STONED SOUP

July 25, 2020

Smoked Pork Shoulder (brined)

Tips For Smoking Pork Shoulder Always choose a bone in butt. You will know when the pork shoulder is finished cooking when you can pull the bone out clean. Brine the pork butt for 24 hours. Pat dry with paper towel to allow the smoke …

Pork, The Smoker’s Corner

by Alex Gorgos

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July 25, 2020

Smoked Salsa

Non-Meats, The Smoker’s Corner

by Alex Gorgos

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July 24, 2020

Smoked Rainbow Trout

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Smoked Rainbow Trout

Smoked rainbow trout are a great and inexpensive fish to smoke. You can purchase whole rainbow trout from Costco for $3.99lb. They are about 1 1/4” a piece, which is pretty good sized. They will have to be brined for about 3 hours. Once brined, pat them dry inside and out. You can smoke them whole, or you can remove the heads and backbone, have them butterflied open flat, and smoke them that way. They will take no more than 2 hours to smoke if done headless and boneless; about 3 hours if done whole. Using a probe thermometer, internal temp should read 160 degrees.

Prep Time10

Cook Time2

Brining Time3

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Snack

Keyword: appetizer, electric smoker, fish, main course, snack

Author: Alex Gorgos

Equipment

Electric Smoker

Ingredients

5 whole rainbow trout cleaned and gutted

Brine

4 cups water
1/4 cup sea salt
1/4 cup brown sugar

Wood Chips

applewood chips
cherrywood chips

Instructions

Mix the brine ingredients together.
Wash the rainbow trout inside and out.
Brine the rainbow trout for 2-3 hours.
When ready to smoke, pat the rainbow trout dry inside and out with paper towels. Place on the smoker racks.
Preheat your electric smoker to 225 degrees according to the manufacturer’s directions. Smoke the rainbow trout for 2-3 hours. For ones 1lb and under, 2 hours is plenty. Ones over 1lb, smoke for up to 3 hours. The internal temp should be at 160 degrees.

Tips For Smoking Rainbow Trout

Brine the rainbow trout for 3 hours. It takes a little more time for the brine to penetrate whole fish.
Pat the rainbow trout dry inside and out with paper towels. This allows the smoke to stick to the fish.
You can smoke the fish whole, or you can remove the head and backbone, butterflying it open and smoking it open-faced flat.
Smoking the rainbow trout whole will take about 3 hours at 225 degrees. Smoking the rainbow trout headless and boneless will take about 2 hours at 225 degrees.
Applewood, cherrywood, alder, and cedar are great woods for smoking fish.
Since we want smoked fish cooked all the way through, smoke to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

Smoker, main course, fish — To make a smoked rainbow trout spread: mix together 1 rainbow trout picked of bones, 4oz of cream cheese, 3 minced garlic cloves, 1/4 cup chopped white onion, 3 chopped green onion, 2 tbsp parmesan cheese, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/2, tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper.

Fish and Seafood, The Smoker’s Corner

by Alex Gorgos

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July 23, 2020

Smoked Tofu

Tips For Smoking Tofu Extra firm tofu works best since it has the least amount of liquid. Wrap the blocks of tofu in multiple layers of paper towels and press for 30 minutes. Marinate the tofu for 2 hours. Pat the tofu dry with paper …

Non-Meats, The Smoker’s Corner

by Alex Gorgos

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July 23, 2020

String Beans with Smoked Tofu

Chinese, East Asian, Recipes

by Alex Gorgos

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July 23, 2020

Smoked Steelhead

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Smoked Steelhead

Steelhead trout are anadromous fish, meaning that they can go in and out of saltwater to freshwater, much like salmon; the exact opposite for it’s relative, the rainbow trout. Steelhead can get up to 55lbs and almost 4 feet in length. They are indigenous to fresh and ocean waters of North America, but have been introduced to every other continent with an exception of Antarctica. Steelhead migrate and spawn during the summer and winter months.

Steelhead smokes the exact same way salmon does. It tastes really close to salmon; maybe a little stronger in flavor. I made a simple brine of water, sea salt, and brown sugar. The steelhead only needs 2 hours of brining. Anymore, the fish will be too salty. I cut my steelhead fillet into 6 pieces; each about 8 oz. Once they are done brining, place on a rack and pat dry with paper towels. The smoke won’t stick to the fish if they are wet. They are ready to smoke as is. If you want any extra seasoning on them, do so now. I made one with black pepper, one with gochugaru, and brushed honey on the tail piece.

Preheat you electric smoker to the manufacturer’s directions. Some people like to smoke their fish at a lower temp for a longer time(180-200 degrees for up to 4 hours). Others do higher temps for shorter amount of time(200-225 degrees for 2 -3 hours). I kept my electric smoker between 200-225 degrees. I used apple and cherrywood, but alderwood and cedar are also good choices. You will want to use a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temp. 145 degrees is the recommended internal temp for fish. But I want the steelhead to be cooked all the way through, so I set my thermometer at 160 degrees. It took almost 2 1/2 hours to smoke. Once the internal temp is reached, remove from the smoker. Refrigerate once cooled.

Prep Time15

Cook Time2

Brining Time2

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Snack

Keyword: appetizer, electric smoker, fish, main course, snack

Author: Alex Gorgos

Equipment

Electric Smoker

Ingredients

1 side steelhead cut into 6 pieces

Brine

4 cups water
1/4 cup sea salt
1/4 cup brown sugar

Wood Chips

applewood
cherrywood

Instructions

Mix the brining ingredients together.
Give the steelhead fillet a rinse.
Cut into 6-8 pieces, depending on how big you want them.
Place in a gallon sized storage bag with the brine. Squeeze out as much air as possible. Brine for 2 hours.
Take out of the brine and place on a rack. Pat dry with paper towels. They are ready to smoke as is. If you want to add additional seasoning or glazes to the steelhead, do so. I have 3 plain, 1 black pepper, 1 gochugaru, and 1 brushed with honey in the picture.
Preheat your smoker to 200 degrees. Place the steelhead in the smoker. The pieces I have are fairly thick and took 2 hours to smoke. The internal temp for fish consumption is 145 degrees. It is best to have a probe thermometer to monitor the temp. Since I wanted the steelhead cooked all the way through, I smoked it to 160 degrees internal temp.

Tip for smoking steelhead

Brine the fish for 2 hours maximum. Any more then that, your steelhead will be too salty.

Pat the steelhead dry with paper towels before smoking. This will allow the smoke to stick to the fish.

There are 2 ways you can smoke your steelhead: low and slow(180-200 degrees for up to 4 hours) or high and fast(200-225 degrees for 2-3 hours).
Since you want smoked fish to be cooked all the way through, use a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temp. You want the smoked steelhead to read 160 degrees internally.
Applewood, cherrywood, alderwood, and cedar are all great woods to use for smoking.

Fish and Seafood, The Smoker’s Corner

by Alex Gorgos

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July 22, 2020

Cheese Buldak (Korean Fire Chicken)

East Asian, Korean, Recipes

by Alex Gorgos

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July 21, 2020

Hunan Chicken

Chinese, East Asian, Recipes

by Alex Gorgos

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July 21, 2020

Spinach and Peanut Salad

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Spinach and Peanut Salad

Spinach and peanut salad is a popular cold appetizer served in China. It is a combination of 2 other cold appetizers, vinegar peanuts and Chinese style spinach salad; both using the same gingery vinegar dressing.

When cooking the spinach, bring a pot of water to boil. Blanch the spinach for 2 minutes. Put the spinach in an ice bath to stop them from cooking. Shocking the spinach in ice water also preserves the green color of the spinach. Once the spinach is cool, squeeze out all of the water. You may have wondered why I used a lb of spinach for and appetizer for 2. 1lb of spinach yields an amount smaller than a baseball once squeezed. It cooks down that much, but the flavor is highly concentrated.

To cook the peanuts, heat them up in cold oil over medium heat. If you were to toss the peanuts in hot oil, they would burn quickly. The good thing is that the peanuts don’t absorb any of the oil starting out in cold. Letting them cool afterwards will crisp them up. After that, mix the peanuts with the spinach and pour the dressing over. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: appetizer, Chinese, East Asian, salad, side dish, vegan

Servings: 2

Author: Alex Gorgos

Ingredients

1 lb baby spinach
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup raw peanuts
2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp ginger minced
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar

Garnish

1 tsp white sesame seeds

Instructions

Bring a pot of water to boil. Toss in the spinach. Blanch for 2 minutes.
Strain the spinach in a colander. Place in an ice bath to stop the spinach from cooking.
Squeeze out all of the excess water from the spinach. Roughly chop and place in a bowl.
Heat up the raw peanuts in a small skillet in cold oil over medium heat. Constantly stir for 5 minutes until the peanuts are browned. Remove from the pan and let cool.
Mix together the black vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, and salt in a bowl.
Mix together the peanuts and spinach. Pour the dressing over. Garnish with sesame seeds.