Cluttered Kitchen Keto

When I posted my recipe for Char Siu pork belly, I mentioned that I had plans for the leftovers, and if it worked I’d post it here. Well, last night I ended up making these Mu Shu tacos, and they were as good as I was hoping they’d be. So here they are!

This does take a bit of effort, but it’s entirely worth it. The first thing you’ll need to do is save your leftover hoisin sauce from the original pork belly. It’ll last for a while in the fridge, as nothing in it is particularly perishable. You’ll also need to make a second full batch. Keep them separate, because the new batch will go into the cabbage mix and the leftovers can be drizzled on the tacos. As for the leftover pork, for this recipe I used half of the pork belly. To prepare it for this recipe, cut it in half crosswise and slice it thinly lengthwise, then set it aside for now. After the pork belly is sliced, put two large dried wood ear mushrooms in a heatproof bowl and cover them with boiling water. Set those aside for at least 20 minutes, which incidentally is the amount of time it’ll take to make the rest of the stuff.

You also need to make tortillas, so get those started first, as they’re going to take the longest. Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat it to medium. I use this avocado oil variety, which you can get from Costco or Amazon. For the tortillas, I use a recipe that has pork rinds as a base. While you can use regular pork rinds, I used pork rind crumbs so there were no chunks from underblending.

Mu Shu Pork Tacos

A good way to use your leftover Sous Vide Char Siu Pork Belly in a fun fusion form.

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 50 mins

Course Main Course

Servings 6

Calories 549 kcal

Equipment

• Sous vide apparatus
• Blender

Ingredients

  

For the Tortillas

• 4 ounces pork rinds or pork rind crumbs
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 8 large eggs
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• cooking spray

For the Taco Filling

• 1/2 recipe Char Siu Pork Belly see recipe below
• 1.5 recipe Keto Hoisin sauce divided; see notes above and recipe below
• 3 ounces thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 1 lb. shredded coleslaw mix
• 2 large dried wood ear mushrooms
• 1 bunch green onions

Instructions

 

For the Tortillas

• Put all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
• Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat and coat with cooking spray. Add approximately 1/3 cup of batter for each tortilla, swirling the pan around to create a 5-6" circle. Cook each tortilla until the edges firm up, then flip over and continue until cooked through, about 4 minutes total. Put the tortillas into a warm oven to hold until serving.

For the Taco Filling

• Put the wood ear mushrooms into a heatproof bowl and cover them with boiling water. Set them aside as you complete the rest of the recipe, at least 20 minutes.
• Thinly slice your pork belly into approximately 4-inch long strips. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Put the pork belly strips into the Dutch oven and cook, turning frequently, until the pieces are crispy, about 8 minutes total. Put the finished pieces on a paper towel-lined plate to drain, then put them in the warm oven with the tortillas. You will likely need to do this in two batches.
• When the pork belly is finished cooking, drain the leftover grease from the pan, then return it to the heat. Add your sliced shiitake mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add the coleslaw mix and one full recipe of the keto hoisin sauce and stir to combine. Using kitchen shears, thinly slice the wood ear mushrooms into the Dutch oven, then stir again and reduce the heat to low. Finally, use the same shears to slice the green onions, green parts only, into 1-inch strips. Put those into the Dutch oven, stir until they're just beginning to wilt, then remove the mixture from the heat.
• To assemble the tacos, put two slices of pork belly on a taco, then top with some of the coleslaw mixture and drizzle with the leftover hoisin sauce. Serve immediately.
• Macros per serving (2 tacos): 549 calories, 8 grams net carbs, 38 grams protein, 39 grams fat. The fat and calories may actually be lower, because the pork belly is cooked to remove more of the fat than usual.

Keyword Asian, keto, lchf, low carb, pork, tacos, tortillas

Sous Vide Char Siu Pork Belly

A tender and succulent pork belly with a sweet marinade, sous vide braised and finished on the grill.

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 7 hrs 30 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 20

Calories 479 kcal

Equipment

• Sous vide apparatus
• Vacuum sealer
• Gas or charcoal grill

Ingredients

  

For the Keto Hoisin Sauce

• 4 tbsp soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos
• 2 tbsp natural peanut butter no sugar added
• 1 tbsp Sukrin Gold fiber syrup or similar honey substitute
• 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• black pepper to taste

For the Pork Belly and Marinade

• 4 pounds pork belly skin off
• 1/4 cup granular Swerve sweetener
• 1/4 cup sugar-free ketchup
• 2 tbsp Keto Hoisin Sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp sriracha
• 3/4 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• red food coloring optional

Instructions

 

For the Hoisin Sauce

• Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Save two tablespoons for the pork marinade and refrigerate the rest for future use.

For the Pork Belly

• Put water in the sous vide vessel and heat it to 176 degrees Fahrenheit (80 celsius). If your pork belly is too large to fit in your sous vide vessel, cut it in half.
• Put the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Put half of the marinade into a ramekin and refrigerate it. Brush the other half onto both sides of the pork belly.
• Put the pork belly into vacuum sealer bag(s) and seal it using the moist food/gentle settings. Place the bags into the water bath for 6-8 hours.
• When you're almost ready to remove the pork, set up a gas or charcoal grill for indirect cooking. For the gas grill, turn on some of the burners to medium-high, but leave one set of burners off. For a charcoal grill, put the charcoal on one side of the grill only. If you can, place an aluminum drip pan underneath the unlit side of your grill to reduce the likelihood of a flare-up.
• Carefully remove the bags from the water bath. Cut them open to drain the fluid from the bags, being especially careful if you used the red food coloring in the marinade. Pat the pork dry and coat it with the remaining marinade. Place it fatty side up on the unheated side of your grill and cook for about ten minutes, turning once, until it begins to get char spots. To serve, slice it thinly.
• See the notes above for instructions on how to freeze half of it for cooking later if you won't need all the servings at once.
• Macros per serving (a little over 3 ounces): 479 calories, 1 gram net carbs, 9 grams protein, 50 grams fat. The actual totals on this are likely a little lower, as some of the marinade is lost from the liquid drained from the sous vide bags, but it's impossible to calculate that, so I just included all of it.

Keyword Chinese, condiments, keto, lchf, low carb, pork, sous vide

As you may have noticed after the Fathead Runzas post, I’m on a kick of doing keto versions of regional recipes. This one was actually my husband’s idea, when I asked him to brainstorm famous sandwiches I could make using chaffles. He thought for a second and then said “How about a Po’ Boy?” The wheels started spinning, and here I am with another recipe. I’m feeling a bit like Ignis from Final Fantasy XV these days, but I’ll take it.

The base of this one is the chaffle recipe. I waffled (ha!) between doing the standard Wonder Bread chaffle or trying something a little different. For this one, I did a modification of the Wonder Bread recipe by adding Greek yogurt instead of the mayonnaise. This gives it a sourdough taste. And since the standard Po’ Boy is on a baguette, I added shredded cheddar to the top and bottom to give that crispy outside. So to make them, whisk together two eggs, two tablespoons of almond flour, two tablespoons of full-fat Greek yogurt, and 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder. For each chaffle, sprinkle a tablespoon of cheddar directly onto your preheated Dash mini-waffle iron, pour 1/4 of the batter onto it (you may need to spread it around with the back of a spoon or rubber spoonula), and top with another tablespoon of cheddar before closing the iron. Cook for 3-5 minutes. I usually like to go closer to 5, but it’ll depend on how hot your Dash runs. You can check on them without doing them any damage. Keep going until you have 4 chaffles.

While you’re cooking the chaffles, you can work on the Cajun slaw sandwich topping. Start off with a cup of shredded coleslaw mix and put it in a small bowl. In another small bowl or ramekin, stir together 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon of full-fat Greek yogurt, a teaspoon of Tabasco sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon each of Worcestershire sauce and Cajun seasoning. Pour that into the bowl with the slaw and stir to coat. Easy peasy!

The fish is a bit less easy, but it’s still completely doable. You’ll want two filets of a flat white fish. The gold standard is catfish, but I used flounder because it’s what I had. Tilapia would also be fine. Make sure they’re about 3-4 ounces each. On a large plate, combine 1/3 cup each of grated Parmesan cheese (I like the shelf-stable variety since it’s a bit dryer, but make sure you find a brand you trust) and pork rind crumbs. Add a teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, as well as black pepper to taste. Toss all of those to combine and set it next to your cooktop. In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup of heavy cream with 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice. It’ll thicken up and make a buttermilk-like substance, only with many fewer carbs. Heat up 1/4 cup of avocado oil in your enameled cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. When it’s hot enough, dip your fish into the buttermilk, coat with the crumbs, then place it very carefully into the oil. Cook for 3 minutes per side. I like to turn these with a flexible pancake turner because it supports the fish and keeps it from breaking up as it turns. It’s also really thin, so it’s less likely to knock off any of the coating. You know that meme about how by the time you’re in your 30s, you have a favorite spatula? This has been mine for several years now.

To plate this, top a chaffle with the fish, top the fish with some sliced tomato if you want, top the tomato with the slaw, and then put the top bun on. Make sure you eat it with some extra napkins, because it gets messy!

Chaffle Po’ Boy

Take a trip to New Orleans without leaving home by making this low-carb keto po' boy sandwich.

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Course Main Course, sandwich

Cuisine American

Servings 2

Calories 801 kcal

Equipment

• Dash mini-waffle iron

Ingredients

  

For the Chaffles

• 2 large eggs
• 2 tbsp almond flour
• 2 tbsp full-fat plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

For the Cajun Slaw

• 1 cup coleslaw mix
• 3 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp full-fat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp Tabasco sauce
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning

For the Fried Fish

• 1/4 cup avocado oil
• 2 3-4 ounce flat white fish filets catfish, flounder, or tilapia
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup pork rind crumbs
• 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• black pepper to taste

For Assembly

• 1 medium Roma tomato sliced

Instructions

 

For the Chaffles

• Mix together the eggs, almond flour, yogurt, and baking powder in a small bowl until it's a smooth batter.
• Preheat your Dash. Once the light turns off, sprinkle a tablespoon of the cheddar onto the grate, then pour 1/4 of the batter on top. You may need to spread it out with the back of a spoon as the batter is thick. Sprinkle another tablespoon of cheddar on top, close the Dash, and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the cheese is crispy and golden brown. Repeat for the remaining 3 chaffles.

For the Cajun Slaw

• Put the coleslaw mix into a medium bowl. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, yogurt, tabasco, Worcestershire, and Cajun seasoning. Pour over the coleslaw mix and toss to combine.

For the Fried Fish

• Heat the oil in an enameled cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.
• In a bowl, mix the heavy cream and lemon juice together until it thickens. Place the bowl near your cooking surface.
• On a dinner plate, combine the Parmesan, pork rind crumbs, Old Bay, garlic powder, and pepper until evenly mixed. Place the plate near your cooking surface.
• Dip a fish filet in the cream mixture, then dredge in the crumbs. Place it gently into the oil and repeat with the remaining fish filet. Cook for 3 minutes, then turn very carefully with a thin and flexible spatula. Cook for another three minutes, until golden brown, then remove from the heat.

For Sandwich Assembly

• Place a chaffle, pretty side down, on your serving plate. Top with a fish filet and half the tomato slices. Top the tomato slices with the slaw, and then top with another chaffle, pretty side up.
• Macros per serving: 801 calories, 3 grams net carbs, 39 grams protein, 71 grams fat. This is estimating the amount of cream, oil, and crumbs actually used, rather than the whole amounts.

Keyword chaffles, fish, keto, lchf, low carb, sandwich

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I’ve been on a kick of trying to make keto versions of regional food, especially now that the chaffle craze has made it so I can make a decent sandwich now. I’ve made Hot Browns, Nashville Hot Chicken, Biscuits and Gravy, and Beef on Weck so far, among other things. What’s your favorite food from where you live? Let me know and I’ll try to make it.

I used to do a lot of tailgating for college football, and we’d try to do a theme around the food from our opponents. Wings from when we played Buffalo, West Virginia dogs, that sort of thing. For the Nebraska game, we made Runzas, which are sandwiches made of bread stuffed with a beef and cabbage or sauerkraut mixture. Fairly simple, but it won’t work with chaffles because it’s a stuffed sandwich. That’s where the fathead dough comes in. Fathead dough is made with melted mozzarella and cream cheese combined with almond flour and egg. The cheese gives it a stretchy texture almost like actual dough. I’ve seen people use it for almost everything, even sweetened and turned into pastry! It works really well for stuffing things, so you could easily make things like empanadas with it. Or, in this case, recreating an old tailgate food.

This recipe makes a dozen sandwiches. Fathead dough freezes pretty well, so if you’re not making these for a crowd, feel free to pop your extras in the freezer and save them for a week where you don’t have time to make lunches for yourself. Just make sure you thaw them out before you reheat them.

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. You’ll need a couple of cookie sheets, which you’ll be rotating in and out of the oven one at a time. You can only really fit three of these per sheet unless you want to risk tearing them as you transfer them onto the sheet. So prepare those by lining them with parchment paper, and setting them aside for now.

In a large, deep skillet (like this one) over medium heat, saute one medium chopped onion (about 3/4 cup total) in a bit of avocado oil spray until it starts to turn golden brown. Turn up the heat to medium high and add a pound and a half of ground beef, two teaspoons of salt, a half teaspoon of garlic powder, and way more black pepper than you think you’ll need. Break the beef up into pieces as small as you can. When it’s fully browned, drain off the fat. You want it to eventually be as dry as possible, otherwise it’ll be soggy once it’s cooked. Once it’s drained, return it to the pan and add a bag of angel hair slaw. Mine was ten ounces. If you can’t find it in bagged form, just thinly shred a head of cabbage with a food processor or chop it as thin as you can get it. Put it in the pan, add at least another teaspoon of salt and even more black pepper, and cook it, stirring frequently, until the cabbage is cooked and all of the liquid from it has evaporated. If it’s just starting to stick to the bottom of the pan, you’re in a good place. Remove it from the heat and let it sit to cool while you make your dough.

For the fathead dough, you’ll want to make it in two batches, because the dough will lose its elasticity as it melts and you won’t be able to get everything done before that. Start with 12 ounces of mozzarella cheese and 2 ounces of cream cheese. Put it in the microwave for 30 seconds on high, take the bowl out, and stir. Put it back in and repeat in 30 second increments until the cheese is melted into a ball. Be careful not to burn it! In my microwave it usually only takes a minute. When the cheese is nice and melty and stretchy, add 6 ounces of almond flour, two beaten eggs, and two teaspoons of baking powder. Stir with a spoon at first, but eventually you’ll probably need to get your hands dirty. Spray them with oil to avoid sticking. Once everything is well-mixed, divide it into two equally-sized balls, and then divide each one of those into three equal parts. This will end up making six sandwiches.

Go back to your parchment-lined cookie sheets and put three of your small balls on it. Flatten each one out until it’s thin and about 6 inches in diameter. You’ll want to spray your hands with oil to do this, otherwise your hands will stick. Once you have the three circles ready, work on the filling. Using a slotted spoon, put about 1/2 cup of filling on one side of the circle. Make sure any liquid is drained before you put it on your dough. Once you’ve added the filling, fold the other half of the circle on top and line up the edges. Using the back of a fork that you’ve sprayed with cooking spray, press the tines against the edges of the dough to seal it up, then prick holes in the top of the dough four times so that steam can let out when they cook. If the fork starts to stick, just keep spraying it. I found that one spray would work to complete one sandwich.

Put the three stuffed and sealed runzas in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until they’re golden brown. While they’re cooking, repeat with the remaining three balls on your second prepared cookie sheet. You should finish with plenty of time. Once the first batch is out, put the second batch in, and move the first runzas to a cooling rack or to a warmer if you want to serve them all immediately. Let the cookie sheet cool while you make another batch of fathead dough. This time, form the runzas on a piece of parchment paper on your counter, and move the parchment paper to the cookie sheet, so it has time to finish cooling and won’t melt the dough while you’re working with it. Keep doing this until you’ve made all 12. Enjoy your keto Nebraska tailgate, or just do what I did and make them for lunches!

Keto Runzas

Fathead dough sandwiches stuffed with a ground beef and cabbage mixture.

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 1 hr

Course Main Course, sandwich

Cuisine American

Servings 12

Calories 504 kcal

Equipment

• 2 cookie sheets
• Parchment paper

Ingredients

  

For the Filling

• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1.5 pounds ground beef
• 3 tsp salt divided, plus more to taste if necessary
• black pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 10 ounces bagged angel hair slaw or very thinly sliced cabbage

For the Fathead Dough

• 24 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 12 ounces almond flour
• 4 eggs beaten
• 4 tsp baking powder
• cooking spray as needed

Instructions

 

For the Filling

• Spray a deep nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Saute the chopped onion over medium heat until they begin to turn golden brown on the edges.
• Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the ground beef, two teaspoons of salt, a heavy amount of black pepper, and garlic powder. Brown the beef, making sure to break it up into the smallest possible crumbles. Once the beef is browned, drain it and return it to the pan.
• Add the angel hair slaw and another teaspoon of salt to the beef mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until the cabbage is fully cooked and the liquid is evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add additional salt and pepper to taste, then remove from the heat to cool while you make the dough.

For the Fathead Dough

• Preheat oven to 400 before beginning.
• Once the beef is cooling, begin to make the dough. In a large microwave-safe bowl, add 12 ounces of the cheese and 2 ounces of the cream cheese. Microwave on high at 30 second intervals, stirring between each one, until the cheese is melted. Make sure the cheese doesn't burn.
• Add 6 ounces of almond flour, two teaspoons of baking powder, and two of the beaten eggs to the bowl. Mix with a spoon or oiled hands until the dough is uniform in color and consistency.

Filling and Baking Instructions

• Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Take the fathead dough and divide it in half, then divide each half into thirds.
• Press out three balls of dough into 6-7" circles on one of the cookie sheets. Using a slotted spoon to drain any remaining liquid, put approximately 1/2 cup of the beef filling on one half of the circles, then fold the other half over the top to make a half-circle shape.
• Spray the back of the tines of a fork with cooking spray, and press it around the rounded edge of the circle to crimp and seal it shut. Repeat with the remaining two circles, adding more cooking spray if the fork sticks. Prick the top of each sandwich four times with the fork, then bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.
  
• While the first three bake, repeat with the remaining three balls of dough on the second cookie sheet. Remove the first sheet from the oven and put the cooked runzas on a cooling rack or in a warmer if you plan to serve them immediately. Let the first cookie sheet cool while the second one cooks.
• Use the rest of the ingredients to make the remaining fathead dough while the second cookie sheet is in the oven. Using the above instructions, assemble the next three sandwiches on a sheet of parchment paper on the counter, then carefully move it to the cooled cookie sheet. Repeat again for the remaining 3 sandwiches.
• Macros per serving: 504 calories, 6 grams net carbs, 37 grams protein, 35 grams fat.

Keyword beef, fathead, high protein, keto, lchf, low carb, sandwich

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