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Korean

Cooking catchup!

Jul 29th, 2009
by dave.
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Pad Kra Pow
Pad Kra Pow – Thai Basil Chicken

Just a couple things I’ve cooked up lately for this post. The first is Pad Kra Pow – Thai Basil Chicken, I posted this originally back in April but had another couple go-arounds to try to get it tastier. The second being Kalbi Steak Tips, the recipe was posted using short ribs and steak tips are a great alternative for throwing on the grill now that it’s summertime!

Now, the Thai Basil Chicken had been a dish that was confounding me for quite some time. I could never get the sauce just right, no matter how hard I tried. But then, one day, eureka! I added 1.5x the sauce and cut out some of the extra vegetables. I didn’t really think about it at the time, but the extra vegetables will soak up a ton of the sauce AND dilute the sauce to boot! So, using only half an onion and half a red pepper, this edition was the closest I’ve gotten to the stuff I’ve eaten at Rod Dee, Dok Bua, and S&I To Go!

Kalbi Steak Tips
Kalbi Steak Tips

On the other hand, the Kalbi marinade I found a while back turned out to be just about right. I end up making it about once a month and absolutely devour the stuff. Lately, I’ve been applying the marinade to steak tips and bringing them to other BBQ’s, and they’ve been an absolute hit! Add that with some peppers, onions, and a little bit of cheese, and this was a pretty good meal for the summer.

Kalbi – Korean Marinated Short Rib

Feb 12th, 2009
by dave.
2 comments

Kalbi

I’m actually extremely proud of this recipe. No, I didn’t make it up, but I’m sure glad I found it anyway! And I’m glad I made enough for 4 extra meals. :)

I always wondered how Korean restaurants got the marinated short rib so tasty and what the right mix of sauces/spices was. And every time I asked someone, there was a different answer. Lots of sugar, a can of coke, mirin, and whatnot. But one thing that seemed the most common was the Korean/Japanese/Asian Pear. Now, I’d never heard of Asian Pears before last year, and even then, I’d never actually seen one of these mythical pieces of fruit. Essentially, it’s a pear that looks like an apple. A yellow apple.

But anyway, they’re super sweet and add a really nice taste to the marinade, along with some freshly chopped garlic and scallions. Marinate overnight and throw on the grill (or grill pan in my case) and wham, tasty…tasty kalbi.

I found the original recipe somewhere on some blog on the Internet and in my haste to copy it down, forgot the site it came from. So if I could provide a link-back I would but despite my most earnest efforts, I failed. I did find another recipe (and several others) on CityMama that was similar to the one I used so I’ll link that instead for now.

I didn’t have the traditional thin sliced short rib across the bone, but I did have some short rib from Whole Foods in the freezer that I picked up on sale a couple weeks back, so that was going to have to do.

Kalbi – Korean Marinated Short Rib

Serves 6-8 with rice and side veggies
Time : Overnight to marinate, 15-20 minutes to cook

Ingredients:
- ½ cup light soy sauce
- ½ cup sweet vermouth or dessert wine
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- few grinds of black pepper
- 2-3 scallions, chopped
- drizzle of honey (optional)
- 1 asian pear, grated
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 3 lbs short rib (bone or boneless), sliced thin
- 2 scallions, chopped, for garnish

Method:
1. Mix the marinade together with the sliced short rib in a sealed bag, set aside overnight.
2. Add some oil to a skillet or wok, stir fry beef in batches.
3. After the beef is finished, leave the marinade in the pan for a few minutes longer until it starts to get thick. Pour over the beef.

Notes:
- The portions can be halved or quartered as you see fit. This recipe makes a LOT
- The marinade can be cooked beforehand as well.
- The marinade may be too much for that amount of meat, some of it can be saved but it doesn’t really preserve well

Pork Kimchi

Nov 23rd, 2008
by dave.
1 comment

Pork Kimchi

A few posts ago I wrote about Misono Wok in Super 88 and one of my favorite dishes there is Pork stir fried with kimchi. It’s definitely been one of the tastier dishes I’ve had, and it’s a very home-style type dish (especially because it’s quick too!). So after asking around for some tips, I decided to give it a shot and make it myself!

I bought kimchi from John’s Market in Allston to use with the pork belly from super 88. Now, making the pork kimchi was already adventurous enough for me so there was no way I was going to try to make kimchi as well :P Maybe next time! But anyway, John’s makes fresh kimchi and packages it with a date so that you know the freshness. They also sell all sorts of other goodies for Korean cooking and even will provide thinly sliced meat and such, perfect for Korean BBQ or hot pot!

So, with some pork belly, kimchi, an onion, and gochujang, I set off to my task! The verdict? It was good, but I think I used too much kimchi and next time, I’m going to use pork shoulder instead of pork belly. Now I love pork belly…but it’s pretty fatty and didn’t really fit the dish I don’t think.

Pork Kimchi

Serves 4-6
Time:20-30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 lb pork (shoulder or belly), sliced thin
- 1 tbsp rice wine
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp Gochujang
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp ginger powder
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp sriracha
- dash sesame oil

- Kimchi – close to a pound
- 1 medium onion
- 2 stalks green onions, chopped

Method:
1. Marinate the pork in the rice wine and black pepper. Set aside for 20-30 minutes
2. Mix together the Gochujang through the sesame oil into a paste. Mix the paste with the pork.
3. Heat a wok with some oil. Add pork and stir fry, shouldn’t take too long because the pork needs to be sliced thin.
4. Add onions, and green onions. Stir fry quickly for a couple minutes
5. Add kimchi and rice cakes. Stir to mix well. Add ¼ cup water and steam for a few minutes. Add some more chili sauce or gochujang if you want it spicier.
6. Serve over rice

Misono Wok (Super 88) – Allston

Nov 12th, 2008
by dave.
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If you went to college in the Boston area (or if you live nearby), you’ve probably heard about the Super 88 supermarket and food court. The first time I ate there was in 2002 at a Ramen stand that, unfortunately, no longer exists. Before then, I always thought ramen was something you make in 30 seconds and comes in individually sized bags. Needless to say, it was an eye-opening experience.

That Japanese ramen isn’t around anymore, but its replacement, Misono Wok, is a more than ample replacement. They serve home-style Korean food, which isn’t exactly easy to find in the city. But to be honest, until I got to Boston, I never really had a lot of Korean food, maybe because Korean food is even rarer in New Jersey!

But anyway, back to the food. When I think Korean food, the first thing that comes to mind is Korean BBQ (bulgogi, kalbi, etc), kimchi, and bibimbap. While Misono Wok does have some of these dishes available, my favorite dishes are their noodle dishes, especially the Tukboki (rice cake noodles), or Japche (glass thread noodles). I’ve also been a huge fan of the pork kimchi lately, and even tried making it myself (I’ll save that for another day).

New Jang Su Korean BBQ – Burlington MA

Oct 29th, 2008
by dave.
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Spicy Squid and Pork stir fry

So it’s been another long while since the last post! To tell the truth, I didn’t cook the whole month of September, horrible isn’t it??? That, coupled with vacations to Las Vegas and Seattle, and wow, my body was hating me!

Anyway, enough of that and back to the food huh? This post is about New Jang Su Korean BBQ, and as the name suggests, a Korean BBQ in Burlington MA. A very good friend of mine rants and raves about this place, and believe it or not, it was over a year before I managed to arrange dinner there :)

So, a bunch of us finally went a couple months back, and wow, definitely worth the trip (and nearly the year’s wait too!) The Kalbi was incredibly juicy and the Bibimbap was one of the best I’ve had. My friend ordered more than enough for 10-12 people (There were 8 of us) and it’s a good thing too, since we ended up finishing it all!

Bibimbap

Kalbi