Chicken Karaage with S.Pellegrino

This post is sponsored by S.Pellegrino.

I've always enjoyed S.Pellegrino and something I keep stock at home. I've used it as a bubbly factor in cocktails or soft drinks and even used it before in my tempura batter.

In 2016, S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Natural Mineral Water launched it's own “The S.Pellegrino Taste Guide” a cultivated lists by chefs and lifestyle influencers which explores U.S. cities. With that said, the list can take you to the hottest trends in your city. I'm from Los Angeles, so talking about trendsetting is definitely something prominent here.

I'll be sharing a recipe featuring one of the hottest trends, chicken karaage.

Recipe

• 3 chicken thighs
• 3 garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons of grated ginger
• 3 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin

Dread:

• 1/3 cups of flour
• 3 tablespoons corn starch

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The chicken was deboned and cut into 1-1 1/2 inch pieces. I used a spoon to peel the ginger and then just grated with a microplane. 

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The chicken was marinated for 30 minutes before frying. 

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A quick dreading of the flour and corn starch mixture before dropping them into the fryer. Make sure to shake off excess flour.

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Make sure the oil is not too hot so the crust won't burn before the chicken is cooked. The oil should not be rapid when the chicken is placed.

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Voila! One of my favorite appetizers. Currently, you'll find chicken karaage in many japanese ramen shops and izakayas. 

Make sure to check out the S. Pellegrino Taste Guide.

Baby Back Ribs - Smithfields

It's been years since I've cooked with charcoal. Ever since living in a condominium, cooking with charcoal is prohibited on the patio due to regulations and fire codes. I was able to brush up on that this weekend at my brother's and boy was it easy and fun.

I went to pick up some Smithfield Baby Back ribs from Walmart. They are hand trimmed and had a good fat ratio which is important so it doesn't dry out. I've learned that Smithfield Ribs doesn't contain and added hormones or steroids which is appreciated.

I've decided to make an Asian 5 spice rub with a simple hoisin glaze. I've honestly used this recipe many times before on pork belly in the oven, so I was extremely excited to try it on the grill. It was really hot today (Sunday), but luckily, the only time that was really spent in the sun was throwing these babies on.

The recipe is simple

• 1 package of Smithfield Baby Back Ribs 
• 2 Tablespoon shaoxing wine
• 1 Tablespoon 5 spice
• 1 Tablespoon Himalayan Pink Salt
• 1 Teaspoon white pepper

Glaze:

• 1/3 cup Hoisin Sauce
• 2/3 cup of Honey

The pork is first patted dry. The shaoxing wine is then rubbed all over before combining the dried ingredients to be rubbed all over. The glaze is then mixed together in a bowl taking 2 tablespoons of it to rub all over the ribs. I let the rack rest for 2 hours room temp before throwing it on the grill.

Once the charcoal turned semi white with the flames gone, I threw down the ribs to get a crust before closing up the vents to lower the temperature. The ribs were then cooked for an hour.

You can of course cook them for much longer, low and slow, but they were fine. Since there was a good amount of fat on these racks, it kept them nice and juicy without drying out. At this point, I left the lid off and started to glaze the pork with the remaining hoisin sauce. This will set for another 5 minutes flipping occasionally before removing off the grill. You want to keep an eye on them because the sugar will cause the ribs to burn.

The ribs were topped off with sesame seeds and green onions.

Chopped up for easy finger licking enjoyment.

The ribs were definitely affordable at under $10 a rack. SO convenient since they were hand trimmed already and juicy so I don't need to worry about brining or cooking for a few hours.

I know these are only sold at Walmart, but make sure your Walmart has a meat section. 

Enjoy!

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Fish Fish

I grew up eating steamed fish with ginger and scallions my whole life. It's one of the easiest and inexpensive things to makes. Packs a ton of flavor and something Chinese people would eat all the time.

I usually use striped bass or tilapia. The butcher normally cleans out the fish as well as descaling them. It's super awesome. I stuff the fish with green onions and ginger slices. The exterior gets a few scoring on both sides. A drizzle of olive oil and seasoned soy sauce is poured on which helps season the fish. I don't have a large steamer for this, so I baked it on 300 for 45 minutes (wrapped). I didn't want the heat too high to dry out the fish. At the end, a drizzle of a little more seasoned soy sauce with about 1/4 cup of hot oil is poured on top. Extra ginger and sliced scallions are layered on for more flavor. Delicious with a big bowl of white rice. I eat this about once a week with a side of veggies. 

Sushi + Sashimi at home

It's always a drag to find a place for sushi in San Gabriel or at least a place that I would crave. I came upon Yama Seafood not too long ago and kept reminding myself to check it out. They sell fresh seafood to the public. Mostly fish for sashimi (typical ahi tuna, salmon, yellowtail, snapper, scallop, boxed uni, etc). They also have ridiculously affordable cut rolls to grab. We got a piece of salmon a little over half a pound for $15. I believe it sold for $23 a pound. Boxed uni were $14.95 and I think yellowtail went for something like $25 a pound so you can kind of get the idea of the prices. 

The unagi roll came wit 12 pieces for $5.95 and the 2 pc inari with 2 pc CA with 2 pc futomaki went for $4.95.

To sum this up, there were more food outside of what is shown in this photo. We purchased some sashimi soy sauce by Yamasa totalling our bill to $28. Not a bad deal at all. This market also sells a lot of Japanese ingredients like soba and soba sauce. Sake is also sold at 1.7 liters. I also saw instant ramen, wasabi, ginger, rice, seaweed, and dashi. You can practically get what you need here for a good meal at home.

The only negative is, and I barely say anything bad, is how long it took to get our sashimi. The line was not long, but the chef himself runs the whole line. The work he distributes to his employees. There were about 5 people ahead of us waiting to get their fish sliced which took the wait time to around 45 minutes. So be prepared. That said, I'll still be back, but will plan accordingly.

911 W Las Tunas Dr San Gabriel, CA 91776

Closed on Tuesday's. Open 10-7.

Filet Mignon with Cognac sauce and garlic mashed potatoes

Every year for the Holidays I always end up making some kind of steak or red meat. Last year I made prime rib (Here) and even though I told myself I was going to make it again this year, my dad really wanted Filet. He brought over a large filet for me to trip and cut into steaks. I made the cuts 1 inch to 1.5 inch thick depending on who it was going to be for. There were a total of 5 of us so I sliced 6 steaks in case someone wanted more. There's about 2-3 steaks left after the cut (that we cooked up the next day) with the tail of the steak that I am just going to use for some sauté. They are sleeping in the freezer now.

The steaks were seasoned simply with Lawry's Garlic Salt and a good about of freshly cracked black pepper. I wanted a really high sear, so I decided to use peanut oil in my cast iron skillet. After I got great color on both sides of the steak, I turned down the heat to cook the steaks slowly. I don't use the oven. I've done it once and it turned the steaks to medium well. I'm sure there are techniques out there, but this works the best for me. Feel free to cook your steaks to your liking. I like mine medium rare, or just medium with a deep pink. I normally pull the steaks out when there's a nice spring when pressing on them (thumb and middle finger together, touch your palm slightly under your thumb. That's medium rare).

Cognac Sauce

1. 1/2 a stick of butter
2. 2 large shallots - diced
3. 2 garlic cloves - minced
4. salt and a lot of cracked black pepper (1 tablespoon or so)
5. 1/3 - 1/2 cup of cognac
6. I used about 1/2 a cup of milk. If you use cream I would drop it down to 1/3.

After the steaks are removed, I immediately added the shallots and garlic while scraping the bits from the bottom. 1/2 a stick of butter is added with the salt. Once the butter has melted, the cognac goes in and I light it on fire with a gas lighter. Let the alcohol burn off before adding the milk. I finish everything off with black pepper. Put this in a serving cup and just pass it around.

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Mash were just Yukon potatoes boiled with 3 large cloves of garlic. Drain out the water, add 1/2 a stick of butter, season generously with salt, add your cream of choice until you get the consistency you prefer.

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