Bibimbap 비빔밥

One of my favourite Korean food is Bibimbap 비빔밥 which is "Korean mixed rice with meat and assorted vegetables" and served with a sauce mix of gochujang. But I seldom eat it outside because most of the time the rice portion is very big and after mixing the meat and vegetables, the entire serving is too much for me to finish. I eat very little rice and would prefer more ingredients than rice :p

Last year when I went to Korea, I flew by Korean Air and for supper they served bibimbap in metal bowls!! I don't eat supper so skipped it. Most of the passengers took it and I could hear the entire plane went "tok tok tok tok" (sound of mixing rice and ingredients using the spoon) during meal service hour. It seriously sounded yummy and I regretted not eating it :(

During the trip, I had wanted to try authentic Korean bibimbap at one restaurant in Myeongdong that's highly recommended by many, but the HB didn't like bibimbap so I couldn't eat it until the last day at the airport where I finally ordered it at a foodcourt with many food choices. And during the return flight, bibimbap was served again for dinner and this time, it was a must to eat it!

Actually bibimbap is not difficult to cook, just that the ingredients are prepared/cooked individually and hence quite tedious especially if you use many ingredients. I usually stick to 5 or 6.

Typical ingredients include meat (shredded or mixed), mushroom, spinach, cucumber, zucchini, soy bean sprout or mung bean sprout, carrot, egg etc. I also noticed this ingredient called gosari or fernbrake which is a type of mountain herb/vegetable? I tried to look for it at supermarkets but couldn't find it. Stupidly forgot to search for it at the traditional markets like Gwangjang market as I was too overwhelmed looking at all the food stalls.

For Koreans, I understand that they sometimes use leftover banchan (side dishes) which is super easy coz it's a matter of mixing them up with rice :p

Anyways, here's my version. Since I'm the only one eating it at home and cooking one serving is silly or rather difficult, I usually prepare double portion and eat it over 2 days.

Bibimbap 비빔밥
(makes 2 servings) (reference from Korean Bapsang, Maangchi, My Korean Kitchen)

Ingredients

• 100g cucumber, sliced into thin pieces
• 40g carrot, shredded
• 100g swiss brown mushroom, sliced
• 120g soy bean sprout
• 100g spinach, cut into small sections
• 2 eggs
• 120g cooked short grain rice
• Cooking oil, sesame oil, salt, pepper, minced garlic (2-3 cloves), spring onion/chives
• Sauce: 1 tbsp gochujang, 1 tbsp honey, 1/2-1 tbsp water, 1/4 tsp sesame oil, sesame seeds, spring onion/chives

Steps

1. Cucumber: Sprinkle generous amount of salt over sliced cucumbers and set aside for 15 mins. Squeeze out excess liquid. Toss with 1/4 tsp minced garlic, 1/4 tsp sesame oil, pinch of salt and pepper.
2. Carrot: Add some sesame oil to a frying pan, saute the carrot shreds for 1-2 mins, add pinch of salt and pepper. 
3. Mushroom: In the same frying pan, add some sesame oil, saute the mushroom till soft, add pinch of salt and pepper.
4. Soy bean sprout: Bring 2 cups of water to boil with 1/2 tsp salt. Add the bean sprouts and cook for 8-10 mins. Drain and squeeze out water. Toss with 1/4 tsp minced garlic, 1/4 tsp sesame oil, pinch of salt and pepper.
5. Spinach: Using the same pot of water, blanch the spinach till just cooked, about 30 seconds. Drain and squeeze out water. Toss with 1/4 tsp minced garlic, 1/4 tsp sesame oil, pinch of salt and pepper.
6. Eggs: Fry 2 eggs sunny side-up till egg whites just cooked and yolks still runny.
7. Sauce: Combine all the sauce ingredients, mix well and sprinkle with sesame seeds and chopped spring onion/chives.
8. Combine: Scoop 1/2 portion of rice into the middle of a bowl. Place the sunny side-up on top of the rice. Arrange 1/2 portions of the cucumber, carrot, mushroom, soybean sprout and spinach around and on top of the egg white. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and chopped spring onion/chives. Drizzle desired amount of sauce, mix well and enjoy. Repeat for the remaining portion. If storing in fridge, keep in airtight box and steam for 5-6 mins before eating.

Korean Egg Bread Gyeran Ppang 계란빵

I can't believe it, after watching so many K-dramas that made me laugh and cry so much (basically obsession mode each time a drama attracted me), I've not been to Korea yet -_- Well, it's on my must-visit country list for the past few years, but somehow didn't manage to materialise the plans?!! Next year, I promise myself.

I digress.

Even though I've not been to Korea, have heard a lot about Korea street snacks such as Ddeokbokki (spicy rice cakes), Hotteok (sweet pancake), Odeng (fish cake), Boong-uh-ppang (Goldfish bread), Kimbap (rice rolls) and many more through the K-dramas, friends, YouTube, blogs etc. In fact, I've made hotteok two years back and love it!

Recently I watched a YouTube video about Gyeran Ppang and very intrigued by it. It's described as similar to muffin with a whole egg inside, and tasted both sweet and savoury. It's sold by street vendors all over Korea and apparently very popular during winter as people are attracted by the sweet aroma and steaming hot egg bread to warm the tummies.

Coincidentally I was looking for some quick and easy breakfast/snack recipes which are wholesome and healthy, suitable for the kiddo. And when I researched on the internet and read through the ingredient list and method, I knew that I must give it a try!

I think traditionally, those egg bread sold by the street vendors consist mainly one full egg, but the Korean homebakers added more variations such as bacon and cheese. As I had some leftover ingredients in the fridge to be cleared like corn kernels, bacon and cheese, decided to follow suit with the additional ingredients. For some of the recipes and probably traditionally, the egg is inside the bread (instead of top), but I prefer to use the ingredients as toppings, looks more appetising and easier to identify :p

The first time I baked the egg bread, I used regular-size silicone muffin cups and mid-size eggs. But both hb and I felt that adding one whole regular-size egg seemed to be quite "jiak-lat" (overwhelming), making the egg bread very filling. After eating one, we couldn't possible try another flavour immediately. Instead of using regular eggs, I thought of quail egg because it would make the egg bread "smaller" (although cholesterol level is higher). But if I were to use the same muffin cups, the proportion of quail egg to batter would be imbalanced. Hmmmm....

After pondering for a day, I recalled I have a 9-hole silicone mold hidden somewhere in the darkest corner of my cabinet :p and the holes are oval shaped which is a little similar to the egg bread sold in Korea. Well not exactly the same but I guess it should work well for me! I used that mold to make financiers before and forgot all about it :p

And so with the smaller and shallower mold, the quail egg fits perfectly and the egg bread is now a more petite and manageable size for my family :)

Ingredients are really simple. Sugar, all purpose flour, baking powder, milk, melted salted butter, eggs and vanilla extract. Toppings are up to individual. I made three variations, quail egg with cheese, bacon with onion and corn with butter and mayo. Added a sprinkle of parsley flakes too, since I have it.

Before and after. The batter and toppings were filled to the brim of the molds but they won't overflow during baking. Good thing about using silicone molds, the egg bread could be lifted easily.

Korean Egg Bread Gyeran Ppang 계란빵
(Makes 9 pieces, using 7cm x 5cm x 2cm oval shape silicone mold)
(reference: Messy Witchen, Seonkyoung Longest, My Korean Kitchen, Maangchi)

Ingredients

• 70g all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 75g egg (about 2 small kampung ones)
• 50g caster sugar
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Toppings (optional)

1. Quail egg & shredded cheese
2. Corn with butter & mayo - thaw frozen corn kernels with hot water, drain and mix well with salted butter and Japanese mayonnaise
3. Onion & bacon - dice onion and bacon, fry in pan till onion is softened and bacon slightly browned
4. Parsley flakes/black pepper/fresh coriander

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 200 degree celsius, top and bottom heat.
2. Sift flour and baking powder into bowl, set aside.
3. Mix egg and sugar using whisk till well combined.
4. Add the egg/sugar mixture, milk and vanilla extract to the flour mixture. Whisk till well-blended.
5. Scoop the batter into the silicone mould, slightly more than half-filled (I use a 4-cm ice-cream scoop).
6. Add desired toppings on top of the batter. Crack quail egg in the centre of the batter, sprinkle shredded cheese around the rim of the mold. Add about 1 to 1.5 tbsp of corn/bacon spreading around the top of the batter. Finish by sprinkling some parsley flakes/black pepper (if desired).
7. Bake at 200 degree celsius for 20-22 mins, till top of bread is slightly browned.
8. Let the egg bread cool slightly before removing from silicone mould.
9. Best eaten hot.

 *The egg bread doesn't taste as good after cool down or stored in fridge. To re-heat, steam for 5-6 mins.

I totally love the corn topping one, the sweet juicy bits of corn kernels burst into the mouth with each bite of the bread. The bacon and onion is not bad as well, some may not like it due to the smoky saltiness in contrast to the sweetness but I like the combination. I also love the egg bread now, the quail egg is just the right size and the added cheese enhanced the overall taste (once again a sweet and savoury combi which I like). Best part, I can eat all three flavours at one go :d

The kiddo loves the egg one so much, he ate two immediately after dinner!

This recipe is certainly a keeper. Toppings (if desired) can be prepared in advance and the batter and baking itself can be ready in less than 30 mins. I think it makes a great breakfast or snack for kids since it's quite wholesome. Will explore more variations next time :)

Quick & Easy Kimchi Wings

Once in a while I will this crazy kimchi craving, and include it in everything I eat, like noodles, rice, meat etc. Anyways, kimchi has become a staple in my fridge ever since I started cooking Korean food, along with Gochujang (hot pepper paste) and Doenjang (soybean paste).

Since I had some chicken mid-joint wings in my freezer, I decided to make a quick and easy kimchi chicken wings. It's certainly much faster and fuss-free than the Yangnyeom-tongdak (spicy fried chicken) and Dakgangjeong (crispy and crunchy fried chicken) that I made before, but equally yummy!

Quick & Easy Kimchi Chicken Wings

Ingredients

• 5 pcs Chicken Wings (I use mid-joint)
• 1 tsp Light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp Cooking wine
• Pinch of salt & pepper
• Cornstarch
• 1 clove garlic, sliced
• 3 Tbsp Kimchi, cut into slices/shreds
• 2 Tbsp Kimchi juice
• 1 tsp Gochujang
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• Dash of Korean sesame oil

Steps

1. Marinate the chicken wings with light soy sauce, cooking wine, salt and pepper for at least 1 hour or overnight.
2. Coat the chicken wings with cornstarch, tap away excess and leave for about 15 mins.
3. Air-fry the wings at 180 degree celsius for 12 mins, turn over after 6 mins.
4. Add a tsp of cooking oil in a frying pan and fry the garlic slices till fragrant.
5. Add the kimchi, kimchi juice, gochujang, sugar and sesame oil, stir to mix well, and let the sauce reduce to thick consistency.
6. Add the chicken wings, toss to coat well.
7. Best serve hot.

I made only 5 pieces for my lunch to go with salad and they were so finger-licking good that I regretted not making more. The sauce was spicy, slight tinge of sweetness and with the umami taste of kimchi, very appetising! If you like kimchi, gochujang and chicken wings, give it a try!

맛있어요 Ma Sit Sso Yo!

 

 This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Bake for Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Diana from the Domestic Goddess Wannabe.

Korean Soybean Paste Stew (Doenjang-jjigae 된장찌개) - AFF Apr 2014

Today marks the end of AFF Korea Apr 2014. Despite that, I think I'm hooked to Korean cuisine and would continue cooking some of our family favourites from time to time and try new ones as well!

While hubby like Kimchi-Jjigae, I prefer Doenjang-Jjigae. I remember eating this spicy soybean paste stew at a popular Korean family restaurant in Singapore and liked it very much. The few times we dined there, I would always order this stew. But the very last time I went, the stew had a very strange odour/taste which musked the flavour of doenjang, I even asked the staff whether that was Doenjang Jjigae, and the staff insisted it was. Then I realised probably the broth or seafood used in the stew wasn't fresh resulting in a strong fishy taste in the soup. Naturally that was the last time I visited that restaurant.

This month is a good opportunity to try cooking this soup at home, at least once. There are a few versions of the recipe but mostly similar. I decided to adapt the one by Korean Bapsang. Most recipes use Korean anchovy for broth/soup base, I didn't have any but didn't feel like using our local ones. Saw some fresh clams at the wet market and decided to use fresh clams for the broth/soup base.

Very pleased how the soup turned out. The fresh clam broth gave a sweet undertone to the soup and provided a complimentary role to the highlight of the stew, doenjang. All the ingredients, especially the thinly sliced pork belly matched the taste of the soup. Love it! This recipe is a keeper; I could cook it as a one-pot dish for the family (hubby and I only or non-spicy version so that dear son can eat too) by adding more ingredients like potato and mushroom or perhaps a smaller portion for myself as lunch.

Spicy soybean paste stew (Doenjang-jjigae 된장찌개)
(recipe from Korean Bapsang)

Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 100g pork belly, thinly sliced (I bought those shabu shabu type of pork belly)
• 1.5 tbsp Korean fermented soybean paste (doenjang)
• 1 tsp Korean chilli pepper flakes ( gochugaru)
• 3 cups clam broth (see below for recipe)
• 10 clam meat
• 250g tofu, cubed
• 1 small zucchini, cubed
• 1/2 small onion, sliced
• 1/2 red chilli, thinly sliced
• 1/2 green chilli, thinly sliced
• 1 stalk scallion, sliced

Steps

1. Heat a pot with 1 tbsp of oil over medium heat. Saute garlic till fragrant, then add meat, soybean paste and chilli paste and fry for 3-4 mins.
2. Add clam broth and clam meat and stir well to dissolve the soybean paste.
3. Cover and boil over medium high heat for 4 to 5 mins.
4. Add the tofu, zucchini, onion and chilli. Boil for another 8 mins.
5. Add scallions and boil for another 2 mins.
6. Off heat and serve immediately.

Clam broth (yields 6 cups of broth)

• 1kg fresh clam
• Water, about 1-2 inches above level of clams

1. Soak fresh clam in water for 10 mins and clean/scrub any dirt on the clams. Discard the water.
2. Place clams in a pot and add water enough to cover all the clams, about 1-2 inches more.
3. Boil the clams for 10 mins till all the clams are opened.
4. Remove all the clams and retrieve the meat. Discard the clams that remain closed. Use as desired or freeze in ziplock bag for future use.
5. Strain the broth with fine mesh.
6. Use broth immediately or put inside ziplock bags for freezing up to 2 months.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest: Korea, hosted by Sharon of Feats of Feasts.

Korean sweet pancakes (Hotteok 호떡) - AFF Korea Apr 2014

I've been eyeing this sweet pancakes (by Maangchi) since beginning of April and in fact watched her video a dozen times. Maangchi mentioned that this is one of the most popular street snack in Korea. Finally decided to do it today!

Halved the recipe since I'm just testing it out. It's really very simple (both the ingredients and steps). Just add the dough ingredients together in a bowl, mix thoroughly and let the dough rise two times. Then wrap with the filling ingredients and pan fry.

I made my Hotteok mini size about 8cm diameter, and tried two types of filling. The traditional one with brown sugar, walnut and cinnamon, and another popular Mozzarella cheese one.

I must say the hotteok tasted really yummy and like Maangchi said, they are best eaten hot. The pancake was crispy on the outside and chewy inside. The brown sugar melted into syrup which went well with the pancake, the cinnamon taste was so alluring (I'm a cinnamon lover) and the chopped walnut added a little bit of texture. The savoury option of mozzarella cheese filling was also very nice with a warm comfort in each bite.

Had four mini pancakes as my lunch (also having salad) and freeze the other half of the dough for another day, would probably let hubby and son try as well.

This is definitely a great snack, quite filling (no pun intended) I would say. I believe I will be making this pancake from time to time, probably make and freeze some dough in advance and cook whenever I have the craving :)

Korean sweet pancakes (Hotteok 호떡)
(recipe from Maangchi)

Ingredients (makes 4 regular size pancakes or 8 mini pancakes)

Dough

• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 cup all purpose/plain flour

Brown sugar filling (with excess)

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1 tbsp walnut, lightly toasted and finely chopped

Steps

• Put lukewarm water in a mixing bowl.
• Add sugar, instant yeast, salt and oil. Mix well using rice scoop.
• Add flour and mix well using rice scoop. A sticky dough will form.
• Cover bowl with lid or clingwrap and let dough rise till double in size, about 1hr.
• After 1hr, knead the dough lightly using rice scoop to remove gas bubbles. Cover and let rise for another 20 mins.
•  Meanwhile, prepare brown sugar filling by mixing all the ingredients together.
• After 20 mins, knead the dough again to remove gas bubbles.
• Prepare a mat and spread about a handful of flour. Dust hands generously with flour.
• Place the dough onto the mat. Lightly knead and divide into 8 portions.
• Take one portion of dough, flatten it, put some filling in the center of the dough, then seal it (pitching inwards) to make a ball.
• Repeat this 8 times to make 8 stuffed balls. If not using all the portions immediately, wrap the balance portions individually using clingwrap and chill in fridge or freezer.
• Heat non-stick pan over medium low heat and add 1 tsp olive/vegetable oil.
• Place 1 ball (sealed side downwards) onto the pan and press the dough with a spatula to flatten.
• When the bottom of the dough ball is light golden brown, turn it over and cook the other side till light golden brown as well.
• Best serve hot.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest: Korea, hosted by Sharon of Feats of Feasts.

Boiled pork wraps with spicy dipping sauce (Bossam보쌈, Ssamjang 쌈장) - AFF Korea Apr 2014

Hubby and I are late adopters in Korean cuisine, it's only in the recent years that we started dining at Korean eateries, usually the BBQ restaurants. We really enjoy the Korean style of eating grill meats - take a leaf of lettuce, place grill meat, top with spicy sauce, wrap and put the whole thing in the mouth! Recently hubby's Korean colleague introduced him the Korean way of eating grilled pork belly with kimchi and hubby was hooked, and would even crave for it these days.

Until AFF Korea, I've never cooked any Korean dishes at home before because hubby didn't like it previously and so I didn't bother to look up any recipes. And I always thought that Korean cuisine is very difficult and tedious, looking at how kimchi is prepared, the amount of banchan side dishes that come with each meal etc. So this month has been a eye-opener for me, to learn that some Korean dishes are not as hard as I deemed.

Anyways, as I was browsing through the submissions for AFF Korea, I saw this dish Bossam submitted by Kelly Siew Cooks and I was immediately inspired! This is very similar to the grilled meat lettuce wrap except that the pork belly is boiled in brine water. I'm really curious about whether the taste would be as good because grill pork belly has this tantalising charred taste and smell.

After cooking the pork belly, I was totally blown away! In fact during the cooking process, there was this intoxicating aroma floating around in the kitchen, I think that of the doenjang, which made me literally salivate! At the end of about 1hr15mins, the meat was really tender and very flavourful!

And oh, eaten with lettuce, kimchi and Ssamjang (Korean spicy dipping sauce), the taste was explosive! I couldn't stop myself from stuffing one wrap into my mouth after another. It wasn't very graceful looking, but hey who cares when it was soooo yummy!

Update: Hubby gave thumbs up to the Bossam too. He liked the Ssamjang as well! Between the 2 of us, we finished all the pork belly :p I forgot to count how many slices of pork belly there were, I think maybe 15-20? I think I ate 5 wraps as my lunch and another 5 for dinner; hubby ate the rest. I know that was a lot but we ate very little rice and drank some soup only (cooked ABC soup and drink mainly the soup), and I removed some of the skin and fats as well. #excuses :p haha.

Ingredients are simple and method totally easy. Basically just bring doenjang, salt, scallion, garlic, black pepper, bay leaf, ginger, instant coffee, onion and water to boil for 5 mins. Add the pork belly and boil for 20 mins at medium heat, then turn to low heat and simmer for another 50 mins. That's it. The pork belly turned tender and absorbed all the flavours.

Boiled pork wraps with spicy dipping sauce (Bossam보쌈, Ssamjang 쌈장)
(recipe reference from Korean Bapsang, Kelly Siew Cooks, Maangchi)

Ingredients


Meat preparation

• 700g fresh pork belly
• 1/2 medium onion
• 2 white parts of scallions (I use China scallion)
• 6 garlic cloves
• 3 slices ginger
• 1/2 tsp whole black peppers
• 1 tbsp doenjang (fermented soybean paste)
• 1/2 tsp instant coffee powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 bay leave
• 7 cups water
  

Steps for cooking meat

• Place all the brine ingredients except pork belly into a pot, pour about 7 cups of water and bring to boil over medium high heat for 5 mins.
• Add pork belly and boil for 20 mins, uncovered.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer for 50 mins, covered.
• After 50 mins, the meat will become very tender. Turn off the heat and cool the meat in the cooking liquid to keep the meat moist.
• Cut the pork belly into thin slices for the Bossam wrap.
• Keep any leftover meat in the cooking liquid. Boil the meat in the liquid to reheat. This prevents the meat from drying out.

Ingredients for wrap

• Green and red coral lettuce (or any other salad leaves of your choice)
• Boiled pork belly, sliced
• Kimchi (I bought home-made kimchi from a shop at Square 2, shop is located next to Solmart)
• Ssamjang (store-bought or homemade - see below for recipe)

Steps for Bossam

• Take a lettuce leaf. Place sliced pork belly on top. Add small piece of kimchi and half teaspoon of Ssamjang.
• Wrap up like parcel or whichever way the ingredients are secured.
• Pop the whole wrap into the mouth (sometimes I can only manage half coz the wrap is too big) and enjoy!

I saw Ssamjang sold in tubs just like Gochujang and Doenjang at the Korean supermarkets. But after looking at the recipe by Maangchi, I decided to make it myself since it's easy peasy! It's basically just a mixture of ingredients required, no cooking needed! It's fresher than store-bought and more delicious! 

Ssamjang 쌈장 Korean spicy dipping sauce(recipe from Maangchi)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup doenjang (fermented soybean paste)
• 1 tbsp gochujang (hot pepper paste)
• 1 stalk spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
• 2 tsp honey
• 2 tsp sesame seeds, lighted toasted
• 2 tsp sesame oil
  

Steps

1. Place all the ingredients into a bowl, stir with a spoon till well mixed.
2. Enjoy with Bossam or grilled meats.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest: Korea, hosted by Sharon of Feats of Feasts.

Korea Spicy Fried Chicken (Yangnyeom-tongdak 양념통닭) - AFF Korea Apr 2014

The other day I was asking hubby in the morning what he wanted for dinner. And his reply was "...the Korean fried chicken that you cooked, quite nice...". Then I recalled I was supposed to try the other spicy version, the Yangnyeom-tongdak 양념통닭!


I think this Korean spicy fried chicken is quite popular among the youngsters in Singapore now? I've heard about brands like Ne Ne Chicken, 4 Fingers Chicken, Woori Nara selling these infamous wings, whether spicy or non-spicy version. Did KFC (as in the fast food KFC not Korean Fried Chicken in short) also come out with something similar as well?

Oh well, I've not tried any of those so I can't comment on how they taste like. But I can declare for sure, this Yangnyeom-tongdak that I made was freaking delicious, literally finger-licking good! I couldn't stop raving about it to the hubby in the afternoon when I was doing a test batch. He too, said it was very good after trying it in the evening. He couldn't decide whether he liked this one better or the Dakgangjeong better. For me, this Yangnyeom-tongdak is the clear winner, because of my favourite magic sauce of the moment, Gochujang!

The chicken wings were crispy, crunchy, sticky, spicy, tangy and sweet, and the addition of chopped walnuts, almonds and sesame seeds added a nutty aroma to the wings. It's hard to describe how tasty it was, you have to try it yourself!

Basically the method of cooking is similar to Dakgangjeong, double-frying the wings to make them extra crunchy and then tossing the wings with special sauce.

Yangnyeom-tongdak used more ingredients to make the sauce and slightly more work, but the effort was totally worth it. I adapted the recipe a little, instead of strawberry jam in the original recipe, I used pomegranate molasses and yuzu jam as these are the only jam I have at home. I also used brown sugar instead of white sugar.

Go ahead, give it a try! Hope you will enjoy it as much as I did!

Korea Spicy Fried Chicken (Yangnyeom-tongdak 양념통닭)
(recipe adapted from Beyond Kimchee)

Ingredients

• 500g chicken wings (about 6-7 pieces, separate into 12-14 drumlets and winglets)
• 1/2 tbsp rice wine
• 1/4 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• Potato starch or corn starch
• Vegetable oil for frying
• Handful of chopped walnut/almond and sesame seeds, lightly toasted

Sauce

• 1/4 large onion or 1/2 small onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tbsp Korean chilli paste Gochujang
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp rice wine
• 3 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp pomegranate molasses
• 1 tsp yuzu jam
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tbsp rice syrup 

Steps

1. Season the chicken pieces with rice wine, ginger, salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Puree onion, garlic and ginger using blender or mortar and pestle.
3. In a saucepan, add puree and sauce ingredients, mix well.
4. Heat saucepan to medium heat, and bring the sauce to boil. Reduce to low heat and let simmer for 3-4 mins. The sauce will thicken slightly. Set aside.
5. Coat the chicken pieces with potato starch. Make sure each piece is well coated.
6. Heat oil in pot in medium heat. Once oil is hot, fry the chicken pieces until lightly golden. Remove and drain on paper towel.
7. Turn up the heat to medium high and fry the chicken pieces again for another 2-3 mins, or until they look golden brown and feel crunchy (press using tongs). Drain on paper towel.
8. Place all the chicken pieces, chopped nuts and sesame seeds in the pot of sauce and toss well to coat evenly.
9. Best serve hot.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest: Korea, hosted by Sharon of Feats of Feasts.

Korean Stir Fried Noodles (Japchae 잡채) - AFF Korea Apr 2014

I just got home from an overseas trip (guess where ;P) on Sat midnight, so have been busy unpacking and washing clothes these two days.

For today's lunch, I thought of just making do with instant noodles since I was still in a holiday mood. While ransacking the fridge for leftover food stuff that could go into the instant noodles, I found a small bag of spinach, some mini portobello mushroom, carrot and onion. Since I also have a packet of dang-myun or Korean sweet potato noodles bought for AFF Korea Apr 2014, I decided to pick myself up and cook Japchae! Just need to hop over to the supermarket near my place to pick up some beef and spring onions (actually I also need to buy ingredients for dinner lah).

Ingredients were simple for this famous and popular Korea stir fried noodles - dang-myun, beef (or pork for those who don't take beef), spinach, carrot, onion, spring onion, sesame seeds and basic seasonings. The tedious part came from preparing and cooking each ingredient individually first then tossing them together to combine, which is different from the usual stir fried noodles where ingredients were all cooked together.

Nonetheless, it was not too difficult and soon I had a huge bowl of Japchae staring at me. I had in fact halved the recipe (reference from Beyond Kimchi and Maangchi) and I guess the actual portion could serve four people. The photos shown here were for one pax; I saved the other half for tomorrow's lunch. From the websites, they mentioned that Koreans ate Japchae as side dishes or with rice. To me, this is good enough as a main dish by itself :)

I love how all the ingredients blended with each other perfectly. The star of the dish, dang-myun had a bouncy texture which I like; the carrot and onions were crunchy and sweet, beef was juicy, spinach was a tad bitter though (probably I could add more seasoning during the preparation). The toasted sesame seeds also added a nice aroma to the dish. Overall, my Japchae was on lighter side today because I wanted a light lunch. Since I have still have more than half a packet of dang-myun left, the next time I cook it, I would add more seasonings to make it more flavourful.

Korean Stir Fried Noodles (Japchae 잡채)

(serves 2, recipe adapted from Beyond Kimchi and Maangchi)

Ingredients

• 150g Korean sweet potato noodles (dang-myun)
• 100g beef, cut into small strips
• 60g spinach, cut into small sections
• 1/2 carrot, juliened
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 mini portobello mushroom, thinly sliced
• 3 stalks spring onion, cut into small sections
  

Beef marinade

• 2 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar, 2 tsp rice wine, 1 clove garlic (minced), 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1/4 tsp pepper

Mushroom seasoning

• 1 tsp soy sauce, 1/4 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp sesame oil

Spinach seasoning

• Pinch of salt, sugar, splash of sesame oil

Noodle seasoning

• 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1 Tbsp sesame seeds (roasted), 1/4 tsp pepper

Steps

1. Marinate the beef with the seasonings. Set aside.
2. Boil water in a pot. Blanch mushrooms for 2 seconds. Take them out and rinse them in cold water. Squeeze out excess water. Place in a bowl and set aside.
3. In the same boiling water add spinach, blanch for 3 seconds. Take them out and rinse in cold water. Squeeze out excess water. Place in a bowl and set aside
4. In the same pot of boiling water, add the noodles and cook for 6 mins.
5. While the noodles are cooking, season the mushrooms and spinach with the seasoning ingredients separately. Set aside.
6. Once the noodles are cooked, drain and rinse them under cold water. Cut the noodles into 2-3 sections. Set aside.
7. In a frying pan, toast the sesame seeds for 1 min. Remove and set aside.
8. In the same frying pan, add a 1 tsp of olive oil and saute the carrots with pinch of salt and sugar over medium heat, till slightly tender. Remove and set aside.
9. Next, saute the onions with pinch of salt and sugar over medium heat, till translucent. Remove and set aside.
10. Next, saute the spring onions with pinch of salt and sugar over medium heat for 20s. Remove and set aside.
11. Next, saute beef and cook until done. Remove and set aside. Reserve the juice from the beef in the pan.
12. Cook the noodles in the pan with the reserved meat juice over medium heat. Add the noodle seasoning and toss them well. Take the pan off the heat.
13. Add the beef, spinach, mushrooms, onions,carrots, spring onions and sesame seeds into the pan. Toss well with the noodles.
14. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve warm or cold according to preference.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest: Korea, hosted by Sharon of Feats of Feasts.

Crispy and crunchy fried chicken (Dakgangjeong 닭강정) - AFF Korea Apr 2014

I've never tried Korean fried chicken before but I heard that it's very delicious. The chicken wings are double-fried to achieve a very crispy and crunchy texture and then coated with a spicy, sweet and sticky sauce. It sounds tantalising already!

While searching for a suitable recipe, I found 2 created by Maangchi, one version is Yangnyeom Tongdak and the other version is Dakgangjeong. I believe Yangnyeom is the more known or popular version, whereby one of the sauce used for coating is gochujang hot pepper sauce. Dakgangjeong is very similar, except that gochujang is not used. I decided to try Dakgangjeong first and went further to omit all the spice elements such as black pepper, mustard and dried red chilli peppers so that dear son can enjoy this dish as well. In fact, this dish reminds me of the Japanese fried chicken wings Tebasaki, I think methods are almost the same, probably some difference in the sauces used.

The most tedious part of the process was deep frying of the chicken wings because the wings had to be double-fried to achieve the crispiness. The first time at lower temperature and longer duration in order to cook the wings, the second time higher temperature and shorter duration. I don't like to do deep frying at home because in order to save cooking oil, I fry using a small pot and each time can only fry 3-4 pieces so this process took a long time for me :( Moreover, the whole kitchen becomes so oily and the frying pot is also difficult to wash. But this recipe is all worth the effort.

The sauce on the other hand was easy to make and very straightforward. After the chicken wings were deep fried, simply tossed together with the sauce, sprinkle with sesame seeds, viola crispy and crunchy fried chicken ready to enjoy.

It's really finger licking good, especially when still hot, very crunchy indeed and tasted sweet and savoury. The sesame seeds added a nice touch and fragrance to the wings as well. Hubby and dear son also gave thumbs up =D Next time round, I'm going to cook the Yangnyeom Tongdak (yeah, with my favourite magic gochujang hot pepper paste).

Crispy and crunchy fried chicken (Dakgangjeong 닭강정)
(recipe adapted from Maangchi)

Ingredients

Chicken wings

• 420g chicken wings (11 pieces, I used both winglet and drumlet)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ginger, grated
• Corn starch

Sauce

• 1 tsp cooking oil

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice syrup
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp sesame seed, lightly toasted

Steps

1. Separate chicken wings into winglet and drumlet. For the winglet, remove the tip portion.
2. Put the chicken wings in a bowl and season with salt and grated ginger.
3. Coat each winglet and drumlet with corn starch, pressing and squeezing to make sure the corn starch is well coated onto the winglet and drumlet. Set aside.

Make the sauce

1. Heat 1 tsp of cooking oil a non-stick pot/pan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and stir fry till fragrant.
2. Add soy sauce, rice syrup and vinegar. Stir with a wooden spoon and let it bubble for 1-2 mins.
3. Add the brown sugar and continue stirring till all sugar dissolved. Remove pot from heat. Set aside.

Fry the chicken

1. Heat cooking oil (sufficient to cover the winglet/drumlet) in a pot/wok on medium heat.
2. To check if oil is ready, dip a piece of wing into it. If the oil bubbles, it's hot enough to start frying.
3. Slide the coated winglet/drumlet one by one into the hot oil and fry for about 10-12 mins, turning over a few times with tongs.
4. Take the winglet/drumlet out of the oil and drain using strainer or kitchen towel. Let the wings sit for a few mins. Repeat process till all winglet/drumlet are fried.
5. Turn up the heat to medium high and fry the winglet/drumlet again for another 6-8 mins, or until they look golden brown and feel crunchy (press using tongs). Repeat process till all winglet/drumlet are fried second time.

Coat the fried chicken with the sauce

1. When the winglet/drumlet are done, place all of them into the pot with the sauce.
2. Toss well to make sure each piece is well coated with the sauce.
3. Transfer to serving plate and sprinkle sesame seeds generously over the winglet/drumlet. Taste best when served hot immediately. The chicken still remains crunchy after a few hours.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest: Korea, hosted by Sharon of Feats of Feasts.

Kimchi fried rice (Kimchi-bokkeumbap 김치볶음밥) - AFF Korea Apr 2014

I must declare that I have never eaten Kimchi Fried Rice before, but after eating this, I'm totally hooked that I cooked the fried rice two days in a week! It's so appetising that I forgot my carbo intake restriction and ate one mouth after another.

The fried rice is so easy to cook, very little ingredients required, yet tasted very good. It's slightly sweet, tangy and spicy, with crunchiness of kimchi cabbage, juicy pork belly and accentuated with the fragrance of toasted white sesame seeds. I owe it to the magic sauce, gochujang hot pepper sauce, no other seasonings required =D I think this is also an excellent recipe to use up bits of kimchi and leftover meat like pork, chicken or beef. Definitely my go-to fried rice recipe from now onwards.

Kimchi fried rice (Kimchi-bokkeumbap 김치볶음밥)
(recipe adapted from Maangchi)
(serves 1 if eaten on its own, or 2 with other dishes)

Ingredients

• 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup kimchi (about 65g), chopped into small pieces
• 50g pork belly, cut into small and thin slices (I lightly marinate the pork with some soy sauce, white pepper and chinese cooking wine for 15 mins)
• 1 bowl steamed rice (I use cooked rice left overnight, mixture of thai jasmine, brown and red rice)
• 2 tbsp kimchi juice
• 1 tbsp hot pepper sauce (gochujang)
• Water (if necessary)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 stalk spring onion
• 1 tbsp white sesame seed, lightly toasted
• Some shredded seaweed, lighted toasted

Steps

1. Heat up a frying pan on medium heat, add 1/2 tsp of oil.
2. Add the kimchi and stir fry for 1 minute.
3. Add the pork and stir fry till the meat changes colour/half cooked.
4. Add the rice, kimchi juice and gochujang. Stir fry all the ingredients together for another 7-8 mins. Add some water if the fried rice seems too dry. I didn't add.
5. Add sesame oil and spring onion. Mix well with the rice and off the heat.
6. Scoop rice in serving bowl and sprinkle generously with toasted white sesame seed and shredded seaweed. Best serve warm.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest: Korea, hosted by Sharon of Feats of Feasts.

Kimchi Stew (Kimchi-jjigae 김치찌개) - AFF Korea Apr 2014

Time flies and it's April already! The theme for this month's Asian Food Fest is Korean. In the past, our family was never big fan of Korean cuisine and rarely dined at Korean restaurants. I think our initiation to Korean food was through Seoul Garden during our schooling days? Haha, those days all-you-can-eat BBQ buffet was so popular. But hubby swore off the place when he had a terrible stomach ache after dining there.

Subsequently, more Korean restaurants started to open shop in Singapore, but our exposure remained minimal. I guess because hubby used to hate kimchi. I'm ok with kimchi but more keen in the various banchan side dishes. Once in a while, we would go for Korean BBQ where hubby enjoyed the grilled meats whereas I the banchan.

Somehow during the past two years, hubby started to show more interest in Korean cuisine (influence of Korean drama?) and even started to like kimchi. O.O Nowadays, we dine at Korean restaurants occasionally and hubby is the one who orders the kimchi soup or stew.

So when I told him that this month's AFF theme is Korean, his very first order was Kimchi Stew. This is the first time he actually showed interest in what I cook for AFF :p

I started searching the internet for easy recipes and found the recipes featured on www.maangchi.com to be very comprehensive, quick and simple. Very surprised that Kimchi soup or stew is so easy to prepare at home, almost effortless!

Ingredients include kimchi, pork belly, yellow onion, hot pepper paste (gochujang), hot pepper flakes (gochugaru), sugar, sesame oil and spring onions (and tofu which I forgot to include in this picture). The Korean ingredients are readily available at Korean supermarkets and nowadays many major supermarkets also sell the basic ones.

Basically just cut up and mix everything together and cook on stove. That's all!

Kimchi Stew (Kimchi-jjigae 김치찌개)

Ingredients:

• 250g kimchi, chopped (the pack I bought is already pre-chopped)
• 200g pork belly, sliced thinly
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp hot pepper paste
• 1 tsp hot pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp sugar
• Water (about 2 cups)
• 1/2 pc tofu (I bought firm silken tofu from wet market)
• Sesame oil
• 1 stalk spring onion

Steps:

1. In a pot, put some chopped kimchi and juice.
2. Add pork belly, sliced onion, hot pepper paste, hot pepper flakes and sugar.
3. Pour water over the ingredients until all the ingredients are submerged.
4. Close the lid of the pot and boil for 10 minutes on high heat.
5. After 10 minutes, reduce to medium heat and cook for another 10 minutes.
6. After 10 minutes, add some tofu and cook for 5 minutes more.
7. Add splash of sesame oil and spring onion. Serve hot.

The kimchi stew tasted very yummy indeed, spicy, tangy, very appetising! Hubby loved it and lamented that I used too little kimchi and added too much onions. This is a perfect one pot dish that I will cook from time to time. I'm looking forward to cooking more korean dishes, in fact have already cooked kimchi fried rice and korean crispy fried chicken (both were oh-so-good!) which I will blog about soon!

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest: Korea, hosted by Sharon of Feats of Feasts.