Tag: food

Preparing Live Kegani Crab

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO6400
 “Kegani” Cedar Park, 2020

Two Kegani crabs that we ordered arrived from Hokkaido (we picked them up from our good friends’ restaurant) and we prepared some sashimi from the legs, and then steamed the rest. It was interesting (and a little painful) to cut up but they were delicious and I enjoyed the new experience. I’ve only had live crab once before, back in Osaka when I met Mariko’s dad for the first time. We went to a “sunakku” which is like a bar that also has food/snacks, and the owner prepared the crab in front of us.

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/125 sec, ISO2500
 “Kegani Sashimi” Cedar Park, 2020

Mariko and I watched this video beforehand, and simply mimicked what he did. It reminded me of the time we took an oyster-shucking class. It was messy, wet, and smelled like the ocean. I thought it was great! 😀 And the kegani crab tasted excellent, by the way.

I hope you had a nice day!

Parboiled Baby-Back Ribs

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/25 sec, ISO3200
 “Rib Dinner” Cedar Park, 2020

My brother sent me a recipe for parboiled baby-back ribs a few months ago, and we liked the results so much that I’ve made them three times already! The first time, I used a plain barbecue sauce for the marinade and dipping sauce, the second time I used a Jamaican jerk rub (Walkerswood), and then this time I used a mustard-based barbecue sauce. All were good!

I found out later that parboiling ribs is considered blasphemy to many people in the barbecue community, who say it robs the meat of all flavor. I’m sure parboiling must take a bit of the flavor away, but it’s probably something like bringing it down from 100 to 90 on the flavor scale, and the advantages far outweigh any flavor loss in my opinion.

The ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender, with no gristly, chewy, or rubbery bits. I’ve tried many recipes before, including baking and grilling, but this parboil/baking has turned out perfect every time, and it is so easy – you just set it and forget it. Here’s the simple process:

  1. Divide a rack of baby-back ribs into two or three pieces so it can fit into a pot of water
  2. Boil for 45 minutes
  3. Put ribs into a casserole dish or baking pan and coat all over with your preferred sauce/marinade/rub
  4. Cover tightly with foil and refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight if possible
  5. Bake in a 250° F oven for 3 hours
  6. Remove foil and place under broiler to brown the ribs, then flip over to brown the other side; or you can throw them on your barbecue grill

That’s it! There’s plenty of room to make it your own (for instance, lessen the baking time if you like the meat less tender) so why not give it a try?

Pizza Toppings

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
 “Assorted Pizzas” Cedar Park, 2020

Mariko taught four pizza dough classes this past week, which meant we ate a lot of pies. So, to mix it up a bit, we branched out a little bit with the toppings.

I made an onion, olive, and anchovy pizza because I love those salty little fishies! It’s a well-known topping, but rarely ordered (or even offered) so I thought it would be a nice change of pace. Of course with so many pizzas to top, we had a few other options, including chicken with barbecue sauce, and a Mediterranean-style pizza with Gyro meat, Kalamata olives, and feta cheese. This was actually my and Koa’s favorite, beating out the classic Italian sausage pizza and pepperoni pizza.

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
 “Anchovy Pizza” Cedar Park, 2020

I also bought ingredients for a clam and roasted garlic pizza, but we didn’t have enough dough (or classes) to make that one. Next time for sure!

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/80 sec, ISO3200
 “Pepper Pizza” Cedar Park, 2020

Best Kimchi?

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/30 sec, ISO3200
 “Recommended Kimchi” Cedar Park, 2020

We were recently given a bottle of this Kimchi by a Korean friend of ours, and she said it’s the best brand you can get here. Interestingly, another Korean friend recommended the same brand, so I’m really looking forward to trying it! We still have a lot of kimchi left in the jar we have opened, so it might be a while until we get to the new one, but it’s something to look forward to.

Pizza Days

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/45 sec, ISO3200
 “Pizza Class” Cedar Park, 2020

Mariko has a few pizza-making classes (online) this week, which means plenty of pizza for us! I love pizza, but in order to not get sick of it, we’re trying to vary the toppings. Beyond the common ones like pepperoni, sausage, onion, and olives, we’ve added Jalapeño and Serrano peppers, anchovies, and roasted garlic to the options. And for the next couple of classes, we’ll add gyro meat, feta cheese, fresh basil, Romano cheese, and pork belly to the mix.

It’s fun to try different combinations! After all, when you have a good crust, which is the critical part of the pizza, you can experiment with toppings and almost always have a good pie.

Bon Appetit! ❤🍕