Pulled Pork Sandwich

When I first moved to Delhi, I remember my cousin ordering a pulled pork burger at The Garage in HKV. I loved the idea of a pulled pork sandwich but I have always been very skeptical about pork when it's not prepared at home, especially after watching the first episode of House 6 year back. (Love medical and criminal investigations), but that's just me. 

I had to try making it at home, my own version of it. Most people use smoked pork for this recipe but I don't have access to a smoker in Delhi. (maybe when I move back to my parent's  home I can post how to smoke pork )

Anyway, it turned out great and everyone should try it. I am not going to put up a list of ingredients since I myself just made up the recipe and kept changing it as it cooked. 

This Recipe calls for pork to be slow roasted over a long period of time, it cooks so slow and long that the meat becomes tender and you can pull it apart using forks...hence the name, pulled pork.

In a rice cooker, lay out some onion.

Important: you need to get pork butt ( part of the pig which comes from the shoulder region, why it is called butt confuses me too!! the shaded region called boston butt is what you need to buy)

Place the pork (I used half kilo cut) on top of the onion bed. With clean hands, rub in 2 tbsp of soy and 1 tsp of honey, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add in one mug of water and let it cook till it starts dries up and starts sizzling. At this point you pork has a good brown colour due to caramalization . After this add in 5 mugs of water  and cover and leave it for 3- 4 hours. I even managed to go to Deer Park for a jog and complete my Kimchi fried rice post.

This is what I saw after 4 hours!! Turn it off and let the meat rest for an hour with the lid on. This resting period is very important. It should cool down and all the flavours will get soaked in and you will have juicy meat. If you don't let it rest and cool down before shredding it, the hot steam will all evaporate and you will be left with dry shredded pork with no flavour (basic science)

After it has cooled down and rested, place it on a plate. You will now be able to see the shoulder blade sticking out.

If your meat has cooked well, you should be able to just pull it out as shown below!!

Now, use 2 forks to shred it !! 

Add in barbecue sauce...as much as you like... start with a small quantity and keep tasting :)

Now, shred some cabbage and add in mayo and mustard ( apples mixed with cabbage tastes amazing too )

Assemble the sandwich in a pan or in a sandwich grill. I don't own a sandwich maker as yet so I used the pan to lightly toast my bread in butter. (burger buns are good too but difficult to find whole wheat ones)

everybody loves cheese spread !!

Salad and meat on the bread and you're almost done.

Enjoy and remember to cook from your heart !!

Kimchi Fried Rice (as promised)

As promised earlier, in my Kimchi post, I am going to show you how to make kimchi fried rice. 

kimchi : http://yangloo89.blogspot.in/2014/05/kimchi.html

Kimchi meatball soup:  http://yangloo89.blogspot.in/2014/05/kimchi-soup-with-chicken-meatballs.html

Again, this is a dish which can be made with basic ingredients and is very wholesome. It is perfect for college students and people who don't have too much time to spend in the kitchen. 

ingredients:

• rice (I have used brown rice for personal consumption, but serve white rice to guests)
• condiments: sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar and fish sauce (I love fish sauce, adds so much flavour depth and replaces salt,  vegetarians use salt to taste)
• green onion
• eggs
• KIMCHI (should be at least 2 weeks old, fermenting in the fridge...instant kimchi won't work)
• sesame seeds for garnishing.

Before you start, have everything ready as this is a quick stir fry which will take you 5 minutes.
prep green onions as shown below.

In a pan/wok add one spoon sesame oil and 3 spoons regular vegetable oil and throw in the bulb of the green onion.

Quickly add in the condiments. I don't have exact measurements as I throw in whatever quantity I like based on sight and smell but these are approximates: fish sauce 3 tbsp( be careful its salty), soy 2 tbsp, vinegar 2 tbsp.
Crack 2 eggs into the pan and quickly give it a good shake and stir fry on high heat.

Then add in whatever quantity of kimchi you like and mix well.

Serve hot and make small batches at a time for ease.

For garnishing use any of these or combinations of it!!

•  gim (see kimchi meat ball post on how to roast gim/seaweed)
• spam
• kimchi
• green onions
• sesame seeds

This one I had made for my cousins, so it was more special. I used spam or canned ham which is very popular in korea. Add in the spam with the onions in the beginning. Adding spam makes the dish more flavourful but try to avoid canned meat as much as possible :). 

No Bake Dessert

Delhi Monsoon has us all trapped in our homes, not willing to venture out into flooded streets. For those of us who go out just to grab a bite once too often, I have concocted an easy 'no bake' dessert that uses simple inexpensive ingredients that can be substituted easily, unlike the fancy no bake cheesecakes all over the internet. Stay home, make this and enjoy it all by yourself!!

This one I like to eat myself, and because it is so simple, I prefer not to serve it to guests. 

ingredients:

• cookies (can be substituted with digestive biscuits)
• fresh fruit (any fruit with strong flavour)
• fresh cream ( or hung curd)
• gelatine (available in ration shops)
• butter
• I have used a tart mould for one portion serving ...you can make layers in a mug or a see through glass.

First add a quarter cup hot water to two teaspoon of gelatine and let  it melt. 

In a bigger bowl, open one packet fresh cream or hung curd,(hung curd gives a thicker consistency, so if in a hurry, use hung curd) add one tbsp powdered sugar and slowly whisk in the gelatin. 

Next, I cut up one large mango and used a blender to make a smoothie like consistency. The other mango is chilling in the refrigerator to be served as a topping. 

Since the mixture is pretty runny and the gelatin hasn't set, I poured it into a jar and kept it in the fridge for about half an hour.  

 In the meanwhile, I put all my cookies in a Zip Lock and used a blunt object to crush it into powder form. I then added 50 gms of soft butter to the powder.. making it like wet sand. This helps the base to firm up in the fridge as the butter solidifies. Line your container as shown below or simply make one bottom layer in your mug or bowl. Keep it in the fridge and let it solidify for about an hour.

After an hour, pour the smoothie into your mould, over the biscuit base.

Let it chill for about an hour before adding fruit topping and let that chill too for about 20 minutes or so.(no hard and fast rules...keep checking like me :p )

The best part about this dessert is that fresh cream and cookie crumble tastes good with any fruit!! In the past I have used bananas, peaches, even peanut butter and nutella (dangeous) and I wish to try fresh cream and strawberries when I come across great quality strawberries(too lazy to go to Khan Market.) Be creative and use whatever you have at home. There is nothing innovative about this recipe of mine...my aim is to inspire my readers to use simple ingredients to make something delightful at home. Kids love this and so does my grandma... I fed her the nutella peanut butter one and she enjoyed every bite of it repeating "bhuiiii darlagyo" meaning "Gosh, I'm so scared". 

Serve chilled and remember to cook from your heart :)

fish and fermented bamboo-shoot

I am so happy to be sharing my mum's recipe today. I had to think hard to decide whether or not people would be interested in learning how to cook a dish that can stink up the house before guests arrive. However in defense of this family favorite, I can't help but drool when I smell the pungent aroma of fish and bamboo shoot, followed automatically by a growling stomach.
Last week I got an overwhelming response on facebook from friends and cousins who were eager to learn this recipe. I am happy to say that planning this post has given me more clarity and perspective as to what I would like to be  doing in 2015 atleast. The response from my friends and cousins has made me a more confident cook and I would like to thank every reader for giving me this new bout of confidence. I realize just how much more I have yet to learn. I feel humbled and since this recipe is very close to my heart, I dedicate this post to my Mother (who knows not I have a blog, since I am a full time student!!!).

For this recipe I will be using ingredients which are easily available at INA market in New Delhi. If you have any problem and want to ask me more about substituting certain ingredients then you can mail me at yangloo89@gmail.com, fb friends can inbox or follow me on my personal instagram account yang_abica and ask me anything on the related post.

Ingredients

• Rohu Fish ( as fresh as possible, and get them cleaned and cut up into 1.5 inches thickness/ two finger thickness) 
• fermented bambooshoot- 100 gms/ one packet marked Rs. 40/-
• one large tomato/ 2 medium ones.
• 12 cloves of garlic
• fresh chillies  ( I have used some green chillies and some fresh dalle chilly from Sikkim) If you can get hold of raja mircha at INA use only one piece along with some fresh green chilly
• Dried chilly powder- 1 tsp, I have used smoked raja mircha availabe in Dimapur wednesday market in Nagaland. (substitute with any chilly powder, if unavailable)
• Mustard oil 

Follow the picture guide!!

In a heavy bottom pot, place your fish like shown below, stack them up if you need to. Don't worry, this dish requires no stirring around. Throw in peeled garlic cloves.

Place the fresh chillies on top.

Last layer, tomatoes and bambooshoot.

This is what smoked raja mircha powder looks like !!

Add 1 teaspoon of chilly powder, salt to taste and drizzle 2 tablespoons of mustard oil.

Add full cup of water to the pot. Now place the pot on the stove on medium heat and cover with a lid for about 20 minutes till the water dries up. DO NOT STIR...be patient and keep an eye for the water to dry up or else it may burn.

After the first cup dries up, add the second cup of water like shown below.

Once the second cup dries up, you may add half a cup and let it cook for about 5 minutes more to form the gravy. Let the dish rest for about half an hour before it is served with hot steamed rice and some boiled beans or boiled cabbage.

I hope you enjoy cooking and sharing this recipe.

Have a great July and remember to cook from your heart !!