Post 110: Collaboration with Whisks & Ruffles - Pork Belly, Part 2

In my previous post, I shared the first part of my collaboration with Angelina Ang Lee of Whisks & Ruffles.  This post will continue with more pork belly deliciousness.  Rather than braising this time, I grilled some thinner cuts of the pork belly.  And so continues the life of an inner fatty...

I used thin cuts of pork belly strips with beautiful fat on the trim.  The pork belly was marinated with a mixture of gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste), a bit of soy, sesame oil, chopped perilla (sesame seed leaves also known as shiso), and sesame seeds.  I added some ground black pepper too, but salt is not needed since the gochujang and soy sauce provide enough of that saltiness.

I faux grilled the pork belly using a Korean stone wok, which works great because it heats up quickly and retains the heat even after the stove is turned off.  The strips were cooked at medium-high heat.  The temperature must be hot enough for the fat to sizzle.  Must... hear... sizzle! Like... cooking bacon! Mmmmm... Flip the meat once only, and cook until it's brown and crisp on both sides.  If the heat is high enough, the meat will be fully cooked through because the cuts are not very thick.

Tiffany, my Chinese-American from Taiwan but also raised in Korea friend, came over for a taste test.  We ate the pork belly wrapped with fresh perilla leaves, raw sliced garlic, jalapeños, and diagonally cut scallions (see instructional clip by yours truly).  We also had sides of kimchi, yellow pickled daikon, and kimbap (Korean sushi or rice rolls) from the supermarket.  See Angelina's post on homemade kimbap to prepare your own.

I have been cutting down on some carbs lately, but the grilled pork belly would also work really well with steamed rice.  No worries, I could never cut carbs out entirely, but for now, meat and greens are good enough for me.  If the jalapeños aren't spicy enough for your taste, an extra dash of Sriracha hot sauce also helps add a spicy yet sweet flavor to your dish.  Or try Angelina's method, which is to add dried hot peppers... Indonesian style. 

Check out what Angelina came up with in the Lee kitchen using pork belly two ways.  Her double recipe storm includes a pork belly braised low and slow, which looks absolutely mouth watering.  Her second recipe is something that her mom used to make in Indonesia called babi kecap, a simmered stew of pork belly, tofu, and hard boiled eggs.  Ah, Mom's home cooking... my mouth is literally drooling right now...

Great job, Angelina.  I truly enjoyed our coast-to-coast collaboration.  Let's do it again soon! Until the next collaboration, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20130221

Post 46.2: Another Pit-stop at Chego (West LA: Palms)

A month ago I barely knew about this place.  In fact, I didn't even know that Palms existed. 

M1: You live where?
M2: Palms
M1: Where is that?
M2: I don't know... somewhere in West LA..
M1: I'll Google map it.

I now identify Palms by "where Chego is."

So Palms, I'm back to pick up M2... which means Chego, I'm back for the buttered kimchi chow and chubby pork belly.  Bring em out, bring em out!

M1 and M2 dropped by on the way to LAX, and we planned to get some take-out, but our flight was delayed until after midnight (good job, Southwest), which means we had plenty of time to finish our food.  And thank goodness for the extra time... those were big bowls of food.

The buttered kimchi chow is a bed of rice... no, a hilltop of rice... topped off with red chili tofu, edamame, chopped sesame seed leaves, bits of chicharrones, and a fried egg.  The taste of the first bite reminded me of an already-mixed soon tofu with rice.  The rice is buttery rich, and when it's mixed with the creaminess of the runny egg yolk, there is an allusion to the possibility of Korean risotto.  What is made smooth from the buttered rice and egg yolk is contrasted by the pop of kimchi, the bumps of edamame, and the vein-textured gaenip... but perhaps not enough.  I kept picking the kimchi out just to get a bit more contrast in flavor and texture.  Luckily I found what I wanted in texture and flavor contrast in the chubby pork belly.

The chubby pork belly is exactly what the title says it is.  Plump, fatty, flavorful pork belly in all its juicy, lipidic glory.  Mmmmm... and all of that delicious fatty pork looks like it's sprouting from a bed of rice.  Implanted in the rice are chopped water spinach (ong choy), peanuts, and pickled watermelon radishes.  The triple combo of ong choy, peanuts, and pickled radishes in the pork belly bowl works better than the kimchi chow's triple combo of kimchi, edamame and gaenip.  The contrasting textures and flavors are more apparent, which helps maintain interest and curiosity in digging deeper into the big bowl of food.  This one... I like.  Yum.

On my first pit-stop to Chego, I picked up two items from the End section of the menu... on this pit-stop I tasted two items from the Middle section of the menu.  Perhaps the next pit-stop in Palms will yield two items from the Beginning... the ooey gooey fries and 3PM meatballs sound promising.

Until the next pit-stop, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20110225

Post 3: Kimchi Fried Rice Fail means Kimchi Omelettes

Goal: Spam+pineapple+kimchi fried rice

Result 1: Spam+pineapple+kimchi omelette
Result 2: radish kimchi omelette (泡菜浦蛋)

Complete fail? Not quite. There's a very simple explanation for how my fried rice became two omelettes. I expected to find day-old rice (the kind you need to make good fried rice) in the refrigerator, but when I peered within the door... milk, eggs, orange juice, uhhh... no leftover rice? What??! I felt like a peasant during the Chinese revolution.

Okay, so time for plan B. Uhhh... Spam+pineapple+kimchi... salad? Gross. Pasta? No way. An omelette? Hrmmm... perhaps. As the least of all evils, I decided that a Spam+pineapple+kimchi omelette was doable. After all, I had just made Korean pork belly with Brussels sprouts and kimchi, and that was delicious. So if this Spam+pineapple+kimchi omelette really tastes as good (or disgusting) as it sounds, at least I would know for sure.

Ingredients:

1. Spam - Original tastes best, but Lite or Low Sodium are also available

It says "crazy tasty" on the label, hahahaha, awesome marketing, Hormel.

2. pineapple - fresh or canned (doesn't matter) but must be drained

3. kimchi and kimchi juice

4. 2 eggs - scrambled

5. salt and pepper (S&P)

Directions:

Step 1. Brown the Spam. A little bit of oil goes a long way here.

Step 2. Add the kimchi and kimchi juice, and let it reduce with the Spam.

Step 3. Toss the pineapple in with the Spam.

S&P (salt and pepper) the S&P (Spam and pineapple).

Step 4. Take out the omelette's organs.
Pour the eggs over the skillet and let it firm up.

Step 5. Put the omelette's organs back in. Attempt to fold/roll the omelette.
It gets interesting here, hahaha.

After an utterly failed attempt at folding the omelette, I came to the sinking realization that Spam+pineapple+kimchi could have made a delicious contemporary pizza a la CPK. *smacks forehead* Feeling disappointed in myself for not thinking about pizza as a possibility, I sank into my overstuffed sofa seat hoping that my kimchi omelette would taste decent at the very least.

Spam+pineapple+kimchi omelette. Good morning, America!
I covered the rip in the omelette with kimchi. You'd never be able to tell otherwise. :P

As I took my first bite, something hit me (I think it's called shock). Savory Spam... sweet pineapple... and spicy (and a bit crunchy) kimchi... all wrapped in a little bit of neutral (the egg)... delicious! But just to make sure my taste buds weren't screwing with me, for my second bite, I raced into the kitchen for a bottle of Tabasco. A dash here, a dash there... bite no. 2. Nom, nom, nom. Mmmm...! The savory+sweet+spicy combo was really working for me. More munching ensued... and a few minutes later...

Demolished. Tabasco and kimchi blood remain.
Chopsticks are more convenient than any other utensil.

I think I've just created an Asian omelette! But another realization hits. I don't think I'm the first one to have created an Asian omelette. There is a Taiwanese-style omelette that is made with pickled daikon radish (Chinese-written: 菜浦蛋; Taiwanese-spoken: tsai bho nngh). I've had this Taiwanese radish omelette plenty of times before. So I went back into the kitchen, excited to try a Taiwanese-inspired, Korean-flavored omelette (泡菜浦蛋). Instead of Taiwanese picked radish, I used Korean pickled radish kimchi. The kimchi isn't as salty or as crunchy as the pickled daikon, but it was well worth a shot.

Taiwanese-inspired, Korean-flavored. Radish kimchi omelette.
I may try scrambling the eggs with the radish kimchi inside next time.

Just as I had thought... not as salty and not as crunchy, but not bad at all. In comparison to the first omelette, the second one is physically flatter and flatter in taste as well. There isn't as much of a "Hmmm... what exactly is this that I'm tasting...?" To improve, maybe I would add another pinch of salt in the egg and then eat it with a side of kimchi (either cabbage or radish).

Surprise! A simple spinach omelette.  
I was in a mood to scramble eggs.

Gah! I've had way, way too many eggs this morning. Kimchi pizza next time? Until then, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20100113