(no subject)

[ursamajor]

It may just be the two of us this year, but does that ever stop me from going over the top ahahaha nope.

So a couple of weeks ago, I went down my favorite kind of foodie rabbit hole:

1. Start thinking about this year’s Thanksgiving menu

2. Lechon kawali (deep fried pork belly) for our main?

3. What do we do for a stuffing-type side? *lightning bolt* SIOPAO STUFFING! Probably asado, better juices for the stuffing that way.

4. Thoughts: how would a steamed bread behave differently from a baked one when it comes to stuffing? Obviously the crust is different. How do we stale or toast it? Do I have to divide it into buns ahead of time or am I actually better off just trying to steam one gigantic mantou and then slice it up?

5. … Wait, isn’t Boston brown bread steamed? I’m pretty sure I’ve seen recipes for Boston brown bread stuffing before. And that’s a whole loaf in a can, albeit a more dense crumb than for pork buns …

6. *searches* Hey, tons of results for Boston brown bread stuffing! (Bon Appetit, MC Perkins Cove (where memerath and mamdvany spent the Fourth of July so many summers ago)) … how about for Boston brown bread itself? *searches* first result: Boston brown bread, New York Times. Awww, hi Matt Jennings and Meghan Thompson and Townsman!

7. “This version dials down the cloying sweetness and amps up the flavor with a totally different manifestation of beans: doenjang, the funky Korean paste made from fermented soybeans.”

8. … Yeah, based on this, I can TOTALLY make a siopao stuffing! One thing hasn't changed in 2020: I'm all or nothing for Thanksgiving feasts, no in-between, pandemic or no. 🙂

So basically, we are very much having Porksgiving over here with a side of crab rangoon. Said experimental siopao asado stuffing just went into the oven; the pork belly is currently dry-chilling before its 4 pm date with a bubbling oil bath. We're about halfway through the checklist for Thanksgiving dinner:

X Cranberry Asian pear chutney (Kay Chun, perennial)
X Hobakjuk (Maangchi)
X Lap cheong gravy (Cynthia Chen McTernan)
X Sigeumchi namul (Sunny Lee)
X Siopao stuffing - starting with Lalaine Manalo's base recipe for siopao asado
X Cornbread bibingka (Liza Agbanlog)
X Sujeonggwa
X Apple cider sticky buns (Joanne Chang, from her Pastry Love cookbook)
/ Lechon kawali (Lalaine Manalo) (boil and air dry W, fry Th)
- Crab rangoon (Bee Yinn Low) (for apps, make Th)
- Fruit plate (persimmons, satsumas, shingo pear; for apps, make Th)
- Saelsim to go in the juk (Th)
- Scallion mashed potatoes (Woks of Life) (Th)
- rice (Th)
- the mangos did not ripen in time but honestly between the bibingka and leftover sticky buns we may not need more dessert

God, this has been a weird year, but at least we made it to Thanksgiving again. Though I have mild concerns for the mental health of our upstairs neighbors, who have been playing Oasis' Don't Look Back In Anger for the last 2.5 hours straight. It's a good song! But I'm still somewhat perplexed - why this song? Oh well, I'll put on John Denver and the Muppets soon enough.