Sunday, September 22, 2013

Chuseok!: Gui-ing L.A.-Style Bulgalbi

Meat Hunx can't resist slightly catchy but for the most part nonsensical titles. So let's inject a little clarity here. And what better place to start than terminology.

Deinition 1 - Chuseok: Korean Thanksgiving Day! Tell an American about Chuseok, and, bewildered, they'll ask what Koreans are giving thanks for as if it's unthinkable that there are plants you can harvest and eat in other parts of the world. Usually, the holiday is 3 days long; but due to some fortuitous scheduling, it's 5 days this year. In addition to eating and hanging with the fam, Koreans get up to all sorts of wild things, preferably under a full moon. Activities include, ancestral grave visits, Ganggangsullae (an insanely badass circle dance), sandpit wrestling, and rice liquor drinking. 

Lunar gazing? Circle dances? Life and death? It's time to break out the motherfucking BIG GREEN EGG!! Gather round and behold the the treasures from it's roaring hot taste barrier-breaking halo!

Definition 2 - Gui: Now, don't get all up arms that this entry's title might seem like a slightly insensitive mispronunciation of the word 'grilling'. Quite the opposite in fact- gui translates to grill. 

Definition 3 - LA-Style: There are two cut styles for Korean beef short ribs. The first is the more traditional Wang Galbi (means King Ribs). It entails cutting the ribs into 2 to 5 inch segments, and filleting in layers away from the bone. The second, slightly more slick-sounding cut is L.A. Style, and entails cutting the meat in thin slices across the bone. This style allows the marinade to penetrate the meat faster. I asked two legitimately rad Korean pals what to cook for Chuseok, they both said Galbi, and they're both West Coast destroyers. So L.A. Style it is. 

Definition 4 - Bulgalbi: Adding bul to galbi indicates there's some grilling going on; slightly redundant above as I've already mentioned we're gui-ing. But all these new terms are making Meat Hunx feel authoritative. 

Ok, so here's how it's done…

Go to an Asian grocery store and ask for short ribs. I like New York Mart in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. There, a conscientious butcher will ask you how thin you want your beef cut by doing that Kids in the Hall 'I Crush' thing with their fingers. Go with thin for marinade penetration as well as grill time. In addition to five pounds of beef short rib, you'll need the following:

- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup mirin (rice wine)
- 1 small onion, peeled and finely grated
- 1 small Asian pear, peeled and finely grated (I went with a Xinjian fragrant pear)
- 4 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced

Rub the brown sugar over all the meat, and let it sit for 10 mins or until they hit room temp. While your Galbi dudes are taking a time-out, whisk the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Split the meat into two gallon-sized ziplock bags and pour half the marinade into each. Mix it up a bit, and drop those future taste bombs in the fridge for four hours. 

I suggest spending this intermediary time drinking rice wine and listing to traditional Korean music. But it's your world, bro. 

At the four hour mark, crank the egg to 300 - 400 degrees. I served my Bulgalbi with grilled baby bok choi and Ja Mushrooms seasoned in salt, pepper and fennel seed powder, plus some olive oil and lemon. Get these on first, as they'll take longer.

Then drop those bulgalbi on the grill directly above the coals, 4 minutes per side. And bam, it's over, you've won. 

기지도 못하면서 뛰려고 한다,
Meat Hunx

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Boston 2 Brooklyn Jerk Chicken Rolls

The nefarious looking gentleman to your left is Nicholas Cox. He's been credited with many things, but perhaps none so immediately crucial as fanning the flames of the summer's first Meat Hunx post! In addition to our guest writer, we've also been joined by guest photographer and all-around badass Jake Burghart. 

On a holiday Monday afternoon, while this great nation laid about, Nick took matters into his own hands, commandeering a 30-person feast, bestowing upon a rudimentary grill and Rosee-rinsed palettes outsized tastes and outrageously good vibes. Nick handily traversed across multiple dishes, a feat that would leave most burned out. That's apparently when this dude shines. Nick broke out a jerk chicken that would earn a triangle salute from fellow grill renegades at Boston Jerk City

Here's how it goes:
Procure 15 pieces of thigh meat, trimmed of fat. Don't waste your time with Purdue and the like. Additionally try to buy air-chilled chicken. For those of you unfamiliar, most chickens are dunked in iced, chlorinated water to bring their temperature down after slaughter. Air-chilled is a slightly different process: evisceration, sprayed with chlorinated water inside and out, and rapidly cooled in air chambers to reduce bacteria. Most, if not all in the know, will tell you the result tastes way better.

For the cure, pull together the following: 
- 16floz extra virgin olive oil 
- 4floz white distilled vinegar
- 3floz smooth Dijon style mustard
- 6floz Worcestershire sauce
- 6floz soy sauce
- 1lb Spanish onion
- 1oz parsley (whole)
- 2tbsp red chile flakes
- 1tbsp allspice
- 3tbsp turmeric
- 1tbsp black pepper
- 2tbsp cumin
- 2tbsp coriander
- 2tbsp salt
- 4-9pc scotch bonnet/habanero chiles. (Depending on preference. This is supposed to be a spicy cure). If you can't find these you may use red bird's eye chiles.

Next up:
- Grind all spices, add to blender
- Rough chop onion and parsley, add to blender
- Add all ingredients except for the oil. Purée until smooth.
- Slowly pour the oil in a steady thin stream to emulsify
- Add protein to the jerk and let sit at least 24hrs
- Grill over a low heat 

The chicken was served in two forms: in mini potato rolls with mayonnaise ("jalapeño mango if you wanna get fancy") and kosher dill pickles, or the markedly less elegant but respectably uninhibited grill-to-fork-mouth. I'll let the photos do Nick's work justice. 

The island tastes marked a turning point in the evening that left little room for revisionism. Sitting here now, in a much more lucid state, I'd be remiss not to point out some tried tested and true Jamaican jerk customs that were disregarded here. The most prominent of these is that no pimento wood was used in the making of this masterpiece. Recently, the wood has cleared international boundaries and is now available at Pimento Wood (.com). And while ordering a 'One Click Jerk Kit' seems a bit rich, if it means getting some pimento smoke in the mix, so buy it!

PS. If you get a chance, look up the history of jerk. It's a wild ride. 

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Pesto Spiraled Steak Pucks




Here's what you need:
- 2 Loosely packed cups basil leaves
- 2 Loosely packed cups of parsley leaves
- 1 clove garlic, sliced
- 1/2 cup green pitted olives
- 3 anchovy filets
- 1/4 cup of your best olive oil
- 1/2 cup parmigiano-reggiano
- One 2-pound flank steak
- S and P









Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Deeeaammn Lamb Wraps (with Owney's Rum)

I'm all for a cold winter. But it's posing a few unexpected brick walls. Number one on the 'c'mon, really?' list: the Big Green Egg is frozen shut. The fall-out: having to cook using a normal oven, which induces similar feelings to missing the last train out of Anchorage to Miami on a Friday night. My first idea was to create a seasonally-adjusted Meat Hunx sister site called Soup Slutz. But an avalanche-esque craving for lamb made me think otherwise. So I'm defying my BBQ-negating geo-position with some motherfucking lamb wraps. The Meat is On! Let's do this!
First up, the lamb. Here's what ya need:
- 2 lbs of lamb
- 1 small onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin powder
- S and P to taste
- And Berbere

EEER, educational moment and command 1! You gotta get Berbere mix in the mix. It's a spice combo made up of chili peppers, garlic, ginger, dried basil, kararima, rue, ajwain, nigelia and fenugreek. It's a West-African fundamental. Get on it!

Next up:
- Blend the onion, garlic, cilantro, oil, lemon and spices
- Rub the marinade all over the lamb then wrap with string
- Throw the lamb in an air-tight whatever and refrigerate for two hours
- Remove and let the meat come to room temp
- Sprinkle with Berbere, salt and pepper
- Then crank the ovs to 450F and pop your roasting-pan borne foil-covered lamb in
- Dial back to 325F and cook for 2.5 hours
- The lamb is ready to party when it's falling off the bone

Lay your party-dudes out on the warmed wraps and garnish with cilantro, parsley, green onions, salsa and sour cream. And as a wise man once said: "BANGO!"

Educational alert moment and command 2: A pal of mine has adorned the already-rich history of Brooklyn Rum-runners with a new gem: Owneys. It's not the same old rum the world is used to, and I strongly urge you to check out their operation here, if only to increase your chances of enjoying the shit out of Meathunx-inspired Deeeaammn Lamb Wraps.