Bento Madness

I love to cook, I particularly like Asian foods, so a trip to the Asian market (which is 2 hours from my home) is always a treat. This time I decided to share the bounty. One of my co-workers has a son who is an adventurous eater. So I decided to make him an over loaded bento.

I had originally just planned on making  some rice balls and some kimbap (korean "sushi" type rolls) but I got really into it and made a plethora of tasty treats. I made curried pickled eggs, Taegu, Myeolchi bokkeum, two type of kimbap, roasted eel stuffed rice balls and a bit of  Spicy Korean Rice Cakes or (TTEOKBOKKI)


The Taegu is my all time favorite. Sweet, spicy and very mildly fishy. Its one of the most addicting things in the world. I had to ration myself or I would have made a meal out of it, instead of just a bit of a treat. 

Korean - Taegu (Seasoned Codfish)

2 1/2 tablespoons honey 

1/2 teaspoon paprika 
 3 teaspoons sesame seed oil 
1 package taegu fish (dried codfish), (4 oz.) 
2 teaspoons sesame seeds, roasted 
1/2 teaspoon chili powder 

Shred codfish into small pieces. Mix all ingredients together, place in a jar, and let stand for a day before eating. 

Myeolchi bokkeum: These are dried anchovies about the size of your pinky nail. Tiny, not at all what you would think of when you think anchovy. Deliciously spicy and crunchy. 
Ingredients:

• 1 cups dried anchovies, 
• 1 tbs olive oil, 
• 1 tsp sugar,
• 1 clove garlic, 
• 1 tbs hot pepper paste,
• 1 tsp sesame oil,
• 1 tsp sesame seeds

 

1. Make sauce by mixing 1 tbs of hot pepper paste, 1 tbs of sugar, 1 clove of minced garlic, 1 tbs water in a small bowl. Set aside
2. Stir 1 cup of small dried anchovies in a heated pan for 1 minute.
3. Add 1 tbs olive oil and stir it for another minute.
4. Push the cooked myeolchi to the edge of the pan away from the heat.
5. Add the sauce to the cleared spot on the pan.
6. Tip the pan so only the sauce is over the heat and simmer until the sauce looks shiny.
7. Mix the  anchovies with the sauce and then remove from the heat.
8. Add 1 ts sesame oil and 1tbs sesame seeds. Serve with rice 
9. You can keep it in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks until you finish eating it.

 Kimbap

Ingredients:

• Dried seaweed (nori)- 4 sheets
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp salt
• TRADITIONAL FILLINGS
• 1 carrot, julienned
• cucumber, cut into long strips
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 pound of spinach, parboiled
• pickled radish, cut into strips
• imitation crab

 2nd Type Filling

• Dried seaweed (nori)- 4 sheets
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp salt
• Roasted eel
• kimchi
• fresh or seasoned vegetables for vegetarians

Preparation:

1. When rice is almost cooled, mix with sesame oil and salt.
   
2. Stir fry carrots briefly with a dash of salt.
   
3. Stir fry cucumber with a dash of salt.
   
4. Whisk eggs until evenly yellow and fry into flat omelet.
   
5. Cut cooked egg into long strips.
   
6. Using a bamboo sushi roller or a piece of tin foil, lay the dried seaweed shiny side down.
   
7. Spread about ½ cup of rice onto 2/3 of the seaweed, leaving the top 1/3 bare (if you moisten your fingers or a spoon to pat down the rice, you'll get less of a sticky mess).
   
8. Lay the first ingredient down around 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the seaweed.
   
9. Lay the other fillings down on top.
   
10. Roll from the bottom (as if you're rolling a sleeping bag), pressing down to make the fillings stay in.
    
11. As you continue to roll, pull the whole thing down towards the end of the bamboo mat.
    
12. Spread a tiny dab of water along the top seam to hold the roll together.
    
13. Set aside and continue with other seaweed sheets.
    
14. Cut each roll into 7-8 pieces.