Pork – Writing With My Mouth Full

Spanish Chorizo and Potato Stew

New York City temperature dropped to “feels like -15F” during the long weekend that I was forced to make this Spanish chorizo and potato stew before hibernating. Actually, “forced” is such a strong word; it was too easy to be forced to make it. It was a hearty meal that did not require much effort.

Ingredients:
6 bacon slices, chopped
1 large sweet onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced, sliced
3 tbsps tomato paste
2 lbs smoked Spanish chorizo, cut into rounds
2 large russet potatoes, peeled, chopped into large chunks
1 lb button mushrooms
32 oz chicken broth
3/4 cup hot smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
sour cream
a handful of dill
salt

1. Render bacon fat by heating a large pot over medium heat. Add bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown but crisp, about 7 minutes. Remove to a plate.
2. Add onions to the same pot with the bacon fat. Cook, stirring often, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, and cook, stirring, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook until slightly darkened in color.
3. Return bacon to pot, then add the chorizo until slightly browned. Add the potatoes, mushrooms, broth, paprika, and cayenne and bring to a boil. Reduce heat so liquid is at a bare simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Season with salt.
4. Remove from heat. Ladle into small bowls and top with a dollop or two of sour cream and torn dill.

Related post/s:
Where were these tubed tomato paste all my life?

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.

Lu Rou Fan, Taiwanese Braised Pork Belly

I was craving a comforting pork belly dish over the weekend but didn’t want to do a repeat of one of my favorite Japanese dishes, Buta No Kakuni. So I turned to the Taiwanese style mostly because my friend Kevin was posting vacation photos on his Instagram account from Taipei.

Don’t be intimidated by all the spices that you need here. They don’t cost a lot if you don’t have them already. I even used fresh tangerine peel instead of the recommended dried ones because I didn’t want to run to Chinatown just for them; besides, the tangerines were 2 for $1 at my corner fruit stand. Two pounds of pork belly may sound a lot, but really, this fed me about 6 rice bowls worth.

Ingredients:
2 lbs skin-on pork belly, cut into 1/2″ pieces
oil
2 tbsps sugar
1 medium onion, finely chopped
12 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water until soft, drained, chopped
1/2 cup Shaoxing wine
6 tbsps light soy sauce
4 tbsps dark soy sauce
6 hardboiled eggs, peeled

For the spices, wrapped in cheese cloth and tied with kitchen string:
6 star anise
2 cinnamon stick
12 cloves
6 bay leaves
4 tsps Sichuan peppercorns
4 pieces tangerine peel
4 slices fresh ginger

1. Bring a large Dutch oven of water to a boil. Blanch the chopped pork belly for 2 minutes. Discard impurities. Scoop out pork to a plate and transfer the water to a large pot.
2. Heat up the same Dutch oven before putting the oil in low heat. Add the sugar and cook until it starts to melt. Add the onions. Turn up the heat to medium high and stir-fry the onions for a minute. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry for another few. Add the blanched pork, Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and 5 cups of the pork water.
3. Stir and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, add the spice bag with the eggs and turn the heat to the lowest setting. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, or until the meat is falling apart.
4. When ready to serve, remove the spice bag. Turn up the heat to medium-high and thicken the sauce, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes. Serve over steamed white rice.

Recommendations:
I used this cheese cloth to wrap all the spices and didn’t even need a kitchen string to tie it close. I always have dried shiitake mushrooms for broth and fungi cooking needs–they last longer and give off more flavor and body.

Black Tagliatelle with Hot Sausage and Littleneck Clams

I wanted to take on making pasta again at home so I stopped by Buon Italia’s joint in Chelsea Market to buy cuttlefish ink to make black pasta. My heart broke when my dough refused to form so I ended up throwing everything including the 10 egg yolks required. It’s a very expensive hobby, pasta-making; I don’t know why I can’t seem to do it myself. I was fine while I was taking the class at Rustico Cooking; perhaps it’s time to retake the class just to get the feel of the dough again.

The good thing is that I bought black tagliatelle as well for backup. I didn’t want to spend more money buying Nduja sausages so I just picked up regular hot sausages. The clam shells were heavy but were a great addition to this dish. It was very pretty at the end and I highly recommend making this when you have a night to tuck it in with a nice glass of red wine.

Ingredients:
olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 sweet onion, roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
20 littleneck clams, rinsed and scrubbed
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 hot Italian sausages, removed from casing
1 tbsp tomato paste
black tagliatelle pasta
fresh lemon juice
2 tbsps butter
a handful of parsley, finely chopped
breadcrumbs
2 scallions, sliced thinly

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Sauté the garlic until light golden brown. Add the onions and sweat until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the bay leaves, clams and half of the wine. Cover the pot and steam for 5 to 7 minutes, removing the clams as they open. Strain the cooking liquid and set aside in a bowl. Remove and reserve the meat from the clams and roughly chop; discard shells.
2. In a skillet, cook the sausage pieces and render the fat. Crush the sausages into smaller pieces with the back of your spatula while cooking. Deglaze the pan with the remaining wine and reduce by half by simmering in low fire. Add tomato paste and reserved clam juice and bring to a simmer.
3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in another pot of boiling water until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the sausage. Add the reserved clams and butter and toss over medium-high heat until the pasta is well coated, about 2 minutes. Stir in the pasta water a little bit at a time so it has a nice consistency. To finish, toss with the lemon juice and parsley and garnish with the breadcrumbs and scallions.

Stewed Cranberry Beans with Bacon

Miriam and I drove up to the Catskills for her bachelorette party two weekends ago. Yep, a bachelorette party with just the two of us. I’ve known her for the last 12 years and even though we’re always miles away from each other, we just always pick up where we left off the next time we’re together. She was coming from Singapore and was jet-lagged so our Phoenecia weekend was pretty chill and quiet. Besides eating and drinking around town, we stopped by Migliorelli Farm to pick up some fresh produce. I ended up taking home their fresh cranberry beans which I shelled several days later and soaked before making this dish.

Ingredients:
olive oil
4 slices bacon, chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
salt, pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup shelled cranberry beans, soaked for 24 hours, drained
chicken broth
2 sprigs rosemary, roughly chopped
2 tsps lemon zest
2 tbsps lemon juice
a dash chile pepper flakes
1 tsp sambal oelek
a handful of spinach leaves

1. Cook and stir olive oil and bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until bacon is fully cooked and begins to crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in shallots and season with salt and pepper and cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
2. Add the beans and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until the beans begin to swell, about 25 minutes.
3. Uncover and continue cooking bean and bacon mixture until the liquid reduces and beans are tender, 5 to 10 more minutes. Add rosemary, lemon zest, lemon juice, and chile pepper flakes. Stir in sambal oelek to incorporate and to adjust the taste. Remove from heat, stir in spinach until wilted.