Kkakdugi (Radish Kimchi)

After my more than fruitful experiment into the world of kimchi I decided to branch out and try
radish Kimchi. I have to admit, its delicious, not as spicy as I thought it would be and the radish has a cooling effect. In all truth, this rarely gets to the fermentation process. We mix and eat it just as it is, its that tasty! It makes a great side dish when you want something thats simple, but not your standard salad.  If you are going to eat it the day you mix it and prefer a sweet hot flavor you can add a tbs or two of agave nectar to the ingredient list. It gives it a whole other dimension.

I found a few recipes for this most are very similar so i took a bit from everyone and put it together to make my own version.

1. 2 lbs peeled, cubed diakon radish
2. Rinse in cold water and pat dry.
3. Put into a large bowl.
   
4. Add 1 tbs coarse salt (i used Hawaiian sea salt because it is what i had around)
5.  2 tbs sugar
6. 1 tbs rice flour, and mix well.
   
7. Add 2 tbs minced garlic
8. 1 tbs minced ginger
9. 1/2 cup chopped green onions
10. 1/8 cup fish sauce
11. 1/8 cup soy sauce, 
12. 1/2 tbs siracha
13. 1.5 tbs hot pepper flakes
14. 1 tbs paprika

Mix well and place in sealed containers.  Refrigerate and eat immediately or leave out for a day or two to begin the fermentation process and then enjoy. When it starts to ferment you will see little bubbles on top and the smell will be stronger with a sour note.

Pomegrnte & Chilli Tofu

I made this recipe tonight and OMG it was incredible. This is not one of my recipes, it came from mongoliankitchen.com's website.  This is a great go to website. Lots of Pictures and great detailed explanations. Lots of great recipe's.

I did have to make a few changes. I could not find the pomegranate molasses. So I bought a bottle of Pom Wonderful Pomegranate Juice, threw it in a sauce pan and reduced it down.  It was incredible. I also used rice flour instead of corn flour and changed up the veggies a bit and used gochuang (Korean fermented chili paste) instead of chili puree.
But it was still incredible. I am having visions of the sauce on short ribs or chicken.  I made it over Imperial Rice with Salted Plum. lol Like normal my pictures look nothing like the ones on the actual website but it was still incredible.

Pomegranate & Chilli Tofu Recipe

"http://mongoliankitchen.com/pomegranate-chilli-tofu/#comment-4650"

Ingredients
For the Fried Tofu

• Tofu, drained, cut into thin strips and patted dry
• Corn Flour
• 2 tsp Thai 7 Spice mix
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• Vegetable oil (for deep frying)

For the Sauce

• 2  tsp vegetable oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced, or garlic puree
• Equal amount of chopped fresh ginger or puréed ginger
• 1 tbsp chilli puree or diced chillies (vary according to how hot you like it)
• Mirin or Rice Wine (or white wine) 1/2 cup (optional)
• 2 tbsp pomegranate Molasses
• 1 tsp rice vinegar

For the Vegetables

• 2 medium onion
• 1 medium yellow pepper
• 1 medium red pepper
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• An equal amount of ginger, finely chopped

Remember, make this how you like it. If you prefer lots of vegetables, add lots of vegetables. You can even make do without the tofu altogether.
Method:
Prepare the Tofu.

• The most important thing to do is dry the tofu well. It is full of liquid and you are going to be frying it in hot oil. So it is essential to dry really well.
• In an open bowl, mix the cornflour, thai 7 spice, paprika.
• Add the tofu pieces and coat well
• Fry the tofu on a medium-high heat for around 2-3 minutes and set aside. Do not fry too many pieces together, instead work in batches depending on the size of your pan/wok.
• Drain on kitchen roll and set aside

Prepare the Sauce

• In a wok, add your vegetable oil then add the ginger and garlic, fry for 1 minute (careful not to let the garlic burn)
• Add your mirin and allow to boil on a high heat for 1-2 minutes to burn off the alcohol
• Add the remainder of your sauce ingredients, mix well and allow to cook and thicken for 2-3 minutes
• Pour out into a bowl and set aside

Prepare the vegetables

• In the same wok you made the sauce in (the left over sauce on the wok adds to the flavor of the vegetables) add a little oil and add your ginger and garlic. Fry for 1 minute
• Add all your vegetables and cook until caramelized , about 5 minutes. (Tip..adding a spoonful of the sauce helps the vegetables get extra flavor and caramelize)

Complete the dish

• Once the vegetables are cooked, add the fried tofu pieces to them to warm through.
• Then add the sauce and mix well.
• Add your coriander and sprinkle with sesame seeds to garnish
• Serve with your choice of boiled rice.

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Imperial Rice w/ Salted Plum

1 Cup Sweet Rice
1/4 Cup Imperial Black Rice
1/8 Cup minced Salted Plum
1 tbs rice wine vinager
2 1/2 cups water

Throw it all in the rice cooker and cook.

Grown Up Ramen

Do it Yourself Grown Up Ramen

Warning: addictive but spicy...

 

looks pretty good too..

Drama Fever.com has a few new drama's I have been into lately. Two of which  revolve around food. Flower Boy Ramen Shop and Kimchi Family.  Both shows are as addictive as their culinary name sake. Watching makes you want to try the food.

I am not a fan of pre-packaged ramen noodles, you know the kind where you get the flavor packet of unidentifiable spices and the brick of noodles all neatly shrink wrapped in colorful packaging. Maybe it was because I ate so many as a kid, or because this was the standard "I am too poor to eat much else" food in college or because  I have eaten one too many packets in my youth only to look closely at the floating "pepper" and discover it had legs.

However, last week I was given a case of kimchi ramen from a store I like to shop at as a promotional freebie. It was sealed, then shrink wrapped, then wrapped in yet more outer packaging. So I figured the pepper probably was leg-less.  It looked nothing like the ramen on the drama I was watching but hey it was free...I tried it.  It was not bad and there were no extra bits of protein swimming around.  It was a bit salty and the vegetable flakes were unidentifiable, chewy and cut in uniform squares. Since I have never seen a square carrot I could only guess at what the vegetables were.  It was a bit of a turn off. Then I read the label. When we are young, label reading was not an issue. I almost had a heart attack reading this label. I was actually surprise that amount of sodium had not already put me at risk for heart issues.  Then there were the numerous unidentifiable ingredients on the label. No, not the Asian ingredients....the chemical ones.  What were these things? Why are they in my soup! I thought to myself...I can make this so much better and know exactly what I am eating. So I did. I decided I could make tasty ramen type soup from scratch and cut out all the preservatives and unknown ingredients.

Turns out this was very simple to make and has become one of my staple go to soups. 

Ingredients:

1 Package ramen style noodles (I found them in the Asian isle at Wegmans)
4 hard boiled egg (or soy pickled eggs)
4 oz steak sliced thin (I used leftover)
1/4 cup green onion
1/4 cup sliced zucchini
4 cups vegetable broth
1 tbs Hon-Dashi Instant Dashi (Bonito Stock: This is the Asian version of Soup bullion that is made from Tuna. No not the canned albacore with Charlie Tuna waving at you, but the actual good stuff. You can find a jar of it at Wegmans or whole foods or your local Asian market)
1 tbs soy sauce
1" slice ginger
1 tsp sriracha, optional Hot Sauce
1 tbs garlic paste
1/2 cup minced kimchi with liquid.(optional)
1tbs Gochujang (Korean Chili Paste found in Asian foods section of grocery store, optional)
Serves 4.


In a large pot boil vegetable broth, Hon-Dashi Instant Dashi (Bonito Stock), garlic and ginger for about 10 minutes. Reduce to simmer. Add in sriracha, gochujang, kimchi and soy sauce. Let simmer 5 minutes, remove ginger and add in noodles.  Season steak to taste with salt and pepper and cook to medium rare (it will cook more once put into the hot broth) Slice the steak thin. Slice the hard boiled egg (pickled eggs are good here to), chop the green onion and thinly slice or shave zucchini.  Put the noodles and broth into bowls. Top with eggs, steak, green onion and zucchini. Serve hot.