Serious Eats: The Nasty Bits

The Nasty Bits: Chicharrones Guisados (Stewed Fried Pork Rinds)

2013-01-04T13:30:00Z

Pork cracklings are one of those foods I can't keep in the house, along with potato chips and cereal. Here's another way to eat them: stewed in sauce. Read More

The Nasty Bits: Liver Stuffing

2012-11-16T13:45:00Z

Take my word for it: if you love stuffing, and you happen to love or even like liver, then your Thanksgiving stuffing will be indeed be made ten times better with the addition of liver. Read More

The Nasty Bits: Spicy and Tingly Lamb's Face Salad from Xian Famous Foods

2012-10-26T14:00:00Z

<Xian Famous Foods in New York City specializes in, as its name might suggest, the famous foods of Xian in Northern China. The restaurant is known for its great noodles, buns, and meat. Most of all, its sauce —the spicy, oily, tongue-numbing, chock-full-of-cumin sauce which coats this lamb's face salad. Read More

The Nasty Bits: Bowl Steamed Pork Belly

2012-10-12T16:35:00Z

Bowl-steamed pork belly is one of those Chinese dishes that's so wonderfully complex and convoluted that you just have to surrender to its demands, if you are to properly cook it at all. Read More

The Nasty Bits: Momofuku-Style Bo Ssam, But With More Hocks and Trotters

2012-10-02T16:45:00Z

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in Momofuku with friends eating a whole pork shoulder, slow roasted so the skin turns out crispy and the flesh very tender, and served with rice, kimchi, and scallion oil. I was enjoying myself immensely except for one tiny problem: there wasn't enough skin to go around the table. That's where the hocks and trotters come in. Read More

The Nasty Bits: Pig Parts Sugo

2012-09-25T16:00:00Z

Sugo is usually made with guanciale, or unsmoked pork jowl, but I wanted to see what would happen if I used any smoked pork, plus a fresh cut. The results were mighty good. The fresh cuts, especially with skin and bones, gave body to the sauce. The smoked parts added depth. Read More

The Nasty Bits: Beef Trim Sukiyaki

2012-09-18T17:00:00Z

Make your sukiyaki with beef trim scraps. The trim is pretty easy to come by at a butcher shop, so the next time a craving hits, go out and get some beef scraps. Read More

The Nasty Bits: Trotters Tom Yum

2012-09-11T12:45:00Z

What can you do with a pig's foot, lemongrass, and a few bird's eye chilies? Make trotter tom yum, that's what! Imagine the spicy and sour flavors of tom yum with the richness of pork. Read More

The Nasty Bits: Grilled Pork Neck, Thai Style

2012-09-04T17:00:00Z

These neck bones are marinated in fish sauce and sugar then roasted and served with a spicy tamarind dipping sauce that's just the right complement for the fatty cut. Read More

The Nasty Bits: Another Tongue Sandwich

2012-08-28T16:45:00Z

This here tongue sandwich is an adaption of one by chef April Bloomfield. Grilled tongue with horseradish, bitter greens, and green sauce. It's one of the nicest tongue and sauce combinations I've ever had. Read More

The Nasty Bits: Pig Ears Larb

2012-08-21T17:00:00Z

Usually at Thai places you'll see larb, a ground meat salad of sorts, with ground pork or beef, though larb can be comprised of any number of animal parts. I got this idea for pig ear and liver larb from Zabb Elee, an Isan Thai restaurant in New York. Read More

The Nasty Bits: Tongue Cemita Sandwich

2012-08-14T12:30:00Z

I used to think that the best usage for beef tongue in Mexican cuisine was tacos de lengua, but that just goes to show you how little I know about tongues. Turns out I like tongue cemitas just as much as tongue tacos, if not more. A cemita is a class of Mexican sandwich with meat, avocado, white cheese, onions and some sort of red sauce, usually on a sesame seed roll. Regional variations abound. Read More

The Nasty Bits: Oxtail Marmalade

2012-08-07T22:00:00Z

I bet you never thought you'd utter oxtail and marmalade in the same breath. It is a sweet dish, sweetened with brown sugar and rich with red wine and red wine vinegar. There is something distinctly jam-like, I'll admit, about spreading the oxtail on toast. Read More

The Nasty Bits: How to Eat Bone Marrow

2012-07-31T16:00:00Z

Bone marrow is such a stand-out ingredient. You can't just throw it on a plate, and pretend like it's any old cut. Either contrast it with acidic and refreshing flavors or accent its fattiness with something even richer. Here are six ways you can eat it. Read More

The Nasty Bits: Quail

2012-07-24T13:30:00Z

I bought six little quails all for myself. They taste sort of like tiny ducks since their breast meat is dark rather than white. I cooked the six quails in different ways, on different days, and dined alone. My favorite way was the simmered quail with mustard and capers. Read More