I’ve been eating pretty well lately, despite this being the exact time of year when I’m most likely to go off the rails. But you wouldn’t know it based on my YouTube viewing habits.
A while back, the BF introduced me to a YouTube channel called Hellthy Junk Food, and I recently got addicted. That monstrosity work of art you see in the image above is one of their creations. Their channel description says it all:
I would try not to take anything we do on this channel seriously…
Oh and we're not healthy
The couple who make the videos do a number of fast food remakes and oversized original creations. As somebody who loves grease and sometimes bizarre food combinations, I am sort of living vicariously through the channel. Many of the food creations are repulsive, but strangely mesmerizing. I will often simultaneously find the food horrifying, while also silently admitting to myself that I would probably eat it. Take, for example, mac and cheese inside fried chicken…
Or, perhaps the most ridiculous creation I’ve seen (so far)...pizza inside a burger inside pizza. That’s right, pizza filling stuffed inside a giant burger, sandwiched between two pizzas. Where is your god now?
And then there’s the giant meatball stuffed with spaghetti, because there are no rules anymore. Still better than Olive Garden!
There are many other similarly ridiculous food creations at the link above.
As for me, I’m eating something a little more reasonable tonight. At the BF’s job, he sometimes gets access to large quantities of food, and he recently brought me about four pounds of sirloin steaks. They don’t seem to be very good quality, and I don’t particularly want to eat them as steaks, so I’m making a big pan of bo luc lac, or Vietnamese “shaking beef” (so named because you “shake” the pan until the marinated beef is cooked, but I just use tongs because I lack flair).
I’ve made a few different versions of shaking beef, all using a large number of ingredients...always soy sauce, often fish sauce, sometimes oyster sauce, the list goes on. But nobody makes better shaking beef than the BF’s mom, so I asked for her recipe. I was shocked when I found out she only used soy sauce, black pepper, and garlic. I guess “keep it simple, stupid” applies here.
First, you combine the marinade ingredients. In this case, I’m using four tablespoons of soy sauce for a little over two pounds of beef, plus three smashed garlic cloves and a whole lot of freshly ground black pepper. Cut the beef into bite-size chunks and marinate for 15 minutes or so. Heat some oil in a pan until it is very, very hot—it won’t work well if the pan isn’t properly heated. Add the beef and stir-fry until cooked through (here’s where you’re supposed to “shake” the pan). The whole process shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.
Optionally, you can also cook some onions and/or peppers in the same pan—which I am tonight, because I feel guilty not eating any veggies. Once those are cooked, just re-add the beef and heat through. It’s best served with some kind of salad and/or rice.
What do you want to kibitz about tonight?