Roux Block Building Tips
Justina Ky
Transitioning from the beginner method of edge loading spots, you should be aware of different blockbuilding strategies. There are broadly speaking two families of FB building strategy: square + pair and line + line, with the first one being more frequently used.
Before we go on, note that planning = solution + tracking, with solution playing perhaps a more important role. For now stay tuned on getting your solutions right, and we'll cover tracking in the last section.
For example, if the front pair's corner is on the U layer with its D-face sticker also on the U layer, then to have the corner be in the same alignment with its edge (such that when they're adjacent, they form a correctly connected pair):
Next, you want to improve your solutions. There are several aspects you can work on, in no particular order. Not only are easier solutions faster to execute, but the ability to come up with them will also help bring down your inspection time.
Also, develop a preference for what pairs / triggers are easy for you to execute over time, and try to prioritize them in your FB solution. Use this to guide your FB planning instead of move count as this is more precise and correlated to actual times.
The Magic Cube is the world's most popular toy, with over 350million having been sold world-wide. (This includes both theoriginal Rubik's-brand cube and similar puzzles with or withoutan improved internal mechanism.)
Over the years, there have been a number of approaches tosolving the cube, but currently my favouriteis Giles Roux's eponymous method based on block-building. My timesare currently averaging around 40 seconds, with a current PB of27.77s (Not great when the world record is 5.55s but I amimproving.)
Create a 3x2x1 block on the Left slice. Following the example from Roux, I've been using Red on the Down face and Yellow on the Left. So this means solving the block consisting of the Yellow centre, the Yellow/Red edge, the Yellow/Blue edge, the Yellow/Green edge, the Yellow/Red/Green corner and the Yellow/Red/Blue corner. (Diagram looking at the L-face)
Waffle-Jim (who has builta great guide to the Roux method) recommends learningtwo-look CMLL at first. Learn (initially) one alg for eachorientation possibility, and then use one of the two"A"-cases to permute if necessary. So that's what I havedone. I've highlighted the CMLL algs I've learned fortwo-look in green and otheralgs inyellow.
After orienting the M slice so the centres are in the correct faces, (if necessary; it's a step I usually perform before the corners) all that remains to be solved are the four U edges and the front and back edges in the D layer.
An edge-piece is correctly oriented if the U- or D-facecolour is in the U- or D-face. In other words, in this casewhere we have the Orange centre on the U-face and Red on theD-face, an edge in the U-layer is correctly oriented if itis Orange-up or Red-up, and one in the D-layer is correct ifit is Orange-down or Red-down.
It is only possible for an even number of the 6 remainingedges to be incorrectly oriented. (None, 2, 4 or 6,obviously.) Therefore it is possible to infer the state ofthe invisible DB edge from the four U edges and the DF edgethat you can see.
In the diagrams for this step, we are still looking at theU face, with F and R for perspective. The (possibly)incorrectly oriented pieces will be in grey, and the rest ofthe cube (all of which is now correct) in pink.
Mushrooms: The basic building block is about 1.5 cups of mushrooms covered in a cup of boiling water. I let that sit for 30 minutes, and often warm it up halfway through in the microwave. Then, I squeeze/drain the water out of mushrooms. I set the stock aside to add back later.
Onions and Garlic: The basic building block is one large onion and 3-ish large garlic cloves. Feel free to get fancier with sweet onion or vidalia or some of that whatchamachallit onion
You brilliant mushroom man. Just finished making the gravy. So good. Thought I would miss the flavor of the herbs, but this is perfect. And what about that roux? You made making roux simple and effective. Thanks!!
A big part of teaching myself how to make quality, scratch made food at home has been learning the building blocks. Things like making homemade burger buns, hot dog buns, pizza dough, how to make vinaigrettes, and homemade pasta dough are the blank canvases for my other recipes to grow from.
When flour is whisked into hot fat, each individual starch is coated in a protective coat that stops the stickiness just long enough to let the flour absorb its maximum amount of liquid and viola, a smooth, creamy sauce. The thickening you observe is literally the swelling of starch granules slowly sticking together.
Stop here to make the classic French sauce Velout. In truth there is no hard and fast rule on when to pick blonde roux over white roux, they are incredibly similar. The flavor difference between blonde and white roux are subtle. My own rules on which to pick are simple. To thicken dairy I use white roux, if only to maintain the pristine white color. For meat sauces or heartier flavors, I go for golden.
Here is where things really start to change, both in flavor and thickening. Around 15 minutes after the blonde roux (about 20-25 minutes total), it will darken to a rich brown almost like peanut butter with nutty, roasted aroma. The flavor makes it a beautiful base for gumbo, stews, or beef gravies.
Despite my own personal love for the many applications of roux, not everyone shares that love. Thankfully, there are alternatives! Keep in mind all of these will affect overall flavor and texture of your recipe.
Savory, tangy, and sweet, Hayashi Rice is a Japanese stew made by stewing beef with onions and mushrooms and serving it with a side of Japanese short-grain rice. It's a classic Japanese yoshoku comfort food that's become a favorite among kids and grownups alike.
I make my Hayashi rice recipe from scratch, building layers of flavors by browning the meat, mushrooms, and vegetables and balancing their savory umami with the tartness of red wine and tomatoes, along with a hint of sweetness from some honey.
Then you can start heating a big heavy pot such as a Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the butter, mushrooms, and salt to the pot and cover it with a lid. Let the mushrooms steam for ten minutes. When the timer goes off, remove the lid and turn up the heat to boil off the liquid.
Once the excess liquid is gone, you can saute the mushrooms until they're nice and browned. This should take another ten to fifteen minutes. When the mushrooms have browned, transfer them to a bowl and set them aside.
To brown the beef, add the olive oil to the pot and place the meat in a single layer. Be careful not to overcrowd the pot, or they will not brown properly. Let these fry undisturbed for about three minutes until you have a nice brown crust on one side. Then, flip them over and brown the opposite side. Once both sides have browned, remove the beef from the pot.
There should be enough oil in the pot at this point, but if there isn't, you can add a bit more olive oil. Next, add the onions, garlic, and water to the pot and cover it with a lid. Reduce the heat to low and let the aromatics steam for ten minutes. When the timer goes off, remove the lid and increase the heat to boil off the excess liquid. Saute the onions for another ten minutes or so, or until they start to brown around the edges.
Deglaze the pot with the red wine and beef stock, and then add the tomato paste, ketchup, chunou sauce, honey, and porcini powder. Return the browned beef to the pot and bring it to a boil. You will probably start to see some greyish foam start to float to the surface. These coagulated proteins from the meat can make the Hayashi Rice taste muddy, so I recommend skimming it off until you don't see anymore.
Reduce the heat as low as it will go, cover the pot, and let the stew simmer for about two hours, or until the meat falls apart when prodded. Make sure you check on it every half hour or so and give it a stir to keep anything that's settled to the bottom from burning to the pot. You want to the amount of liquid to reduce as the stew cooks, but if it starts looking too low, you can add a bit of water.
Once the beef can be easily flaked, add the sauteed mushrooms back into the pot. While you wait for the flavors to mingle, prepare the roux by adding the butter and flour to a small frying pan. Fry the mixture until it is golden brown.
Turn off the heat, add a few ladles of braising liquid from the pot into the roux, and quickly mix this together until it's smooth and free of lumps. Add the roux mixture to the pot and stir it until the Hayashi Rice is nice and thick.
The sauce for Hayashi Rice is loaded with so much flavor it naturally makes a delicious sauce for other dishes. This has led to several mashups such as Omuhayashi (オムハヤシ), which is Omurice topped with Hayashi Rice roux, and Hayashiburg (ハヤシバーグ) which is Hamburg Steak draped in this stew.
One of my favorite ways to use up leftover Hayashi Rice stew is to shred the beef into the sauce to make a meaty ragout. Then I boil some pasta and toss it with the Hayashi Rice sauce and some grated cheese to make an easy delicious pasta.
Marc.. I followed the recipe to a tee, measured and weighed the ingredients, wine used was a Pinot Noir 2018, could not find Porcini Powder so I ground Dried Porcinis into a powder and used same measure.. It was frickin excellent.. I commend you sir. The next day, I was reheating some in sous vide to pour over rice.. But I added the last 2 ounces of a Sello Rojo Coffee unsweetened cup of coffee that I had on the table, that I just did not feel like finishing.. It brought the recipe up to a even unthought of higher notch.
Thanks Marc, that's really interesting to know! I'd been watching the series 'Samurai Gourmet' and it was featured in one of the last episodes. Though the others featured in the series looked good, it was the first I wanted to try and, apparently the food director on the set shared your vision for it! Will see about those missing ingredients and make it again soon.
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