Smoked Asian Style Pork Sausages

中文菜谱： 熏猪肉肠

Summer has finally left Texas.  I have been enjoying the cool and dry weather lately, have you?

And of course, good weather means BBQ in the backyard!

This time I smoked some Asian style sausages.  They turned out great; golden brown and crunchy on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside.  The reason it is called Asian style is that seasonings used here are all Asian seasonings.  And the ground pork would be whisked/ beaten along with seasonings and corn starch until meat mixture is elastic and glutinous.

Ingredients：

1 pack of pork shoulder; weighs about 4 to 5 lbs
1/3 to 1/2 cup of rice cooking wine
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 to 4 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 to 3/4 cup corn starch
3 to 4 tablespoons ground white pepper
4 to 5 tablespoons ground ginger
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken stock / water
sausage casing

Directions：  

Rinse the pork shoulder under running water.  If the pieces are too big, cut them into thinner strips.

Use a meat grinder to finely grind all the pork shoulder.

Add ground pork to a stand mixer bowl, along with rice cooking wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, ground ginger, corn starch, sesame oil and salt.

Attach the flat beater to the stand mixer.

Whisk/ beat the pork at speed two.

When the ground pork mixture is well blended, slowly add chicken stock/ water.  Be sure all the liquid is absorbed before adding more.

It is becoming more and more elastic and shiny.

When the pork mixture becomes very glutinous, elastic and kind of feels like meat jelly, it is ready.

Cover with lid and chill the pork mixture in fridge overnight.

Attach the sausage stuffer to meat grinder.  

 Slip a piece of rinsed sausage casing to the stuffing tube.  Seal the end with a knot.

Stuff the casing with pork mixture. 

 Preheat the smoker to 250F/ 121C.  Load the smoking box with oak chips.

Add sausages.  

The waiting is really long and hard…

Two hours later, the sausages are half way cooked.  But the links are too close to each other.  So I remove them from hooks and lay them flat on a rack.

About another two hours later.  The sausages are done!

Aren’t they a beauty?  O(∩_∩)O~

The sausages are full of flavors and beautiful golden brown colors.  Score! O(∩_∩)O~

Charcoal Grilled Beef Short Ribs

中文菜谱： 碳烤牛仔骨

When it comes to BBQ, what Asian people have in mind is quite different from American style BBQ.  We prefer to grill skewed meat over hot and smooth flames coming out from burning charcoal.  People gather around the table where the meat is being grilled drinking, talking, laughing and waiting for the meat to be ready.  That is how we do BBQ O(∩_∩)O~

One of my favorite meats to grill is beef short ribs.

Cut into smaller pieces

I don’t always marinate the ribs prior grilling.  So a dipping sauce or seasoning is necessary.  A simple mix of salt and pepper will do.  But I like to go extra miles to make a lot better O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients：

A handful dried chili peppers
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
3 to 4 tablespoons white sesame seeds
1/4 cup dry roasted peanut
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium low heat.  Add Sichuan peppercorns, chili peppers and sesame seeds.  Pan roast until the sesame seeds turn into pale yellow color.  You should be able to smell intense aroma Sichuan peppercorns at this point.

Add Sichuan peppercorns, chili peppers, sesame seeds, peanuts, salt, and sugar along with freshly ground black pepper to spice / coffee grinder

Finely grind them

Charcoal fire

Put on a grill wire mesh.  When it gets hot, add beef short ribs

Flip them over from time to time.  It is the key to great Asian tabletop style BBQ

Smells amazing

When the short ribs are done, coat them with dry seasoning.

It is not perfect until you have cold beers in your hand! O(∩_∩)O~

Sometimes it is hard to find long cut beef short ribs, this one will do too.  It is widely available in most American grocery stores.

make some thick cuts

Start grilling!

Dried seasoning is really good for grilled beef short ribs.

And don’t forget the beers!

When unfortunately I can’t find any kind of beef short ribs, I buy skirt steak.  It is good for tabletop grilling too.

Thinly cut with an angle

Grill them over charcoal fire

The reason I love Asian style tabletop grilling is that it requires just some very simple ingredients but very tasty if done the right way.  Burning charcoal add smoky flavor to the meat.  Flipping the meat from time to time can prevent burning and also helps the meat to cook more evenly. 

The most important thing is that families and families gather around the table chatting and drinking when waiting for the BBQ.  It is very relaxing and heart-warming moment. O(∩_∩)O~

Fire Grilled Pork Belly and Beef Short Ribs

中文菜谱：

烧烤牛仔骨与五花肉

Fire grilled is food is one of my biggest additions O(∩_∩)O~   It is also my guilty pleasure as well as comfort food.

On the top of my grilling list are beef short ribs, steaks and pork belly.  They all have something in common.  They are high in fat and loaded with rich meaty flavors.  When grilled with as simple seasonings as sea salt and black pepper, you still get that amazing meaty and a bit of smoky flavors.

For grilled beef short ribs：

1 package of sliced beef short ribs (weighs about 1 and 1/2 lbs)
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt to taste
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1/4 teaspoon sugar

For grilled pork belly：

1 package of thick cut pork belly (weighs about 1 lb)
1 to 2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt to taste

Directions：

Rinse the short ribs and pork belly under running water.  Pat dry with kitchen paper towel.

Thick cut pork belly with ribs is usually available in Asian grocery stores.

Add beef short ribs and seasonings to a medium bowl.  Mix with hand or a wooden spoon.

Cut pork belly into smaller pieces and mix them with seasonings too.

Preheat the grill to 425F/218C

Add beef short ribs and pork belly

Pork belly is very high in fat and there will be a lot of greasy drippings.  So don’t go away when you are grilling pork belly.  It gets burnt pretty quickly if you don’t keep a close eye on the grill.

Pork belly pieces are sizzling on the grill and color turns gold brown.

Meanwhile, beef short ribs are looking good too

Grab a cold beer, pull up a chair and let’s eat! O(∩_∩)O~

Grilled Beef Tendon

中文菜谱：

烤牛筋串

Beef tendon is a rare ingredient in American grocery market.  But it is quite popular in Asian market for its unique texture.  Beef tendon has very tough tissue.  Maybe that is why it is underappreciated in American market.  After a long simmering/ cooking time, it becomes tender, gelatinous, still a bit chewy, with a mild beefy flavor.  We put it in broths, noodle soups, porridges, stir-fries, even meatballs. 

It is only until very recently that I discovered it tastes excellent even grilled! Wow! I am telling everyone I know that how good it is.  And I am going to show you a great way to grill beef tendon.

Ingredients：

2 large pieces of beef tendon (weighs between 1 1/2 to 2 lbs)
1 to 2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1 large piece of ginger root, smashed
1 spice & herb bag
water for cleaning and cooking
salt to taste

Ingredients for spice & herb bag：

3 to 4 star anises
1 teaspoon Sichuan pepper corns
1 black cardamom pod, smashed
4 to 5 cloves
3 to 4 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried ginger
a handful of dried red chili peppers, cut into pieces

Directions：

Add star anises, Sichuan peppercorns, cardamom, dried ginger, cloves, bay leaves, chili peppers to a piece of coffee filter paper.  Wrap and tie it up to be a spice bag.

Rinse the beef tendon.  Trim off any excessive fat if necessary.

Add beef tendon along with water, ginger, rice cooking wine, spice bag and salt to an instant pot pressure cooker.  Cook with high pressure setting for 40 to 50 minutes.  Beef tendon is become tender but still pretty chewy and al-dente which I like very much after 40 minutes’ cooking.  If you prefer softer texture, just cook 5 to 10 minutes longer.

Refrigerate beef tendon until completely chilled.  With a sharp knife, cut into half inch cubes.

Skewed with stainless steel skewers

Preheat the grill to 400F/204C

Brush both the griddle and beef tendon skewers with oil. And then add the skewered beef tendon to grill.

Remember to brush them with oil from time to time.  Otherwise the skewed tendon could be quite sticky to the griddle.

Brush with your favorite BBQ sauce too.

Soon, they would be golden brown.

Sprinkle with a mixture of crushed chili pepper, cumin and sesame seeds

Sprinkle with a little bit more spices before serving. 

Bon appetite! O(∩_∩)O~

Sizzling Grilled Lamb Loin Chops

中文菜谱：

铁板羊排 (lamb loin chops)

Summer is the perfect season for backyard grilling and BBQ.  Grilling can be addictive. Once you try a perfectly grilled steak right off the grill, you can never go back to and be happy with the stove top version.  O(∩_∩)O~ 

Ingredients：

6 pieces lamb loin chops (weighs between 1 1/2 and 2 lbs)
freshly ground black pepper
McCormick steak grill seasoning or other seasonings of choice
sea salt to taste

Directions：

Quickly rinse the lamb loin chops under running water.  Pat dry with kitchen paper towel.

Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper on one side.

Flip them over and sprinkle the other side with McCormick steak grill seasoning.

Meanwhile, preheat the grill to 425F/218C with 2 sizzling plates in it. 

Add lamb chops.  Grill for 2 to 3 minutes.

Flip over and continue to grill the other side for another 2 minutes.

This is what lamb chops look like after 2 minutes’ grilling.

And this is after another 2 minutes’ grilling.  They are getting more and more golden brown and delicious. The extremely hot sizzling plates will continue to cook the lamb later.  So don’t worry if you think grilling time is too short here.

Transfer the lamb chops to sizzling plates.

And now get the plates out of the grill and serve.  That beautiful sizzling sound is like wonderful music to a foodie like me O(∩_∩)O~

Sizzling plate steaks are always on the top of my comfort food list.  I posted some before:

Sizzling Grilled Dry Aged Ribeye & New York Strip Steak

Fire Grilled Sizzling Ribeye Steaks

Fire Grilled Sizzling T-bone Steak