burgs n' dawgz

Pics from today's luncheon:

dawgs in the warm-water bath

I got this Yuk Gong Yuk (Six-Oh-Six) brand of dogs. The meat emulsion is definitely Korean style (see how the meat is dotted), but the shape of the dogs is reminiscent of what you might find with some sausages in Europe, i.e., long and skinny. True to Korean style, the dogs came in natural casings, which surprisingly proved problematic. I pan-fried the dogs first to get a nice sear on them, then I finished them in beer, simmering them for ten minutes... which led to the casings peeling partway off, resulting in dogs that looked like burn victims with their flesh falling off the bone. So I went in with two sets of tongs, held the dogs down, and peeled away as much loose skin as I could. Gross.

coleslaw and the boss's sauerkraut (Costco)

bread and condiments (small bottle on the right is Kev's Special Sauce)

As you see, I didn't toast the burger buns as I'd wanted to:

the boss's burger

At least the baked beans smelled good—what I could smell of them:

baked beans and pickles

my burger

I tried a burger-making method that seems trendy at the moment, and it's based on what is supposedly a bit of food science: you take a large ring mold and pack it with ground beef—gently, not tightly. You then carefully transfer that loose patty to your skillet and let 'er rip. The point of packing the meat loosely is to allow the juices to flow more freely between the strands and clumps of meat, supposedly resulting in a juicier burger. I can now say with authority that I disagree completely with this method. Maybe the burger is juicier, but the result of this method is a crumbly patty (and these days, we all feel permitted to eat crumbly burgers because smash burgers are crumbly) with what I feel is an overly soft, meat-loafy texture. I did one burger patty the experimental way, then switched back to the way I usually make my burgers: I either ball them up tightly and press them into flat discs on the skillet, or I pat them into tight, firm burger shapes that I then flop down onto the skillet. Either way, the result is denser, but in my opinion, the burger is more coherent, has a better chew to it, and still remains juicy. So no more ring molds for Uncle Kevin. That shit is silly. If you like soft, crumbly burgers, you do you. But for me...no, thanks.

What I was really looking forward to, though, was this:

my skinny chili dawgz (cheese underneath and not visible)

I could barely taste them, but the chili dogs were awesome, and the buns, despite being smaller than expected, had a very nice texture. Coupang was selling the Shilla Bakery buns that you can buy at Costco, but I hate those because (1) they have a strange texture and (2) they fall apart at the hinge way too easily. These hot-dog buns, Gom-Gom brand, came individually wrapped and were the perfect taste and texture. They're pretty close to American-style hot-dog buns, so I'll be using these again whenever I next do anything hot-dog-related. And even though the Yuk Gong Yuk franks were a little long, they weren't too long compared to the buns:

my chili dawgz: food-porn angle

With my blunted sense of taste and smell, I was kind of able to enjoy lunch, but I had to rely on the reactions of my boss and coworker to know how the food really was. My Korean coworker went back for seconds and thirds; my boss did one burger and one dog, and I did a burger and two dogs. My coworker said he loved everything; my boss proclaimed the food "good," as he does in his usual blunt, ineloquent way. We now have a mid-size fridge, so I can store leftovers in that instead of having to lug everything home or store it all in the communal fridge in our company's kitchenette. I'm probably going to eat some burgers and dogs over the weekend (which will mean coming into the office on Saturday and/or Sunday), then try to get back to the discipline next week. That may be hard to do because we've got a ton of bread to get rid of: Coupang doesn't sell small packages of bread. The hamburger and hot-dog buns were both sold in 20-packs, and even with each of us having several sandwiches, a lot was left over. So I foresee a few days of cold-cut sandwiches or even mini-meatball subs as a way to get rid of the hot-dog buns. (This is therefore an opportunity to make pesto and something marinara-ish.) The leftover beans and cole slaw will be devoured fairly quickly.

So that was lunch. Oh, yeah: the boss did notice that the burgers had a little something extra: I had added a bit of Korean pancetta to increase the fat content of the burgers, and some of the porkiness came through in the burger-patty cooking process. Otherwise, these were standard, Kevin-style burgers: I ground up a lot of skirt steak and a little pancetta, then added salt (only a little because of the pork), pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, chili flakes, and a touch of oregano. This is my standard way to make burgers; it gives the patties an ever-so-slight Italian flavor profile, and while that might close off some possibilities, it opens up others. For example: my burgers go well with all different kinds of cheeses (American, cheddar, Gruyère, Emmenthal, bleu/Gorgonzola/Stilton, chèvre, etc.), and toppings like bacon, mushroom, etc. So while I'm fine with good old salt and pepper as seasoning, I've developed my way of jazzing up burger meat, and I'm sticking with it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

Next month, the boss is inviting us to his place, partly to celebrate my birthday (which I don't really want him to do: I prefer celebrating that alone these days), partly just to have a get-together. Our former American coworker might make an appearance, too. Upshot: I won't be cooking anything in August. It'll be nice to have a break.