Thanksgiving 2013

I had probably the best Thanksgiving dinner of my life. And to nobody's surprise (I hope), it was because I spent Thanksgiving at home in Dallas, Texas, eating my mom's cooking. Holy !@$)(%, she really pulled out her guns this time and flexed her muscle! As a family, we decided to change the game up a bit from a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Instead of the usual Thanksgiving spread, such as turkey, yams, and stuffing, we had more of an "Asian" inspired meal. The meal was inspired based on the teachings of the great Chinese philosopher, Ming Tsai. He is probably the most famous Asian celebrity chef and was a household name on the Food Network, hosting his famous show "East meets West." I must give my thanks to him, for dinner would not be possible without his contributions to society.

The meal was a twist on the famous Peking duck dish. However, instead of using duck as the main protein, the recipe calls for using Pork Belly. I have discovered that Pork Belly is probably one of my top 3 favorite foods in the world, especially when it's prepared the "Ming Tsai" way. So, without further ado, here is:

Ming Tsai's Pork Belly 

1) First, you need to gather all the ingredients together to make the rub. It calls for 2 Tbsp of Korean chile flakes. I cheated and used Japanese flakes instead. Oops. In addition, you need 1 Tbsp of sugar, and 1 Tbsp of salt.

* Then, you need to mix it all together using your "dextrous" wrists, so everything is evened out!

2) Next, you gots to rub the mixture all over THREE WHOLE POUNDS of pork belly. Then, you need to leave it in the fridge overnight...allowing the meat to soak in the delicious flavors of the rub.

* staring at this makes me very hungry!

3) I forgot to mention that you need to put the pork belly in the fridge uncovered. That is my bad.

4) Now, after you've had a good night's sleep, and pork belly has been sitting in the fridge over night, it's time to take it out. But before you do, you've got to do some prep work:
a) Find a roasting pan with a flat rack on the top. The picture below will perfectly display this.
b) Pour 1.5 cups of rice vinegar into this roasting pan.
c) Celebrate that you were able to accomplish this task

* From left to right: Rice wine and roasting pan

5) Place the Pork Belly on top of the flat rack, with the fat facing on top. Now, slice a DIAMOND SHAPE PATTERN into the fat. I like this recipe because not only are you cooking, but you're also getting a world class education. The recipe calls for Diamond shaped patterns, not triangular or rectangular shaped patterns. You need to have a prior knowledge of shapes before attempting this dish.

* I have expertly wielded the knife to slice diamond patterns into the fat.

6) Now, you need to cover the pork belly tightly with foil, and put in in a 359 degree oven for about an hour, until all the liquid has evaporated. The liquid = the vinegar. Keep up with me. Why 359 instead of the customary 375? Because that's what the recipe calls for, and you NEVER deviate from the recipe. After the necessary time has elapsed, let the dish cool.

7) This is what the pork dish looks like when it cools:

* SEXY!

8) Now, you've got to step it up a notch and take this cooking to the next level. The BBQ LEVEL!!! Step outside, brave the chilly weather that you're about to face, and walk to your bbq grill. Turn it on, and grill the pork belly on each side for the 6 minutes.

* Make sure the grill is clean. If not, you're gonna have to clean the grill before actually partaking in any grilling action!

9) This is my favorite part. Once the grilling is complete, cut the pork belly into two-inch squares.

The pork belly dish is complete. Just stop and admire this perfection...

Now, in addition to pork belly, we also cooked duck. SURPRISE!!! I didn't mention it at the beginning of my post because I wanted to focus on the pork belly, and trick ya'll.

1) This is the duck in the rotisserie. We bought a pre-marinated duck...to save time...and so that we could focus on the pork belly, the star of the Thanksgiving dinner!

* Duck in rotisserie

2) This is the duck after being cooked for about 30 minutes.

* I always feel sorry for the duck. It looks so helpless with its butt sticking up in the air.

3) I wanted to add this photo because it shows how badass my mom is. She is taking out the duck from the rotisserie machine all by herself. For those of ya'll who own rotisserie machines, ya'll understand how difficult it can be to remove anything from a rotisserie oven.

* Badass Mama Lee at work

4) Now, the meal wouldn't be complete without some steamed buns!

So as you can tell, this Thanksgiving was one for the ages. Good food, amazing family, yay to me! The pork belly was sooo succulent and flavorful. If anybody wants to come visit me for Thanksgiving in Texas next year, you will have the amazing opportunity to try this beautiful dish.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYBODY. HOPE YOU HAD SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR!!!! :)

New York Rangers game with the girlfriend!

This past Sunday, Angela and I went to a New York Rangers game, courtesy of her baby bro, Brian. Holy crap those were some nice seats that he bought us...it wasn't too close to the eyes where you have to crane your neck to see the action, while it wasn't too far from the ice where you could barely see anything. We were the perfect distance from the ice...and to make things even better, we were seated right at mid ice!  It was her first time seeing a Rangers game live at MSG, and I was happy that I could be there to witness history in the making!

To start the night off, we went to Koreatown for some dinner. It'd been a while since we had eaten any Korean food, so what better than to eat some seafood pancakes and then catch a hockey game? We ended up eating at a restaurant called Korea Spoon. Turns out, I had actually blogged about this restaurant in a previous post, but Angela had never been there, so I happily ate there with her! If you recall, it's the "upscale" Korean restaurant; in other words, the venue places a premium on its decor as well as its food! Yaaay! But seriously, this place is crazy good. Don't believe me? Just check out the pics:

1) The normal array of "free Korean bites"

2) I ordered a very hard to pronounce Korean dish. In essence, it's Bulgogi noodle soup, complete with peppers and onions! This dish was very delicious...however, it was a fairly small portion. :( the waiter lied to me. He said it was good portion for one person...more like a half a person. Neverthless, I was happy with my selection.

3) Angela ordered her usual: Budae Jigae. In english, it means "booty stew." Just kidding! I don't actually know what it means, but I always make that same joke because I believe that the word "Budae" sounds like "booty." Just me and my immature mind at work. I actually wish I ordered that dish because her portion was more fit for a single diner. Luckily for me, she couldn't finish everything, so I helped her finish her dish...at her request of course. I didn't just chow away at her food without her permission! 

As I mentioned already, Angela and I had a game to catch! The Rangers were playing the Los Angeles Kings. Originally, I was a little sad because the Kings' starting goaltender, Jonathan Quick, was injured and wouldn't be playing in the game. He's on my fantasy team, so that was a huge blow for me. However, I realized that the Kings' backup goaltender, who WAS playing in that game, was former Cornell standout goaltender, Ben Scrivens. So yay, Cornell pride! I kept cheering for him whenever he made a save, much to Angela's chagrin. In my defense, my cheering stopped in the third period. The Rangers were down 1-0, and I really wanted the game to go into a shootout. Alas, the hockey gods weren't with us...the Kings beat the Rangers 1-0...Scrivens go the shutout, yet it didn't feel like the cause for a celebration...oh well, there's always the next meeting between the two teams. Vengeance will be had!

1) Our seats! Look at how perfect they are! And we're right at mid ice!

2) This is my current lover, Henrik Lundqvist...aka the King...aka the best dressed man in the NHL...aka best goaltender in the world...by far! 

 * look at how flexible Sir Lundqvist is.... ;)

3) My former lover, Ben Scrivens. He's not as flexible as Henrik Lundqvist...

 * but he does have a big butt

4) Faceoff! Nothing special here

5) Two La Kings players in the box. Too bad the Rangers couldn't score on the 5-3 powerplay. So embarrassing!

6) Setting up for a glorious opportunity...only to see it fail. Miserably! Get it together Rangers!

7) Happy girl at her first hockey game at MSG (Madison Square garden for the unititated)

It was a great night of eating, watching hockey, and spending time with Angela. Unfortunately, the Rangers lost. The next time Angela and I watch a Rangers game at MSG, I will make sure they play a basement team, such as the Columbus Blue Jackets. They are a joke of a team.