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.

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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.

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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.

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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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