Tag: main course
Pork Donkasu
Pork Donkasu
Pork Donkasu is a panko bread pork cutlet that’s fried and covered in a sweet and savory brown gravy. This is very similar to the Japanese version, pork tonkatsu. The Japanese version is simply served over shredded cabbage with a similar brown sauce. The Korean version is served with shredded cabbage with a mayo/sriracha dressing, pickles, steamed white rice with black sesame seeds, and a dinner roll. Sometimes you’ll see a side of macaroni salad. Pork donkasu are traditionally big as fuck. In order to cook properly, the pork needs to be hammered down to 1/4” thick. So if you want a giant donkasu, cut you pork loin chop to 1” thickness. Butterfly the chop so it’s 1/2” thick. Hammer it down on both sides until it is about a 1/4”. If you don’t want a giant donkasu, cut the chop to 1/2” thick and hammer it down to 1/4”. It will be about half the size of the giant donkasu. I obviously made mine the size of a dinner plate.
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless pork loin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 3 tbsp flour
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
Brown Sauce
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup onions finely diced
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup worchesterhire sauce
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 1 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tbsp sugar
Instructions
- Cut a 1lb chunk of boneless pork loin in half. Butterfly each half like so. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- With a mallet, hammer down the pork loin to 1/4” thick. As you can see in the pic, the pork has doubled its surface are compared to the one that’s not hammered.
- Hammer all over on both sides at least twice.
- Dredge each of the pork cutlets in flour.
- Dip the cutlet in the beaten egg, the the panko breadcrumbs.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Unless you have a gigantic as fuck sauté pan, you’re going to have to cook these one at a time. Cook for 4 minutes.
- Flip. Cook for another 4 minutes. Drain on paper towel.
- In a small pot over medium high heat, melt the butter. Add the onions. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add in the flour. Constantly whisk.
- Mix together in another bowl, the Worcester sauce, ketchup, chicken stock, whole milk, and sugar. Add it to the roux. Whisk for 2 minutes until it thickens.
Instead of pickles, I used some pickled shishito peppers that I made. My high ass forgot to make the rice. So I will update the pic sometime in the future. Maybe I’ll add some macaroni salad and a dinner roll? Who knows?
Lion’s Head Meatballs
Lion’s Head Meatballs
In China, there are many different versions of lion’s head meatballs. Some are braised in a soy sauce mixture; some are served in chicken broth instead of with rice. This version is browned in a sauté pan, then steamed. The meatballs turn out extremely tender and flavorful, considering a lot of the fat has been cooked out. Assembling the meatballs is quite easy, as long as you follow the steps of adding the ingredients in the specific order. The meatball mix is going to be a lot wetter than what most people are used to. Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to equally divide out the meatball mix. Gently roll them into large meatballs. If they are too wet, add a little more breadcrumbs.Since these meatballs are a lot larger then normal, they won’t cook through when they are being browned. That is all right. As long as they are browned on all sides, they will finish cooking in a steamer pot for the last 30 minutes. These meatballs can be stacked on top of each other if the steamer pot isn’t large enough to have a single layer. Serve the meatball with steamed rice.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- 4 tbsp water
- 4 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 3 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp ginger grated
- 3 green onions finely chopped
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup water chestnuts diced
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp vegeyable oil
Instructions
- Mix the ground pork with the water.
- Mix in the cooking wine, soy sauces, salt, sugar, ginger, cornstarch, and green onions.
- Mix in the eggs and water chestnuts
- Mix in the sesame oil and panko breadcrumbs.
- Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, scoop up the pork mixture and gently roll into meatballs.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Brown the meatballs for 5-6 minutes on each side.
- Bring up a large steamer pot to a boil. Line with parchment paper. Add in the meatballs. Steam covered for 30 minutes.
Five Spice Pressed Tofu
Five Spice Pressed Tofu
Tofu has become my most recent obsession. My former Meat team employees will be giving me such a hard time once they read this because in my previous career as a butcher, I talked mad shit about tofu and the people that ate it. So did the rest of my team. I promoted this type of ignorance, without ever really trying tofu. This was a butcher’s mentality. How very wrong and close minded I was. Fast forward to 2+ years later. Man, do I fucking love tofu. This is a great way to prepare it without any frying. The point of pressing is to squeeze out as much moisture as possible before braising it to add the five spice flavor. So firm or extra firm tofu is what you will want to use. The tofu will get it’s dark color from the dark soy sauce.After the braising the tofu is then baked in the oven to dry up the liquid. While it is optional, I added toppings to the tofu squares. In the same braising liquid, I added sliced mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and chopped up the ginger that was currently in there. I simmered the toppings for 10 minutes to get them infused with the liquid. Then the last 15 minutes of baking, I evenly distributed the toppings on each of the tofu squares. After they have been baked, the toppings get slightly caramelized.These tofu squares can be eaten as an appetizer or as a main course. If you aren’t going to put the toppings on, the tofu can be used as a meat substitute in various stir fries and other dishes or be eaten cold. The pressed tofu will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.
Ingredients
- 2 blocks extra firm tofu
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup dark soy sauce
- 1/4 cup shaoxing cooking wine
- 1/2 tsp five spice powder
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 5 slices ginger
Toppings (optional)
- 2 button mushrooms sliced into 4 pieces each
- 2 shallots sliced in half horizontally
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 5 ginger slices from the tofu simmer minced
Instructions
- Wrap the tofu in either cheese cloth or multiple layers of paper towel. Place on a rack on a baking sheet.
- Place a cutting board or another pan on top of the tofu. Weigh down with something heavy, like a gallon of water, cast iron pans, etc. Press the tofu for 4 hours.
- When the tofu is done being pressed, cut each brick into either 2 or 4 pieces.
- In a medium sized pot, add all of the ingredients except the tofu. Bring to a boil.
- Add the tofu and reduce to medium heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. The tofu should always be submerged on all sides.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a bak9ng sheet with parchment paper. Place each of the tofu squares on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
- While the tofu is baking, add the topping ingredients into the same braising liquid that the tofu was in. Simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes, until the toppings turn the color of the liquid.
- Take the tofu out of the oven. Flip to the other side. Take 1 slice of mushroom from the braising liquid and place on the top of each of the tofu squares. Then evenly distribute the rest of the toppings from the braising liquid to the tofu. Bake for another 15 minutes.
- When finished, the tofu should be free of an liquid. The toppings slightly caramelize.
