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Cantonese-Style Ground Beef Rice and Eggs
Cantonese-Style Ground Beef Rice and Eggs
In a weird way, this recipe is like a Cantonese version of shakshuka. Ground beef rice and eggs is easy to prepare and is ready in 30 minutes. None of the ingredients are out of the ordinary. You can really use any type of ground meat or vegetables of your choosing. If you don’t have rice, the stewed ground beef is great over noodles.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 medium white onion diced
- 2 tsp ginger
- 2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved into 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 4 large eggs
- white rice for serving
Sauce
- 2 cups beef stock
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
Garnish
- sesame seeds
Instructions
- Mix the sauce ingredients together. Set aside.

- Heat up the cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Brown the ground beef for 6 minutes.

- Add in the onions and ginger, cooking for 5 more minutes.

- Pour in all of the sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes.

- Add in the frozen peas.

- Mix in the cornstarch slurry. Let the sauce thicken for 2 minutes.

- Crack in the eggs. Place a cover over the pan. Simmer on medium low heat until the eggs are cooked; about 5 minutes.



Smoked Boneless Ham
Smoked Boneless Ham
Brining and smoking hams is fairly easy if you have the patience. You get to control what goes into the ham without them being overly processed. It will cost you a fraction of the price while delivering better results than any store bought ham you can find. The brine for the hams is straight forward. 1/2 gallon of water with 1/2 cup of sea salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1 1/2 tbsp of pink curing salts, plus a few other seasonings. The brine is enough for 2 sirloins. The pink curing salts are very necessary in the ham making process. Without them, you will have a smoked pork sirloin and not ham. A good rule for curing hams: cure the pork 1 day per pound to ensure that the meat is penetrated by the brine all the way through.As far as what cut of pork to use; ham is always made from the leg. Pork sirloin is your best option if you’re looking to make small boneless hams that aren’t spiral cut. You can find pork sirloins at just about every grocery store for $3/lbs or less. They all average around 3lbs for a whole one. You can definitely buy a pork leg and bone it out, but that will require a lot more work. The pork sirloins I cured brined for 3 days. Place them on a rack in the refrigerator to dry out for 1 day. Plain, basic hams can really be smoked with any type of wood; depending on the flavor that you are looking for. I smoked my hams with maple and applewood. You will need to preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Smoke the pork sirloins for 2 hours, maintaining a smoking temp between 225-250 degrees. At the 2 hour point, take the temp of the hams with a probe thermometer. Continue to smoke the hams until they reach an internal temperature of 150 degrees. Mine took an additional 30 minutes. Let them rest for a day before slicing.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- whole pork sirloins
Brine
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp pink curing salt
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 5 bay leaves
Wood Chips
- maple wood chips
- applewood chips
Instructions
- Mix all of the brining ingredients together. Place the pork sirloins in a gallon sized storage bags along with all of the brine. Brine the pork for 1 day per pound. These sirloins were 3lbs each.

- Let the pork dry out on a rack in the refrigerator for a day. Let rest for an hour at room temp before smoking.

- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Place your sirloins in the smoker.

- Smoke the pork for 2 hours. At the 2 hour mark, take the internal temperature with a probe thermometer. You want the internal temp to read 150 degrees. Both of my sirloins took an additional 30 minutes to smoke.

- Let the hams cool completely before slicing.



Smoked Pork Loin and Sirloin
Smoked Pork Loin and Sirloin
I wanted to smoke some Salvadoran inspired pork to go with my curtido and rice, so I brined a pork loin and sirloin for a day. I made a dry rub consisting of paprika, guajillo chili powder, garlic, oregano, and black pepper. The pork roasts got rubbed nicely. They were thrown into a 250 degree preheated smoker. At the 2 hour mark, I probed them with a thermometer. You want the internal temperature of pork to be 150 degrees before you pull it. It took another 15 minutes to reach that. I let the pork rest for 15 minutes before slicing.Now to compare the textures of both the loin and sirloin. The pork loin is leaner, but nothing short of juicy. The sirloin has a little more fat to it, but is still fairly lean. It turned out juicy and tender as well. Both cuts were 3lbs and took the same amount of time to smoke. You don’t even have to have a dry rub with the pork. It will be plenty flavorful from the brine. Or you can season it with any specific flavor you want.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- 3 lbs pork loin or sirloin
Brine
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 medium white onion sliced
- 1/2 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1/2 tbsp white peppercorns
- 4 bay leaves
Dry Rub
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp ground guajillo chili powder
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
Wood Chips
- hickory wood chips
- pecan wood chips
Instructions
- Mix all of the brining ingredients together. Add the pork to a gallon sized storage bag. Pour in the brine. Brine for 1 day.

- Let dry on a rack in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before smoking.

- Mix together the dry rub spices.

- Rub the pork on all sides. Let rest at room temperature for an hour before smoking.

- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees according to the manufacturer’s directions. Place the pork in the smoker and maintain the smoke for 2 hours.

- At the 2 hour mark, temp the pork with a probe thermometer. Continue to smoke until the internal temp reaches 150 degrees. It was another 15 minutes for the 3lb pork roasts.

- Let the pork rest for 15 minutes before slicing.













