Doin' the Cha Cha

Each week, a challenge is issued on Serious Eats' Weekend Cook and Tell. This week, the subject was Sriracha.

Bug and I knew we weren't going to be eating in much this weekend with all the Memorial Day weekend snacking events going on. Our plan was to make kimbap and gyoza to snack on between, uhh, snacks; however, we recently bought some salmon, chuck roast, asparagus, and cauliflower that HAD to be used.

I mentioned the Weekend Cook and Tell to Bug and he whipped this up for dinner last night as we watched Terminator.

Sriracha no aji

I promise, the food actually tasted better than it looks in this picture. I had time for two shots before the hungry lion wanted to eat my camera.

Bug grilled three batches of sliced beef chuck roast with different seasoning:
- peanut butter, shoyu, sesame oil, and sriracha marinade
- shoyu and sriracha marinade
- S&B Japanese curry powder

Each of the cuts sat in their respective marinades and dry rub for ~30 minutes while the sides were being prepped.

The peanut butter marinated beef reminded me of a dish my mother used to make when I was a child with beef spare ribs. In addition to the peanut butter, shoyu, and sesame, she also used grated ginger, miso, and brown sugar.

The sides were:
- steamed white rice with hijiki and slivered carrots sprinkled on top -- the seaweed and carrots were simmered in shoyu and mirin
- steamed asparagus
- steamed cauliflower

At the center of the platter is a dollop of Kewpie mayonnaise to dip the asparagus and cauliflower. Sriracha is scribbled along the side of the dish as a dip, mainly for the cauliflower in conjunction with the mayo, but I dipped the beef in it too.

I enjoy what a little sriracha injects into dishes, teasing our taste buds to have fun and dance a little.

Bug also grilled salmon dry-seasoned with lemongrass, curry, and Hawaiian sea salt. By the time I remembered we had salmon, it was already half eaten.

Salmon skin

In a little bowl off to the side, a leaf of crispy salmon skin sat neglected waiting for me. It's my favorite part of salmon, whether it's soft and chewy or charred and crispy, with its punctuated fishy goodness.

Watermelon

We capped the meal with a few slices of cold, refreshing seedless watermelon.

Many thanks to Bug for humoring me with this delicious meal!

Having revisited Terminator for the first time in over 20 years, I have come to further appreciate the great job McG did with Terminator Salvation. I was also reminded how 80's some of the music sounded, not so much the industrial sounding music that's lasted throughout the series, but the bleep-bleep-bleep Casiotone synthesizers. LOL

It's put me in the mood to watch Runaway with Tom Selleck and Gene Simmons!

- Cassaendra