I don’t think the cooking process added to the heat inside all that much. But you could feel the heat trying to creep inside, so I dunno. Maybe it was the equivalent of inviting a vampire to come in.
The first part was outside, and it was the best part—I slow-smoked some mackerel fillets basted in soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil and rice vinegar and man did those come out great. I had a taste memory of being over at the house of the friend of my parents where smoked fish of some kind, not salmon, was served and really liking it. I cannot fully express my love for these smoked mackerel. I’m not sure anybody else was as in love with them as I was, but that’s ok.
Since that was outside, all I had to do was feed the charcoal now and again with smoking woods. Very hot even in the morning, but no problem to dash in and out again.
Inside, the usual layered process. It’s a stock, basically, so you blow through the things that make it flavorful, but if you do it right, mostly that’s all they’re good for already. I chose not to blow a whole chicken on it, and used chicken bones. Well, ok, to confess, that’s because my butcher gave me two bags of pork bones and one of them was chicken, which I didn’t know until unpacking it. Ok, fine, that’s a good idea—why the Momofuku book wants me to drop a whole chicken with good meat on it into a broth I dunno. Chicken bones first, pork bones second, it’s beautiful, and the broth is a nice balance between chickeny and porky.
The pork belly cooked up just right (tomorrow it’s in egg rolls with cabbage, what’s left of it). The broth cooked steadily down for six hours until it was ready for the tare, which I did in an uncomplicated way—mirin, white wine, soy sauce, rice vinegar—and bang! it was ready.
There was bit of sweatiness in the last part of the cook but mostly that was because I’d just finished cleaning the not-very-airconditioned upstairs bedroom, this being one of those Sundays where deep cleaning was on the schedule.
And a bowl of ramen did come forth, and it was good.
I was delicious, and I especially enjoyed the mackerel.