Miyuk Moochim with Mae-Shil

Coming soon!

Hopefully in the next day or two, but hope you understand if that day or two ends up being a month or two. ;)

I AM a little preoccupied with other things lately...

Andong Jjim Dak–Andong-Style Chicken

 

While in Korea, my cousin made a delicious chicken recipe for me that I immediately asked her about.  Of course she didn’t give me exact measurements, but I copied her dish to the best of my abilities and I think it came out pretty well.  I have to admit though that my cousin’s tasted better.  Maybe it’s just me, but I always prefer someone ELSE’S cooking to my own.  =P

Although I had half a defrosted chicken in my fridge, I felt a bit unsure about using it since it had been in my fridge a few days.  =/  So I threw it out and went about bought some chicken today.  Better safe than Salmonella.  =P

 

First, give your chicken a nice bath.  I used four drumsticks and three boneless thighs.  This was enough to feed two kids and two adults.

In the pot, add the following:  1 CUP water, 1/3 CUP soy sauce, 3 TB minced garlic, 1 TB oyster sauce, 1 TB honey powder, 1 TB brown sugar, 3 TB rice wine, 1/2 TB of sesame oil, dash of ginger powder, and a dash of pepper.




Grab some jujubes.




Throw in the dates once the water starts to boil…

I had some dried red peppers so I added those as well.

Meanwhile, get some glass noodles ready.

I also added some green and red peppers.

Add some dae-pa (large green onions).

Add some onions and potatoes.

Let everything cook for about 20 minutes…

And then add the glass noodles and let it cook until the noodles are done.

As soon as the potatoes and noodles are done – you’re ready to serve!

Enjoy!

Olympic Kal Gook Soo

 

We’re back in Los Angeles and I couldn’t be happier.  The weather is awesome.  On our trip back from Korea, I brought some fresh miyuk, fresh ground gochuggaru, dashima and a bunch of other things – much to the chagrin of the MR.  =P  He will never understand why I insist on bringing things they already sell here, but hey – it’s fresher!  I promise. 

Although the food in Korea is amazing, there are quite a few places in K-town that could compete with what they have in the Motherland.  The other day the MR and I were out and about and dropped into one of our favorite little restaurants in K-town, Olympic Kalgooksoo.  I hadn’t been there in quite a while, but the taste was just how I remembered.  Dak Kalgooksoo is one of my favorite foods.

 

The cold moo kimchi and regular kimchi.

 

Dak Kalgooksoo.

 

I prefer the spicy red sauce…

 

We got greedy this day and ordered mool mandoo as well.  The ajooma later told me that their steamed mandoo tastes much better, but I don’t know – I’ve always liked their mool mandoo for some reason.  It’s a matter of preference I suppose. 

Anyhow, I haven’t been in the cooking mode for quite awhile now.  Except for the basics, I haven’t really gone out and tried to whip up anything new.

 

While in Korea, my cousin made me this wonderful Andong Jjim Dak.  I will definitely try and replicate this in the new year.  Hope everyone’s year has been going well so far.  Until next time!

이남장 - Lee, Nam Jang or Nam Jang Lee

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

I'm not doing much cooking out here in the Motherland only because I have a wonderful MIL who bans me from entering the kitchen. No, really. She doesn't let me cook at all. I <3 my MIL.

Anyhow, let me begin this post by saying I am not in anyway affiliated with any of the restaurants I'm recommending. If I were - I'd be rich doncha think? =P These restaurant reviews are strictly because I love food and I feel it's my duty to share good food finds with everyone else.

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but our family is a big fan of sulung tang. The one thing the MR, Munchkin and I can agree on when we're stumped on what to eat is always sulung tang. The following restaurant might just be better than my two other favorites - Ham Bat and Jun Tong AKA E-Moon Oak in La-La Land.


The name is simply Lee Nam Jang and the sign states that they have been doing this for over 30 years. The restaurant is divided into three floors. The first floor is most suitable for families and small parties.

The second floor caters more towards folks that are drinking alcohol. It gets pretty loud. You know how Koreans get when they're imbibing themselves. =P

The third floor is composed of ondol rooms (heated floors, shoes off) and caters to larger parties or to people who want to eat in more privacy. However, the third floor also gets pretty loud because there are a lot of larger groups drinking soju while eating sulungtang and soo-yook - which is basically the delicate meat that has been boiled in the broth and served separately.


Upon sitting down, you are greeted with the green onions and kimchi. Their kimchi is a bit on the sweeter side, but it's still yummy nonetheless.



The MR ordered neh-jang tang.



While I ordered good old fashioned sulung tang. Unfortunately I can't seem to find a picture of the soo-yook from our last visit in April so I'll have to end the pictures here. We've already been to this restaurant twice in two weeks. It is one of the best sulung-tang places I've ever been to.

I will be back soon with more restaurant reviews. Until then, hope you have a GREAT rest of the year. Here's wishing that 2011 brings more joy and happiness than all the previous years.

Greetings from Korea

Street Foods. You can't go wrong with this. =) Hope everyone has a very, Merry Christmas!

Cow Parts

MOOOOOOO.  That’s me being a cow.

Hello all!  I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving break – yes I realize I’m a bit late.  Anyhow, I thought I would do a short little blog on cow parts.  I made beef tang no less than four times already this winter so I thought I would share some of the different parts of cow you can buy at the butcher shop so you can see what it looks like.

 

Knee caps.  If you go to Jinju Gomtang, they have a great do-ga-ni tang - though I confess that I haven’t been there in a very long time since I’m not out and about in K-town like I was in my twenties.  =P  They give you kitchen shears and a big plate of knee caps with soft tendons falling off the bones.  I loved eating all the tendons and dipping into their soy sauce/wasabi mix.  Squeamish?  Don’t be.  Give it a try and you might become a fan!

 

This is where the marrow is.  Even if you don’t use other parts, I suggest adding some beef marrow to any gook or tang you make.

 

Ox tails are always a favorite in tangs.  I always separate my meat after boiling for a while and store it for easier access.

 

Beef brisket.  After boiling for a few hours, I will take this out of the soup and let it cool down.  Then you just take a sharp kitchen knife and slice the meat into thin strips.

 

Beef Feet.  This is definitely not for the weak of heart, but I guarantee your gook will be much more milky and flavorful if you add some feet.  Try it.  I promise you won’t regret it.

 

I normally use all the ox tails and then use about half of everything else.  Let it drain in water and then boil and throw out the water.

 

You can store the remaining cow parts for another time.

 

Remember, boil and throw it out once!

 

Then wash and clean all your bits and pieces and add water and boil, boil, boil.  You can see the more in-depth how-to over HERE and HERE.

Hope everyone has a great holiday!  We will be heading over to the Motherland again to spend Christmas and New Year’s in Seoul.  And yes, food pictures from the homeland will be coming up again so get ready to salivate. 

And can someone please tell North Korea to tone it down a little while we’re over there?  Thanks.

Fresh Kimchi–Gut Jul Eeh Kimchi with Raw Oysters

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!  I’m sure our dinner table isn’t much different from some of the other Korean-American dinner tables out there.  For as long as I can remember we have always had Korean food on Thanksgiving.  It wasn’t until I was old enough to learn how to roast a turkey that our family started having turkey on Thanksgiving.  =P  Now our tables look like a mix of the old and new with Korean food intermingling with American food.

One of my mom’s specialties around the holidays is a fresh gut-jul-eeh kimchi she makes specifically for my halmoni who doesn’t like the sourness of fermented kimchi.  I asked my mom where she learned to cook and she told me that all of the myun-noo-ris in our family were taught how to cook by my grandmother.  I now understand why the food at all the different households on my dad’s side pretty much tastes the same.  My grandmother hails from a town called Andong and I was told by many people that the ladies of Andong are known for their cooking prowess.

I went to my parent’s house early in the morning to start the ham and turkey, so I was actually able to watch her make this fresh kimchi from start to finish.  It is one of my husband’s favorite dishes, so I made sure to note how much of everything she used.  Of course there are no exact measurements, I was able to eyeball her proportions pretty well…I think.  =P

 

First, a small peek at our dinner table.  My mom’s *famous* chong-gak kimchi (really, it’s GOOD – and I’m not just saying that because she’s my mom), kongnamool moochim, cornbread stuffing (with cranberries, apples, turkey sausage, almonds, onions, parsley, celery, and…whatever else I had on hand), fresh cranberry sauce, grilled snapper, spinach moochim, roasted ham, roasted turkey, garlic mashed potatoes and creamed corn.  I made all the American food and my mom made all the Korean food.  We are a good combo in the kitchen and totally know how to work around each other now.

Have I mentioned how much I love my mom?  She’s my favorite person next to Munchkin.  =P

 

Take one cucumber and chop it up like so and then sprinkle a little bit of sea salt and set aside.

 

Then grab one napa and start washing it and taking it apart.

 

Then take a knife and start slicing the napa into little pieces straight into the same bowl.  My mom just holds it up and just takes her knife and slices it directly above the bowl.  Then generously sprinkle salt on top and set it aside for a couple of hours.

 

After the napa begins to look soft, rinse the salt water out under cool water and then julienne half a moo into the bowl as well.

 

Add some green onions…

 

Add about 1/4 cup of minced garlic.

 

Meanwhile defrost your raw oysters.  I wasn’t able to take a picture of the bag, but my mom tells me they sell it frozen in a bag and it’s usually next to the frozen fish area…

 

Then add about 4-5 TB of sesame seeds…

 

1-2 TB of sugar…(my mom uses this Korean sugar that looks brown)

 

Add your red pepper flakes.  Depending on the type of red pepper flakes you have, you have to adjust your measurements accordingly.  This is the one my MIL brought back from Korea last year and it’s very light.  We tend to use a lot of more of this when making recipes because it’s not as red.

 

My mom then added the oysters (about 1/2 cup) and shrimp jut (1 TB).  I actually asked my mom why she doesn’t chop up the raw oysters (since they tend to look pretty GROSS) and she said it’s because then it *bursts* and the kimchi tastes much more fishy. 

 

Mix, mix, mix!

 

And we realized that it could use a little more color, so in went some more red pepper powder.

 

And voila!  Fresh gut-jul-eeh kimchi.  This tastes best when served within an hour or two of preparation.  It will naturally ferment into kimchi as well and can be eaten when it’s fermented, but because a lot of the real steps to making kimchi were skipped, this type never tastes as good as real beh-choo kimchi.  Yes, I will do a step-by-step of beh-choo kimchi one day…

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  I hope you found time to reminisce your past and find many things you are thankful for.  Life can throw unexpected twists and turns to you, but always remember that there is a light at the end of tunnel.

My latest scans all came back clear.  My chest is free of mets and my head and neck is free of disease as well.  Two years after diagnosis, I am still cancer-free.  I’m sure there are tiny little buggers lurking around somewhere inside my body, but I’m hopeful that I will live to see Munchkin grow old.

Health, happiness, love and many blessings to all my readers!  Thank you for having been my outlet to break down and reconstruct myself these past couple of years.  This blog was truly my form of therapy.  It is a small slice of space away from my real world.  It’s a place I come to when I’m feeling a bit down. 

Writing these posts and sharing our families recipes is cathartic.  It’s a way to heal.  So thank you for helping me heal.

P.S.  For those of you who are curious.  All pictures were taken with my Canon G11.  I didn’t have my Canon 50D with me on this day.