The terms “Asian” and “pot roast” aren’t often found together because according to New York Times culinary star Mark Bittman, “a scarcity of fuel in east Asia precluded long, slow cooking” back in the day. That’s all well and good, but you see, I bought these chuck roasts from Costco a few months ago, and now I’ve gotta use them. I can only make so many traditional, European-style pot roasts (red wine, garlic, onion, carrots, celery). Don’t get me wrong — the French and British traditions of pot roasts are lovely — but I love Asian flavor profiles; so off to the Internet I went in search of some sort of Asian-y braise I could apply to mah meat.
Unfortunately, I discovered that there were very few braises that seemed trustworthy. I searched for “Asian pot roast,” “Asian short ribs,” “Asian braise,” etc. etc.. Emeril had an option that looked decent, but then again, so did Mark Bittman (see above link). Plus, I once had used an Aida Mollenkamp Asian short rib recipe that I had found quite delightful; so that was a contender too. After consulting with Sly, Jash, and Erin McChids of Dishwasher Ready, I decided to “hotrod” (as Ina says) the Mollenkamp ribs by adding some elements of the ever-trusted Bittman Asian pot roast recipe along with a few items from my kitchen. Unfortunately, I took no photos of the experience, but I can tell you right now it turned out wonderfully. That’s why I’m writing this. It was so good, I felt the need to share what I did so that I can add to the small canon of Asian Pot Roast recipes on the Internet.
Details after the jump.
Continue reading “MINI ADVENTURE IN DOMESTICITY: Asian Pot Roast Edition”
