Tag: appetizer
Korean style Pork Meatballs
Korean style Pork Meatballs
Korean meatballs are typically pan fried instead of being baked. Since these meatballs are rolled in cornstarch, they develop a nice crust that also helps thicken the glaze that they are finished off in. I chose to make all pork meatballs. You can use half beef, or all beef if you’d like. Either are delicious.
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 lb. ground pork
- 6 shittake mushroom caps finely chopped
- 2 green onion finely chopped
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup corn starch for dredging
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Meatball Glaze
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp cooking wine
- 3 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp corn syrup
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 3 garlic cloves thinly sliced
- 3 slices of ginger
Garnish
- 2 tbsp ground peanuts
- 1 tsp gochugaru pepper flakes
Instructions
- Mix all meatballs ingredients together except the cornstarch and cooking oil.
- Make sure all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
- Dredge the meatballs in corn starch.
- Set aside.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add in the meatballs.
- Sauté the meatballs for 7-8 minutes, making sure that all sides are browned. They do not have to be cooked all of the way through yet, as they will finish off in the glaze.
- In a mortar and pestle, crush the peanuts and gochugaru together. Set aside.
- In the same pan, add all of the sauce ingredients. Bring to a simmer.
- Add the meatballs back into the glaze.
- Cook for another 5-6 minutes until the glaze has thickened. Garnish with the peanut/gochgaru mix.
Jamaican Jerk Skewers
Jamaican Jerk Skewers
Want a quick and easy appetizer? Well this is it. Here is a good example of the versatility of the Jamaican Jerk marinade. I made 3 different skeweres in this recipe: pork, chicken, and shrimp.For the chicken, I used boneless skinless thighs. You can definitely use chicken breast if you want. Just my personal preferance. For the pork, I used pork sirloin. Pork loin or tenderloin are also suitable substitutes to use. For the shrimp, I used 21-25 count. For maximum flavor, the pork and chicken should marinate overnight. Shrimp doesn't need to marinate for more than 15 minutes.If you would prefer to grill these, please do. They will take about the same time on a hot charcoal grill.
Ingredients
- boneless skinless chicken thighs
- pork sirloin
- shrimp peeled and deveined
- Jamaican jerk marinade
Instructions
- Slice the pork sirloin into 1/4" thick slices.
- Marinate the pork sirloin slices overnight.
- Cut the boneless skinless chicken thighs into thirds length wise.
- Marinate the boneless skinless chicken thighs overnight.
- Marinate the shrimp for 15 minutes.
- Set your oven to broil. Skewer up all of the pork, chicken, and shrimp. Make sure that our skewers were saoking in water for at least 30 minutes to prevent burning.
- Put the skewers on a rack on a baking sheet lined with foil.
- The chicken skewers will take 7-8 minutes a side.
- The pork skewers with take 6 minutes a side. The shrimp skewers take 3-4 minutes a side.
Chicken Wing Shawarma
Chicken Wing Shawarma
When you think of shawarma, you typically think of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern meats roasting upright on a spit. When chicken is being used, the marinade ususally consists of yogurt and lemon juice with spices such as cumin, paprika, coriander, turmeric, and cloves. In this African version of shawarma, the spices used are white pepper, nutmeg, coriander, smoked paprika, and thyme. This marinade just happens to be great on chicken wings. The yogurt and lemon juice act as a natural tenderizer as well as adding a richness to the chicken; much the same way as marinating your chicken in buttermilk before it's breaded and fried. Plus, these wings are baked instead of being fried. Shawarma wings are great on the grill, taking about 20-25 minutes, turning every 3-4 minutes or so to prevent burning.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken wings halved, tips removed
- 3 tsp lemon juice
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp chicken bouillon
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
Instructions
- Mix all of the marinade ingredients together. Marinate the chicken wings in a gallon size ziplock bag for at least 4 hours, preferaby overnight.
- When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the wings on a rack on a baking sheet lined with foil.
- Bake the chicken wings for 40 minutes, flipping the wings after the first 20 minutes.
