2010 - The year of the PUERCO-RAMA

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"Hey piggies, whatcha' talkin' 'bout?"

2010 - The year of the PUERCO-RAMA

OK, I know that 2010 is the Chinese Year of the Tiger, but here at the Hollow Leg Diner it is the Year of the Puerco-rama. You might be saying, "Doug, what is the Puerco-rama", or maybe, "Whatch'ya talkin' 'bout, Piggy?" Well sit right back and I'll tell 'ya tale, 'bout a tasty new pork dish that will soon be sweeping the nation - The Puerco-rama!

If you've read more than one or two posts here, then you'll know that I loves me some pohk. I like ham, I like bacon, I like ribs, I like pork shoulder, I like tongue, I like ham hocks, I love pork belly......well, you get the picture. It's all good. Pork is the all-'round meat champion. Nothing is as versatile or as conducive to accepting flavors and styles of cooking. Every great culinary culture in the world loves pork. My mom's side of the family might disagree, but they couldn't cook, so it doesn't matter. I've tried all types of pork, from BBQ to chile verde con puerco, stir fry to roasted; and I haven't even scratched the surface. Always eager to try something new, I embarked upon an audacious, never-before tried; no, never-before envisioned pork recipe. If done properly, this recipe has the potential to take the world by storm. Every previous pork recipe will pale in comparison to the PUERCO-RAMA. Audacious? Yes; but as I learned from our beloved Great Leader; one must have the audacity of pork. I think that's what he said. I wasn't listening very carefully and all those speeches just seem to blur together after a while. So with my heart full of HOPE for CHANGE, I set out to make the ultimate pork dish. I would create the PUERCO-RAMA and the people of this great nation would say, "This is the PORK that we have been waiting for." And if things didn't work out, we could just blame W.

A few years back I had an opportunity to spend a couple of weeks in Yoesu, ROK. I was there with my Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare unit for an exercise, but I didn't eat a whole lot of MRE's on this trip. Rather than roughing it in camp, we stayed at a hotel in town. Hey, we're Navy Reserve, not Marines; so no smack-talk. Just a block or two from our hotel was a fantastic little restaurant. I never figured out what the name was, but it had a picture of a smiling pig on the front door. We dubbed it the 'Pig Place' and it became the favorite eating establishment of the whole crew. Every team getting off watch would hit the Pig Place for some pork belly. As far as I know, that was the only thing on the menu. Each table had a burner and a large, flat cooking surface embedded. The cook would come out and cut pieces of pork belly at the table and then place them on the griddle. After the pork was going, a variety of vegetables was added. Once the pork was close to being done, the cook would turn down the heat and everybody would serve themselves. One time when I went in there, we had some marinated pork belly that was grilled. This was one of those food epiphanies that I'll remember until the day I die. There is something about the way that the pork fat and juices mix with the red pepper and vinegar of the marinade that creates an other-worldly flavor. Unfortunately, that was the last of my several trips to Korea and I was sure that I'd never get a dish that good again.

Fast forward a couple of years and I live in San Diego, near a large Korean community and my wife works for a Korean-owned company. The possibilities of getting really good Korean food have increased immensely. There is a large Korean market, Zion Market, in Kearney Mesa; not too far from where we live. Since discovering Zion Market, I have rekindled my love of Korean food. Earlier this year I picked up some marinated black pork belly for a unit BBQ. I just bought a few pounds on a whim, along with the standard short ribs and beef kalbi. The pork belly turned out to be the best of the lot. I still don't know what exactly is in the marinade, but I've got a few ideas; red chili paste, vinegar (apple or pear), soy, sesame oil and maybe a little mirin. I just tossed the strips of pork belly onto the grill of the BBQ, turning frequently to avoid burning. Unbelievable flavor.

At my mother-in-law's birthday shindig I introduced Familia Lopez to the wondrous joys of grilled marinated pork belly. On a day when I fired up a wide variety of BBQ favorites (carne asada, Harris Ranch burgers, hot dogs, jalapeno sausage and short ribs), everybody wanted more of the marinated pork belly. Korean Q was the top pick at a good old fashioned Mexican backyard party. Who'da thunk it?

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Knowing that marinated pork belly can conquer the world, I started thinking about a new recipes that would take advantage of the miracle food. My first inspiration came at the end of the family BBQ when I finally had a chance to make myself some food. I had secreted away a couple of strips of pork belly before they all got snapped up. I thought that if a bacon cheese burger is good, a Korean pork belly cheese burger would be better. Adding a couple of slices of avocado to the burger would be freakin' awesome. Yup! I tried this again at a BBQ at my mom's house. I made some giant gourmet burgers (chuck, pork sausage& ground lamb) for Mom, Lupe and her sisters, Lorena and Marisela. The burgers were topped with Muenster, cheddar and jack cheese, the pork belly and avocado slices.

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OK. Awesome burgers. Now I had to come up with something that would truly allow the marinated pork to shine in its full glory. Back in September I had experimented with The Bacon Explosion, a glorious monument to the goodness of all that is pork. While some may think that the turducken is the epitome of wretched excess in the food world, I would disagree. Nothing captures the spirit of the BBQ, the taste of a county fair, the wild abandon of an L.A. car chase and thrill of a game of Russian Roulette quite like a Bacon Explosion. Pork fat in all its glory is introduced to the church of the BBQ. A sin and a blessing all wrapped up in smokey BBQ'd bacon. Can't beat that with a stick.

On the advice of my cardiologist I had to limit myself to one Bacon Explosion a year. Too bad; I really wanted to do that again. It did, however, get me thinking about the Korean marinated pork belly. How could I combine the shock and awe of the Bacon Explosion and the beauty and goodness of the pork belly? An idea started to form in my head. It started as random flashes of flavor memories, triggered by clumps of triglycerides bumping into neurons. Like fat congealing in the bottom of a pan, the idea started to come together. Slowly building from a faint blood pressure-induced ringing in my ears to a roaring chorus; I heard the word:
Puerco-rama, PUERCO-RAMA, PUERCO-RAMA, PUERCO-RAMA, PUERCO-RAMA, PUERCO-RAMA, PUERCO-RAMA

I knew what I had to do; go buy pork.

As luck would have it, Von's had pork loin on sale for some ridiculously low price. I got a 10lb loin and cut it in thirds. Two pieces got vacuum-packed and put in the freezer for later. As this was just a trial run, I didn't get the pork belly from the Korean market. A package of thick-cut bacon would have to do. I mixed up a marinade from the Korean section in my pantry and dunked all the porky goodness for a few hours. After a nice long soak in the marinade, I removed the pork loin and wiped the excess off. I took this out to the grill and gave it a good sear on all sides. I brought it back in and continued with the prep.

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I pierced the center of the pork loin with a long, thin knife (it sure would be nice to have a real larding needle). With a long skewer I inserted a couple of pieces of the marinated bacon. The top of the loin was generously covered with thin slices of garlic and onions. Next, I started to weave a mat of marinated bacon on the cutting board(now there's a phrase you don't often hear).

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I should have gone with a rectangular mat for better wrapping, but this still worked. The pork loin was placed on the bacon mat and then gently rolled with the mat.

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Wooden skewers held the bacon weave tenuously in place. No sudden moves or a bacon trainwreck was sure to happen. Not to self: buy some damn metal skewers.

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Back to the grill for some indirect heat. These damn small grills at our apartments are killing me. It is buku difficult controlling the heat and flare-ups. This type of work really calls for a large charcoal BBQ with an offset firebox. Got a little charring of the bacon, but all is still good in the world of pork fat.

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Apple wood chips added to the smokey flavor. I took it off after about an hour on the grill. Internal temp of the loin was 141 when taken off the heat. Sliced after resting for a while, the loin was tender and succulent.

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PUERCO-RAMA

Something that tasty will make you wanna' to go to church the next morning.
"Forgive me Father for I have sinned. I don't know if I broke one of the Ten Commandments, but it sure feels like I've sinned."
"Say ten Hail Mary's, my child, and bring me a Puerco-rama on rye"

Lessons learned:
Puerco-rama doesn't need the smokiness of bacon. That's just overkill.
Get extra-long-cut pork belly slices for a good weave
Use a larding needle to insert strips of marinated pork fat into the loin
Marinate the pork loin and belly overnight for better flavor absorption
Form the weave on a sheet of parchment paper for ease of rolling
Cook on a proper BBQ

Another pork loin is in the fridge along with a package of pork belly. It's time for the real thing. Lupe and I have been eating salads and fruit most of the week in preparation for the next coming of the Puerco-rama. This time I'm making grilled vegetables and white rice to go with it. I also picked up some baby Napa cabbage kimchi to go with the Puerco-rama.

Kamsahamnida, Piggy.