Tag: pork
Campechano Tacos
Campechano Tacos
This might be the most ultimate taco ever. Carne asada, chorizo or longaniza sausage, and chicharron are the meats that make up tacos campechano. Yes. 3 meats in this taco. The tacos are topped with onions, cilantro, and morita salsa; with lime wedges on the side. This taco is a sign that life is good and not to take it for granted.There are a couple options that you can use for the beef. Top sirloin, flank steak, or skirt steak are all tender enough cuts. Everyone knows what chorizo is, but most don’t know about Mexican-style longaniza; not to be confused with Filipino longanisa. Longaniza’s main flavors are from achiote paste and orange juice, giving it a citrusy flavor. Both sausages contain enough fat once rendered out to cook and flavor the steak. The last minute of cooking, serranos and chicharron are added to the campechano, giving it heat and another textured layer of porkiness.
Ingredients
- 1 lb top sirloin, flank steak, or skirt steak cut into small cubes
- 1 lb chorizo or longaniza sausage
- 2 serrano peppers finely chopped
- 1 cup chicharron crushed
- salt and pepper to taste
Tacos
- corn tortillas
- white onion chopped
- cilantro chopped
- morita salsa
Instructions
- Crumble the sausage into a large sauté pan over medium high heat.
- Brown the sausage for 6 minutes.
- Add in the beef. Continue sautéing for 3 minutes.
- Add in the chopped serranos and crumbled chicharron. Cook for 1 more minute.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Morita Chilies Salsa
Morita peppers are dried jalapeños that have been slightly smoked. They have the spiciness similar to a chipotle pepper. What’s different about this salsa is that the dried peppers and garlic are fried in olive oil then soaked in hot water for 10 minutes to further hydrate them. Then they are purred with the water they were soaked in and the oil they were fried in. This salsa reminds me of the canned chipotle abodo sauce that chipotle peppers are packed in, but less smokey in flavor.
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 12 dried morita peppers
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 cup hot water
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat up olive oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Fry the morita peppers and garlic for 2-3 minutes. The peppers will puff up. That’s when you know that they’re done.
- Scoop out the peppers and garlic and let them soak in a cup of hot water for 10 minutes.
- Add the peppers, garlic, soaking water, and the oil they fried in to a blender. Purée until smooth. Season with salt to taste.
Filipino-style Carbonara
Filipino-style Carbonara
Italian pasta carbonara consists of spaghetti cooked with pancetta, eggs, garlic, and a lot of parmesan cheese. Filipinos have adapted the recipe to fit their palate, using more bacon than anyone should eat(I actually cut the amount by half), mushrooms, onions, garlic, in a heavy cream sauce with parmesan cheese. This is the type of comfort food that will make you want to take a nap for the next week.
Ingredients
- 1 lb spaghetti prepared according to package directions
- 1 lb slab bacon diced
- 1 lb button mushrooms sliced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- salt and pepper to taste
Garnish
- parsley chopped
- parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Sauté bacon in a large sauté pan over medium heat until crispy; about 8 minutes. Remove from the pan, keeping the bacon grease.
- Sauté the onions, mushrooms, and garlic for 6 minutes. Remove from the pan.
- In the same pan, melt the butter.
- Whisk in the flour for 2 minutes to cook away the raw taste.
- Pour in the chicken stock; whisking away any lumps.
- Whisk in the heavy cream. Simmer for 5 minutes until it starts to thicken.
- Stir in parmesan cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
- Stir back in the bacon, onions, mushrooms, and garlic.
- Toss in the cooked spaghetti. Cook for 4 minutes, letting the pasta absorb some of the cream sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley and more parmesan cheese.
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.
