036 - Chicken Skin Roll (!!!!)

Readers, let me ask you a question. What’s your favorite place and time to get an idea?

Was it the moment just before bedtime? While taking a shower? Or was it during a communal trip?

For me, it’s on the toilet during Number 2.

*insert shocked emoji here*

Yes, when I do my ‘business’, I sometimes get crazy idea inside my head. And this time, it’s a no brainer. It’s utterly insane, and I’m sure this will make youth screaming in excitement and parents crying in agony.

CHICKEN SKIN ROLL.

Inspired by the famous Lobster Roll from Maine, and Pork Crackling, this thing is absolute game changer. The secret to create a rather lovely looking and lovely tasting chicken skin lays in the first part: Boiling. This will help release all the nasty scum that it’s left in the chicken skin, leaving it prime, pristine, and most of all, more able to withstand heat without curling too much.

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For 1 servings, you will need:

200 grams of chicken skin. Chicken skin is very cheap. I bought 250 grams of it for only IDR 6,000.- (that’s 50 cents US Dollar!!!)

1 Hot Dog bun

½ tsp of Salt

1 tsp of Black Pepper

1 tsp of Paprika Powder

2 tbsp of Corn Starch. If you want more awesome crunch, substitute with Potato Starch (It’s available at a large supermarket, such as G**L** at SCBD area)

2 cups of Water

3 tbsp of Cooking Oil

For the coleslaw

100 grams of Cabbage, shredded finely.

50 grams of Carrot, cut into matchsticks.

2 tbsp of Mayonnaise

Pinch of Salt

Pinch of Black Pepper

½ Lemon. We’re using the juice only.

For the sauce

1 tbsp of Mayonnaise

1 tbsp of Spicy sauce/concoction. Wasabi, Tabasco, Sri Racha, Dua Belibis, use whichever fits your taste. I’m using Gochujang (Korean Spicy Chili Paste)

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Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Cut your cabbage nice and finely if you haven’t done so. Peel the carrots and continue the process to yield the lovely ribbons.

Be careful with your hands, people

Easier to make ribbons, right?

Step 2 – Mix in the cabbage with the carrots, add the mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Mix it thoroughly. You can serve this directly, but for best tasting, leave it covered inside a fridge overnight.

You can't see it, but there's a Cabbage under there. Oh, i'm squeezing Lemons here.

Kewpie saving the day!

Salt

Pepper

Step 3 – Now let’s cook the chicken skin. Get a small pot, and boil the 2 cups of water. Give it a pinch of salt.

Skip the bullcrap, the water has been boiling for 2 minutes and there i am, putting salt into the water

Step 4 - Once boiling, put each and every piece of chicken skin in. Chicken skin is not actually pretty. Sometimes you see bits with blackened spots, or even feather roots still attached! The black spots can be removed easily by simply tearing it. Don’t worry about the feather either. The boiling will help make the removal process hell of a lot easier.

This is not exactly a pretty sight, eh?

Step 5 – Around 30 seconds – 1 minute after you put the chicken skin in, you will see that there is a white scum forming around the surface. Use a wired spoon (or in my case, measuring cup) and remove this. This is excess fat, and posed no use for the taste. Keep boiling it for another 2 minutes.

Scum appearing

Scum disappearing

Step 6 – After 2 minutes, strain the chicken skin, and proceed to wash it under clean, running, cold water. This will shock the chicken skin to stop the cooking process. And what are the odds? This process also helps you remove any leftover feather roots easily! After you finished cleaning everything, set it on paper towel to dry.

Step 7 – Season the chicken skin with salt, pepper, and paprika, and give it a good massage. Mehehehehehehe, Massage. Don’t worry; it won’t break the skin unless you’re going into R territory. Me? I’m keeping it PG-13 J

Salt

Pepper

Paprika

Mixed seasoning

Apply liberally

Well seasoned!

Step 8 – Heat a nonstick pan and pour the cooking oil. Let it heat up on medium heat.

Step 9 – Pour the corn starch over the chicken. Ensure every part is covered. Shake off any excess.

Corn starch worked well with chicken skin!

Excess already shaken off on this picture

Step 10 – Once you see smoke coming out from the pan, place your chicken, GENTLY. Chicken skin is made of Fat. And when fat hits oil, it’ll most likely splatter. So always be safe when doing so! I always use the tray of my cooking pan as a shield, a la the movie 300. Cook this for around 2 minutes, checking often to see if it’s golden brown already. Once it’s golden brown, give it a flip, and do the same with the other side.

Watch the edges, careful not to burn it!

After the flip. I ended up doing multiple flip over a course of 40 seconds interval several times.

Step 11 – Once the skin is cooked golden brown, transfer it into paper towel to drain any excess oil. Meanwhile, toast your hot dog bun. Uhmm mmm, nothing feels better than a warm bun on a cold day!

If that's not beautiful, i don't know what is

Step 12 – Assemble. Bun – Coleslaw – Skin – Lime wedge (optional) - Sauce.

Bun

Coleslaw

The golden crunch

Lime for contrast!

Sauce!!!

Step 13 – Serve!

This roll tastes exactly how you imagine it to be; savory and crunchy. Adding lime wedges helped to counteract the savory and spicy taste, creating an even better sensation while eating.

It feels great to tell you how I come up with this original recipe and able to share it with you guys!

In interest of good health, please eat this sparingly. Also, it is best to serve this roll as soon as possible

Give it a go, and looking forward to see anyone of you try and cook this!

Peace

xx

030 - EL GIGANTE BURGER

Okay people, especially those living in Jakarta, have you heard this entire buzz about the new burger joint called Three Buns? Words on the street says this is one of the best tasting burger right now, if not (some actually said), of all time. 

But there's a catch: despite the lovely semi outdoor setting and the great cocktail, the place had little to none parking space. And that means an instant turn-off for me. I'm not the kind of people who'd fight for a parking spot over a food that I can (possibly) whip up at home with less cost and comparable taste. Decision, decisions. Maybe I'll try that Burger joint sometime soon.

So anyway, while I wait for the hoo-hah to actually calm down, let me show you a killer Burger I whip up recently. It has 2 patties, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, cheese bacon, and peanut butter. HELL YES, PEANUT BUTTER. The cream of the crop of a PB&J. It actually tasted awesome in a burger. No kidding here.

Please welcome, EL GIGANTE BURGER

Gi·gan·tes

  [ji-gan-teez] 

plural noun

huge monsters, the children of Gaea,

You will need:

1 Burger bun.

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

For the patty:

200 grams of minced beef. Here's the deal: if your butcher can freshly mince a meat to your order, do so. Get a combination of sirloin and chuck. But if you're left without an option, a regular minced beef will do the job just fine. Just get the freshest beef of the day.

1 fresh garlic, grated finely. If you can't find a grater, you can simply chop it super fine. Be careful though, cut it a lil’ bigger, not exactly the kind of experience I wanna taste on my burger.

1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce (optional, but it makes the difference!)

Herbs of your choice. Parsley worked great in this recipe. Again, this is optional.

1 tsp of Onion powder. It helps brings out the meatiness. Fucking A, Son.

For the garnish :

2 slice of Cheddar cheese. Or any kind of melting cheese will work, Cheddar is the best for this though

1.5 tbsp of Creamy Peanut Butter

Cheese bacon (I've posted this recipe before)

Romaine Lettuce. It has more crunch and more nutrients than the typical lettuce. And it looked hella better.

Ripe tomato. Sliced thinly.

Dijon Mustard

Ketchup

Please people, no Mayo.

Ready? Here we go!

Step 1 - Always ensure your meat is at room temperature before mixing. Grate your garlic, and mix it with the beef. Add the Parsley, Onion Powder, and Worcestershire, mix lightly with your hands. Warning: DO NOT overmix. Over mixing will yield a chewy Burger, and I HATE THAT. Split the most mixture in half, 100 grams each and Shape the burger into a nice concentric circles, and make a small indentation with your thumb right in the middle of the patty. This will help during the grilling process to ensure a nice and even cooking. Set it aside

Garlic

Onion Powder

Parsley

The Cream of the crop

Right after the mix

Shape, gently.

Booya!

Step 2 - Heat your non stick pan, get a nice olive oil to coat the surface just enough so the patty won't stick. Use highest heat. Before the patty goes it, season the side that would hit the pan first with salt and pepper. Once you see a smoke, throw your patty in. Get a spatula and SMASH the burger for 10 seconds. This will create the Maillard Reaction, a.k.a that lovely brown crust. Season the other side with salt and pepper, and for the love of God, DON'T FREAKING MOVE IT. Let it sear for around 1,5 minute. Once you see the edges turn brown-ish/grey, give it a flip

Burgers don't like it sticky.

Press. 

SMASH.

Season

Flip

  

Step 3 - After the flip, top both patties with cheese. Now here's the neat trick to melt the cheese: pour around 3-4 tablespoons of water to the pan, and cover it. The steam will kickstart the melting process. I mean, isn't melted cheese is one of the most fun you had while eating a burger?

Cheese on top

Steam

COWABUNGA!

Step 4 - Toast your bun. Ensure it gets warm and crisp.

Step 5 - Assemble your Burger. Here's how I do it: bottom bun, ketchup+mustard, patty, PB, cheese bacon, patty, lettuce, tomato, top bun.

Dijon Mustard

Ketchup

Patty

PB

Cheese Bacon

Patty

Romaine Lettuce

Tomato

Top Bun

Step 6 - serve.

El Gigante needed a knife to stand. It's humongous. It's ferocious. It'll destroy your stomach.

Things might get as messy as your relationship with your ex, but El Gigante fucking killed it 

In every bite, appreciate the complexity of the flavor. The saltiness of the burger patty, the savoury taste from the Peanut Butter, and the crunch of the lettuce.

Not exactly what I refer to as 'healthy', but why not?

Serve with a side of French fries fries (again, I made the recipe previously), and a whole lot of regret afterwards. But fret not, it is a good kind of regret.

Peace

xx