Tag: appetizer
Spicy Refrigerator Pickles
Add all of the ingredients into a jar, shake it up, and refrigerate for 2 days before eating.
Maryland-Style Crab Cakes
Maryland-Style Crab Cakes
Every time I go to Baltimore, I have to go to the Lexington Market and get a crab cake at Faidley’s Seafood. They’re spendy, but are considered to be some of the best crab cakes in the world. You can make crab cakes at home for a fraction of the price, all considering that good quality lump crab meat will cost you about $50 lb. But I guess getting 7-8 crab cakes for that much is better than paying $25 for just 1.
Ingredients
- 1 lb jumbo lump crab meat
- 20 saltine crackers crushed
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
- 1 tsp old bay seasoning
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Mix together the mayonnaise, egg, dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and old bay seasoning.
- Fold in the crab meat, along with the crackers and parsley.
- Form into 1/3 lb. cakes. Place on parchment paper and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Heat up 1/4” of vegetable oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Place the crab cakes into the pan.
- Fry until golden brown; about 4-5 minutes a side.
Serve the crab cakes with a remoulade sauce, spicy mayo, or tartar sauce.
Miso Marinated Pork Belly
Miso Marinated Pork Belly
In Japan, misozuke refers to the marinade being miso-based, as opposed to kasuzuke being a sake-based marinade. The natural enzymes in the miso help break down the tissue in meat, helping to tenderize. For the protein, I used thinly sliced pieces of pork belly, but you could also use thin sliced pork loin. For optimal flavor, the pork should be marinated for at least 1 day, but no more than two. There are several approaches to can go about cooking the pork. The best in my opinion is to either grill or broil. You could even pan fry the pork if you wanted. Since the pork is so thin, it will take only a couple of minutes a side to cook. My pork belly took about 4 minutes a side. Serve the pork misozuke as an appetizer or as your main course over steamed rice with a side salad to help balance out the richness.
Ingredients
- 1 lb pork belly sliced 1/4” thick or less
- 2 oz miso paste
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 tsp soy sauce
Garnish
- green onions chopped
Instructions
- Whisk together the marinade ingredients.
- Marinate the pork belly in the miso marinade for 1 day.
- Preheat your broiler. Lay the pork belly on a rack on a baking sheet lined in foil.
- Broil for 4 minutes a side. Alternatively, you can grill the pork belly over charcoal or gas for the same amount of time.
Hmong-Style Larb
Hmong-Style Larb
Larb comes in many forms and spellings. This pork salad is popular all over Southeast Asia in countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos. It is herbaceous, pungent, and has a refreshing taste. Larb is served with green leaf lettuce, eaten as a wrap. The best part of larb is the toasted rice powder that adds a slight crunch
Equipment
- Spice grinder
Ingredients
- 3/4 lb ground pork
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp ginger minced
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 lime zested and juiced
- 1 stalk lemongrass minced
- 2 Thai chilies minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 3 green onions thinly sliced
- 1 cup cilantro roughly chopped
- 1/3 cup mint
- 1 cup cucumber chopped into small cubes
- 1 drizzle sesame oil
- green leaf lettuce for serving
Toasted Rice Powder
- 1/4 cup jasmine rice
Instructions
- Add the rice to a small skillet over medium heat. Gently toast the rice for 5 minutes until it is golden brown. Allow to cool.
- Add the toasted rice to a spice grinder.
- Grind into a powder. Set aside.
- In a sauté pan, brown the pork over medium high heat for 8 minutes. Drain any grease from the pan.
- Toss all of the ingredients together in a bowl.
