Improvised BBQ Pork Fried Rice

I have to say that this one came out pretty damn good. A week ago, I made a ramen soup stock using pork bones. I always save the scrap meat from those bones because after cooking in that stock for hours, the meat pulls right off, just like pulled pork, maybe even more tender. I also had about two cups of leftover steamed rice in the cooker and onions and scallions on hand.

scraps from pork bones with Chinese BBQ sauce, Sriracha

Too fucking easy. I tossed the pork in a Chinese BBQ sauce, sesame oil and some Sriracha, put it under the broiler to toast up and char. Sauteed some chopped onions, added the rice, then incorporated the pork and some scallions. Done. And ridiculously delicious.

leftovers come together for an improvised BBQ pork fried rice

RECIPE: Ramen Soup Stock

There's three tiers of ramen in my book: dirt cheap college-grade instant ramen, legitimate instant ramen that sells for about $2 a pop (like Shin Ramyun) and restaurant or homemade ramen, which is essentially just noodle soup.  I admittedly usually keep a stock of Shin Ramyun in my cabinets if I need a quick meal and I always have some vegetables on hand to top a bowl off with a poached egg.  Not ideal, but at least it's a complete meal.

Every now and then I want to make some really good ramen from scratch, so I'll pick up some pork bones from the market.  Add some ginger, onion and umami, and you got a pretty awesome base for a great noodle soup.

• 2-3lbs pork bones (neck, whatever...)
• 1 onion, halved
• 1 inch piece of ginger, smashed
• 2 sheets dry kombu
• salt and pepper

Place bones in a stock pot and fill with water to cover one inch above them.  Bring to boil, then lower heat to simmer for five minutes.  Drain pot, rinse bones and then refill with water 3/4 high up the pot.  Add onion and ginger.  Bring to boil, then lower heat to simmer for four hours, covered.  Continue adding water to maintain 3/4 depth.

Rinse kombu under faucet and then add to pot.  Simmer another 45 minutes and then remove kombu and ginger.  Season with salt and pepper, but not too aggressively.

Remove bones and save if you'd like to use the scrap meat.  Strain remaining stock and there ya have it!  Store in refrigerator for up to a week or freeze for months.  When serving, add soy sauce and/or miso paste to taste.

Roasted Pork Butt + Noodle Soup Stock (ramen)

Atlanta is suffering from a lack of motivation in clearing snow/ice from the roads, so the entire region has been shut down.  The first two days of school at Georgia Tech have been cancelled, so I've been cooped up in the house cooking.  Luckily, the fridge is well stocked from my trip to the Dekalb Farmer's Market on Friday.

Lots of pork.  First, the 7lb pork butt was cured and then roasted for five hours and finished off under the broiler with a brown sugar glaze to caramelize.  I invited a bunch of folks over for a snow-in party with board games and was surprised that most of them trekked through the snow/ice to make it.  Popular butt.

Roasted pork butt with caramelized brown sugar glaze

I served the tender, savory, pulled-pork style meat over steamed rice with a magical ginger/scallion oil, cumin carrots and sauteed spinach.

Simultaneously simmering throughout the day was a ramen stock I like to make using pork bones from the market and, if I have any, scrap chicken bones from the freezer.  That cooks for at least six hours with ginger, onions and kombu (seaweed) for umami.  It produced about three quarts that I have in the fridge now.

Home-style ramen noodle bowl

Silky soft scrap meat from the pork bones, Chinese wonton noodles (egg noodles), a poached egg and a dash of tamari soy combined in the soup stock produced a veritable ramen noodle bowl for my breakfast/lunch today.  It's simple wintry comfort food at its finest.