Asian Night at The Relleno's

Wife and I split out for a concert in MS, went to the Pearl River Casino Resort to see Great White and Skid Row.
A night away from home without the kids, a night for dinner, a concert and hotel stay.
Now the great thing about this concert is that my wife is friends with Mitch Malloy, Great White's new lead singer, and he fixed us up with All Access Passes.
Backstage smackstage, we were front-n-center for Great White and then went upstairs to one of the skyboxes to watch Skid Row.
What a way to watch a concert, big cushy loungers to relax in, hor d'oeuvres and free drinks served by wait staff.
https://i.imgur.com/XxKFCwi.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/WtddlVM.jpg

Now here is the real story,
we went to a nice restaurant for dinner expecting something really good for the money only to be disappointed.
This is all too common when one has their own passion for food and cooking.
So I came home today hungry for some food that had real depth of flavor.
I figured some Asian fare with a big kick would do the trick.

Menu
Asian Pork Belly with Crispy Skin
Grilled Teriyaki Chicken
Vietnamese Pork/Shrimp Spring Rolls
Bok Choy
Rice

Asian Pork Belly with Crispy Skin
Score, dry brine and air dry a pork belly for 36 hours
Place belly in baking dish and let it come up to temp with oven during preheat to 475°
Roast belly for 30-40 minutes, until it has turned the skin to cracklins
Add sauce to just below skin, add garlic, ginger, chile and star anise to sauce
Lower heat to 375°, return to oven and bake for 2.5 hours
Garnish with chopped green onion
Strain sauce and then reduce by a third, pour over PB strips

Sauce
2C cider or cane vinegar
1-3/4C soy sauce
1/3C brown sugar
1-1/4C water
1T sesame oil
1T fish sauce
6 star anise
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium knob of ginger, chopped
1 Serrano or other chile, chopped
Green onion, chopped for garnish

https://i.imgur.com/rHGmNHB.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/jAdJ6kO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ZDSh7Ho.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/AnAeUdL.jpg

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken
Made a homemade teriyaki sauce, marinated chicken for about 4 hours and then grilled.

Teriyaki Sauce
1C water
5T brown sugar
1/4C soy sauce
2T honey
1t granulated garlic
1/2 t ground ginger
Combine the above and bring to a boil
Combine the cornstarch and water, add to mix and boil to desired thickness
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

https://i.imgur.com/TSFdPhV.jpg

Bok Choy
Combine
1/2C chicken stock
1/4C Shaoxing wine
1T sesame oil
Set aside
In a wok lightly brown some finely chopped garlic oil
Lightly stir fry the Bok Choy in the garlic oil
Add in the liquid and bring to a fast boil, hold for two minutes, drain and serve

Vietnamese Pork/Shrimp Spring Rolls
Frozen spring rolls from the local Asian Market, really tasty stuff.
I can't read the brand name much less pronounce it.

Money Shot
https://i.imgur.com/8dnCEVk.jpg

Your on a roll with the Pork Belly lately a sadly under used meat , I love the stuff and l'm going to give your Asian Pork Bully a go , looks to good not too.

I found a good deal on skin on strips of belly, so I bought a few.
My success rate at getting really good, crispy skin has not always been great, maybe 75% of the time.
So I'm working on it.

Dry brined and air-dried are really the key for prepping.
Having a skin at 1 even layer across is also a key factor for cooking to keep parts from cooking at different speeds and or burning, also avoid using the broiler which is tempting.
Also be warned about wives, you'll be smoking up their kitchen a bit during the crisping, and the sauce is very fragrant and the odors different from what most are accustomed to.

Let some slices sit overnight, the flavors have time to meld and they're just divine.

Looks great! Why granulated garlic and not fresh in the Teriyaki?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nimakdm

Looks great! Why granulated garlic and not fresh in the Teriyaki?

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Cause I used all my fresh in the belly.
Otherwise yeah, fresh through a garlic press is the way to go. Fresh ginger too, that got used up too.

Makes total sense. I married an Italian, we are out of garlic if theres 3 or less heads in the house hahaha. I have to buy it weekly!

Looks awesome, Chile!