head a thick bottom pan over medium heat.

– Add the onions, let caramelize for 20-30 seconds, stir and let sit for another 10-2o seconds. Stir once more.

– Added olive oil, turbinado sugar and seasonings (pork rub), lower the heat and stir occasionally until the onions start to color.

– Add the mirin and garlic. Keep stirring periodically until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the onions or burnt off.

– Add the balsamic vinegar and repeat.

– One reduced, taste and adjust salt and pepper.

Will keep for a least a week stored in an air-tight container in the fridge……

Fermentation Nation: Doing the Sriracha-cha-cha

March 20, 2014 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Ah yes, Sriracha. I know folks who even dip into their Pho without adding it….though I've always wondered how they intuitively knew how much of the stuff to dump in their broth having not even tasted it! Ditto Hoisin sauce.

Sriracha has been everywhere over the last couple of years, you could say it's become a staple. Most of us are most familiar with the ubiquitous Huy Fong Foods brand…..aka "Rooster" brand. Though most don't even know that Sriracha is named after the town of Si Racha in Thailand. The Sriracha that Huy Fong Food produces has the kind of branding folks dream of; it has been ingrained in the eating consciousness of many folks I know. When the Sriracha factory in Irwindale was shut down…..Google sriracha crises and see all the links that pop up…..Huffington Post? Washington Post? The Boston Globe? You could actually read about the possible shutdown on your favorite news site, right under "Dow gains 500 points"? Ok, enough of that, but if you're still interested and have an extra five bucks you can download Sriracha, the Movie, here.

I was actually toying with making my own Sriracha, since the Rooster brand was originally made with serranos, and we were growing some in the back yard. Unfortunately, I could never get the quantity that I wanted, about 500 grams, at one time. A week ago, I saw red jalapenos on sale at Zion Market…..3 pounds for 99 cents! I understand that Huy Fong Foods made a switch over to red jalapenos a while back…so why not….for 35 cents or so????

I wanted to use what I had at home, while still sticking to the five ingredients in classic Sriracha – peppers, garlic, salt, sugar, and vinegar. There were two basic different ways I'd read about with regards to making the sauce; the fresh, and the fermented methods. Well, you know which one I picked, right? I put the jar of the stuff right alongside our next batch of Suan Cai fermenting in the hallway. Overall, the ingredients for this small batch of Sriracha costs less than a buck….really!

Sriracha:

450-500 grams red jalapenos
20 grams turbinado sugar
4 grams Kosher salt
20 grams garlic
1/3 cup White Distilled Vinegar

– Stem the peppers, slice in half and remove seeds.

– Place peppers, sugar, salt, and garlic in a food processor and process until very finely chopped.

– Pour into a sterilized jar and cover, but not too tightly. Sit in a dark area at room temperature.

– You'll notice that the solids will separate from he liquids daily….you'll also notice the wonderful smell of garlic dancing around the area you ferment the chilies. Don't worry, it's worth it.

– Open the jar daily and mix well with a sterilized spoon. You'll quickly notice the fermentation process is taking place. I tasted it daily.

– I believe you can leave out for a week, stirring daily, but after four days, it seemed that the sauce had started developing some nice flavors and was actually starting to mellow. The fermentation also provided a nice mild pickled flavor.

– I know we lose the benefit of fermentation when we cook something, but I poured into a pan, added the vinegar, and reduced over medium high heat for about 5-6 minutes. At this point, you can taste and adjust salt and even sugar.

– I poured the contents into a blender and buzzed it for about 3-4 minutes.

– Strain the contents, there will be a tablespoon or two of pulp that just won't make it. You can discard it…or even better reserve and use it for a stir fry!

That's the last of my Ghost Pepper Louisiana Style Hot Sauce on the left; the Sriracha on the right. Some of the folks I gave the hot sauce to last year are asking for more….it'll probably be a couple of months at least.

As for the Sriracha, I thought I added a good amount of garlic, as it teeters on the edge for me. The Missus thinks it needs more. We'll see when I fry up some chicken this weekend!

Sunday Sandwiches: The playing with my butt edition……

March 9, 2014 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes, yoso-silly

Sorry, I couldn't help it……

The Missus has been wanting me to make pulled pork since She had the Pulled Pork Hash at Nate's. I'd been wanting to use my meat injector (now that just sounds wrong), so I bought a bone in 7 1/2 pound butt Friday on the way home from work.

So before going to bed I had a chance to….ahem…play with my butt.

I basically used Slap Yo Daddy's Bone In Pork Butt recipe as a guide, making some adjustments for our taste. First thing's first, the injection sauce:

1 Cup Apple Juice
1/2 Cup Turbinado Sugar
3 Tb Kosher Salt
1 Tb Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tb Rib Rub
3 Tb White Vinegar
1 Tb Ghost Pepper Louisiana style Hot Sauce

I decided to name my butt, "Ben Dover"…….

For obvious reasons……

I reserved a half cup of the liquid and injected the rest in a 1 1/2 inch grid pattern over the pork. I then used about 3/4 cup of my rib rub on the butt.

I then tucked Ben in for the night…..

I got up at 5am, got my act together, got the smoker going. At six I put Ben into the smoker.

I kept the pork as cold as possible before smoking, which creates a better smoke ring……..I also kept the fat cap on, laying it fat side down.

After five hours things looked good…..

The butt was hitting about 160. Because the Missus had promised folks at work pulled pork, I needed to finish up fairly quickly, so I went with the Texas Crutch like Slap Yo Daddy recommends. I used a double layer of foil and poured this mixture over the butt – SYD uses butter, I did not, I did add the leftover injection mixture though.

6 ounces beer (in this case Tecate)
1/2 cup leftover injection liquid
1/2 cup tubinado sugar
2 Tb Ghost Pepper Louisiana style Hot Sauce

I left things alone for 2 hours then started checking the temp. After 3 hours it hit 195 and I removed it and let it sit for an hour.

I poured off all the fat and liquid, which had some nice fat since I left the fat cap on the pork. I removed all the liquid and used two forks to pull the pork. I had a taste and basically used the technique from my Oven Kalua Pork recipe to reintroduce some fat/liquid into the pork. I also added about two tablespoons of Maldon Sea Salt; I had cut down on the amount of salt in my rib rub, so this was a necessary step.

The flavors were quite nice; it really didn't need any sauce. In the end, The Missus got Her veggies and pulled pork, Her coworkers got their pork, and I got a pretty decent sandwich.

Da' Boyz also made out. Whenever I smoke, i'll do something for them. This time around I saw Beef Knee Bones on sale at Zion Market and bought a bunch. I smoked these up so Frankie has a once a week treat.

I guess everyone wins when I play with my butt???

Recently Consumed

March 7, 2014 mmm-yoso Cooking

Just a quick post for a very pleasant Friday evening….some of the stuff we've had recently.

The mother of a friend of the Missus makes her own XO Sauce and we were given some recently. I made some shrimp with XO sauce and it came out rather well.

I found the flavor interesting, very different from the bottled stuff……so this sounds like a new project for me.

They recently had King Clip at Catalina Offshore and I was lucky enough to be there. Made King Clip sauteed in Bacon Fat and Garlic Collard Greens,

We're working through our third batch of Suan Cai. The recent bit of rain we had gave us the perfect chance to make Suan Cai Yang Rou.

Other than that, it's just pretty routine stuff……

I hope everyone had a great week!

Recently Consumed

February 27, 2014 mmm-yoso Cooking

So here's the latest of edition of stuff that I made at home….though as you'll soon see, some of it, I didn't eat.

Remember that suan cai we made? Well other than eating it raw….it turned out so well that the Missus just eats it raw, which is probably better for you. Anyway, here's some Chao Suan Cai.

Made this with lamb, mixed with a touch of wine, a tiny bit of grated ginger, and white pepper. Stir fried, with some of that flavor of the wok……this was very good.

Speaking of lamb, here's some Zi Ran Yang Rou I recently made. Notice that I forgot something?

Yep, I forgot to buy cilantro…..anyway, the key to this is letting the lamb marinate in your seasonings for at least 10 minutes before the stir fry. In spite of the missing herb, the Missus said this was the best I've made.

A couple of weeks back, the Missus had a pot luck at work. She organized it, with the theme being something from your ethnic heritage…..so She immediately has me make…..

Japchae?

And gravlax????

Does She have some other husband(s) stashed away somewhere??? Talk about an identity crisis….

And who rolls out of bed on a Sunday morning at 10am and tells you She wants something "Red Cooked"???

Or smoked chicken for that matter……

Well at least thighs are a rather quick solution either way…….

Man, I need a raise, or at least another beer…..

I hope you're having a great week!

Suan Cai

February 13, 2014 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

After working through three batches of Sauerkraut we finally got down to business and made what we bought the fermenting crockpot for. That would be, to make Suan Cai, which literally means "sour vegetable". Of course, being that the Missus is from QingDao, this was the napa cabbage version with three main ingredients:

Napa Cabbage

Salt

And time…….

Actually, this was really easy. You look for fairly hefty napa cabbage. Half or quarter, use 8 grams of kosher salt per kilo, stuff into the crock, press down hard, and place the stones on the cabbage. Cover and use the water seal. There wasn't enough liquid to cover, so we did a check after the 5th day, pressed down more….by the 10th day things were really getting good….and pretty smelly in our hallway. We checked and found that enough liquid had now been drawn out of the cabbage to cover the whole batch. At 15 days, things looked pretty good……the Missus tore off a piece and handed it to me, telling me to "eat….eat"….. With some trepidation I had a taste and you could tell it was on it's way…at which time the Missus decided that I wasn't going to drop dead and had a taste Herself. The Missus' Aunt told Her it would take 22 days….why 22 days, I haven't a clue, it just seemed so random. When we opened the crock to check at 20 days, you could just tell by the color of the liquid and cabbage that it was ready. I had a bite and….it really tasted good; I mean really good, a sour-nutty, but not too salty flavor, the texture was perfect, with a nice crunchiness to it. It doesn't have that too salty-metallic twinge of the stuff you get at the market, loaded with nitrites and other preservatives…this one is salt, cabbage, and a lot of help from mother nature.

We shared some with "YZ" who said it was plain delicious. Folks that have read our blog over the years know that I love Suan Cai Yang Rou and Chao Suan Cai….strange because I wasn't raised on the stuff, but there's just something about those dishes I love. It's a bit too hot right now to make those dishes…..but I better get on it soon……we've been just eating the suan cai straight up with various dishes like Red Cooked Chicken, it helps to cut the richness and fat….plus, we're getting the benefit of the fermentation. If we keep going at this pace, there won't be anything left to cook. Luckily, there's another crock of the stuff bubbling away in our hallway.

Strange as it seems, dishes made with suan cai have become comfort food for me. Which leads me to my question. What food items or dishes that you hadn't had until you were an adult have become comfort food for you?

Recently Consumed

February 1, 2014 mmm-yoso Cooking

Here's a quick post of stuff recently consumed in the mmm-yoso household! I hope you're having a great Lunar New Year weekend!

Mahi Mahi with a spicy red pepper and tomato sauce.

Robalo Seared in Duck Fat with a Bacon-Sweet Potato Hash and Arugula:

The warm weather has me using my smoker quite a bit.

I always smoked a couple of chicken legs, whic makes great sandwiches or BBQ Chicken Salad.

I noticed I've been eating a lot of salads recently……

I'm waiting for another cold snap so I can make chili again….

Cheese plates are always welcomed in our household…..

The Missus is not fond of hard cheeses, but I really enjoyed this Vento D'Estate, which is aged under a blanket of hay.

Anyway, that's it for now….I'll be back tomorrow with stuff I didn't make at home.

Here's Frankie greeting the day……

Sunday Sandwiches – The not worth reading edition

January 26, 2014 mmm-yoso Cooking, Sandwiches, yoso-silly

So are you actually reading this? Gotcha! Just playing around a bit with negative suggestion…..

Actually, this post is made up some odd and ends with regards to sandwiches, and you should probably come back tomorrow for something a bit better…..really!

Since you decided to stick around….here goes……

Curiosity does get the better of us at times and I'm not an exception.

I was doing my usual toilet paper/paper towel/laundry detergent/ etc, etc, run at Costco on Morena. I passed the "home of the $1.50 hot dog combo" aka the food windows and saw something new on the menu. Something I couldn't help but try.

They often test market items at this location, perhaps because Costco's Regional Headquarters are located here. So this time it was……

My curiosity got the better of me and I ordered one….purely for research purposes of course…..

Damn, this thing was huge….with a good amount of oily barbecue sauce oozing down one side. The beef was shredded like a tough machaca, the sauce was fairly bland with just a mild spicy finish, the roll was hard and cold…..colder than the tasteless coleslaw.

In short, if you're after quantity over quality, this fits the bill.

I had two people email me about the Arby's Smokehouse Brisket…….so I decided to give it a shot. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, try this on for size.

One can take into consideration the comparison of the Ice Breakers container to understand the size of the sandwich.

Now let's take a look inside.

I won't go into the too sweet BBQ Sauce, the tough and fatty meat, the cold and greasy onion strings…….all for $5.69? This makes what I recently got from Bristol Farm look like I went to the French Laundry.

And yet, sometimes impulse buys work out well. During my visit to Costco, I decided to pick up one of the prime tri-tips. Seasoning with salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and some Mexican oregano, I kept my expectations low.

My goodness….this was so good.

It was basically a "hot smoke" over oak for about 1 1/2 hours and it came out juicy, tender, with a nice smoke flavor.

There ain't no excuse for tough and dry tri-tip. The only problem I see is perfecting how to keep the product thru the course of a day or two.

I also smoked some garlic which I mixed with horseradish, making a sauce for my sandwich.

If you decided to stick around and read the post; I thank you for being a really dedicated FOY (friend of yoso)! I hope you had a great weekend!

Recently Consumed: What’s in a name? Pétoncles fumés poêlés, sautes chou vert, pommes darfine – say what?

January 19, 2014 mmm-yoso Cooking, yoso-silly

Huh? Actually, just kind of playing around. This weekend I finally have some time to cook again and the Missus has me doing it with a vengeance. Her favorite dish for the weekend was this:

The fun with the name started when I decided to make Potato pancakes…….pommes darfine, hah! I really wanted a smoked infused scallop, but the problem being also getting a nice carmelization on it as well. So, like I did on a previous occasion with bluefin tuna, I got my stovetop smoker going full tilt and did a very hot smoke for 6 minutes. I then removed it from the smoker. Earlier I had rinsed, dried, and chopped collards (chou vert). Which I ended up chopping a bit thicker than a chiffonade. While the smoker was going I grated garlic and onions, squeezing out a good amount of the moisture. I then julienned the potato, seasoned, mixed together, formed and put aside. I then sauteed the collards, added grated garlic, and a dash of red win vinegar to give it that "pop". Potatoes were done next. While the potatoes were draining, I quickly seared the scallops over super high heat…….

The Missus loved it….though I'm thinking I need some sauce for this the next time….piquillo pepper based perhaps.

Anyway, I thought it would be funny to translate into French……so you could then call me "Fancy Pants prétentieux"

Pretentious Fancy Pants!

So what did you cook this weekend?