Category: Holiday

Braised Pork Belly with Noodles

1.6 lbs Raw Pork Belly cut portion.

The Best Ramen

If you’ve only been eating 15 cent grocery store bought Ramen packages, with foam noodles, and you’ve never had Ramen made fresh in a Restaurant or at home with egg noodles, you’ve been missing out. There’s nothing like a fresh bowl of gourmet cooked Ramen made right because it’s packed with carbs, proteins and all kinds of vitamins and nutrients; especially if it’s made with Bone Broth. Real Ramen recipes have this and they’re delicious.

Cubed cut pork belly portions braising in a large pot of ingredients.

Cooking Pork Belly

The most important thing about cooking pork is making sure it’s cooked all the way through. But, you don’t need to worry about that when you’re braising because the slow and low process goes above and beyond the safety measure temperatures and breaks down the enzymes in the meat to the point of absolute tenderness. In this recipe, I encourage you to poach the pork belly pieces for no less than 20 minutes. This will delicately cook the meat all of the way through before braising in my secret sauce.

Homemade Ramen Noodles with Braised Pork Belly, Baby Bok Choy, Spinach, Beef Broth and Scallions.

Making this Noodle Soup

It’s always a good idea to use the freshest ingredients when making this dish, however, some substitutions can be made and I’ve made a few. I do teach you how to make Beef Bone Broth from scratch and it’s great in this recipe if you want to spend 3 hours making it. If not, Knorr’s Bouillon is a fantastic alternative and I use their Beef, Chicken and Tomato recipes often(not affiliated, I just like it).

It’s also nice to have fresh noodles on hand and you can either Make them yourself, the way I show you “How to make Pasta“, purchase the oriental style Yaka Soba noodles, which I use in this recipe, or just use a plain cheap package of Ramen noodles. All will work just fine for this recipe.

Vegetables are always a fine addition to practically any soup and this dish is no exception. You can add what ever you like but my recomendations for this recipe 3 simple greens; fresh spinach, baby bok choy and scallions. Celery, carrot, cilantro, bean sprouts, red onion and corn are also other great alternatives and additions.

As far as proteins go, boiled or poached eggs are very common in Ramen bowls, chicken, instead of pork belly if you prefer or even beef brisket is great.

Braised Pork Belly with Noodles Ingredients:

1 lbs Frozen Yaki Soba Noodles (my favorite)
3 cups Beef Broth, to cook the noodles in and use as soup
2 to 3 lbs Pork Belly, cut into cubes

Vegetables
8 oz Spinach
10 Baby Bok Choy
2 Green Onions, chopped

Hong Shao Rou Braising Ingredients
2 Fresh Ginger, sliced (size of a quarter)
1/4 tsp Anise
1 tsp Pickling Spice, ingredients below
1 pinch Chili Flakes
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup White Wine
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
Top off pork belly with water in pot (2 to 3 cups)

Bring to a boil then simmer and cook, with a lid, for 1 1/2 hours.

Serve with 8 oz of cooked noodles, 5 to 6 cubes of Braised Pork Belly, 2 to 3 ladles of beef broth, 3 oz of Hong Shao Rou sauce, Garnish with Spinach, Baby Bok Choy and Green onion.

Pickling Spice Ingredients:
2 tbsp Mustard Seeds, whole
1 tbsp Allspice Berries, whole
2 tsp Coriander, seeds
1 tsp Red Pepper Chili Flakes
1 tsp Ginger, ground
2 Bay Leaves, crumbled
2 Cinnamon Sticks
6 Cloves, whole

Please watch the video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make this Noodle Soup with Braised Pork Belly.

Lobster Thermidor with Saffron Sauce

3 Lobster tails stuffed and baked in a dish as Lobster Thermidor.

The Best Lobster Thermidor

If you’re a fan of lobster meat, you’re going to love this Lobster Thermidor recipe. The very definition is Lobster meat, cooked in a cream sauce, returned to it’s shell, sprinkled with cheese and baked to perfection. Well, in not so many words, my recipe is very similar, only better. My Saffron sauce is what I use in this recipe and it’s to die for. It’s a cream sauce with the cheese already cooked into it, much like an Alfredo, with the addition of Bread Crumbs over the top for a light crisp.

3 Lobster tails with the meat removed on a cutting board with a pair of sheers.

How to Prepare Lobster Tails

Removing the membrane, on the underside of the lobster tail, with the fins, is the best way, in my opinion, to stuff the tails with meat. Once the meat is removed, you can rinse and clean the shells and devein the tails. Instead of chopping the meat into pieces, afterwards, I prefer to cut them in half, first. This makes it easier to add a nice sear on the tail meat. I little color and texture go a long way, flavoring this dish. I also like to marinate the meat before searing.

If you’re looking for a recipe to stuff an entire lobster, check out my Stuffed Lobster recipe. It’s preparing with a creamy sauce including shrimp, scallops and crab meat stuffed into the cavity along with the addition of Lobster Claw and Tail meat.

Chopped Sautéed Lobster in Saffron Sauce.

Making the Saffron Sauce

I came up with this Saffron Sauce a while back for my Sea Scallops and when I first tasted it I knew, this sauce was liquid gold. It can pair with just about any oceanic recipe including mollusks, crustaceans and fish or squid, it’s that good. So, pairing it with this Lobster to make it Thermidor was a no brainer and the results are fabulous.

After I sear the marinated Lobster tail meat, I remove it from the pan and chop it into smaller bite size pieces. Then I make the sauce in the same pan. Once all of the ingredients are added, I add the tail meat back to the pan so it can finish cooking in the Saffron Sauce. Once the meat is cooked all the way through, I remove it from the pan, once again, and I continue to cook the sauce until it reduces and thickens like a gravy. Then remove it from the heat.

Lobster Thermidor Ingredients:

3 to 4 12 oz Lobster tails or 10 5 oz tails

Marinade
4 tbsp Butter, melted
1/2 tsp Blackened Seasoning
1/2 tsp Parsley, dried
1 Garlic Clove Chopped
1 pinch Kosher Salt and Pepper

Saffron Sauce
1 Garlic Cloves, chopped
4 tbsp Butter
1/4 cup Sweet Vermouth
1/4 cup Lobster Broth
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
1/4 cup Parmesan
1 tsp Chives, dried
1 pinch Saffron
Salt & Pepper to taste

1/2 cup Seasoned Panko

Follow the instructions in the video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make this Lobster Thermidor with Saffron Sauce.

Bloody Mary Roast with Gravy

4 lbs Boneless Beef Chuck Roast, raw, still in the package.

Slow Cooker Roasts

I think that most people know that roasts are at their best when they’re cooked slow and low and this Bloody Mary Roast with Gravy is no exception. I use a standard Crock-Pot for this recipe or “Slow-Cooker” but you’re more than welcome to cook this in the oven, with a lid, at 200° Fahrenheit for the recommended 8 hours. The gravy is just a synch.

Fully cooked and shredded Bloody Mary Roast(Beef Chuck), on a white cutting board.

Bloody Mary Roast with Gravy Ingredients:

1 4 to 5 lbs Boneless Beef Chuck Roast
2 cups Bloody Mary Mix, Zing Zang

Gravy
2 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp All Purpose Flour
3 cups Roast Juice

Kosher Salt to taste

Cook in a Crock-Pot on low for 8 hours then make your gravy. I recommend adding Roasted Onions, Potatoes and Carrots as a side. Just follow the instructions in the short video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make this Bloody Mary Roast.

Bloody Mary Roast Tutorial by PoorMansGourmet.