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…
Kkwarigochu Muchim…say what? (steamed shisito peppers)
When my mother made this dish for the first time not too long ago, it took everything to keep me from eating the whole platter. Kkwarigochu is also known as shisito pepper. This pepper is very mild and little sweet, but a few spicy peppers are always found in the bunch. There are no physical…
Gochujun (Korean stuffed pan-fried peppers) #SundaySupper
Gochujun is a perennial favorite often served with saeng sun jun (pan-fried cod). It takes a bit of time to make a huge batch, but it is always a hit. It is even more perfect as a make-ahead dish that can be stored in the freezer to enjoy later. They are great for dinner parties…
Swiss Chard Bap (Rice)
My dad used to grow rows and rows of swiss chard in his garden every summer. And every fall, my mom took that bountiful harvest and readied it for the freezer. We had a separate freezer in the basement that was packed with pouches of parboiled swiss chard. She used it in soups, seasoned it…
Korean Black Beans (Kongjaban)
Throughout my blogging “career”, I’ve had many moments where I’ve just wanted to disconnect and just take everything offline. Lately this feeling has been triggered by what I’ve been reading online about friends and fellow bloggers getting their material plagiarized or being harassed by meanies. Such a waste of energy, don’t you agree? Ninety percent…