I made these as a relatively smart way of using up the shiitakes I had reconstituted while making Ramen Broth the night before. I assumed I wouldn't be able to utilize and eat them all myself so I decided to execute Momofuku's recipe. People loved them. I think they're fine, but I passed off the rest to my parents a few days ago.
Pickled Shiitakes
- 4 loosely packed cups (about 1/3 ounce) dried shiitake mushrooms or use spent shiitake caps from the Ramen Broth)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup usukuchi (light soy sauce)
- 1 cup sherry vinegar
- Two 3-inch knobs of fresh ginger, peeled
- Steep the shiitakes in boiling water (or really hot tap water) in a medium mixing bowl until softened, about 15 minutes.
- Lift the shiitakes from the steeping water, trim off and discard their stems, and cut the caps into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Reserve 2 cups of the steeping liquid, and pass it through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any sand or debris.
- Combine the reserved steeping liquid, the sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, and sliced shiitakes in a saucepan. Turn the heat to medium, bring to a simmer, and simmer gently (bubbles should lazily rise up to the surface), stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Let cool.
- Discard the ginger, and pack the shittakes (and as much of the liquid as necessary to cover them) into a quart container. These pickles are ready to eat immediately and will keep, refrigerated, for at least 1 month.
Pork Shoulder
- 1 3-pound piece boneless pork shoulder
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
Cure for at least six and no more than 24 hours. Assumed I wasn't risking much by putting off curing until the broth was really chugging along.
Ready to roast at 250 degrees F for 6 hours.
Two hours in. Lots of juices to baste with.
The results after 6 hours. Eventually the juices developed into fond and I started de-glazing and basting with mirin.
Got the plan clean enough through some lengthy de-glazing. Nothing compared to final de-glaze that appeared to take me like a hour. More on that later.
Pork Belly
- 1 3-pound slab skinless pork belly (God damn you, Whole Foods butchers. Couldn't I have had a whole 3-pound slab?)
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
Perhaps they would have skinned it for me if I asked, but hell, it's an experience. I also realized I had the potential to make
But not if that entailed staying up until dawn again. Perhaps when I try my hand at making bacon I'll bother to do so.
Skinned pork belly. it would've been so much more bad-ass if it was just one big slab.
I lightly cut my left pointer finger in the transaction, but washed up with anti-bacterial soap and slapped on some latex gloves.
Thirty minutes at 450 degrees F.
Another 30 minutes at 450 degrees F.
One hour to 1 hour 15 minutes at 250 degrees F. Look at all that golden jelly.
The state my quarter-sheet cake pan is now in. Sigh.
Bamboo Shoots
- One 12-ounce can sliced bamboo shoots
- Splashes of grapeseed and Asian sesame oils
- Splash of usukuchi (light soy sauce)
- 1 Pickled Chile, if you've got it, seeded and chopped
- Salt, possibly
Mise en place.
Day 2 Prep list. Time for bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment