Thursday, July 8, 2010

Sunday Cookbook Adventures: Momofuku Pork Steak Update

Back in April, I made the brilliant-yet-easy Momofuku Pork Shoulder Steak with Ranch Dressing recipe. I was in love with the pork shoulder steak as a cut of meat, but the meal didn't feel complete... I came back to that recipe this week to show my parents how delicious pork shoulder steak can be...
I did the pork a little differently (and better) this time, but let's start with the side dish. If you look in the book, the picture of the pork shoulder steak shows charred zucchini and red onion strewn about the plate. Zucchini in summer makes me very happy, and it sounded like it would go great with the homemade ranch dressing, too. We sliced up the zucchini on my mandolin...
... cut some red onion to a similar width, and tossed it all with olive oil, salt, pepper, and chili flakes...
This all went on the grill over a high flame...
... until it was all charred up and delicious.
Because it's a bit of a hassle trying to get perfect internal temperature on a 1 1/2-inch thick pork steak on the grill (and because rare pork isn't as lovely as rare beef, so it's important to get the temperature right), I decided to cook the pork sous vide initially (for about 7 hours), then just finish on a hot grill for a minute or two to get some nice charred flavor. This turned out to be a brilliant idea. The steak was tender, juicy, and perfectly cooked all the way through...
When this went on the plate, it was pretty clear that a slight change in method and the addition of the perfect side dish had taken the humble-yet-delicious dish that I made last time to a new worthy-of-serving-to-guests level. I have yet to be disappointed by anything out of the Momofuku cookbook, but this was definitely a good tweak to an already-pretty-tasty recipe... Mmmm... Pork shoulder steak...

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