Chicharones

When I roasted the pork belly in my Ramen entry, I wound up throwing out the skin I removed from the belly. I knew that I had an opportunity to make these for the event, but the hours were wearing on me in the kitchen and I didn't have the time to do all this.
I've largely stuck to the recipe in the Momofuku cookbook, but I didn't want to buy a food dehydrator just for this project when I could just set them in a low oven for three hours. Sorry, I'll wait for some other project to urge me along into buying one.
Hmm, the URL I used seems to have gone dead, but I'm pretty sure I had the pork rinds in the oven at about 250 degrees F for 3 hours. No, I didn't totally fail, David Chang.


Throw the pork belly in a pot and fill it nearly to the brim with cold water. Bring to a boil and boil hard for 1 1/2 hours.


At that point the water will look like this.


Draining them a bit. Notice that this process totally didn't remove the fat, but I assume this makes the next step easier.


One must remove all the fat from the pork belly or "they'll have the texture of soggy packing peanuts if fried." I think I had a few patches of fat, but I did make a good attempt and was fine.
Imagine scraping that down raw? Sounds gross and hard to do, but in my googling I didn't see another example of this technique.


Laid out and sprinkled with a little salt.


Three hours later. See the patches of fat? Overall though, good job.


Heating the fat to 390-400 degrees F.


And then you have chicharones. I think I enjoy ones made out of chicken skin better. Or maybe I should have gone ahead with Latin flavors (ground dried chipotle, lime, salt) rather than Asian (togarishi, a Japanese chili blend, and salt).
I suppose I'll figure that out next time.

Ramen! 2.3: Day 3 Prep

Slow-Poached Eggs

Basically you take the largest pot you own, fill it up with water, and bring that water to 140 degrees Fahrenheit over the lowest possible heat. That's going to take the better part of a hour.

You rig up a steamer rack or "a doughnut of aluminum foil or a few chopsticks scattered helter skelter across the bottom of the pan." The goal is to keep the eggs from the bottom of the pan where the heat will be decidedly above the temperature you're aiming for. Using the largest pot of the pan also helps to ensure that the eggs are most likely cooking at 140 degrees F since the water at the top will be cooler than the water in the middle.

In any case, once you get this all set up, the eggs will poach in about 40 minutes. If you're looking to poach a lot of eggs, this is way easier than the traditional method (which, for the record, I have yet to attempt). Also, it's pretty damn dramatic looking to crack what looks like a raw egg into a bowl of ramen, bibimbap, or what have you. They've been cooking eggs this way in Japan for eons when old ladies would bring eggs to cook in natural hot springs.

Seasonal Vegetables

Though they'll prep English or shelling peas in spring and early summer and cut corn off the cobs in late summer, Momofuku Noodle Bar adds collards to their ramen the rest of the year. When I eat BBQ (mostly at Redbones in Davis Square), I must have collard greens (succotash occupies a very close second-place in my heart). I've never cooked them before and I can say that David Chang's recipe totally hits the spot.

• 1 bunch collards
• 1 piece bacon (Frankly, I think an additional piece of bacon was required. Thankfully, there was rendered pork fat from roasting the pork belly on hand to make up for the collards' lack of oomph.)
• large pinch kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar ("white is fine if you don't have brown")
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• 1 cup water

Collards tossed in the rendered fat and wilted a bit.

Forty minutes later on medium-low. Yum.

There was the prepping of individual bowls of ramen as I finally got everything set up. But eventually I got to kick back, relax, and gorge myself on my own serving of this extremely laborious process. Never again will I spend 2 1/2 long days making this dish (Far easier and more reasonable to take the Fung Wah to NYC and eat ramen in numerous restaurants across at least Downtown, Midtown, and Brooklyn).
I'll never make this again, but perhaps I'll spend a similarly long-assed, involved time cooking something else. Though really I'm not quite sure what.

RAMEN! 2.1: Day 1 Prep

One-page prep and 2-page grocery lists written out before heading out to shop.
How else am I supposed to keep track of what I need to buy and what I need to do in what amount of time?  The usual way of my mini-Rhodia notebook and "Hey!  Just the cookbook." is not going to cut it here.


Prep list on its lonesome.

Ramen Broth

• 2 3-by-6-inch pieces konbu (Konbu certainly doesn't look 3-inches wide dried as I will later show you, but I think David Chang just wants you to use two pieces.)
• 6 quarts water
• 2 cups dried shitakes, rinsed
• 4 pounds chicken, either a whole bird or legs (I'm too lazy to practice breaking down a chicken every once and a while, so I went with the legs.)
• 5 pounds meaty pork bones
• 1 pound smokey bacon, preferably Benton's (Benton's is arguably the smokiest bacon on the market. Since I can't afford to be so exhaustively foodie as to purchase mail-order bacon, I used Savenor's Double-Smoked Bacon; still not cheap at $12.99 but much better than what I would have had to shell out for Benton's.)
• 1 bunch scallions
• 1 medium onion, cut in half
• 2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• Taré, preferably, or kosher salt, soy sauce, and mirin (I'll repeat here again that I didn't take the easy way out. A good thing since I let the broth over-reduce. Oh well.)

Mise en place.


As I mentioned earlier, I wasn't sure how much konbu to steep in the broth's initial step since the dried pieces were so narrow. Perhaps if I had thought about this through more I would have come to the conclusion to use 2 pieces instead of 4, but I did pull two out after they reached their unfurled state.
David Chang says that at Momofuku they use the konbu in dishes such as Grilled Octopus Salad, but honestly, I wasn't going to run out and buy Octopus and then execute that.


Simmering 2 cups of dried shitakes in the konbu-infused broth for 30 minutes. I'm perpetually led to ordering dishes with dried black mushrooms in Chinese restaurants, but I rarely cook with them. So sad.


Pork bones all laid out and ready to be popped in the oven.


30 minutes at 400 degrees F.


Bacon taking a bath in the broth that had been further infused with chicken legs for an hour. Once I ditched the bacon (after 45 minutes) and added the pork bones, I was finally able to escape the house and narrowly get to Blanchard's in time to pick up a bottle of sake in order to execute the taré while making the broth.
I would've been so pissed at myself if I hadn't been able to pick up that ingredient. Particularly since I had to be up until nearly 7 AM tending to the broth.


Adding the vegetables for the final 45 minutes.


Straining the broth through cheesecloth.


Strained broth, and OH YEAH, I get to go to bed now. Good night, Sun.
Yeah, I know I didn't get to five quarts. Should have been less stupid when it came to adding water.


The congealed fat on top of the broth when I eventually woke up Friday after. Probably not quite past 4 PM.


Yummers.


About 2 quarts when all was said and done. I'll later cut the broth with a quart of boxed chicken broth. I had to use ALL of the following taré recipe to make up for it, but I had enough broth for everyone that wanted ramen and a certain amount of leftovers.

Taré
"The meaning of the term taré isn't consistent up and down Japan, but in Tokyo, where I learned about it, it is essentially Japanese barbecue sauce. At yakitori restaurants, places where they grill skewers of chicken over clean-burning bincho-tan charcoal, they brush the chicken with a slick of taré just as it finishes cooking. One of the coolest taré-making systems I've ever seen was at a yakitori joint in Japan where there was a channel underneath the grill funneling all the chicken drippings into a stone jar full of taré that was constantly being infused with grilled chicken drippings. (I imagined they replenished it with fresh soy, mirin, and sake the next day, boiled it, and returned it to its station.
"But in addition to its place of honor in the yakitori tradition, taré is the main seasoning--the primary 'salt' component--in ramen shops, at least in Tokyo. Ramenyas have their own formulas for broth and their own recipes for taré. Broths are usually easy to figure out, because there's always a big pot bubbling away in plain view, with apples or leeks or whatever secret-ish ingredients a shop adds to it, but taré recipes are more mysterious because you rarely see them being made. Some places add dried scallops, others leave out the chicken bones.
"Ours is robust if simple, and it's a good way to put chicken trimmings or bones to use. Most ramen shops add the taré to the bowl when the soup is being assembled to be served, but that always struck me as a Russian roulette way of seasoning a soup--too much, too little, too easy to screw up. So we season our broth with it beforehand, tasting carefully with each addition to strike the right balance."

• 2 to 3 chicken backs, or the bones and their immediately attendant flesh and skin reserved from butchering 1 chicken (I picked up a pack of chicken bones at Savenor's and it was more than sufficient.)
• 1 cup sake
• 1 cup mirin
• 2 cups usukuchi (light soy sauce)
• Freshly ground black pepper

First time I used the Lodge Logic cast-iron pan I bought last fall.


One hour at 450 degrees F.


Mise en place.


Simmered for 1 hour on the stove-top.
Light years better than soy sauce and mirin. Dontcha think?


Prep list after Day 1 execution.

Momofuku Pork Buns

Typed up these recipes for Karen M. to execute for the Ramen party she is kindly hosting for me next month. I'll be making the pork belly as well for the Ramen, but if Karen needs any help with this steamed buns (Karen, you can probably buy these at Super 88, too.) I can probably squeeze it into my prep schedule.
In any case David Chang's pork buns are served at all his restaurants: Noodle Bar, Ssam Bar, Milk Bar, Ma Peche, nearly brand-new Booker and Dax, and I have to believe they must have them at tasting menu, on live reservation only, single daily seating Ko (probably one of the top 5 most difficult to get into NYC restaurants). I've had them only a couple times, but they are quite good.

Also, hopefully, I'll have a guest entry from Karen when the event nears.



momofuku pork buns serves 1
(from Momofuku)

• 1 Steamed Bun (recipe to follow)
  
• About 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 3 or 4 slices Quick-Pickled Cucumbers
• 3 thick slices Pork Belly
• 1 scant tablespoon thinly sliced scallion (green and white)
• Sriracha, for serving

1. Heat the bun in a steamer on the stovetop. It should be hot to the touch, which will take almost no time with just-made buns and 2 to 3 minutes with frozen buns.
2. Grab the bun from the steamer and flop it open on a plate. Slater the inside with the hoisin sauce, using a pastry brush or the back of a spoon. Arrange the pickles on one side of the fold in the bun and the slice of pork belly on the other. Scatter the belly and pickles with sliced scallion, fold closed, and voilà: pork bun. Serve with sriracha.

steamed buns makes 50 buns

"Okay, fifty buns is a lot of buns. But the buns keep in the freezer for months and months without losing any quality, and if you cut the recipe down any more than this, there's barely enough stuff in the bowl of the mixer for the dough hook to pick up. So clear out a couple hours and some space in the freezer and get to work."

• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups water, at room temperature
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• Rounded 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 cup rendered pork fat or vegetable shortening, at room temperature, plus more for shaping the buns, as needed

1. Combine the yeast and the water in the bowl of a stand mixer outfitted with the dough hook. Add the flour, sugar, milk powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and fat and mix on the lowest speed possible, just above a stir, for 8 to 10 minutes. The dough should gather together into a neat, not-too-tacky ball on the hook. When it does, lightly oil a medium mixing bowl, put the dough in it, and cover the bowel with a dry kitchen towel. Put it in a turned off oven with a pilot light or other warmish place and let rise until the dough doubles in bulk, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
2. Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a clean work surface. Using a bench scraper or a knife, divide the dough in half, then divide each half into 5 equal pieces. Gently roll the pieces into logs, then cut each log into 5 pieces, making 50 pieces total. They should be about the size of a Ping-Pong ball and weigh about 25 grams, or a smidge under an ounce. Roll each piece into a ball. Cover the armada of little dough balls with a draping of plastic wrap and allow them to rest and rise for 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cut out fifty 4-inch squares of parchment paper. Coat a chopstick with whatever fat you're working with.
4. Flatten one ball with the palm of your hand then use a rolling pin to roll it out into a 4-inch-long oval. Lay the greased chopstick across the medium of the oval and fold the oval over onto itself to form the bun shape. Withdraw the chopstick, leaving the bun folded, and put the bun on a square of parchment paper. Stick it back under the plastic wrap (or a dry kitchen towel) and form the rest of the buns. Let the buns rest for 30 to 45 minutes: they will rise a little.
5. Set up a steamer on the stove. Working in batches so you don't crowd the steamer, steam the buns on the parchment squares for 10 minutes. Remove the parchment. You can use the buns immediately (reheat them for a minute or so in the steamer if necessary) or allow to cool completely, then seal in plastic freezer bags and freeze for up to a few months. Reheat frozen buns in a stovetop steamer for 2 to 3 minutes, until puffy, soft, and warmed all the way through

pork belly for ramen, pork buns, & just about anything else

MAKES ENOUGH PORK BUNS FOR 6 TO 8 BOWLS OF RAMEN OR ABOUT 12 PORK BUNS

• One 3-pound slab skinless pork belly
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 1/4 cup sugar

1. Nestle the belly into a roasting pan or other oven-safe vessel that holds it snugly. Mix together the salt and sugar in a small bowl and rub the mix all over the meat; discard any excess salt-and-sugar mixture. Cover the container with plastic wrap and put it into the fridge for at least 6 hours, but no longer than 24.
2. Heat the oven to 450˚F.
3. Discard any liquid that accumulated in the container. Put the belly in the oven, fat side up, and cook for 1 hour, basting it with the render fat at the halfway point, until it's an appetizing golden brown.
4. Turn the oven temperature down to 250˚F and cook until the belly is tender--it shouldn't be falling apart, but it should have a down pillow-like yield to a firm finger poke. Remove the pan from the oven and the mea juices from the pan and reserve (I'm guessing this is the fat one would use in making the steamed buns.). Allow the belly to cool slightly.
5. When it's cool enough to handle, wrap the belly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and put it in the fridge until it's thoroughly chilled and firm. (You can skip this step if you're pressed for time, but the only way to get neat, nice-looking slices is to chill the belly thoroughly before slicing it.)
6. Cut the pork belly in to 1/2-inch-thick slices that are about 2 inches long. Warm them for serving in a pan over medium heat, just for a minute or two, until they are jiggly soft and heated through. Use at once.

quick salt pickles, master recipe
MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS

Halve or double the recipe as needed.

• Vegetable, prepared as indicated
• 1 tablespoon sugar, or more to taste
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste

1. Combine the vegetable with the sugar and salt in a small mixing bowl and toss to coat with the sugar and salt. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Taste: if the pickles are too sweet or too salty, put them into a colander, rinse off the seasoning and dry in a kitchen towel. Taste again and add more sugar or salt as needed. Serve after 5 to 10 minutes, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

quick-pickled cucumbers: 2 meaty kirby cucumbers, cut into 1/4-inch-thick disks.

RAMEN!

An event I'm planning for 4/14. Contact me for more details:


Ok, you lucky dogs, I'm again pulling out the culinary stops and finally throwing my own ramen party.
Ramen, if you aren't aware, doesn't need to be as basic as the stuff you can buy down the street for 40 cents a packet (Perhaps even less!) and the truly great stuff is mysteriously elusive in the Boston area (infinitely less so in NYC sadly). You can go to Wagamama and endure their price-gouging and less than authentic fare. Or you can go to Sapporo Ramen in the Porter Square Galleria for reasonably priced, authentic, filling stuff (DO NOT order extra ramen the first time you eat there. I suffered for days.). Their one failing is that they use a chicken-based broth rather than a pork-based broth. For the record, this is hugely lame.

Let me slavishly amend this situation while following Momofuku giant David Chang's recipe where roasted pork bones simmer for 6 to 7 hours, I'm basically confit-ing pork belly in the oven for 2 hours, and braising pork shoulder for 6 hours. Among other things, geesh!, but I guarantee it'll be a mind fuck.

Guests are encouraged to bring nibbles, Japanese/Korean alcoholic beverages (Soju is pretty icky but I guess traditional. They serve it in magnificent slushy form at the Momofuku Noodle Bar, but I'm not exactly going to attempt that one.), and desserts (I guess frozen mochi might do it, but more ambitious, homemade suggestions are welcome). Please come equipped with your own Asian soup bowl, soup spoon, and chopsticks (The kind they use in Pho places). I'm sure you can get this at any major Asian Supermarket for about $5.

Also there's no way I'm making more than 20 servings of this stuff so please RSVP early and mention any guests you're bringing.