Bo Ssam (ish)

My brother suggested I make a bo ssam for Easter dinner. Only he didn't really want bo ssam. He just wanted the pork butt. Bo ssam means "wrapped" or "packaged," so the real thing needs to be served with lettuce or cabbage leaves. But I didn't want to go through the trouble of washing and drying lettuce, so didn't even purchase it. Which is why this post has (ish) in the title. It's actually just Momofuku-style pork butt.

In any case, it was delicious. And it's amazing how much pork five people can put away. We decimated that thing in about 45 minutes. Sure, there was a giant Flintstonian bone in it, but we still managed to eat more than half the meat. Plus jarred kimchi and homemade brussels sprout kimchi and lots of rice. And dessert.

Oink.

Bo Ssam (ish) (adapted from Momofuku)

1 whole bone-in pork butt (8 to 10 pounds)
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
5 tablespoons brown sugar

Put the butt into a foil lined baking pan just large enough to hold it (it should fit snugly). Combine the white sugar and salt and rub it all over the pork butt. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 300°F. Discard plastic wrap, make sure butt is skin-side-up in the pan, and roast for about 6 hours, until it's fork tender. Remove pork from the oven. The skin should be a crispy sheet at this point. Lift it; scrape out and discard any soft white fat still under the skin. Put the skin back down, schmear with the brown sugar, and put under the broiler until the sugar melts. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn. If it does, no worries - just scrape off the burnt parts. The skin will still be edible and have a nice caramelly flavor to it.

Serve with white rice and kimchi. Make some dipping sauces if you are so inclined. A combination of miso, gochujang, and sherry vinegar loosened up with a bit of oil is nice. And if you want to eat it properly, have some lettuce or napa cabbage leaves available in which to wrap a bit of pork, some skin, kimchi, and sauce.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Asian BBQ Chicken

It doesn't seem (to me) that I cook chicken very often. I'm not sure why, since its probably my favorite meat. Maybe it's just boring, I don't know. But I got it in my head that not only did I need to make chicken, but it needed to be basted in a thick bbq-style sauce with Asian flavors. I had this picture in my head of a beautiful brown chicken leg, glistening with sauce. Just like in that photo above. Isn't it gorgeous?

Most chicken recipes direct cooks to make sure the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. While that's fine for chicken breasts, I really prefer dark meat to be cooked to closer to 180°F. Dark meat is more moist, and at the lower temperature it still seems vaguely raw to me. It's fairly hard to overcook (unless you burn it), so I tend to leave the chicken on the heat for a bit longer than usual. Your mileage may vary, of course. If you like your dark meat less-cooked than I do, then by all means, cook it to 165°F.

If you're a regular Minxeats reader, you might have noticed that Mr Minx and I are absolutely in love with the rich, slightly-burnt, caramelly flavor and aroma of Chinese black vinegar. It's one ingredient that needs to be purchased in an Asian grocery, so if you don't want to make the trip, then use balsamic vinegar instead. It won't be exactly the same, but it will still taste good.

Asian BBQ Chicken

For sauce:
1 cup onion, chopped
Oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon black vinegar
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1-2 teaspoons sambal oelek or sriracha
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

For chicken:
2 tablespoons black vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 skin-on, bone-in chicken leg quarters, or 4 legs and 4 thighs
1 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 green onions, chopped

To make sauce: Saute onion in a bit of oil until translucent. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute or so. Add the soy, hoisin, brown sugar, vinegars, ginger, and sambal. Bring to a boil. Once boiled, remove from heat and puree mixture with a stick blender. Stir in toasted sesame oil.

To make chicken: Combine black vinegar, soy, and garlic in a large zip-top plastic bag. Prick the chicken all over with the tip of a knife and add to the bag. Press out the air, seal the bag, and shake to coat the chicken. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Add the oil to a large oven-safe skillet or casserole and heat over high heat. Add the butter, and once melted, add the chicken, skin side-down, and any juices from the marinade bag. Cook 3-4 minutes, until chicken is browned on skin side, then turn the chicken pieces skin side-up. Place pan in preheated oven and cook for 8 minutes. Remove pan from oven and brush tops of chicken with some of the bbq sauce. Return to oven for another 8 minutes. At that time, reapply the bbq sauce and return to oven. Roast for 30-40 minutes, until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F (or 180°F, if you're like me and want slightly drier meat). Apply another coating of sauce and sprinkle with green onions before serving.

Serves 4.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Roasted Pork Loin

When I was young, my mother made a roasted pork loin fairly often. Back in those days, it was recommended that pork be cooked to 160°F, which rendered it dry and flavorless. And pork had more fat then! So we'd eat tons of applesauce on the side to make the arid meat more palatable. Sometimes it worked.

The 70s are long gone, but the taste of dry pork stays with me. Hence, before now, I have never cooked a pork loin myself. Granted, they don't seem to be easy to find anymore. Supermarkets have plenty of pork chops and pork tenderloins, but I seldom see larger cuts of meat. (The meat selection in most supermarkets sucks, period.) Fortunately, our local Weis market had several big pre-rolled and tied roasts, on sale yet. We bought the biggest one they had--4.77 lb--along with some garlic and fresh sage with which to flavor it.

Making a pork roast is really a super-simple deal. You only need a handful of ingredients and a couple hours in the oven to produce something that's both flavorful and juicy. Forget that archaic 160°F internal temperature requirement! 145°F is all you need. And while most chefs/foodies/know-it-alls will recommend brining the roast before cooking, who really has enough room in the fridge for a container large enough to contain a 5-lb roast AND a gallon or two of brine? Certainly not me. Our roast was plenty juicy when cooked to the proper temperature and allowed to rest for 15 minutes before carving. And it was delicious, subtly perfumed with garlic and sage.

I dare say I'll be making pork roast often now. At least when I can find it on sale. (The pre-sale price was nearly $4 per pound!)

Roasted Pork Loin

1 5-lb boneless pork loin with fat cap, rolled and tied.
7-8 small cloves or 3-4 large cloves garlic
8-10 fresh sage leaves
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Using a long thin knife (like a boning knife), poke holes into both ends of the roast, making some deeper than others. If your garlic cloves are on the large side, cut them into halves or thirds. Wrap each with a sage leaf and, using your finger, poke garlic into the holes. You want the cloves to end up in different parts of the roast, so the flavor of garlic and sage permeates the meat at different points.

Put the roast into a baking pan. Generously salt and pepper the outside of the roast. Place in preheated oven for twenty minutes. After 20 minutes, turn heat down to 350°F. Cook roast for 20-25 minutes per pound total, or until a thermometer inserted into the center of the roast reads 145°F.

Remove roast from the oven and tent with foil. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Serve with applesauce. We also served roasted asparagus (put in the oven about 15 minutes before pork was done) and pierogi with tons of sauteed onion. So good.

Posted on Minxeats.com.