There’s more barbecue fun in store in the seventh episode of The Chef Show, as Jon Favreau and Roy Choi attempt create their own barbecue for Aaron Franklin’s Hot Luck festival.
In the previous episode of Jon Favreau and Roy Choi’s The Chef Show, Aaron Franklin, owner of Franklin Barbecue, had given Favreau tips about how professionals cut their meat for barbecues. This love of barbecue had begun back when Franklin had appeared in Favreau’s 2014 film Chef, on which The Chef Show is based, when he had taught Favreau how to barbecue. Thus, it isn’t surprising that we are getting another barbecue themed episode on the show.
Barbecue Meat Tips
Franklin’s impact on Favreau was so strong that Favreau now regularly barbecues at home. However, there is something completely extraordinary about the taste of Franklin’s barbecue which Favreau has not been able to replicate at home. It’s all down to the fire, says Franklin, who knows how much, or how little, to turn the heat to impact the meat’s flavour. It’s a skill he has perfected over years but he also commends the quality of his wood fire smokers.
While enjoying Franklin’s meats, Favreau asks him an interesting question about how handedness affects meat. As Favreau explains to Choi, cows, like humans, are right or left handed, with there being more right-handers than left-handers. Cows lean on their dominant limb to raise themselves off the ground, which makes that limb becomes more muscular. The prevailing theory is that barbecue chefs buy only left briskets, as a result. But Franklin vehemently disagrees with this notion, insisting that there is a good mix of the two and chefs buy both.
Franklin’s love of barbecue is strong enough that he is holding a food festival exclusively for chefs. Called Hot Luck, the festival will bring together chefs from a variety of fields to try their hand at barbecuing. Favreau and Choi are delighted at the prospect… for now.
Roy’s Kalbi
Choi is making a version of his famous kalbi for Hot Luck. He starts by making a kalbi sauce and a kimchi for their meat. The sauce requires soy sauce, orange juice, sesame oil, mirin, onions, garlic, sesame seeds, pepper, and scallions—because Choi does nothing by half measures—which Favreau is tasked with stirring and blending. Except they don’t have a large enough blender, so they have to scoop out small portions and blend it in batches. It’s a very long, painful process.
But they make the most of it by chatting about Choi’s mom, and how his cooking style is so different from hers that they don’t cook together. But she is proud of her son, says Choi, as is evident from the massive wall-length shrine she has to him. He seems both embarrassed and happy as he relates this fact to Favreau.
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Once the sauce is all blended, it is poured over the meat evenly. There is a lot of pushing and pulling as they have to keep taking the meat out of a giant fridge, bringing it outside, pouring the sauce over it, and then taking it back to the fridge. Choi is in the zone but Favreau is exhausted. The meat looks ready to barbecue.
Kimchi
Kimchi usually takes time to ferment but as they don’t have that luxury, Choi has a few suggestions on how to make a great kimchi without sacrificing the flavour. Choi adds soy sauce, oyster sauce, water, and fish sauce, followed by an unbelievable amount of onions, spring onions, salt, and sugar. Two entire bottles of fish sauce are used in this process, along with a spicy red powder that gives the kimchi its distinctive colour and flavour. Choi and Favreau have successfully made vats of kimchi, and it looks delicious!
Roasted S’Mores
At Hot Luck, Franklin sets up an elaborate barbecue system for s’mores using a gas tank and coals. Rebecca Masson of Fluff Bake Bar joins them to barbecue this treat.
In a very colourful bowl, Masson puts together graham crackers, honeycomb, cereal, and chocolate pebbles and then slices up large pieces of marshmallow to roast over the open flame. She also adds hot chocolate fudge. It looks and feels like ice cream, says Choi, and the group thoroughly enjoy themselves eating these unusual s’mores.
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Smoked Meat
It’s the morning of Hot Luck and Choi and Favreau are up early to start smoking their meat. The first meat comes out of the smoker tasting great, but the texture is too tough for Choi’s liking. The heat is incredible from these smokers and both Favreau and Choi are absolutely melting. But there is a ton of meat to be put on these grills and they keep pushing till all of it is done. When the last piece is in, Favreau and Choi are more than relieved to close the smokers and escape the heat.
Franklin decides to take a look at Choi and Favreau’s meat and is a little concerned about how tightly packed the pieces are. The meat is also a bit too close to the open flame. He puts a log of wood between the flame and the meat so the heat can flow over the meat instead of burning it. The meat cooks for five hours and looks beautiful.
Korean Barbecue
Now, onto the second stage. Choi is ready to grill but disaster strikes. The grill needs to be lowered but the mechanism is stuck. It’s not going down no matter what they try, until one of Franklin’s chef arrives with a shovel and gives the grill an almighty whack. It goes down and grilling commences. Chefs, they’re just like us, hitting things to make them work.
Choi instructs Favreau on how to grill the meat but it’s not an easy task. Choi needs him to baste the meat every time he turns it and Favreau also needs to keep an eye on it to ensure that the caramelization process doesn’t turn to burning. The grill is hot but Favreau perseveres.
At his stall, Choi serves their Korean barbecue with rice and kimchi and it is flying off the shelves. So, Choi and Favreau take a break to give the other chefs some of their offerings while also trying out their food. The food looks amazing all around and Franklin ends his festival a delighted man.
Tips for Home Cooks:
· Want to make a quick kimchi? Try leaving it in the kitchen instead of putting it in the fridge. Alternatively, you could add more salt to it to make it ferment faster.
· For the kimchi preparation, mix all the liquids together first, and then add the solids.
· When using marinated meat for barbecues, scrape off as much of the barbecue as you can before putting it on the grill.
Final Thoughts
I wasn’t sure I wanted two back to back episodes about barbecue in The Chef Show, but this was incredible. I loved the care and finesse that Choi took over his barbecue and how much Favreau really enjoys the art. Seeing the process from start to finish, especially through the eyes of two people who are amateurs in this field, was revelatory. Having learnt about the history and importance of barbecue in Austin, Texas, it made the efforts of the chefs that much more poignant and enjoyable as a penultimate episode.
The Chef Show is streaming on Netflix internationally.