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…
Oi Kimchi (Korean Cucumber Kimchi) #SundaySupper
Add this dish to one of my least favorite dishes when I was growing up, mainly because the only cucumbers that were available at the local grocery store were the Garden cucumber with its thick, dark green, and bitter skin. So whenever my mom made this kimchi back in the day, I was less than…
Korean-style Dandelion Salad
Dandelion greens are in season right now. You should be seeing these leafy greens at your farmers market or grocery store! Get ’em while they’re young and tender. Go directly to the recipe. I thought summer was supposed to be laid back and relaxing. So far I feel overwhelmed playing catch up everyday and I definitely feel…
Korean-style Steamed Eggplant and My Individual Medley
How has your summer been? Once school was all over back in June, I thought it was going to be smooth sailing with a relaxing, easy going summer. Boy, was I wrong! As I was watching the Olympic swimming events a couple of weeks ago late one night, it hit me. I was doing my…
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.