Few things about recipes

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HEAVENLY CRISPY.

NO DOUBLE FRYING…Ultra crispy outside heavenly tender and juicy inside.     Indulge in the “marinade mix” that catapulted  this ChiQ-Juan to its ultra crunchy creation.

No mega dusting of flour or starch. Just the right amount incorporated into its breading blend applied post marination. The blend of ingredients in its breading made possible the crispness despite single frying.


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Further…to attain “real crunchiness” (whether for chicken, pork & beef)
NOT DUSTING WITH STARCH OR FLOUR then frying. This is the height of
“simplistic approach” to cooking, a “no-brainer” system tantamount to “cheating” consumers.While depending on the meat raw mat to be used to come-up with “a masterpiece” with desired crunchiness, marinade mix (spices, food-grade cures or  phosphate binders, flavor enhancers, condiments and the liquid to be used) greatly contributes to crispy end product. Adding to such is the time table on how many “aging days” are actually needed for desired result. Shorter or longer will give negative outcome and/or “taste overshadow”.Equally important are: the type of oil to be used (kind plus its boiling and smoking points), temp when to fry, when to retrieve and rest and where to store post frying-bearing in mind how long MUST be the HOLDING period before serving. WHEW!!! It’s really a “thinking system”.  In my coming INGREDIENTS SPECIALIZATION INSTITUTE you will learn the right & proper ingredients mix to use in any recipe you desire plus the technologically-chronological system of processing or cooking exuding desired aroma, taste, texture at much lower cost than the “BARA-BARA approach” (blindfolded addition of whatever spices, herbs and ingredients that come into mind or  what our hands can instanly reach)

Cure & Phosphate
WRONG COOKING PROCEDURE.
Filipino cooks’/chefs’/housepeople’s (majority but NOT ALL) wrong way of salting fried red-up eggs.
They DUMP…literally dump…salt in any part of egg that their salt-laden fingers have aimed.
And so, that part becomes SOOOOOOOOO salty while other parts retain bland-ness. PWEH!
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Filipino Food Myth.
After resting for more hours than normal and usual, with wifey dashed to our favorite place,
Macapagal Avenue, to satisfy cravings for Filipino “inihaw” (grilled) and “sabaw”(soup recipe).
Pangs (my wife) marketed for “liempo” (pork belly) & “ulo ng maya-maya” (head of Red Snapper)
for plain salted & peppered grilling and “sinigang sa miso” (tamarind-flavored soya paste soup) respectively.
“Eh anak ng 74 na malanding tipaklong, yung “maya-maya” ay dehins tinanggalan ng “KALISKIS”.
Pag-subo mo, sasabit sa ngala-ngala mo kaliskis. Di mo tuloy ma-enjoy yung fish.
Tamaan kayo ng kidlat”
(In English, whew, the cooking establishment, to the hatred of 74 grasshopper whores, did not de-scale the fish that each time you bite into it…scales fill your palate & entire mouth).
You really won’t enjoy savoring the dish. May you be hit by angry lightning) Why? Ano dahilan nyo at kapag fish na “sinigang” o “inihaw” ay dapat may “kaliskis”?
What? What? Gagalitin ako eh.
(In English, again, whew, why is it that when you cook “sinigang” or grilled pork, scales are not removed. Why? What? You drive me angry)
Don’t you know a better grilling technique?
Just oil the grill bars and/or lay fish at griller ONLY when coal is fiery red.
But when it comes to “sinigang”, here, there is NO reason whatsoever. De-scale the fish… my God.

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               Re-Heating Food

Re-heating your favorite “sinigang” or “asim soup”, REFRAIN from engaging it via microwave oven. Check previous posts on what “sinigang” is – or which kids like to call “asim soup”.
Reasons:
1. Moisture of food is “absorbed till dried-up” by the microwave that the former tender meat becomes “rubbery” afterwards. Should you wish to pursue via this medium, sprinkle few drops of water or marinade or what have you before microwaving.
2.  Acid is absorbed by the system that after microwaving your “sinigang” or “paksiw” (vinegared fish), acidity is reduced to 1/3. To preserve original taste, reheat by suitable pan or use appropriate container then shelve unto oven toaster and reheat for few minutes at medium temp.


  SUMPTUOUS FOOD IS NOT PLAIN INVENTION.
It is the “accurate & proper harmony of ingredients and flavors used in precise technological production sequence
to come up with desired taste-not of the maker but that of the patrons”.
In short, you, your loved ones and friends are not your “clients”.
Fact of life is: they will not come to your restaurant, café, bar, joint etc. always. Most of the time, they are not the paying clients.
You will find real and comebacking customers if your concoctions are enjoyably approved by them.
Test your recipes with people you don’t know. Collate their comments sent through “anonymous emails” (and you know the reason why…)
If your batting average is high, chances are, your masterpiece will make it.

“Lechon” Pork Chop

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“LECHON” PORK CHOP
(SPICES AND HERBS MARINATED PORK CHOP OVEN ROASTED-LECHON  TYPE)
Usually done with whole pig carcass or belly,
pork cut-marinade blend-cooking medium are herein innovated.
Pork Chop is a cut of pig meat perpendicular to the spine.
It may be a cut from:
shoulder part or blade chop,
rib part or rib pork chop,
mid part of the loin or top loin chop
and the boneless pork loin part which stretches from shoulder to hip.
Off-bone, you may opt for: pork loin fillet or sirloin cuts.
Here, I utilized the rib part…bone-in…skin-on.
Two hours and a half of cooking while turning to 5 sides every 15 minutes
plus the marinade mix introduced keep this meat, despite long cooking,
moist-tender-flavorful and crispy.

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“Lechon” Pork Chop
Prep time Cook time Total time
3 hours 2 hours 40 mins. 5 hours 40 mins.

Makes/Serves: 6

Cooking medium: electric or gas range oven, ice pick for pricking flesh, wire rack to where pork chop will rest while being roasted, shallow range pan to hold tap water and wire rack during roasting, blender, spices & herbs mixing bowl, stainless steel marinating bowl, fine sieve or sifter, lots of paper towel

Special instruction(s): this cooking method entails active monitoring

NOTE: Don’t mind the mess. Deal with them later after you partake this excitingly-wonderful prep

Ingredients
    • MEAT:
    • 1.5 to 2 kilos 1-piece bone-in, skin-on, pork chop, fully cleaned and rinsed.
    • MARINADE MIX:
    • 50 ml. any spirit (white wine, gin, vodka or rum). This will moisten up the meat while being cooked.
    • 15 ml. soy sauce (any)
    • 30 ml. pineapple juice.
    • 6 cloves peeled fresh garlic
    • 3 grams star anise
    • 2 grams dried bay leaves
    • 5 grams salt (any)
    • 2 grams brown sugar
    • 2 grams ground black pepper
    • 2 grams paprika powder
    • OPTIONAL: 2 grams MSG
    • 4 grams chili powder
    • 2 grams paprika powder
    • OPTIONAL: 2 grams MSG
    • 4 grams chili powder
    • NOTE:
    • Chili powder is different from chili pepper powder. Chili pepper powder is the powder form of particular chili specie you desire

 

PROCEDURES:
  1. Pour all marinade mix ingredients unto bowl. Toss a bit, Blenderize to very liquid consistency.
  2. With another bowl underneath, pass unto sieve blenderized marinade mix. Using spoon press down leftover solids clinging to sieve into below container. Set aside both liquid marinade mix and the still semi-solids left in sieve.
  3. Summon pork chop and prick the inside of lean (not the skin) with ice pick.
  4. Pour liquid marinade unto ALL sides and parts of meat except the skin. A little massaging of the lean part will make it absorb the flavored marinade. There will be marinade drippings in bottom of bowl. Just collect, pour again, keep massaging, pour, re-pour for about 4 times. This ensures full flavor penetration.
  5. Get the left over solids or semi-solids from sieve and rub unto ALL parts (except the skin). Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
  6. Set range temp to 250deg.F (121deg. Celsius). Put your marinated pork-skin down-unto wire rack. If meat can’t stand by itself…be a McGyver. Put rack on top of shallow pan with 1/8 tap water on it. Aside form easier clean-up, this water steams up and coats meat while cooking. Add if needed.
  7. Wipe skin of meat thoroughly with paper towels. It must be initially heated on VERY DRY state.
  8. Pop unto oven and slow roast for 2.5 hours (150 minutes) in this temp. Except for skin side, there will be 5 sides of the meat. EXCEPT THE SKIN SIDE, put on top each of this 5-sides every 15 minutes. This will ensure even cooking. Repeat for 2nd time. This system will give a COOK TIME OF 150 minutes.
  9. When done, increase temp to 350deg.F (176deg. Celsius). Arrange meat so that skin side is UP. Then finish off this skin-crackling stage for just 10 minutes.
  10. You’re DONE. Enjoy with family.
DISCLAIMER: Above are test kitchen and household-produced dishes. All ingredients utilized are of food grade quality passing international and domestic sanitary standards. While we find the results highly acceptable, no guarantee nor explicit assurance is hereby issued when recipe is performed by readers. For one, although of similar breed, spices, herbs and other ingredients vary from country to country/region to region that possibility of affecting end taste, aroma & bite-feel is great. Further thereto, mentioned sensory evaluation (aroma, taste, mouth-feel) is subjective.
3.3.3077

St. Louis Spares-Roasted

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ST. LOUIS SPARES-ROASTED
(SPICES’ & HERBS’ BLEND RUBBED SPARE RIBS SLOW ROASTED TO PERFECT TENDERNESS)
After about 2 weeks of “heartaches” (literally),
thereat my brains and fingers missing the “one month old hard drive-factory-defective” laptop
…am back to action.
Post Lenten break my inner gusto longed for “meat”…
real flesh that I can gnash my teeth upon.
In raw mat freezer at commissary, chanced upon and sequestered pieces of spare ribs
sliced off from pork bellies we utilize for some dishes. Perfect.
The rest is history as my wife and I enjoyed using “bare hands”,
likened to olden Roman style of partaking open flame-grilled meat,
in this area of our food adventure.
FYI, to differentiate St. Louis Spares (spare ribs)
with that of Baby Back Ribs (loin backs) check this out:

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Prep time:                     5 hours
Cook time:                    1 hour 10 minutes
Total time:                     6 hours 10 minutes
Makes/Serves:             4
Cooking medium:       electric or gas range’s oven, appropriate roasting pan, medium stainless steel bowl, wire whisk
Special instruction(s):

INGREDIENTS:
4 pieces “meaty” spare ribs
50 ml. EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
¼ of butter bar sliced into 4 pieces.
In bowl, a well blended and tumbled MEAT RUB consisting of:
5 grams salt (fine or sea)
3 grams white or brown sugar
3 grams garlic powder
6 grams chili powder
3 grams paprika powder (for more reddish result)
2 grams nutmeg powder
2 grams coriander powder
2 grams ground black pepper
OPTIONAL 2 grams MSG (monosodium glutamate)
PROCEDURES:
1.    Cover all sides and parts of ribs with meat rub. A little massaging will help in flavor penetration.
2.    Refrigerate (DON’T FREEZE) for minimum of 5 hours to let flavor of meat rub permeate into flesh.
3.    Pre-heat oven to 190deg. Celsius (375deg.F).
4.    Line up your range pan with foil. This serves as non-stick barrier between your meat and pan surface as well as makes it
easier to collect and/or clean drippings.
5.    Lay meat unto pan and spread EVOO unto all parts.
6.    Pop in unto mid rack of oven and “sear” for 20 minutes.
7.    Tone down temp to 140deg. Celsius (284deg.F) and continue cooking for 40 minutes.
8.    Open oven door and put on top of each piece a slice of butter. Cook further for next 10 minutes. DONE.
9.    Enjoy your new offering for the family.
DISCLAIMER: Above are test kitchen and household-produced dishes. All ingredients utilized are of food grade quality passing international and domestic sanitary standards. While we find the results highly acceptable, no guarantee nor explicit assurance is hereby issued when recipe is performed by readers. For one, although of similar breed, spices, herbs and other ingredients vary from country to country/region to region that possibility of affecting end taste, aroma & bite-feel is great. Further thereto, mentioned sensory evaluation (aroma, taste, mouth-feel) is subjective.

Want another Spare Ribs prep?
Click the pic.

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Spare Ribs…A Different Approach.

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SPARE RIBS…A NEW APPROACH
(FOIL ROASTED BBQ GLAZED SPARE RIBS)
Back Ribs, for food serving purposes-are bones with little flesh
where 1 rack (the term for a whole serving)
MUST HAVE 10-13 bones-any fewer than this is called
“cheater rack”, come from between the spine (the long center backbone) & the mid rib.
From mid rib to belly side is now called SPARE RIB
our center character for this prep issue.
The word “BABY” in Baby Back Ribs does NOT mean the ribs are from very young (baby) calf.
It just means such ribs are from cattle slaughtered on their marketable weights of 105-125kilos
and NOT from adult-ultra mature ones of  225-295kilos.
Spare Ribs have flatter & bigger bones than Back Ribs but presence of more fat in them,
when sliced with an amount of flesh, renders a more tender and tastier bite than Back Ribs’.
The cooking procedure is DIFFERENT…NOT the usual char-grilled.
But you’ll love the simplicity of prep as you savour the end result.
Prep time:                     10 mins.
Cook time:                    1 hour 30 mins.
Total time:                     1 hour 40 mins.
Makes/Serves:             2
Cooking needs:            foil, brush, electric or gas range
Special instruction(s):

INGREDIENTS:
2 pieces fully cleaned spare ribs (kindly ask your butcher to be a bit generous in leaving thicker meat than their usual)
15 grams salt
8 grams ground black pepper
20 ml. EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
100 grams BBQ Sauce-any of your choice (I used Stubb’s Original & found it great)
PROCEDURES:
1.    Pat dry your spare ribs. Season with salt and pepper.
2.    Unto suitable range pan, lay flat your foil and place in the middle the ribs. Ensure size of foil is enough to cover ALL parts
when roasting.
3.    Using brush, generously cover all parts and sides of ribs with BBQ Sauce.
4.    Fold foil seeing to it that joints are also folded to ensure “steam trap”. Set aside.
5.    Heat range to 300deg.F (148deg.Celsius) In middle rack pop in pan. Cook for 1 hour 10 minutes.
6.    When done, withdraw pan, open foil and pour in EVOO to cover top of ribs. Use brush to scatter oil.
7.    Increase range temp to 380deg.F (193deg.Celsius) and brown top part of ribs for another 20 minutes.
8.    WOWIE. Adorn your serving plate and enjoy this simple approach to a tasteful bite with loved one.
Use your hands please.
DISCLAIMER: Above are test kitchen and household-produced dishes. All ingredients utilized are of food grade quality passing international and domestic sanitary standards. While we find the results highly acceptable, no guarantee nor explicit assurance is hereby issued when recipe is performed by readers. For one, although of similar breed, spices, herbs and other ingredients vary from country to country/region to region that possibility of affecting end taste, aroma & bite-feel is great. Further thereto, mentioned sensory evaluation (aroma, taste, mouth-feel) is subjective.

Want a very easy & simple steak recipe?

Click the pic:

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Slow Baked Juiciest “Liempo”

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SLOW-BAKED JUICIEST “LIEMPO”
(FULLY MARINATED SLOW-BAKED PORK BELLY)
For “Liempo” the usual/normal, “most technologically sound” and highly acceptable preps are:
“Lechon”, roasted via charcoal, wood fire (on sides),
indirect-heat brick oven, gas fired or electric ranges.
“Lechon Kawali”, either Filipino or Chinese style, pre-boiled or not, seasoned or just plain salted single pan frying.
Doubling the frying stages makes this “Liempo” a “Bagnet”
(a northern Philippines “chicharon” delicacy)
“Porchetta”, the Italian style “Lechon”.
“Bacon”, belly is dry or brine cured, smoked and cut to strips or rolled to create round slices.
Or “Pancetta”, the Italian un-smoked cousin of bacon.
Above methods, most particularly the “Lechon”, “Porchetta” and “Pancetta”
are processed with some sort of art, careful trials before arriving at final product
and the sheer dedication cum determination to launch such a “magnum opus” (a masterpiece)
(Mere dredging belly slices (or any meat slice for that matter) in seasoned flour and/or starch
then frying to appear crunchy
is the height of deceit…more so if done by “cooking grads”.
Wanna check a “highly technological prep for Liempo”?
Fat-phoebes stay aside…
fat-natics…let’s read on…
                                                     Let’s open our eyes a bit about fats. Read this.
Prep time:    45 mins.
Cook time:                    1 hour 40 minutes
Total time:                     2 hours 25 mins.
Makes/Serves:   6
Cooking medium:   range oven (gas or electric)
Special instruction(s):  foil, meat thermometer, brush

INGREDIENTS:
1 kilo boneless, skin-on pork belly-fully cleaned, trimmed
10 grams salt (sea or table)
8 grams sugar (white or brown)
6 grams cracked black pepper
5 grams garlic powder
OPTIONAL 2 grams MSG
200 ml. pineapple juice
60 ml. EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
PROCEDURES:
1.    Blend well salt, sugar, OPTIONAL MSG, pepper and garlic powder. Set aside.
2.    Slit belly 0.75 to 1 inch deep on flesh side and 1.5 to 2 inches apart. (These slits will let flavors in).
3.    Pour in pineapple juice. Massage meat to break its protein for easier flavor absorption.
4.    Summon blended powder ingredients and pour unto all parts: skin, inside slits, sides etc. Scatter thoroughly. Refrigerate
(NOT FREEZE) for 30 minutes. While waiting pre-heat oven to 375deg.F (190deg.C).
5.    Line rectangular oven pan with foil. Brush EVOO unto all sides of belly, lay skin up and pop into oven.
SEAR
for 25 minutes.
6.    After 25 minutes retrieve belly. Turn. Now it’s flesh side up. Cover with foil.
7.    Step down temp to 275deg.F (135deg.C). Wedge belly unto oven again.
8.    Slow cook for 1 hour 15 minutes or until internal temp registers 155deg.F (68deg.C). DONE.
9.    Serve to your loved ones and be proud of your new creation.
A different offering not the usual “Liempo”.NOTE: Thank you “noemz” for noticing the inadvertent overlook.
Revision is colored blue as when to add EVOO.Want to try Filipino “Lechon Belly”? Here’s the recipe.
DISCLAIMER: Above are test kitchen and household-produced dishes. All ingredients utilized are of food grade quality passing international and domestic sanitary standards. While we find the results highly acceptable, no guarantee nor explicit assurance is hereby issued when recipe is performed by readers. For one, although of similar breed, spices, herbs and other ingredients vary from country to country/region to region that possibility of affecting end taste, aroma & bite-feel is great. Further thereto, mentioned sensory evaluation (aroma, taste, mouth-feel) is subjective.