These two dishes incorporate smoked chicken and pork in two different dishes: tacos, that are reminiscent of eating alfresco on a hot summer summer’s day, and a Japanese style soup, that warms you up in winter. I also smoked some salmon for the tacos, but my partner doesn’t like fish, so I kept it out of the soup. Feel free to use up any left-over salmon as a soup topping if you do like it.
Equipment:
1 large wok, lots of foil, 2 cups of wood chips placed in different bowls to soak in water, round grill to fir your wok, domed lid (the kind you get for woks, that keeps the smoke in and lets it permeate the food), gas stove.
The set up:
cover the bottom of the wok with foil. Drain one lots of chips of the water and dry briefly on a towel. Place at the bottom of the wok. Place the grill on top. There should be some space between the chips and the grill. When you are ready to cook, place the meat on the grill and cover with the domed lid. Place on the heat and cook for around 70 minutes. Try not to remove the lid during that time. To ensure even cooking, make sure the meat is as thin as possible. Tenderise it with a meat mallet if needed. If it is not cooked all the way through, place the meat in the oven or fry until cooked through or fry in a shallow pan to crisp it up.
For the tacos:
I made the tacos first for dinner, to allow me to cook the broth for the Japanese style soup overnight ready for the next day.
I used 2 chicken thigh fillets 1 large shoulder pork steak and 2 thin salmon fillets as the meat component for the tacos. Sprinkle the meat with paprika, cumin, dried coriander, salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Leave to marinade for a few hours before cooking using the second load of wood chips. Cook as per the smoking instructions above. When ready, slice the meat into thin slices and place of a serving plate. Prepare the toppings for your tacos. I used sliced spring onions, radishes, pineapple, chipotle mayo and grilled corn tortillas. Make your tacos as you wish and inhale quickly while hot. Feel free to use salsa, guacamole, refried beans etc. Save some of the spring onions and radishes to use as toppings for the soup the next day.
This soup requires a broth to be prepared. This is how to do it:
I started this the same night we had the tacos to ensure it has enough time to get the most flavour out of the bones and meat. There are various recipes available online but I based mine on a combination of recipes from the Nanban cookbook by Tim Anderson for Tonkatsu (pork broth) and Torigara (chicken broth). I used 2 pig trotters that had been cut into pieces, half a packet of chicken wings, 1 onion roughly chopped, 2 small carrots, ½ head garlic cloves separated and peeled, 2 star anise, 25g ginger cut into chunks. To start with, place the trotters and chicken wings in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, then discard the water. This gets rid of any blood and gunk. Then place the meat into a slow cooker and cover with water again. Cover and place on low and cook overnight. In the morning, add the vegetables, ginger, garlic and star anise. Cooke for another 8 hours on low.
Preparing the meat for the Japanese style soup:
1tbsp honey, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp mirin and 1 tsp sesame oil mixed into a marinade. Cover 2 chicken thigh fillets and 2 small pork shoulder stakes with it and leave to marinade for a few hours. When you are ready to cook them, place them over the grill in the prepared wok, as per the instructions above. The meet will shrink a little with the cooking but is okay. Once cooked, set aside until needed for the soup. I smoked the meat for the tacos and soup on the same day, storing the soup meat in the fridge overnight. Warm the meat through when ready to use in the oven, covered in foil to prevent it drying out, or fry in a pan just before using.
To finish and serve the soup:
You need your smoked meat for this, as well as spring onions, radishes, quick cook udon noodles in individual single portion vacuum bags, broth, half a pack of chestnut mushrooms, 1 tea stained egg.
When ready to finish off the soup, drain the broth into a deep pot suitable to go over your cooker. Keep the chicken wings if they have held their shape while slow cooking. Discard the trotters. Put on medium heat and season the broth with 50g of brown miso, 1 tsp mirin, and soy sauce and black pepper to taste. Taste and adjust seasonings as required. Leave on the heat while preparing the toppings.
Slice the chestnut mushrooms and fry until all the liquid is evaporated then place aside in a bowl. Fry the chicken and pork to warm through, place on a chopping board and slice into bite size pieces. Slice the radishes and spring onions. Flash fry the noodles for 1 minute each (only do this if they are cooked and ready to eat after heating though), placing them in soup bowls. Top the noodles with the meat, half a tea stained egg and all the veg. Pour the broth on top of everything. For a little spice, feel free to top with some hot oil.
For the tea stained egg:
1 egg
3 black tea tea bags, steeping in hot water
Soy sauce
Shaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
1 star anise
To start with par boil the egg in plain water for 3 minutes then drain and gently crack the shell. Do not peel at this stage. Place back in the pot and cover with the tea and spices. Boil for another 3 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave to steep until cook enough to handle. Peel the shell and cut in half when ready to use in the soup.
To save on waste, here is what I did with the chicken wings after I had separated them from the broth:
Place in a roasting pan and place on high heat to roast and crisp up for 10 minutes. While waiting make Sumiso sauce (sweet and sour miso dressing from Nanban by Tim Anderson). This uses up the entire 100g miso jar I brought, half of which went into flavouring the broth.
You will need 50g miso paste, 1 tbsp rise vinegar, 1/2 tbsp mirin, 1 tsp sesame oil, sugar to taste, all mixed together into a sauce. Once the wings are out of the oven, pour the sauce over them and serve.
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