Spam and Ban Chan (Tuesday, June 1, 2010)

Today is the day before our two week vacation to Munich and Italy, and we had to clear out our kitchen since we’re having a wall taken out while we’re gone.  Notice we are using paper plates and plastic utensils.  Without getting more groceries, we ate kimchi, Korean style spinach, spam, and rice.

Bi Bim Naengmyeon (Sunday, May 30, 2010)

I made Bi Bim Naengmyeon for dinner tonight.  It's using soba noodles, and a gochujang sauce.  I also used cucumbers, Korean pear and 2 hard boiled eggs. Ethan made this last month.

Soon Dubu Jjigae (Friday May 28, 2010)

I'm feeling a bit sick... so I made spicy tofu & seafood soup.

It was a much better batch than my last one. I think I've figured out how to make this one!

Spam & Kimchi (Thursday May 27, 2010)

We had leftover rice salad with kimchi and spam. Yum!

Shin Ramen and Leftover Spaghetti (Tuesday, May 25, 2010)

I went for a run after work today so I didn't get home until after 8pm and Ethan spent the day at a conference called Games for Change.  Dinner was a bit of an afterthought tonight.

I made shin ramen for dinner and Ethan had leftover spaghetti and meatballs.

Han Bat (Thursday, May 20, 2010)

We met Yumi for dinner at Han Bat.  I ordered my usual, Gop Dol Bi Bim Bap and Ethan tried a new dish here called Soon Du Bu Jigae.  He's had this dish many times, but it was the first time trying it at Han Bat.  He thought this was just okay and probably wouldn't order again next time he eats here.  We also ordered Pajun.

I LOVE this place!!!

Korean and Indian Leftovers (Friday, May 14, 2010)

We had a combination of Indian and Korean leftovers plus a new tofu dish.  I reheated the curried cauliflower, the vegetables from the Indian chicken dish (I ate all the chicken), chickpeas, and we also had Ethan's homemade kimchi, dried seaweed, salad.

Here's my plate with food piled on.

Pumpkin jook and homemade kimchi (Tuesday May 11, 2010)

Yesterday we made pak chok kimchi. The recipe said that it is meant to be eaten right away, but it was a bit too bitter, so we decided to stick it in a jar and let it ferment a bit.

I added a bit of Thai fish sauce and let it sit out overnight before sticking it in the fridge.

That was enough to get rid of the bitterness and soften it. It tastes like kimchi!  This the first batch I've made (aside from an unfortunate oi [cucumber] kimchi).

The recipe for the kimchi called for much more grated pumpkin than could be possibly correct. So I saved the extra pumpkin and made some pumpkin jook (porridge).

We had it with some gochujong potatoes, leftover skate salad, and fried rice.

And strawberry rhubarb cobbler for dessert.

Skate Salad and Fresh Pak Choi Kimchi

We went shopping at the Korean supermarket the other day, and I picked up a couple of bunches of pak choi to make a fresh kimchi from The Complete Book of Korean Cooking.

While Janet washed the cabbage, I minced kabocha pumpkin...

... ground sunflower seeds (a substitute for pine nuts), and chopped scallions (a substitution for leeks).

The pumpkin, seeds, & scallions are mixed with ground red pepper, ginger, garlic, salt, soy sauce, and sesame seed oil.

The pak choi is stuffed with the mixture.

Along with the kimchi we had fried rice, skate salad (the skate is from the farmers' market), and ojingo (dried squid in gochujong).

It's supposed to be eaten fresh, but the uncooked baby pak choi is a bit bitter for my taste. We stuck it in a jar and will see how it tastes after it ferments a bit.

Han Bat (Friday May 7, 2010)

Don't miss Janet's posting on Out To Eat about her trip to Han Bat!

Gochujong Bluefish (Saturday May 9, 2010)

We picked up some bluefish & skate from Seatuck at our farmers' market today. This was the first time Janet has had bluefish... she was a little unsure of it (based on me describing it as a strong-flavored fish), but since she likes sardines, herring, and salmon, I was pretty confident she'd like it (and she did!).

I briefly marinated (for maybe 10 minutes) it in a mixture of gochujong, sesame seed oil, mool yut (barley malt syrup), soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and hot pepper. I baked/roasted it at around 400 degree for about 20 minutes.

We had it with leftover rice & broccoli.

Ethan's dinner (Friday May 7, 2010)

While Janet was eating out at Han Bat with a friend, I had some homemade Korean food.  I made fried tofu, broccoli sautéed in sesame oil with garlic and hot pepper, shredded daikon (with salt & mirin), and gaji namul.

Soup for the Sick (Wednesday & Thursday, May 5 & 6, 2010)

Ethan had oral surgery Tuesday afternoon, the same day I went to the Carnegie Hall Performance.  For dinner he ate tofu with soy sauce, yogurt, and ice cream - a lot of ice cream.  I wasn't being a very good wife leaving him alone after surgery...

On Wednesday, I made more kimchi jigae, modified with added carrots, celery and spinach.  I think the soup helped him recover faster.

Leftovers (Monday, May 3, 2010)

Leftover kimchi jigae tonight.

Kimchi Jigae (Sunday, May 2, 2010)

We had kimchi that was perfectly ready for kimchi jigae.  As usual, I threw in some duk and mandoo into the pot. It's amazing how so few ingredients makes such a flavorful soup.

Soon Dubu Jjigae (Friday April 30)

I made soon dubu jjigae (spicy seafood & tofu stew) for the second time--so I took a more free hand with the recipe. It was okay, but I'm going to go back to more closely following the recipe in Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee's Eating Korean--but with some anchovy stock and doenjang (soy bean paste) added.

We had ban chan with it, of course...

Janet picked up some more Banana Pudding from Magnolia Bakery (they recently added a location in Grand Central Terminal). It's wonderfully addictive. We're definitely going to try making it ourselves (here's someone who blogged about making it) soon! 

Guchujong pork (Monday 4/19/10)

We had pork that was marinated in guchujong, miso, malt syrup, garlic, ginger, sesame seed oil, and soy sauce. Our ban chan included oi (cucumber) kimchi and radish kimchi made by Janet's mom, jicima, napa cabbage kimchi, and gim (seaweed). 

I also made the dough for a batch of almost-no-knead bread... The dough has to sit for at least 12 hours, so it'll be baked tomorrow night.

Lunch (Saturday April 17, 2010)

For lunch we had Bi Bim Naengmyeon noodles--which is a cold noodle in guchujang sauce. I pretty much love any dish that features guchujang (Korean spicy/sweet paste). The noodles were topped with asian pear, pickled radish, & sunflower sprouts.

We also had sigumchi namaul (spinach), kimchi, and some refrigerator radish pickles that I had made the day before.

The spinach & sunflower sprouts came from our local farmers' market.

Leftovers and Banchan (Thursday April 15, 2010)

We had a combination of leftovers with rice with a variety of kimchi.

Magnolia's Bakery: Chocolate Cheesecake Swirl 

Soon dubu Jigae (Wednesday, April 7, 2010)

Ethan's still not feeling well so he made some Soon dubu jigae from Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee's Eating Korean cookbook - I guess he really liked what he ordered at Seoul Garden on Saturday night.