Month: June 2020

Pork Ribs in Black Bean Sauce

Categories Asian CuisineLeave a Comment on Pork Ribs in Black Bean Sauce

I have been wanting to experiment with short ribs for some time now and stumbled across this scrumptious looking recipe! I skimmed through to see that I had everything for the ribs and pressed forward. Luckily it has a slide option for serving sizes and reduced mine from 6 to 2. With that, I had to tweak the timings a bit.

Here’s the link to the original recipe: https://thewoksoflife.com/pork-ribs-black-bean-sauce/

Ingredients:

FOR THE PORK:

  • 3 1/3 cups water
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 pounds pork ribs (cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks)
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 slice ginger (smashed)
  • 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons black bean sauce (or 2 tablespoons of fermented black beans)
  • 1 small green bell pepper (or 1 long hot green pepper or poblano pepper)
  • 1 medium onion (cut into 1 inch chunks)
  • 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

FOR THE SAUCE:

  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1/3 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce

FOR THE CORNSTARCH:

  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon water

Instructions:

FOR THE PREP:

  1. Mix the sauce ingredients and keep to the side
  2. If you haven’t already, cut the pork ribs into 1 1/2 inch pieces
  3. In your wok, bring water to a boil and add the pork
  4. Turn heat down to medium heat and simmer for 30 minutes
  5. After the 30 minutes, the liquid should be reduced quite a bit and you can remove the pork ribs to a plate
  6. Use a strainer and keep the pork stock from wok and set aside for later use (around 1 – 1 1/2 cups)

FOR THE MAIN:

  1. Heat oil in wok over medium and saute ginger for 30 seconds to caramelize a bit
  2. Add garlic, black bean sauce, onions and bell peppers to stir-fry for 1-2 minutes then add pork ribs back in
  3. After another minute or two add in Shaoxing wine
  4. After add in the pork broth (~ 1 1/2 cups) and bring it to a simmer over medium heat (just under medium mark)
  5. After you bring it to a simmer, add in the sauce mixture for about 2 minutes, mixing well
  6. Taste for salt and add more if needed
  7. Now slowly add in the cornstarch mixture while stirring the ribs around and mix well – add more cornstarch is too watery or less if it’s becoming too thick
  8. Toss chopped scallions in and the ribs are ready to serve

Tips/Notes:

  • You can add more stock or water on step 4 under the main course if you like your ribs saucy
  • You will cook the ribs for longer or shorter depending on your desired level of rare

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Beef and Pork Burger Patty

Categories American, BBQLeave a Comment on Beef and Pork Burger Patty

Looking for a good burger recipe? I’m not generally one to toot my own horn but this came out exceptionally well!

Last year, I started hitting up quite a few burger joints to find one I would make my “regular” joint. I have a list of the top burgers around town, hitting each spot if I get the chance during the gruesome work-week! However, since the lockdown, I haven’t been ordering out much. To fulfill my craving, I thought I’d give a shot at making some burgers at home. In my fridge I had both ground pork and beef meat to use for the patties. It was a great choice to mix the two together! Since they came out so juicy and tasty, I had to share it! My next try will be with just beef and see if I can get it to be just as juicy and flavorful!

Ingredients:

FOR THE INITIAL PATTY BLEND:

  • 1 1/2 lb ground pork (80/20)
  • 1 1/2 lb ground beef (90/10)
  • 1/4 large red onion minced (1/2 a medium sized)
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
  • 2 limes (juiced)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon cooking sake
  • Handful cilantro minced
  • 1/2 jalapeno minced (optional)

FOR THE FINISHING TOUCH:

  • 3 tablespoons black truffle sea salt
  • Wax paper/parchment paper

Instructions:

FOR THE PREP:

  1. Preheat the grill to medium-high heat
  2. Hand mix the initial blend together well (add in minced jalapeno here)
  3. Once everything is blended well, add in the black truffle sea salt
  4. Make a tiny patty to test for salt level/flavor
  5. You can create the rest of the patties if you feel you added enough salt and place them on wax or parchment paper for easy moving

For GRILLING:

  1. Once the grill is ready, place tiny patty onto grill (cook for 3 minutes each side and taste for salt)
  2. If you need more salt, you can add more black truffle sea salt (or regular salt) and create your patties
  3. Once you have decided on a desired salt level, place the remaining patties onto the grill for 4-7 minutes per side (depends on your level of desired smokiness/rareness)

Tips/Notes:

  • Always good practice to make a small test patty, just in case you need to add more flavor somewhere
  • If there is a sauce you wish to have with the burger then use a basting brush and brush both sides of the patty lightly before putting it into a burger — this allows for flavor to really settle in
  • If you wish to add cheese, best time to add is last 30 seconds before taking the patty off the grill OR you can put a slice of cheese on top of one patty and place another patty on top of that for double the yumminess!

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