Baked or fried? For the fried ones, and for the similarly packed flautas (usually flour tortillas,) we use a plethora of wooden toothpicks.
I would say we use a plethora.
I baked them, we don’t have a fryer. The problem was the tomatoes liquefied, so there was too much liquid for the corn tortillas. They were fine when initially rolled, but would then break-down as the liquid was absorbed into the tortilla. By the time I rolled #24, #1-#8 where breaking-up. I also had too much shrimp (I essentially doubled the recipe below), so the rest ended up being a kind of delicious soup.
It was a little freehand in-the-moment modification of a MyKoreanKitchen recipe, but approximately:
- 1.5 lb Pork Shoulder, thinly sliced (H-Mart sells it at bacon-thinness; otherwise, partially freeze and do your best with a knife) and roughly chopped into thick ribbons
- 1/2 medium Yellow Onion, sliced thinly
- 3-4 Green Onions, sliced on the bias to ~1" lengths
- 1 tbsp Sesame Seeds
- 1 medium Asian Pear, peeled, cored, and chopped
- 1/2 medium Yellow Onion, chopped
- 3 tbsp Gochujang Chili Paste
- 3 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 3 tbsp Rice Syrup (honey or brown sugar works, too)
- 1 tbsp Gochugaru Chili Flakes
- 2 tbsp Rice Wine (I used some Sake)
- 2 tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
- 2 tbsp Canola Oil
- 1 tbsp Ginger, minced
- 1 tbsp Ginger, minced
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
Toss everything from the pear to the black pepper into a blender or strong food processor and blend it into a thick, reddish-brown paste. Pour it over the remaining ingredients and mix well, taking care to separate the meat to let it marinate all over. Marinate for 30m - 4hr.
When you’re ready to go, heat a cast iron skillet, grill pan, or a grill (with a very fine mesh grate over it) over medium-high heat with a little oil. Add the mixture in batches, letting it drip a little before adding to the pan so that you’re searing, not steaming. Let each batch cook a minute or three until beginning to turn dark brown, then flip and cook again till taking on color.
Serve with white rice (ideally a sushi-style rice, although just prepared normally, not with the vinegar/sugar or anything) and/or bibb lettuce, plus some ssamjang dipping sauce.
The above came out nicely spicy, a little sweet, a little tangy, with that deep rich umami saltiness of the gochujang and soy sauce mingling. I might up the gochugaru flakes if I was just making it for myself, but my gf’s spice tolerance is lower than mine.
I love me some short ribs, I describe them like the meat version of chicken wings. I’ve tried making my own sauce (and yours is 10x more complicated than any sauce I ever tried to make so I’m sure it’s finger licken good!), but once I found this, I was in heaven. I can get it for $3.75 at the local vietnamese grocery store. (so only pay the $12 a bottle from Amazon if you don’t have a local asian store that stocks this.
Made this Serious Eats pressure cooker chili recipe tonight:
Turned out pretty good. It’s not the flavor profile I’m used to out of chili but that doesn’t mean it’s not very edible. (It also probably wasn’t quite the intended flavors, since I don’t have onion powder on hand and I don’t drink coffee normally so I had to pick up some cold brew at Trader Joe’s.) I continue to not really like using the saute function on my Instant Pot. The slightly raised middle of the pot making oil flee to the edges is not ideal and while the Instant Pot Ultra does have some control over the temperature of the saute function (a standard Instant Pot does not, as far as I can tell), it tends to run quite hot even at lower settings. It does work, but it leaves me less wiggle room in terms of timing and I don’t like that.
I’m right there with you. I have an early model and the saute function is … well, crappy. I pull the entire stainless steel liner out and sit it on the stove until I’m done with saute/browning, then put the liner back in and do my pressure cooking. Whatever works, right?
Eh, I find the saute function works well enough… it’s just for browning stuff, mainly.
So here is a super easy and guilty pleasure that will satisfy your breakfast cravings, is easy to do camping as it is at home, and can be served with a wide variety of toppings.
I give you fried biscuits. You take the canned biscuits from the store, pop them open, cut each biscuit into about 6 mini-wedges, heat up oil and cook them until golden brown. From opening the can to serving is about 10 minutes (and 4 of that is waiting for the oil to heat up).
Serve with your syrup of choice, jam of choice or whatever like canned apple pie filling.
Kids love this.
I’ve done something very similar. I prefer sprinkling with cinnamon/sugar mix while still damp with the oil
I’ve never deep fried anything because the ability to make french fries, fried chicken, and donuts at home would inevitably lead to my death, but try dipping them in untoasted sesame seeds before frying, like Chinese buffet sesame balls.
ooh, good idea. I like it.
Perfect! Although sesame seeds tend to pop like mini kernels of popcorn when they get hot. But if I’m aggressive in rolling them in, they should stick.
Ok I’m going to need the hivemind’s gastronomical help over the next two weeks as my wife is away and I have four kids to feed and water. My culinary skills are limited but I can follow instructions easily. My kids would just eat junk food if given the chance but I want to do something healthier so I am looking for suggestions that are easy to make and relatively healthy.
The only meat that we really eat is chicken, not really into fish much either.
Looking for any and all ideas @ArmandoPenblade @ChristienMurawski especially might have some good ones.
Remind me of age range. And do you have a cast iron skillet?
-xtien
14, 11, 8 and 8. Don’t think we have a skillet but I can have one in two days from Amazon.
Does that rule out bacon? There is a simple dish I just made with black beans (originally called for black eyed peas), onion, bacon, celery, peppers (I used yellow). I’ve been considering adding whole grain brown rice the next time I make it. I suppose you could cook up some chicken breast and add it instead of bacon, but the bacon gives it much of its flavor.
My 11 year old son likes it, but he isn’t really picky at all.
Thanks rob, it would have to be chicken, we don’t eat any pork based products and I’m trying to get away from beef, lamb and turkey due to their high carbon footprint.
A cast iron skillet is worth it, if most of what you really eat is chicken. But it’s good for a ton of things.
I make pretty simple food for my kid, because like his mom he is fairly picky, but I’ve been teaching him how to cook. So I roast chicken breasts and it’s really easy to do.
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put the cast iron skillet in the oven and set the oven temp to 425. Let the cast iron skillet heat as the oven preheats.
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take out your chicken breasts and rinse and season them as you like. I know rinsing them is suddenly controversial, just be gentle so you don’t get a bunch of bacteria everywhere. I pat them dry so they’ll brown evenly, then just drizzle a little olive oil on sprinkle some kosher salt on them. Maybe a little garlic salt too. I’d prefer to grind pepper on them, but that’s too spicy for my son.
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once the oven is up to temperature, I take out the cast iron skillet and put it on the stovetop over high heat. I rub a little olive oil in there with a paper towel. Just a bit. then I lay the breasts in there salt side down. Then I season the other side. Again…it depends on the tastes of the group.
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I set my timer for five minutes.
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Don’t mess with the chicken. Don’t shake the pan. Just let them cook.
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When the timer goes flip them and set it for four or five minutes (based on how the first side looks…if it’s too dark then a minute less).
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When the second timer goes off put them in the oven for 13 minutes.
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Take them out. Let them rest for a few minutes. Then slice them and feed the beasts their dinner.
I find a side of saffron rice (just grab a bag of it made by Mahatma Rice) works well as a side dish. Takes about 25 minutes to cook. so it works in that window.
What veggies will your kids eat?
-xtien
P.S. This is based on skinless chicken breasts that are generally about an inch and a half thick.
I would generally recommend Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Fast. Lots of really good, simple, relatively quick and low effort recipes, done on the stove top or with the oven/broiler. It’s not kid specific, and you might need to scale some recipes up a bit, but it’s a great place to get started, IMO.