Japanese Potato Salad

I hope that everyone has been having a pleasant day so far, because it is certainly going to get bettor once I tell you about today's recipe. Unlike the other days today is going to be a bit more effort and work...only a bit more but I assure you the end product is worth it.

You may never convert back to the usual potato salad after you try this. Today I'm going to be posting about the Japanese potato salad. For those of you who may have tried this before you may know that it is a lighter and creamier version of the usual Western potato salad. It's just as delicious though and it perfect to eat as a snack in the spring or as a side dish all year round.

Unlike the usual Western potato salad being really rich and acidic the use of Japanese mayonnaise Kewpie means that the dish is kept light and more mild in terms of taste.

I really just want to share with recipe with you so let's go!

Ingredients
3 medium potatoes (any will do)
1 small carrot
1 small cucumber
1/2 brown onion
1 egg
1/2 cup Kewpie mayonnaise
salt and pepper to season

Method
1. Place washed potatoes and carrots along with the egg in a pot of salted water to boil for 10 minutes. Remove the egg after 10 minutes and continue to cook the potatoes and carrot until cooked through
2. Peel the egg and dice it up.
3. Thinly slice the cucumber, and sprinkle salt on the cucumber to dehydrate it a bit.
4. Dice the onion, not too fine though.
5. Remove carrots and potatoes when cooked through.
6. Dice the carrot and the potato with the skin on (gives it salad a wonderful flavour). Sprinkle some salt on both these and place into a bowl.
7. Squeeze the water out of the cucumber and onion and add to the bowl.
8. Add the egg and 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and mix everything together.
9. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper.

And there you have it, A simple and delightful Japanese potato salad in the comfort of your own home to enjoy all year around. It may even substitute as a lonely dinner for one on a lonely evening (we've all been there T_T)

I hope that you enjoyed that recipe today because I'm pretty sure that once you have tried this you won't want to go back to the usual potato salad. This is less dense but still so enjoyable. I hope that you've been enjoying all the posts so far because there's only 2 days left after this :(

Korean Red Bean Doughnut 풀빵 Pul bbang

Hey guys, so today is the last day of my blog spectacular that involved desserts such as apple crumble and japgwapyon and Valentine's Day specials such as breakfast smoothies, a tandoori chicken salad entree, pesto chicken kiev main and a creme brulee panna cotta dessert. So please do check out those other posts from this week.

Today is the last day of my blog week, and I have enjoyed it like I always do. I really do need to blog more often, it is a nice was to de-stress and get creative but I have a slight issue with procrastination...ok it's a pretty big issue, but I'm working on it.

To top off the week I'm going to be introducing you to another Korean dessert, as I had promised yesterday. Pul bbang (풀빵) is a Korean pancake dumpling, usually stuffed with sweetened red bean paste (팥 앙금, patanggeum). You could call them Korean filled doughnuts.

The Japanese have their own version of pul-bbang, called takoyaki. It is stuffed with boiled, chopped octopus. Takoyaki batter also is savory and other than the shape I don't really see a resemblance between the two.

Pul-bbang is sold on the street in most major Korean cities. But they're more difficult to find than their more famous cousins, boong-uh-bbang (붕어빵),which are a red bean–stuffed bread shaped like a fish.

I think that is enough for the history of the bread, it is about time that I get started in the recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup rice flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1 cup sweetened red bean paste (the stuff from the can will do fine)

Method
1. Mix all the ingredients for the batter until smooth.
2. Set a round doughnut pan on medium heat. HINT: you can put your doughnut maker to use or you can use a small cupcake tin in the oven)
3. Place approximately 1 tablespoon of batter into each well of the pan. I used a two spoon technique to scrape and drop the red bean paste into the batter.
4. After you have filled all the wells with batter, immediately start placing the 1/2 teaspoon of the filling e in the middle.
5. Add another tablespoon or so of batter to the top to cover the filling.
6. Let the dumplings cook for a couple of minutes.
7. Turn each dumpling over after you notice bubbles in the batter and slight pulling away on the edges.
8. Cook for a few minutes more on the other side. From there, you can flip them alternating until they are golden brown on both sides.

And there you have it, a delectable Korean dessert that is sure to please all ages, from young kinds to the oldies.

I hope that you all found that as a fitting way to end the blogging week. I will be back soon with more recipes, Korean to clarify for those of you wanting more Korean recipes. 

I hope that you all enjoy your weekend and until next time remember to stay safe, healthy and most important of all happy. 

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.

Mandu 만두

Kekeke, as I said yesterday here is another blog post today. I'm relishing the amount of free time I have at the moment after exams. Anyways...I've been thinking about what to blog about today and I figured that it was about time that I had introduced a staple in Korean Cuisine. Mandus (만두) , if you like or enjoy Chinese food then you are likely to have encountered the Chinese equivalent of this before, dumplings.

Now for a bit of a history lesson: Mandu (만두) are believed to have been first brought to Korea by Mongolians in the 14th century during the Goryeo Dynasty. The state religion of Goryeo was Buddhism, which discouraged consumption of meat. Mongolian invasion of Goryeo relaxed the religious prohibition against consuming meat, and mandu was among the newly imported Mongolian dishes that included meat.

Another possibility is that mandu (만두) came to Korea at a much earlier period from the Middle East through the Silk Road. Historians point out many cuisines based on wheat, such as dumplings and noodles originated from Mesopotamia and gradually spread from there. It also spread east along the Silk Road, leaving many versions of mandu throughout Central and East Asia.

But it doesn't really matter how you look at the history, all you need to know is that these things are delicious. They can be eaten a number of different ways, they can be boiled, steamed or fried. They are really versatile and the fillings are up to you, there are probably 100 different ways to eat them. This is also a popular street food that is eaten by Koreans in winter.

I'm going to show you how to make a simple mandu with a pork and beef filling. The recipe is a bit long and it is split into parts, but I'm going to tell you a short cut at the end of it. OK? Let's go

Ingredients:

1 cup of ground pork
2 cups of ground beef
2 cups of chopped boo chu (Asian chives)
4-5 soaked Shiitake mushrooms
half onion
half package of tofu
3 cloves of minced garlic
salt
sugar
sesame oil
vegetable oil
fish sauce
egg
green onion
mandu skins (60 discs) <-- dumpling skins from the Asian grocer will go

Make filling:

1. Place 1 cup of ground pork and 2 cups of ground beef into a big bowl.
2. Add 1 ts of salt, 1 tbs of sesame oil, ½ ts of ground pepper and mix it by hand and push the mixture of meat on the side of the bowl.
3. Wash asian chives (bu chu), dry well with paper towel or cotton cloth and then chop them to make 2 cups. Add 1 tbs of oil and mix it up. Place it in the big bowl next to the ground meat.
tip: oil will coat vegetables so that liquid would not come out from it
4. Chop 4-5 soaked shiitake mushrooms and half an onion and put it into a small bowl.
5. Add 1 ts of soy sauce, 1 ts of sugar, and 2 ts of sesame oil the small bowl in the last step. Mix it by hand and then transfer it to the big bowl.
6. Squeeze half a package of tofu using cotton cloth or paper towel and put it into a small bowl. Then add a pinch of salt, 1 ts of sesame oil and mix it and put it next to chopped chives.
7. In the big bowl, add 3 cloves of minced garlic and mix all ingredients by hand.

Make Mandu:

1. Place one mandu skin on your left hand and put some filling mixture on the center of the skin.
2. On the half of the edge of the skin, put a little cold water with your fingertips.
3. Fold skin in half over filling and press edges together to make ripple shape.


To Fry
1. Place some vegetable oil on heated pan and add mandu.
2. Lower the heat over low medium and cover the lid of the pan to cook.
3. A few minutes later, open the lid and turn over each mandu. Place 2-3 tbs of water and cover the lid. Cook a few minutes more over low heat.
4. When the mandu is golden brown, transfer it to a plate.
5. Serve hot with dipping sauce (equal parts vinegar and soy sauce).

To Steam

1. Place the mandu in the freezer to harden for an hour or so.

2. Just place a steamer or metal colander over a boiling pot of water.

3. When water starts to boil, place frozen mandu like so. Don't overlap them. They'll stick to each other.

4. Cook about 5-8minutes or until the wrapper has turned a more transparent colour. Tip: If you are unsure you can check the inside and see if the meat is cooked.

5. Serve with soy sauce.

To Boil

1. Bring to the boil a pot of water, enough for the number of mandus you are cooking

2. Carefully place the mandu's in so that you do not scold yourself

3. Cook till the mandu's rise to the surface of the water.

4. Scoop out and serve with soy sauce.

And there you have it, three different ways to eat the same thing. As I had said before to make the dish is actually a bit tedious and long. The cheats way is that you can always go and but frozen mandu from the grocer and just cook them yourself, but isn't it nicer too eat food that you have made by hand?

Anyways, maybe spend this week making a supply of mandu and I'll be back with another recipe next week ^^