Indirect Heat
14 July 2010
13 July 2010
Fishy ribs
I'm a fan of fish sauce. Made from fermented fish, it adds a lovely umami dimension to Asian foods. Indeed, my favourite flavour in Vietnamese cuisine comes from fish sauce. And that classic English sauce - Worcestershire Sauce - gets its depth from fish sauce. Yum.
So when I see someone wants me to brine some pork product in fermented fish, well - there's only one reaction. Yum. This recipe comes from the restaurant Fatty 'Cue, via the New York Times:
Given that this is a brine, and the salt content of the brine is important, I used the recommended brand of fish sauce - 3 crabs:
At $3.50 a bottle, this was the most expensive fish sauce. Source: 99 Ranch.
Now, bring the brine up to full volume with a gallon of water. Boil the mix for 30 minutes. Covered. I will now share with you the information that the author of the New York Times article does not: Boiling fish sauce in your home, covered or no, will have adverse effects on your marriage. Keep in mind, I'm a fish sauce fan (see above). I love the stuff. Boiling fish sauce in your home does not smell good. Fortunately, I did this the night before, so there was plenty of time to clear out the stench before guests came.
Cool the brine, and place in the fridge in a non-reactive container. Six to twelve hours ahead of time (I'd go long on this, if you can), place the ribs in the brine and keep them in the fridge. (Note to self: Is the world ready for fermented rib sauce?).
Okay, before you smoke the ribs, prepare the dry rub. The dry rub is composed of Indonesian long peppers, aka tiêu lóp for Vietnamese folks or Pippali Rasayana in Sanskrit. KirkK of mmm-yoso was kind enough to help me track the peppers to the Indian market on Black Mountain Road (undergoing some renovations, sign is down, but I think it's called Bombay Market?). They called these peppers "peepal small". They come out of the container looking like this:
The recipe suggests you toast them. I put them in a dry frying pan over high heat for about 5 minutes. It was startling to watch them wiggle in the pan as they expanded - wish I had a good enough video recorder to show you. But post-toasting, they were quite fragrant and swollen:
They smelled like black pepper, but milder. And with more depth. Grind 'em up into a fine powder.
And sprinkle the powder over the ribs. Now this is where I believe I erred. Having never cooked with this pepper before, I went easy on it, when I really should have put on a fair amount. Don't go easy. Use at least 2 tbsp of powder on your ribs. Maybe more. It's a nice flavour, and you don't have to worry about it overpowering the pork.
Fire up the grill to smoke on indirect heat. Aim for 200 °F. You've got five long hours to wait for these ribs. Tend the fire with wet hickory and charcoal. End of hour one:
End of hour two:
End of hour three:
End of hour four:
During the last hour, make the glaze. Palm sugar is a sweetener derived from palm sap. It has a characteristic flavour that once you've tasted it, you'll recognize it as the sweetener of choice in many Asian desserts (we make a mango sticky rice that features it - I'll have to photograph it the next time we make it). Palm sugar is available in Asian grocers, sold as a giant brick (often labeled as Palm Candy).
I've not yet figured out how to handle it easily, as the only way to break off a chunk is to whack it repeatedly with a meat tenderizer. I'm sure there's a better way. (Anyone?) Break off 6 oz of palm sugar, and dissolve it over heat in ¾ cup water. Once you've created this simple syrup, remove from the heat and add ½ cup fish sauce. Brush this glaze over the ribs a few times during the last half hour.
At the end of hour five:
Remove from the smoker. Let rest ten minutes, chop and serve. Meat should be tender, and practically falling off the bone.
These ribs were quite nice. Moist, smooth and not terribly sweet, despite all the palm sugar. And much milder flavour than our usual rib preparation.
Serve with:
So when I see someone wants me to brine some pork product in fermented fish, well - there's only one reaction. Yum. This recipe comes from the restaurant Fatty 'Cue, via the New York Times:
2 cups fish sauce (preferably Three Crabs brand)First, mix 1 ½ cups of fish sauce with the chopped garlic, pepper and shallots and sugar.
1 medium shallot, peeled and sliced
6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
½ cup sugar
2 racks pork ribs
2 tablespoons (or more?) toasted and ground Indonesian long pepper
6 oz palm sugar
water
Given that this is a brine, and the salt content of the brine is important, I used the recommended brand of fish sauce - 3 crabs:
At $3.50 a bottle, this was the most expensive fish sauce. Source: 99 Ranch.
Now, bring the brine up to full volume with a gallon of water. Boil the mix for 30 minutes. Covered. I will now share with you the information that the author of the New York Times article does not: Boiling fish sauce in your home, covered or no, will have adverse effects on your marriage. Keep in mind, I'm a fish sauce fan (see above). I love the stuff. Boiling fish sauce in your home does not smell good. Fortunately, I did this the night before, so there was plenty of time to clear out the stench before guests came.
Cool the brine, and place in the fridge in a non-reactive container. Six to twelve hours ahead of time (I'd go long on this, if you can), place the ribs in the brine and keep them in the fridge. (Note to self: Is the world ready for fermented rib sauce?).
Okay, before you smoke the ribs, prepare the dry rub. The dry rub is composed of Indonesian long peppers, aka tiêu lóp for Vietnamese folks or Pippali Rasayana in Sanskrit. KirkK of mmm-yoso was kind enough to help me track the peppers to the Indian market on Black Mountain Road (undergoing some renovations, sign is down, but I think it's called Bombay Market?). They called these peppers "peepal small". They come out of the container looking like this:
The recipe suggests you toast them. I put them in a dry frying pan over high heat for about 5 minutes. It was startling to watch them wiggle in the pan as they expanded - wish I had a good enough video recorder to show you. But post-toasting, they were quite fragrant and swollen:
They smelled like black pepper, but milder. And with more depth. Grind 'em up into a fine powder.
And sprinkle the powder over the ribs. Now this is where I believe I erred. Having never cooked with this pepper before, I went easy on it, when I really should have put on a fair amount. Don't go easy. Use at least 2 tbsp of powder on your ribs. Maybe more. It's a nice flavour, and you don't have to worry about it overpowering the pork.
Fire up the grill to smoke on indirect heat. Aim for 200 °F. You've got five long hours to wait for these ribs. Tend the fire with wet hickory and charcoal. End of hour one:
End of hour two:
End of hour three:
End of hour four:
During the last hour, make the glaze. Palm sugar is a sweetener derived from palm sap. It has a characteristic flavour that once you've tasted it, you'll recognize it as the sweetener of choice in many Asian desserts (we make a mango sticky rice that features it - I'll have to photograph it the next time we make it). Palm sugar is available in Asian grocers, sold as a giant brick (often labeled as Palm Candy).
I've not yet figured out how to handle it easily, as the only way to break off a chunk is to whack it repeatedly with a meat tenderizer. I'm sure there's a better way. (Anyone?) Break off 6 oz of palm sugar, and dissolve it over heat in ¾ cup water. Once you've created this simple syrup, remove from the heat and add ½ cup fish sauce. Brush this glaze over the ribs a few times during the last half hour.
At the end of hour five:
Remove from the smoker. Let rest ten minutes, chop and serve. Meat should be tender, and practically falling off the bone.
These ribs were quite nice. Moist, smooth and not terribly sweet, despite all the palm sugar. And much milder flavour than our usual rib preparation.
Serve with:
10 July 2010
A lazy Saturday calls for...
... a gin & tonic. I just got Artisanal Cocktails by Scott Beattie. And while I should be making some of the truly exciting cocktails in the book, the cool and cloudy weather here in San Diego the last two months got me in the mood for a lovely gin & tonic:
iceMix. Serve. Yum.
lime slice
1 ½ oz Junipero gin
2 oz Fever-Tree tonic water, chilled
08 July 2010
Lavender-honey ice cream
So we're toodling through the Little Italy farmer's market, and lo and behold, we encounter a vendor selling fresh lavender. It smells awesome. Unlike many flowers, lavender isn't super perfumy. Perfumey? Perfumish? Whatever. So for $2, I find myself in possession of a lifetime supply of fresh lavender (or at least, more than I can ever use in the few days until they deteriorate). What to do? How about lavender-honey ice cream, from David Lebovitz' The Perfect Scoop
:
Pull the lavender flowers off the stems (this is accomplished quite easily by running your fingers down the stem from top to bottom). Measure out the flowers.
Heat honey with ½ lavender, just until bubbles start to form in the honey. Remove from the heat, and let sit an hour or so to extract some of that tasty lavenderness. It looks kinda grotey, but it's tasty.
Put the cream in a bowl. Rewarm the honey a tad (just to make it runny), and pour it through a sieve into the cream. Squish those lavender chunkies with a spoon or spatula to get out as much tastiness as possible.
Meanwhile, warm the milk sugar and salt until the sugar and salt dissolve, and the milk is hot. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, and beat the egg yolks into a lovely bright yellow foam.
Add the warm milk to the yolks, a wee bit at a time, mixing constantly. You're making an emulsion here, so to keep it from breaking, you have to add the milk slowly (particularly at the beginning). I always find this part hard to photograph, (basically impossible if I'm alone in the kitchen), so see older posts on ice cream for pics of this part. It's basically the same for any custard.
Put the egg yolk mix back on the stove, and heat, stirring constantly over medium-low heat. This part is easiest with a thermometer (keeps you from curdling the custard). Heat to 175°F. Never stop stirring. At 175°F, the custard should have thickened nicely, shouldn't have curdled, and will be ready for the next step. Immediately pour the hot custard over the lavender chunkies, into the cool cream. Mix, and add the remainder of the lavender.
Cool in the fridge overnight. Sieve out the fresh lavender, and run through your ice cream maker, using the directions for your machine. For the KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment
this means that you've frozen the attachment for at least 24 hours. Then, you slowly pour in the sieved ice cream mix into a the machine while the beater is stirring on low.
Churn for 25ish minutes. Then scoop into a cold container, and cure in the freezer overnight to finish hardening it.
I served this with a wee drizzle of honey on top.
What a nice flavour. The honey smoothes out the lavender flavour, making it a nice, mild dessert. This might be the best ice cream yet. And the lavender is such an unusual flavour, that it manages it be striking and mild at the same time. Very nice, and perfect for a warm summer's day.
Happy Summer.
:½ cup honeyRemove the eggs from the fridge, and bring to room temperature.
¼ cup fresh lavender flowers
1 ½ cups whole milk
¼ cup sugar
pinch salt
1 ½ cups heavy cream
5 large eggs
Pull the lavender flowers off the stems (this is accomplished quite easily by running your fingers down the stem from top to bottom). Measure out the flowers.
Heat honey with ½ lavender, just until bubbles start to form in the honey. Remove from the heat, and let sit an hour or so to extract some of that tasty lavenderness. It looks kinda grotey, but it's tasty.
Put the cream in a bowl. Rewarm the honey a tad (just to make it runny), and pour it through a sieve into the cream. Squish those lavender chunkies with a spoon or spatula to get out as much tastiness as possible.
Meanwhile, warm the milk sugar and salt until the sugar and salt dissolve, and the milk is hot. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, and beat the egg yolks into a lovely bright yellow foam.
Add the warm milk to the yolks, a wee bit at a time, mixing constantly. You're making an emulsion here, so to keep it from breaking, you have to add the milk slowly (particularly at the beginning). I always find this part hard to photograph, (basically impossible if I'm alone in the kitchen), so see older posts on ice cream for pics of this part. It's basically the same for any custard.
Put the egg yolk mix back on the stove, and heat, stirring constantly over medium-low heat. This part is easiest with a thermometer (keeps you from curdling the custard). Heat to 175°F. Never stop stirring. At 175°F, the custard should have thickened nicely, shouldn't have curdled, and will be ready for the next step. Immediately pour the hot custard over the lavender chunkies, into the cool cream. Mix, and add the remainder of the lavender.
Cool in the fridge overnight. Sieve out the fresh lavender, and run through your ice cream maker, using the directions for your machine. For the KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment
this means that you've frozen the attachment for at least 24 hours. Then, you slowly pour in the sieved ice cream mix into a the machine while the beater is stirring on low.Churn for 25ish minutes. Then scoop into a cold container, and cure in the freezer overnight to finish hardening it.
I served this with a wee drizzle of honey on top.
What a nice flavour. The honey smoothes out the lavender flavour, making it a nice, mild dessert. This might be the best ice cream yet. And the lavender is such an unusual flavour, that it manages it be striking and mild at the same time. Very nice, and perfect for a warm summer's day.
Happy Summer.
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