what's cooking? part 5: 2017-2027

I made such a good spicy steak run tonight I think we might have version 2.0 going gold finally, after only 11 years

what is a spicy steak run? idk what you are talking about aside from the words "spicy" and 'steak"

Rub not run. Whatever who cares you know what I’s saying. Seared into an incredible crispy crust, didn’t need or want for any kind of that compound butter or sauce nonsense.

Steak was huge, 24oz or so, so I guess divide everything in half (or more) for more normal preparations. Foreigners: 1 tsp = ~5 ml

1 tsp kosher salt

Put this in a tiny bowl and set aside.

1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp parsley flakes
.5 tsp white pepper
.5 tsp thyme
.5 tsp paprika
.5 tsp peri-peri
.5 tsp rosemary

Mix all of the above into a different little bowl. Mix gently, but thoroughly.

1 tsp EVOO

drizzle that on the steak and rub it all over

Then, rub the seasoning mix all over the oiled-up steak. I just use my gross fingers that still have EVOO and steak juice on them fwiw.

Lastly, sprinkle the kosher salt on the top and bottom of the steak, and rub it like nanook.

After 2-5 minutes sear both sides and cook to your desired doneness.

“I’s” = autocorrect is really on fire tonight.

so wait, you sear both sides in quick succession? I've always done one side for 3-5 minutes, then flipped it for the same amount.

sounds like a good pellicle on there. Have only done dry rub with tri tip. but 24 oz is tri tip sized, damn.

Well with a blasphemous electric grill set as high as it will go and a weight on top to apply a little pressure you can sear both sides at once

But yes, 3-4 minutes on each side works too

What was different about the rub you made to tonight to the ones you normally do? I have never in my life cooked a good steak. One day...

What is EVOO?

Today is a perfect day to light the konro and the rest of that recipe sounds delightful.

i sous vide steaks nowadays but molly stevens' sear-roasting method served me well before that. i can post a version of it if anyone is interested.

Ah, olive oil

Ed: olive oil.

Yerac: the 1.0 was just one part of each of the following: kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, parsley flakes, and a dash of cayenne.

I’ve fiddled with adding stuff and then going back to the basics for years.

I’ve had really good luck with the reverse sear for steaks which is basically the crude version of sous vide - low oven til it reaches a certain temp then a raging hot cast iron pan for like a minute on each side.

Just grill it on the day you buy it and all that fuss becomes sort of irrelevant, imo.

uh

bought a new wok. So this week has been pad thai, pad see ew, pad see ew, and khao pad tonight. New wok is bad for my health.

Well now I have a nice big porterhouse and enough time to rub it and let it come up to room temp.

i did not personally know what you were saying but now i do
most of the time people talk about steaks idk what they are aiming for -- this perfect steak everyone wants is maybe something i have never eaten? i am pretty satisfied with the steaks i have cooked but who knows, maybe they are bad? i don't think so. usually i cook for 3 min each side on highest heat (indoors) and outdoors just hope for the best (have only done this once maybe)

When I was younger I didn't know the rules about getting the proper pan hot enough, meat being room temp, patting it dry and resting. I don't make a lot of meat so I kind of just gave up. I would rather order it out instead of messing it up.

I have never been able to replicate restaurant pad see ew. Something about the char or sweetness is off.

I've never done a dry rub either. I only recently learned that my mom puts egg whites on chicken before a sautee/fry. Never knew it makes it tender/keeps moist???

we're making salteñas for tomorrow, so we have to start tonight in order to get the gelatin going. you make them like I guess xiao long bao are made. every salteña is judged on how much liquid is still in it when you bite into it.

getting restaurant-style char in a home wok is tough imo

need those BTUs

I have promised myself an outdoor high powered wok burner when I move into a proper home

I have one burner labeled "power boil" that I use. The new wok is not non-stick coated, obviously. I've been getting it as hot as possible before adding oil, and it is somewhat uncomfortable to be around. Been using fresh noodles, and the last step of the recipe involves adding dark soy sauce and letting things sit awhile between tosses to get a good char. It's from the Night+Market book, which has been great with everything so far.

Euler fam's salteñas going to rule. Still need to try one of these.

I didn't realize saltenas were suppose to have liquid in them. I think I have never had one then. I am making taiwanese DUMPLINGS! from scratch (tofu veg ones). This is going to be my 3rd weekend in a row doing it. I go through spurts of doing it a lot and then not again for months.

Just discovered that coconut milk makes a major difference to taste in the stir fry/curry/whatever I make frequently.
Made a large amount of it without yesterday then added the coconut milk to what I warmed up today.
Lovely.
Now need to work out how to do it economically and how long a part can lasts in the fridge.

yes the juiciness is the key, grandmothers judge new partners by how well they can pull it off (we rarely can).

I need to try to make DUMPLINGS! at home. there's a place in Belleville that makes fabulous ones that they also sell frozen, and I normally just go there.

Ohh, yeah. When I am in NYC there are a couple of places that have decent (thick skin) frozen ones so I usually try to keep them in the house for emergencies. It's just time consuming to make from scratch but super cheap to make 50-75 at once. I try to make the dough and most of the filling one day and then roll and fold them on another day. I make my spouse cook them since I am usually done with the whole process by then.

Euler, is the Belleville dumpling place Ravioli Chinois Nord-Est?

tout-à-fait !

So I decided to make a quick batch of hand cut noodles with random sauce/toppings today for lunch. It somehow ended up being the most like pad see ew that I have ever made before. It might've been my generous use of mirin that gave it enough sugar. Who knows?

sounds good! The recipe I follow includes 1-2 teaspoons of sugar in addition to any already in sauces. I've been trying to improvise dishes more frequently, but I am still largely a recipe follower, constantly searching out trusted cooking texts. had my first crispy rice salad the other day as reference for my own attempt later this week. crispy rice salad lived up to the hype.

I am a big recipe follower for the first 1-2 times I make something, but after that I get lazy and just put in the things I like. Although, I have been making a lot of Indian food this year and always doublecheck several recipes and kind of keep altering them. I still haven't settled/figured it out yet for all the indian sauces. It might just be a matter of not using ghee.

The sauce I made today, I think in my mind thought I was going to make a hot oil noodle thing. So i started out with red pepper flakes and garlic slivers in sesame oil. I think added spinach, tofu (it was the filling from DUMPLINGS! I made earlier so it already had ginger, green onion, cilantro etc.) and the noodles (made from scratch). Then poured in splashes of fish sauce, mirin, soy sauce, balsamic I think that was it.

what is your fish sauce brand? do you ever buy fancy fish sauce like red boat?

No, I am in Chile right now, so i have limited choices. Using the one with the squid on it.

I am too, but I actually have choices ha

it's the fishiest one I have ever used.

hmm. do you find it to be overly salty? I used it in some nam prik and thought maybe it was a poor choice for that.

All the fish sauces I have used are salty. I try to make sure to cut down on soy sauce or miso if using fish sauce. Or to make sure to cut it with acid or something sweet.

I also think these noodles came out so well because I made a single serving size. So I didn't overcrowd the pan and the amount of stuff I added was probably more spot on than if I had made a whole batch to feed 3-4 people).

a lot of stir-fry noodle recipes i’ve worked from (pok pok book comes to mind) tell you to do noodles one serving at a time.

Oh damn. That seems like a lot of work. But obviously that makes sense and the taste of these noodles would probably be worth it 10xs over.

I only ever went to pok pok once. It was fine, I just thought a lot of things had too much sugar in them, or maybe that's just not my style. How is the book?

worth checking out IMO, the yam tuna salad is fairly easy and so delicious

the book is pretty impressive in its detail, and it definitely can be cooked from, but sourcing enough ingredients and doing the planning to put together anything resembling a meal is....a commitment.

yeah, yenbamroong also says 2 servings at a time max for stir fry. will check out the pok pok book as well.

The first time I bought fresh shahe fen, it was a bit dry. This made the noodles difficult to separate into long strands. I have since learned that you need to grab from the packs in the back to get truly fresh ones. It seems obvious now, but it has made my stir fried noodle addiction more manageable.

I have established a definitive guide to cookware materials:

- Frying and saucepans: stainless steel. Plus cast-iron skillet.
- Dutch oven: enameled cast iron (which I don’t actually have and is probably not a huge bonus over regular cast iron but I think I'd prefer it)
- cake pans and cookie sheets: aluminum
- small prep bowls: glass, ceramic
- mixing bowls: stainless steel, ceramic
- wooden spoons: wood
- liquid measure: glass
- measuring spoons: originally wrote "who cares", friend of mine pushed hard for metal, will have to evaluate
- potholders: cloth

to avoid:
- plastic and silicone prep and mixing bowls. They stain like mad and confer no advantages.
- plastic liquid measures like the Oxo ones (you will break off the handle someday then just have to replace it with the Pyrex you should’ve gotten in the first place)
- ceramic knives: who are these for
- nonstick frying pans: take your pick of reasons, just don’t bother

feedback and vicious arguments welcome

Oh I have some thoughts