Tag: main course
Smoked Char Siu Pork Tenderloin
Smoked Char Siu Pork Tenderloin
I recently bought some nice pork tenderloins from my friends at Wildfork Foods and wanted to turn one of them into char siu. Then I thought, why not smoke it?! It usually my answer to all of life’s problems. Smoke it. Smoking pork tenderloin is a lot different then smoking other cuts of pork. Because the are very lean and not large, there is the risk of them being over cooked. The key is to preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Get your wood chips smoking for 10 minutes. Throw in your pork tenderloin and drop the heat to 185 degrees. This will allow a longer smoking time to absorb smoke without drying out. After the first hour, turn the heat back up to 250 degrees. Apply a layer of glaze every 15 minutes for the next 30 minutes. A 24oz pork tenderloin will take 90 minutes in total. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 1 large pork tenderloin
- 1 1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 red bean curd cubes plus 1 tbsp of juice
- 1 1/2 tbsp honey
- 3/4 tsp 5 spice powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 3/4 tsp sesame oil
Glaze
- 1 1/2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp marinade liquid
Wood Chips
- 1/2 hickory
- 1/2 cherry wood
Instructions
- Mix the marinade ingredients together.
- Marinate the pork tenderloin in a storage bag for 3 days.
- Let the pork tenderloin rest on a rack overnight before smoking. Save the marinade.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Add in your wood chips. Let smoke for 10 minutes. Throw in your pork tenderloin. Decrease the temp to 185 degrees. Smoke for 1 hour.
- While the tenderloin is smoking, heat up the honey and reserved marinade in a small saucepan until the honey has dissolved.
- Brush the tenderloin with the glaze. Increase the temp to 250. Smoke for 15 minutes. Apply another layer of glaze and smoke for 15 more minutes.
- Let the tenderloin rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
Thai Smoked Duck with Gravy
Thai Smoked Duck with Gravy
Instead of a turkey for thanksgiving, I went the duck route. I also wanted to do a Thai inspired dinner. So I made a smoked Thai duck with a rich gravy. The duck was stuffed with lemongrass, garlic, and ginger; the outside rubbed with salt, sugar, and ground ginger. The duck was smoked with hickory wood for 4 hours until the fat rendered out and the skin turned a dark golden brown.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- food processor
Ingredients
- 5-6 lb whole duck
- 3 stalks lemongrass
- 6 garlic cloves
- 3” ginger cut in half
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp sugar
Gravy
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1” ginger peeled
- 5 cilantro sprigs
- 2 tbsp fermented soybean paste
- 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp five spice powder
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
Wood Chips
- hickory
Instructions
- Season the inside cavity of the duck with salt. Stuff with lemongrass, ginger, and garlic cloves. Prick the skin all over with a knife. Rub the outside with salt, ground ginger, and sugar. Let dry out in the refrigerator overnight on a rack.
- Let your duck sit at room temperature for 2 hours before smoking. Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Throw the duck in the smoker.
- Smoke the duck for 4 hours.
- Let the duck rest for 15-20 minutes before serving.
Gravy
- Place the garlic, ginger, cilantro, white pepper, soybean paste, and 5 spice powder in a food processor.
- Process into a paste.
- Heat up a tsp of cooking oil in a small pot and sauté the paste for 2 minutes.
- Deglaze the pot with the chicken stock. Pour in the soy sauces, honey, and coconut milk. Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes until thickened.
Tilapia Stew
Tilapia Stew
Cold outside? Stuffed up? This tilapia stew is exactly what you need. The soup is full of napa cabbage, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and ginger with a sour and spicy broth flavored with lime juice, bird’s eye chilies, cumin, and mustard seeds. The soup is rounded out with tilapia for aquatic protein. It all comes together in one pot; ready in 30 minutes. Garnish with chopped herbs and more bird’s eye chilies if you want more heat.
Ingredients
- vegetable oil
- 1 medium white onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp ginger grated
- 2 red bird’s eye chilies finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 lbs tilapia fillets
- 4 roma tomatoes diced
- 1 small napa cabbage chopped
- 2 limes juiced
- 8 cups water
- salt to taste
Garnish
- parsley chopped
- cilantro chopped
- red bird’s eye chilies finely chopped
Instructions
- Heat up the oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Sauté the onions for 5 minutes.
- Add in the garlic, ginger, cumin, mustard seeds, pepper, and chilies.
- Add in the tilapia, tomatoes, napa cabbage, lime juice, water, and salt.
- Simmer for 20 minutes until the tilapia fillets flake in the soup.
