Homemade CocoHodo

So I’m writing this post as I sit on the plane to go on holidays. And mannnnn it is boring. So I decided that I’d just write up another blog post, even though this post won’t be going up for a couple of days.

I hope that you guys enjoyed the last post, Tom n Toms style honey bread, I’m really craving some at the moment……… too bad I’m on a plane and not actually going to a place that has Tom n Toms.

Anyways, today I’m going to be introducing you to another Korean snack food, and that is the coco hodo’s. These are little walnut pastries that are shaped like a walnut. These are particularly popular during winter when you can get them from street vendors. They are a particularly good in between meal snack to take on the go. They are quite inexpensive to buy, but it is always more fun to make your own.

To me I’d call them Korean profiteroles, although not really. It's made from a walnut pastry with a red bean filling and are AMAZING. The name is a bit deceiving when it is said in English, you sort of expect it to be made with chocolate coco = cocoa, but that might be just me.

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And that was all I got up to on the plane. I never actually managed to finish the post and here I am more than a month after returning finishing off the post. I'm so sorry for not posting much over the last 2 months, but I couldn't even access blogspot when I was on holidays and uni just got so overwhelming when I returned. I mean I've got exams in like 1 1/2 weeks and I and epically screwed.

Anyways, I hope that this recipe is going to satisfy your craving for new recipes and I'll try my best to put out recipes on a more regular basis. It should be quite easy once exams are over this semester. And I can't wait to share photos of the food that I ate whilst I was on holiday.

Anyways, back to today's recipe. Coco hodo. I'm pretty sure that I've covered all the introductory bases so let's move on to the recipe. I'm going to use a profiterole kinda pastry, so a choux pastry since I have no idea how to make the actual pastry, but I'll be adjusting it so it is similar in taste.

Ingredients
125 ml water
125 ml milk
100 grams butter
pinch of salt
100 grams flour
50g walnut flour (or almond meal) -- gives a nutty taste
4 eggs
1 cup red bean paste (store bought or home made)
2 tbs double cream
50g walnuts

Method
1. Heat the oven to 220ᴼC.
2. To make the pastry, melt the butter with water and milk in a large pan.
3. Bring to boiling point and tip in salt and flour. Using a wooden spoon beat hard for up to 30 seconds, till the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the pan.
4. Cool to room temperature (about 10 minutes).
5. While the dough is cooling, line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
6. When the dough has cooled beat the eggs, one at the time till the dough is smooth and glossy. Pour the dough into a pastry bag and pipe out profiteroles (about the size of a walnut) leaving enough space for them to rise, otherwise spoon with teaspoons. Tip your fingers in cold water and smooth the surface of profiteroles, as any spikes are likely to burn.
7. Bake the profiteroles in 220ᴼC for 10 minutes, then reduce to 190ᴼC and bake for another 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.
8. Using a knife poke a hole in each profiterole to let out the steam (and to fill later) and leave them to cool on a rack.
9. While the pastry is cooling prepare the red bean paste. You can adjust the sweetness of the paste to your liking and to make it extra smooth and creaming add 2 tbs of double cream.
10. Also cut the walnuts coarsely and mix it through the red bean mixture.
11. Fill a piping bag with the paste and get ready to pipe the pastry when it is sufficiently cool.
12. Fill the pastry with the hole that is at the base of the pastry.

And you are DONEEEEEEE.

This doesn't turn out to be a chewy as the original, but the pastry remains light and fluffy. It's not the easiest thing to make, but it is nice because it means you can still enjoy coco hodo even if you aren't near a store.

So I hope that you liked this recipe, and I'll try my best to post more often. Maybe in about 2 weeks time I'll have another post out. Until ten remember to stay safe, happy and healthy!!! 

Korean Honey Bread 허니브레드 | Tom n Toms Style |

It has been a while since I last posted a recipe again...woops. Sorry!!! I've kinda been busy packing to go on holidays :D:D:D I leave tomorrow and just procrastinating in general. I'm going to try and have all my posts for when I'm away all lined up, if not I'm going to try and write them while I'm busy travelling in cars, trains and buses.

Anyways, today's recipe is a Korean favourite. You may also love this dish if there is a Tom n Toms near where you live. There is the legend-wait for it-ary honey butter toast with ice-cream. It is absolutely AMAZING. And you know what? Today I'm going to show you how to make it at home.

It may not be exactly the same as what you can get in store, but it is a pretty good dupe and if you are like me, too lazy to actually go out and buy it you can enjoy it 24/7 at home. Honestly, for most of us it is too much of a hassle to go out to Tom n Toms unless it is literally right below where you live.

I don't know if you know about this dish much, but it is pretty much a thick slice of toast that is topped with various types of sweet things on top and it is absolutely delicious with the Tom n Toms blue lemonade.

Anyways, I'll tell you how to make it and then you can look at the pictures and just tell me whether or not you start salivating at the pictures.

Ingredients
5cm thick piece of white bread (white tastes best)
4 tbs butter
3 tbs honey
1 tsp cinnamon sugar
2 tbs caramel sauce
1 scoop vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (for a can is fine)

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180 C.
2. Spread butter on one side of the bread.
3. Cut the bread into 9 cubes and keep the shape of the bread.
4. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the buttered bread.
5. Put the bread into the oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Place scoop of ice cream on the centre, or a generous amount of whipped cream. Top with lashings of caramel sauce and honey. Serve immediately.

And there you have it, a delectable delight that will be sure to satisfy your taste buds and keep you cool this summer. A cinnamon-ey sweet treat that is amazing at Tom n Toms in the comfort of your own home. (I know the blue lemonade is amazing too, but I'm still in the process of figuring out how to make it)

It looks absolutely amazing doesn't it? It is a recipe that doesn't require anything too difficult to find so why aren't you going to the kitchen to make this right now? You're tastebuds will thank you. They seriously will.

I hope that you enjoyed this recipe a lot, I'm going to try and keep the blog posts rolling while I'm overseas, I might even do a blog post with just the photos of food that I've eaten. I hope that you have an awesome July and until next time remember to stay safe, healthy and happy!!! :D

육개장 YukGaeJang

Heyyyy dere sexy peoples.

It's been a really long time since I have posted a blog :/ I have been busy with finals for uni and completing assignments so there hasn't been any post for a really long time :( BUT I finished all of my exams yesterday, so I'm not back with a recipe. I'm going to be on break until August so I'll probably try and do a post a week, possible more sometimes.

I hope that you have all been well ~~~

Let's see how we are going in terms of seasons, it's now summer in Korea, so we probably want some summer food right? Even though it is not the hottest time of the year just yet, this dish can still be something that you can enjoy to help cool you down. And it is also great for the colder countries in the southern hemisphere where it is winter at the moment,

The dish for today is called yukgaejang (육개장). It is a spicy soup-like dish that is made with beef and scallions as well as other ingredients such as bean sprouts (kong namuel), bracken, taro stem, onion and dangmyeon (sweet potato noodles). It is usually served with rice and kimchi.

The dish can also be made using chicken, and in that case it could be called dak yukgaejang.

This is a hot spicy dish so you may be confused about why it would be eaten in the summer. Western cultures tend to eat cold foods to cool down in the summer, this cools you down from the inside. However in Korea, they also like to cool themselves down from the outside by eating hot spicy foods to sweat more and thus also be cooled that way.

Ingredients
600g beef brisket
1 small onion
100g bean sprouts
50g taro stem (found dried in Asian marts)
50g bracken (found dried in Asian marts)
3 green onions
1/2 korean radish
3 tbs chilli flakes (gochugaru)
2 tbs minced garlic
3tbs soy sauce
60ml sesame oil
60ml vegetable oil
3tbs salt
1tbs pepper
4L water

Method
1. Soak the taro stem and bracken in warm water for an hour.
2. In a large pot add beef, onion, green onions and all the water. Boil it for 30min on a medium heat with the lid on.
3. Blanch the soaked taro stems and bracken in water for about 10 minutes. Squeeze all the water out and then cut into 10cm pieces.
4. Cut the radish into 1cm pieces
5. Remove the cooked beef from the broth and let it cool for 30 min. After that, tear the beef into small strips.
6. In a bowl mix half the chilli flakes, with 3 tbs sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, 1tbs salt and the pepper. If you want you can add more chilli flakes.
7. Add the bracken, taro stem and meat in a bowl with half of the sauce and let it sit for 10 minutes.
8. Add the sauce mixture into the broth with the radish and boil it for 40min on a medium heat.
9. In a small pot add all the remaining oil and chilli flakes and stir fry for 2 minutes, constantly stirring to prevent burning.
10. Strain the chilli oil through a cheesecloth.
11. Add some more green onions, bean sprouts, rest of the spicy sauce and chilli oil to the broth and salt to season. Boil for another 10 minutes.
12. Serve with rice and kimchi.

And there you have it, a nutritious dish to eat in summer or winter to cool you down or to warm you up. Either way it is bound to satisfy you.

I hope that you like that dish because it is certainly what I'm going to have for dinner tonight as it is super-duper cold and rainy at the moment. Have a try of it when it is super hot or cold and you will feel the heat of the dish radiate throughout the rest of your body.

I'm going to post more in the coming days, and until then remember to keep warm, safe, healthy and happy!

Twigim Gimbap

It has seriously been a really long time since I have last posted on here, and even without posting for a while I have still managed to rise with my blog views and I am extremely thankful for all the views. I'll continue to work hard in 2013 to ensure that you too get to cook awesome food.

And with that today I'm going to be posting a simple recipe, honestly it is not difficult at all and I have no idea whether or not it has been covered by another blogger.

Anyways here goes, I'm pretty sure that this is something that is commonly found in street food stalls in korea and it is an awesome snack: twigim gimbap. It is basically just mini rolls of gimbap that has been dipped in batter and then deep fried so that it has a nice and crispy edge.

I'm going to show you how to make mini gimbap rolls today, and I will also link you to my recipe for full sized gimbap. The full sized gimbap can be cut into smaller pieces before being deep fried.

Ingredients
Kim (dried laver) cut in half
Pickled radish cut into small strips
Carrot julienned
2 eggs
2 cups of cooked rice
Optional:
Meat of some kind
Batter:
⅔ Cup Frying Mix (Batter)
½ Cup Water
¼ Cup Frying Mix (Coating)
3 Tbsp Potato Starch (or Cornstarch)
Salt

Method
1. Saute the carrots in a pan with sesame oil, salt and pepper until it is soft.
2. Beat the eggs and fry them in a pan to form a thin omelette. When cooked flip it out and then cut into thin strips similar to the size of the radish.
3. Cut both the egg and radish so that it will fit with the half sized laver.
4. Spread a bit of cooked rice on one sheet of the laver (half sized).
5. Put a bit of all the ingredients along the centre of the rice and then roll the laver to form a roll.

And there you go, mini rolls of gimbap.

However if you also want to have even smaller rolls of gimbap you can just use one filling and then roll the laver so that you form a cigar.

Or you can make normal sized gimbap and then cut it into pieces. The recipe is HERE.

To FRY:
1. Combine frying mix, cold (or ice) water, potato starch, and salt, and COLD water is the secret to getting crispy food.
2. When the gimbap is ready you can coat the gimbap in some frying mix first to help the batter adhere.
3. Dip the gimbap into the batter.
4. Make sure the oil is hot enough for frying and then deep fry the battered gimbap until it is golden brown, there is no need to wait too long because the gimbap is already cooked and you just want there to be a nice coating of crispy batter.
5. And there you have it, twigim gimbap.

I hope that you all enjoy this recipe and I will post something soon.

Until next time remember to stay happy, safe and healthy!!!!