This is my go to stock for most of my stock related needs.

Cover with water and cook at a quivering simmer for about 4 hours:

Bones of 2 chickens
1 finger of ginger (crushed)
1 bunch scallion greens
1 dry shiitake mushroom
handful of dried shrimp
a few leaves of napa cabbage

After it’s done, throw in a couple pieces of kombu and let it soak in the hot soup off heat. Strain out the solids 30 min later, and store. I freeze my stock in those trays for huge cubes of ice.

If you’re feeling thrifty, throw all the solids back in the pot, cover with water and cook at a lively simmer for an hour. This second stock has a mineral like flavor to it.

Spam Ume Onigiri

Cook 3 go (540mL) Japanese white rice.

Separately, use a potato masher or fork to crush a whole tin of Spam (1 tin of 25% less sodium) into little pieces. Toast in a skillet to add a little color.

Fold Spam and minced umeboshi into the cooked rice and make onigiri. Wrap with nori.

In a parallel universe, I opened a restaurant called The Bastard to serve whatever random fusion food I feel like making. Here’s a dish from its menu.

Chopped Cheese Over Rice

Sautee some chopped onion in a pan until golden. Add ground beef to the pan. Season with salt, adobo, and a little bit of hawaij. Flip the meat over and season again. Chop the meat into pieces and stir together with the onions.

Throw on slices of American cheese to finish. Serve over plain basmati rice and with the following side salad: chopped tomato, shaved onion, chopped iceberg, salt, mayo, mustard, ketchup, and whatever other fixings you like to have with your chopped cheese sandwich.