Is anyone celebrating Chinese/lunar new year?Cook-along thread as I begin prep for tomorrow's dinnerWill probably be making siu yuk (roasted pork belly, pictured), char siu (BBQ pork), and maybe soy sauce chickenBlanching the pork belly in some ginger, scallion, wine
In an ice bath to cool off. Scrape some skin off. Also butcher left some small hairs which I blowtorched and scraped off too.
>>21886244My mom said we can't celebrate pagan holidays but little does she know I stashed a Lean Cuisine Orange Chicken meal in the back of the freezer. I'll heat it and eat for the celebration when she goes to sleep.
>>21886244We're going out this year, can't be fucked to make a huge meal for both lunch and dinner.
>>21886244No because I am not an arrogant hipster faggot like you
Poking a tonne of holes in the fat. Took like twenty minutes. Also in hindsight I should have leveled out the meat side of the belly a bit but I guess it's fine.>>21886253I'm not hosting this year but just bringing a dish (or three), thankfully.
Marinating meat side after cutting it. Maybe I should have cut the squares into thinner rectangles but oh well. Didn't have the right type of bean sauce so just used yellow miso. Also salt, white and black pepper, five spice, sugar, garlic powder.>>21886254I'm Chinese though.
Salted the skin side to draw out moisture before scraping the salt off. Add white vinegar to the skin. Time to refrigerate for the next 24 hours, to dry out the skin as much as possible, until ready to cook. It will bake in the aluminium boat when ready.Will be back later to prep the char siu to marinade overnight.
>>21886254What arrogant?
>>21886244OH SHIT IT’S MOON CAKE TIME
>>21886254Maybe not, but you sure are stupid
Pork butt for char siu.>>21886344Not sure if a joke but that's for the mid-autumn festival, not Chinese New year.
>>21886736Cut up. Probably just going to bring one slab for dinner tmrw and keep the other slap. Still have 40pc of the butt leftover which I'll freeze for some other use.
Marinade: wine, salt, brown sugar, five spice, garlic powder, bean paste, soy sauce, oyster sauce (which I actually forgot and am going to add now), hoisin sauce, and a few drops of food coloring.Going to marinade overnight. See everyone in 16 hours or so when I start to cook... Though it's basically just chucking it in the oven and all pretty simple.
>>21886244>based wooden ladle appreciatorpeople don't get how good they are, fuck that plastic bullshit
and I love my little dog and my doggy loves megonna cherish my dog under the green bay treeslittle dog goes bow wowlittle hen goes cluck clucklittle pig goes mm mmlittle duck goes quack quaacklittle guinea podderaaackand my rooster goesCOOOOCKA DOOODLE DOOOOOO DOODLE DOOO DOODLE DOOOO
>>21886254seppuku commit upon yourself good sire
>>21886798no said siddhartha
>>21886247what does this step do? surely overcooking isn't a concern
>>21886816the heat of the pork cooks the soup
>>21886344mooncakes is for the october festival doofus
>>21886903that's beer, you crazy nigger
>>21886244Sounds like some tasty dishes, is tomorrow normally when people do a dinner or just because it’s the nearest weekend day?
>>21886816super optional but just makes it easier to handle and can firm up the skin>>21886964in china/the east, they do it on the actual day of (which is feb 17 this year) just like new year's here. but the entire week is a holiday. in the west... I guess it's just when it's convenient/when your friends are available lol
Last week I made baozi with pork and jiucai. Weird but I like it.Also dumplings with pork and jiucai.Then I made baozi with pork and mushrooms. With the leftover filling I made spring rolls from those big packets of spring roll wrappers you get.I'll probably make more things like that this week. Not doing the "make enough dishes to cover the table" thing this year. Cannot be arsed. I just wish baijiu wasn't mega expensive here. Gimme a cheap generic one, I'd treasure it.
Chinese people are the most racist people on the planet and they enjoy torturing sentient lifeforms so no, I will not be celebrating their godless evil culture.
>>21887277>Trump is Chinese
>>21886244>Is anyone celebrating Chinese/lunar new year?Nah, it's Mardi Gras themed menus. Do they always overlap? I love char siu pork buns, especially the glazed and baked ones.
I don't celebrate it but I absolutely love making roast pork belly in the ovenThrough trial and error and trying out combos of different guides to cooking it, I've found what works best for me in my temperamental ovenPic rel is the best one yet, edges didn't burn and the skin was incredibly crispy. Made me really wish I had a proper cleaver instead of a bog standard kitchen knife
I find the marinade I like the most for it is a combination of soy sauce, ground cinnamon, finely shredded garlic and ginger, a bit of brown sugar, and some red pepper flakes. Mix the pork belly with some rice and green beans seasoned with garlic and salt and it's fucking amazing. My fiance loves it but she always feels a bit sick after eating it from all the fat
Hmmm not my best effort. The pork fat released a lot of water through the entire baking process which meant the fat never got puffy. Butcher said it was previously frozen, which may explain why.Tried a new method this time where there isn't a thick layer of salt covering the fat. Had to broil, which resulted in some burnt and uneven spots, even when I protected certain areas with foil. Biggest mistake was probably trying to food torch some spots which resulted in the black spots on the bottom right.The internal temperature (incl carryover) was spot on though, so sure it'll be delicious. Is missing the classic fat color which is a shame.Going to rest for an hour. Will try to get pics when it's served.
Char siu in the oven. Apparently there will be a lot of food so no soy sauce chicken, even though it's extremely easy to make.
Char siu. Heading out. Will take pics of slices/dishes and post if possible
>>21888231Reminds me of my mom's charsiu. Except she makes it in a frying pan and only uses five spices.
>>21887682>>21887686I’m not normally into pork belly but I’d scarf these down>>21888231Fantastic color on that
Finished. Should have cut the siu yuk a bit thinner and more evenly. Had 1/3 of the siu yuk left over which I didn't cut and I left one of the char siu slabs at home too. So will be nice meals for the rest of the week with some rice and veg or buns.Hosts forgot to take a spread of the other dishes but they were all solid. Melon soup, veg, roast duck, steamed egg, abalone in oyster sauce. Dessert was a red date rice year cake (nian gao), taro sago, and then some cookies and macarons.Happy Chinese new year everyone!
