Mesquite Grilled Korean-Style Spicy Pork (돼지불고기, Daeji Bulgogi)

This is definitely not an original Korean dish, but the Korean hot pepper paste (고추장, Gochujang) and hot pepper powder (고추가루, Gochugaru) are used to marinade the pork shoulder steaks as in the traditional recipe. The traditional recipe uses pork belly and is cooked on an indoor grill, with the cooked pork being wrapped in lettuce leaves (and other added ingredients) before being consumed whole. This recipe is an Americanized outdoor barbeque version of this dish using pork shoulder steaks. The amount of hot pepper powder can be varied depending upon your tolerance for spiciness. The hot pepper paste actually provides more sweetness to the dish than spice, so there’s no need to use hoisin sauce (my usual sauce used in marinades). This is a really easy and tasty way to grill pork (or any other meat) and is very similar to a previously published recipe: Grilled Gochujang (Hot Pepper Paste) Pork Ribeye Steaks.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Spicy Basil Beef Ox Tail and Tendon Stew (燉辣紫蘇牛筋牛尾, Dan6 Laat6 Zi2 Sou1 Ngau4 Gan1 Ngau4 Mei5)

While this recipe would seem to be more appropriate during the winter, it is still tasty when cooked during the spring, especially when you use a slow cooker (i.e. crockpot) to make the dish. Fresh lotus root is preferable, but pre-cut frozen lotus root makes a good substitute when fresh is not available (and then even the frozen lotus root slices can sometimes be hard to find). If lotus root cannot be found, daikon makes a good substitute.

Beef oxtail and beef tendon go together to make a classic Chinese stew. Chee Hou sauce is an important ingredient to making this dish. Chee Hou sauce is a prepared sauce and is similar in taste to hoisin sauce (which can be substituted if you can’t find it at your local Asian market) and has a slightly spicier taste to it. The real spiciness for this dish comes from the addition of Japanese chilies. Japanese chilies have some heat to them, but are more flavorful spicy than hot and can be found at your local Mexican market. The Japanese chilies are stir fried before being added to the slow cooker.

Beef oxtails are readily available at most markets. Removing the outer fat layer from the oxtails is an important step to producing an almost fat free sauce. Use a sharp knife to remove the outer fat layer before cooking. Beef tendon is another part of the cow available at Asian markets either whole or already cut into pieces. It’s a texture ingredient that produces a great mouth feel when eaten. Uncooked, it’s tough and hard to cut, cooked long and slow, and it becomes soft. There’s really no substitute for this ingredient, so if you can’t find it, it can be omitted, but the stew won’t be the same.

Enjoy!

Lemon Black Pepper Sauce Fuzzy Melon Shabu Shabu Pork Loin Stir Fry (檸黑椒汁節瓜炒涮涮锅豬肉, Ning4 Hak1 Ziu1 Zap1 Zit3 Gwaa1 Caau2 Saan3 Saan3 Wo1 Zyu1 Juk6)

Here’s another stir fry dish using Shabu Shabu pork, which is thinly sliced pork and can be found at your local Japanese or Asian market. You can always substitute pork loin or butt cut into thin 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces if you’re unable to obtain Shabu Shabu pork. Juice from one lemon was added to a black pepper sauce to make this dish.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Zucchini Dried Shrimp Shabu Shabu Pork Stir Fry (豆豉意大利青瓜蝦米炒涮涮锅豬肉, Dau6 Si6 Ji3 Daai6 Lei6 Ceng1 Gwaa1 Haa1 Mai5 Caau2 Saan3 Saan3 Wo1 Zyu1 Juk6)

Here’s another stir fry dish using Shabu Shabu pork, which is thinly sliced pork and can be found at your local Japanese or Asian market. You can always substitute pork loin or butt cut into thin 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces if you’re unable to obtain Shabu Shabu pork. A simple black bean sauce made from salted black beans was used, but if you’re short on time, a bottled black bean sauce can be used. Dried shrimp is also used and you can choose to either soak or not soak the shrimp before cooking. Not soaking the dried shrimp beforehand makes the dish saltier, since soaking will wash away most of the salt. The texture also differs in the finished dish: the soaked shrimp will be larger and less chewy than the unsoaked due to water absorption.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Red Curry and Wine Ox Tail Stew (燉紅酒紅咖哩醬牛尾, Dan6 Hung4 Zau2 Hung4 Gaa3 Lei1 Zoeng3 Ngau4 Mei5)

This recipe, using beef oxtails, is very similar to the previous posted recipe: Slow Cooker Red Wine Spicy Bean Paste Ox Tail Stew (燉紅酒春辣醬牛尾, Dan⁶ Hung⁴ Zau² Ceon¹ Laat⁶ Zoeng³ Ngau⁴ Mei⁵). In this case, a Thai red curry is the basis for the sauce rather than spicy bean paste. Red wine is also substituted for coconut milk, which usually used in a Thai curry. So you can think of this as a curry based red wine ox tail stew. The red curry is stir fried with the beef oxtails before placing into the slow cooker. Stir frying the meat in the curry is a standard method to bring out the flavor of the curry in the dish. I used to use a fat strainer to remove the excess fat from the cooked sauce, but I found that if I remove the outside fat layer from the ox tails before cooking, there’s no need.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Chili Oil Bitter Melon Shabu Shabu Pork Stir Fry (黑豆辣椒油苦瓜炒涮涮锅豬肉, Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Jau4 Fu2 Gwaa1 Caau2 Saan3 Saan3 Wo1 Zyu1 Juk6)

Thinly sliced meat is used for a Japanese dish called Shabu Shabu. The raw meat is dipped into a stock with chopsticks, moved around quickly in the stock to cook, and then dipped into a sauce before eating. The meat (typically beef) can be found at your local Japanese or Asian market. For this recipe, thinly sliced pork loin is stir fried with other ingredients rather than using it for Shabu Shabu. I used thinly sliced pork butt to make a similar dish: Chili Black Bean Bitter Melon Pork (辣椒豆豉苦瓜豬肉, Laat⁶ Ziu¹ Dau⁶ Si⁶ Fu² Gwaa¹ Zyu¹ Juk⁶), and that meat can be substituted to make this dish also. You can always substitute pork loin or butt cut into thin 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces if you’re unable to obtain Shabu Shabu pork.

Enjoy!

Leek Flower Sauce Green String Bean Chicken (韭花酱青豆角鷄, Gau2 Faa1 Zoeng3 Ceng1 Dau6 Gok3 Gai1)

Leek flower sauce is deep green in color and has a strong garlicky taste. The sauce is also very salty, so feel free to adjust the amount used in this dish. The sauce is not a common one to use (at least in Cantonese cooking), so give it a try. The sauce can be purchased at your local Asian market.

Enjoy!