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!!!! :)