Ground soybean stew - Kongbiji jigae

When it's chilly in the winter, I always remember my mother's ground soybean stew, because it is always delicious and soybean is a good nutritious food with a lot of protein.
It is a stew that is made with a creamy puree of soaked soybeans, so it's very smooth and easily digested. Because of this, it's enjoyed by children and adults of all ages.
Let's get started!

Ingredients
1 C                                              dried soybean
1/2 C                                           ground pork
1/2 C                                           napa cabbage, sliced bite size
1/2 C                                           dried anchovies
4 inch x 4 inch                              dried kelp
1 t                                               fish sauce
1/2 T                                            minced garlic
1 t                                                sesame oil
1 T                                               chopped green onion
salt to taste

Directions
Clean and soak soy beans in cold water for 6 hours or more.
Rinse and drain soy beans.
Make a broth, take 4 cups water add dried anchovies and dried kelp in a pot, then bring to boil for 15-20 minutes over medium high heat then remove the anchovies and kelp and set aside.
Peel soaked soybeans and blend 1 C soybeans with 2/3 C of water until it turns creamy.
In a clean pan, heat up sesame oil and add garlic then stir for 10- 15 seconds.
Add pork and stir fry for a few minutes.
Add 3 C of broth and cover with a lid and bring to boil over medium heat for 4-5 minutes.
Pour the creamy soybean mixture into the pot and reduce the heat. Do not stir.
Let it cook partially covered for 2-3 minutes.
Season with fish sauce or salt.
Sprinkle with chopped green onion before serving.

Enjoy!

***

Sliced Bread Pizza

This recipe can be made with sandwich bread from your freezer, other words, you can make a good dish and use ingredients you have left behind in your refrigerator at the same time.  Also, quick and easy sliced bread pizza is one of my favorite recipes to make for a busy day dinner or snack. You can add any topping to it and it is ready in minutes. 

Try this incredible sliced bread pizza!

Ingredients

4                                               sliced bread

1 C                                            grape tomatoes

1/4                                             bell pepper

2 pieces                                    bacon

2 C                                            mozzarella cheese, grated

1 C                                            parmesan cheese, grated

2/3 C                                         tomato sauce

dried herbs, salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Clean tomatoes and bell pepper and cut it into bite size pieces.

Heat a pan, cook bacon, not crispy and cut into bite size pieces.

Spray a baking sheet with non stick cooking spray and place sliced bread on it.

Spread tomato sauce on the bread and add tomatoes,bell peppers and bacon.

Season with salt, pepper and dried herbs.

Sprinkle with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Bake it in the oven for 8-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

Bacon and egg muffins

These are so easy and very impressive to serve to guests - bacon and egg muffins make a perfect brunch food or snack. I love that these muffins are very easy to make, and all the ingredients in them constitute, basically, a classic breakfast. If you want a delicious, fun idea for a quick breakfast, it will cover all the bases. What a fun idea!

Ingredients
6                                              eggs
6                                              slices of bacon
2                                              slices sandwich bread
parmesan cheese to taste
salt and pepper to taste
Dried parsley to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
Cut the sandwich bread into 1/3 inch squares.Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray and lay the bread into the bottom of each muffin cup. Line the inside of each muffin cup with a slice of bacon - If you like crispy bacon, cook over medium heat about 4 minutes in a skillet before putting it into the muffin cup. Crack an egg in each cup and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake them for 10-15 minutes.Sprinkle the tops with parmesan cheese before serving.

***

Rice Bowl with Korean Soy Bean Sprouts

Soybean sprout rice, called kongnamul bap (콩나물밥) in Korean, is a delicious and unique one dish meal. The bean sprout rice has crispy sprouts and warm rice together in good harmony. Also, it is a bowl of food and good to be able to eat more easily. 
Use less water because soybean sprouts release water. 
The original recipe cooks all the ingredients at once, but I cooked it a little differently in order to save the texture of the spicy bean sprouts. Put some soy sauce on the warm bean sprout rice. It will be really delicious!

Ingredients
2 C                                                rice,cleaned and soaked in the water for 30 minutes
2 C minus 3 T                              water
1 lb                                                bean sprouts
1 lb                                                short rib beef, sliced

Soy sauce
1 T                                                  soy sauce
1/4 T                                               water
1 t                                                   Korean hot pepper powder
1/2 t                                                sesame oil
1/2 t                                                sesame seeds

Prepare bulgogi , refer to here...
 http://yhj95sm.blogspot.com/2017/10/blog-post_7.html

Directions
Wash rice several times and soak in the water for 30 minutes then drain.
Rinse and drain sprouts.
Put soaked rice in the cookware and add water and boil to high heat.
When most of the water in the cookware is evaporated add the bean sprouts and cover and reduce to medium low heat and cook until rice is done.
Make bulgogi (Korean BBQ) and set aside.
Mix sauce ingredients.
When it is all cook, mix rice and bean sprouts gently with wooden or plastic spatula and put in a bowl.
Add bulgogi on the top of rice with sauce on the side.

***

Oven Baked Apples

A few days ago I went to the orchard (Stribling Orchard in VA)to pick up apples. I had been to a blueberry farm a few times but I was a little nervous when I first visited to pick apples. So I was worried about various things. "Is there my favorite apples like fuji and gala?",  "What if an apple does not reach my hand, how to pick up apples on high ground?". But as I started picking apples, my worries were all gone.
At the front of the farm, I received a map with the kind of apple trees and the apples that were out of reach were picked with a long stick. Very easy! But unfortunately, there were no Gala apple trees and the Fuji apples had already been taken by many people. Very sad. 
So I tried golden delicious apples. It was an excellent choice! It was very, very fresh, juicy and the apple peel was also thin, so it was good to eat! When I bit into an apple, the juice filled my mouth. Yum!
The photo above shows oven baked apples from the orchard.

Ingredients
3 - 4                          apples
1 t                             vinegar
1/2 T                         baking soda

Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Rub and clean apples with baking soda.
Put water in a large bowl and add vinegar.
Immerse apples for 5 minutes and rinse.
Slice apple thinly 2-3 mm and pat dry with paper towel.
Put the apples on the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
Then turn the apples and bake again at 250 degrees for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

***

Green Onion Kimchi - Pa Kimchi

Napa cabbage kimchi is not the only kimchi? Green onion kimchi is also kimchi.
One of my favorite kimchi has to be green onion kimchi (pa-kimchi in Korea) - yes, you can also make kimchi with green onions. So, I made green onion kimchi, today. 
If you like Korean bbq, you probably like green onion kimchi. Because I love green onion kimchi with Korean pork belly (samgyeopsal in Korea) as it spices up the non marinated meat very well. It has a salty and spicy flavor and mostly consumed as a side dish. The combination of meat and green onion kimchi is really fantastic. If you have not eaten this yet, try it!

Ingredients
3.5 lb                                                green onions
2/3 C                                                fish sauce

kimchi sauce
2 C                                                   Korean hot pepper powder
3 T                                                   minced garlic
1/2                                                   onion, pureed in blender
3 T                                                   salted shrimp sauce
2 T                                                   sugar

batter
2 T                                                    flour

2 C                                                    water

Directions
Rinse green onions and pat dry.
Put flour and water in a pan and stir and simmer on a low heat and let a cool.
Sprinkle fish sauce over white part of green onions and marinate for 15 minutes - turn it over 2 times.
Mix kimchi sauce and rub on the green onions slightly. 
Put it in a jar or glass container and sit in a cool and dark place ( cool room temperature is recommeded)for at least 2 days then store in the refrigerator 4-5 days before you eat.

Recipe is inspired by
http://m.post.naver.com/viewer/postView.nhn?volumeNo=5163132&memberNo=19357942&vType=VERTICAL

***

Korean Seafood Pancake - Haemul Pajeon

A quick, crispy and crunchy savory pancake is prepared with a simple batter, mixed seafood and fresh green onions - gently pan fried with soy dipping sauce. It's Korean seafood pancake, Haemul Pajeon. In the Korean language, Haemul means seafood, Pa means green onion and Jeon means fried batter.
It's the perfect excuse to have healthy savory pancakes for dinner, because there are a lot of vegetables (green onions) and seafood. Also, it's a good dish to eat when it's cold and rainy like a soup that I posted a few days ago.
Here is a tip, make a lot of Korean pancakes, you can store them in the freezer. From the freezer, you can always microwave it to heat up. But, to bring back its crispiness, heat it up in a pan over low heat without oil until warm and crispy. You can eat more crispy pan cakes. Yum!

Ingredients
A handful green onions
1 C                               frying powder
1 C                               potato starch
2 C                               water
1 C                               seafood, thawed frozen octopus
2 t                                 garlic powder
2                                   eggs, beaten
cooking oil
potato starch to taste for top

dipping sauce
1 t                                 soy sauce
1/3 t                              water
1/2 t                              Korean hot pepper powder
1/3 t                              sesame oil
Mix all.

Directions
Clean and cut in half green onions.
Rub thawed octopus with salt and rinse and pat dry.
And cut octopus into bite size.
In a bowl, add frying powder, potato starch, garlic powder and water and mix well.
Beat eggs in a bowl and set aside.
Preheat the pan on medium to medium high until the bottom is heated and reduce the heat to medium.
Spread green onions in the pan and pour 3 T  batter then add seafood with more batter.
When the food is cooked a little bit, pour eggs in and cover about 2-3 minutes.
Sprinkle with 2 t potato starch and flip the pancake and cook about 1-2 minutes.
Serve with dipping sauce.
Enjoy!

Recipe is inspired by
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yINCF_Nj-dI

***

Potato Soup

One of the foods that I remember is soup when the weather starts to get cold. Just thinking about soup makes me feel warmer. Good!
When I opened refrigerator I saw potatoes, I made potato soup. 
Ingredients are very simple. If you have potato, milk, cheese, you can make it. That's it!
I wanted to make it a little more delicious, I made croutons using some pieces of sandwich bread in my freezer. It was an excellent choice!

Ingredients
3                                                    potatoes
1/2                                                 onion
1 C                                                 milk
1 C                                                 whipped cream
1 C                                                 cheddar cheese
3 T                                                 parmesan cheese
1 C                                                 water
2 pieces                                          sandwich bread
salt, pepper and parsley to taste
olive oil to cook

Directions
Peel and cut potatoes and onions
In a pan put olive oil and add onion and stir fry until brown.
Add potatoes and stir fry until potatoes are half done.
Add milk, cream, water and boil.
And then add cheddar cheese and season with salt and pepper and let cool.
Blend using hand blender.
Cut sandwich bread into bite size and in a pan without oil, put bite size bread and fry until golden brown.
Serve in a bowl and garnish with parmesan cheese, parsley and croutons.
Enjoy the soup!

***

Kimbab - Korean Rice Roll with Kale

I made kimbab again, because I wanted to eat kimbab and eat healthy. So I used kale - it contains a lot of beta-carotene, vitamins and  anticancer properties. 
The method of making Kimbab is the same as I made it a few days ago and I just used kale instead of spinach.

Refer to here...
http://yhj95sm.blogspot.com/2017/09/kimbab.html

How to cook kale? It is also like how to make spinach.

Spinach
Blanch 2 lb prewashed kale in boiling water about 15 seconds to soften and rinse with cold water.
Drain and squeeze slightly and season with salt, soy sauce, minced garlic and sesame oil to taste.

***

Chicken Salad with Sweety Drop Peppers

Look at this, it's sweety drop peppers. Isn't it lovely?

My teacher, Lisa gave me sweety drop peppers - so sweet! - so I used it in a salad.
I've never seen it in any grocery stores or eaten it, too. So I was very excited to make the salad. It would be much better - using a new ingredient is always exciting and fun!

Ingredients
2 pieces                           chicken thigh
1 piece                             sandwich bread
1/2 t                                 dried basil
1/2 t                                 dried oregano
1/2 t                                 dried parsley
1 t                                    garlic powder
1/2 t                                  onion powder
1 t                                     smoked paprika powder
1                                       egg
1 T                                    flour
2 T                                    canned sweet corn
2 T                                    canned chick pea
2 C                                    sliced lettuce
1 T                                    3 blend cheese
olive oil spray
sweety drop pepper, carrot, corn chip and cucumber to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Rinse and pat dry chicken and remove fat.
Grind sandwich bread with food processor.
Beat egg and set aside.
Mix flour, dried herbs, garlic, onion powder, smoked paprika powder, salt and pepper.
Put parchment paper on a baking sheet and spray with oil.
Coat chicken in flour mixture, then egg and finally in bread crumbs.
Put chicken on a baking sheet and spray with oil again.
Bake 13-15 minutes each side - total 25-30 minutes.
Slice them into bite size pieces.
In a large salad bowl, add each vegetable, sweet corn, chick peas and add chicken.
Add corn chip, sweety drop peppers and cheese to taste before serving.

***

Korean Meat Pancake - Yukjeon

I made meat pancakes, because it was Korea's Thanksgiving Day a few days ago.
Actually, I don't celebrate Korea's Thanksgiving Day in the US, but it was too pretty a day not to do anything, so I made traditional Korean holiday food.
What would I make for the holiday? I thought and thought and decided Korean meat pancake (Yukjeon). This recipe was even better than I thought it would be.

Ingredients
1 lb                              thin sliced beef, short rib beef
2                                  egg
1 T                               flour
1 T                               potato starch
salt and pepper to taste
cooking oil a little bit

Directions
Slice beef thinly.
Beat egg and set aside.
Pat dry blood and spread thin beef in a tray.
Dredge beef in flour and potato starch.
Coat it with egg.
Heat cooking oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.
When both side are browned pancakes are ready to be taken off the heat.

***

Bulgogi Rice Bowl - Korean BBQ beef with Rice

I made a simple and delicious dish that uses bulgogi. It's bulgogi rice bowl!
Bulgogi is thinly sliced beef marinated with sweet and salty soy sauce. It's one of the most popular Korean foods also - I think people who are interested in Korean food would know it.  In fact Koreans eat bugogi with rice and some side dishes but this dish is just a bowl of food. In other words, it can be said that it is fusion food.
Usually, the bulgogi is marinated with sweet soy sauce for a while, but you don't need marinating time. It's so SIMPLE!
Original recipe is from the Yoon's Kitchen of Korean TV program.

Ingredients
Sauce
1/5 C                                 soy sauce
1/5 C                                 water
2 T                                    sugar
1/4                                    large onion
1 T                                    minced garlic
1/4                                    medium apple or Korean pear
pepper to taste
1/4 lb                                 each of carrot, onion and green onion
1 lb                                    thinly sliced beef
some prewashed baby vegetables
1 T                                     vegetable oil
sesame seeds and sesame oil to taste

Directions
Blend all the bulgogi sauce ingredients.
Julienne carrots, green onions and onions.
Preheat oil in a pan.
Stir fry vegetables in preheated pan and add beef with sauce and keep frying until cooked.
Serve the bulgogi with baby vegetables and rice.
Sprinkle sesame seeds and sesame oil before serve.


***

Deep Fried Perilla Flowers - Fried Perilla Cluster

In the morning and evening, the cold wind was blowing, so small white flowers started to bloom on sesame plant.  A few days ago the small, cute white flowers began to fall off and I used them to make deep fried perilla clusters. When I was living in Korea, I didn't make it - maybe my taste is getting more and more Korean, the longer I live in US.  In fact, these days in Korea, Koreans don't eat them often. Would this be a memorable meal or special dish?
Once a year, you can eat perilla clusters.  Let's try!

Ingredients
30                               perilla clusters
1 T                              frying powder
frying oil

fried mixture
1/2 C                          frying powder
1/2 C                          cold water
2 T                             potato starch

Directions
Dredge in frying powder, shaking off the excess.
Mix fried mixture slightly, don't need to mix for a long time.
Coat perilla cluster in prepared batter and shake off excess.
Fry in hot oil until golden brown and drain well.


***

Kimbab

Kimbab is one of my favorite Korean foods.  Kim means seaweed and bab means rice. The rice is lightly seasoned with sesame oil and salt and the fillings are seasoned and cooked, an interesting combination of textures and flavors.
I have good memories about Kimbab. When I was young, going hiking and picnicking from school, my mother always woke up early and made kimbab for my lunch box. I remember that I would wake up to the sound of my mother's cooking and making kimbab and the smell of sesame oil. 
This time I changed the fillings. I used pickled cucumber, carrot, egg and spinach.

Refer to here...
http://aeriskitchen.com/2008/11/beef-kimbap-%EC%87%A0%EA%B3%A0%EA%B8%B0-%EA%B9%80%EB%B0%A5/

How to make pickled cucumbers?
Wash 4 Persian cucumbers and cut horizontally into four strips and sprinkle with 2 t salt and  1 t sugar and set aside for 30 minutes.
Squeeze them set aside.

Carrot
Peel 1/2 lb carrots and julienne and stir fry with olive oil and salt.

Spinach
Wash 2 lb spinach and blanch in boiling water about 10 seconds to soften and rinse with cold water.
Drain and squeeze slightly and season with salt, soy sauce, minced garlic and sesame oil to taste.

Eggs
Crack 5 eggs in a bowl and beat with salt and cooking wine to taste.
Drop 1 t cooking oil on a heated pan and wipe off excess with paper towel and pour in the egg mixture and spread in the pan on medium heat.
Wait until bottom of egg is cooked and firm.
Begin rolling egg with spatula and press down slightly each side and cool.
Cut horizontally into long strips.

***

Korean Style Braised Baby Back Ribs

This is a very rustic, delicious Korean dish that is finger licking good. Also, it has a great taste and the ribs are very tender.

Ingredients
4 lb                                    baby pork ribs
1                                       onion
1/3 bunch                           green onion
2-3                                     bay leaves
10-12                                  whole peppercorns

Suace
1 C                                     soy sauce
1 C                                     water
1/2 C                                  rice wine
1/3 C                                  coconut sugar
3 T                                     minced garlic
1 t                                      minced ginger
1 C                                     chopped green onions
1/2                                     minced apple
2 T                                     sesame seeds

1/2 lb                                 Korean radish
1/2 lb                                 potato
1 T                                    chopped green onions for garnish

Directions
Cut and trim pork ribs - I recommend reducing the fat in this dish by first trimming the excess fat off of the ribs.
Soak them in a large bowl of cold water for 2 hours - it drains the ribs of excess blood.
Drain the ribs and put them in a large pot with water, 1/3 bunch green onions, onion, bay leaves and peppercorns and bring to a boil for 7-10 minutes - this process makes them clear and not oily.
Drain and rinse in cold water and set aside.
Cut radish and potato into 1.5 x 1.5 pieces.
Mix sauce well.
Put potato, radish and pork ribs in a pressure cooker and add sauce.
Cook over high heat until it boils.
When beep sounds, boil it for another 5 minutes.
Turn off the heat and  wait until pressure gauge disappears.
When valve drops carefully remove lid.
Serve pork ribs with steamed rice and Kimchi.

***

Deep Fried Lotus Roots

Lotus root is a popular root vegetable in Korea, because it promotes digestive health and increases proteins ability to break down and is rich in vitamin C.  Lotus root is good for anti-aging and your immunity. It is also good as a diet food because it is low in calories and has a lot of fiber.
How is the taste? It's so crunchy and irresistibly delicious!
Today, I tried deep fried lotus root as a snack.
Let's start!

Ingredtents
1 lb                                  fresh lotus roots
2 t                                    vinegar
1 C                                   peanut oil

Directions
Peel lotus roots by vegetable peeler and slice 2-3 mm.
Soak in a large bowl of water with vinegar for 10 minutes then drain and pat dry.
Pour oil into a medium pot and heat over medium-high heat - insert a chopstick into the oil and if small bubbles float to the top then the oil is hot enough.
Fry chips in small batches until golden then put on a plate.

***

Hand-pulled Dough Soup - Sujebi

The smell of this soup takes me to my mother's kitchen in Korea when I was young. My mom and I used to make the soup when it was a rainy day.  My mother made a handmade dough and I tore it into a soup. It was my joint work with my mother. I tear off a piece of dough and flatten them in to thin discs. Each noodle is a unique shape. That is what makes this soup so rustic.
Sujebi is a traditional Korean soup made from hand torn noodles, so the main ingredient is flour, but I mixed it with tapioca flour. Tapioca flour is a grain free flour made from cassava root. It is a starchy flour with a slightly sweet tasty that is a staple for gluten free baking. Flour has 3 times the amount of calories than tapioca flour. That's why I changed the recipe to my own way.

Ingredients
1/2 C                                      flour
1/2 C                                      tapioca flour
1/3 C                                      water
1/2 t                                       salt

broth
2 x 2 inches                             dried kelp
1/2 C                                       dried anchovy
2 t                                           dried shiitake mushroom powder
5 C                                          water
2 t                                           minced garlic
1/2 C                                       dried seaweed

1/2 C                                       chopped green onions
1/2 C                                       sliced onion
1 T                                          sesame oil
soy sauce and salt to taste


Directions
Put flour, tapioca flour and 1/2 t salt in a bowl and add water.
Mix together well and knead it until the dough is slightly elastic.
Put it in a plastic bag and let rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
Soak seaweed in cold water for 20 minutes and drain and cut seaweed into 1 inch pieces.
How to make the broth?
If you don't like anchovies's fishy smell, you can stir fry it in a pan without oil.
Boil 5 C water with dried anchovies and dried kelp for 5 minutes to medium heat and remove kelp and boil again for 5 minutes and remove anchovies.
Set aside.  It's ready to use!
Remove the dough from refrigerator 10 minutes before putting it into the boiling broth.
Drizzle sesame oil in the heated pot and add seaweed and stir fry for 5 minutes and pour prepared broth into the pot.
When the broth starts to boil, reduce heat to medium and add minced garlic.
Rip off a piece of dough and stretch it into a thin piece and throw into the broth.
Repeat again and check them that start floating to the top.
Add soy sauce and salt to taste.
Sprinkle chopped green onions before serve.


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Zucchinii Muffin

This is a healthy zucchini muffin recipe that I found. I like bread and Korean rice cake so much, but I am worried about carbohydrates in my daily food, so I think this recipe for zucchini muffins is a little more healthy.
I changed the original recipe to make it a little more healthy. I used whole wheat flour, coconut sugar, apple sauce and grape seed oil.  I warmed it up in the morning for breakfast and it was delicious to eat as a cold snack in the afternoon.
And  it is one of the best quick breads ever and I have made many breads.  And really, really good and moist!
While the muffins were baking in the oven, the delicious smell gently spread through the house and made me happy before eating. For this reason, I like to bake bread at home!

Ingredients
2 C                           whole wheat flour
2 t                            baking soda
1 t                            cinnamon powder
1/2 t                         salt
1/2 C                        apple sauce
1/2 C                        coconut sugar
3/4 C                        grape seed oil
2                              eggs
1 1/2 t                       vanilla extract
1                              zucchini, 5-6 inches long, shredded
2/3 C                        nuts (sunflower, almond and pumpkin seeds)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and put muffin paper into muffin pan.
Mix apple sauce, coconut sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in a bowl.
Add sifted flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt and stir until the flour is invisible.
Add zucchini and nuts.
Pour batter into muffin pan.
Bake in the oven for 25-27 minutes until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.


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Deep-fried Sesame Leaves

Sesame leaves are growing on my deck. So today I tried to cook with sesame leaves. I often make pickles with sesame leaves and occasionally I eat it with meat or as a salad. The flavor and unique aroma of sesame leaves are compatible with meat. Yum!

Challenge yourself with a new dish today. It's deep-fried sesame leaves!

Ingredients

20-25                             sesame leaves, cleaned and pat dry with paper towel

2/3 C                             deep-fried mix

1/3 C                             potato starch powder

1 t                                 garlic powder

3 T                                deep-fried mix (not for mixture)

1/3 C                             water

2 C                                vegetable oil

3-4 ice cubes              ice

Directions

Preheat oil on medium high heat.

Make deep fried batter with 2/3 C deep-fried mix, potato starch powder, garlic powder, ice and water. The mixture must be thick so that the frying batter coats the leaves. Ice and starch make the leaves even crispier.

Sprinkle 3 T deep-fried mix on both sides of sesame leaves.

Dip sesame leaf into batter and drop into hot oil.

Fry 1-2 minutes or until light brown on both sides. 

Drain on a paper towel. 

Fry them again until golden brown.  It will be even crispier.

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