Feeding Umi » pork

Stir-fry Chicken

umi — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:00:41 +0000

I was going to include this in a dinner round up I tried to do some time ago. However, I can never keep up with my “ambituous” production schedule for this blog. Meh.

One of Ryan’s go-to dishes used to be pork stir-fry. He would do a really good job, tossing them in flour, cooking them in grapeseed oil, and then glazing them in a soy and mirin reduction. Recently, after my complaint that the crispy-ness of the texture was a little rough for me, we discovered using corn starch. Seriously, this makes for the lightest crispy texture in frying anything. It left the meat still tender, and really changed the way we fry things.

Wash, pat the meat dry, and cut in bite size pieces. We’ve started using chicken, but you can use pork the same way. Toss these suckers in the corn starch. Fill a pan with oil, just enough to cover. Ryan used to meticulously fry a handful of pieces each time, but found that dumping more than that, as long as it is covered, doesn’t do any harm. So now, it’s quick and easy mid-week meal for us.

I’m in charge of the vegetable sides and the carbohydrate (rice, noodles, etc…). He usually reduces a soy-mirin mix in a pac and throws the fried pieces back in in a stir-fry.

If you like spicy, we’ve taken to using szechuan peppercorns. We take the whole peppercorns and toast 1/3 of a cup in a pan, lightly tossing them around, just until the aroma is pungent and slightly toasty. Then transfer them to a bowl (a mortar and pestle, if you have one) and grind them. Then toss them into the reduced glaze.

You can do anything with these to finish them off. Recently, being such a big fan of Sri Lankan flavors, we went to our south east asian market and bought some Sri Lankan curry powder, chili powder, etc… and finished them off with that. THAT was lovely. You can be creative.

What are your go to dinner dishes throughout the week?

Breslin’s Chef’s Table – Suckling Pork Roast

umi — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:51:09 +0000

Ever since I read about the Chef’s Table at the Breslin, I’ve wanted to give it a try. Just like the Bo Ssam at Ssam Bar. But it was hard enough to scrounge 6 people for Bo Ssam (and actually has not happened yet), but 8 people? So when the opportunity presented itself you better be sure that I took it. I think I might have hijacked my good friend Lige’s birthday party. And she’s a good friend to be kind enough to let me repurpose this for my own good. (And she’s one of my best friends so she enjoyed every bite of it.) Hah, I mean I wanted to show her a good time, but I think she might have realized later that she asked the wrong person. Our exchange kind of went like this:

Lige: What should I do for my birthday? Where should I go?
Umi: Do Bo Ssam! OMG, I always wanted to try it.
Lige: I think I’ve all ready been to Ssam Bar…
Umi: But you’ve never done the Bo Ssam! Pig Butt!
Lige: Hmmm…
Umi: Let’s do the suckling pig dinner at the BRESLIN!
Lige: I’ve been to the Ace Hotel/Breslin too! And pork? I am beginning to see a pattern…

We got reservations for 8, where they sat us in THE prime location, right in the middle of the back, which was right next to the kitchen. When we got there, we saw these burgers just flying off the table. (They were probably the much written about lamb burgers.) I really just wanted to pluck one off the table and hope they don’t notice. I behaved myself, because, well I needed to save room for what was coming. The suckling pig dinner features a whole suckling pig cooked to perfection (with a crispy salty skin that’s divine), with the sides of caeser salad with anchovy croutons, brocolli rabe, duck fat fried potatoes, roasted fennel, and two different kinds of salsa. The meal concludes with a bitter chocolate tart and icecream.

The sides were delicious. My favorite was the roasted fennel and the potatoes roasted in duck fat. The brocolli rabe was the least favorite, but a great dish to pair and counter balance such porkiness (and contrast to the starchiness of the potatoes). Man, even the caesar salad was amazing. The anchovy croutons were so flavorful and surprisingly full of punch and bite! They give you SO much food. I don’t think we finished a single side… or the whole pork (Jay, Rubi and I took the pig home and I ate pork for two other whole nights).

The pork, I will admit, might look a little grotesque to some. But when you see it in person… the glistening CRISPY skin… that’s enough to make me drool. I was a little worried about carving the thing, but that’s why my +1 (not shown) was another good high school friend and a pathologist at NYU. “Uh… I don’t know how to carve pork, but I can dissect it for you? Isolate all the muscle and tissues…” You know, that sort of thing. I, of course, did not need to worry since our waiter was fully trained and really efficient with the carving.

I mean, we freaking devoured that thing! Absolutely devoured Mr. Pig. I will admit that I polished the shoulder, some belly, meat on the ribs, and by the end of the meal the different cuts were sort of indistinguishable to our untrained eye. It was all REALLY good. The meat was super tender and really fragrant and full of salty flavor (especially with the skin). I mean, I guess they smoked and cooked the pig slowly, but I didn’t put ANY of the salsa on the pig. In fact, my least favorite thing of the whole entire meal was the two salsas that came on the side. UNNECESSARY.

Finally, once you tear the pork apart, towards the end of the meal the waiter comes back and carves up the head for you. He slices open the top (you can take home the skull too) and shows you the brain. Then he proceeds to carve the ears, snout, tongue and cheeks. Jay and I picked out the eyes and we got very little resistance from the rest of the table.

The snout was actually really favorful but there really wasn’t much “meat” per se. Just some soft tissue. The tongue was chewy and delicious. I love tongue. The brain was really bland… surprisingly. I was a little surprised. And here’s the thing, another reason why it’s cool to have a doctor at dinner is this. At first, everyone in the table was a little hesitant to eat the brain. You know, we all knew it was cooked but we were a little skeeved out about, not that it was brain totally, but the idea that brain was “dangerous” to eat. However, Jay assuaged our fears pointing out that pigs don’t have that disease, nor would it be likely to be in any animal not in the wild, and finally the brain was cooked. The brain TOTALLY tasted like pâté. Bland pâté. The ear was crispy and something I’ve had before. The crowning glory of all this is the pork cheek. The most amazing cut of pork I’ve ever had. Delicious, fatty, and so very tender. Better than any pork belly, son. I think hands down, everyone at the table loved the pork cheek and there was so little and we just cut it all up and devoured it.

The desert was top notch, although it’s hard to concentrate on it when you are so full. I loved it. The bittersweet chocolate tart was tasty and not too sweet. I could eat that for a week straight and not get tired of it. The ice cream was divine. It was a light butterscotch and nutty accompaniment that was creamy more than anything. It was a perfect end to a great evening.

Porchetta to the rescue, or how Sunday sucked, but pork is wonderful

umi — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:24:08 +0000

This weekend was rough. I don’t know what it was, but the very idea of going ALL THE WAY to Port Jefferson to do my taxes was very… taxing. And in fact it was SO TIRING. And Sunday was just SO stressful… that the very thing I needed at the end of the day was a way to let off steam. For me, that very perfect thing is eating tons of pork.

All weekend, the two thoughts in my head were CREAM PUFFS and TAXES! I had it planned that on Saturday, I was going to plan for both, then we head into the city EARLY Sunday, come home, and then off to the dinner. I thought we would have some time in between and it wouldn’t be a big deal. Then certain things came up, namely WORK things, which were really annoying. I’m not going to get into what I do here, but I work in interactive online marketing, namely email marketing, and there were urgent messages that needed to go out Sunday morning and possibly Sunday night for two different properties within my company.

I feel like all I did Saturday was, cook brunch, bake some pâte à choux, egg custard, strawberry puree, and try to get stuff done for work. Those cream puffs… man. They aren’t too time consuming, per se, but you use SO MANY EGGS. Did I mention I went through 3 full carton of eggs for those things? I also have a tupperware filled with like 12 eggs work of egg whites. (the custard)

SUNDAY… I was still unprepared for. I usually always wake up right before 7am and go back to sleep… most days, even on weekdays. However, on Sunday, I forced myself to pick up my iphone and look up LIRR schedules. Fuck. I had to leave for the 9:42 train in order to make it for our 1:15pm appointment in Port Jefferson. The train ride itself is two hours, but the next train after that gets us in around 1:30 (at 11:20). Shitty, right? AND I was planning on making extra custard in the morning. AND I had to send messages to our database in the morning, but I didn’t have the lists I need. Regardless, I hop out of bed and I need to run out for more eggs and milk. CUSTARD requires like 6 egg yolks. Like wtf, right? There were no stores open in my neighborhood at that time, except for a 24 hour scary bodega. I take it. So at 7am, I’m making custard, and I calculate that we should get out of here at 8:30. I kick Ryan awake and of course we end up at Penn Station at around 9:25… like minutes after the train left.
: (

I call the accountant and I explain my situation and that I’m traveling 2 hours to see them on the weekend where there is a train only every 2 hours. They claim that they will see us as long as we come in before 2pm, so we decide to buckle up and find some breakfast. You know, not many places are open around 9:30-10am. We walk all the way to Resto, on 29th between Park and Lex, but they only open around 10:30. We spoke to someone who worked there and he suggested we go to Les Halles, because he wouldn’t risk waiting and missing our train. We weren’t very interested in Les Halles, so we went to K-town to have some Bibimbap and stew for breakfast. MAN. Delicious, filling, and hit the spot. The only damper to that situation is that I found a stray wifi signal and started trying to do that piece of work… I couldn’t log into marketedge and a coworker and I started to freak out. Yes, I could have gone to the office, but I didn’t want to subject Ryan to that and deny him his breakfast. That would be cruel and … you know, f it. Readers, I have my priorities in place. Bibimbap before slaving away for an annoying piece of work.

I always do my taxes myself… and last year I did Ryan’s taxes for him. However, I thought it might be beneficial for Ryan and myself (I had some questions about my mother) to have someone look over them for us. Gabby RAVED about this guy’s company (family owned) and he answered some questions for my mother’s old taxes for me months before… so I decided to check him out. I traveled over two hours, on two trains and a taxi ride to get there. They got me a good refund, AND they saved the day and put me in their conference room so I can work on my day job. YEAH. REALLY. I was like, “I know you’re doing my taxes, but… can I use your internet to finish my work? I have my laptop and everything” – yes, I’m a dork and a nerd. That piece of kindness allowed one of my coworkers to not have to go into the office (Oh yeah, something I did Saturday night … GRRRR – which added to my loss of time). It all worked out. The timing was good, but we were so close… like 5 minutes too close to missing our train back at 3:40, which would have meant waiting 2 hours until 5:30 and get back into the city by 7:30. DO YOU KNOW HOW PISSED OFF I WOULD HAVE BEEN? All these things are just… man. Got to me. Tired me out. I passed out for 2 hours back. Thankfully, we got back to our apartment before 6:30. I hadn’t drunk any water since 11am, and I was head achey and dehydrated. We were both pretty cranky. We would not have survived that trip without the Bibimbap to fortify us.

Ryan had to sit and he watched few minutes of Prison Break (like really? Is that what relaxes you? Seeing a prison inmate television show?), and I had to check up on a few evening work things. Then I had to fill the choux, which took a few minutes. I was stressing out that we were late and I couldn’t find the address to the place… etc. I just want to mention here that this morning I checked my personal email during a lull at work and there it was… his address in the last email he sent. DUH. I have a bad habit of not checking personal email in the weekend. I just… don’t. I usually don’t want to be near a computer on the weekend, so … yeah.

Ryan needs to be recognized for being able to put up with my Type A-ness sometimes. It crops up at times of stress and I have a list… and if things don’t stick to MY LIST, I freak the fuck out. And he just sits there and reasons, “Finish your Bibimbap, sweetie.” And he eats there in silence while I have my head buried in my laptop, and not once complains.

I didn’t have much to worry about, since everyone at Shai’s place is SO CHILL. They greet us warmly, I have a drink, and I feel a little better. Then, I saw it… the Porchetta… and angels sung and my shoulders relaxed… and my stomach grumbled. It’s so funny. I keep seeing Shai in that shirt, with the pig cuts. And he proceeded to demonstrate on his shirt (I guess that was the point), where the porchetta came from. It’s the area from the loins to the pork belly, and he rolled it up with delicious herbs, tied, brined, and cooked. It was SO moist and so juicy. I don’t think I have ever cooked a pork that juicy. (I NEED TO COOK IT WITH SOME PIG FAT, THAT’S FOR SURE) And everyone brought sides and there was SO MUCH food left.

The mac’ n’ cheese was awesome, haricot verts was refreshing, and all the potatoes with the pork gravy was great. I had like… almost 4 … technically 3.79888 plates of pork… Mmmm… I don’t need dessert, just pork. I’m not ashamed to say that I ate the big chunks of fat on the pork belly and it melted in my mouth. One of the best porks I’ve eaten ever.

Oh yeah, and there were cream puffs, and people seemed to like them. The best compliment of the evening was by the chef himself. Yay.

I might have been a bad guest and ate and run. I was exhausted, and it might have been too much of substances, like alcohol… snorting pig fat… pig coma… I got home, and in bed by 11pm. And this morning I was still tired, but in a much better mood.

What we’ve been making

umi — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:39:55 +0000

You know, cause a girl’s got to eat. (descriptions correspond left to right, top to bottom)

Salad from Country Cafe downstairs in the Trump Building. I think I filled it up with greens, onions, chicken, shrimp, avocado, tomatoes, olives, artichokes, and orzo salad. Yeah.
Pork belly kakuni (thinly sliced pork belly braised in a chilli soy sauce mirin glaze) and roasted “fancy” potatoes.
I also just fried some rice with American Jasmin rice cooked with a tablespoon of butter. I used the cooked braising sauce from the pork belly kakuni.
I love this dumplings and rice cake soup from Soma by Nature, near Wall st on William st. The beef consomme is delicious. It’s hearty, filling, and warm. I usually get a large soup for around $8, but this day, I ordered a small w/ another coworker for $4.50.
Thick pork tenderloins and roasted onions over rice w/ tonkatsu and sriracha sauce.
Momofuku picked shiitake mushrooms – A definite winner. You can eat them as pickles on the side or over rice. DELICIOUS, if just a bit too salty – It’s like a sucker-punch of flavor!
Jay and Kate brought us over some gourmet cured bacon, which we cut into slices and had during brunch with eggs. THe cast-iron is a win, since the eggs this time didn’t STICK AT ALL! The bacon was crispy and amazing, pretty damn good. On the side is some left over frozen (and toasted) home-made bread.
We cooked an extra tenderloin that we didn’t finish the other day, so we pan roasted/charred them with extra seasoning and used it as a topping for Ryan’s specialty pan fried lo mein.

Fette Sau – Chris Kocher’s Birthday

umi — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 16:41:03 +0000

So, this totally happened couple of weeks ago… when Ryan was still around. Last year we came to Fette Sau, too, and it’s always a good time. Last year, though, I used to come to Fette Sau kind of often. This year, since this isn’t the case, it was a nice treat.

We got some draft beers, pulled pork, pork sausages, pork belly (mmm!! This time it wasn’t a block of fat, so Ryan ate some too), burnt-end beans (with more meat than beans!) and pickles (and tons of rolls). Solid. Like ALWAYS, Ryan didn’t eat his sausage, so we took that a a piece of the pulled pork home. We manged to mix that into scrambled eggs with onions to make something really yummy!

This place is SO good. And this time of year, this place is actually pleasantly not crowded. I got there before 7 and I was able to grab a prime spot near the meat in a corner table. I laid out my stuff, we got some beers to wait, and our party came trickling in. Afterward, we grabbed some drinks at Sputen Dyuvil across the street, which is coincidently owned by the same people.

Chef Shai Kessler’s 202 Supper Club

umi — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:32:39 +0000

My friend Jay invited me to his old roommate’s Supper Club, called 202 Supper Club (since they lived in Apt 202). They were actually scheduled to move the next day next door to 201, but hosted the dinner anyway to delicious results. Shai is a personal chef by trade, and hosts a Supper Club that people can buy into for around $50-$60, which includes unlimited wine and seasonal and organic 3-4 courses. His resume includes our FAVORITE Shake Shack and lovely high dining, Dovetail (I took my mother there for the Sunday Supper for her birthday last year). The best part was that this was in our neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Originally I was promised bacon infused bourbon. Sadly, the mixologist got sick. 2 hours before the event, Jay txted me, “Oh no! Check your email. Karin is sick! No mixed drinks :( ” Argh! : ( Booo. Still, Jay cheered me up with a txt, “Hell yea! There will be lots of interesting people from all walks there. It’s gonna be phenom.” With those sentiments in mind, I waited for Ryan at Strand before making our way towards Williamsburg. Once we settled in we were greeted by Jay, and introduced to fellow blogger Saint Tigerlily and her husband. I sat next to Ace, the cat, of course, and we were entertained by Jay’s smiling umbilical cord stories and photos of their last barbecue, where they went to an ostrich farm, picked out a bird, butchered it (apparently Shai is a skilled butcher), cooked it, and ate it. Jay assured me that he will let me know when their next one is.

They gave us a plate of poached pears in chocolate and port wrapped in home-made duck prosciutto (I unfortunately didn’t get pictures of it up close) and pickled smokey shishito peppers to snack on while waiting for our first course. I usually like to sautee or lightly deep fry shishito peppers, so pickled peppers were quite refreshing. I’m a big fan of duck prosciutto, and the port gave the pears a nice well rounded accompaniment without much sweetness.

The first course was home baked whole wheat sour dough bruschetta toasted with pig fat, roasted cauliflower, and raisin pesto. This was one of my favorites of the night. I found it comforting with a great balance of flavors. It started out salty and delicious and the vegetable was roasted in the perfect texture, crispy on the side, while tender on the underside. It was solid. The occasional sweet bite of the raisin pesto was the golden ticket here.

The second course was fried crispy pig’s ear and charred brussel sprouts, topped with clothbound cheddar (the only thing that wasn’t locally sourced). I LOVE pork (duh) and this was my first time eating pig’s ear. It tasted like bacon, had a nice substantial texture without it being chewy or too hard. It was nice, crispy and salted. The cheddar subtle and added some good dimension to the meal. The pig’s ear stood out.

The main course was home-made kabocha/pumpkin pasta with braised venison ragu, topped with mustard greens and pomegranate seeds. It was a nice hearty way to top off the evening that balances out the salty fried goodness of the earlier course. This was solid and earthy and quite subdued.

The desert, though, was my absolute favorite part, which was smokey spiced bread pudding with cider butter scotch sauce, poached apples, and bacon (see a pattern?) streusel. It was caramel and smoky goodness, all the way. It REALLY hit the spot and was incredibly fragrant with pork, and brought the whole thing home. Amazing.

Our hosts kept our glass full and the company engaged us in colorful conversation. Above is our chef, Shai (in the mise en place shirt – the other guy is Jay!), who toiled away in the kitchen and laid out this lovely dinner. It was a good night filled with fun people and delicious eats AND PORK! (But no pig infused bourbon. :T mreow.) I hope I’m invited again.

Last minute scrounging = delicious pan fried noodles!

umi — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:32:35 +0000

(Yes, that’s some very nerdy reading on the corner of that photo – anyone care to take a guess on what the title is?)

This week, I think what happened is that things at work were way too hectic to cook real food. Yes, we’ve been eating faux-food all week. What is that? Perhaps that’s drawing pictures of food, envisioning deliciousness, and eating pieces of kitkats for dinner? Or starving to be BEAUTIFUL daaaaaaarling. Ok, there is none of that here. When we feel lazy, we either go walk several feet to the resident bodega with DELICIOUS El Pastor and Longaniza Tortas, Tacos, and Huarachas (spelling?) or throw things in a pan. (My attempt at googling brings up “Huaraches,” or Mexican sandals! I mean, if that’s what I am eating… that’s some tasty leather on super delicious bread and toppings.)

This time, we had some left over pork chops from a pretty good Thai place near my work. We had some thin noodle lo mein from Chinatown, some garlic, onion, and seasoning magic. (soy sauce, fish sauce, mirin… take your pick). We topped off the pan fried lo mein with pork with some cilantro and the sweet vinaigrette sauce that comes with the pork chops with a side of mixed greens and chilled white wine. You can feel good about any dinner if you have some chilled white wine. We keep our fridge regularly stocked with favorites from Trader Joe’s.

Pork Tenderloin Stir-Fry

umi — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:15:59 +0000

Last night’s dinner was Ryan’s stir-fry using pork. We didn’t mix any veggies into the stir-fry, itself, but you can put whatever you desire. It was really nice and porky, since we got nice tenderloins from the Japanese market.

It was basically a very simple recipe. Cut the pork in manageable strips, lightly salted and peppered. Then cover them with flour and fry in oil. We like to use grape seed oil. Brown the strips and lay them out on a plate with a paper towel on top. Then Ryan mixed the sauce of soy sauce, mirin, ginger, garlic, and reduced the sauce in a pan over high heat, stirring constantly. It will bubble and reduce into a thick thick sauce. Then, mix the pork and reheat until the pork is done and serve over rice.

The stir-fry results in delicious golden nuggets. I prefer this with pork tenderloin, but it’s great with chicken, as well. Feel free to mix in blanched crunchy string beans or broccoli. If you add more fresh garlic and We ate this with tons of rice and a side of left overs.

Amy’s birthday at Fette Sau

umi — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:20:57 +0000

Fette Sau
354 Metropolitan
Brooklyn, NY 11211

I had my 26th birthday here, as well as, celebrated Chris Kocher’s birthday, and now Amy’s. It’s a blast for a large group looking to wolf down some pork meat and take part in drinking. Beer: Liquid Gold, so awesome, smooth, and delicious. If you feel like partying a little harder, they have a great big collection of bourbons and whiskies. Try, Three Roses, which they will pour you with a large icecube. “The way it’s suppose to be,” says Ryan.

Ryan and I always get the pulled pork, sausages, and pickles. Try the pork belly, if it doesn’t look too fatty. It’s succulent and decadent. Their tables are always topped with four different types of sauces (and vinegar), and their burnt pork end beans has more meat in it than pork (and douse it with few splashes of vinegar for a sublime experience). In any given night, they run out of meats and beans at around 8-9pm. On my birthday they ran out of beans at 7pm. : (

I say it’s a place to come with a lot of people, because the picnic tables are huge and the lines are long. Come in a group, have a few people scout places to sit, and the other half should wait on line. You’ll get a steel tray lined with wax paper and you order meat by the pound, seriously. Share mounds of pulled pork. The first time I went, I was told that it’s a place to go to eat pork, pork, and more pork. Maybe a pickle. However, each time I go back I tried a little of the broccoli and German potato salad and they are pretty refreshing.

This place is the best Barbecue in town. A close second place is Dinosaur BBQ in the upper west side.

Tonight’s Dinner – Ryan’s Tonkatsu

umi — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:21:44 +0000

Ryan makes really good Tonkatsu (Fried Pork Cutlets), which is fairly authentic except he likes to use thinly sliced pork filets. He generously rubs salt and pepper, dip the filet in a beaten egg mixture, and covers it with panko before deep frying.

Top the cutlets with tonkatsu sauce (available in any Japanese market) and Japanese kewpie mayonnaise (are you seeing a pattern – we like to top everything off with that. I am waiting for the next mayo cocktail to nurse.

I made sticky rice with a little dashi and mixed up some romaine salad with home-mixed (on the fly) honey balsamic dressing.

We coupled this with the yellowtail chardonnay that our guest brought.