First Sourdough

I've been cultivating a sourdough starter, and it was finally time to try to make some bread using it.  I made a small amount of dough, enough for a demi-baguette and a very small boule.

Brown Bread Experiment

I decided to experiment with making a sweet whole wheat bread.  I really like the brown bread that they serve at The Cheesecake Factory, and I wanted to make something similar.  I added some instant coffee powder to give it a darker color and brown sugar to add sweetness.

Dooboo Jorim (두부조림) - Braised Tofu

Dooboo Jorim (두부조림) is literally "braised tofu."  I think this name is a bit misleading, because when I think of braising, I think of a long, slow cooking process, whereas the tofu in this dish was only cooked for about 10 minutes.  Perhaps a better name might be "twice-cooked tofu."

I had some tofu that I needed to use up.  I've also had this giant Costco-sized bottle of Mr. Yoshida's sauce for what seems like forever.  Mr. Yoshida's is sort of thick and sweet, but it actually was perfect for this dish. It combines soy sauce, sweetener (in the form of corn syrup), mirin (rice wine), and some other spices.  This was also a good opportunity to finish off an onion (I had 1/8 of a medium onion left) as well as some green onions.

This was pretty tasty, but it was also quite spicy.  I think I happened to get a pretty spicy serrano.

Seekh Kabab Mughlai (Indian ground meat kebabs)

"Seekh Kabab" is the name of an Indian or Pakistani dish made of minced meat grilled on skewers in a Tandoor oven.  Apparently, foreigners called it "sheesh kabab" which may have evolved into the term "shish kabob."

I have lunch with my mom on most Saturdays.  Our favorite Indian/Pakistani restaurant in San Francisco is Shalimar and they serve a ground beef kebab called "Seekh Kabab Mughlai."  Here is my super-simplified version that I made at home.  Since I don't have a Tandoor, I just cooked these on a cast iron pan.  You could probably broil these in a toaster oven.

Chicken and White Bean Chili

I debated whether to actually post this, because it's hardly even a recipe, but here it is.

Donggeurang Ddeng (동그랑땡) Korean Meatball

Donggeurang Ddeng (동그랑땡) are Korean meatballs or meat fritters.

Italian Beef Sandwich

Roast Beef

Roasting beef should not be intimidating, nor does it need to be saved only for special occasions.  In fact, you can have roast beef in just over 1 hour.

Gamja Tang (감자탕) - Spicy Pork Bone soup

Gamja tang (감자탕) is a food that I didn't eat when I was growing up because my mom never made it. Most people assume that the name means "potato soup" because gamja (감자) = potato and tang (탕)= soup. However, there are some who believe that the name is actually derived from the word "gamja bbyuh" (감자뼈), which apparently refers to the pork spine bone.

Marinated Potato Salad

I had some "extra" baby Yukon Gold potatoes that I needed to use up, and I decided to make potato salad.

Today I'm being assisted by the Iron Chef Duck. He has his own cooking blog too. You can find his blog here.

Zha Jiang Mian

I had previously experimented with making zha jiang mian (here).  Today was experiment #2.

Koreanized pulled pork

I really like pulled pork sandwiches and I decided to experiment to add some Korean flavors. The experiment was a tasty success, but I'm not quite ready to post an exact recipe.

Crispy tofu cakes with sweet chili sauce

These crispy tofu cakes were the result of some experimentation.  At dim sum today, I saw on the menu something called "salt & pepper pi-pa tofu" and I had no idea what it was (and we did not order it).  A web search revealed recipes for pi-pa tofu, but I decided to take this in a slightly different direction.

braised pork chops in orange-apricot sauce

Today's dinner was braised pork chops in an orange-apricot sauce.

I ate it with some quinoa (blech talk about bland).

I will post the recipe later.

Pork Belly Buns Korean Style

will update soon

Pickled moo 2

Sweet and Sour Pickled Moo

Today I am honored to be joined by a guest chef -- the Iron Chef Duck.  You can find his blog here.

These pickled radish cubes go great with fried chicken.  Most Korean fried chicken joints, such as Bon Chon Chicken, give you this as a side dish.

Pickled moo #1 - Korean pickled radish and carrot

Moo chae (무채) is a Korean side dish made from moo (무), a Korean radish similar to daikon.  Moo chae may be spicy (like kimchi) or it may be sweet and sour.  This recipe is for the sweet and sour kind and includes carrots.

Galbi Jjim (갈비찜) - braised beef short ribs

Galbi Jjim (갈비찜) is a traditional Korean dish whose name translates literally as "steamed ribs" (갈비 = ribs, 찜 = steamed).  More accurately, galbi jjim is ribs (usually beef short ribs) cooked in a braising liquid that includes soy sauce, water, and sugar.  Garlic, ginger, pepper, and sesame oil may also be added.  The dish may also include one or more of the following: potatoes (or korean radish or 무), carrots, chestnuts, mushrooms, jujube, and ginkgo nuts.  Variations include spicy galbi jjim (매운갈비찜) as well as pork galbi jjim (돼지갈비찜).

My recipe keeps things pretty simple.

Experimental Noodles with Meat Sauce (no recipe)

This was an experimental "zha jiang mian" that I made tonight.

"American Style Kobe Beef Burger"

I saw this at Trader Joe's the other day and couldn't resist.