Simple Herb Chicken

Sometimes I use chicken when I want to reduce carbohydrates in my diet, so this time I made a simple chicken roast with herbs. If there is low-priced chicken at a grocery store, I buy a family pack and remove the fat and cut it into a suitable size. Season with herbs, salt and pepper. Do you want to remove the bad chicken smell? Use lemon juice, it removes the chicken smell. Usually, a family pack is about 3-4 lb, so it is more than enough for my family. In my case, I freeze the amount I need for each meal in a ziploc bag. Then I defrost what I need for my husband's lunch or a simple chicken salad for me.
Today, I am going to make a simple dinner!

Ingredients
1/2 lb                                        chicken (thigh)   
1 t                                            garlic, minced
1/2 t                                         basil and oregano
1/5 t                                         ginger powder
1 t                                            lemon juice
1 C                                           green cabbage, thin sliced

salt and pepper to taste

sauce
1/2 T                                          mayonnaise
1 t                                              lemon juice
1/2 t                                           sugar
1/2 t                                           onion, chopped
a pinch of pepper

your favorite bread, I prepared corn bread by Trader Joe's corn bread mix

Directions
Rinse and drain chicken slightly and pat dry by paper towel.
Remove chicken fat and cut into suitable size.
Season with herbs, salt, pepper, ginger powder, garlic and lemon juice.
Preheat the pan on medium to medium high and cook the chicken until golden brown.
While chicken is cooking, make sauce and slice green cabbage and rinse and drain.
Serve chicken with vegetable, bread and sauce.
Enjoy!

Korean Boiled Pork Slices

Korean boiled pork is a great way to enjoy kimchi and pork belly, because it makes pork tender and juicy. How to make it is simple. All you have to do is boil everything all at once! So it was one of the foods that I had made many times as a newlywed because it was easy to make. Originally, people ate boiled pork with a special kimchi, but I use regular kimchi.

Ingredients
2 lb                                            pork belly
1 T                                             soy bean paste
12-15                                          whole peppercorns
3-4                                             garlic cloves
1 inch                                         ginger, sliced
3                                                green onions
2 T                                             soju, Korean sake

Directions
Fill pot with cold water (just enough to cover pork)
Add soy bean paste and stir well to have bean paste dissolve.
Add pork, green onioins, garlic, ginger, soju and whole peppers.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour or until pork is tender.
Cut pork into 1/4 inches slices.
Serve with kimchi.
Enjoy!

Chwinamul Rice - Korean Wild Vegetable Rice

Chwinamul is a wild vegetable in Korea with a bitter taste and distinctive smell. In the national parks in Korea like Seorak Mountain, Jiri Mountain, there are popular local restaurants. The restaurants sell a lot of foods with wild vegetable. Mountain tourists like to eat meals with local wild vegetables after hiking or climbing. Wild vegetables have a unique taste and flavor, so there are many people who like it. I also do. But it is not easy to buy wild vegetables in the U.S. Fortunately, I found frozen wild vegetables at H-Mart (Korean grocery in the U.S.) So I use them, even though it is not fresh vegetables. Koreans use wild vegetables as a side dish, salad, rice and soup... Among them, I am going to make a wild vegetable rice - Chwinamul rice!

Ingredients
3 C                                        rice
2 packs                                 frozen chwinamul 
2 t                                         garlic, minced
3 T                                        green onions, chopped
2.5 T                                     Korean bean paste
3 T                                        perrilla oil
2.5 C                                     water

sunny side up egg and dried seaweed for garnish

Directions
Defrost frozen chwinamul and rinse and squeeze slightly.
Cut the chwinamul into bite size pieces.
Rinse and drain rice and put in instant pot.
Add water.
Add chwinamul, garlic, green onions, bean paste and perrilla oil.
Cover and set manual mode for 8 minutes on instant pot.
When instant pot is done, release steam naturally.
Open the lid and mix well.
Serve the chwinamul rice with dried seaweed and sunny side up egg.

Kimchi Fried Rice

Kimchi fried rice is quick, easy and inexpensive to make, so most Koreans like it. I am also one of those Koreans. Why do I like kimchi fried rice? Reason is very simple - I can say "It is one of my favorite lunch solutions!" and "I use it almost 3 times a week." It's a perfect lunch, because it is ready in a very short time and simple ingredients are always in my refrigerator.
Kimchi fried rice is a very simple dish, but the most important tip to make delicious fried rice is to use kimchi juice from the container to season the rice. No other seasonings are needed. Please remember.

Ingredients
1 bowl                                steamed rice
1 C                                     kimchi, chopped
1 T                                     kimchi juice
2 T                                     green onions, chopped
1 t                                      garlic, minced
2 t                                      sesame seed oil
dried sea weed and egg

Directions

Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat and stir fry green onions and garlic until fragrant. 
Add the chopped kimchi and stir fry 2-3 minutes. Add rice and stir fry until hot and fragrant.  Season with kimchi juice to taste. Meanwhile in a non-stick frying pan, heat oil over medium heat and add egg.  Turn down the heat to low and cook until egg white is cooked - sunny side up.  Drizzle with the sesame seed oil and top with egg and dried seaweed. 

Short Rib Soup] - Galbi tang

Galbi tang is one of my favorite Korean soups. Galbi tang is made primarily from beef short ribs, radish, garlic, green onion and other vegetables. It takes a little bit of time but it's worth it. But, I didn't like a long cooking time and the smell of meat in the whole house while it was cooking. 

Normal recipe takes about 2 hours on the stove to make, but Instant Pot cuts the cooking time in half! There are many reasons why, but the main reason is ... it makes cooking time easier! 

Ingredients

3 lb                                        beef short ribs with bone

1/4 lb                                     Korean radish, cleaned

1                                            medium onion, cleaned and cut into half

4-5 pieces                            garlic, cleaned

1-2 pieces                            ginger (about 1-2 inches), cleaned

2-3 stems                             green onions, cleaned

water                                     2-3 times the weight of meat

1 stem                                    green onions, chopped for garnish

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Rinse short ribs and soak in  cold water for 2 hours - you will notice blood seep out of the short ribs into water and drain.

Parboil the short ribs in boiling water for 5 minutes - you will see excess blood and fat.

Rinse the short ribs under running water.

In an instant pot, put short ribs, water, radish, onion, garlic, ginger, green onion and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Press MEAT/STEW button and set for 50 minutes.

When the timer is done, release pressure naturally for 10 minutes.

Open the lid and take out radish and cut into bite size pieces.

Discard the rest of the vegetables.

Serve the soup with bite size radish and chopped green onions.

Korean Radish Kimchi - Kkakdugi

I'm going to share the easiest kimchi recipe - kkakdugi made with Korean radish!
Korean radish is different than daikon. You can find it at a Korean grocery market, but you can use daikon instead of Korean radish - Korean radish is oval shape with green tip, firm, crunchy texture and sweeter and whiter than daikon.

My quick and easy radish kimchi recipe is a good side dish that is easier to make than traditional kimchi. And it's a delicious, spicy and crunchy side dish with steamed rice. So I make it often. FYI,  there are many different kinds of kimchi in Korea such as cabbage kimchi, cucumber kimchi, green onion kimchi. Radish kimchi is also one of the easiest to make and most popular kimchi.

Ingredients
1                           medium size Korean radish (about 2 lb)
1/2                        medium apple
2                            green onions
1 T                         brown sugar

Kimchi Sauce
3 T                        fish sauce
3-4 T                      Korean chili pepper powder
1/2 T                      coarse salt
1/2 T                      minced garlic

Directions
Rinse and cut green onions into 1 1/2 inch pieces.
Grind apple.
Mix kimchi sauce all together and add apple and green onions. 
Rinse, peel and cut Korean radish into 3/4 cubes.
Pour sauce over the radish and mix well.
Finally, add brown sugar and mix well.
Store in an air tight container at room temperature 1 day and keep in the refrigerator for 6-7 days
Enjoy!