Falling love with "Kimchi"

I started making my own kimchi about one year ago because of using better quality ingredients and cheaper. It was normally used as a side pickle. Since my Irish husband discovered how to enjoy kimchi, he has developed some great recipes using it and now is a big fan. He made a Kimchi pasta! It was just sensational and so easy to make. What you need is kimchi and bacon or a tin of tuna is good and dried pasta. 

People in Australia are now just discovering kimchi. Recently, I read article about Kimchi in the epicure of 'the Age' newspaper. Jill Dupleix described it is tangy, spicy Korean pickled staple adds crunch and punch to a meal. Some of the well known Aussie chefs make their own kimchi.

When I have my lunch in my office, food is one of my best topic to share with my colleagues. I noticed that most of my colleague are not familiar of Korean cuisine. There are not many people are familiar with kimchi, but when you get to know kimchi like my husband did, you will fall in love with. 

So what is it? It is fermented vegetable pickle that's crunchy, spicy and completely addictive. Usually made with cabbage (baechu - wombok in Korean), the vegetables are first brined, then rubbed with chili paste, garlic, ginger and fish sauce and aged in a jar or container for days, weeks or months until intensely flavoured, earthy and pungent. As longer in fermentation, it gets softer, sweeter and sour. There are many variety of Kimchi. Daikon cucumber, spring onion can be turn to kimchi. It doesn't have to be spicy. White kimchi is great option with spicy food and winter soup. What I think 'Kimchi' is like good aged cheese that you want to eat more and more! It is the beauty of fermented food.

Kimchi is very versatile and lift up a otherwise boring meal. My mother used to cook fried rice, tofu stew, soup, dumpling, stir fry and pancake using kimchi. Korean serve kimchi as compliment with most meals. It lifts up the taste with a salty, sour, spicy and crunchiness.

Kimchi has fantastic nutrition and health value. According to the Wikipedia, it is made of various vegetables and contains a high concentration of dietary fibre, while being low in calories. one serving also provides over 50% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin C and carotene. Most types of kimchi contain onions, garlic and chili peppers, all of which are salutary. Kimchi is rich in vitamin A, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), calcium and iron, and contains a number of lactic acid bacteria  Health magazine named kimchi in its list of top five " World's Healthiest Foods" for being rich in vitamins, aiding digestion, and even possibly reducing cancer growth.

Here is the kimchi recipe. Pickle it today and enjoy it later.

Ingredients
1 head Wombok chinese cabbage
1 cup sea salt

for marinade,
1/2 cup coarse sea salt
5 tbsp water

for the seasoning
2 oyster (optional)
1/2 Daikon, chinese radish about 500g, peeled and thinly sliced
25g Korean chives
25g minari, watercress or rocket
5 garlic cloves, crushed,
15g fresh ginger, crushed
1/2 onion, sliced fined
1/2 Asian pear, or 1 kiwi fruit
1 chestnut, sliced (optional)
3 spring onions(scallions), sliced
50g cup Korean chilli powder
1/2 cup thai fish sauce
1 tsp sugar 
1 red chilli, sliced

1. Cut the cabbage small pieces and soak it in 2 tsp of salt water for around 2 hours.
2. Drain the cabbage and sprinkle with the sea salt for the marinade, making sure to coat the leaves. Leave to stand for 4 hours or until brined.

3. Cut the radish slices into fine strips. Cut the chives and rocket into 3cm length. Crush the garlic, ginger, onion and Asian pear( kiwi fruit). Combining the seasoning ingredients with 1/2 cup water.

4. Rised the softened cabbage leaves in cold running water. Place in a large bowl and coat with the seasoning mixture.

5. Place the cabbages leaves in an airtight container. Leave to stand at room temperature for 5 hours, then leave in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

 

Note:
Kimchi can be stored for up to 5 months in the refrigerator. The flavour may, by then, be then, pungent for the vegetable pickle to be eaten raw, but at this stage it can be used to be flavour cooked dishes. If the kimchi is to be stored for a long period, used a covered container and wash it well with sterilising fluid.

Street food - Korean Seafood Pancake ' Haemul Pajun'

Street food seems to be well trend here in Melbourne. Mexican Taco, Vietnamese rice paper rolls took over street food trend. Mad Mex, Miss Chu & Roll'd have been successful to attract hungry quick bite customers. When I went to get my lunch in Roll'd in Town, I was surprised by long cues.

As any other cultures, Korean got great street food. If you walk down street, you can find a little food kiosk in every corner. Korean pancake is considered as one of traditional street food but it can be found tourist spots nowadays. In fact, it goes well with beer or Mac-gul-lee ( Milky Korean rice wine). When I was in mountain hiking club at Seoul, I often enjoyed Korean pancake ' Jun ' after hard walking.

There are number of varieties depending on what you put into flour batter. Kimchi pancake, Spring onion pancake, Cabbage pancake, potato pancake, of course seafood pancake. I cooked spring onion pancake adding my favourite seafood, such as, prawns, squid, mussel. It becomes perfect Sunday snack or lunch. Korean pancake will be next trend of street food in Melbourne. I think it is just matter of times.

Ingredients ( Serve 4 )

3 spring onion

1 egg

1/4 red onion

8 peeled prawn

3 scallop

4~5 cooked mussel

100g cleaned small squid

 

For batter,

1 cup organic plain flour

cold water

1/2 tsp sugar

salt

black pepper

 

For dipping sauce,

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/8 cup rice vinegar or lemon juice

1/2 tsp toasted sesame seed

1/3 dried chili powder or chili flake

 

 

1. Cut spring onion as thin strip as well as red onion. I normally prefer to young spring onion. It will get much tender and sweeter when it is cooked. Otherwise it is important to slice as thin that helps cook evenly.

 

 

1. Clean all fresh seafood and cut them in small pieces. Get fresh seafood in local fish monger or market. I like my seafood clean, peeled and de-shelled by myself. So I get best fresh seafood flavour. If you don't know how to do it, there are good video in you tube. Otherwise ask your fishmonger. Never buy frozen squid tube or prawn, because they are tasteless and rubbery.

 3. Mix flour with cold water until runny and smooth. Add salt and sugar for seasoning. Beat egg in a small bowl and set aside.

4. Heat medium size Teflon frying pan and spread 2 tbsp vegetable oil.

5. When the frying pan is hot, add one scoop of mixed flour batter to centre of frying pan.

6. Lay down prepared topping starting from spring onion, red onion & seafood evenly. Spread one or two spoon of bitten egg on the top.

7. When the bottom of batter is cook, flip over and press down with spatula.

8. Cook another 3 minutes and serve in serving plate or board.

Bibimbab Challenge No.2 - Grilled Squid Quinoa Bibimbab

This week I started looking for adventurous ingredients for my bibimbab challenge no.2. Quinoa is one I haven’t cooked, but I found that it is very nutritious ingredient. According to Wikipedia, quinoa has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, its protein content is very high yet not as high as most beans and legumes. It is a source of complete protein, dietary fibre and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. It is source of calcium also. It is gluten-free and easy to digest. All these characteristics, quinoa is considered a possible crop in NASA’s controlled Echological Life Support System for long – duration human occupied space flights. It sounds a fantastic ingredient and I have seen many popular recipes using it on the web.

With this delicate quinoa, I thought a lightly sauced squid would be a good match. I bought fresh squid from Queens’ Victoria market and marinaded with a classic lemon olive oil dressing. I would recommend not to buy any frozen squid. It can be convenient but i found it is tasteless and has rubbery texture, if your are worried about how to clean fresh squid ask your local fishmonger to do it or there are many videos on youtube explaining how, believe me, its worth it.

If you don’t like spicy, this is the one bibimbab for you. Quinoa has very interesting texture.

Ingredients ( serves 4 )

2 cups quinoa

1 small squid, cleaned & guttered

Vegetable oil

4 small eggs

Toasted sesame oil &

1 sheet toasted seaweed paper for garnish

For the vegetable namul,

A half broccoli

1 Red onion

1 yellow capsicum

1 Lebanese cucumber

Sugar

Salt & black pepper

Rice vinegar

Toasted sesame oil

For the sauce and marinade,

1/8 cup lemon juice

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ tsp sugar

Salt and ground black pepper

1.   For quinoa, add 2 cup quinoa to 6 cup cold water in a saucepan. Bring up to boil and reduce the heat for a simmer and cover for 15 minutes. Drain any remaining liquid and then put aside.For the marinade, mix lemon juice, olive oil, sugar and salt and pepper.

2. Slice cleaned squid tube into rings. Marinade squid with lemon and olive oil  in a bowl and leave for at least 1 hour in the fridge.

3. Cut broccoli, red onion, yellow capsicum and cucumber into strips. Parboil broccoli in boiling water for 3 minutes and drain water then leave them in ice water to stop the cooking process.

4. Cook red onion & yellow capsicum using vegetable oil in frying pan separately and add a pinch of salt to season.

5.  Heat grill pan and fry marinaded squid rings.

6. Place the quinoa in the middle of large bowl ( or separately if you like). Arrange each prepared the namul (cooked vegetables) and the squid on top. Place fried egg in the middle. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds & sliced seaweed paper as garnish. Serve with the lemon olive sauce.

Don't forget to mix with sauce!

Bibimbab Challenge - No.1 Beef bibimbab

 Bibimbab is a signature Korean dish. It means “mixed rice” in Korean. It is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with sautéed or seasoned vegetable called “namul’, a fried egg, and cooked meat served with gochujang chilli sauce. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibimbap

 Why I am cooking bibimbab? Because I found it is very healthy, attractively colourful and taste is pretty good. One my colleague even mentioned it’s smell is good too. However, the most fantastic thing about bibimbab is the concepts of “mixed rice”. You can add any topping as you like and mix it. What an endless possibility!  So I asked myself to challenge new bibimbab recipe with my best combination.

There are so many versions depending on the region of Korea. The main components of the bibimbab are the rice, namul(vegetable), meat, egg & sauce. So I am going to try making new bibimbab recipes base on this components and add two rules. The composition of the colours is the first important key rule. Using right colours of food means ‘balance & harmony’ in Korean culture. Having various colours such as orange, green, white, brown, yellow & red of each ingredient provides balance of the combination from diverse food on earth. Often Korean dishes are very colourful base on this reason.

 The second rule is using local & high quality produce. I have learned how tasty and nutritious local farmers’ market food is. So I am going to substitute local ingredients rather any imported vegetable. Namul can be made from dry vegetable and it is very common way of preserve and use vegetable in Korea. A lot of dried namul in Australia is imported. So I am going to get my local veggies. Therefore, my bibimbab concept is ‘balance & freshness’ with my modern tweaks in Melbourne.

 Here is my bibimbab No. 1 ‘ Beef bibimbab’. This recipe can explained as above formula = White short grain rice (rice) + carrot, spinach,  zucchini,  mushroom,  white radish pickle, red capsicum  (namul) + beef mince (meat) + chilli sauce(sauce) + fried egg. It is still very traditional but there are some my tweaks. The capsicum is my substitute for red (not conventional ingredients), the fresh baby spinach is my choice instead of sautéed spinach. I found fresh oyster mushroom in my local market. The most exciting tweak is that you can find all ingredients in your local supermarket except the gochujang sauce. Get a gochujang in your pantry and will be very handy for all kind of Korean cooking.

If you have any good combination for Bibimbab challenge, feel free to join me! I am interested in seeing what you come up with.

Ingredients ( serves 4 )

2 cups short grain rice

500g minced beef

For the vegetable namul,

2 handful of fresh baby spinach

2 carrots, sliced strips

2 small zucchini, sliced strips

6 fresh Oyster mushroom or shitake mushroom, sliced strips ( you can use flat mushroom )

150g Chinese white radish, sliced strips

1 red capsicum, sliced strips

Korean chilli powder

Rice vinegar

Sugar

Salt and ground black pepper

Vegetable oil

4 small eggs

For beef marinade sauce,

1 tbsp garlic crushed

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cooking wine

Salt & ground black pepper

For gochujang chilli sauce,

3 tbsp Korean gochujang chilli paste

1 ½ tsp honey or sugar

2 tsp sesame oil
 

1.  For steam rice, wash rice thoroughly in first. Place the rice in a pot and add water to 5mm above the rice. Add a couple of drops olive oil, cover with a rid and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer. Keep covering with the lid. After 10~15 minutes turn off the heat and steam for 5 minutes. You can use rice cooker if you have one.
2. For the marinade, mix the soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, cooking wine, and salt and pepper. Add the beef mince, mix well and marinate for at least 1 hour in fridge.
3. Mix the ingredients for the chilli sauce and place in a small serving bowl.
4. Cut the white radish, zucchini, carrot, red capsicum & mushroom to strips. Mix 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp chilli powder & 1 tbsp rice vinegar and coat the sliced white radish.
5. Heat 1 tsp vegetable oil in a pan or wok and fry the zucchini, carrot, red capsicum and mushroom separately. Set aside in a plate.
6. Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a pan and fry marinaded beef as crumble.
7. Place the steam rice in the middle of large bowl. Arrange each prepared the namul (cooked vegetables), fresh baby spinach and the beef crumble on top. Place fried egg in the middle. Serve with the gochujang chilli sauce.

     

Spicy chilli sauce marinade pork ribs

Ribs are a very popular cut of meat in Korea ( pork or beef).  My Irish husband, Sean was skeptical at the first (he very fussy about meat) but after I cooked the pork ribs using this traditional recipe, he now understand why pork ribs are so popular in Korea. They come with bones and a little meat around. You might have to be hands on and enjoy getting hands messy. But that is the beauty of eating ribs!  This is how to cook ribs. When ribs is cooked with bones, it get tender and cooked evenly.
The chilli marinade sauce is very traditional Korean. The sauce gives sweet tangy spicy taste that goes well with white meat like chicken or pork.

I like to serve this dish with steam rice and crispy baby cos lettuce. It gives balance to it.
Now, my husband loves spicy pork ribs. He gets pork ribs and looks at it differently.

Ingredients 

(Serves 2)

1 kg pork ribs

4 tbsp Gochujang chilli paste ( you can get Korean or Asian grocer)

3 tbsp Korea chilli powder

2 tbsp Sake or cooking wine

4 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 white onion, grated

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger

3 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp sesame oil

salt and ground black pepper sesame seeds, to garnish

1 baby cos lettuce

2 bowl steam rice  to serve with

1. place the pork ribs in a large bowl and pour in enough cold water to cover them, then leave them to soak for about 15 minutes. Drain the ribs and pat dry with kitchen paper. ( this process remove blood from ribs)
2. slice between each bones. cut them one single bone piece.
3. for marinade sauce, mix the chilli paste (Gochujang) and powder, sake, sugar, soy sauce, onion, garlic, ginger, maple syrup, sesame oil and pepper in a bowl. mix well. add the meat and coat thoroughly with the mixture. Place in the fridge and leave it to marinate for at least 3 hours to overnight.
4. Heat a oven at 200 degree. Place aluminium foil on oven dish or tin ( it will help you to clean it easily) and place the marinade ribs on top. Cook in over for 30 minutes in 180 degree. turn over each rib and cook for another 20 minutes until all meat cooked through. be careful not too burn or over cooked.
5. Serve them directly with steam rice and fresh cos lettuce leaves. When it get cold, it gets dry.
6. Don't forget wash your hands before eating. 

Summer beef salad with lime sweet chilli sauce

Summer! summer! summer is here. Citrus crunch salad is perfect for hot days. I made summer beef salad inspired by Thai beef salad. Having good ingredients is always great start of new recipe. I got a nice piece of eye fillet and cooked it rare. I added crunch cucumber, coriander & mint salad with sweet chili sauce. Minimum cooking and eating food as raw as possible is nice to get all nutrition and honest taste of ingredients. beef is taste like beef and cucumber taste like cucumber is the way of healthy cooking.

Ingredient (serve 2)

300g eye fillet

1 Lebanese cucumber

1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped

1/4 cup fresh coriander, chopped

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1 handful pine nut, toasted

black pepper & salt 

1/2 cup sweet chili sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

a lime juice

1. peel skin of cucumber and slice it rectangular. chop fresh mint and coriander. slice red onion. add all green and pine nuts into the salad bowl.

2. for sauce, place sweet chili sauce, fish sauce and lime juice in a small jar (a recycled jam jar is great. you can keep leftover dressing in the fridge) and shake it well.

3. drizzle of olive oil in frying pan and heat it up in very high temperature. cook eye filet 1 minutes each side  for rare ( cook another 2 minutes further for medium ) and rest it on plate or chopping for 5 minutes. 

4. place mixed salad and sliced beef on top. drizzle sweet chili sauce.

Robin & Bear's Christmas Dinner

 It is Christmas day! My bear(Sean) and robin(Author) decided to cook our own Christmas dinner at home this year.  Bear prepared main dinner as Irish Christmas dinner style with Gordon Ramsay Christmas cooking tips and recipe. Robin prepared seafood starter and lemon cake with fresh berry.

Street cut flowers

Bear

Robin

Christmas Menu

Breakfast

Creamy scramble eggs with smoked salmon on croissant

Home brew extra creamy latte

Starter

Tasmania fresh oyster & cooked tiger prawn 

Chandon Rose sparkling

Main

Roast turkey

Pork apricot pistachio sage stuffing

Duck fat roast potatoes

Roast carrots 

Pancetta brussels sprout

Chandon sparkling pinot shiraz 

Desert

Fresh berry lemon cake with cream

Pomegrate panna cotta with chochotate flake

 Bear : good breakfast will get through morning before early dinner. 

Robin : well I don't know whether I am going to hungry enough for the Christmas dinner after this rich breakfast. let see...

Gordon Ramsey creamy scramble eggs with smoked salmon on croissant

Robin : super rich but super tasty!

This is a robin version minimalist Christmas table. I don't see any point to too much effort decoration. 

Food itself is beautiful decoration.

Tasmania oyster has seaweed tasty which I love. 

Robin has no problem to eat them all.

Fresh oyster & cooked tiger prawn 

Turkey is served. A lot of effort went into this turkey. 

a trick is inserting butter mixture between flesh and skin of the turkey make it super tender and crispy skin. Resting for same hours as cooked is important too. Rest! rest! rest! a lot juicier.

Bear hates brussels and pancetta made brussels sprout more attractive and tasty.

but Robin's favorite was pork stuffing. we cooked them separately from Mr. turkey.

Pork apricot pistachio stuffing 

Ingredients

500g pork mince

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large Braeburn apple

6 dried apricots, about 50g, chopped

30g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Small bunch flat leaf parsley, leaves only, chopped

Olive oil, to drizzle

Large bunch of large sage leaves

2 fresh  chorizo sausages

We got ideas from Gordon Ramsay.

1. Mix all following ingredients - 500g pork mince, 60g chopped dried apricot and 30g pistachio nut, finely grated zest of lemon, small bunch flat leaf parsley and salt & paper.

 2. Arrange sage leaves on oiled foil

3. Lay pork mixture onto sage leaves and chorizo sausage goes on top.

4. Case up with left pork mixture

5. Fold and roll up with foil.

6. Squish into middle to get rid of air and roller up as sausage shape.

7. Leave it in fridge for overnight.

8. Bake the stuffing parcel in oven 180 degree for 40 minute.

9. Check cooked with skew in the middle. Rest them for 15 minutes.

10. Slice them for serving.

more detail in Gordon Ramsay's Christmas recipes.

Here is my signature lemon cake.

Robin's fresh berry moist lemon cake

Ingredient

125g soften butter

1 cup caster sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp lemon rids

1 cup self rising flour

1/2 cup plain flour

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 caster sugar

1 tbsp icing sugar for dusting

Seasonal fresh berry of your choice

( raspberry, strawberry, black berry and blue berry)

1. preheat oven 180 degree. mix soften butter, caster sugar, lemon rinds & eggs in a mixing bowl.

2. add flour and milk and mix it well.

3. place the mixture into buttered and floured round baking tray.

4. bake it for 40 minutes in 180 degree.

5. check cooked with wooden skewer. when it cooked, take it our oven. remove tray and place in plate or large serving dish. 

6. spread icing sugar and lemon juice mixture over the cake, when it hot. rest until cool it down.

7. dusting icing sugar and decorate the cake with fresh berry. more dusting icing sugar if you like.

This is very light & moist citrus cake. It would not be disappointed in any occasion.

I bake this cake for birthday, Christmas or even morning tea.

Serve with fresh cream is ideal.

Delicious!

Pomegrate panna cotta with chochotate flake

Bear and Robin are very happy with a wonderful Christmas dinner.