So, last night I’m into the evening ritual of drifting off to sleep to the culinary tones of “The Food Network” (what? A lullaby by any other name…). Dozing to fits of Guy Fieri hosting “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives”, at that hypnagogic border, something catches my ear:
Redneck sushi.
Barely intrigued, I half-turn with drooped lids to see what sort of sorry manglement is about to ensue. And, behold, the chef is wielding a pork shoulder (also called a Boston Butt). Rubbed and wrapped, set to a low heat, the man is lovingly going to slow-grill this gorgeous slab of pork.
I sit up.
Fully awake, I give my full attention as Ryan Cobb, the chef at the Colonnade Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, pulls apart a prepared slow-cooked pork. Much in the same way a pulled-pork sandwich is prepared, he separates and shreds the meat.
Then, he lays this pork onto the sushi rice with the seaweed wrap on the outside. With complete confidence and precision, he pulls the edges of the bamboo sushi mat and wraps this thing tight.
But, wait. There’s more.
He takes the roll and lightly coats it in cornstarch, then a wet batter, and proceeds to DEEP FRY the roll. At this point, I thought I was about to fall over.
Chef Cobb then plates this roll, with a chipoltle aioli drizzled over this fried work of grilled pork genius.
I spent last night fully awake, wishing I had some redneck sushi.
The recipe link, via “Food Network”: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/colonnade-restaurant–redneck-sushi-recipe/index.html
