Cucumber Kimchi - (오이 소박이)

You're probably going to hate me for this, but I have a recipe without measurements for you. Another reason I haven't updated this blog as much is because it's SUCH a pain to 'measure' ingredients when you're a person who isn't used to measuring. =/ Even when cooking non-Korean foods, I hardly ever bust out the measuring utensils. I'm a taste as you go type of person. Anyhow, I had a

Spicy Oxtail Jjim - (매운 쇠꼬리 찜)

I know it's been such a long time since I did a food update. It partly has to do with the fact that I'm not cooking much these days and also when I do cook, I'm in such a hurry that I don't have time to pause and take pictures every step of the way. The cold weather (can't deny that I'm a SoCal girl) has been quite annoying so I haven't been leaving the house much lately.

Anchovie Dwen-jang gook - (멸치 된장국)

Tap. Tap. Tap. Are you still there? It seems just as I start to build up site traffic on this blog, I go on a hiatus. It's tough trying to keep up this blog sometimes...especially when I don't step foot into the kitchen for two weeks at a time. =P Also, I realized that every since I upgraded my camera (50D baby!) that I'm afraid to take it into the kitchen for fear it might get splashed on,

Chuseok Rice Cakes - 송편

I warned you, there are absolutely NO measurements so this 'recipe' might be a little useless. However, I wanted to put this up so that it can jog my memory when I attempt to make it one day (hopefully soon). When I make it, I promise to write down the measurements I use. =)           MIL (my friend's) started off with some rice flour. She said the flour was FRESH straight from Ktown.

Baby Mushrooms

Here's a quick and easy banchan. I tend to take whatever vegetables I have in my fridge at the time and just mix them all up together.      I bought some baby mushrooms and decided to make it for a breakfast side dish one lazy Sunday morning. Heat up a pan with 1/2 TB sesame oil and about 1/2 TB of minced garlic. Wash and cut your mushrooms. Add the mushrooms along

Clear Ojinguh Gook - (맑은 오징어국)

  I know I've been gone a long time and I'm going to cheat and not even give a new recipe but something that I should have finished up long ago. It's crazy because I'm not working and my son is in preschool which means I have a LOT of time to myself. Yet, I feel busier than ever just going around and doing random things. I'm supposed to go back to work soon, but taking this last year off has

Spicy Shrimp - (매운 새우 볶음)

  Back in the day, I used to frequent a certain cafe in K-town that had this spicy shrimp dish. The cafe is no longer there, but I figured I could try and replicate the dish. First wash and peel about half a pound of shrimp. In a small bowl, mix together to following: 1TB red pepper paste, 1/2TB red pepper powder, 3/4TB honey powder, 1TB rice wine, 1/4TB minced garlic.

Asian Style Potato Corn Salad - (감자 샐래드)

Almost every Saturday the MR, Munchkin and I head to the local farmer's market. Today, I saw that the yellow corn looked particularly fresh so I made sure to grab some. I bought four ears of corn and steamed them. Munchkin promptly polished off three all by himself. =P Wash and peel 3 small white potatoes. Quarter them like this... And

Steak Bibimbap - (스태이크 비빔밥)

One of my current obsessions right now is the Korean drama called Brilliant Inheritance (찬란한 유산). In one of the episodes the main character makes Steak Bibimbap and ever since I've been dying to try and replicate it. =P The MR, Munchkin and I don't eat at the dinner table together. I often eat standing in the kitchen while the MR takes his food in front of the computer and Munchkin eats

Fish Cake Stir Fry - (어묵 볶음)

  I had some fish cake patties leftover from the kimbap the other day, so I decided to make some bokeum with it. First cut it up into smaller pieces. Chop up some onion... Add some oil to a pan and mix together both the uh-mook and onions with a generous portion of sesame oil and about 1/2 TB of minced garlic. Throw in some broccoli and a dash of red pepper powder.

Mini-kimbap for the Kiddos

My kitchen will be a kimbap factory in a few minutes. If you want to make some with me, go here and follow along. =) I'll post a few pictures of the mini-kimbaps I make for Munchkin. He has swim class today, so I wanted to make sure he had something to eat immediately after he was done. The kid ate dinner TWICE yesterday. Our house became a kimbap factory yesterday...

Moo Malengi

Grab about 1.5 cups of dried horseradish and let it sit in water to soften. Keep changing the water out and rinsing the moo every 5-10 minutes until the 'smell' is no longer there. Using a cheesecloth or your bare hands, SQUEEZE out all the excess water from the moo. Season it with the following: 1TB minced garlic, 2TB honey powder, 1TB red pepper powder, 2TB gook ganjang,

Salted Cucumber

The following is another one of the MR's favorite side dishes. It's also surprisingly easy to make as well. First grab some cucumbers. Don't ask me what kind these are, I just call them Korean cucumbers. =P Wash them thoroughly with some salt. I just put some salt in my palm and scrub the cucumbers. Pack the cucumbers tightly together in a container.

Seasoned Perilla Leaves - (깻잎무침)

So I finally bit the bullet and made the seasoned perilla leaves this afternoon. I've been having severe headaches the last few days, so standing in the kitchen wasn't something I wanted to do but the thought of letting all these leaves go to waste got my butt into action. Here goes! This is one of the MR's favorite dishes and it's a lot easier to make than you might think. =)

Horseradish Stirfry - (무 볶음)

My dad is a 경상도 (a region of Korea) man through and through. He's one of those 'tough' 깡패 (gangsta) men you see on TV. =P He also speaks with a heavy 경상도 accent. Most of my friends still have trouble understanding him even after 15 years. LOL. Anyhow, the reason I bring this up is because I had no idea my dad had an accent until I was in 7th grade. My friend Bean and I were watching a

Pickled Cucumber - 오이지

I'm sorry to tease you, but I forgot to write down any ratios when I made this. Because my taste has dulled just a little, I wasn't sure it would turn out OK so I resorted to the taste as you go-Korean-ajooma-style and made it last week. The MR said it turned out great! I'm not sure if he was trying to spare my feelings or if he really meant it. =PFirst you soak the cucumbers in salt water

Pickled Garlic in Soy Sauce - (마늘 짱아찌)

One of the MR's favorite banchans is 마늘 짱아찌. This is going to be in real time. =) I started it today, but it won't be completed until next weekend. There are a variety of ways to approach this, but the following is the way we do it in our household... First, dunk your bulbs of garlic in water for about 30 minutes. (I only ended up using 6 of them and used the other two for the jang

Omelet Rice - (오무 라이스)

I decided to make omelet rice this morning with the leftover fried rice from yesterday. It's super easy and a nice twist to make two meals with one. First beat two eggs with a little bit of milk. Grease a large pan and turn up the heat to about medium-low. Spread out the egg nice and evenly and let it cook on low heat. When it's almost cooked through,

Shrimp Fried Rice - (새우 볶음밥)

There's so many ways to make shrimp fried rice and this is the way I do it. It tastes more Korean style in my opinion. Things Needed: 1 cup of chopped shrimp 1/2 cup each of celery, carrots, onions and corn 3-4 cups of cooked cold rice sesame oil, soy sauce, minced garlic It's strange being in the Midwest. The local grocery store didn't have any fresh shrimp! I had to

Dduk Gook using Gom Gook Broth - (떡국)

I know I made dduk gook before, but I just thought I would do a quick how-to using gom gook. It's easy! First start off with about 4-5 cups of gom gook broth. The broth was really thick, so I diluted it with a little bit of water. I then added about 1 TB of gook ganjang, some minced garlic, and some salt. Do you see a pattern here? =P   Fry some eggs. You can be lazy and fry the

Moo Gook - Daikon Radish Soup - Version 2.0 - (무우국)

Don't you just love how there are so many ways to cook the same dish? =P You can make my mom's 경상도 style mook gook or you can make the following more traditional moo gook. I took out the moo pieces from the gom gook I'm currently making before they got too soft and chopped it up like so. Then I got a few cup fulls of gom gook (which has only cooked for about 5 hours) and put it in

Dwenjang Jjigae - Soy Bean Soup - Version 2.0 - (된장 찌개)

Cooking is such an interesting thing. Trying to cook in someone else's kitchen is quite a challenge. Trying to find Korean ingredients in a small town proved to be even a greater challenge. I didn't want to buy EVERYTHING, so I only bought the bare minimum ingredients and have been improvising in the kitchen. Today I made dwenjang jjigae with a beef broth instead of my usual fish broth. You

Egg Jjim - Version 2.0 - (계란찜)

Not really a recipe, but I decided to make egg jjim today. You can make it a variety of ways. I used 2 whole eggs and 1 egg white. I then added about 1/2 tsp of salt and 3/4 cup of water. I then chose to add some onions, carrots and mushrooms. I would normally add some green onions as well but didn't have any on hand. Beat it well until it's mixed. Then pour the mixture

Ojinguh Moochim - Cold Squid with Cucumbers - (오징어 무칩)

I went to the K-market yesterday and was originally planning to make some ojinguh gook, but last minute decided to just make ojinguh moochim instead. This goes really well with choong-moo kimbap (basically just rice and gim). First wash and cut two squid. I don't know why some people get so freaked out about squid but can eat calamari. =P Cut up the squid into two inch pieces like

Brown Rice Vegetable Rolls

  I had some veggies leftover from the Jengban Gooksoo below, so I decided to make some vegetable rolls. I used perilla leaves, red leaf lettuce, carrots, cucumber, and avocados. Get about two cups of cooked brown rice and season it with 1 TSP of sushi vinegar, 1 TB of sesame oil, and 1 TB of sesame seeds. Spread the brown rice on a seaweed wrap and PRESS DOWN as hard as

Jengban Momil Gooksoo - Buckwheat Soba Noodles in Spicy Sauce - (모밀 쟁반 국수)

I realized I hadn't updated the recipes on this blog in a while, so I came up with one of my fave dishes for a warm day. Needed Ingredients: Buckwheat Noodles 1/2 cup julienne red cabbage 1/2 cup julienne cucumber 1/2 cup julienne carrot 1/2 cup julienne onion 1/2 cup julienne Asian pear thinly sliced perilla leaves thinly sliced red leaf lettuce

Mushroom Moochim - (버섯 볶음)

I debated on whether to post this since it's not really a recipe of sorts. But just in case you're wondering what I eat during the week. I told you I love all types of mushrooms. I rinsed two mushrooms thoroughly... ...and then sliced it up into thinner pieces. Then I seasoned it with 1/2 TB of minced garlic, 1 TB sesame oil, and 3/4 TB gook ganjang. Remember to

Kimchi Dwenjang Soondooboo Jjigae - (김치 된장 순두부 찌개)

So what do I eat? Lots of vegetables! For breakfast I drink green juice and have some FOCC with bread. For lunch, I usually eat a big salad with every vegetable you can think of. Then for dinner, I eat lots of tofu and steamed veggies. Here's a kimchi/dwenjang jjigae hybrid I made today. I used my mom's homemade kimchi. She doesn't use any sugar or MSG and I asked her to refrain

Green Power

Do you know the power of green veggies? It's called enzymes, folks! Ever since I was diagnosed with cancer, I've been on a quest to find a way to incorporate better nutrition into my life. I doubt I will become a vegan or a vegetarian, because my love of meat is too great. =P HOWEVER, I have reduced my intake of meat by a lot. Yesterday was the first time I had red meat in over four weeks. For

Spicy Chicken Drummettes - Korean Style - (매운 닭날개)

I finally went to the grocery store today! It was my first time going without the MR since the whole cancer thing. Of course Munchkin joined me today so I took the time to stop by the mall and do some shopping as well. Things are slowly going back to normal... I try and only serve fried foods once every two months or so. I figured it's been a while, so I went out and bought some chicken wings

FOCC Diet

Ever since I was diagnosed with ACC and heard that ACC has a propensity to come back even years after initial treatment, I started researching ways to prevent cancer. There are so many websites out there that have people who claim that they even CURED themselves of cancer by using alternative methods. Now, I'm ALL ABOUT STATISTICS and TESTS and STUDIES so I would never try and go cure