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~

Sweet and Sour Pickled Jerusalem Artichokes

中文菜谱： 酸甜泡洋姜

I grow Jerusalem artichokes every year.  Well, to be more accurate, they pretty much raise themselves over the years.  All I did was to plant two young plants in the field which was a gift from a loving close friend.  They grew like crazy and I harvested a lot of Jerusalem artichokes the first year.  That encouraged me to grow them every year after that.

 Besides, they are perfect for pickling. Jerusalem artichokes are very crunchy when pickled.  And they have a mild flavor so that they go well with most other pickled vegetables.  I did Sichuan style pickles with my home grown Jerusalem artichokes first year. (it was posted here: https://www.yankitchen.com/english-blog/sichuan-style-pickled-jerusalem-artichoke)

I harvest more Jerusalem artichokes than ever this year.  After sharing them with friends and families, I still have a lot left.  Besides Sichuan style pickling this year, I also try sweet and sour flavor.  You know what?  They are a hit too!

I accidently planted a young one next to my window.  It grew into a big beautiful plant.  At the end of summer, those small bright yellow flowers were blooming.  Weren’t they just pretty?

Time to dig out the Jerusalem artichokes

I couldn’t believe one single plant can yield so many Jerusalem artichokes

These were harvested from my vegetable garden.

That was less than half of the crop this year

I used garden hose to rinse off excess dirt

Jerusalem artichokes as well as potatoes。。。O(∩_∩)O~

I brought Jerusalem artichokes home and rinsed them again.

Air dried them on racks for about one day.  Their color became a bit dull.

I pickled half of them Sichuan style.

The other half was sweet and sour flavor which my hometown has been famous for.

It is really quite simple.

In a clean glass jar, mix white vinegar and sugar at the ratio of 3:1; use 2:1 if you have a sweet tooth.  Add a pinch of sea salt.  Mix well.  Add Jerusalem artichokes.

They should be ready to eat in a week.

It is very crunchy and I love it about them

Sometimes I want to spice things up.  Dice the pickled Jerusalem artichokes and mix them with garlic chili paste.  That gives the pickled a spicy twist and more flavors.

Passion Fruit and Lemon Water

中文菜谱： 百香果柠檬蜜饮

Passion fruit has beautiful name in China.  We call it “fruit with a hundred fragrances”.  It is true.  Passion fruit deserves that name.  When you closely smell a passion fruit, you can pick up the scents from pineapple, mango, pomegranate, strawberry, lychee…and dozens of other tropical fruits.

It is indeed an amazing and delicious fruit.  Besides eating it with a spoon, I also love making all kinds of drinks with it.    I posted “Iced Tea with Passion Fruit and Berries ” before.  And we are making passion fruit and lemon water today. 

Ingredients：

2 passion fruits
1/4 lemon, thinly sliced
3 to 5 teaspoons honey （adjust the amount according to passion fruits’ tartness and personal taste）
2 cups of mineral water
ice cubes

Directions：

Cut the passion fruits open in the center.  Scoop out the flesh and add it to two glasses, along with thinly sliced lemon and honey.

Add half mineral water.  Stir with a spoon until honey dissolves.  Add ice cubes and remaining mineral water.

Isn’t it easy and simple? 

You will have 2 wonderful and amazing delicious drinks in less than 2 minutes!

Passion fruits’ taste and flavor are delicate and refreshing, which makes it the perfect drink for summer. 

If you like tea, just replace mineral water with black tea.  It is very tasty too!

Short Pork Ribs Braised in Soy Sauce

中文菜谱： 不用油的红烧排骨，一样软糯鲜香

Recently I have been more enthusiastic about pork ribs than before. 

Asian grocery stores in Houston area are very customer-friendly.  They sell pre-cut pork ribs in the shape of long thin strips so that you don’t have to go through all the trouble to cut them yourself.  They also help to custom cut the meat of your choice.  Such a life saver! O(∩_∩)O~

I always bring back a few rib strips from my trip to Asian grocery stores.  What I am cooking today is short pork ribs braised in soy sauce. Yum!

Ingredients:

2 strips of pork ribs (baby back /spare ribs cut into long thick strips.  Two weigh about 1lb.  )
1 small piece of ginger root, sliced
1/4 low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon crushed rock sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
2 to 3 star anises
3 to 4 cloves
2 bay leaves
boiling water
salt to taste

Directions：

star anises are really amazingly beautiful.

With a sharp kitchen knife, cut the ribs into one by one inch pieces.  Soak in cold water for 4 to 5 hours.  Change the water a few times in between.  

Heat a cast iron wok over medium heat.  Add ribs, with the fatty side down.  Flip over when they are golden brown. 

Add crushed rock sugar.  Sauté the sugar with ribs together.  The sugar will melt quickly and coat the ribs with amber color syrup.

Rock sugar is an essential ingredient in Asian cooking.  It is always available in Asian grocery store.  When unavailable, it can be substituted with regular cane sugar.

Add boiling water, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice cooking wine, sliced ginger root, star anises, cloves and bay leaves. 

Cook over high heat until the broth boils.  Cover with lid and reduce the heat to simmer for about 40 minutes. 

Turn the heat back to high.  Add salt to taste. 

As the broth evaporates, the ribs are getting more and more beautifully golden brown.

Remove from the heat when there is no extra liquid in the wok. 

Serve hot immediately.

The ribs have been simmered and braised for almost an hour.  So they are tender and juicy; sweet and savory all at the same time.  It is full of comfort food flavors. 

Steamed Blue Crabs

中文菜谱： 秋风起，吃螃蟹：清蒸蓝蟹

We love blue crabs too, as much as people in Louisiana and Maryland if no more.  The most popular way to cook blue crabs in United States is to boil them with spices, potatoes, and other seafood.  When done, buckets of crabs and seafood are unloaded onto a table in front of customers.  All you have to do is to crack them open and eat!

But the way we eat them is slightly different from American people.  We value and enjoy the crab roe more than crab meat itself.  Most of time, only female crabs are among best sellers when it comes to seafood.

I bring back 4 to 5 pounds of female blue crabs from Asian grocery store.  The female ones are not as easy to find as the male ones.  I always stick to female ones because of their better taste and flavors, especially the ones with crab roe inside.  

Use a small brush to thoroughly clean the crabs under running water.

Set aside the cleaned crabs.

Fill a large pot with water.  Heat over high heat until water boils.  Add a steamer basket.  And then add crabs to the pot, belly side up.

Remember to pick energetic crabs like these.  They have the best taste.

Cover with lid and continue to cook over high heat for 10 minutes.

Now it is done!

Crack one open. You can see the beautifully golden crab roe.

The crab roe has a mild and delicate taste. It is sweet and slightly savory, fatty and flavorful.  The texture is mildly grainy and tastes a lot like across caviar and hardboiled egg yolk.

The most traditional dipping sauce for crabs in China is made with rice vinegar and finely shredded ginger roots.