Feral Cooks

Good food shouldn't be tame

Korean Sloppy Joes

By Leave a Comment

I saw a recipe for this on the fridgg.com food-porn site and thought I’d make my own version. The one thing that I did take from the recipe I found was the idea of using ciabatta bread, which gives the sandwich a nice crunch to it. I’m sure using regular hamburger or other type of buns would be good, too.

If I were to make these again, I’d just make a Korean barbecue sauce from scratch and just simmer the meat in that. That said, this version turned out quite good.

What you’ll need:

  • 1 lb ground beef, not more than 15% fat
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1T sesame oil or chili oil
  • 0.5 cup ketchup
  • 0.5 cup hoisin sauce
  • 0.25 cup water
  • 2T soy sauce or dark soy sauce
  • 1t sriracha or other hot sauce
  • Thinly-sliced green onions, as a garnish

What to do:

Brown the beef over medium heat while breaking it apart into coarse chunks.

When it’s no longer pink, add all the rest of the ingredients except the green onions and mix well. Keep cooking until the sauce has evaporated to the degree that it’s really thick—like sloppy joes are.

Spoon the mixture over toasted buns, sprinkle with sliced green onions and serve.

Brandy Snaps*

By Leave a Comment

For the first time in my life the other day, I bought pre-made whipped cream in a pressurized can. It’s not like the real thing, but it sure tastes good. I’d never necessarily use it in a recipe for something special, rather, it’s great for just eating by the spoonful. Or for inside cylindrical cookies, like this version of the brandy snap.

In all honesty, the only reason I made these is to fill them with pressurized whipped cream, so let’s get that out in the open. The cookies themselves are pretty good, but it’s really hard to get them into the cylindrical shape. If you let them cool too much, they get brittle and don’t bend. If they’re too hot, they’re too soft to roll (and burn your fingers). If I made them again, I’d just leave them flat and put frosting or whipped cream on top.

What you’ll need:

  • 2 oz. superfine sugar
  • 2 oz. butter
  • 2T syrup (used half light corn syrup and half maple syrup)
  • 2 oz. all-purpose flour
  • 1t ground, dried ginger
  • Grated lemon zest from a half-lemon
  • 1t brandy

What to do:

Start your oven heating to 350 degrees and grease or line a baking sheet with baking parchment paper.

In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the butter, sugar and syrup. Gently stir until the butter has melted and the sugar has completely dissolved. Low and slow is the key to making this work. It the temperature is too high, it will overcook. Remove from heat after ensuring the sugar has dissolved.

Next, gradually add the flour and ginger into the saucepan while stirring, then add the lemon zest and brandy. Mix well until smooth.

To cook, drop small spoonfuls into the baking sheet. These really spread out (about 3 inches across) so allow plenty of room between them. Bake for 7 or so minutes. You’ll know they’re done when they’re a golden brown. If you try to slip a spatula under a cookie and it easily deforms, it’s not done. At this point, you could leave them flat and just let them cool.

But, if you want to roll them, take the pan out of the oven and let the cookies cool just enough for you to handle them without burning your fingers. They should still be pliable to roll, but not for more than a few seconds more. A good way to roll them is around the cylindrical handle of some cooking utensil you have, like a spoon or spatula.

Once rolled, let them set and cool. If you’re filling them with whipped cream, add it just before serving the cookies.

*Not sure why they need brandy. You can’t taste it.

 

Back to Japanese: Soboro Donburi

By Leave a Comment

This easy-to-make rice bowl dish is popular in Japan. Just like many other types of rice bowls, it’s meat and vegetables over rice.

When living in Japan, I noted that many Japanese love the polar opposite ends of the food spectrum: kaiseki, the painstakingly difficult-to-make traditional foods served in a series of small-plate courses, and their one-bowl counterparts, such as ramen and the various donburi. Kaiseki meals can take over an hour, while a donburi or bowl of ramen can be snarfed up in just a few minutes, allowing the busy diner to quickly be on his or her way.

The key to this flavorful rice bowl is simmering the meat slowly, so it takes on the flavor of the broth in which it is cooked, in this case, soy sauce, mirin, dashi and sake.

What you’ll need:

  • 1 lb 85-90%-lean ground meat, such as pork, chicken or beef
  • 0.25 cups sake
  • 0.25 cups soy sauce
  • 0.25 cups dashi (if you don’t have any, chicken broth is an easy quasi-substitute)
  • 0.25 cups mirin (can be omitted, if you don’t have any)
  • 1.5t sugar
  • 1T grated fresh ginger
  • 0.5 cup thawed frozen peas (optional)
  • 1 small diced onion (optional)
  • a few shiitake (or other) mushrooms, chopped. Shiitakes may need to be precooked
  • Beni shoga (pickled ginger) as an optional garnish
  • Enough servings of rice for however many rice bowls you’re making

What to do:

Put the meat (I use pork), cooking liquids and sugar in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-high heat. Break up the meat and stir occasionally.

After about 5-10 minutes, add the peas and ginger (plus onion and mushrooms, if using), allowing the mixture to gently cook until most of the liquid is cooked off, but don’t let it get completely dried out. Remove from heat. At this point, the meat should be cooked, but not dried out.

Divide your rice into bowls and top with the meat. Add garnish, if using, and serve hot.