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…
Don’t let your parsley turn into black goo!
Parsley used to play the role as a limp garnish tossed carelessly on a plate. Then parsley’s PR group tried to get people to eat parsley by touting it as a breath freshener. Now parsley is elbowing its way to the forefront. Well, at least in this country. We love tabbouleh, parsley salad, pesto,…
Gettin’ jiggy wit’ dwaenjang jigae
Okay…I agree that it’s a corny title and that I’m totally dating myself, but I couldn’t resist. Anyway, this is another dish that I have been futzing with for the past twenty or so years. Jigaes are great in general because they are quick and easy to make, don’t require hard-to-find ingredients (at least with…
Chadol Dwaenjang Jigae (Beef Brisket Soybean Stew)
Yet another variation on dwaenjang jigae – a soupy stew that uses fermented soybean paste as its base. As I’ve mentioned before; jigae is not as thick as a stew, nor is it as thin as a soup, but right in between! This version uses brisket; the fatty sinewy part of the brisket. The beef…
Beosot Muchim (seasoned mushrooms with cabbage)
This recipe always reminds me of fall with the mushrooms and cabbage. There is very little I changed with the post and the recipe. I wrote and posted this as Hurricane Sandy was barreling towards us back in 2012. Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on us as I write this post. I’m looking out the…