Cucumber Kimchi - (오이 소박이)

You're probably going to hate me for this, but I have a recipe without measurements for you. Another reason I haven't updated this blog as much is because it's SUCH a pain to 'measure' ingredients when you're a person who isn't used to measuring. =/ Even when cooking non-Korean foods, I hardly ever bust out the measuring utensils. I'm a taste as you go type of person.

Anyhow, I had a little free time today so I decided to make some cucumber kimchi. My husband loves all types of cucmber based banchans, so I have an arsenal of cucumber recipes to keep him happy.



First Cut a bunch of pickling cucumbers in half and then quarter them ALMOST all the way to the bottom. Let it sit in some salt water for a couple of hours like so. I forgot to take pictures of a few steps, but after about 3-4 hours, rinse all the cucumbers under cool water.



Meanwhile, prepare the *sok* - the insides were made with the following: (this is the closest you'll be getting to real measurements...sorry!)

• 1 julienne carrot (I use my Japanese brand mandolin for this - it's the best!)
• 2 cups of julienne moo
• 1 bunch of buchoo cut into 1-inch sections
• 1/2 cup of sliced green onions
• 1 red pepper sliced thinly
• 1/4 onions slice thinly (you don't really have to do this, I just used leftover onions from the ddukbokki I made today)
• 1/2 cup of red pepper powder
• 2 TB minced garlic
• 3-4 TB of cooking wine
• 1 TB sugar
• 1 TB honey powder
• dash of ginger powder and pepper and salt
• 2 TB sesame seeds
• 1 TB shrimp jut or just use fish sauce
• a splash of sesame oil

After you have each and every cucumber stuffed, leave it out for a night before placing inside the fridge. You can start eating this about 3-4 days later.

Enjoy! The MR said it turned out great and he devoured the last batch within a week. In case I don't get back in time, HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! I truly hope you and yours have a wonderful, fabtabulistic, awesome, dreamy NEW YEAR! Hug and kiss the ones you love and cherish every moment you have. =)

Onion Salad

Once again, I’ve been on a blogging hiatus and I apologize for that. The weather has been SOOOOOOOOOO hot here in SoCal that just the thought of going into the kitchen and turning up the heat was suffocating. I felt bad about not cooking more often, so this past weekend we headed to K-town and picked up some meat. On Sunday we had some yummy steaks and today we ate cha-dol-begi.

Enough rambling and onto the recipe…

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion
• dressing: 1/2 TB minced garlic, 1/2 TB wasabi, 2 TB rice wine, 1 TB soy sauce and 7 TB vinegar

I was being lazy and didn’t want to head upstairs to grab my flash and THIS is what the picture looked like. =/

So I went upstairs, grabbed my flash and this is the result. It’s strange how flash works better for me with food pictures, but when I’m shooting Munchkin or anything else – I rarely use flash. Anyhow…

I usually eat cha-dol-begi (thinly sliced beef brisket) with this sauce. But today I decided that I would make an onion salad similar to the one they *used to* serve at Byul Dae Po – one of my favorite AYCE Korean BBQ places. The last time I was there, the server informed me that they no longer gave out the onion salad because the price of onions had skyrocketed. =/ I dunno if that’s the truth, but I’m hoping they will serve it again in the future. Anyhow this is my replication of their onion salad. Super easy and a perfect accompaniment to gogi-gogi! First, go and grab one large white onion. You can slice it by hand, or use a trusty mandolin to do the work for you! Slice away~

You want it thin, but not too thin…

And then add the following ingredients: 1/2 TB minced garlic, 1/2 TB wasabi, 2 TB rice wine, 1 TB soy sauce and 7 TB vinegar.

Mix it up WELL. You do not want to bite down into a chunk of wasabi.

And transfer it into a nice serving bowl. You’ll be left with quite a bit of liquid so just pour it over the top and discard any excess.

You’re now ready to eat with some gogi!

I know I’ve mentioned Choice Meat Market before and if you haven’t already, you MUST go and try their meats.

It’s a lot more than what you would pay at the K-market, but their meat melts in your mouth.

I sliced up some onions and mushrooms…

Got our trusty old indoor gogi-grill going (there’s even a compartment that collects the drained fat!) – I think the last time we brought this out was over two years ago!

And then it was grilling time!

We ate the whole thing!

Everyone in our small family of three was happy and full! Hope everyone is doing well. I will *try* to be back sooner rather than later. =)

Spicy Serrano Chiles in Vinegar and Sugar

Yup, an update will be coming soon.

I promise.

It's nothing fancy, but it's something in my fridge at the moment. =)

I missed you all once again.

Hope you have been well.

Serrano Chilies in Vinegar Sauce

I was at Bristol Farms a couple of weeks ago and saw that their Serrano chilies looked particularly fresh, so I picked up a bunch. At first, I was going to pickle them in soy sauce, but then I remembered the chilies they serve at Thai restaurants and decided to make those instead. Anyhow, here goes my rendition. I made this over the weekend and did a taste test today and so far, so good.

Begin by washing and drying your chilies. I honestly don’t know how much I bought. Probably a few handfuls. =P

Then just start slicing away at them. Try to slice them as thing as you can. Usually I would use a mandolin, but these Serrano chilies were so skinny that it was easier to just chop.

I ended up with about 1 CUP of sliced chilies. If you need EXACT measurements.

Then just pour in a mixture of: 1 CUP water, 3/4 CUP vinegar, and 1 TB sugar.

Let it sit for about a week or so inside the fridge and you’re ready to enjoy. It’s quite high on the spice scale so beware! Hope everyone in Cali is keeping cool in this crazy heat wave. I will be back soon with a Spicy Chicken Gizzard Recipe later tonight. =)

Steamed Egg – (계란찜) - Version 3.0

This California weather is sort of crazy, isn’t it? EARTHQUAKE weather for sure. =/ Growing up in Cali, I’m so used to earthquakes. I’ve been through quite a few of the big ones so they hardly bother me anymore – but still the thought of the next big one is pretty scary. =P

The rain has made it a lazy day today. All of Munchkin’s sports activities this week have been cancelled due to rain. This means the kid is going stir-crazy from 3PM until his bed time. Stir crazy kid means a mom that has to get dinner on the table as quickly as possible.

The following is a quick and easy way to make steamed egg all in one pot. There are other ways to make egg jjim and I have VERSION 1 and VERSON 2 right here.

Ingredients:

• 2 Eggs
• 1 CUP water
• 2 TSP shrimp jut
• handful of green onions

First crack two eggs into a small stone pot.

Pour a cup of water into it.

Add 2 TSP of shrimp jut LIQUID ONLY.

Whisk it all around thoroughly using a fork and place it on the stove on medium heat.

Once it looks like it’s just about to boil, turn down the heat to low…

…and add a tin foil tent on top with a tiny opening to let some air out. Just let it simmer on low for about 10-15 minutes.

When it looks just about done, throw some green onions on top.

Let it continue to simmer for a couple of minutes and you’re ready to serve! This type of egg jjim tastes best when served fresh.

Even just after just a few minutes, it starts to flatten out.

It still tastes great though! This is the quickest and easiest way to enjoy egg jjim besides microwaving it. Whenever I get around to it, I’ll post up the microwave version. Enjoy and stay warm!

Munchkin’s dinner tonight also consisted of miyuk gook and clams. =P The kimchi jjigae was leftover from yesterday and was for ME. =)

Egg Jjim - Version 2.0 - (계란찜)

Not really a recipe, but I decided to make egg jjim today. You can make it a variety of ways. I used 2 whole eggs and 1 egg white. I then added about 1/2 tsp of salt and 3/4 cup of water.



I then chose to add some onions, carrots and mushrooms. I would normally add some green onions as well but didn't have any on hand.



Beat it well until it's mixed.



Then pour the mixture into a pot (preferably a dol sot) and let it cook on medium heat.



Put the lid over like this. WATCH IT! Make sure to keep an eye on it because once it starts boiling, you're going to have to turn down the heat.



Once it starts bubbling over, turn down the heat to LOW.



Close the lid and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes.



Pretty soon it's done and you're ready to enjoy! Sorry for the lack of presentation. I have to make do with the rented house offers me. =P This type of egg jjim is best when served right away. Otherwise it flattens out with time.

Mushroom Moochim - (버섯 볶음)

I debated on whether to post this since it's not really a recipe of sorts. But just in case you're wondering what I eat during the week.



I told you I love all types of mushrooms.



I rinsed two mushrooms thoroughly...



...and then sliced it up into thinner pieces.



Then I seasoned it with 1/2 TB of minced garlic, 1 TB sesame oil, and 3/4 TB gook ganjang. Remember to visit Korean Cooking 101 if you have any questions about ingredients!!!



Throw in about 1/4 a small sliced onion and mix it up well.



Stir fry it for a few minutes until golden.



Sprinkle on some sesame seeds and you're ready to serve! I usually take the leftovers the next day and just mix it around with some cold tofu.



I also made some kongnamool moochim today as well. I hope to make white moo che (recipe will be coming!) and spinach moochim tomorrow and then I can make bibimbap! =P