Steamed Squash with Meat

I saw this steamed squash with meat inside on TV many times but I don't know how to make it so I made my own version of it. First, I sauted some pork. I just cut the meat in bite sizes put a little cooking oil on the frypan, then put the pork, when it is brown, put some minced garlic, next sprinkled some ground pepper and put some salt.

Wash the squash gently and cut the top side and remove the seeds. Put the sauted pork inside the squash and steam.



Again some cloves of garlic on top then cover it.



Steam the squash with meat if you have steamer. If you don't, you can just boil it like what I did.



When the squash is soft, you put it on the plate and serve.



By the way, you can use chicken or duck for your meat instead of pork. It's up to you what kind of meat you'd like.

Pork and Chicken Cutlet

We went to Yongduam Rock and we had cutlets for lunch. Chicken cutlet for my hubby and pork cutlet and noodles for me. We had it at downtown in Jeju City which is very close to Yongduam. It was a Japanese restaurant and there were many customers and the restaurant looks good and comfortable but we are not satisfied with the food. The cutlets are too greasy. My hubby said that they used dirty cooking oil. Not totally dirty, he means that in cooking cutlet don't use cooking oil for several times because it makes the cutlet taste greasy.

Anyway, it's not bad to visit the restaurant and try their cutlet. First, they will serve you this sesame seeds that you need to grind while waiting for your order to come. I think it's a good idea not to get bored waiting. It is use to add taste to your cutlet sauce.



Here's my hubby's order, the chicken cutlet.



And mine is pork cutlet and noodles. The noodles taste great. I recommend to try their noodles.

Ojing-o Chaebukkeum

Ojing-o Chae Bukkeum


Stuff Squids is another hubby's favorite food. As what I always say, nobody teach me on how to cook so I always make my own recipe. When I go to the restaurant, I just checked what ingredients they put in the dish and I try it at home when I see that hubby likes it.

When I went to the market, I saw this pack of Jomi Ojing-o (squid) which is on sale.

My hubby asked me if I know how to cook it but I said I'd try but don't expect too much. I cooked a little because it was my first time so I expect that I would make mistakes. Here's my Ojingeo Chae bukkeum

Methods:
1. Heat oil in the pan.
2. Put chopped garlic and mixed it until it is brown.
3. Put Jomi Ojing-eo.
4. Add some sugar, corn syrup, honey and powdered red pepper.
5. Mix it well.
6. When it cooked, add some sesame seeds.
7. Serve!

Hint: I use this flower honey. You can just use sugar if you don't have some honey at home.

Kaeganjang and kotgejang

Last week, my hubby asked what was for dinner. I said, I didn't have anything in mind so he invited me to go to our newly discovered restaurant. We were both tired so instead of eating at the restaurant, we just decided to take it home. We bought kaeganjang (crab in soy sauce) and kotgejang (preserved crabs).





It's better to eat at home not only because we were tired but also it's cheaper. We had this crabs menu three times which was only one time if we had it in the restaurant. Of course they serve the crabs with different kinds of side dishes and soup but we can't touch all of those dishes. So next time that we'll go there again, I'll just tell them to pack it for us and take it home again. That's better!

Kimchi (Korean Pickle)

Kimchi (Korean Pickle)

In major Western cities as well as in most East Asian countries one may buy a pack of kimchi at large supermarkets. The popularity of kimchi is attributed to the unique blending and fermentation of vegetables, herbs, pickled fish, fresh seafood, and such spices as red pepper, garlic and ginger. Kimchi is rich in vitamins, proteins, and other essential nutrients and Koreans used to rely on it as a source of nutrients when fresh vegetables were scarce in winter.

Kimchi may be classified into two main types- seasonal kimchi and winter kimchi. There are many varieties of seasonal kimchi depending on the availability of certain vegetables. A large stock of winter kimchi is prepared in early winter and lasts throughout the winter until spring vegetables are available. In recent years, however, owing to the development of green-houses, vegetables are available year round. Kimchi is an essential part of a Korean meal. It smells awful but tastes delicious.


Here's the Chinese cabbage kimchi from my mother in law. I never tried to make kimchi by myself. My mother in law told me that she would teach me on how to make kimchi before she dies so she just delivers me some at home. But I saw her making kimchi many times but she never let me help her.

Here is a recipe for making Kimchi:

Ingredients: 2 cabbages, 1/2 pear, 1/2 carrot, 2 cups of salt, 2 heads of garlic, half a head of ginger, half a bunch of shallots, 1 onion, shrimp paste (100g), 3 tbsp. of fish sauce, 1 1/2 cups of chilli powder

Methods:
1. Make salty water and pour it onto the cabbages.
2. Leave it for 5 hours at least, to dehydrate the cabbages.
3. Rinse the cabbages very well to remove the excess salt and drain.
4. Cut the shallots into 1" lenght and carrot into thin strips.
5. Mix the peeled garlic, onion, ginger and pear into a mixer.
6. Put the #3 and #4 ingredients into a bowl and mix it with the shrimp paste, fish sauce and chilli powder.
7. Coat every leaves of the cabbages with the #6 ingredients.
8. Keep the kimchi in the refrigerator for 3 days before eating.

Hint:
1. Apple can replace to pear.
2. Dehydrating the cabbages is very important for the texture of the Kimchi. Salting and dehydrating the cabbage makes it crunchy.

Skewered Beef with Vegetables (Chapsanjok)

Skewered Beef with Vegetables (Chapsanjok)

Ingredients: 1/4 lb. beef, 1/4 lb. bellflower roots, 10 small green onions, 2 oz. bracken (fern shoots), 1/2 carrot, 5 dried brown oak mushrooms, seasoning sauce: (3 tbsp. soy sauce, 1 tsp. sesame salt, 1 tbsp. green onion, 1/2 tbsp. garlic, sesame oil, black pepper, MSG), skewers

Method:
1. Cut the beef into thin slices about 1/4" thick. Score the slices evenly and cut them into 1/3"x3" strips.
2. Soak the bellflower roots to remove the bitterness. Scald in boiling water, cut into 2 3/4" long pencil-wide strips and pound them with the back of knife to tenderize.
3. Trim the small green onions and dried mushrooms and cut them into 2 3/4" long strips.
4. Cut the bracken and carrot into 2 3/4" long pencil-wide strips and scald them slightly.
5. Make the seasoning sauce.
6. Marinate the beef on one-third of the seasonings sauce for 20 minutes.
7. Mix the carrot, bracken, small green onion and bellflower roots with the seasoning sauce.
8. String the above ingredients on skewers alternationg the colors and fry them in a fry pan.

Spiced cucumber

My hubby likes cucumbers so I prepare cucumbers almost everyday. Except from dipping the cucumbers from red pepper paste, here's another recipe that I can share to you.



Ingredients: salt, 1 tsp. sugar, 1 tbsp. soy sauce, 1 cucumber, leeks, 2 cloves garlic, 1/4 onion, 2 tbsp. pepper powder, sesame seeds, 1 tbsp. sesame oil

Method:
1. Peel and slice the cucumber.
2. Pound the garlic.
3. Slice the onion.
4. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
5. Transfer in a saucer and pour a little sesame seeds on top.
6. Eat and enjoy.

Pressed Boiled Pork (Twaejigogi Pyonyuk)

Pressed Boiled Pork (Twaejigogi Pyonyuk)

Ingredients: 1 1/3 lb. pork, 2 tbsp. soybean paste, 2 knobs ginger, 1/2 lb. kimchi, tiny soused salted shrimp seasoning: (4 tbsp. salted shrimp juice, 2 tbsp. chopped green onion, 1 tsp. chopped garlic, sesame salt, 1 tbsp. red pepper powder, black pepper, sesame oil, water), lettuce leaves

Method:

1. Wash the pork in cokld water, cutin it into larfe piece and tie them together tighty with string.

2. Slice the ginger thinly.

3. Dissolve and boil the soybean paste in water. Add the meat and ginger when boiling and simmer until tender.

4. Remove the excess fat and from which have floated to the top.

5. When the meat is well-done, drain and rinse in cold water and wrap in a clothe and press it with heavy weight.

6. When the meat becomes firm, cut it into thin slices. Arrange the slice meat on lettuce leaves on plate and serve with the kimchi.

7. Mix the salted shrimps with the seasoning and serve. Add some water if the soused shrimp is salty.

Hint: Pressed boiled pork very tasty served with garland chrysanthemum, green pepper and vinegar-red pepper sauce.

Deep Fried Chicken in Soy Sauce (Taktwigimjorim)

Deep Fried Chicken in Soy Sauce (Taktwigimjorim)

Ingredients: 1 lb. chicken, 1 tbsp. rice wine, 1 tbsp. soy sauce, 1 green onion, 1 knob ginger, 1 cup corn starch powder, 1/2 round onion, 2 Korean green peppers, 1/2 carrot, 2 cloves garlic, 1/3 cup sweet sauce, 2 oz. cabbage, 1/2 cucumber, 4 olive, tomato

Method:

1. Halve the whole chicken. Sprinkle the chicken with the rice wine and soy sauce and top it with the sliced ginger and round onion and steam it in a steamer.

2. Cut the steamed chicken into pieces. Dip them in flour and deep-fry them in oil.

3. Cut the round onion and green peppers into large pieces. Cut the carrot into crescent-shaped pieces and the garlic in flat pieces.

4. Fry the #3 vegetables in an oiled pan. Add the chicken and sweet sauce and simmer until glazed.

5. Place the cabbage, cucumber, and carrot cut into thin strips in a glassware dish and garnish with the olives and tomato. Serve this salad with the chicken.

Hint: To make the sweet sauce: Combine 1 cup nicely aged soy sauce, 1/2 lb grain syrup (like dark corn syrup), 1/2 cup sugar, 2/3 cup water, 1 oz. ginger cut in flat pieces, 1/4 cup rice wine, 1 tbsp. black pepper and MSG in a pan and simmer on low heat until thick.

Ori backen (seasoned duck meat)

There is a restaurant here which is famous of their duck menu and once you have tasted their ori backen (seasoned duck meat) you can't even say a word and don't want to stop eating it. I have tasted the other menu but i think this is the best one. The tender taste of the duck meat and the sweet and sour sauce. I dunno if you eat ducks but you can't even noticed that it is duck meat because of its delicious taste.