Braised Mango Habanero Ribs and Vietnamese Wings

I woke up yesterday morning (Sunday) and just craved these Vietnamese chicken wings that my mom makes.  They are amazingly crispy and she tosses it with a fish sauce (Nuoc Mam) mixture that she makes.  You have all these all these amazing flavors going on from sweet to salty to spicy...delicious!  Sounds gross to some since fish sauce is either a love or hate kind of sauce.  But I was too lazy to go to the store to get wings.  A couple hours later, she calls and asks if I was going to come over because she was going to make the wings.  She read my mind!

For dinner that night, I was just going to throw a slab of ribs on the grill that I had in the freezer and call it a night.  But after that phone call, I went running.  I did still have the ribs that I was planning to grill in the fridge so I thought it would be fun to get creative with it.  My Mom had given me some mangoes the previous weekend that I need to eat and I had a habanero sitting there that had not been touched in a while.  So I figured grilled mango habanero bbq sauce on my grilled ribs.  Then realized that I did not want to get the grill going for just a slab of ribs.  Then came the idea of braised mango habanero ribs.  I had prepared everything at my place so when I get to my parents, I could just start on it.

When I got to my parents, my Mom put me to work.  Guess I had to work for my wings.  She had me make the wings, which I am fine with since I really wanted it.  The wings are not seasoned or marinaded.  They are just coated in tapioca starch and then deep fried.  The key is in the sauce.  This was simple too.  Fish sauce, sugar and garlic.  I made a separate sauce in threw in some Thai chili peppers for heat.    Immediately after the wings come out, dip it in the sauce real quick and that is it!

I had started my ribs a little while before the wings started so it was finishing up as the wings finished. For the preparation, I browned the ribs, took it out of the pan and poured in my homemade chicken stock and added in my mango mixture that consisted of mango, onion, garlic, ginger, cilantro and habanero.

Funny story.  The habanero at my place had gone bad so I asked my Mom to grab me just one while she was at the store.  For one, she did not know what habanero was nor the heat that it gives off.  I told her just one.  She called me at the store and asked me again if I am sure just one.  I told her yes and she called again to make sure.  Little did she know, she was shocked how spicy it was as she was eating the ribs.

Pork with a side of Pork: Asian Seared Pork and Asian Meatloaf and Rice (Com Thit Nuong Cha)

Our freezer has been just packed with food lately and we needed to clear it out before we buy more food.  We had a good variety of meat in the freezer that we bought.  The dinner for that night was determined to be pork with a side of pork since we had some pork chops and ground pork in the freezer.  I had slight idea in my head during the day what I was going cook that night because for some reason Com Thit Nuong Cha sounded really good.  You can never go wrong with this entree when you visit a Vietnamese restaurants.

When I got home, I quickly marinaded the pork chops with some Asian sauces and set that aside so it could take on as much flavor as it can in a short period of time.

Then I started preparing the meatloaf quickly since this was going to take some time to cook.  I grated some carrots, chopped up some onion, garlic and ginger, rehydrated some black fungus and bean thread noodles and tossed in an egg to hold it all together.  Typically on a meatloaf, you would toss it in the oven and bake it.  For this meatloaf it is steamed.  After about twenty minutes, I whipped up some eggs and poured it on top and finished it off for another ten minutes.  

As the meatloaf was finishing up, I pan fried the pork chops real quick.  

When you order this dish at a Vietnamese restaurant, it is served with some lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber.  And the best sauce of it all fish sauce!  So I decided to have some fun with the presentation.  

Ladies and Gentlemen, here we go...the end result of my cravings for the day...Pork with a side of Pork!

Jalapeno Orzo Mac & Cheese, Tilapia and Shrimp with Tarragon Cream Sauce

Here is the same story again.  After work today, I was feeling extra lazy and did not want to move from the couch...let alone cook (shocking I know).  A couple minutes went by, and I realize that we had nothing in the fridge that was quick...did not even have cold cuts or cheese to make sandwiches.  So I asked Crystal to take some tilapia and shrimp out.  After a little while, I checked on the fish and shrimp and saw that it was defrosted.  This is when it all started...

I had forgotten I had some leftover jalapeno and cheese orzo risotto.  I took this and just ran with it.  I took this and quickly turned it into jalapeno orzo mac & cheese.  I quickly seasoned the fish and shrimp with some herb de provence, salt and pepper and set that aside.  I knew I wanted to do a fun presentation tonight so I buttered the shrimp.  

As I did the prep work, I knew I needed a sauce and a jalapeno tarragon creamy sauce sounded delicious over the fish and shrimp.  I quickly diced up some jalapeno, onion and garlic and cooked that down a bit.  Threw in some tarragon and added milk.  I let that simmer low to get all the flavors to fuse together.  

My mom had given me two of her circle serving dishes over the weekend so I decided to have some fun with tonight's presentation.  I used a small sauce bowl to mold the jalapeno orzo mac & cheese and put that on the plate.  Plated the fish as it came out the pan to make room for the shrimp.  The shrimp was a bit of a challenge because I did not want to just throw a cluster of it on the plate so I spread them out a bit.  As I was spooning the tarragon sauce over the fish and shrimp, I kept adding a bit more and more and did almost a "ying yang" effect on the plate around the orzo.  

Stood back and looked at the presentation and was very happy the way it looked out.  My goal had been working on my presentation and in my opinion, I thought this goes to the top of list.  

Almond Crusted Flounder

A couple Fridays ago, I had made my brother almond crusted flounder.  Although it tasted good, I knew that it could use some improvement.  That following Monday, I was on a mission to improve the recipe.  Although I used all the same spices and almond breadcrumb that I had made, I added a bit more salt and better dredged the flounder.  The first flounder I cooked, I was not thinking much about it so I all I did was toss on the almond bread crumb, which did not really form a nice crust.  This time I set up a dredging station to make a nice crispy crust around the fish. 

Got the fish down so it was time to add some veggies to the fish.  I had some bok choy in the fridge that I have been waiting to use.  I quickly sliced some onion, garlic, ginger, and carrots and started my veggie stir fry.  Mid way through it, I realized I had two cans of bamboo that I had never had the opportunity to use...in went the bamboo.  

As you can see in the picture, I had some fun with this presentation.  After I had pan fried the fish, I set it on some paper towels to drain some of the oil and looked down and realized that I had formed a fin of a fish by placing the two pieces of flounder side by side.  After the stir fry was done, I pouring it around the fish.  I did not realize how big the flounder fillets were because we had plenty of leftover!

I was very pleased with the fish the second time around.  Just simply adding a bit more salt, changed the whole dynamic of the plate.  When salt is used properly, it just enhances the flavors of food.  The fish was also very crispy.

Asian Steak Tartare

This past weekend involved a lot of cooking.  Saturday, I went down to Galveston and cooked I think about 150 pounds of Sriracha Crawfish and Sunday a 6-course dinner for my Dad for Father's Day.  When Monday rolled around, I wanted something quick and delicious.  I have never made steak tartare before.  I have only seen in prepared on the Food Network.  It was perfect because I still had leftover eye of round beef from the previous night that I had not used.

Not only did I want to make steak tartare, but I wanted to make an Asian steak tartare.  This was probably the easiest meal ever prepared yet it taste like I spent forever on it.  The second I got home from work, I started dicing the beef into tiny pieces.  I seasoned the beef with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil.  Now you do not want to use to much of these sauces because if you are going to do a fun presentation that requires putting the beef into a mold, you do not want it to have to much liquid where it will not hold its form.  Use enough of the three sauces just to add flavor and use salt for the saltiness.  I also finely minced onion, garlic and green onions to add into the mixture.  I stuck the beef into the fridge and prepared everything else.

I finely sliced the remaining of the scallions to use as a topping on the tartare.  I lucked out that my Mom had handed me several avocados the night before as I was pulling out the driveway.  I took the avocados and diced those for an additional flavor profile and color contrast.

I already had a fun idea for the presentation that involves a new dish that I had purchased.  The overall dish does require for me to make a sauce so I made a quick sauce consisting of soy sauce, lime, rice vinegar and honey.  As I was making the sauce, I wanted to add some heat to it so I thinly sliced a jalapeno.

I had grabbed a small bowl and used that as my mold for the tartare.  I added the beef in the mold first and topped it with avocados so when I placed it on the plate, the avocado would be at the bottom.  I unmolded the steak tartare in the middle of the plate and poured the sauce all around the tartare and placed the sliced of jalapenos around it.  Topped it with scallions and finished it off with sesame seeds.

This was served with some grilled bread.  I would have to say, AMAZING!!!!

Father's Day-6 Course Dinner

Well it is that time of year again, Father's Day!  We were all going to go down to Asian town for dinner, but we had had a long night the night before.  So I decided to bring Asian town to my parents once again.

There are a couple dishes that were a hit with my family previously so I decided to make again.  These include peking ribs, walnut shrimp and black pepper beef.  For the black pepper beef, instead of using skirt steak like I did previously, I decided to use short ribs since it is one of my Dad's favorite cut of meat.

Growing up, we would go to California quite often to see my Mom's side of the family and my uncle would always make this one dish called bo tai chanh.  It is such a simple dish, but it is so amazing.  All it is, is thinly sliced pieces of beef and marinaded in some Asian sauces with lemon and lime.  The lemon and lime "cooks" the meat.  The other key ingredient to this dish is an abundant amount of cilantro.

Prepping:
After going to the store, I went to my parent's house and basically started prepping immediately.  For me it was an adrenaline rush because I was trying to work quickly as I can, but luckily Crystal and my Mom offered to help so I started giving orders.

First thing first was to throw the eye of round roast into the freezer.  It is much easier to thinly slice any meat if it is partially frozen.

For the black pepper short ribs, I simply seasoned it with salt and pepper since most of the flavor is going to come from the Asian sauces that I used and from the onion and garlic.  I set that aside and jumped onto the next item.

The shrimp for the walnut shrimp and the was simply seasoned with Chinese five spice powder and salt and pepper.

The peking ribs were seasoned similar to the shrimp.  Since I am going to fry these, I needed to partially cook it by boiling it so it fully cooks through when I fry it.

After seasoning all the protein, I started prepping the broth for the mussel.  I sauteed some onion, garlic, ginger and lemon grass and poured in my homemade chicken stock.  I started on this earlier because I like to let my broth simmer for a while to extract all the flavors.

As I let the all the proteins season, I prepared all the sauces for each plate.  I grabbed the beef out of the freezer and started slicing away for the Asian Beef Carpaccio.

Cooking:
The real fun finally begins...cooking.  I moved quickly and carefully coordinated everything because I was preparing a six course meal on a four range burner and wanted everything to be hot when we eat.  I set up a fry station for Crystal since she was in charge frying the shrimp and ribs.

For the black pepper short ribs, I seared off the the short ribs on both sides and set it aside.  With the same pan, I sauteed the onion and garlic and cooked it down and added in my Asian sauces with my chicken broth.  At this point, return the meat back into the pan and let it simmer so it takes on all of the flavor from the sauce.

At this point Crystal had finished frying the ribs and tossed it with the sauce.  I went ahead and added in my sauce for the carpaccio.  I do not like to let the beef sit in the lemon and lime too long because it will "over cook" it.

Crystal finished the shrimp pretty quickly since it cooks so quickly.  She tossed it with the sauce and she was done with her fry station.  I drained out the oil in her pan to begin pan frying the fish and sauteed the veggies for the fish plate.

As all this was going on, I had turned the broth for the mussel on and dropped it in.  Finally everything was done and we were ready to eat.

Father's Day Menu:
Black Pepper Short Ribs
Mussel
Walnut Shrimp
Asian Beef Carpaccio
Pan Fried Fish with Stir Fry Vegetables
Peking Ribs

The dinner was delicious.  So good that my parents said that it tasted better than going out to Asian town.  This made me happy because Asian parents are very honest and for them to say that, it actually really meant they liked the dinner.

I had tons of fun because it felt like I was in a restaurant kitchen working at fast speeds and barking orders.

Peach BBQ Ribs, Peking Ribs, and Peach BBQ Shrimp

Sunday's come and go so quickly these days.  Here we were, Sunday again and we were headed to my parent's for dinner.  I try to go over to my parent's house most Sunday's and cook for them most of the time.  They are my most honest food critics.  A quick run down for all the non-Asian people...Asian parents typically do not beat around the bush or shy when they tell you something.  If they do not like something, they will flat out tell you that it is not good.  There is no better way to get feedback.

Any who, I was flipping through the HEB weekly ad that day and they had specials on spareribs which I have not cooked in forever.  As I had mentioned in my previous grilled rib blog, I like my ribs that you have to use your teeth to tear off the bone.  So spareribs was going to be the star of the dinner that night. I had some extra peach BBQ sauce I had made a couple weeks ago as well.

That morning and afternoon was raining and did not seem like it was going to let up, but I had my mind set for spareribs already and I had to have it.  

When I arrived at my parent's house, I quickly seasoned the ribs.  I decided to use my special rub on one slab and a five spice powder on the other slab since I wanted to do a play on my peking ribs (which is fried).  I popped them in the oven for about two hours.

Then my Mom decides to pull out some extra large shrimp.  I quickly tossed that with just salt and pepper.  

As I waited for the ribs to partially cook in the oven, I made my peking sauce so I can brush on the ribs.  

After the ribs had been in the oven for two hours, I pulled them and finished them on the grill to get that char.  As the ribs were coming to an end, I started brushing on the Peach BBQ sauce on one slab and the peking sauce on the other.  I returned it to the fire and did this several times so the sauce would caramelize.  As I was doing this, I tossed on the shrimp and saw that I had some a little peach BBQ sauce left in the jar so I toss that on the shrimp as well.  As I was finishing, on the grill, my Mom walks out with a bag of frozen corn from the crawfish boil weeks before that for me to grill.

All in all, everything turned out really great.  The ribs were full of flavor and moist and had that bite to the ribs that I was wanting.  The shrimps were nice and plumb.  Another successful night at the folks!

Bacon Cheddar Stuffed Burger

Sundays' are saved for lazy days.  We laid around all day and decided to have a last minute cookout.  I had been craving a big juicy burger for some time now.  Especially a stuffed burger.  Last minute, our friends Jon, Linn and Scott came over.  As I prepared the pasta salad, Jon and Linn picked up the ground beef for the burgers and Scott picked up a variety of sausages from HEB...which are amazing by the way.  

While they were on their way over, I cooked down some bacon and put together a quick potato salad.  I also had some Italian sausage in the freezer I had bought at the local farmer's market and took that out to mix in with the ground beef.  I always love onions on my burgers so I decided to caramelize some onion with jalapenos. 

By the time the ground beef got there, I threw together the patties real quick.  I must have been hungry because I grabbed a round Tupperware lid to form the patties and did not realize how big the lid was.  Between the ground beef and Italian sausage, it was about 4 pounds of meat mixture and only got 5 hamburger patties out it!  The meat was simply seasoned with salt and pepper wince I was counting on most of the flavor to come from the Italian sausage.  

To form the patties, all I did was put a layer of meat in the lid, topped it with bacon and cheddar cheese and then another layer of meat.  

The Menu for the day:

Bacon Cheddar stuffed Burgers

Potato Salad

Bacon wrapped jalapeno with cream cheese

Grilled corn

And a variety of sausages

Now I do not know if the pictures do the burger any justice, but compare the thickness of the patty to the bun, or the fact that it almost took up the entire plate!

The end result was a very large juicy burger!  I was very thankful for the perfect amount of heat.  If the heat would have been any hotter, I do not think the burgers would have been fully cooked through without burning.

Bun Thit Nuong and Tom (Vermicelli with grilled pork and shrimp) and Almond Crusted Flounder

Last Friday was a very interesting dinner.  Just the fact that it went from one to another to another. I knew I had 2 pieces of pork chops in the fridge so I figured something simple and easy like pan fried pork chops and something for a side.  That is what I had in mind during the day.  Then my brother calls and he came over for dinner.  So he met me at HEB to pick up some seafood.  We grabbed some flounder and shrimp.  While at the market, Bun Thit Nuong and Tom (Vermicelli with grilled pork and shrimp) sounded great so I bought some daikon and a bag of shredded carrots to make Dau Chua (pickled carrots and daikon) as a topping.

On the way home from the market, Vietnamese Spring Rolls with peanut sauce sounded better.  By the time I got home, I was on the Vermicelli bowl again.  

I sliced the pork chop in thin slices and marinaded it with oyster sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, and honey.  The shrimp was simply tossed with five spice powder.  I let the pork and shrimp marinade while I prepped everything else.  In a bowl of Bun Thit Nuong, you are going to have shredded lettuce, thinly sliced cucumber, vermicelli (noodles), dua chau and peanuts (did not have any). And the best part of it all, the Nuc Mam (Fish Sauce).  

The dua chau (pickled carrots and daikon) is very simple to make too.  Heat up some water with sugar and salt to warm.  Added the shredded carrots and daikon into the water and keep squeezing it until it gets soft.  Add some vinegar and seal it up.  Should be good to go by the time everything gets cooked.  I am sure there are other ways to do this, but this is my way of it and it comes out great.  

The fish sauce is made by boiling some water and sugar and adding pure fish sauce into.  Throw in a couple of closes of garlic and call it a day.  As I have mentioned before, fish sauce is either a hate or love kind of sauce.  There is no in between.  

As the vermicelli is being boiled, I pan seared the pork and set that aside.  Then I tossed in the shrimp and cooked that quickly.  

The final item to top it all off is some fried green onions.  This is easily done by heating up oil and turning the heat off and toss in the chopped green onions.  So simple, but it is so amazing.  

For my brother, I had to cook the fish we bought.  I found some super stale french bread in the fridge an a bag of almonds and threw it into the blender to make an almond bread crumb.  I pan fried it and it absolutely came out out great.

After flipping back and forth on what to cook that night, the end result was worth the headache!  

Pork Chops with Onion, Jalapeno and Mushroom Gravy served with a side of Garlic Mash Potatoes and Kale

Last Wednesday, I had to really think about dinner.  All I knew was that we were going to have pork chops.  I figured it out would when I got home and started looking in the fridge.  I had some extra mushrooms, milk, jalapenos and kale so I grabbed it all out.  I looked on the counter and saw some garlic and potatoes.  Stood back and looked at all my ingredients and came up Pan Seared Pork Chops with Onion, Jalapeno and Mushroom Gravy served with a side of Garlic Mash Potatoes and Kale.

The pork chops got a quick rub of my mixture with 10 plus different spices in it that I make when I am smoking pork.  I pan seared the Pork Chops and set that aside.  With the same pan, I added some more oil and cooked the onion, jalapeno and mushrooms.  Tossed in a bit of flour and slowly added the milk to form a gravy.

For the mash potatoes, I like to cook my onion, parsley, butter and milk in a side pan and just let all the flavors fuse together.  After steaming the potatoes, I mashed it with my garlic mixture.

I started cooking the kale all at the same time.  Cooked down some onion and garlic and tossed in the kale.  Added some red wine vinegar and chicken stock and let it cook down.

I plated this differently then I normally would.  Typically I would plate everything side by side.  This time, I put a heaping spoon full of mash potatoes in the middle of the plate.  I spooned some kale right next to it.  Topped it with a pork chop and topped that with the gravy.

Now this may look like a hot mess, but it all went well together!

Caramelized Braised Pork with Eggs (Thit Kho)

Last Tuesday I had a craving for something I grew up eating.  I grew up eating Thit Kho which is Caramelized Braised Pork with Eggs.  For some reason, the longer this braised or the more often it gets reheated, it tasted better!  Growing up, we always did family trips to Florida.  A couple days before we would leave, my Mom would whip up a huge batch of it and freeze it so we can have food when we got to Florida.  It it so good that my Dad could eat it everyday and he has.  When my Mom would go out of town to visit her siblings in California, she would make a big batch and freeze portions.  

My favorite part is the hard boiled eggs after it has absorbed all the delicious sauce.  A couple weekends ago, I had made Peking ribs that is in my 4 course Asian Dinner Blog.  I had used Pork Butt Ribs since it was special.  Anyways, I had froze half of the pork I bought that weekend.

Onto the real purpose of this posting.  As I had said...I was just craving it.  I got home from work and started immediately since it does take a while to braise to break down the pork.  2 things I did when I walked in the doors...started boiling some eggs and season my pork.  My Mom has her way of making it as far as what she uses.  I did mine a little bit differently.  I have been on this whole kick with five spice powder so that is how I seasoned the meat.  I made a quick caramel sauce and tossed it with the meat for a little while and then poured in my coconut juice and fish sauce, oyster sauce, Sambal Oelek, and black bean and garlic paste.  For me the worst part about all this is peeling the eggs, but I got over it by thinking to myself the end result would be worth it.

I was hoping that it would be done in like 45 minutes, but I kept checking and checking.  

2 Hours and 45 Minutes later...dinner was served!!!  The pork was perfectly braised.  And the eggs...delicious!!  Notice how the egg just took on the color of the sauce and the nice dark ring around it after I cut it in half.  

I typically like to eat this with some pickled bean sprouts, but I did not have any.  I did make some yesterday in preparation for more Thit Kho.

P.S. I made extra and froze it as well!