Momofuku Fried Chicken and Spicy Tamarind Dipping Sauce with Roasted GARLIC Caesar Salad "Steak"

I'm not going to lie.

This fried chicken took a long time to make.

If you don't love and enjoy the process of cooking,

skip this recipe.

BUT! If you are willing to leap over metaphorical mountains inorder to sink your teeth into one of the moistest (I hate that word, moist. Eck.) chickens you'll ever eat, please accept the challenge and begin the fried chicken journey.

I'm not going to post Momofuku's recipe, because it can be found here. BUT! I will warn you that this chicken will require

brining, steaming, AND frying.

Yeah.

Make sure you love the process.

I will, however, post the GARLIC caesar dressing and tamarind recipe. Please see below. Best. Lany :)

Roasted GARLIC Caesar Dressing

Please note that there is a lot of garlic in this recipe (hence the all caps). If you're not a huge fan of garlic, you can reduce the amount used and please use lowercase letters.

P.S. I call it a "steak" because the romaine was left whole.

1 head of garlic
1 1/2 cups of olive oil
6 anchovies, minced (oh, just add it and stop being a wuss!)
1/4 cup of dijon mustard
1 lemon, juiced
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. 

3. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic

4. Place the garlic head on a sheet of foil and drizzle half of the olive oil on top, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Wrap the foil up tightly and place wrapped bulb on baking sheet.  

5. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.

6. Allow the garlic to cool enough so you can touch it without burning yourself. 

7. Use a small small knife cut the skin slightly around each clove. 

8. Remove the cloves from the oil, reserving the oil, and in a medium bowl, mash until smooth.

9. Stir in the anchovies and mustard. While stirring, add the lemon juice, vinegar. Continue stirring and add the reserved roasted garlic oil and additional oil in a slow steady stream.

10. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper.

11. Transfer to a sealed container and refrigerate until needed.


Tamarind Dipping Sauce

I eat this sauce like how I ate mayo in highschool (thank goodness I got over THAT phase). I eat it with everything - fish, chicken, pork, steak, a nice platter of crudite, whatever needs a little kick.


2 tablespoons of tamarind paste
2 limes, juiced
1 red thai chili pepper, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish with 1 tablespoons of chopped cilantro

Mix the first 5 ingredients until well blended. Top with chopped cilantro.