Tag: ingredients
Sri Lankan Roasted Curry Powder
Sri Lankan Roasted Curry Powder
Sri Lankan roasted curry powder is the base of so many Sri Lankan curries. It is specifically used in curries that contain proteins like beef, pork, lamb, and chicken. It can also used in vegetarian curries. If you want to use the curry powder for fish and seafood, don’t toast any of the spices. Dry toasted spices are too strong for aquatic protein and will overpower the flavor.
Equipment
- Spice grinder
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp coriander seeds
- 3 tbsp cumin seeds
- 2 tbsp black peppercorns
- 2 tbsp basmati rice
- 1 tbsp black mustard seeds
- 3 tsp whole cloves
- 2 tsp green cardamom seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
Instructions
- Dry toast the rice in a nonstick pan over medium heat for 3 minutes.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients. Toast for 5 minutes; continuously moving the pan to keep the spices from burning. Let cool completely.
- Grind to a powder in a spice grinder.
Ramen Chasu Pork
Ramen Chasu Pork
Tonkatsu ramen is my absolute favorite of all the varieties of ramen that are out there. The pork belly is my favorite part of the tonkatsu. The outer skin is crispy while the center of the pork belly rainbow is butter tender. Yes, my butter is tender.While there are many steps to make the chasu pork, it is still fairly easy to make. You can use skin-on or skinless pork belly. There is no wrong. I was only able to get skinless, so that’s what we’re going with. You will need at least a 4lb piece of pork belly. It does sound like a lot, but it is going to shrink almost by half after the braising. Place the belly fat side down and roll it up tight. Using butcher’s twine, tie the very center of the roll to hold it in place. Then tie 4 more ties around the belly on each side of the center tie; about every 1” or so.To cook the pork belly, sear it on all sides in a large Dutch oven. Pour in soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, ginger, garlic, and green onions. Bring it to a boil, uncovered. Then place a cover on the pot. Simmer for 90 minutes, turning the belly every 20 minutes to evenly flavor the chasu pork. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for an additional 30 minutes. Remove the belly from the pot. Let cool completely. Strain out the ginger, garlic, and green onions from the sauce and discard. Place the chasu pork in a gallon sized storage bag with 1 cup of the strained sauce. Refrigerate for 1 day before slicing. This step can not be skipped. This will allow the pork to keep it’s shape when sliced. Use the rest of the sauce as the tare sauce for your ramen. Tare sauce adds another dimension of flavor to your tonkatsu ramen.Chasu pork is also great to use in gua bao pork buns.
Equipment
- Butchers Twine
Ingredients
- 4 lb pork belly
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cups soy sauce
- 1 1/2 cups mirin
- 1 1/2 cups sake
- 1/4 lb ginger sliced in half
- 2 heads garlic sliced in half
- 6 green onions
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Place your pork belly skin side down on a cutting board.
- Roll up your pork belly tight. Using butcher’s twine, tie up the pork belly in the very center of the roll.
- Tie up the pork belly every inch or so; at least 4 times on each side of the center tie.
- Heat up the cooking oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Brown the tied up pork belly on all sides for 10-12 minutes in total.
- Mix together the sugar, soy sauce, mirin, and sake. Pour into the Dutch oven. Add in the ginger, garlic, and green onions. Bring to a boil uncovered.
- Place a cover on the Dutch oven. Simmer for 90 minutes, turning every 20 minutes in the sauce.
- Refuce the heat to medium low and continue simmering for 30 more minutes.
- Take the pork belly out of the pot and let cool.
- Strain the sauce of the ginger, garlic, and green onions.
- Place the pork belly in a gallon sized storage bag with 1 cup of the strained sauce. Place in the refrigerator for 24 hours before use.
- Save the rest of the sauce. This is now the tare sauce for the ramen.
Hickory Applewood Smoked Bacon
Hickory Applewood Smoked Bacon
BACON!!! One of the 3 super meats from my favorite animal, the pig. What are super meats? Bacon, sausage, and ham as far as I’m concerned. Bacon is made out of curing and smoking pork belly. If you are looking for the best price on bellies and want to make a lot of bacon, Costco is the place to go. Whole bellies are $2.99lb. They average between 8-10lbs. A basic cure for bacon will consist of salt, sugar, and pink curing salts, plus whatever other seasonings that you may want to flavor with. The pink curing salts are necessary. Skipping this ingredient will give you smoked pork belly and not bacon. If you are concerned about consuming nitrites, fuck right off then. Go shop at Whole Foods you bloody cunts. The belly will need to be dry rubbed and let to cure in gallon sized storage bags for 1 week. You will need to flip the bag each day while the belly cures to redistribute the marinating juices in the bag. After curing for a week, the bellies will need to dry out for 1 day in the refrigerator.When ready to smoke, let the bellies rest at room temp for an hour. Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. You can use really any type of wood for smoking bacon. I chose to use a combination of hickory and applewood. Once preheated, throw in your bellies and reduce the smoking heat to 225 degrees. Using a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature, smoke the bellies until they reach 150 degrees internal temp. This will take around 3 hours, give or take. Take the bellies out of the smoker and let cool completely. Refrigerate the bacon for a day before slicing. The bacon will keep in the refrigerator for a week and up to 6 months in the freezer.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- 8-10 lbs skinless pork belly
Curing Spices
- 9 tbsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 6 tbsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp paprika
- 3 tsp pink curing salts
Wood Chips
- hickory wood chips
- applewood chips
Instructions
- Mix together the curing spices.
- Pat dry the whole pork belly.
- Cut the belly in half. Rub the entire belly with the curing spices.
- Place in gallon sized storage bags. Cure in the refrigerator for 7 days. Flip the bags everyday.
- After the bellies have cured for a week, take out of the storage bags. Place on a rack on a baking pan in the refrigerator. Let the bellies dry out for a day before smoking.
- When ready to smoke, let the bellies sit out at room temperature for an hour. Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees according to the manufacturer’s directions. Once it reaches that temp and the wood chips are smoking, throw the bellies in the smoker and turn the temp down to 225 degrees.
- Using a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature, smoke the bellies until they reach 150 degrees. This will take around 3 hours, give or take.
- Let cool completely before refrigerating.
- Refrigerate for 1 day before slicing.
- Slice your bacon to the desired thickness of your liking. I slice mine at 1/8”.
Tips For Smoking Bacon
- Pat your pork belly dry before dry rubbing.
- Do not skip adding the pink curing salts to the dry rub. Without them, you will just have smoked pork belly and not bacon.
- Store and cure the bellies in gallon sized storage bags. Cure for a week, flipping the bags everyday to redistribute the marinating juices.
- After 1 week of curing, let the bellies dry out in the refrigerator for 1 day.
- Let the bellies rest at room temperature for an hour before smoking.
- Any type of wood will work for smoking bacon. Whatever you choose will help determine that bacon’s flavor.
- Smoke the bellies at 225 degrees until they reach an internal temperature of 150 degrees. This will take around 3 hours of smoking.
- Let the bacon cool completely before refrigerating.
- Refrigerate for 1 day before slicing.
