Kim Who? Kim Chi

So anyone who knows me well knows that i have a tendency to stick to something i like until i get sick of it or move on to that "next" interesting thing. I will listen to a band i like exclusively for  months (my best friend once threw out my Highlander Sound Track because she was so sick of hearing it), I will read only one author until i run out of books they have written and in that vein I have been on an all out Asian food kick for about a month now.

So whats a girl on an Asian diet to do....well when life gives you cabbage, make Kimchi.

I have had Kimchi before..the nasty stuff you buy at Wegmans that tastes like overly fermented, fizzy mush.  I grew up listening to my Grandfathers horror stories about the smell of Kimchi and how when he was in Korea he could not stand the stuff.  You would thing that the those would both be good enough reason for me to be incurious about it. Not the case. I made my own. I have to tell you, Its GOOOOOD!!!!!

I adjusted the recipe I found on Tigress in a Pickle's Website.

http://tigressinapickle.blogspot.com/2009/07/kimchi.html  (i suggest going to her website...she has step by step pictures)

Kimchi

Ingredients
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tbs gouchujang (fermented chili paste)
6 cups water
2 pounds chinese, savoy, or nappa cabbage, chopped into 2 inch squares
6 scallions cut into 2 inch lengths & slivered
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
2 tablespoons korean pepper flakes, or 1 tablespoon cayenne
1 tablespoon Hungarian paprika
1 cup shredded Korean or diakon radish
1 cup shredded carrot





2 tbs fish sauce
1/4 cup salted shrimp
1 teaspoon sugar (i use raw)
2 quart jar
zip-lock food grade plastic bag


(to make the vegetarian version omit the fish sauce and the shrimp they are optional)
 

first night-

1. dissolve 3 tablespoons of sea salt in water, chop cabbage and place in large crock or bowl. pour brine over cabbage and place a plate inside of bowl to weight down cabbage. i place a bowl of salt water on top of plate, you can use a large can of food, jar of pickles, etc...
2. let stand for 12 hours overnight.

next morning-

1. drain the cabbage and save the brine.
2. chop scallions, ginger and garlic, shred carrots, combine with cabbage.
3. add sugar, last teaspoon of salt, fish sauce, shrimp, chili paste and pepper/paprika to vegetables and mix well. 
4. pack into 2 quart jars, and i mean pack it. i use a wide mouth funnel and then pack it down with the end of a spoon.
5. once all the vegetables are in, pour in the brine to cover. you should have quite a bit left over.
6. pour some of the brine into the plastic zip lock bag and zip. push the filled bag into the neck of the jar. this serves the purpose of weighting it down. putting brine in the bag rather than water ensures that if the bag happens to break you still have the proper water/salt ratio in the mixture. i find a rubber band used on the bag comes in handy for balancing the filled bag in the jar. i also like to place the jar inside a bowl to catch any brine that may leak. this can happen as everything starts to settle and the bag sinks lower into the jar.
you will most likely have some brine left over, pour this into a container and save, you may need to use some to cover as things progress.
7. let this sit at room temperature for 4-7 days. ideally this should be no higher than 68 degrees.
8. after 4 days check to see if it has soured enough to your taste. I find that a solid week is needed for a real kimchi taste. when done, take the brine filled bag out. if the kimchi is not quite covered, pour a bit more brine in to cover.
9. cap jar and place in fridge where kimchi will last perfectly for up to a year. (not that it ever lasts that long.)

Its a simple, easy to follow recipe and it turned out well.


I took my Kimch experiment one step further and Made:

Kimchi and Sweet Potato pancakes 

These were absolutely delicious. The sweet potato mixed with the salted heat of the kimchi makes for an absolute treat! It helps that they are easy and quick to make.

Ingredients
1 or 2  large sweet potatoes
1 cup kimchi (chopped up into pieces)
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup water or kimchi liquid
 Oil to shallow fry


Method 
Peel the sweet potatoes, grate into thin strings.
Take the kimchi out of the container. Do not squeeze out the juice, cut kimchi into small pieces (best to use scissors).
In a large mixing bowl, put in kimchi, flour, potato string .
Add enough water to combine all the ingredients together. Mix quickly until just combined.
Add oil in a hot frying pan so you have about 1cm of oil. When the oil is hot, spoon ¼ cup pre pancake shaped mixture into frying pan . Cook on both sides until golden brown.

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Kimchi bokkeumbap

(kimchi fried rice)

  

This is another simple, quick and tasty dish. Add meat if you want it to be a main dish, leave it without for a side. I made it with just the veggies.

Ingredients:

1 cup short-grain cooked rice (day-old is best)
1/2 cup cabbage kimchi, chopped (remove the brine)
1 large red chilli pepper (If you like less heat just a red pepper will do in a pinch)
1 stalk green onion
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 tbs Gochujang (chili paste)

1 tbp sesame oil
1tbs  garlic, minced
1 tbs light soy sauce or to taste

Method:

Firstly, heat up your pan until almost smoking.  Add 1 tbsp of cooking oil.  Turn heat to low.  Add garlic, kimchi and Gochujang.  Stir fry about 30 seconds.  Add sesame oil and add in the rice and start stir-frying.  Turn heat to high.  Continue stir-frying for about 3 minutes to get everything mixed in well.  Add kimchi and the sliced chilli pepper and fry again.  Season with the light soy sauce to taste, remove from heat and spoon into bowl.  Garnish with some green onions and sesame seeds.   

Sprouting a love

I love to cook. I love to eat. I love bean sprouts. What i dont love is the inability in norther Pa to find fresh bean sprouts that dont cost an arm and a leg. Well I found the cure to my sprout pains. I grew my own. Its extreemly simple. I am not sure why i didn't do it before.

Bean Sprouts

All you need are large glass canning jars, small squares of cloth, rubber bands, water and 1/4 cup of beans or lentils. I chose organic lentals. 1 bag at wegmans costs 2.50$ (bean sprouts cost 3.49 this is already cheaper) 

add 1/4 cup of the lentils/beans to the jar and fill the jar with water. Let set for 24 hours. Drain off  the water thoroughly and cover the top of the jar with cloth and secure with a rubber band.  Rinse the bean/lentils twice a day. I did once in the morning when i cleaned up breakfast and once around dinner clean up time. Do this for 5 days. And miraculously sprouts will appear.  I like lentil sprouts. I eat them raw, or cooked. If your sprouts are a bit pale in color put them in the windowsill for a day or two. Once they are about 1/2 inch long they are ready to eat.

Its interesting to note that there are about 8 jar's worth of sprout making lentils per 2.50$ bag.  soooo much cheaper than buying sprouts.

Cold and Sick = Hot Cocoa

There are two times I like hot chocolate, when I am sick or on the first snow day of the year....Today i am sick.
I have in my possession the most incredible hot chocolate recipe. It cures all ills and makes frigged days nice and toasty.

Aztec Hot Chocolate

5 cups of water
1 dehydrated red chili pepper ( poke a hole or two in it for more heat)
7 Tbs Baking Cocoa
2 cinnamon sticks
2/3 cup sugar
1 tbs vanilla extract

Put the cinnamon sticks and chili pepper in the water and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat and whisk in sugar. Then Whisk chocolate in one tablespoon at a time to prevent clumping.  Add vanilla and simmer for 5 minutes, stir occasionally. Serve.

Tofu?

The Asian experiment continues with tofu and a sojourn to China. I was looking for tofu recipes and found a few ways to cook it that I actually am eager to try. I like tofu.... theoretically. It takes on the taste of whatever you put it in.....its the texture that to date I have had a difficult time with.  Normally when i have tried to cook it in the past it has ended up looking like a gray version of scrambled eggs...i dislike scrambled eggs.  But today I have overcome. I found that frying the tofu gives it a crispy texture and cutting into small cubes that are really only one small bite helps as well.

MaPo  Tofu

This is a pretty cool dish with a bit of history, not to mention very tasty. I did not make it as spicy as the recipe called for but it had enough heat for me. The website I found the recipe on also held a story about how the dish came to be. The story goes "that there was an old woman whose face was scared.
Because that she lived the life of an outcast. One stormy night, a wealthy businessman stopped at her home to seek shelter from the rain. Delighted at having a guest, she raided her meager pantry to put together a dish made with tofu and pork. The traveler was so amazed by her delicious creation that he sent more travelers her way." http://www.pbs.org/food/fresh-tastes/mapo-tofu/

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 medium cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons minced ginger
• 4 green onions white part only, minced
• 1 tablespoon fermented black beans, roughly chopped (black bean paste will also work)
• 1/2 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, black seeds removed then ground (optional)
• 6 ounces ground pork
• 2 teaspoons doubanjiang (chili bean paste)
• 14 ounce block of silken tofu, drained and cut into 3/4” cubes
• green part of green onions minced for garnish

Directions

1. Add the chicken stock, cornstarch, soy sauce and sugar to a small bowl and stir to combine.
2. Heat a wok or large frying pan until very hot. Add the sesame oil, garlic, ginger and green onions and stir-fry with a spatula until fragrant. Add the black beans and Sichuan pepper and continue stir-frying.
3. Add the ground pork and use the spatula to break it up into small grains (you don’t want clumps of meat). When the pork is cooked, add the doubanjiang and stir to distribute. Add the tofu, and toss to mix (if you stir it, the tofu will lose its shape).
4. Give the stock mixture a good stir to incorporate anything that may have settled, and then pour it over the pork and tofu. Toss to coat, then boil until the sauce thickens.
5. Garnished with the green parts of the green onions, then serve with hot rice.

Yield: 3-4 servings

Miso Soup

Ingredients:

• 8 Cups Water
• 2 tsp. Hondashi (Japanese Bonito Fish Soup base)
• 1 Block of Soft (Silken) Tofu (14 oz. container), cubed
• 6 Tbsp. Miso Paste (choose your favorite brand - I like the ones that have dashi added in it)
• ½ Cup of Wakame (Dried seaweed)

Optional:

1 green onion, thinly sliced

Directions:

• Add water and hondashi to medium size pot and bring to a boil.  Once it comes to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add the tofu,  and wakame to the soup base. 
• Next add the  paste to the soup base by dissolving it Tbsp by Tbsp.  I would highly recommend tasting as you go since the flavors and potency of the miso paste vary greatly from brand to brand.  Don’t worry if the soup base seems to turn cloudy and separates as it cools, as this is normal.
• Serve as is or with rice.  Garnish with green onions if you like.

 http://kitchenrunway.com/miso-soup/

Chocolate Chili Tofu Pudding

Ingredients

	1/4 cup(s) sugar
	6 packet(s) Sweet 'N Low Granulated Sugar Substitute
	2 tsp vanilla extract
	5 tsp CHATFIELD'S Cocoa powder
	1 Tbsp water
	1/2 tsp chopped red hot chili peppers
	14 oz low-fat tofu

Instructions

Put it all in the blender and blend on high until smooth. Makes 6- 2.5oz servings.

Seaweed Crisps

So i fell in love with crispy seaweed. But there is a problem. Its hard to find and one small potato chip bag size is about 2.50$ .  So i scoured the internet for ways to make my own. I found two recipies that I have slightly modified to my own liking.

Baked Seaweed Snacks

10 sheets of nori
1 tbs salt
1 tbs water
1 tsp wasabi paste
1/2 tsp hondashi
Sesame Oil

Set the oven to 275 degrees. Slice the nori into 1.5" strips. Lay out flat on a baking pan. In a bowl combine water, wasabi paste and hondashi.  With a kitchen brush, brush a light amount of the wasabi mixture over each strip. Place in oven for 6-10 minutes (you will know its done when it starts to curl a bit. Watch closely burnt nori isn't the tastiest.). Brush with a very very very minimal amount of oil and sprinkle with a tiny amount of salt. Serve.

Fried Seaweed Snacks

10 sheets of nori
1 tbs salt
2 tsp wasabi powder
Sesame Oil- 1 tbs
Peanut Oil- 1/2  cup

in a shallow pan heat the peanut oil and sesame oil.  Cut the nori into 1.5" strips.  Place a few strips at a time into the hot oil. It takes less than a minute to fry each strip. They will shrivel up a bit, then flip them over and make sure both sides are cooked. Remove onto paper towels to drain. While still a bit damp with oil sprinkle wasabi powder and salt on each strip.