If you’re not familiar with Japanese “kushiage” its bite size breaded and perfectly deep-fried skewers of meat, seafood and vegetables. These small plates and skewers at Horon are made for sharing with your friends while you converse and drink the night away. All the different types of soju and sake will help your apprehensive friends become undaunted eaters (foodies).
Baby octopus, mochi cheese, lotus root with sea urchin and bacon wrapped mushrooms
Bacon wrapped cherry tomatoes and more baby octopus
Whats also great about Horon are all the other none fried dishes you can order like these truffled potatoes with blue cheese
Braised pork cheek
Uni-giri (sea urchin and rice wrapped in seaweed)
And one of my favorites, Wagyu beef liver sashimi (raw thinly sliced beef liver)
Usually I fry these wonton wrappers to make spicy tuna tostadas but I’ve always wanted to use them to make tacos. I’ve never seen wonton wrappers used like this before but they make perfect bite size hard tacos.
Cilantro and onion for the beef tongue
And scallions for the sashimi and Wagyu beef
Fresh Yellowtail
Grilled Shiitake mushrooms, beef tongue and Wagyu beef
Left- Soy sauce, apple, sugar, garlic and ginger marinated beef tongue with cilantro and onion. Middle- Shiitake mushrooms topped with daikon/cucumber slaw, spicy mayo and shredded seaweed. Right- Wagyu beef topped with scallions, sesame seeds and yuzu kosho vinaigrette.
At first I felt like we were being lazy when we decided to spend the 4th at home and bbq. I really didn’t expect anyone to come, years past I was all about the beach, drinking and risking that D.U.I. but I guess I’m just getting older. Well I’m glad a few people showed up like my childhood friend Jared a.k.a. The Bear, Ruel, his cousin and Shun. There’s nothing better than friends, drinks, music and good food.
Now I’m going to tell you how I cook my ribs. I’ve been doing it this way for years and every time they come out falling off the bone and amazing. Until I figure out a way to construct a smoker I swear this is the best way with an oven and charcoal grill.
First I marinate the ribs the night before with sea salt, brown sugar, garlic, onions, cumin, black pepper, cayenne pepper then wrapped each individual rack in foil.
The next day I throw em (still wrapped in foil) in the oven for 3 1/2 hours at 290 degrees. The foil will help keep all the moisture in and evenly cook the ribs.
Right before they’re done I’ll make a bbq sauce with ketchup, spiced vinegar, worchestershire sauce, honey and mustard seed. Then fire up the charcoal grill outside
Unwrap the ribs and lather the bbq sauce all over em. By now the ribs are completely cooked and ready to eat but the next part is just the icing on the cake.
Throw em on the grill for another 20 minutes to add some nice texture and a smokey taste
Can’t forget the shrimp
My ribs are better than yours
especially with pickle chips and beer
I started working with Shun a couple months ago. He’s from Japan, likes Muay Thai kickboxing and is a young talented chef. He came over and impressed everyone with his sushi skills..
You can tell a lot by the way a sushi chef makes a spicy tuna roll. Everything from the rice ratio, spiciness, quality of fish matters and these were absolutely perfect. It’s by far the best spicy tuna roll I’ve ever tasted.
A lot of people really don’t think of shabu shabu or sashimi as a meal that you make at home. It’s always about going out to eat and spending money at a nice restaurant. I never thought about it like this before but why would you go out to eat and pay to cook your own meal? Or if you love sashimi and have access to fresh fish why go somewhere to pay a arm and a leg for someone to slice it for you? I totally understand if it’s for the ambiance you’re looking for or you just feel like going out but come on man we’re in a recession, do it yourself…
Yellow tail sashimi with wasabi, green onions and ponzu sauce
This right here is $12 worth of rib eye and yellow tail from Marukai, $2 bag of salad from Trader Joes and a 12 pack of Red Stripe ($11.99) from the corner liquor store. Less than $30 and the 2 of us got full and buzzed…
Melts in your mouth
I pretty much give my meat a quick dunk in the dashi (broth), yep I like it raw…
When we’re done with most of the meat I like to throw in some somen noodles, this makes a rich, hearty soup!
