Archive for the 'korean' Category
Have you ever cooked too much rice or left it out until it became stale? Well don’t throw it out! Instead make nurungji, 누룽지, and save it for a rainy day. Nurungji is cooked rice that is dried out. The steps are simple and it keeps for months. Rice porridge is usually made with the dried rice, however, you can always make some sweet munchies by frying them slightly in vegetable oil and sprinkling with sugar. My mom used to make that for my sister and me when we were little. They’re absolutely great for sharing in front of the TV, or maybe even speckled on top of ice cream…I’ll have to go try that and report back to you.
Nurungji porridge is perfect for cold and dreary winter days or even better for those sick days spent in bed. You can leave it on the stove and come back to it an hour or so later. Just make sure you keep the burner on low.
There are no exact measurements to making nurungji. Just spread a thin layer of rice in a stainless steel pan and cook it over low heat. Over time, the rice will brown and start pulling away from the edges. You can leave it until all the rice has turned brown, or until the bottom and sides are brown. I left mine for about 45 minutes.
continue reading »
November 04 2009 | asian and korean and recipe and soup and thoughts and vegetarian | 8 Comments »
Eggplant, for me, is one of those foods that I can’t exactly pinpoint in my memory. I know I had it growing up because I knew what an eggplant tasted like and the texture in my mouth, however I can’t remember exact dishes, or a specific time when I had it. I think it might have been because the dish I had wasn’t spectacular but I was impressed by the natural characteristics of the vegetable. Or it may be that I was freakishly born with eggplant knowledge engrained in my head,I don’t know. But in any case I love eggplant.
Eggplant was one of the first ingredients I cooked with. For me it’s a very forgiving ingredient because I love it when it’s still firm with a nice spongy bite and also when it’s soft enough to melt in your mouth. My timing can be a little off, and I’ll still come up with something I like. When I first started to cook it was really great because I only cooked with vegetables. I’m not a vegetarian but I had this fear of cooking with meat. I was really intimidated because I didn’t think that I could even execute a mediocre dish. With meat timing is key. I wasn’t very fast in the kitchen, so I knew everything I made would be too tough and dry. Eggplant is really great because it has a sort of “meaty” substantial quality to it. It’s sturdy and chewy and a little bit stringy at the same time. It’s no real substitute for a nice piece of steak, but I think in comparison to other vegetables it does a pretty good job.
continue reading »
September 04 2009 | asian and korean and recipe and thoughts and vegetarian | 5 Comments »
One of my roommates is in dental school and for the past couple months she’s been busy preparing for the board exams. We’ve been living together for two years now and have shared quite a few food memories. We occasionally make dinners, go out for Restaurant Week, and even took a couple of cooking classes together!
When she asked me if I could pack her lunch on the day of her board exams I was happy to do it. I kind of felt like a mom sending her kid off to take the SATs. I couldn’t sleep the night before because I planned to cook in the morning so the food would be nice and fresh. I was afraid I might not wake up in time, which is silly because I’m one of those people who don’t need an alarm to get up. I kept on looking at my clock throughout the night and finally at 6 am (1 hour before I planned to wake up) I got out of bed and started cooking.
continue reading »
August 31 2009 | asian and korean and meat and recipe and side dish and thoughts | 6 Comments »
Continuing with my love of side dishes, here is one that is good for both summer and winter. It is stir fried potatoes with onions and green peppers. Many potato dishes are heavy and unhealthy (ex. french fries, hash browns, baked potato with the works) but this one is light, nutritious, and deceptively delicious. A little salt and heat brings out the great natural flavors of this starchy vegetable. Whenever my mom set this out before dinner, my sister and I would slowly sneak a few chopsticks-ful until none of it was left when we actually sat down to eat!
I had a hankering for stir fried potatoes the other day so I went to my second best resource, this Korean cookbook, for the recipe. A red light should’ve gone off in my head when I copied down five green bell peppers, but I guess my mind was not functioning very well because I didn’t think twice about it. So, I went to the grocery store and bought two yellow potatoes and five green bell peppers. Once I started cooking, I began to feel like there were one too many green pepper slices but I just kept on cutting away. Seriously, I was like a robot, strictly following illogical directions! I blame it on the heat.
continue reading »
August 22 2009 | asian and korean and recipe and side dish and thoughts and vegetarian | 9 Comments »
A traditional Korean meal has a lot of side dishes. Some appear at the table all year round like kimchee, spicy fermented cabbage, while others are more seasonal. I love the site of a Korean dinner table because it is always crowded with so many plates of food. It looks like a mini food festival.
continue reading »
August 21 2009 | asian and korean and recipe and side dish and thoughts and vegetarian | 8 Comments »
« Prev - Next »
