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Smoked Char Siu Baby Back Ribs
Smoked Char Siu Baby Back Ribs
This recipe is another reason why we need to legalize marijuana federally, if not globally. Without it, I might not have came up with this concept. Char siu is my absolute favorite. So why not marinate ribs in char siu marinade and smoke them? It happened. All I can say is that this might be my favorite way to prepare ribs. It’s rather simple to do. It will take some patience since it’s really a 3 day process if marinating, 1 day of drying, and the next day to smoke. If you don’t have a smoker, you can bake these in the oven at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours, wrapped in foil. Then place the ribs under the broiler, brushing the ribs with the cooked marinade every 3 minutes until the top side is browned.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 2 racks baby back ribs
Marinade
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 3 tbsp honey + 1 extra tbsp for glazing
- 3 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 3 red bean curd cubes + 2 tbsp of liquid
- 1 1/2 tbsp five spice powder
- 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 3 garlic cloves minced
Wood Chips
- 1/2 cherrywood
- 1/2 applewood
Instructions
- Mix all of the marinade ingredients together.
- Place the baby backs in a gallon sized storage bag. Pour in all of the marinade. Marinate for 3 days; flipping the bag over a couple of times a day.
- After the ribs have marinated, place on a rack and let dry out in the refrigerator for a day. Save the marinade. Let sit at room temp for 1 hour prior to smoking.
- Place the ribs in a preheated 250 degree electric smoker.
- Simmer the saved marinade with an extra tbsp of honey for 10minced until reduced. At the 2 hour mark of smoking, brush a layer of the marinade on the racks of ribs. Smoke for another hour, brushing another layer of the marinade on the ribs. Some for 1 more hour.
- Let the ribs rest for !5 minutes before serving.
Nasi Goreng
Nasi Goreng
Nasi goreng is Indonesian-style fried rice. The main flavor component of this dish comes from kecap manis, which is a sweet soy sauce. It is syrupy in consistency and not very salty. As the rice cooks in the kecap manis, it caramelizes. The fried rice is garnished with fried shallots, green onions, and is topped off with a fried egg.
Ingredients
- 6 oz boneless skinless chicken breast or protein of your choice; thinly sliced
Rice
- 2 tbsp shallot oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 red chili finely chopped
- 1 small onion chopped
- 3 cups cooked day old rice
- 3 tbsp kecap manis
- 2 tsp shrimp paste
- fried eggs 1 per serving
Garnish
- fried shallots
- green onions chopped
Instructions
- Heat up a 1/4 cup of vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté the shallots until crispy. Drain on paper towel.
- Using 2 tbsp of the shallot oil, sauté the garlic and chilies for a few seconds until aromatic.
- Add in the onion and sauté for 1 minute.
- Add in the chicken. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring in 1 tbsp of kecap manis.
- Stir in the rest of the kecap manis and shrimp paste.
- Stir in the rice; making sure all the grains are evenly coated. Cook for 2 minutes.
Birria Enchiladas
Birria Enchiladas
I had previously made birria tacos and made way more than I needed. So I froze down the leftovers for later use, which led me to now: behold the birria enchilada. The leftover meat was put into a corn tortillas with chunks of mozzarella, then bathed in the birria broth. I topped it off with more cheese and baked it for 20 minutes until the cheese was bubbly. Easily the best enchiladas I’ve ever eaten.
Servings: 12 enchiladas
Ingredients
- 2 lbs birria meat
- 2 cups birria broth
- 12 corn tortillas pan fried for 1 minute to make pliable
- 8 oz block mozzarella cheese cut into 12 equal wedges
- 4 oz monterey jack cheese shredded
Garnish
- white onion finely chopped
- avocado sliced
Instructions
- Place 2 heaping tbsp of birria meat across the center of a corn tortilla. Top with a chunk of mozzarella cheese.
- Tightly roll up the enchilada. This recipe yields 12 enchiladas.
- Place all of the enchiladas seam side down in a 9×13 glass baking dish.
- Pour the birria broth over the enchiladas.
- Top with more cheese.
- Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.
Birria Tacos
Over the last 6 months, there has been a huge trend in the Mexican culinary world. All of a sudden, every Mexican restaurant is carrying birria tacos. So what is a birria taco? Birria originated from the Mexican state of Jalisco; also home of pozole and menudo. It all started with caldo de birria, a meat stew in a pepper broth. Traditionally goat and lamb are used, but beef can be substituted. I used a combination of all 3 meats. Corn tortillas are dipped in the birria broth, then assembled with the meat, onions, and cilantro. The tacos are folded over and grilled on a griddle until they are crispy. The tacos are served with a side of the birria broth to dip the taco in; just like a French dip sandwich. I chose to use an Instant Pot to make the birria. It only took 90 minutes to prepare. You can make this in a Dutch oven or a crockpot if you don’t have a pressure cooker. It will take anywhere from 4-6 hours to get the meat tender enough to shred. Either process will get you the same results.
Servings: 24 tacos
Equipment
- food processor
- instant pot
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs beef chuck cubed
- 1 beef shank
- 1 1/2 lbs bone in goat shoulder cubed
- 1 lamb shank
- 3 dried ancho chilies
- 6 dried guajillo chilies
- 3 roma tomatoes
- 1/2 medium white onion sliced
- 6 garlic cloves
- 4 whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1/2 tsp marjoram
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- salt to taste
- 2 cups water
- corn tortillas softened
Garnish
- white onion finely chopped
- cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Dry toast the dried peppers in a sauté pan over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Place the peppers in a bowl of hot water for 20 minutes.
- Dry toast the cumin seeds, cloves, and cinnamon stick for 2 minutes. Remove from the pan.
- Dry toast the tomatoes, onions, and garlic for 10 minutes.
- Place the rehydrated roast peppers, tomatoes, onion, garlic, whole spices(except the cinnamon stick), oregano, marjoram, vinegar, and salt in a blender.
- Purée until smooth.
- Arrange all of the meat in a glass baking dish.
- Pour the sauce from the blender over the meat. Cover with foil and marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
- Place all of the meat and sauce in the Instant Pot along with 2 cups of water. Toss in the cinnamon stick. Turn the function to pressure cook on high for 90 minutes. Put on the cover and push start.
- Remove all of the meat and bones from the Instant Pot.
- Keep all of the birria juice warm.
- Pick out all of the bones from the meat. Place the meat in a large sauté pan over medium high heat.
- Cook down the meat until the majority of the liquid has evaporated.
Birria Taco Assembly
- Dip the softened corn tortillas in the birria juice.
- Top the tortillas with the meat, onion, and cilantro.
- Place the tacos on a griddle over medium high heat. Fold the tacos over.
- Grill the tacos for 3-4 minutes a side until the tortillas are crispy.
