Spring break calls for a Kimbap break

OMG~ (=A=) I have no Spring Break. Between work and class papers + projects... I'm exhausted. But that doesn't mean that I forgot about this blog (although I think I might have for a little bit). *guilty*

Anyways... being busy with school and work doesn't mean that I haven't made time to do some cooking. There is this love I have for maki (rolled sushi), and I have this love for Korean food. And I have this love to shop at Kukje Market. I can always find something there, and one item I always buy there is Kimbap.

I got a little tired of buying kimbap, so I thought... "Why not make my own?" My only problem is that... my family prefers the bulgogi kimbap over the fishcake kimbap. So the only one I make is the bulgogi kind, but please... sub the meat for fishcake. I want to suggest as a vegetarian substitution would be firm tofu maybe grilled and lightly brushed with teriyaki sauce? I don't know... one and one type of kimpbap makes it to my table at home... sadly. XD But when I first made kimbap, I got the recipe from About.com and adjust as I go along over time.

A quick way to cut corners in making kimbap is the deli section of the Korean market and pre-cut items. Those are your friends. Especially when you can't think of what to make, and your family throws a "Hey, are you going to make korean sushi tonight?" just out of the blue. I get this all the time. I usually like to buy the spinaches from the deli to cut corners, but I'll post the instructions for the spinach part if you prefer to make kimbap out of scratch. I tend to buy the pre-cut pickled daikon (aka: Takuan), because I really don't want to still be chopping and cutting my veggies, while my family is waiting for me to finish making dinner.


Quick tip: If you don't have a bamboo roll mat. Rolling by hand is just as good, but a little messy. But you can also try: lay a clean dish towel on a flat surface, on top lay a sheet of plastic wrap and/or aluminum foil. Now tuck and roll! The towel acts as the mold and compressor. The plastic sheet is keeping its shape and keeping the kitchen surface clean. It won't be as tight as using a bamboo sheet, but it gets the job done. 

Really, my phone should be my camera... period. But that's a whole lotta kimbap! 0_0

My recipe makes a whole lot of kimbap. It seems every time I make kimbap, I end up with 4 - 5 fat rolls (kind of looks like Futomaki doesn't it?). Great for parties.... or 5 days of whole uncut kimbap rolls. XD

Ingredients:

5 - 6 nori sheets
3 - 4 cups cooked sushi rice
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp salt
1 carrot, julienned
1 cucumber, julienned
1 pickled daikon/takuan, cut into strips (or buy 1 pack pre-cut pickled daikons)
2 - 4 eggs (Tamagoyaki/Japanese omelet style)
1/2 - 1 lb. spinach, parboil (or buy 1 pack pre-seasoned spinach from the deli)
1/2 - 1 pound bulgogi (marinaded beef)
1 sheet fishcake (optional)


How-To:
- Wash and cook rice in rice cooker.
- Once cooked, let rice cool enough to handle.
- In a little bowl, mix sesame oil and salt. Then mix into cooled rice.
- Julienne all the carrots, cucumbers, and cut the daikon into strips (if not using the pre-cut). Set aside.
- In a bowl, crack and scramble the eggs.
- In a pan, heat, lightly grease, and pour 1/3 of the eggs mixture. Quickly fold the egg onto one side of the pan. Pour another 1/3 of the egg mix into the pan, make sure that the first 1/3 is touching the new pour, and fold the egg to the other side of the pan. Pour last 1/3 of the egg mix into the pan, and fold the egg to the other end of the pan. Brown a little for color. Take out of pan, set aside to cool. Once cooled, cut into strips. (Here is a video that gives you an idea of how to make it if words aren't helping -> How to Tamagoyaki)
- Same pan, add a little sesame oil and cook carrots. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and black pepper, stir, and quickly take out of pan. (You only want to quickly cook it for no more than a minute. You still want the crunch of the carrot.)
- Same pan, add a touch of sesame oil and cook cucumbers. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt, stir, and quickly take out of pan. (Like the carrots, we want to keep the crunch.)
- For those wanting to cook the spinach instead of buying it.

   - Chop spinach in half so you have leafy ends and stalky ends.

   - In a pot with boiling water, add spinach in and cook for a few minutes until wilted but still vibrant green. Just want to blanch it. Transfer into a colander.

   - Stop cooking by running spinach under cold water, squeeze out water from spinach.

   - In a bowl, pour a little (~ 1/2 - 1 tbsp) sesame oil, and little (~ 1/2 - 1 tbsp) soy sauce), and mix. 

- Same pan (or use a grill), cook the marinaded beef slices.
- Now make an assembly line.
   - Sheet of nori, shiny side down.
   - Add 1 - 2 scoops of rice and spread evenly over the nori sheet.
   - One side of the rice covered nori, add a little bit of carrot, cucumber, beef, spinach, and a strip of daikon.
   - Gently lift the loaded side, using your fingers, tuck the ingredients in as you roll the sushi. (If  the ingredients starts to smoosh out the sides, just gently push them back in. XD)
- Cut into bite size pieces (if desired. Haha. XD).


Practice makes perfect! Phew! Looks like a lot, but it really isn't. Please do try making this. Hope you guys like it! (^-^)b

Recreating a taste of Taiwan: grilled meat rolls with scallions

Long time no update?

Anyways, I don't know why, but I just wanted to recreate this one little street food I had during my trip to Taiwan last summer. I just remember that it was a wad of meat with scallion wrapped in them and grilled with some sort of sticky sauce. I don't remember much about the dish, aside that it was just good. I wish I could have savored the wad of meat to get the full flavor, but because it was given to me on a tiny stick, freshly taken off and piping hot from the grill, all I could remember was it being scorching hot and sticky from the sauce and juice from the meat. I think I had 2nd degree burns on my tongue, heck... I had 2nd degree burns in my entire mouth. But it was good. Haha.

So now back in the States and about 6 months since returning from Taiwan, I just kind of remembered about it now. So, I decided to recreate the dish. I spent a good 2 tests on this dish. First attempt, I used pork and beef slices, and veggies of choice were enoki mushrooms and scallions. Then I made a sacha-based sauce. The scallions wrapped with pork, enoki wrapped with beef, smeared with the sauce, and griddle seared. My family wasn't so fond of the sauce, the beef dried out too easily due to cooking it too long, so it didn't pass. The pork on the other hand made the grades, but the sauce held it back a little.

Second attempt, I decided to keep the pork slices and the scallions, but used lamb instead of beef, and skipped the enokis. Then, I reattempt at a new sauce. This time, I used a hoisen-based sauce. I used both Hoisen and TianMien Sauce. What's the difference? Hoisen is sweet but has a more fruity note, and TianMien is also sweet but has a more salty note. I can't stress it enough after failing to make the sauce twice in one experiment setting. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE IN BRAND, especially when it comes to hoisen. I do not recommend to use Lee Kim Kee for this sauce. Don't get me wrong, I use this brand of hoisen too, but for my rice crepe rolls/noodles only. Lee Kim Kee's hoisen is sweet, but it has this tangy, salty taste to it. The brand I used (and my mother swears by it) is this brand call "Koon Chun". My family has been using it for years, and is considered very good because you can taste the plum/fruit in the sauce, which gives it that fruity and natural sweetiness. Anyways, this time, my mom had to take part in this, because even she was stumped at how to make the sauce good. I give her props for making the sauce without even knowing how the original sauce is like. Heck, I don't even remember the original sauce too well either. XD But after rolling each slice of pork with scallions, every slice of lamb with scallions, basting and cooking them, my family was a little more pleased this time. The pork rolls were good, but the lamb was the biggest crowd pleaser.

I personally think that this dish can use some more experimenting, some more tweaking, but for now my family is pretty pleased with it. I admit, the taste may not be authentically like how it should be in Taiwan, but it sure does look almost like it. Overall, it is simple and delicious. So, here I share it with you guys.

This is yet another phone pic, and this is the pork with scallion rolls from the first experiment. The second didn't make it for its close up.

Ingredients:

1 - 2 pkg thin sliced or sukiyaki pork, lamb or beef

2 - 3 (or more) bunch scallions, chopped into about 3 inch sections.

Sauce:

½ - 1 tsp of sacha paste （沙茶醬）

1 tbsp Taiwanese hoisen sauce “tian mien jang” （甜麵醬）

2 tsp Chinese hoisen sauce （海鮮醬）

2/5 cup water

How-To:

- If meat slices are frozen, do thaw it out completely.

- Wash, chop off the root of the scallions, and chop the scallions into 3 inch pieces.

- In a bowl, add the sacha paste, TianMien paste, and hoisen paste. Mix. Then add enough water to thin out the sauce. Set aside.

- Once meat is thawed out, take a slice of meat, a few sprigs of scallions, and roll. Repeat this until you've finished rolling all the ingredients. (Point!: Don't make the roll too thick, or cooking will take longer. You may skewer each roll onto a bamboo skewer for BBQing, or use a regular toothpicks to skewer to hold the rolls together when cooking. It keeps the rolls from coming unrolled when cooking.)

- Heat up a griddle (or a large pan or small wired grill), lightly oil the surface, place each meat rolls on the heated surface to cook.

- Cook one side of the roll lightly, baste each roll with the hoisen-based sauce, flip and baste again. Cook until golden brown. (Point!: If using pork slices, make sure to cook throughly!)

- Once golden brown, remove from heat, plate it, and serve.

I really do find this recipe easy. 2 main ingredients (meat and scallions), and a simple sauce. Like my first experiment, you can try using enoki mushrooms, or you can try using chives, thinly sliced bell peppers, etc. But so far, my family highly recommends the scallion lamb rolls. Something about lamb and scallions is just a really good pairing. As for the sauce, if you like it to be spicy, by all means, add your favorite spicy chili paste into it. If you're too lazy, pre-made teriyaki sauce is good too. Warning, thawing the "meat-icles" will cause bloody water to appear, but thawing the meat will make it easier to roll. Bottom-line: Just keep clean, and wash your hands with soap and water after making your meat rolls. 

Hope you guys enjoy this one! (^-^)

Lazy Friday Afternoon: Chicken Karaage... take 1

No back story behind why this recipe came to be. Just me, at home after a long day of CPR practical in the morning, a thing of chicken thighs in the fridge, and nothing to do. Well okay... you want a story? I love crispy chicken at TeaWay or Quickly... so I want to learn how to do it myself. There... hm. Not much of a story is that? XD

Anyways, I was checking out Just Hungry's recipe for this fried chicken dish. Only thing I did different is that I added fresh rough-chopped garlic. Garlic is good. Me like garlic. XD Next time I attempt this dish again, I'd probably would want to grate the garlic. Do be carful with the grater if you are using it, I almost grated my finger when I got my ginger down to a nub. May be next time, I'd add some fresh cracked black pepper to give a little heat. Not too much. I think after frying, the chicken pieces' juice started to "decrispify". One thing I would do different next time I try this recipe again would be to just DREDGE the chicken pieces in the cornstarch. It gives a crispier crunch. What I did wrong was mix a pile of chicken into my cornstarch mound. That was a fail for me, because the marinade on the chicken totally just "gravified" the cornstarch.

My family gave me the yum-approve stamp... but only complaint is that it could have been saltier. Well... I only marinaded it for shy of an hour, because Just Hungry's site said not to marinade for no more than an hour because it may get too salty. But know... you can sprinkle a little salt after frying, or make a little dipping sauce for it.

But overall, a very easy and simple recipe. Hardest part is frying. There is another option for those who doesn't want to deal with a pan of frying oil, try baking it. Uhh... If I have the time, I will probably try baking this, but find a way to keep the crispy crunch.

Another pic from my cell's camera... but this turned out better! =D

Ingredients:

2 piece chicken thigh, boneless and cut into bite size pieces

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sake

1 piece fresh ginger, grated

1-2 clove garlic, grated or minced

2-4 cups oil (I used vegetable oil, but I recommend using peanut oil for frying)

cornstarch

How-To:

- Trim chicken meat of fat and skin for healthier option. Leaving skin on can provide more crunch when fried.

- Chop chicken thigh meat into bite size pieces.

- In a zip top bag (ziplock gallon bag is good), add the ginger, garlic, sake, soy sauce, and chicken pieces. Close bag, and give a little mix to get all the pieces nicely coated.

- Let chicken marinade for 30 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. 

- After chicken marinade, heat a pan with 2-4 cups of oil.

- In the meantime, on a plate, add a mound of cornstarch, and dredge each chicken piece. Give an even coating, shake off excess.

- Once oil is hot... (Do the wooden chopstick method: take one wooden chopstick and dip it into the oil. If you see lots of little bubbles surrounding it, the oil is ready), add a few pieces of chicken at a time. Fry until golden brown.

- Once golden brown, take chicken pieces out of oil, and place on a plate lined with some paper towels to drain excess oil.

- Once cooled, transfer chicken onto a serving plate, and serve with a wedge of lemon and/or some dipping sauce.

Recipe is as follows in Just Hungry's... I just added garlic.... ahhh! I knew I forgot something! The Korean red pepper powder! I still have a big bag of it, and was planning on what to do with it! *Fail slap on the forehead* Next time... next time. (=_=) *goes to take off apron*

Jajang Myun/Mein

Tada! First recipe: JaJang Myun/Mien (black bean paste noodle)!

I remember eating this dish all the time when I was younger. It was my brother and I's must-order dish at any restaurant that offers it, and it gets a harsh critique from us. There use to be this place near my house that made Jajang Myun/Mien. Man~ It was THE best. The sauce was such a dark brown that it looked black. It wasn't oily. It wasn't deathly salty. Nor was it sugary. The noodles were had that perfect bite to it. It was an indescribable perfect... dish. Haha. But sadly, the restaurant closed. Since then, my brother and I scour the Bay Area for any place that can match up to our childhood memory... only to come out empty and unsatisfied.

It wasn't until more or less recently, my friend recommended for me to check out the site Maangchi, a little Korean recipe blog that exploded in popularity. There, I found the recipe for Jajang Myun, but its the Korean version. Still, I was excited!  But for me, I grew up eating the Chinese version of Janjang myun/mien. (Still excited!) So, I took up the challenge. I told myself that I will recreate that Jajang Myun/mien that I knew when I was little. So the first time I made it, it was for my brother's birthday... and he loved it (but said it still needed some adjustments). XD So after about... 3 - 4 more times of making JaJang Mein... I'm getting there, but I've earned my family's seal of yum-approved to share with everyone.

Don't get me wrong, both versions are great. I only used Maagchi's recipe as the foundation of MY noodle dish. I think it you can really alter the ingredients to your liking, but do try both if you have the time. I find it fairly easy, just many individual steps to conquer, but its worth it. XD

Sorry for the bad quality, it was taken on my cell phone. XD

Ingredients

Sauce:

2-3 zucchinis, cubed

1 onion, cubed

1-2 blocks tofu cutlets, cubed

1/2-1 lb. ground pork

7-8 tbsp black bean paste (I use the brand Haechandeul)

2-3 tbsp oil (I just used olive oil)

2-3 cups of water

1-2 tbsp cornstarch

1 large clove garlice, minced (reserve 1/2 for cooking pork, 1/2 for cooking veggies)

salt (optional)

Everything else:

2-3 bunch thick noodles

1/2 seedless cucumber, julienned for garnish

How-To

- In a large pan, on high heat, add a touch of oil to lightly coat, brown garlic, and cook the ground pork. (Be sure to cook throughly!)

- Place cooked pork into a bowl and set aside.

- Same pan, add 2-3 tbsp of oil, and add black bean sauce. Cook for 1 minute, just to soften the paste. Scoop out into a bowl and set aside.

- In another pot, boil noodles for about 5-7 minutes or as instructed on the package.

- Wash out pan to reuse, on high heat, add a touch of oil to brown the rest of the reserved garlic. Cook onions until tender. Add zucchinis and tofu, and cook for a few minutes. Add cooked pork. Remember to give it a stir. Add 2-3 cups of water into the veggie mix, cover, and let cook for 15-20 minutes.

- In a small bowl, add 1-2 tbsp cornstarch and 2-3 tbsp water, mix and set aside.

- Strain out noodles after cooking and run under cool water to stop cooking.

- Back to vegetable mix, after 15-20 minutes, add black bean paste, and mix to dissolve.

- Slowly stream in cornstarch mix into the big pan, stir constantly... DO NOT STOP! (or it will chunkify!) Remember to taste, and add salt to your liking.

- Grab a bunch of noodles, scoop yourself a heap of the black bean sauce, top with julienned cucumbers, and enjoy!

Wah~ so long. (=A=) But it is so tasty. Other serving suggestions is add a fried egg, sunny-side egg, chili paste... sky's the limit. XD ENJOY!

Welcome!

I'm so nervous. This is literally my first post. (>.<)

Well, let's make this an intro post. (^.^)/

I do have a recipe ready to make it's debut, but I really just want to say...

Hello!
...

Nothing much to talk about, eh? ( ._.) Lol.

Umm, the site will be under construction. So please bare with me. I'll try to make it pretty.

I'll include the sites and possibly books of where I got each recipe. If the recipe requires some out of the general supermarket type ingredients, I'll post the brands I may use or where to find it.

Please, if you have a recipe you think is interesting and would like to share (or have me try tackling), let me know! o(^ω^)o