nanoomi

Here’s the recipe that won me 2nd place and W1,000,000. I’m putting measurements here, but you really need to taste and adjust as you go.

Bulgogi Quesadillas with Smoky Gochujang Aioli and Korean Pear Salsa

Bulgogi

INGREDIENTS
600g Beef Chuck, thinly sliced (tell the Korean butcher you want it “bulgogi yong”)
1 Korean pear, peeled and cored
1 White Onion, chopped
1 TBS Fresh Ginger, minced
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Mirim (or Mirin, rice cooking wine)
1/4 cup or more Starch Syrup (Corn Syrup, Rice Syrup)
2 TBS Sesame Oil
1 White Onion, sliced thinly

• Puree the Korean pear, chopped onion  in a blender.
• Add the liquid ingredients and taste. It should be fairly sweet. When you think it’s sweet enough, add a little more starch syrup.
• Add the beef and mix thoroughly. Hands work best.
• Marinate for 45 minutes.
• Cook the beef and sliced onions on medium high until much of the liquid has evaporated.

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After making tofu and soy milk at home, my experiments to utilize an inordinate amount of soy pulp (비지; bi ji or okara) began.  In addition to biji jjigae (비지 찌개; stew made with soy pulp, kimchi and pork as main ingredients), I found a way to put soy pulp in mini zucchini cupcakes, where it adds a soft crunch and subtle nutty flavor.

This time, soy pulp finds its way into butter cookies.

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The obvious change of seasons always comes as a surprise.  Before I have time to switch out the clothes, autumn enters and I am still wearing multiple layers of summer clothes - in chilling rains and sweaty hot sun.  Not that I am ever too fond of sticky summers, but I always seem to hold onto the last lingering bits of the past season.

In addition to simply being slow in adjusting to a new season, this is all poetic and melancholy in my head along the lines of soaking in crisp air and colored leaves – until the reality of a sore throat and fever sets in one morning.  At least now it is the season of pears and steamed pear made with honey and ginger, favored by Koreans as a home remedy for cold and flu but also can be a great dessert.

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The brilliance of making tofu at home was suggested by my friends who were already making their own, but it took me a while to get on it as it seemed like such an arduous task.  Yet once I started, I made five batches one after another.  And then a couple more.  Then another… Its taste and texture remind me of ricotta cheese, but, obviously, made with soybeans.

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This is the third, and final, part of a brief series looking at Google’s Android mobile Operating System and its success (or otherwise) in Korea.

So I’ve looked at Android in general, and already those stats are beginning to look a bit shoddy as news came out this week that Android handsets are outselling Apple’s iPhone. I’ve also gone into a brief history of Android in Korea, and indeed looked into our crystal ball at one rumour that I would like to come to fruition. In this final post I’m going to look at arguably the most important part of the whole equation – especially in terms of handset sales and market dominance – Content.

Its one thing to have a flash whizz bang handset, but if you can only make calls on it you may as well go back to your Motorola RAZR. Smartphones are all about doing more. Some have called them mini computing platforms, still others have shied away from this moniker, but everyone agrees that smartphones are excellent for content consumption.

Enter Tatter & Media, a blog aggregation, curation, organisation, and among other things design, company which I am affiliated with through Nanoomi. TatterMedia (for short) curates so-called “power bloggers” in Korean-language K-Blogland who discuss all manner of subjects in their respective fields of interest.

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You may be wondering about this hot noodle soup post in the middle of this hot, sticky summer.  Some of you may be familiar with the seemingly odd Korean custom of eating hot food in the summer and cold food in the winter time.  This custom is based on the widely known concept ‘yi yeol chi yeol’ (이열치열; 以熱治熱) in Korea, which literally means ‘to relieve heat with heat.’  The application of this concept in food is closely related to the traditional Korean medicine, but let’s not get too technical.

Simply put, during the summer, people tend to sweat a lot and consume a lot of cold foods and drinks, all of which are considered to cause depletion of yang energy.  By eating hot food, we restore warmth and bring back the balance in our bodies.  These foods, also usually high in protein, are referred in general as bo yang shik (보양식) which has the meaning of ‘food that restores yang energy,’ or restores health.  This is the big reason behind the custom of eating samgyetang (chicken soup with traditional medicinal herbs including ginseng) on three ‘boknal’ (복날) in Korea, marking the hottest times of the year in the lunar calendar.

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This is a work in progress that I’ve been meaning to start. Stafford Lumsden pushed me to go ahead with it.

What we have here is a chart I’ve drawn and put together conglomerated from various sources. Now, even when I ask people in restaurants and butchers, I get vague responses about the origins of certain cuts. My guess is that it’s all blurry in some areas and may be regional. I’ve found different names for cuts, and the pork cut charts vary a bit. Some of the cuts I haven’t been able to find on any charts in Korean.

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A leisurely day of stockmaking

As much as Korean food has its emphasis on the communal experience, a single or a couple would find it difficult to justify buying a whole chicken for daily Korean home meals.  I usually picked up different parts depending on what I wanted to cook, but at one point, it dawned on me that I could make a great use of a whole chicken all for myself (now for my sister as well, who is my new roommate).

So I figured I’d help out other singletons and the likes who like cooking and chicken and guide the way to plan out a few things to make the most use out of a whole chicken for themselves.  It is, of course, more economical to buy a whole chicken, so I feel justified to buy a better chicken as well.  This will be a 5-part series (more or less, depending on how things go between this post and the coming ones) that utilizes a whole chicken to make Korean chicken dishes or Korean-inspired dishes.

The day I decide to break down a chicken is the organization day to set up bases for the dishes I’ll be making in the coming days.  Of course I don’t have to know exactly what I’m going to make, so the preparation below tends to have many uses overall.  The whole process starts with preparing to make chicken stock.

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O’ngo Food Communications, one of our sponsors, has passed on this information on upcoming cooking classes and culinary tours. They’re getting quite popular.

Korean Market Tour and Cooking Classes
The class starts with a tour of a traditional Korean market (Eumma Market near Daechi Stationn, exit 3). Then you will go to the O’ngo Cooking Studio (near the Gangnam-gu Office) for a cooking lesson in English and a chance to make your own Korean dishes.
Schedule:
6/5: seafood pancakes, kimchi tofu, makgeolli cocktails, and fresh Korean salad.
6/7, 6/12, 6/21: bulgogi, cucumber kimchi, and marinated tofu side dish.
6/14, 6/19: red chili chicken (daktoritang), spinach and bean sprouts.
6/26: seafood pancakes and kimchi tofu.
60,000 won per person includes tour, cooking class and recipes. Contact Daniel Gray at seouleats@gmail.com or 010-6661-7769

Korean Night Dining Tour
Taking place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, this tour provides a crash course on Korea’s exciting late-night food and drinking culture. The tour starts at Kwangjang Market and continues to historic Jongno 3-ga where you can eat Korean BBQ, drink makgeolli (rice wine) and dine at a tent restaurant. 80,000 won per person includes food, drinks and tour guide. Contact Daniel Gray at seouleats@gmail.com or 010-6661-7769 for a detailed schedule.