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.

A STAPLE OF KOREAN DINING- THE EVER SWEET RED BEAN PASTE (거추창)

For some of you out there, sweet red bean paste may sound like an oddity. Coming from a strong Hispanic background, where red beans are most definitely not a sweet to be combined with pastry’s, I know I sure did. But, sweet red bean paste is one heck of a yummy dessert filling! Now seeing as I know so many dessert recipe’s with it (I pretty much love anything that has it in it!) I figured I’d dedicate an entry to it before I set off on posting about all the varied desserts filled with it.

Ok, so there 2 kinds of red bean paste out there- chunky and pureed (or smooth), so I’ll show you how to make both.

Note: Make sure to wash the red beans and place in a large pot filled with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, drain, and discard the water. Continue with the instructions for either chunky or pureed red bean paste.

(Chunky)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (6.35 ounces / 180 grams) par-boiled red beans
• 1 cup granulated sugar, or to taste
• pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Add about 3 cups of water to a pot containing the par-boiled red beans.
2. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce t medium, cover the pot, and let simmer until soft (45minutes t0 2 hours- water should mostly be absorbed)                                                                                                                                            Note: You should add water as needed while simmering to prevent the beans from being scorched.
3. Turn the heat t low and add one cup of sugar, then stir and mash against the side f the pot until water is no longer visible.
4. Add a pinch of salt and mix well. The paste should be thick with some whole and half-crushed red beans.

(Pureed)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (6.35 ounces / 180 grams) par-boiled red beans
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, or to taste
• pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Add about 5 cups of water to a pot containing the par-boiled red beans.
2. Bring to a boil over high heat then reduce the heat to medium, cover the pot and simmer the red beans until soft (1 to 2 hours- there should be plenty of water left in the pot).
3. Drain out the water and pour the beans into a food processer. Process until smooth 
4. Press the pureed beans through a sieve to discard the skins.
5. Pour the puree onto a non-stick pan, add 1 1/2 cups of sugar (or more for added sweetness), and stir well over low heat until the sauce is dry.
6. Remove from heat add a pinch of salt and mix well. (The paste should have the consistency of mashed potatoes).