Thank you to Sarah Bates of The Chef Next Door for hosting today's Hot and Spicy #SundaySupper event! Have you heard of the 10,000-hour rule? Author Malcolm Gladwell theorizes that to truly master something, you will have had to log in at least 10,000 hours of practice. This theory was based on a study by Swedish psychologist Anders Ericsson. So what does this have to do with kimchi? Well, I feel like kimchi-making requires some level of practice to get to a point where it's easy to make and, most importantly, it consistently tastes awesome. When I first posted a recipe for this same dish, I had only made it a few times and it turned out a decent kimchi...50 percent of the time. Now 5 years later, I've made this particular kimchi a little less than 100 times. And if we're following the 10,000-hour rule, I've got about 9,900 hours become an expert kimchi maker. But I feel like after 5 years or about 100 hours, I've got this dish down. I've gotten rid of a couple of steps, streamlined ...
Perilla Pancakes
Originally published September 11, 2011. I thought I'd revive this recipe for Chuseok! Happy Chuseok! The cool fall weather is here to stay and school is in full swing. It is also the end of the season for kaenip (perilla) and the leaves are fading into a yellowish light green hue. The other weekend, I plucked the remaining leaves and decided to do a few experiments after speaking with my mom. She mentioned that the older leaves tend to be a less tender and a little tougher. Sometimes she steams a bunch of leaves and makes ssam (wraps) or chops them up and makes jun (pancakes) or jang dduk, a special recipe that my mom culled from her mother that sounded really hearty and quite simply, yummy. The recipe incorporates a spoonful of dwaen jang into the batter. (I know, dwaen jang!) I've never actually had the dish before or even heard of such a thing, but the combination of the pungent salty, nutty dwaen jang, and the strong peppery, minty kaenip sounded enticing. If you ...
Some Korean Flavor…
Video: How to make Hobak Jun (pan-fried zucchini)
Hobak jun (호박전) is a healthy and delicious side dish or snack, and it’s super easy to make. Click here for the original post and recipe.
Rolling with Kimbap #SundaySupper
#SundaySupper is a group of bloggers who are on a mission to bring back sunday supper around the family table in every home. Kimbap (literally translated, seaweed rice) conjures memories of picnics on warm summer days, road trips, and home. There’s minimal time spent in front of the stove, it’s relatively easy, convenient, neat and travels well….
Spicy Pickled Garlic Scapes #SundaySupper
What are garlic scapes? They are the curly tops or stalks of a garlic plant. They are usually trimmed to help in the growth of a larger garlic bulb. Garlic scapes are typically at their peak in late spring, but it seems that everything is a bit delayed here in the Northeast this year. The…
The Nine Lives of Kimchi
I was away for about two weeks on “vacation”…though not really a vacation when you’re flying and driving all over the place with two small kids. Anyway, two weeks was plenty of time for the kimchi in my fridge to reach perfect “sourness” for its starring role in either jigae (soupy stew) or bokum (stirfry). Typically I would make kimchi…