Tag: noodles
Filipino-Style Spaghetti
Filipino-Style Spaghetti
I have to say, when I first learned about this recipe, I was kind of turned off. Hotdogs in a bolognese sauce??? Banana ketchup??? What high ass would come up with such a thing? I was really curious about how this would taste. So I kept an open mind and prepared it. Hands down this is one of the best spaghetti sauces I’ve ever eaten. The sauce is a lot sweeter than traditional Italian bolognese from the banana ketchup. The hotdogs add a smokey, salty, porkiness that is so necessary to the flavor. Give this recipe a try. Seriously, some of the best comfort food that I’ve had in a long time.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 Filipino hotdogs sliced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 bell pepper diced
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 1 cup banana ketchup
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1 tbsp sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lb dry spaghetti noodles cooked
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Sauté the Filipino hotdogs for 4 minutes. Set aside.
- Sauté the onions, garlic, and bell peppers for 5 minutes.
- Add in the ground beef, breaking up all of the clumps. Brown for 8 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, banana ketchup, beef stock, sugar, salt, and pepper. Simmer covered over medium heat for 30 minutes.
- Add back in the hotdogs. Simmer for another 10 minutes.
Jjajangmyun (Korean Noodles with Black Bean Sauce)
Jjajangmyun (Korean Noodles in Black Bean Sauce)
Jjajangmyun has its roots in Chinese cuisine. You may have seen it on Chinese menus as chicken in black bean sauce. The main difference between the Chinese and Korean versions is that the Korean jjajangmyun is typically sweeter due to the addition of sugar.So what is black bean paste? In Asian cuisine, black bean paste isn’t made from black beans, but fermented soy beans and carmel color. The Korean version of this paste is bitter and is sweetened with sugar. The paste is the essential ingredient in black bean garlic sauce, which is pretty much the base of jjajangmyun.Preparing jjajangmyun is fairly simple. You can use either pork or chicken for the protein. Pork shoulder and chicken thigh will work the best. A little bit of fat is necessary in this dish. Once the sauce is finished, it is ladled over Korean jjajang noodles. It is then topped off with a fried egg. If you don’t have noodles, you can put this over steamed rice; A.K.A. jjajangbap.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 lb pork shoulder 1” cubes
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 3 green onions chopped
- 2 tbsp ginger minced
- 1/2 cup black bean paste
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1/4 head green cabbage chopped
- 1/3 cup rice wine
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 4 tbsp of cold water
- 2 portions jjajang noodles
- fried eggs
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan or wok over high heat. Sauté the pork shoulder for 3 minutes.
- Stir in the green onion, garlic, and ginger. Sauté for 2 minutes.
- Stir in the black bean paste. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add in the cabbage and onions. Cook for 3 minutes.
- Add in the cooking wine. Cook until the liquid has evaporated. Then add in the chicken stock and sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
- While the pork and black bean sauce is simmering. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the jjajang noodles, boiling for 6-7 minutes. Drain and run under cold water.
- The last minute of cooking, stir in the slurry you made of cornstarch and water. This will thicken the sauce.
- Portion out the noodles and black bean sauce. Top with a fried egg.
BBQ Pork Rice Noodle Salad
BBQ Pork Rice Noodle Salad
There is a lot of food prep in making this Vietnamese rice noodle salad; but it pays off in the end. You will see this on just about every Vietnamese menu, served with various forms of protein. My absolute favorite is char siu bbq roast pork. You can use lemongrass marinated grilled pork or chicken, meatballs, and shrimp as well. I just recently ate this at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant, IPho by Saigon. I ordered their special and almost couldn’t finish it, it was so big. That’s saying something. It was topped with 2 types of pork, chicken, and shrimp. It was so good that I had to learn how to make it. 5 days later…
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 bunch green leaf lettuce chopped
- 8 oz rice vermicelli noodles prepare according to package
- 2 cup bean sprouts
- 1 cucumber seeded, cut into long strips
- 1 cup pickled carrots and daikon
- 1 cup fresh mint
- 2 green onions chopped
- 1/2 cup peanuts crushed
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1 1/2 lb bbq pork
Dressing
- 6 tbsp water
- 4 tbsp vinegar
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 garlic cloves thinly sliced
- 2 thai chilies thinly sliced
Instructions
- Mix all of the sauce ingredients together in a small pot. Bring to a simmer. Make sure all of the sugar is dissolved. Take off the heat and let cool.
- Assembly: Place a good handful of the leaf lettuce in the bottom of a bowl. Place about 1 cup of the rice noodles on top of the lettuce. Then arrange the ingredients around the perimeter of the bowl, with the peanuts in the middle. Pour the dressing over the top. This recipe makes 4 large servings.
Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)
If I was put on death row and asked what the last thing on Earth that I'd like to eat, my final meal, char siu would be on the top of the list. I have loved this bbq pork ever since I was a little kid. My family would order everything with bbq pork in it from the Chinese restaurant that we got take out from. I love this pork so much, I snuck some of the pork in the picture into the movie theatre in a ziplock bag.Char siu is typically made out of pork shoulder. It can be made out of pork sirloin, pork loin, or tenderloin; but they tend to be less juicy than pork shoulder. Fat is a good thing here. You will want a 3lbs. piece of boneless pork shoulder. I purchased a whole bone in shoulder and processed out the coppa roast and the flat iron, If the coppa roast was a beef cut, you'd know it as a chuck eye roast. You don't have to go to this extreme. You can use any part of the shoulder. I just happen to know how to cut these muscles out of the shoulder and use them. Cut the pork shoulder into 2" in diameter chunks with the grain. The char siu gets its color from the red bean curd. If you've ever seen this pork really red, the color will be coming from red food coloring. But I want to avoid food coloring as much as possible. The red color in the bean curd comes from a natural fungus. This pork needs to marinate for at least 3 days.When ready to cook the pork, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Yes, 400 degrees. Normally when you think of cooking pork shoulder, you cook it low and slow. Not here. It will be tender. Trust me. I was skeptical the first time I tried making this. Roast this for 15 minutes. Pull it out of the oven and brush on the glaze. Roast for 7 minutes. You want to do this for 3 times total. The honey will caramelize the outside while the bean curd juice will give it a nice red color. Once done roasting, let sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs boneless pork shoulder
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 3 red bean curd cubes + 2 tbsp liquid
- 1 1/2 tbsp Chinese 5 spice powder
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
- 3/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
Pork Glaze
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp red bean curd liquid
- 1 tbsp cooked marinade
Instructions
- Take a 3lb. piece of pork shoulder and cut it into a few long chunks with the grain. Each piece should be around 2″ in diameter. In this picture, I cut out the coppa roast and the flat iron. The coppa roast is the center muscle of the shoulder. If this was beef, you’d know it as a chuck eye roast.
- Mix together the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, red bean curd cubes and liquid, 5 spice powder, honey, cooking, wine, white pepper, sesame, oil, and garlic cloves. Mash the bean curds into a paste. Mix everything thoroughly.
- Add the pork shoulder pieces and the marinade to a gallon sized ziplock bag. Marinate for 72 hours. Turn the bag over every 12 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lay the pork shoulder pieces on a rack onto of a foil covered baking sheet. Add a couple cups of water to the baking sheet to prevent smoking. Roast the pork for 15 minutes.
- While the pork is roasting, mix together honey, red bean curd liquid, and some of the marinade. Make sure to cook the marinade in the microwave for a few seconds before mixing in. Now you have your pork glaze.
- After the first 15 minutes of roasting, take the pork out of the oven and brush on the pork glaze. Don’t worry about getting the bottom. Put the pork back in the oven and roast for 7 minutes. Repeat this step 2 more times, for a total of 3 glazes.
- After the final glazing and roasting, let the pork rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Pickled Carrots and Daikon
These pickled carrots and daikon are used as a topping for banh mi sandwiches. Sweet and vinegary with a nice crunch. These are good in your refrigerator for up to a month.
Ingredients
- 6 oz carrots cut into large matchstick sized pieces
- 6 oz daikon cut into large matchstick sized pieces
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Cut your carrots and daikon into large matchstick sized pieces.
- Place them in a bowl with 2 tsp of sugar and 1 tsp salt. Let sit for 5 minutes. Liquid will start to pool at the bottom. Rinse in cold water and pat dry.
- Mix together the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar until dissolved.
- Place the carrots and Daikon in a mason jar. Pour in the brine. Let pickle for a day before use.
