Tag: East Asian
Mayak Eggs
Mayak Eggs
Mayak eggs are soft or hard boiled eggs marinated in sweet/salty/spicy marinade. They are always served over steamed rice, with generous amounts of the marinade spooned over the eggs.
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs room temperature
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup corn syrup
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 3 green onions chopped
- 1 green chili chopped
- 1 red chili chopped
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Add the room temp eggs to a pot of boiling water. Boil for 5-6 minutes for a runny yolk. 8-10 minutes for a hard yolk.
- Run the eggs under cold water. Add ice cubes to help stop the cooking time.
- Mix together the soy sauce, corn syrup, and water.
- Stir in the Thai chilies, garlic, and green onion.
- Peel the eggs. Pour the marinade over the eggs in a container. Let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
- Put 2 eggs over some steamed rice.
- Carefully cut the eggs in half. Spoon over the marinade. Garnish with sesame seeds.
Dakbal (Korean-Style Chicken Feet)
Dakbal (Korean-Style Chicken Feet)
Chicken feet are meant for people who like to strip meat to the bone. That’s the only reason I can think of why anyone would eat these. I’m definitely one of those people. You can find chicken feet at pretty much every Asian market for around $2lb. They still have the nails attached, so they need to be clipped. Take a chef’s knife and simply cut off the first digit. Not only are they great to eat as a spicy appetizer, they are great for making chicken stock. It is really important to wash and massage the chicken feet in either vodka, soju, or milk and coarse Korean salt. This will help rid the feet of any excess blood and other impurities. This step should not be skipped. After this process, the chicken feet need to be steamed for 1 hour. While they are steaming, prepare the sauce in a food processor. As soon as the feet are done, transfer to a bowl. Pour the sauce over the hot feet. Make sure that they are evenly coated. Cover and let cool completely. Let marinade for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. There are 3 options to finish cooking the chicken feet. They can either be grilled, broiled, or even pan fried. They will take about 4-5 minutes a side on a grill or in a broiler and about 10 minutes in a large oiled sauté pan over medium high heat. I think they are best grilled or broiled. I like to have a char on the feet. Drizzle with sesame oil and garnish with chopped green onions and sesame seeds.
Equipment
- steamer basket
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken feet nails clipped
- 2 tbsp coarse Korean salt
- 1/2 cup vodka, soju, or milk
Sauce
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2” ginger minced
- 1-10 Thai chilies finely chopped
- 2 tbsp gochugaru
- 1 tbsp gochujang
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Garnish
- sesame oil
- sesame seeds
- green onion chopped
Instructions
- Clip the nails and wash the chicken feet.
- Cover with vodka and coarse salt. Massage the feet with the vodka/salt mix for a minute. Let sit for 20 minutes. Rinse the feet.
- Line a steamer basket with parchment paper. Add the chicken feet.
- Steam for 1 hour.
- While the feet are steaming, add all of the sauce ingredients to a food processor. Purée.
- In a large bowl, add the sauce to the hot chicken feet. Mix thoroughly. Cover and let completely cool. Let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Turn on your oven’s broiler. Place a rack on a baking sheet lined in foil. Line up the chicken feet. Broil for 4-5 minutes a side.
- Drizzle sesame oil over the chicken feet. Garnish with sesame seeds and chopped green onion.
Chinese Pork Belly Bun
Chinese Pork Belly Bun
Pork belly buns are one of my favorites. There are many different kinds from many Asian countries. This particular version is from the Xi’an province of China where the pork belly is served on more of a flatbread type of bun, instead of the typical steamed bun varieties that you may be used to seeing. They are traditionally topped with chopped bell peppers and cilantro with a little chili oil. I used shredded cabbage, shallots, and green onion in addition to the peppers and cilantro.There are 2 routes you can go with braising the pork belly: skin-on or skinless. Both are great. Having the skin on does generate a little more grease to the pork, but that can be spooned out. Other then that, the rest of the braising process is pretty straight forward. Towards the end, your should have about 1 cup of the braising liquid left.The flatbreads only have 3 ingredients: flour, yeast, and room temperature water. Mix them together, knead for a couple of minutes, and let rise for 25-30 minutes in a plastic wrap covered bowl. If your a glutton such as myself, you can portion out the dough into 8 equal pieces. But they are typically a little smaller then that, so 10 equal portions is good too. Roll them out into 1”4 thick discs. They take 3-4 minutes a side on a hot oiled griddle. Once they cool off, slice in half and top with the pork belly and the toppings of your liking.
Ingredients
Braised Pork Belly
- 3 lb skin-on pork belly
- 4 dried chili peppers
- 3 whole clove
- 1 whole nutmeg
- 1 whole star anise
- 2” cinnamon stick
- 2 slices of ginger
- 4 green onions chopped
- 1/4 cup Shaoxing cooking wine
- 1/4 cup light soy sauce
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
Flatbread
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 cup room temp water
Pork Belly Buns
- bell peppers chopped
- cabbage shredded
- shallots thinly sliced
- cilantro roughly chopped
- green onions chopped
- hot chili oil
Instructions
Braised Pork Belly
- Cut up pork belly into 1” chunks. Place in a Dutch oven, covering with enough water until it is submerged. Bring to a boil. Rub the heat to medium low. Simmer for 10 minutes. Scoop off the scum that floats to the top.
- Add in the chili peppers, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, star anise, green onions, and shaoxing wine. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add the soy sauces, sugar, salt, and cracked black pepper. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.
- Uncover. Simmer for another hour.
- You should have no more then 1 cup of braising liquid left.
Flatbreads
- Mix together the dough ingredients. Flour your hands and knead the dough for a couple of minutes.
- Cover in plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 25 minutes.
- Lightly flour your surface. Portion the dough out into 8-10 dough balls.
- Roll them out about a 1/4“ thick.
- Heat up cooking oil over medium high heat on a griddle. Toss on the flatbreads.
- Cook for 3-4 minutes a side.
Pork Bun Assembly
- Slice a flatbread in half. Scoop on a generous portion of the pork belly. Top off with chili oil, bell peppers, shredded cabbage, shallots, cilantro, and green onion.
