Definitely one of my favorite snacks of all time, why before I even started chewing tobacco (did it for 10 years and successfully went cold turkey a few years back) I started with that jerky that was sold in containers matched specifically to the ones used for Copenhagen...coincidence? Absolutely!But I digress ;)
This is the 5th go around with beef jerky and I will say that after my first batch last year the quality has steadily gone downhill...until now!
When I say the quality has gone downhill I attribute it primarily to 2 things: the cuts of meat used (progressively fattier..which we know does not work so well w/jerky), and when sliced I have made the pieces progressively thicker, which equals longer drying time and therefore tougher/harder jerky.
Flash forward to this weekend as my wife and I had just finished our weekly "Korean breakfast", which is essentially every Sunday when we dont eat anything in the AM and head off to Chicag
o Foods (AKA JoonGBoo) to catch them when they open up at 10am prior to the heavy lunch crowd. It should be pointed out that Chicago Foods is a Asian Grocery Store and the restaurant area consists of 5 tables and a bar area...and is the best Korean food this city has to offer (plus is the only place we've found that has Korean Blood Sausage soup on the menu..and the sausage to purchase..more on that very soon ;) )So the point of bringing our weekly trip to Chicago Foods is this: Bulgogia Korean bbq is a meat dish that consists of thinly sliced pieces of beef ( you see where this is going eh?) and then....well no point to go further then right?
Yep, so sliced Bulgogi meat, approx 1/8 inch thickness is good meat for jerky (ie low-medium quality sirloin cut) and is fairly low fat. What fat there is is often on the fringes of the cut and easily removed if desired.
Process and ingredients are very straightforward, and is partially borrowed from "Charcuterie":
2.25 lbs thinly sliced beef
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tsp garlic powder
.75 tsp Cayenne pepper
.5 tsp Saracha Sauce
1.5 tbsp Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Worcester Sauce
1.5 tbsp fresh ground peppercorn
-Mix all of the above into a bowl, let cure for 24 hours under refrigeration. After a day in the box bring it out and utilize a well ventilated surface (which I picked up at the Korean Store as well-seen in the pic) and possibly your oven (dependant on the temp you can achieve-ideally 85 degrees will do well) and let dry out for 18-24 hours.
Presto! You've got jerky! And for approx $6 for the beef and seasoning you've got a high quality jerky in the amount that would cost you over $20 easily at any Grocer. Cheers!
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4 comments:
Just a completely random thought - would beer beef jerky be possible? Perhaps take a dark lager, I would say Chechvar Dark but I am not sure you can get that in the US - marinade the meat in it overnight then follow the process as usual. As I say just a thought.
..and a really good thought I might add!
The thought had crossed my mind as well. I'm not familiar with Chechvar Dark but I would think that using something slightly sour and sweet (like a Rodenbach for example) would make for an interesting twist on beef jerky.
If you go this route I would just advise not to use too much beer for the marinade, maybe just a tablespoon or two per pound (which I might point out leaves it up to you to finish the brew) and give it 24 hours to marinade.
Cheers!
Brian
which I might point out leaves it up to you to finish the brew - oh drat, have to finish the bottle, how will I cope? ;)
Planning a dark beer version this weekend - assuming I can find saracha sauce somewhere.
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