Warm Noodle Soup 잔치국수 Janchi Guksu

I'm back with another  recipe, finally. I have had so much happening lately. This week I have had work and also all of my exam results have been released. So now I'm faced with the problem of what I should apply for in university. My results weren't too and so I have a pretty large choice of courses, but I don't know what I want to do yet...still.

It's cold in the Northern Hemisphere these days and as it approaches Christmas we all want some more homely and warm food. So today I'm going to bring to you a warm version of something that I have made before.

I'm going to post a recipe for janchi guksu 잔치국수 which is a simple warm noodle dish made with thin wheat flour noodles  that are usually in a clear anchovy or beef broth. It is typically topped with thin strips of beef, eggs, and vegetables. I have previously posted a cold version of this dish that you could eat in summer, this is more suited for colder times. You can find my other recipe here.

Noodles symbolize long and happy lives in Korean culture. Thus, this noodle dish is traditionally served alongside other special occasion foods at large feasts such as weddings. The name of the dish comes from that tradition. And you know what, there is no better time to hope for longevity that at Christmas.

Today's recipe is going to have an anchovie broth but you are welcome to use a beef broth if you wish.

Ingredients
250g somyeon  noodles
Anchovy Broth
10 - 12 medium to large dried anchovies (myulchi)
1 square dried kelp
100g Korean radish, cut into cubes
1/2 onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 of scallion
6 cups water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Toppings 
1/2 zucchini julienned
1 small carrot julienned
1 egg, beaten and fried into a thin sheet
100g beef, cut into thin strips (if you make a beef broth use the same cut of beef)
2 sheets of dried seaweed
1/2 scallion chopped

Method
1. Wrap all the anchovies and kelp is a cheesecloth and secure it into a pouch.
2. Add all broth ingredients to a medium pot. Bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and boil for 10 minutes, uncovered.
3. Remove anchovies and kelp from the broth.
4. Add soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste and boil for an additional 15 minutes over medium heat.
5. Remove all vegetables from the broth. Keep it warm over very low heat while preparing the toppings and noodles.
6. Season the beef strips with 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic, and pinch black pepper. (If you use a beef broth season the cooked meat) Set aside while preparing the vegetables.
7.  Lightly sprinkle salt over zucchini and set aside  for 5 - 10 minutes. Squeeze out excess liquid from salted zucchini and sauté in a lightly oiled pan over medium high heat (1 - 2 minutes).
8. Sauté the carrots in a lightly oiled pan over medium high heat (1- 2 minutes), sprinkling salt and pepper to taste.
9. Sauté the beef in a pan for 2 - 3 minutes over high heat. (skip if using a beef broth)
10. Cut the seaweed into thin strips.
11.  Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Cook somyeon noodles according to the package instructions. 12. Drain quickly and shock in cold water to stop cooking. Continue to drain and rinse in cold water.
13. Make two one-serving size mounds as you remove from the water. Place the mounds in a colander to drain. Place the noodles in a serving bowl.
14. Pour the hot broth over the noodles.
15. Nicely arrange a small amount of each topping on top of the noodles.
16. Finish the dish off with a sprinkle of the chopped scallions.
Serve the dish whilst still warm and you will have everyone feeling warm and toasty and right at home with the meal that is a reminder of the good times at home.

There seems to be a lot of work that goes into the dish but the end result makes up for all of it with the taste being absolutely amazing.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe because is perfect as a home cooked meal to prepare you for the amazing Christmas dinner that you are bound to have. I hope that you all stay safe, healthy and happy until my next post.

AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Gyeong Dan 경단

It has been a really long time since I blogged, about 2 weeks I think. I've been MIA I know, and there isn't really an explanation other than I was just not bothered. Sorry about that, but I am putting up a post today.

So today I'm going to go back to posting up Korean recipes  And today I thought that I would introduce you all to a Korean snack dessert that is similar to some of the other things that I have posted before. Today I will be posting about Gyeong Dan (경단).

Gyeongdan is a type of rice cake made by kneading glutinous rice powder with hot water, shaping the dough into balls, boiling them in hot water and coating them with various sweet powders. It gets its name because the shape is similar to round jade (gyeongdan). The color or taste varies depending on the coating powder. Sesame seeds or powder can be used to coat the balls, as well as other powders such as green tea powder and mitsugaru.

Ingredients 
5 cups glutinous rice powder
1 tsp salt
120 g water
20g  white sesame seeds
20g green tea powder
20g  black sesame seeds
28g mitsugaru powder
⅛ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
27 g red bean
1 cup scalding water
2 cups boiling water
⅛ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
10 cup boiling water

Method
1. Wash the red bean and drain water on a strainer for 10 min.
2. Put water and red bean in the pot, heat it up for 5 min. on high heat. When it boils, discard the boiling water and pour new water, boil it for 20 min. on medium heat.
3. Reduce the heat to low, steam it for 25 min. until the red bean very tender, pound with salt, sieve, and mix it with sugar thoroughly (52 g).
4. Add salt in the glutinous rice powder and knead with hot water. Pull off around 12~13 g of dough and roll it into 2 cm-diameter balls (total 48 ea).
5. Flatten the balls and fill them with small amounts of the red bean paste.
6. Pour water in the pot and heat it up for 9 min. on high heat. When it boils, put the rolled dough into the boiling water, boil it for about 2 min. and 30 sec.
7. When balls float up on the surface, let them float there for 20~30 sec. more. Take them out with strainer, quickly rinse in cold water and drain.
8. Divide rice-cake balls into 5 parts and coat the balls with each coating.

And there you have it, a Korean dessert that you can pack as a snack when you are going out or you can place it up on a plate nicely and serve it when you have guests over. It is not overly sweet and the coating of the gyeong dan makes all the difference to the dish.

I hope that you like this recipe because it is quite nice to have around the house for when you have guests because you can make it really pretty. 

Anyways I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post, I'll try and blog again soon. And until next time I hope that you all stay safe, happy and healthy. 

Double Serving of Chocolate

It has been a while since I have posted but I have been sick since Sunday so....things have been a little slow. Today I'm going to be posting up two recipes that I used recently. They are partly mash-ups of things from the internet and also partly my creations.

I wrote down my recipes ages ago, and just happened to use both of them recently. They are both chocolate recipes hence the title of this blog post. I hope that you guys will enjoy it.

The first recipe is a good old favourite for dark chocolate brownies. The dark chocolate helps to create a more intense chocolate flavour and makes the brownies even more addictive than you would think. There isn't much I can say apart from tell you that this is an original recipe, I think.....Anyways, let's get started

Ingredients
250g butter
400g dark chocolate
80g cocoa powder
150g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
360g sugar
4 eggs

Method
1. Preheat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Melt the butter and 300g of the chocolate.
3. Add in the eggs to the chocolate and butter mix when it has melted and mix till smooth.
4. Add the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar to the chocolate mixture. Mix till smooth.
5. Chop up the remaining 100g of chocolate and stir into brownie mixture. (In this step you can also add other chocolate varieties and nuts of you wish)
6. Pour into a rectangular tin and bake for about 40-50 minutes or until the centre springs back.
7. Cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving.

And there you have it, my version of brownies. You may find that you get a more sponge-y brownie than usual this way, but that is how I like my brownies. If you want the centre to be more fudge-y you can always decrease the amount of flour to about half.

My next recipe is something that I made recently upon a friends request to re-taste my baking. This recipe is going to be for my version of soft chocolate cookies. There isn't much to it, I can't remember where I got the inspiration from but I have made my own changes to it as well. But here goes

Ingredients 

250g softened butter

1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups plain flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
200g milk chocolate

Method
1. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add the eggs in one at a time and then beat until well mixed.
3. Beat in the vanilla.
4. Combine the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder in a separate bowl.
5. Melt 100g of the chocolate.
6. Combine the butter mixture, dry ingredients and melted chocolate. Mix well.
7. Leave dough covered in the fridge for an hour or until easily handled.
8. When ready to bake preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
9. Roll tablespoonful sized balls of dough and then slightly flatten them.
10. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes or until the edges are firm.
11. Whilst cookies are baking, melt the remaining chocolate with about 40ml of water. Mix until smooth.
12. When the cookies are done take them out and let them cool on a wired rack.
13. When the cookies have cooled decorate with the melted chocolate. You may need to reheat the chocolate.

And then you are done. You can decorate the cookies anyway you want, I opted for a squiggly pattern on the cookies.

And there you have it. Here are my two chocolate-y posts today. I hope that you guys will get enough of your chocolate fix from these two posts. And maybe one day I will film myself making these goodies. But until I blog again I hope that you stay safe, happy and most important of all healthy.

Spicy Chicken Skewers 닭꼬치 Dakkochi

Hi there. I'm back with another blog post because it seems that I just have a lot of time these days. Not much has been happening in my life really, but I do start my job in about 2 weeks so there may be a slow down of posts depending on when I have to work. Or there may be no change. We shall see what happens.

I've decided to come back with a Korean favourite today. You can make it at home or you can buy it from street vendors, it is a popular dish with all ages because it encapsulates the Korean cravings for spicy food. It will be a nice inclusion in your meals as the days are getting colder in the Northern hemisphere and where I am it still doesn't feel like summer yet.

The dish that I am talking about is dakkochi or 닭꼬치 which is spicy chicken skewers. Pieces of chicken are brushed with a slightly sweet red sauce while being grilled over an open flame. The result is a tender, juicy treat bursting with flavor. And is is so simple that you will be able to replicate it at home. You may not be able to exactly replicate the smoky flavour of the skewers found in street vendors at home, but the taste will still be delicious regardless.

And now to get on with the recipe:

Ingredients
500g chicken, preferably from the drumstick
1 tablespoon minced garlic
pepper
salt
3 tablespoon milk
Marinade
1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
3 tablespoon water
3 tablespoon chilli flakes (you can adjust this)
2 tablespoon gochujang (you can adjust this)
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon parsley

Method
1. De-bone and remove the skin of the chicken and chop it into bite-size pieces or the size you want for your skewers.
2. Marinade the chicken in the salt, pepper, garlic and milk.
3. To make the spicy marinade mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a bowl.
4. When ready to cook, make the chicken skewers. You can decide how many you want.
5. Preheat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius and then add the skewers.
6. Coat each skewer in the marinade just before you put it in the oven.
7. Continue to brush marinade onto the skewers in 5 minute intervals as they cook in the oven.
8. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked whist rotating the skewers.
9. Take it out and garnish if you wish.

And there you have it, simple make at home dakkochi.

This will be it from me today, I hope that you guys will enjoy the recipe. Remember to stay safe, happy and most important of all healthy until I blog again. 

Soft Chocolate Pudding

Yea...so it has been more than a day. But better late than never?

I'm not going to be posting a Korean dish today. I felt like doing a good old chocolate dessert that we will all love. I'm going to be sharing with you today my version of a soft chocolate pudding. The centre and runny and chocolate-y whilst the 'crust' around it is soft and delicate.

There is not much that I can say about it without showing blogging to you. So let's get started;

Ingredients
1/2 cup  butter, plus some for buttering the molds
150g 85% dark chocolate or you can go for less intense such as 70% (try and use good quality chocolate)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 eggs
2 eggs yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour, plus more for dusting

Method 
1. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. But ensure that the base of the bowl does not sit in the water. Stir it as it melts to get a smooth and shiny mixture.
2. Beat the sugar, egg and egg yolks until it is light yet thick.
3. Beat the chocolate and egg mixtures together whilst the chocolate is still hot and runny.
4. Quickly FOLD in the flour and cocoa powder until just combined.
5. Butter and then lightly flour 4 ramekins.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the ramekins.
7. Preheat the oven to 240 degrees Celsius and bake the ramekins in a hot water bath for about 6-8 minutes. The centre should still be soft, but if it is too soft for your liking then bake it for 10 minutes.
8. Invert the ramekins onto serving plates and let it sit for 10 seconds. (or leave in ramekins)
9. Serve hot with whipped cream or ice cream.

And there you have it a delectable dessert that you can serve up as the nights are getting colder or as the days are getting warmer. It is the perfect dessert to serve all year around.

I hope that you guys will enjoy this chocolate-y recipe that will be sure to fatten you up before Thanksgiving and right before Christmas. It is a good dessert to prepare you for for the festive season. 

This will be it from me today, I hope that chocolate is up your avenue, if it is not I'll be sure to post a similar dessert minus all the chocolate soon. I hope that you will all stay safe, healthy and most of all happy until my next post. 

Bbopki 뽑기

Hey guys, I seem to be taking more than a week to upload a new blog post these days. I'm really sorry but the time kinda just blurs now because I no longer have to go to school or do anything really. But I am back with a new post today ^^

I think I will be posting about a sweet recipe today. It isn't really a dessert but more of a snack.... You may have seen it before if you have watched Family Outing (I know it is super old, but it is so nice)

It is a traditional Korean candy made of carmelised sugar and a pinch of baking soda, bbopki (뽑기) is usually formed into round disks or molded onto a stick as a lollipop. You can find it at food stalls on streets, but honestly it is so simple there is no need for it.

Usually you will just see the vendor making bbopki sitting over a hot plate on a table. Many bbopki vendors stamp the candy with a design or shape, and if you manage to eat around the shape without breaking it, then you can get another bbopki for free (you can watch the EatYourKimchi video with bbopki in it too) The candy tastes like a slightly burnt campfire marshmallow, and it's very sweet.

It is a super simple recipe so I will probably post something tomorrow as well. But here we go -->:

Ingredients
Sugar
Baking soda

Utensils
Foil
Metallic scoop (it will get burnt so set one aside for this)

Method
1) Add a desired amount of sugar to scooping thing. Just don't have so much that when you stir the sugar it over flows. I usually go for 2 table spoons.
2) Place the foil sheet on a table.
3) Turn on your stove.
4) Place the scoop above the flame to let the sugar heat up.
5) Stir the sugar with a wooden chopstick as the sugar begins the melt turning into caramel.
6) When the sugar has completely melted into pure liquid (but is not burn) get a pinch of baking soda and add it to the sugar liquid.
7) Place the scoop back on to the fire and stir the liquid.
8) Stir as you see that the liquid starts to become the color of a caramel.
9) Take the scoop off of flame and quickly pour the substance on the foil.
10) You can now make it into a lollipop or a flat piece of candy.
11) To make a lollipop you can place a paddlepop stick inside the bbopki
12) To make flat bbopki place another piece of foil above the bbopki and flatten it (but not too flat,let it be about 3mm)
13) Wait until bbopki is hard enough to remove from foil

And there you have it, a sugar dessert that is just glorified caramel.

I hope that this will be a fun yet quick recipe that you will want to try out. It is one of the most simple snacks ever, but I guess there will always be the risk of burning your caramel, but remember that practice makes perfect.

That is it from me today, but like I said above I will try and post another recipe post tomorrow because this one was so simple. Until then remember to stay happy, healthy and safe.

Beef and Kimchi Pepper Rice | almost Pepper Lunch|

Hey guys, I finished all of my exams yesterday and I am back from a day of shopping to bring you a new blog post. I hope that you guys will enjoy this, and I really loved the idea of sharing this because I had something similar at lunch.

The inspiration for today's recipe comes from today's lunch which was at Pepper Lunch. They are really awesome and you should check out one of their stores if there is one near you. I don't work for them and this recipe is based solely on my own experience and ideas.

So the main idea that is reoccurring in all the dishes from the store is that there will be raw meat and rice that is brought out on a hot plate so you have to 'cook' it yourself. It is practically do it yourself teppanyaki.

And now to my version of this dish... I don't know if this will work because I can't try it out at home (no hot plates.... :( ) If you have tried this please do comment below and tell me how it went and whether I should change anything.

Ingredients
200g of beef skirt sliced thinly (any lean cut will do)
1/4 can of corn kernels
1/2 tsp of crushed pepper (not ground)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cooking oil
1 tsp butter
2 tsp chopped spring onions
1 cup cooked rice

Method
1.  Make sure that the beef is entirely thawed and sprinkle salt and mix.
2.  Oil a hot plate and heat it until there is smoke
3.  Put the rice in the middle of the plate while still hot.
4. Turn off the heat and scatter the meat around the rice forming a ring around the rice.
5. Top the rice with the butter (this is the key to a tasty meal)
6. Then top with the corn, pepper and spring onions.
7. Serve immediately

NOTE: 
- I know you want to eat it but please do be careful because it is VERY hot at the beginning. And don't forget to hurry up and mix the dish up because the meat will burn and stick.
- I think that if you don't have a hot plate you could try and use a wide bottom Korean stone pot, like one used for dolseotbap. It should be able to work the same.

And there you have it, my take on the popular pepper rice dish.

AND if you want to try it with kimchi then cut up 1/2 cup of kimchi and put it on top of the rice after the corn.

(all images are taken by me) 
And there you have it, a at home version of the popular Pepper Rice dish.

I hope that you enjoyed the post because I certainly had fun writing it as my first post after I finished my exams.

Hopefully you guys will stay healthy, happy and safe until my next post.

Traditional Ginger Cookies 매작과 Maejakgwa

Hey guys, I'm sorry that I didn't post again on Sunday. I couldn't find the time to :(

But I'm back today ant I also have some news that I want to share with you guys. But first of all I will get into the recipe.

So today I thought that I would have a post on a Korean dessert because it seems that it has been a while since I last posted a Korean dessert. So today the dessert that I am going to be introducing you to is called ginger cookies or 매작과(maejakgwa)

The cookies are a traditional Korean cookie that’s really popular. It is a variety of hahngwa, or Korean traditional confection, consisting of wheat flour, vegetable oil, cinnamon, ginger juice, jocheong, and pine nuts. It is also categorized as a form of yumilgwa. You may remember that I have also posted recipes for other traditional Korean desserts that are in the same category. You can find it here: Yugwa

The ingredients are very simple yet the flavour that you get in the end is AMAZING. The best thing about this cookie is that it’s very crunchy! So without any more talking let's get into the recipe:

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon gingerjuice
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 cup water
cinnamon powder
vegetable oil

Method
1. In a large stainless steel bowl place the flour, salt, sugar, ginger juice and water and knead it for 20 minutes. OR you can use a food processor for about 2 minutes.
2.Put the cookie dough in a plastic bag and set it aside at least for 30 minutes.
3. Chop pine nuts to garnish the cookies. Set aside.
4. Take the dough out from the plastic bag and roll it out with a rolling pin, into a roughly rectangular shape (about 50 cm x 40 cm, and 2 mm – or 1/16 inch - thick).
5. Cut sheets of cookie dough into 2cm x 6cm rectangles
6. Put the leftover dough edges into a plastic bag to protect them from drying out.
7. Make 3 slits in the middle of each piece of dough.
8. Push one end of the dough through the centre slit to make a ribbon shape
9. Take the leftover dough out and spread it on the cutting board with the rolling pin. Cut it into any of your favorite shapes: triangles, squares, whatever – or use a cookie cutter.
10. Heat up vegetable oil in a wok or frying pan. *tip: Put a sample of the cookie dough into the heated oil to check if it’s the right temperature. The dough should float slowly on the surface of the heated oil.

For the syrup -->
1. Place ½ cup sugar and ½ cup water into a pot and bring to a boil over low heat for about 20 minutes. About half of the water should evaporate, so the syrup is nice and thick.
2. Turn the heat off and add 1 ts cinnamon powder and stir it well.
3. Gently toss the cookies with the syrup to lightly coat them.
4. Sprinkle with chopped pine nuts whist the syrup hasn't set.

And there you have it, a crunchy traditional Korean dessert that you can serve any time. When you have guests over or even when you feel peckish.

I hope that you guys enjoyed that recipe, because I really do absolutely LOVE it.

And now to the news that I had to share with you guys. Because I will be finished with exams after early next week I have decided that I will start a YouTube channel where I can also post up videos of the recipes that I post on this blog. I probably won't get started cooking until a few weeks later, I have't even decided on a name for the channel just yet. But When I do have it all up and running I will put a link to it all here on this blog. 

So that is it from me today. I don't think I will be posting again till the weekend after my exam on Friday. I hope that is ok with you guys. And until then please remember to stay safe, healthy and most important of all happy :)

Sweet Potato Twigim 고구마 튀김 Goguma Twigim

Hey guys, so it has been a really LONG time since I last posted up a recipe. But I have been having my MAJOR exams, and my last exams ever for high school for the past couple of weeks so I've been studying  I'm currently on a one week break from exams so I though that I might post up a couple of recipes this week. Maybe two or three.

I thought that I would keep it simple since it is my first post in a a while.

Sweet potato twigim or 고구마 튀김 (Goguma Twigim) is fried sweet potato pieces. Very much the sweet potato version of chips or fries.

Twigim is just batter-dipped items that include various vegetables, meat, seafood and kimbap - just about anything that with have batter stick to. It is the same concept as tempura, expect Korean.

The recipe is extremely easy to follow and in the end you get fluffy sweet potato encased in a crisp batter. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients 
1 lb Korean Sweet Potato
⅔ Cup Frying Mix (Batter)
½ Cup Water
¼ Cup Frying Mix (Coating)
3 Tbsp Potato Starch (or Cornstarch)
1 tsp Sugar (Optional)
⅛ Generous tsp Salt 

Method
1. Wash the sweet potato and remove any bad parts on the skin. Cut it into ¼-inch slices. You will get about 25 pieces. Korean sweet potatoes have a different taste and texture than American sweet potatoes. They are sweeter and have a firm texture. So please use Korean sweet potatoes for this recipe.
 2. Sprinkle salt evenly on top of the sweet potato slices. Set them aside what you are preparing the batter. This will help boost the sweetness of sweet potato later. Preheat your oil on medium-high.
3. Combine frying mix, cold (or ice) water, potato starch, and sugar. Mix everything together. Cold water is one of the secrets for getting crispy food. You can skip the sugar if you want.
4. Put frying mix in a plastic bag and add the sweet potatoes. Shake the bag to coat the sweet potatoes with the frying mix. This will help the batter stick to the sweet potatoes better.
5. Dip the floured sweet potatoes into the batter. Cover both side of the sweet potatoes with the batter.
6. Drop a little bit of batter into the heated oil to check if the oil is hot enough. When the batter floats right away, the oil is ready. Put the battered sweet potatoes into the hot oil. Deep-fry them on medium or medium-high, depending on your stove’s power.
7. Fry them for 5-6 minutes, or until the sweet potato slices are completely cooked, and the outside is golden brown. The easy way to check if a slice is cooked is to poke the center of it with a folk or chopstick. If your chopstick go through smoothly, it is done.
8. Place some paper towels on a tray and put the fried sweet potato slices there to cool and loose some of the grease.

And there you have it, super simple sweet potato twigim that will be ready in minutes. The fluffy centre and crisp coating is perfect to eat right now in the Autumn and Spring weather.

I hope that you guys liked that recipe, and I will try to post again on the weekend. Until then please stay healthy, safe and happy!!

Heart Egg Omelette 하트 계란말이 Heart Gyeran Mari

Hey...so I've been studying or trying to study for the past however long so I haven't been able to post a recipe yet. But here I am today. This will probably be the last time I will post in a month because my exams start in a week. Eeeekkkk

Because I have exams I am going to go with a quick but still delicious recipe. If you like Korean food you will know about their doshirak boxes (packed lunch). The dish today is usually used as a component of these lunches. Gyeran Mari (계란말이) rolled omelette, and is typically round and taste like a fried flat egg. But today I will be including vegetables in the mix, and I will also show you a quick and easy way to shape the eggs into a heart shape. This is a super easy dish to make, and kids will LOVE it.

This is super quick and easy to make, so let's get started:

Ingredients

4 Large Eggs

1 Tbsp Green Onion

½ Tbsp Carrot

¼ tsp Salt Some

Oil

Method 

1. Break eggs and stir them gently. For interesting yellow and white color swirls, do not completely mix the whites and yokes together.

2. Set aside 2-3 Tbsp of the egg mixture to be used later.

3. Finely chop green onion and carrot. This gives the dish colour.

4. Add salt into the egg mixture and mix well.

5. Add some oil in a small bowl or plate. Fold a small piece of a paper towel, and soak it in the oil.

6. Use the towel to lightly grease the pan. Cook on medium heat.

7. Drop a little bit of the egg mixture into the heated pan; if it starts to cook, the temperature for the pan is right.

8. Pour about ¼ of the egg mixture into an 8-inch pan.

9. When the surface of the egg starts to cook, begin to fold it about one inch.

10. Continue to fold it. You can use either chopsticks or a spatula.

11. Push it to the other end of the pan and add some more oil in the pan.

12. Pour the same amount of egg mixture into the pan. Fry and fold it the same way.

13. Repeat the process for the remaining egg mixture in two steps.

14. Cool it for about 1 minute before you cut it. This helps the egg keep its shape when you cut it.

15. Cut the fried egg into a half-inch thickness. And there you have it, perfectly cooked egg omelette.

And now for the heart shaped eggs:

1. Cut the egg across diagonally

2. Put the diagonal sides together and you will form a heart shape.

3. To seal the shape dip the omelette into the reserved egg mixture and cook both sides.

And there you go, a simple and cute way to serve eggs to the kids and for yourself to enjoy. I hope that you guys enjoyed that post because it has been a VERY long time since I posted and I felt bad, but exams are seriously my priority right now. But I promise that when I come back in a month I will be posting so much that you will want me to stop for a bit.

So to everyone out there, I hope that you will all stay healthy, happy and safe and wait till I post again. To anyone else with exams the best of luck to you, and remember to keep a healthy diet!!

Korean Fried Chicken 양념 통닭 Yangnyeom tongdak

So, like I promised yesterday here is another recipe today. Yesterday we had pork, so today I will be introducing you to a dish with chicken. You all know the standard friend chicken we get in Western countries right? Well the answer is KFC. Well today I will be posting about Korean Fried chicken.

Yangnyeom tongdak (양념 통닭)is a popular dish especially around the time of sporting tournaments, much like KFC. But this chicken is flavoured to suit Korean tastes by being slightly spicy. Today I will be showing you how to have it plain or seasoned, but both as still delicious. The chicken in this recipe is nicely battered and fried with a slightly sweet and spicy sauce. And now to the recipe:

Ingredients
Main Ingredients
1 kg Chicken (About ½ Chicken)
⅛ Cup Milk
¼ tsp Salt
⅛ tsp Black Pepper
1 Pinch Ginger Powder (Optional)
Batter Ingredients
¼ Cup Potato Starch or Cornstarch
¼ Cup Frying Mix or Flour
½ Tbsp Korean Curry Powder
2 Pinches Salt
2 Pinches Black Pepper
Sauce Ingredients
¼ Cup Ketchup
3 Tbsp Red Pepper Paste
2 Tbsp Corn Syrup
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Minced Onion
½ Tbsp Soy Sauce
½ Tbsp Minced Garlic
½ Tbsp Cooking Oil
1 Tbsp Sesame Seeds

Method
1. Combine chicken, milk, salt, black pepper and ginger powder in a bowl. Marinate it for about 10 minutes. This step (especially the milk) helps to reduce some of the bad chicken flavor.
2. If you don’t want to use milk to get rid of bad chicken flavor, here is another way to marinate the chicken; mix the chicken with 1 tsp of minced garlic, ¼ tsp of salt, ⅛ tsp of black pepper, and 1 pinch of ginger powder (optional). Add 2 Tbsp of water or cooking wine for some moisture.
3. To coat the chicken, mix the batter ingredients in a large bag. Shake the bag to mix everything together.
4. Add all of the marinated chicken to the flour mix and shake the bag: so the chicken will be evenly covered with the powder.
5. Take out the chicken from the bag and set the pieces aside while the oil is heating. You will have some leftover flour mixture in the bag; save it for later.
6. Pour the cooking oil in a deep frying pan and heat it on high.
7. By the time, the oil becomes hot, the flour coating of the chicken will be soggy. Coat each piece of chicken again with the remaining flour mixture right before frying.
8. Drop a little piece of the flour mixture to the heated oil, if it floats immediately, the oil is hot enough to fry the chicken. Carefully put the chicken into the oil.
9. Fry the chicken on high for several minutes (8 to 10 minutes) until the pieces become light brown. We will fry them twice, so you don’t have to fry them too long in this step. Take out the chicken, drain the oil, and set the pieces on a kitchen towel.
10. For the second frying, fry the chicken in hot oil again for several minutes (5 minutes) until they become golden brown. This time, make sure that the chicken is completely cooked. You can take out one piece and cut it in half with a knife to check if it is cooked.
11. Meanwhile, add all of the sauce ingredients together in a pan, except for the sesame seeds and cook it on medium.
12. Once the sauce starts to bubble, cook it for one more minute. The sauce amount is enough for only half of the chicken, so mix in half of the fried chicken into the sauce. Turn off the heat and cover the chicken with the sauce. If you want to season all of the chicken, double the sauce recipe.
13. Lastly, sprinkle 1 Tbsp of sesame seeds on top and mix.

And there you have it a recipe for seasoned and not seasoned Korean fried chicken that is delicious however you decide to eat it.





I hope that you will enjoy that dish because it is pretty much fusion food. The Korean take on Western food.

I can't promise when the next time I blog will be because I have got major exams in a month and they go for about a month. The next two months may be a bit quite, but I will try my best to keep on posting when I find the time.

So until next time, be happy, safe and healthy everyone!!!!

Pork Kimchi Jjigae 돼지고기 김치찌개 Dweji Gogi Kimchi Jjigae

It has been a LONG time since I have last blogged here. At least I think that it has been a while. A lot has been happening lately, I'm going to graduate in a week and in a month I have my uni entrance exams. Life is getting hectic but fum fun right now so I'm sorry for not posting in a while.

To make up for the lack of posts recently I will post a recipe today and tomorrow. So today I'm going yo start off with a simple but amazing Korean dish called Pork Kimchi Jjigae 돼지고기 김치찌개 (Dweji Gogi Kimchi Jjigae), you much remember the tuna one that I talked about before and even before that the one with tofu. Well if you don't...go and check them out.

Pork kimchi jjiage is the most popular kind of kimchi soup in Korea. The well-fermented kimchi, tender pork, and savory broth taste very delicious together, and is perfect for eating with rice as the temperature continues to drop as Autumn moves into winter.

Because I have posted about kimchi jjigae before, I will move on to the recipe.

Ingredients
2 Generous Cups Well Fermented Kimchi
2 Cups Water
½ Pack Tofu
¼ Cup Kimchi Broth
½ Cup Green Onions
⅛ Cup Red Hot Pepper (Optional)
1 Tbsp Hot Pepper Powder
½ Tbsp Sesame Oil
½ Tbsp Cooking Oil
1 tsp Garlic, Minced
¼ tsp Salt
1 Cup Pork
1 tsp Garlic, Minced
1 tsp Cooking Wine (Optional)
2 Pinches Salt
2 Pinches Black Pepper

Method
1. Chop 1 cup of pork it into bite-sized pieces.
2. Combine all the ingredients for the pork together - minced garlic, cooking wine, salt and black pepper. Marinate for about 10 minutes while you are preparing the other ingredients.
3. Obtain about 2 cups of well-fermented kimchi and chop it into 1cm pieces. It is important to use good kimchi for delicious kimchi soup.
4. Slice ½ pack of tofu into 1cm slices. Cut ½ cup worth of green onions into 1cm lengths. Cut ⅛ cup worth of red hot pepper thinly. If you do not want very spicy soup, skip the hot peppers.
5. Obtain ¼ cup of kimchi broth. Kimchi broth is the liquid from your jar of kimchi. If you do not have enough kimchi juice, add more kimchi, hot pepper powder, and water for this recipe.
6. Fry the marinated pork with ½ Tbsp of sesame oil in a heated pan on medium-high for about 3 minutes.
7. About 3 minutes later, the pork will lose its pink color. Then add the chopped kimchi, 1 Tbsp of hot pepper powder, and ½ Tbsp of cooking oil. Fry for another 3 minutes on medium-high.
8. Add 2 cups of water and ¼ cup of kimchi broth. Once it starts to boil, add 1 tsp of minced garlic and ¼ tsp of salt. Depending on the saltiness of your kimchi, adjust the salt amount for this recipe. Cook covered for about 10 minutes on medium-high.
9. Place the sliced tofu on top of the kimchi and cook covered for another 5 minutes. Occasionally pour some of the soup over the tofu so that the tofu will be flavored.
10. Add the chopped green onions and hot peppers. Cook covered for 2 minutes and then turn off the heat.

And there you have it, a delicious savory pork kimchi jjigae to serve with your rice.





I hope that you liked that recipe, because I absolutely do. It is perfect for the weather now which is not too cold but not too hot.

This will be all from me today, but like I said before I will be posting another recipe tomorrow. Look forward to it. And until next time, stay warm, healthy and happy.

Job's Tears Yulmu 율무

Hey guys, so it seems to have been a while since I last posted a recipe hasn't it? Well I only have 3 weeks for school left before I graduate and then there are exams that I really need to study for. So I am sorry for the lack of posts ><

Anyways, today I have an interesting recipe that I want to share with you guys. The recipe if for a drink. This drink is quite unique and peculiar, especially it's English name. The drink is called Job's Tears or Yulmu (율무).

Known as “Job’s tears” in English, the grain is contained within a hard, tear-shaped shell about the size of a pea (hence the name). The shells arethe size of beads and were good for making jewelry and bracelets, including rosary beads. It was in the monasteries of southern Europe where the rosary beads made from this plant came to be known as “Job’s tears.”

In Korea, they use the dried grains from the plant to make a thick tea known as yulmu cha (율무 차) or Job’s Tears tea.

There isn't much that I can say about the drink because it is mainly just a powdered drink that can be mixed with water produce a creamy grain drink.

Ingredients
2-3 tbsp of Job's Tears (yulmu 율무)
2 cups of water
pine nuts for garnish

Method
1. Wash and drain/dry a handful of kernels.
2. Brown on medium heat, stirring frequently for about 20 min; when it starts giving a pop sound, it's done.
3. Grind the grain in the food processor.
4. Put 2 cups of water into a saucepan and add 2 tbsps of the powdered Job's Tears. 5. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes.
6. You can add milk/honey to taste and pine nuts to garnish.

And there you have it, a healthy drink that you can indulge in on a cold day, or after you finish cooking it let it cool and serve it cold.

And sorry that I don't have photos today, but I can't fins any to my liking. Sorry xD
Anyways, until the next time that I post I hope that you all keep safe, happy and healthy.

Sweet Rice Dessert 약식 Yaksik

Hey guys, so I'm back with a recipe this week. School has been getting more hectic since there is so much that I still need to so before I graduate. Anyways to get my mind off all of that I'm going to post a quick blog post today.

Today I will be introducing you to a traditional Korean dessert that is thought to have slightly medicinal properties because of it's ingredients. The dish is called Yaksik 약식. It is a sweet Korean dish made by steaming glutinous rice, and mixing with chestnuts, jujubes, and pine nuts. It is seasoned with honey or brown sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, and sometimes cinnamon.

Traditionally it is eaten on Jeongwol Daeboreum (정월대보름), a Korean holiday which falls on every 15 January in the lunar calendar, but also for weddings and hwangap festivities. But it is still really nice to have all year around, why wait for the festivities?

Yaksik got its name due to the use of honey in its ingredients. According to the etymology book Ah'un Gakbi (hangul:아언각비, hanja:雅言覺非) written in early 19th century Joseon, it is noted that honey was commonly called as yak (medicine). Thus honey buckwheat wine was called yakju (약주), honey rice was called yakban (약반, old word for yaksik), and fried honey ricecake was called yakgwa (약과).

Records of yaksik date back to Samguk Yusa, written in the 13th century. Legend says that King Soji of Silla headed on a journey on the 15th of January, when a crow alerted him of danger. The King saved himself from a potential revolt thanks to the crow's warning and the day of January 15 was designated as a day of remembrance thereafter. Glutinous rice was put up as an offering during the commemorative rites, which became the origin of yaksik.

The adding of pine nuts, chestnuts, red dates, honey, and oil were added in the Goryeo era. Yaksik is also mentioned in various books from the Joseon period such as Dongguk Sesigi(동국세시기), Yeolyang Seisigi(열양세시기), Dong'guk Yeoji Seungram (동국여지승람). In Yeolyang Seisigi, it is said that envoys to China shared yaksik with the people in Yeonkyung, and most enjoyed the dish.

It's has been a while since I have done a history post of the dishes that I am going to post about, but I think I can get used to it....

And now, to move on to the recipe. There is a bit of work involved but the reward is much greater.

Ingredients
4 C sweet rice
2 C water
(1 1/3 to 1 1/2 C sugar + 3 T honey) OR (1 1/2 C dark brown sugar)
4 T soy sauce
4 T sesame oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon powder (optional)
1 1/2 C peeled chestnuts (uncooked and it can be from a can or fresh)
1 C dried jujubes (aka dried red dates)
2 T pine nuts

You need: a pressure cooker (pressure rice cooker works best), 8×8 cake pan or 12 or more cupcake liners or remekins.

Method
1. Measure the sweet rice and soak in cold water for 1 hour (soak 5 hours if you are cooking in the microwave instead of a pressure cooker).
2. Measure and prepare the pine nuts, chestnuts and jujubes. Drain the syrup from the canned chestnuts and set aside. Canned chestnuts work best but you can also use uncooked peeled chestnuts.
3. Wash the dried jujubes, making sure the dust in between the wrinkles are completely washed away. Dry them with a towel. If they are seeded, cut around the seed. If they are seedless, one less thing to do! Cut the flesh into small squares (1/2 inch) or strips.
4. Save the seeds and make some jujube water by boiling and then simmering the seeds in 2 cups of water for 10 min. Now you have jujube tea (대추차 daechucha) which you can drink with some honey and also use some to cook the rice later. Jujube water adds much more flavor.
5. After the sweet rice has soaked for an hour, drain the water from the rice. Cook the rice in a pressure rice cooker by adding 2 C of water (use 1/2 C of the jujube water from step 2 if you can) and follow the instructions for cooking regular white rice. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can cook the rice in the microwave – add about 1 C of water and cook on high for 10 minutes.
6. When the rice is cooked (the rice will be very sticky but should not be too mushy), add the sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and cinnamon powder. Mix the rice well but not too much because it will become too starchy. Stir only until the rice is evenly seasoned.
7. Add the jujubes, chestnuts and pine nuts. Fold them into the rice.
8. Put everything back in the pressure cooker and if you have a ‘steam’ option, steam for 20 minutes. If you don’t have a ‘steam’ option, just choose the shortest rice cook time and cook it again.
9. You are ready to serve Yaksik now. Fill a 8×8 cake pan with the Yaksik and let it cool. Once it’s cool to touch, cover it to keep it from drying. Cut it into small squares or 2/3 in thick slices and serve. Again, when it’s cooled, cover with some plastic wrap.

And there you have it a delicious traditional Korean dessert that you can attempt to make this weekend. But I will warn you that it requires a lot of time, so maybe plan ahead which weekend you want to try the dish out.




So that is it from me this week. I hope that you all stay happy, healthy and safe until I post again next time.

Ginger Tea 생강차 Saenggang Cha

Hey guys, so it has been a while since I last posted. Maybe you guys have finished going through my week of recipes so you have come back looking for more...hopefully. But I have finished all my school exams so I am sort of free until the actual exams that I need to to. So I'll probably be posting more for the next two months, but it also depends on whether or not I am bothered ^^

To ease my way back into blogging I am just going to be posting up a simple recipe for ginger tea 생강차 (saenggang cha) that you can make to drink anytime that you want. It will be nice to cool you down by adding a few ice cubes in, or you can just add more cold water.

Saenggang cha (생강차) is a tea made from ginger root. The ginger root is washed and sliced without peeling. The sliced ginger root is stored with honey for a few weeks. To make tea the mixed honey and ginger root is added to hot water.

Efficacy in Traditional Korean Beliefs: Some believe that Saenggang Cha is useful to prevent colds and to aid digestion. It also has a remedial effect on diarrhea and stomachache due to low body temperature. It helps someone who has a low body temperature due to bad circulation. However, neither belief has been shown in independent scientific evaluations.

This is an extremely good remedy for a sore throat and runny/blocked nose because of the ginger working wonders to the body's immune system. Although the taste may be a bit strong, it is still extremely good for your health, especially for when the days are getting chilly. Which is perfect for where I am now which has become cold again.

Ingredients
Fresh ginger – 80 g
Fresh cinnamon pieces- 20 g
Water – 8 cups
Optional - 4 to 5 pine nuts, 1 tsp of honey

Method
1. Clean the ginger well (peel the skin off as well). – I scrubbed it with rough cloth first then used a spoon to scrub off the skin
2. Rinse the cinnamon in cold water. (You don’t need to cut them into small pieces, mine was already in small pieces.)
3. Thin slice the ginger.
4. Put the ginger, cinnamon, and water into a pot.
5. Boil it on medium heat for about 25-30 minutes.
6. Sieve the ginger and cinnamon. (Use a white straining cloth if you can, to catch the small dirt from the cinnamon)
7. Serve it in a tea cup. (You can also add some pine nuts and honey)

And there you have it, a hot cup of goodness to protect you from the cold, perfect for the weather now which has returned to being cold.





So that it it from me today. I'll try my best to post another recipe again in the next few days, provided that I don't procrastinate too much. And remember that until next time to keep safe, healthy and happy!!

Spicy Cold Noodles with Kimchi 김치 비빔국수 Kimchi Bibim Guksu

So today is the last day that I need to be posting for a whole week. I'm a bit sad that the time has flown by, but there are lots of things that I need to do, such as school, exams and think about a whole lot of other stuff as well.

Anyways to end the week I am going to introduce you to another summer favourite. It is very somilar to another dish that I have done before, but this is has some extra ingredients. Kimchi Bibim Guksu (김치 비빔국수) is a twist on the bibim guksu that I talked about last time. If you haven't read the recipe before you can click on the link to check it out.

To save time I'm not going to talk about the history of bibim guksu again, you can check it out on the other page. Instead I am going to go straight into the recipe for kimchi bibim guksu.

Ingredients
8 - 10 ounces somyeon (somen) noodles
1 cup thinly sliced kimchi (fully fermented)
1/4 cup juice from kimchi (use a little more soy sauce and vinegar if unavailable)
1 tablespoon Korean red chili pepper paste, gochujang (adjust to taste)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon corn syrup (use honey or more sugar if unavailable)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons rice or apple vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Optional garnish
4 perilla leaves, kkaennip, thinly sliced
(or cucumber or lettuce, thinly sliced)

Method
1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil while preparing the kimchi sauce.
2. Thinly slice the kimchi and place it in a medium size bowl. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and mix well.
3. Add the noodles to the pot of boiling water. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions (3 - 4 minutes). Drain quickly and shock in cold water to stop cooking. Drain and rinse in cold water again. Repeat until the noodles become cold. Drain well.
4. Combine the noodles with the kimchi sauce, and toss everything until the noodles are evenly coated with the sauce.
5. Taste and adjust the seasoning to taste, if necessary.
6. Garnish with your choice of the optional vegetables and serve cold.

And there you have it, a simple dish to serve for lunch or dinner in the summer heat.




That is it from me for this week. It may be a while until I post again because things are starting to get hectic. I will try and keep on posting but don't expect too much yet. There are a number of recipe that you can try out on my site if you don't know what to cook for dinner, lunch or breakfast. So remember to stay happy, healthy and safe.