Roy Choi's Carne Asada

Roy Choi is the dharma bum of the Los Angeles food scene, a Zen lunatic bard of the city’s immigrant streets. He is a founder of Kogi BBQ, which used food trucks to introduce the city to Mexican mash-up cuisine, and the creative force behind a handful of Los Angeles restaurants that celebrate various iterations of big-flavor cooking at the intersection of skater, stoner, lowrider and Korean college-kid desire. He cooks poems, and they taste of Los Angeles. Choi's carne asada — grilled meat — might raise eyebrows in Puebla and Laredo alike. There is mirin in the marinade and a lot of garlic. But there is purity to its expression of urban Southern California. This is a recipe to expand minds, a delicious take on a venerable classic.

INGREDIENTS

2 jalapeños
1 medium tomato, cored and cut into quarters
1 small yellow onion or 1/4 large one, peeled and cut into quarters
5 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
¼ cup ancho chili powder
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt
½ large bunch cilantro, leaves and stems, well rinsed
⅓ cup fresh-squeezed orange juice (about 1 orange)
3 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lime juice (1 or 2 limes)
¼ cup mirin
1 12-ounce can (1 1/2 cups) Budweiser or other lager beer
2 pounds skirt steak, cut into 10-inch sections
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat the broiler. Place the jalapeños on a cookie sheet or in a skillet with an ovenproof handle, and put them under the broiler until their skins begin to blacken and bubble. (You can also do this by putting the peppers directly over a burner on your stove or on a gas grill.) Pull the stems and seeds from the jalapeños and discard them; skin the peppers and put them into a food processor.

Add the tomato, onion, garlic, sugar, ancho chili powder, black pepper and salt to the bowl of the machine, and pulse to combine. Add the cilantro, the fruit juices, mirin and beer. Process again until smooth.

Transfer the marinade to a large, nonreactive bowl and submerge the steak in it. Cover and place in refrigerator for at least four hours or overnight.

Build a fire in your grill. If using a gas grill, turn all burners to high

When all coals are covered with gray ash and the fire is hot (you can hold your hand 6 inches over the grill for only a few seconds), remove steaks from marinade, drizzle with olive oil and placeon the grill directly over the coals and cook until deeply seared, turning a few times, approximately 10 minutes for medium-rare. Remove steaks from the grill and allow to rest a few minutes. Slice against the grain into thin strips and serve with warm corn tortillas, pico de gallo (see recipe), grilled scallions, whatever you like.

Roy Choi’s Braised Short-Rib Stew

Here is an adaptation of the Korean braised-short-rib stew known as galbijjim, a staple of neighborhood potlucks and church suppers and, in the words of the Los Angeles chef Roy Choi, “that meal from home that every Korean kid says his or her mom does best.” His recipe (well, my version of his recipe, which is his version of his mom’s) is rich and deeply flavored, thickly sauced and pungent with sugar, spice, soy and garlic. It is the sort of meal you could put together on a weekend afternoon and serve for nights to come. It is the best sort of family food.

INGREDIENTS

4 pounds bone-in short ribs
1 small bunch scallions, trimmed and roughly chopped
1 ½ cups soy sauce
¼ cup chopped fresh ginger
1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped
½ cup garlic cloves, peeled (about 2 heads)
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup mirin
½ cup fresh orange juice
½ cup apple juice
½ pound shiitake mushrooms, stems reserved for another use, halved or quartered if large
1 cup jarred, peeled chestnuts
1 cup taro, peeled and cut into large dice (about a 3-inch segment)
1 cup carrots, peeled and cut into large dice (about 2 carrots)
1 cup butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about half a squash)

Put short ribs in a bowl, and cover with water. Drain, and discard water. Repeat twice. Remove short ribs from bowl, and score them diagonally across the top of the meat. Return ribs to the bowl, and rinse again. Remove, and pat dry.

In a blender or food processor, combine scallions, soy sauce, ginger, onion, garlic, sugar, mirin, orange juice and apple juice, then pulse to purée. Add a little water if you need to thin out the sauce so it combines.

Put puréed sauce in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven with a lid, add 3 cups water and stir to combine. Bring pot to a boil over high heat, then add the ribs to the pot and lower heat to a simmer. Cover pot.

Cook ribs over low for at least 2 hours. Add vegetables, cover and simmer, 30 minutes more or so, until meat is tender and vegetables are cooked through. Serve warm.

Tips
Short ribs produce a good amount of fat. Get rid of the excess by making the stew ahead of time, refrigerating it overnight and skimming off any fat that collects on top. (Reserve for cooking potatoes or other root vegetables.) Warm through before serving.
For a slow-cooker version, add the scored meat, vegetables, sauce and 2 cups water (instead of 3) to the machine. Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours. If you like firmer vegetables, wait to add them to the slow cooker 5 to 6 hours into cooking.

Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs With Lemongrass and Soy

EMILY WEINSTEIN, NYT

This is the dish that the chef Marcus Samuelsson made for President Obama when he visited the restaurant Red Rooster Harlem. This is an easy braise with wonderful flavors — plum sauce, lemongrass, soy sauce — and as it is pointed out in "The Red Rooster Cookbook," short ribs taste more expensive than they actually are, making them ideal for guests. Make it earlier in the day, then simply reheat when you're ready to serve dinner. The book suggests freezing the extra braising liquid in ice cube trays, so you can slip it into pan sauces or pasta for oomph.

INGREDIENTS

8 (6-ounce) English-cut short ribs
 Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, trimmed and chopped
2 celery ribs, trimmed and chopped
1 lemongrass stalk, trimmed, smashed and minced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled and minced
½ cup dry red wine
3 cups beef or chicken broth
½ cup plum sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
2 bay leaves
Freshly grated horseradish, for serving (optional)

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Pat meat dry with paper towels and season all over with salt and pepper.

Heat grapeseed oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When oil shimmers, add short ribs and brown on all sides, about 2 minutes per side; transfer to a plate.

Add onion, carrot, celery, lemongrass, garlic and ginger to the pot. Season with salt and cook, stirring often, until onion softens, about 5 minutes. Pour in wine and cook, stirring to dissolve any of the brown bits that may still be on the bottom of the pot. Add broth, plum sauce, soy sauce, thyme, parsley and bay leaves and bring to a simmer.

Return short ribs to pot, along with any juices, cover and slide pot into oven. Braise until meat is fork-tender, about 2 hours.

Transfer meat to a plate. Strain braising liquid into a fat separator. If you don't have a fat separator, use a ladle to skim the fat off the top of the braising liquid; then strain through a fine mesh sieve.

Discard bay leaves and thyme stems and transfer vegetables to a food processor. Process vegetables until smooth, then add 1 1/2 cups of the defatted braising liquid to the processor and pulse to combine.

Return sauce to Dutch oven and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add short ribs and turn to coat in the sauce; set aside until you’re ready to serve.

Reheat short ribs in the sauce. Divide short ribs between four shallow bowls and top each with a spoonful of sauce. Put remaining sauce in a bowl for passing at the table, along with a bowl of horseradish, if you'd like.

Slow Cooker Short Ribs With Chinese Flavors - Mark Bittman

INGREDIENTS

8 short ribs, about 3 pounds
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup sugar or honey
3 star anise
6 scallions, trimmed
1 3-inch piece cinnamon
5 nickel-size slices of ginger
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
 Salt
 Cooked white rice for serving
 Chopped scallions or fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

Combine all ingredients, except salt, rice and garnish, in slow cooker. Cover and cook until meat is very tender and falling from bone, 5 hours or more on high, 7 hours or more on low. Taste and add salt if necessary.

If you like, remove meat, strain liquid and refrigerate meat and liquid separately; skim fat from liquid, and reheat with meat. Serve hot over white rice garnished with scallions or cilantro.

Garlic Braised Short Ribs With Red Wine

If you weren’t already sure about how easy and delicious braised short ribs can be, consider this classic and straightforward recipe an excellent gateway. The ultimate hands-off, do-ahead dinner, these are done on the stovetop in a large Dutch oven but can easily be adapted to a slow cooker if that’s your thing. When purchasing the ribs, ask for the thickest, meatiest ones available as they tend to shrink quite a bit once braised.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 pounds bone-in short ribs, at least 1 1/2 inches thick
 Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 large heads garlic, halved crosswise
1 medium onion (about 10 ounces), chopped
4 ribs celery (about 8 ounces, chopped
2 medium carrots (about 6 ounces), chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups dry red wine (about half a bottle)
2 cups beef stock or bone broth (use beef bouillon dissolved in water if unavailable; chicken stock will work in a pinch), plus more as needed
4 sprigs thyme
1 cup parsley, coarsely chopped
½ cup finely chopped chives
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

Heat oven to 275 degrees. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season short ribs on all sides with salt and pepper. Working in batches, sear short ribs on all sides until deeply and evenly browned, 6 to 8 minutes per batch. Transfer browned short ribs to a large plate and continue with remaining ribs.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of remaining fat, leaving the good browned bits behind. Reduce heat to medium, and add garlic, cut side down and cook, undisturbed, until golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add onion, celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat and continue to cook until vegetables are softened but not yet browned, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir to coat. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until tomato paste has started to caramelize a bit on the bottom and up the edges of the pot, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Add red wine and, using a wooden spoon, scrape up any browned or caramelized bits. Let this simmer 2 to 3 minutes, just to take the edge off and reduce a bit. Stir in beef stock along with thyme. Using tongs, return short ribs to the pot, along with any juices that have accumulated, nestling them in there so that they are submerged (if they are just barely covered, nestle them bone side up so that all the meat is submerged, adding more beef stock or water as necessary to cover). Bring to a simmer, then cover and transfer to oven.

Cook, undisturbed, until short ribs are meltingly tender and falling off the bone (you should be able to shred the meat with a fork), 3½ to 4 hours.

Using tongs, remove the ribs from the pot, taking care (for presentation purposes, really) not to let the bone slip out and transfer them to a large plate. (While you could serve the short ribs right out of this pot, the vegetables have all given up their flavor and texture and aren’t worth much now, so feel free to strain the sauce for easier eating.) Scatter parsley, chives and lemon zest over the top of the short ribs. Separate the fat from the sauce, season with salt and pepper and serve alongside.

Michael Bao Huynh's Vietnamese Caramelized Pork - Thit kho to

Thit kho to – a sticky-sweet pork dish with funky undertones of nuoc mam – is often served on Tet Nguyen Dan, the Vietnamese New Year and the nation's most important holiday. This recipe is adapted from Michael Bao Huynh, a chef and restaurateur who came to the United States as a refugee in 1982. Thit kho to is traditionally made with pork belly, but it can also be made with pork shoulder butt (as shown in the photo) – a lighter though no less delicious alternative. Serve the meat over a pile of snowy white rice with a bottle of hot pepper sauce nearby.

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cups sugar
2 ½ pounds pork belly or butt, sliced into thin, inch-long strips
1 tablespoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup fish sauce
2 heaping teaspoons minced garlic
1 dash sesame oil
1 medium Vidalia onion, sliced
4 scallions, sliced, green part only
Rice for serving

Cover bottom of a large, heavy skillet with one cup sugar and place over medium low heat. As soon as it melts and turns golden, add pork, raise heat to medium, and stir until coated. (Sugar will become sticky and may harden, but it will re-melt as it cooks, forming a sauce.)

Stir in remaining sugar, salt, pepper and fish sauce. Cover and cook 2 minutes. Uncover, stir in garlic and oil and lower to simmer to reduce sauce for about 20 minutes.

Stir in Vidalia onions and cook until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Pork should be caramelized; if not, raise heat and sauté while sauce further reduces. Transfer to serving bowl, and sprinkle with scallion greens.

Momofuku's Bo Ssam

This is a recipe to win the dinner party sweepstakes, and at very low stakes: slow-roasted pork shoulder served with lettuce, rice and a raft of condiments. The chef David Chang serves the dish, known by its Korean name, bo ssam, at his Momofuku restaurant in the East Village and elsewhere. He shared the recipe with The Times in 2012. Mr. Chang is known as a kitchen innovator, but his bo ssam is a remarkably straightforward way to achieve high-level excellence with little more than ingredients and time. Simply cure the pork overnight beneath a shower of salt and some sugar, then roast it in a low oven until it collapses. Apply some brown sugar and a little more salt, then roast the skin a while longer until it takes on the quality of glistening bark. Meanwhile, make condiments – hot sauces and kimchi, rice, some oysters if you wish. Then tear meat off the bone and wrap it in lettuce, and keep at that until everything’s gone.

INGREDIENTS

PORK BUTT:
1 whole bone-in pork butt or picnic ham (8 to 10 pounds)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon kosher salt
7 tablespoons brown sugar

GINGER-SCALLION SAUCE:
2 ½ cups thinly sliced scallions, both green and white parts
½ cup peeled, minced fresh ginger
¼ cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)
1 ½ teaspoons light soy sauce
1 scant teaspoon sherry vinegar
½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

SSAM SAUCE:
2 tablespoons fermented bean-and-chili paste (ssamjang, available in many Asian markets, and online)
1 tablespoon chili paste (kochujang, available in many Asian markets, and online)
½ cup sherry vinegar
½ cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)

ACCOMPANIMENTS:
2 cups plain white rice, cooked
3 heads bibb lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried
1 dozen or more fresh oysters (optional)
 Kimchi (available in many Asian markets, and online)

Place the pork in a large, shallow bowl. Mix the white sugar and 1 cup of the salt together in another bowl, then rub the mixture all over the meat. Cover it with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

When you're ready to cook, heat oven to 300. Remove pork from refrigerator, brush any excess sugar mixture off the fat cap and discard any juices. Place the pork in a roasting pan and set in the oven and cook for approximately 6 hours, or until it collapses, yielding easily to the tines of a fork. (After the first hour, baste hourly with pan juices.) At this point, you may remove the meat from the oven and allow it to rest for up to an hour.

Meanwhile, make the ginger-scallion sauce. In a large bowl, combine the scallions with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and taste, adding salt if needed.

Make the ssam sauce. In a medium bowl, combine the chili pastes with the vinegar and oil, and mix well.

Prepare rice, wash lettuce and, if using, shuck the oysters. Put kimchi and sauces into serving bowls.

When your accompaniments are prepared and you are ready to serve the food, turn oven to 500. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining tablespoon of salt with the brown sugar. Rub this mixture all over the cooked pork. Place in oven for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, or until a dark caramel crust has developed on the meat. Serve hot, with the accompaniments.

Loco Moco

INGREDIENTS

1 pound ground beef, at least 15 to 20 percent fat
1 medium Maui or yellow onion, peeled (1/4 of the onion chopped; 3/4 sliced)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated
3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
½ teaspoon black pepper, plus more as needed
2 ½ tablespoons neutral oil
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (optional)
2 cups beef broth
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups steamed white rice
4 large eggs, fried, sunny side up or over easy
2 chopped scallions, for garnish

In a large bowl, combine the beef, chopped onion, garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Mix with your hands or a wooden spoon until just combined, being careful not to overmix. Form into four patties about 1/2-inch thick. Place the patties on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large 12-inch skillet over medium. When the oil is hot and shimmering, add the sliced onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until almost translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, stirring often, until soft and caramelized, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. 

Add 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet and heat over medium. When the oil is hot, swirl the pan around to evenly coat it, then gently place the patties in the pan, spacing them out evenly. Cook until browned, about 4 minutes per side. Using a spatula, transfer patties to a clean plate to rest.

Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil to the pan and heat over medium until hot. Add the mushrooms (if using) and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper, then add the caramelized onions, beef broth, soy sauce and the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low.

Place the cornstarch in a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the broth from the skillet and whisk until smooth. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the skillet and simmer until the sauce has thickened, 5 to 7 minutes.

Place 1 cup steamed rice on each plate and top each serving with one patty, then the gravy, a fried egg and chopped scallions.

Yakitori Chicken With Ginger, Garlic and Soy Sauce

INGREDIENTS
1 pound chicken livers, gizzards or boneless thigh meat
½ cup dark soy sauce or tamari
¼ cup mirin
2 tablespoons sake or dry sherry
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
 Scallions, thinly sliced, for garnish

Cut chicken into one-inch pieces and place in a shallow dish.

In a small saucepan, combine soy sauce or tamari, mirin, sake or sherry, brown sugar, garlic and ginger. Bring to a simmer and cook for 7 minutes, until thickened. Reserve 2 tablespoons sauce for serving. Pour remaining sauce over chicken, cover, and chill for at least one hour (and up to 4 hours).

If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak them in water for one hour. Preheat grill or broiler. Thread chicken pieces onto skewers, and grill or broil, turning halfway, for about 3 minutes for livers, 10 minutes for gizzards and 6 minutes for thighs. Serve drizzled with reserved sauce and garnished with scallions.

Katsudon (Pork-Cutlet Rice Bowl)

Katsudon is a comforting, belly-warming dish from Japan, composed of sliced pork cutlets simmered in a dashi-based broth with onion and eggs and served over a bowl of warm rice. It's an ideal way to use up leftover cutlets from the refrigerator, but it's even more rewarding when it's made with fresh, warm cutlets, and it comes together quickly enough for a weeknight. Variations of katsudon can be found on restaurant menus and home kitchens — and in anime. This recipe includes an optional addition of frozen peas, inspired by the main character in "Yuri!!! on Ice," whose parents serve katsudon with peas at their fictional inn. But it takes some delicious real-life cues from the work of Nancy Singleton Hachisu (who adds a small amount of julienned ginger to her broth, brightening it) and from the chef Tadashi Ono.

INGREDIENTS
4 cups water
1 piece kombu, about 5 inches by 6 inches
1 ounce bonito flakes
2 pork-loin cutlets, 1/2 inch thick
½ cup flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
¾ cup panko
 Salt and pepper
 Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
⅔ cup dashi
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
½ cup white onion, thinly sliced
1 piece ginger, 1 inch thick, thinly sliced and cut into strips
¼ cup frozen peas (optional)
4 eggs

TO ASSEMBLE:
 White rice, to serve
2 scallions, thinly sliced

To make the dashi, bring the water and kombu up to a simmer, then turn off the heat. Fish out the kombu, then add the bonito, and allow to steep for 2 or 3 minutes. Skim off any scum on the surface, and pour through a fine-mesh strainer. Keep in the fridge.

To make the cutlets, put the flour, egg and panko in three separate wide bowls. Generously season each cutlet with salt and pepper on both sides. Dip them, one at a time, in the flour, then the egg, then the panko, making sure each cutlet is totally covered in crumbs. Pour vegetable oil into a large, wide skillet until it’s just under an inch high, and set over medium-high heat until it reaches 350 degrees. Fry cutlets until golden brown and crisp, turning after 3 minutes, and frying for a total of 6 minutes. Set on a wire rack to cool, then slice into 1/4 inch thick pieces.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add 2/3 cup dashi, soy sauce, mirin, onion, ginger and peas, if using. Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down to low and cook for about 5 minutes, until the onion has softened. Carefully place the sliced cutlets on top of the onion and broth. Cover, and cook for 3 more minutes.

Crack eggs into a small bowl, and beat them with a fork, then pour all along the top of the cutlets. Don’t stir, just cover and cook until the eggs are just about set but still slightly wobbly. To serve, heap rice into bowls, then slide cutlet slices, eggs and broth on top of each. Sprinkle with scallions.

Butter Chicken - Sam Sifton

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cups full-fat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 ½ tablespoons ground turmeric
2 tablespoons garam masala
2 tablespoons ground cumin
3 pounds chicken thighs, on the bone
¼ pound unsalted butter
4 teaspoons neutral oil, like vegetable or canola oil
2 medium-size yellow onions, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated or finely diced
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick
2 medium-size tomatoes, diced
2 red chiles, like Anaheim, or 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
 Kosher salt to taste
⅔ cup chicken stock, low-sodium or homemade
1 ½ cups cream
1 ½ teaspoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons ground almonds, or finely chopped almonds
½ bunch cilantro leaves, stems removed.

Whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, turmeric, garam masala and cumin in a large bowl. Put the chicken in, and coat with the marinade. Cover, and refrigerate (for up to a day).

In a large pan over medium heat, melt the butter in the oil until it starts to foam. Add the onions, and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent. Add the garlic, ginger and cumin seeds, and cook until the onions start to brown.

Add the cinnamon stick, tomatoes, chiles and salt, and cook until the chiles are soft, about 10 minutes.

Add the chicken and marinade to the pan, and cook for 5 minutes, then add the chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for approximately 30 minutes.

Stir in the cream and tomato paste, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the almonds, cook for an additional 5 minutes and remove from the heat. Garnish with the cilantro leaves.