IT’S TIME FOR….BULGOGI! (불고기)

Everyone I ask knows about Korean BBQ! The problem arises when you ask them how its eaten. Alas some brilliant Youtuber uploaded a save all.

Its easy as 1,2,3,4!

I’m a big fan of eating out. And bulgogi is a perfect food to eat with friends. Unfortunately, its not always cost effective to dine out. So for those of you who cant go to a local Korean restaurant (or don’t have one to begin with) here an easy recipe! The best part is that you can eat this with a some rice and kimchi and have a complete, filling meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of tenderloin beef
• 1 cup of soy sauce
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 12 cloves of garlic
• Asia pear
• 1 whole onion
• sesame oil
• sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp. of honey
• Lettuce leaves
• 2 cups of cucumber
• 2 cups of carrot
• 2 cups of green onions
• red pepper paste

Instructions:

1. Make marinade sauce for 2 pounds of beef by mixing following: ½ cup soy sauce, ¼ cup sugar, 12 cloves minced garlic, 1 medium size onion (crushed), 1 small size of Asian pear (crushed), ½ cup of water (can be replaced with cooking wine), and 1 tbsp. of honey.
   *tip: Using a food processor is very convenient.
2. Prepare a large stainless bowl and pour the marinade sauce in it.
3. Slice the beef thinly, against the grain, to make it tender.
   *tip: Keep the beef in the freezer for a few hours beforehand, then it will be easier to cut.
4. Place the sliced beef into the marinade and add 1 or 2 tbsp. of sesame oil and some toasted sesame seeds. Mix it by hand and keep it in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.                                                                                          *Note: After 3 hours, you can grill the meat on charcoal BBQ, broil it in oven, or grill it on pan.
5. Cut the carrots, cucumbers, and green onions into thin long strips  (about 2 inches in length)
6. In a hot pan add a bit of sesame oil, soy sauce, and your cut vegetables. Stir fry for about 2 minutes.
7. Grill the meat right before you eat.

How to eat:

1. Take a lettuce leaf and add some red pepper paste.
2. Add meat
3. Add veggies
4. ENJOY!

 

 

 

TRADITIONAL RICE CAKE BALLS- GYEONGDAN (경단)

So if you don’t already know- I LOVE MAANGCHI! I really appreciate how simple she makes her recipes and her videos are great. When I make one of my own I hope they turn out as wonderful as hers.

Anyways enough about Maangchi. Today I was in serious mood for some rice cake balls, but I didn’t have any rice flour. The constant hunger pangs, however, have kept me from thinking of anything else. And so I thought – lets write this recipe down! In Korea rice cakes are everywhere, and come in all different ways! You can make them or buy them. And they are often made on special occasion year round.
I’ve made this recipe many times and each time I’ve changed up the ingredients I used to coke the balls (from cocoa powder to powdered sugar).  Take this recipe and make it your own!

Maangchi saves the day!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of sweet rice flour (Mochiko powder)
• 3/4 cup of boiling water (or 1 cup)
• salt, sugar, brown sugar
• 1 cups of red beans
• 1 tsp. of cinnamon powder
• black sesame seeds powder
• mugwort powder
• toasted yellow soy bean powder, and 1 or 2 cups of flour

Directions:

Step 1:
Make red bean paste (this recipe is solely intended for the rice balls, for amore general recipe go here.

1. In a pot, place 1 cup of washed red beans and 4 cups of water and heat it over high heat for 10 minutes.
2. Lower the heat to low medium and simmer for 50 minutes.
3. Check if the beans are cooked fully. Remove extra water from the beans and crush them with a wooden spoon.
4. Add 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 tsp. of salt, 1 tsp. of cinnamon powder into the red bean paste and set it aside.

Step 2:
Prepare 3 bowls where 3 different kinds of powder will be placed for the rice cake balls

1. Black sesame seeds:
   • Rinse and drain ½ cup of black sesame seeds in running water using a strainer.
   • Heat a pan over medium heat and pour in the sesame seeds.
   • Cook the sesame seeds by stirring with a wooden spoon.
   • The sesame seeds will pop, then lower the heat and keep stirring until they are crispy. (5- 10 minutes)
   • When the sesame seeds cool down, grind them with a coffee grinder.
   • Transfer the sesame seeds powder to a bowl and add 2 tbsp. sugar and a pinch of salt and mix it.
2. Put ½ cup of toasted soybean powder (kong gaa ru in Korean) in a bowl and add 2
   tbsp. of sugar and a pinch of salt and mix it.
3. Put ½ cup of mugwort powder (ssook gaa ru in Korean) in a bowl and add 2
   tbsp. of sugar and a pinch of salt and mix it

Step 3:
Make rice cake dough.

1. In a bowl, place 2 cups of sweet rice powder, 2 tbsp. of sugar, 1 tsp. of salt.
2. Pour 2/3 cup of hot water little by little while you are mixing it with a spoon
3. Mix the dough by hand.
   *Tip: if you feel the dough is too wet, add some plain flour
4. Put the rice cake dough into a plastic bag and set it aside

Step 4:
In a big pot, place a lot of water and boil it

Let’s make rice cake!

1. Take the rice cake dough out from the plastic bag and place it on the cutting board.
   Tip: To protect the dough from being stuck to the board, sprinkle some plain flour before placing the rich cake dough.
2. Divide the dough into 2 and roll each one to make cylinder shape and cut it into 18-20 pieces.
3. Roll each piece of rice dough with your hands and make a hole in the middle of the ball with your thumb. Then turn the ball into a cup.
   
4. Put the bean paste into the middle.
   
5. Close it tightly and place it on a plate.
   Tip: While you are making rice balls, the rest of dough may get dried, so cover them with wet cloth or paper towel.
6. Carefully put all the rice cake balls into boiling water. When the rice cake balls are cooked, they float. It will take about 3 -5 minutes until they float.
   
7. Prepare lots of cold water in a big bowl.
8. Put the cooked rice balls into cold water and drain them. 
9. Roll the cooked rice balls in the 3 different colors of powder and transfer them to a plate.

SWEET BAESUK! (배숙!)

While I ate my porridge yesterday it suddenly occurred to me to have something sweet. I was craving iced tea but my kitchen was bear all but pears (like my rhyming skills?). So I figured I’d make something from what I had and just prepare some Baesuk. The last time I had this dessert was at my friend Catherine’s house like 1 year ago. You see, her mom travels around the world for work and brings back some really yummy recipes. I wasn’t sure how to make it but I knew I had the most essential ingredients at hand. Easy as that in all of 40 minutes I had a really yummy dessert/drink to complement my porridge. I, personally, had to substitute some of the ingredients but here’s what you’ll need to do.

Ingredients:

• 2 Asian pears
• 20-30 peppercorns
• 2 tbsp. of sugar
• 4 cups water
• a small handful of pine nuts

 Directions:

1. Peel and core the pear. Make sure to leave no skin or can make the end result a bit bitter.
2. Cut them into quarters, rounding off the edges.
3. Stick in 2-3 peppercorns on the outer side running along the center. Be sure to place them far enough apart so that they don’t fall out.
4. Pour your 4 cups of water, 2 tbsp.’s of sugar and the pear sections into a sauce pan. Bring this to a boil.                                                                                                                                         *Note: You want to dissolve the sugar into the water before putting in the pears.
5. Reduce the heat to low and cook for another 5-8 minutes.
6. Turn off the heat and let the boiling water (which should now be a bit syrupy) cook the pear a bit more before transferring the liquid and pear sections into a bowl or jar. 
7. Place the container in the refrigerator to cool.
8. Serve in a small bowl with 2-3 pears. Garnish with a sprinkle of pine nuts.

You can have this yummy dessert with a lot of different foods. I prefer to accompany it with spicy foods as it works really well at cooling. Also, you can go all out and make this for special occasions. Or get creative and make different shapes. You could even use (or not use) the pine nuts and peppercorn in artistic ways. 잘, 머겠숩니다! (Bon Appetite!)

KIMCHI MADNESS! (김치 광기!)

So I have been having this incredible urge for Kimchi the past few weeks and- no joke– I have been eating at the Korean Restaurant (I really do love that place) for a week straight. Sadly, no matter how much I eat during the day, at around 2 am, a little man I’ve dubbed the Kimchi Monster (or KimMi for short), begins rumbling in my belly . KimMi  has been keeping me up all night and wont let up unless I have some Kimchi. Today I’ve decided ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I’ve hopped onto the almighty internet and procured several Kimchi recipe’s to try out. It is currently 6:21 A.M. and I’m off to purchase all the ingredients I will need. Once I know the results of my Kimchi Madness I will finish this entry and post it up with the best recipe.

---

Well ladies and gents I’ve spent the whole day making Kimchi and I have a few things to repost.

1. The recipe’s where easy.

2. But going over so many I’m WAY tired    and

3. Boy was I surprised with how amazing my Kimchi came out!

All of the recipe’s came out tasting pretty good but Maangachi’s was by far the best. I don’t think KimMi will protest again . To me, this recipe is perfect as it is and, as I’ve only made it once, I haven’t altered it at all (no need really). You should be warned, however, there a bazillion and one Kimchi recipes and some are easier than this one but I found  this one- out of the 5  I tried- to have the best flavor . Now, before we proceed, let us all please thank the lovely Maangachi!!

http://www.maangchi.com to view more AMAZING recipe’s.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium size Napa cabbages and 2 Korean radishes
• salt, sweet rice flour, sugar, water
• 4- 6 cups of hot pepper flakes
• fish sauce, white onion, fresh garlic, ginger
• green onions, Asian chives, fresh oysters (optional)

How to handle cabbages and radish:

1. Cut the cabbages in half, and then slit each half through the core, but not through the rest of the leaves.
2. Soak each piece in cold water and sprinkle some salt (about ½ cup of salt per 1 medium size cabbage), and then set it aside for 2 hours.
   *tip: the stems should get more salt than the leaves
3. Skin 2 radishes and cut them into 1 inch cubes. Do this by cutting them into several disks, and then cutting horizontally, and then vertically. Put them in a big bowl and sprinkle them with ½ cup of salt. Then set these aside, too.
4. 2 hours later, turn the pieces of cabbage over so they get salted evenly. Turn the radishes as well.
5. Another 2 hours later, you will see the cabbage look softer than before, and it should have shrunk.

 
*the total salting process can take 4 hours as these are some VERY big cabbages.

1. Rinse the salted cabbage and radish with cold water 3 times.

Making Kimchi paste:

Make porridge

1. Put ½ cup of sweet rice flour (you can replace with plain flour) and 3 cups of water into a skillet and mix them up. Then cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
2. When you see some bubbles, pour 1/4 cup of sugar into the porridge and stir one more minute. Then cool it down.
3. Place the cold porridge into a big bowl. Now you will add all your ingredients one by one.
4. Add 1 cup of fish sauce, 4~6 cups of hot pepper flakes (depending on your taste), 1 cup of crushed garlic, 1 tbsp. of minced ginger, 1 medium size minced onion
   *tip: it’s much easier to use a food processor.
5. Add 7 diagonally-sliced green onions, 2 cups of Asian chives (cut into 2 inches in length), and 2 cups of shredded Korean radish.
6. Add  2 cups of frozen oysters, but this is optional. (I found out lots of people can’t eat them.)
7. Mix all ingredients well and your Kimchi paste is done.

 
Are you ready to spread our paste on the leaves and make your kaktugi?
* I recommend you wear rubber gloves so that you don’t irritate your skin.

1. Spread the Kimchi paste onto each leaf of the cabbage, and make a good shape out of the leaves by slightly pressing with both hands.
2. Put it into an air- tight sealed plastic container or glass jar. 
3. Mix your leftover paste with your radish cubes (this is kaktugi).

That’s all!

You can eat it fresh right after making or wait until it’s fermented. Put the Kimchi container at room temperature for 1 or 2 days and keep it in the refrigerator there after.

How do you know it’s fermented or not?

One or 2 days after, open the lid of the Kimchi container. You may see some bubbles with lots of liquids, or maybe sour smells. That means it’s already being fermented.