It wasn't triumph but my storyteller's instinct that had me dialing Mom at 8:30 the following morning.
"I don't understand why was he giving you such a hard time." she said.
"I guess he figured he knew more about grilling than some woman."
"Who was he?"
"Unfortunately he was the client, the drunken client."
"Where were you?"
"Rosemary Beach, I told you."
"No, I mean on a deck or what?"
"If we'd been on a deck I'd be toast by now. And sued penniless. No, we were in the patio, downstairs."
"You should have paid more attention to the bag." she said.
"It was pitch black out, Mom, and he'd been hovering around almost an hour, shoving the bag at me. I couldn't take it any longer so I grabbed it and poured. That's when I realized it was that charcoal with the lighter fluid in it, you know? It works really well. So I threw it. The whole flaming bag, like a meteor, and you won't believe this but it landed flat dab in the middle of the driveway."
"Did he say oops or something?"
"Neither of us said a word at first, we just stared at it sort of fascinated for a minute then he nodded and said, 'Good throw.' So I put my ribs on."
"What about the bag?"
I shrugged over the phone line. "It was kinda smoldering in the driveway when I left."
Bulgogi - Korean Ribs
5 pounds flanken beef ribs
Marinade:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup mirin
1 cup pear juice
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons roughly chopped garlic
1 cup roughly chopped green onions
1/2 cup roughly chopped shallots
1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh ginger
2 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
2 teaspoons Srirachi or other hot sauce
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1. Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Put the ribs into a large, non-reactive, oven-proof container and cover with the marinade. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
2. In the morning, pour off the marinade into a saucepan, cover the ribs tightly with foil and bake at 325 for three hours. Remove the ribs from the oven and, if not finishing immediately, pour off the fat and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Remove the ribs from the refrigerator a half hour before you want to cook them.
3. Reduce the marinade over medium-low heat until thickened to a syrupy consistency.
4. When ready to serve, baste ribs with the reduced marinade and grill for 5 to 10 minutes until heated through. They can also be baked at 400 for 15 minutes or until heated through.
Asian Pear Slaw
1/2 head Napa cabbage shredded finely
8 (or so) green onions chopped finely
2 Asian pears (or regular pears) cut into strips (julienned)
Vinaigrette
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon or so grated ginger
1 medium clove garlic minced
1-2 T sugar, to taste
1/4 c light oil
1-2 teaspoons Srirachi to taste
salt to taste
Whisk the dressing ingredients until the sugar disolves and toss over salad.
The salad is best if it's allowed to sit in the dressing for at least an hour before serving.
