Korean Bacon Explosion

 

The original bacon explosion, according to the NY Times, was originally done as part challenge and part stunt to attract traffic to BBQAddicts.com.  It was wildly successful, generating over 27,000 hits on Christmas Day, a few days after its posting, and almost half a million hits within one month.  Nothing quite celebrates the birth of Jesus like several pounds of bacon wrapped around several pounds of sausage stuffed with more fried bacon.  Talk about your come to Jesus moments!

Since its debut, the bacon explosion has attracted numerous admirers and detractors.  It is an excessive, over the top celebration of pork.  About two years after it first appeared on the net, EpicMealTime, a Youtube production by a group of stupid smart Canucks, applied the principles of the bacon explosion to a series celebrating excess, gaining over two and a quarter million subscribers to their weekly episodes.  Vegetarians, dietitians, and people who are upset by seeing food wasted while millions are hungry, may not find EpicMealTime or the bacon explosion their cup of tea.  I, however, appreciate this brand of humor. 

The impetus for my take on the bacon explosion was the expiration of my nephew's visa. Sam has been staying with us the last several months while looking for a job.  Having graduated with a degree in finance, he was unable to find a job in the current market here in the States.  As a result, he must return to Indonesia.  My family wanted a chance to say goodbye to him before he left, so my sister and her husband hosted a farewell dinner at their house on Sunday.  Kathy and my mother provided drinks and dessert, my brother and his wife brought the beer, and I brought the food.  Everyone in our family likes pork, and Sam is fond of Korean food (although he's a wuss when it comes to spiciness), so I thought I'd try to come up with a variation on the bacon explosion using fresh pork belly.

Sliced pork belly can be found in some Asian markets; I bought it at the local Ranch 99.  I removed the skin from the slices and fried those up. 

Around the strips of fried skin I wrapped a little over three pounds of pork shoulder that I had ground and seasoned with salt, powdered dehydrated onion, cayenne, Korean BBQ sauce and Chinese chili in oil sauce. (Commercial sausage and most ground pork in the supermarket has an even higher fat content.  Commercial sausage also tends to be very heavily salted.  It may seem foolish to worry about fat and salt content in a recipe such as this, but I think you end up with a tastier dish, which may be marginally less harmful from a health standpoint.) 

I marinated a little over a pound and a half of thinly sliced beef brisket that I bought at a Korean market in some Korean BBQ sauce. 

I wrapped the ground pork mixture with the marinated beef slices. 

I then wrapped the beef wrapped pork mixture with a blanket of woven pork belly slices. 

I seasoned the exterior with a liberal sprinkling of a dry rub containing paprika, ancho chili powder, powdered ginger, cayenne, brown sugar, and sea salt. 

This was smoked for about 4 hours at 225º F, until the internal temperature of the pork reached 160º F. The last half hour I brushed the top with the Korean BBQ sauce.

 

We had ca tai chanh with sesame crackers as an appetizer.  For dinner, I provided grilled asparagus salad with black bean vinaigrette,  red leaf lettuce for wrapping the sliced meat roll, pickled daikon and julienned carrots for adding to the rolls, and steamed rice.  Kathy made some ice cream pies for dessert.  This was plenty for twelve adults, providing another night of leftovers.

Brussels Sprouts with Red Pepper and Bacon

Until last year, I didn't eat brussels sprouts.  This is not that surprising since I long had an aversion to cabbage, and brussels sprouts are kind of an uber cabbage.  The smell of them cooking repulsed me. The smell of steamed brussels sprouts, which is the way Tjing usually cooks them, is the smell of decrepitude and death.  Walk into a house where brussels sprouts have been steamed and my first reaction is to look for the corpse rotting in the rocking chair.

One way to explain my new found appreciation for brussels sprouts is that taste buds change as we age.  There's a greater receptivity for bitterness.  It's as if our taste buds have themselves adjusted to increasing levels of bitterness as we age.  Another way to explain my change of heart towards brussels sprouts is that as I've aged I've become increasingly comfortable with the stench of of decrepitude and death.  Either way, brussels sprouts have become my new feel good vegetable.

This version is similar to a dish in Momofuku.  I had some home cured bacon that I was looking to use up, so I thought I'd give this a try.  The sprouts are stir fried in bacon fat along with a sweet long pepper and tossed with some nuoc cham.  The bacon pieces are returned to the dish to coat with the reduced sauce just before serving.

Brussels Sprouts with Red Pepper and Bacon

printable recipe

1 lb brussels sprouts, halved

1 long sweet red pepper or red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
a few tablespoons of water

2 slices thick cut bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/4 cup nuoc cham with caramel sauce

In a wok or large frying pan, crisp the bacon piece over medium low heat.  Remove the bacon pieces and drain on paper towels. Turn the heat up to medium high.  Add the brussels sprouts, cut halves down.  Brown the sprouts, then add the pepper.  Stir fry a few minutes until vegetables are charred at spots.  Add a little water and cover the wok.  When the brussels sprouts are cooked through but still crunchy, add the nuoc cham.  Continue cooking and stirring until the sauce has been reduced to a glaze and the vegetables are thoroughly coated. Stir in the bacon pieces just before serving.

Nuoc Cham with Caramel Sauce

1/3 cup fish sauce
1/3 cup water
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup Vietnamese caramel sauce
juice of 1 lime
2 TBS sriracha sauce
1/4  to 1/2 cup white sugar, to taste

Spinach Salad

I believe this recipe was probably published in the local newspaper in the early 70's. It's supposed to be from a well-known restaurant in town, The Firehouse, a restaurant that still enjoys steady business and a good reputation. My mother started making the salad in the 70s. It is one of my favorite salads, so I thought I'd share.

It is substantial enough to stand alone for a lunch. Or serve it with grilled chicken or pork for a more substantial meal. The curry powder in the dressing is very subtle, not overpowering, and there is a nice balance of flavors.


FIREHOUSE SPINACH SALAD
2 bunches fresh spinach
2/3 cup salad oil
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons white wine
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2-1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon pepper
6 slices bacon, diced and fried crisp
2 hardboiled eggs chopped fine
chopped green onion

Clean and dry spinach leaves thoroughly. Com- Combine
oil, vinegar, wine, soy sauce, sugar, mustard,
bine curry, salt, and pepper. Add bacon, eggs and
green onion to spinach in bowl. Toss with dressing.