Read Online Bobby Flay's Throwdown! by Bobby Flay - Free Book Online Page A

sheet and let cool.
    3. Raise the oil temperature to 350°F. Put your chips in the oil and fry until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on a paper-towel-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with salt.
    4. Raise the oil temperature to 375°F.
    5. Put the remaining ½ cup flour in a baking dish. Season the fish generously with salt; then dredge in the flour, shaking off any excess. Give the batter a stir and dip the fish in the batter, shaking off any excess. Fry the fish, flipping once and adjusting the heat as necessary, until golden brown and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels, and season with salt. Serve with the chips and malt vinegar.

Demo version limitation

Name: Roberto Guerra
Hometown: Miami, Florida
Website: www.lacajachina.com
Phone: (305) 888-1323
    “What’s funny is that the Sunday night before the taping, my wife and I were watching the Food Network and a Throwdown! show was airing. I turned around to my wife and said, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if Bobby Flay would do a Throwdown with me and La Caja China?’ So imagine how I felt when Bobby showed up at the National Hotel—it was a dream come true. Thanks to the Throwdown, our business has increased substantially.”
    —ROBERTO GUERRA

    I headed to Miami Beach for some legendary Cub an roast pork with Roberto Guerra, the King of the Caja China.
    Roberto calls the Caja China a “roasting pit on wheels,” and he ought to know. He and his father designed it based on similar insulated cooking boxes that his father saw while growing up in Cuba. (The ingenious cooking system was first brought to Cuba in the early 1900s by Chinese workers–ergo its name.) The wooden box, which in English translates to “China box,” is an insulated vehicle for cooking traditionally long-cooking items quickly. But I just call it the “magic box” because of its powers to produce the most succulent roast pork around. Roberto’s specialty is Cuban-flavored roasted whole pig, but for what he thought was a slot on Food Network’s special on the cuisine of Cuba, he prepared a pork shoulder. He marinated the pork in a mojo, a mixture of sour orange juice, bay leaves, garlic, salt, and pepper.
    Roberto then stuffed the pork with ham, prunes, bacon, and guava shells, and glazed it with a mixture of brown sugar and malta, a Cuban soft drink brewed from barley, hops, and water, much like beer. However, unlike beer, malta is nonalcoholic. It is similar in color to stout (dark brown) but very sweet, with a molasses-like flavor. Roberto was all set to show off his magical prowess with the Caja China at a party in Miami for friends, family, and the Food Network’s film crew.
    I was really excited as I headed to the test kitchen. My mission was to create a roast pork that celebrates the flavors of Cuba using the Caja China. As I couldn’t use the box inside the test kitchen—for ventilation reasons, it has to be used outdoors—I instead focused on my flavors for the pork and cooked it in the oven. I didn’t want to marinate my pork in a sugar-based marinade because I believed the high heat would burn the outside of the meat. (However, I was to learn at the Throwdown that that really isn’t the case, as Roberto roasts his in malta, brown sugar, and sour oranges and achieves spectacular results.)
    I started by scoring the skin of the pork to allow the fat to render and yield a crisper exterior. I marinated it in garlic, oil, and fresh oregano before roasting. I began the pork shoulder in a 425°F oven for an hour before turning the oven temperature down to 350°F. The pork roasted in the oven for another 2 hours until the skin was super-crispy and the interior registered 175°F. But those 3 hours were in the oven—in the Caja China, because of the intense heat and insulated interior, it would take about half that time. Once the long wait was up, I removed the pork and marveled at its incredibly crisp skin and tender meat. I shredded the pork into