Umami Tsunami

Tags

cheeseburger, hamburger, the mighty hibachi, umami

How did I end up here?  Well…

I found a beer from Garage Project, a local Wellington brewery.  The beer is called Umami Monster.  Yeah, Umami Monster.  Imagine a beer made with Japanese dashi stock.  Umami flavours in a beer should pair well with grilled meats.

So, we’ve endured cold, wet Southerly conditions here in Wellington for about 7 days in a row, except for today. This morning the wind turned northerly and it was sunny – excellent BBQ weather, even in Winter.

So, I set up The Mighty Hibachi with hardwood charcoal – the good stuff, mind you – great chunks of charcoal, fist sized bits straight from the bag.  I could really use a bigger BBQ, but that’s a different post for a different day…

I figured, as you do, that a grilled umami burger with Umami Monster beer would hit you like an Umami Tsunami.  Oh, never mind.

Back to the umami burger… I made a miso-dijon mustard with dijon mustard, miso paste, and xioxing wine (would have used rice wine, but didn’t have it).  I grilled red onions (heaps of umami there…).  I grilled 200g of beef mince over hardwood charcoal, basting the burger with the miso-dijon mustard as it cooked. I topped the burger with a mixture of grated aged cheddar and Grana Padano cheese and covered the burger on the grill until the cheese melted.

When the burger was cooked medium rare, I took it off the grill and let it rest for a bit while I got the rest of the burger ready.  I spread kewpie mayonnaise on the toasted bottom bun, then topped the bottom bun with cos lettuce, bread & butter pickles, and a couple of tomato slices.  I placed the burger on top of all that, then placed the grilled onions on top of the burger.  On the top bun I spread some miso-dijon mayonnaise, then assembled the burger and plated it.

I served the umami burger with Umami Monster beer…

It was an Umami Tsunami.

Would I do it again?  Probably not, but it was a fun culinary exercise.

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Fire + Meat = Taco

Tags

beef, charcoal, flank steak, lump charcoal, tacos, the mighty hibachi

The Mighty Hibachi was fired up for the last time in Auckland.

Lump charcoal getting happy.

When the charcoal was ready, meat was tossed on the fire…

Flank steak getting happy.

When the steak was cooked, tacos were made…

My tummy getting happy.

Tacos de Carne Asada

Tags

guacamole, hardwood charcoal, mexican, skirt steak, tacos, the mighty hibachi

I was on a mission today to find skirt steak.

At the grocery stores here in NZ, what they call “skirt steak” is actually flank steak – an entirely different bit of cow.  When you ask the butcher at the meat counter, they tell you that’s all they get, boxed meat.  That is not acceptable!

What I needed was a proper butcher, someone who fabricates a whole side of beef.  As it turns out, there is a proper butcher just down the street.  But, would a Kiwi butcher know about skirt steak?  Only one way to find out.

I walked down to the butcher shop and asked for skirt steak.  He said, “just a minute” as he opened the door to the walk in cooler.  A moment later he returned with a package and handed it to me, “This is what you want.”

Indeed.  There it was:  skirt steak.

A proper skirt steak.

As it turns out, the butcher fabricates beef on Monday and Wednesday and I showed up just in time to buy the last one.  Lucky, as there are only four skirt steaks per animal.

Time to fire up The Mighty Hibachi!

Yeah, I know, the meat is already grilled.  I was paying so much attention to grilling the meat, I forgot to take a photo of the meat sizzling away over the coals.  You’ll just have to trust me.

I suppose now I’ll have to fire up The Mighty Hibachi another time, so I can take a couple pictures to share with you.

I heated a few corn tortillas on the plancha and made some fresh guacamole.  I would typically make these tacos with two tortillas per taco, but I did not have very many tortillas, so I went with a single tortilla.  Get over it.

Are you hungry?

Cthulhu versus The Mighty Hibachi

Tags

chargrill, chargrilled squid, hardwood charcoal, squid, the mighty hibachi

I picked up a couple of whole, uncleaned squid at the market today.  I cleaned the squid, then cut the mantle flat and cross-cut them into quarters.  The legs I simply cut in half.

I made a simple marinade of olive oil, diced red chiles, crushed garlic, fresh grated ginger, salt & pepper.  I mixed the squid bits with the marinade by hand, working the marinade into all the lovely cross-cuts and put it in the fridge while I set up the BBQ.

Time to fire up The Mighty Hibachi!

Chargrilling over hardwood charcoal gives good flavour.

When cooking squid, you either cook it quickly over a high heat or long and slow.  I chose to grill over direct heat.  The mantle cooked in less than 2 minutes.  The legs can stand a bit more heat, so I cooked them for about 6 minutes, turning every couple of minutes or so.  DO NOT OVERCOOK!

Chargrilled squid

Served with a lemon cheek, garlic bread, and lightly dressed baby spinach.  Well, it turns out I overdressed the greens.  I blame the beer.

The squid was tender and sweet, with a wonderful smoky flavour from the direct grilling over hardwood charcoal.  Simply delicious.

Grilled Cheeseburger

Tags

beef, cheeseburger, hamburger, the mighty hibachi

A grilled cheeseburger from The Mighty Hibachi.

 

Chargrilled over hardwood charcoal

Grilled Cheeseburger

Tags

beef, cheeseburger, grilled onions, hamburger, the mighty hibachi

This evening I fired up The Mighty Hibachi and grilled a couple burgers over hardwood charcoal, with grilled onions.

Medium rare. Delicious.