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…
Bibim naeng myun (Korean spicy cold noodles) #SundaySupper
Growing up in a typical Korean household, my mom ruled the kitchen and my dad sat at the head of the table. He never lifted a finger when it came to cooking. Oh wait, I shouldn’t say “never”, I remember two instances when he “cooked” a meal. There was ONE time when my mom was…
Jang Jorim! More beef!
Since my DH decided to stop eating meat (but still eats seafood) two years ago, the number of dishes that I can make for the family has been greatly reduced. It was a sad day when I cancelled my subscription to Cooks Illustrated where the majority of their recipes for entrees centered around meat. Though on…
Korean Beef Soondubu Jigae (Beef and Soft Tofu Stew) #SundaySupper
I never really crave chicken or fish or pork like I do beef. Don’t get me wrong, I love my fish and fowl, but there’s something about the beefy flavor that always keeps me going back. You don’t even need much to impart big flavor. My favorite cut of lean beef is flank steak. It’s…
I Heart Kimchi Jigae
Continuing with the theme of “The Nine Lives of Kimchi”… I actually saved the same jar of percolating kimchi that I used last time. Surprisingly enough, it was still usable and it had actually reached perfect sourness for kimchi jigae. Awesome. I have made various versions of kimchi jigae in the past 20 or so years of my…