January 9, 2012

The Dutchie

Now that vacation's over and nobody's saying "Happy New Year", it's time to focus on my other love in life: FOOD.

The Dutchie
I bought this dutch oven for the bf as a Christmas present, hoping to send the very obvious message that he should feed me more. Dutch ovens can be made out of different materials including cast-iron, aluminum, clay and most modern-day ones you see out there are made out of cast-iron, coated in a pretty enamel, and change their Dutch allegiance to French under such brands as "Le Creuset". There are sooo many good things that one can make in a dutch oven. The best would be those dishes which require a lot of sloooow cooking (casseroles, roasts, stews) since the thick walls and heavy lid lock in the heat.

This weekend, we broke out the Dutchie with some slow-cooked Chinese bbq spareribs. We followed the recipe from this site: http://www.eatingoutloud.com/2009/03/chinese-braised-spare-ribs-sticky-deliciousness.html
One modification I'd make to the recipe is to add 1/2 cup less soy sauce and substitute with 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup vinegar. After all the ingredients are added, the trick with the dish is actually the heavy nursing that'll occur after 45 minutes of slow meat simmering. All the liquid will start to reduce and the meat will carmelize quickly. The meat is so tender it just falls right off the bone. Put it all over a bed of steamed bok choy and rice and enjoy!

 WARNING: Do not cook on an empty stomach as you might find yourself "taste-testing" a bit too much during the simmering process!

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