Author: cia

Soy-Braised Beef Short Ribs

I rarely watch food and travel shows because I dislike how I feel after—like I haven’t been anywhere at all, or eaten anything good ever. With the exceptions of the earlier Anthony Bourdain shows and David Chang’s Asian experience peppered in Ugly Delicious, most shows have the same formula and get boring after a while.

I liked Samin Nosrat’s book Salt, Fat, Acid, and Heat and so I was at least curious as to how it would be translated by Netflix. The “Fat” episode was a good pilot for me because I immediately got her style. I love when she tastes something and her honest reaction is shown. I felt like I would react the same way if I was in her position. By the time I was done with the “Salt” episode, all I wanted was to travel back to Japan and cook this soy-braised ribs recipe.

I altered her recipe to suit my timing and didn’t add the leftover marinade as part of the braising juice that you see in her original version. I simply added more dashi halfway through so as not to burn the meat while helping them cook through with all the steam.

Every time I braised meats, it almost always involves tomatoes and red wine–it’s my go-to method when the weather is colder outside. I was intrigued by this dish because it used neither of them, and the result is a much cleaner and subtler flavor, yet packed with all that umami.

Ingredients:
3 lbs beef short ribs on the bone, 2-3 inches thick
salt
canola oil
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup mirin
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated
4 garlic cloves, finely grated
¼ tsp cayenne
About 2 cups dashi broth made from
kombu
a handful of cilantro, finely chopped
2 scallions, chopped

1. The morning you want to serve the ribs, salt them and let them sit in room temperature for 30 minutes, lightly covered. Keep in mind that the marinade consists mostly of soy sauce, which is salty, so use only about half as much salt as you otherwise would.
2. In the meantime, whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, mirin, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and cayenne. Place the meat in a large bowl and pour in the marinade. I let them marinate until 4 hours before dinner time.
3. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 400°F.
4. Using a heated cast-iron skillet, add just enough oil to coat the bottom. Working in batches so as not to crowd pan, brown a few short ribs at a time on all three meaty sides, about 3-5 minutes per side.
5. Transfer the ribs, bone-side down, to a large Dutch oven, snug but in one layer. Add enough dashi to go about half an inch up the sides of the ribs, then cover with lid. Slide into the oven and cook until the liquid simmers, about 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 325°F and cook until meat is very tender and falling off the bone, 3 to 4 hours more. Check halfway to add more dashi if it’s drying up.
6. Serve warm with rice, garnished with cilantro and slivered scallions, and with blanched haricot verts and quick-pickled Persian cucumbers.

Beef Sesame Stir-Fry with Broccoli and Snap Peas

Post-yoga quick stir-fry dinner because I am so, so tired and sleepy.

Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 pound chuck or rib steak, thinly sliced against the grain
1 small knob of ginger, peeled and sliced
red pepper flakes
1 head broccoli, cut into small florets
a couple of handfuls of snap peas
1 carrot, shaved into ribbons
3 scallions, roughly chopped
sesame oil
salt, pepper

1. Heat some oil in a large wok until hot. Add the beef, ginger, some black pepper and red pepper flakes, and cook until crisp on the outside but still pink inside, about 2 minutes. Season with salt, and remove to a plate.
2. Add some more oil to the wok again until hot. Add the broccoli and snap peas, and cook, tossing until crisp-tender, 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water and steam the broccoli and snap peas until bright green and some of the liquid has evaporated, 2 minutes more.
3. Add back the beef, ginger, carrots and soy sauce mixture to the pan, and toss over medium heat until coated and thickened a little, about 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle with scallions, and drizzle with sesame oil, if using. Toss to coat and serve warm with rice or noodles.

Shanghainese Sticky Pork Belly Recipe

What do you feed a boy who just biked 108 miles with an elevation gain of 6,421 feet?

Ingredients:
2 pounds pork belly, skin on, in a single piece
2 tbsps vegetable oil
2 tbsps brown sugar
1/2 inch knob ginger, peeled and finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 scallions, white part only, finely sliced
2 star anise pods
1 cinnamon stick
3 tbsps Shaoxing wine
1/4 cup light soy sauce
Steamed rice for serving

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add pork belly and cook for 5 minutes. Remove to drain and allow to cool slightly. Slice belly into 1-inch cubes.
2. Wipe off the same sauce pan and heat the oil over medium heat. Add brown sugar and stir until mixture begins to caramelize, about 1 minute.
3. Increase heat to high. Add ginger and garlic, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add star anise and cinnamon stick and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add pork cubes, stirring until the meat is well-coated in caramel. Add soy sauce and Shaoxing wine and stir to combine.
4. Add enough water to cover the pork and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 2 hours, stirring occasionally until sauce has thickened and is dark brown and glossy. If liquid begins to dry out, add enough water and continue simmering until sauce is sticky.
5. Serve pork on top of rice, sprinkle with scallions, and top with remaining sticky sauce.

Eggplant and Corn Salad

For July 4th, we had an awesome time at my friend’s farm in New Jersey. We had all our barbecue items ready until it started raining–the eggplants and corn didn’t make it to the grill. We ended up boiling the corns on the cob and put away the eggplants for later use. I then used the leftover corn and removed the kernels from the cob and mixed them with the eggplant to make this salad.

Ingredients:
2 large American eggplants, cut into 1 inch thick wedges
2 boiled corn on the cob, kernels removed
a generous handful of cilantro, finely chopped
about 6 basil leaves, julienned
1 shallot, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
a few jiggers of red wine vinegar
cayenne pepper
salt, pepper, oil

1. Toss eggplant pieces in some salt. Drizzle some oil until just about glistening but not too wet. The eggplant will absorb most of the oil quickly anyway.
2. In a skillet, heat some oil and then add the seasoned eggplants. Keep sautéing until cooked through, about 25 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool.
3. In between sautéing, whisk together 1/3 cup of olive oil with the cilantro, basil, red onion, garlic, red wine vinegar, and cayenne pepper. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside. Stir in the corn kernels until well combined.
4. Add the cooled eggplants to the corn salsa and toss well. Chill for a few minutes before serving.

Sancocho, Colombian Chicken and Plantain Soup

It’s World Cup time again and I made the bold choice of picking Colombia going all the way since neither the Netherlands and the United States made it. During the first stage when Colombia played Poland, I invited my Colombian neighbors to watch the match in my apartment. They brought their family and we ended up being a full, fun house.

How do you entertain die-hard Colombian fans watching soccer? You serve them one of their national soups, sancocho. Together with ajiaco, it’s one of the soups that I ended up always ordering while traveling around Colombia a few years ago. I will never forget how hearty it was with the potatoes, plantains, and corn. Even though the weather didn’t call for hot soup then, it didn’t stop me from ordering either one. And now that we are experience a heatwave in New York City, a bowl of it brings back those memories.

Ingredients:
7 cloves garlic
3 medium carrots, chopped
1 red bell pepper, deseeded, chopped
1 green bell pepper, deseeded, chopped
1 small white onion, chopped
1 habañero chile, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped in 3 parts
3 low-sodium chicken bouillon cubes
1 tbsp cumin, grounded
salt, pepper
1 3-to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 small yucca, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 green plantain, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 ripe plantains, peeled, cut into 3-inch pieces
5 medium-sized potatoes, quartered
4 ears corn, cut in 3 pieces

1. In a food processor, purée the garlic, carrots, peppers, onion, chile, and cilantro.
2. In a large pot, combine the purée with about 1 gallon of water, the bouillon cubes, and cumin, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Add the chicken pieces and simmer for another 20 minutes.
4. Add the yucca and green plantain and simmer for 10 minutes more. Add the ripe plantains, potatoes, and corn and simmer for another 15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.

Related post/s:
Try the Colombian ajiaco too