This week, the Inquirer is all about Korean food, especially in Philly's burgeoning "Koreatown" (their moniker, not mine). And in the wake of the 10-day revelry that was Beer Week, it's probably best that we load up on some home cooking to soak up all that alcohol.
Foods like kimchi, shabu shabu and bibimbap are holding gaining in popularity as the Korean food craze continues
Echoing the above article, Craig LeBan shares his favorite Korean dishes, especially the marinated beef ribs
Shira Kamm joins the growing number of Pennsylvania's women farmers
When a reader directed my attention to this Frico Cheeseburger from Korean fast food restaurant Lotteria's, I was a little afraid of what may be inside - no, not because of where it is from, but because we are often guided towards items that that would umm....definitely fall into our food oddities category. However upon closer inspection, I was pretty relieved surprised to discover that it is a relatively "normal" burger complete with meat, cheese sauce, lettuce, pickles, and tomato.
What makes it different though is the addition of yellow pepper rings, black olives, and the pièce de résistance - a deep fried, breaded patty of Dutch Maasdam cheese. Now I've often had onion rings or the like on a burger, but deep fried cheese? I think that takes this fast food burger to a whole new level of sinfulness.
For most of my friends, getting to eat bulgogi is a treat because they have to go out to a restaurant to eat the Korean marinated and grilled beef. For me, eating bulgogi is about the equivalent of eating meatloaf for my friends. It's boring because we ate it a lot when we were growing up. I know that Korean people always tell non-Koreans that they are wrong when they think that all Korean people eat is barbecue and kimchee, but for my family, it was true. We were in the midwest, and the ingredients for bulgogi and galbee were easier to find than say, fermented soybean paste.
So, since bulgogi seems to be such a treat for my friends, I have written up the "recipe" that my Mom and I use when we make it at home. I say "recipe" in quotes because everyone, of course, makes bulgogi and other Korean foods by taste. Make the marinade, take a taste, and adjust to your liking. It's the same nasic marinade we saw last year for Korean-marinated Flank Steak, but don't you dare call that bulgogi.
If you live on either coast, or even in the Midwest in a major metropolitan area, you'll have no problem finding an Asian grocery store. Korean-specific markets are a little harder to find, and if you're somewhere where there isn't a huge population of Korean people, well, you might find yourself at a loss when a craving for kimchee strikes. You can make it yourself, or you can click over to koaMart, an online Korean food grocer.
Sure, they do the dry, non-perishable goods like ramen and rice, but they can send perishable goods like tofu and kimchee as well. I've never shopped at the store since I live in Los Angeles, but if I were in say, the mountains of Colorado (or really, really lazy) I might give them a try. Shipping isn't cheap, but hey, when you need your pickled, fermented cabbage, you gotta do what you gotta do.
I don't know about you, but I like Korean food vibrant – popping with peppers, kimchi and fresh garlic. This sort of fare commands a commensurate libation. Specifically soju, a spirit distilled from rice combined with other grains that typically weighs in at about 25 percent alcohol.
So I was shocked to learn that Korea's soju makers are waging a battle to produce lower-octane versions. Jinro, Korea's No. 1 soju maker, recently unveiled a lower-alcohol version to cater to young people who can't handle the real thing.
Jinro's new Chamisul Fresh comes in at just under 20 percent. I just don't get it. These kids need to eat more raw oysters rolled in pork belly.
The two most popular cuts of beef for Korean barbecue are cross-cut shortribs (galbee) and thinly-sliced ribeye (bulgogi). However, marinating a whole side of beef, or in this case, a flank steak ,in the same seasonings, grilling, then slicing the grilled steak after cooking is a good way to enjoy Korean barbecue as well. Most Koreans wrap up a slice of beef with a little spoonful of rice and some red pepper sauce in a lettuce leaf, but I usually leave the rice out and double up on the hot sauce.
In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 Tbsp sesame oil, 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp. minced ginger, 4-5 minced garlic cloves, and a dash of black pepper.
Place a 2 lb flank steak in a large zipper seal bag, along with the marinade. Let steak marinate for about 30 minutes, turning the bag occasionally to cover all sides.
Grill the marinated flank steak for about 5 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove the steak from the heat and let sit, covered, for at least five minutes. Do not touch, poke or prod it.
Thinly slice the beef across the grain. Serve with whole leaves of red leaf lettuce and goh-choo-jahng (Korean red pepper sauce).
That's right. South Korean astronauts may be taking a specially designed type of kimchi with them when they travel on a Russian spacecraft in 2008. The news comes from a recent Los Angeles Times article about kimchi's presence in the academic and scientific communities in Korea. The kimchi that the Korean astronauts will take is intended to help their digestion. Some of you may recall news about kimchi's possible ability to stave off avian flu, and the Times lists several other health claims associated with the fermented national treasure. Mice fed kimchi were apparently less stressed and had fewer wrinkles. Still, other research suggests that eating too much kimchi may be linked to increased risk of gastric cancer. According to the Times, South Koreans consume 77 pounds of kimchi annually and rates of gastric cancer are 10 times higher there than in the U.S.
Grains, beans, and other legumes make up a large part of the Asian diet. In fact, at the Korean market, entire aisles can be dedicated to beans alone. Koreans add beans to white rice, creating a "mixed" steamed rice. My mother did this a few times when we were kids because there are a lot of health benefits, but when we saw bowls of steamed rice tainted with giant red, purple, and black beans, we wouldn't touch it. She made two pots of rice every night after that. One with plain white rice, and one with a mixture.
Some of us may be familiar with adzuki beans after they have been cooked down to almost a paste. They beans are sweet and nutty, but they are made sweeter with the addition of sugar and honey and used as a filling in pastries like Japanese mochi and Korean dduk. Koreans also use the beans to make "jook," a sweet porridge.
We've talked about Korean sojus here before, and even sang the praises of a strangely
flavored "herbal" soju (the herb was ginseng). Now I am no stranger to the Korean spirit distilled from
sweet potatoes (many a night and morning battling the stuff), and I am certainly familiar with mixing soju with
different flavors to make the stuff that tastes like pure lighter fluid a little more palatable: strawberry soju
(ddahl-ghee), peach soju (bohk-soong-ha), yogurt soju (yo-gu-rut), and even cucumber soju (oi).
I just tried a melon version at a cafe in LA's Koreatown and it was horrible. It was neon green, and
tasted like a melon flavored body wash. I don't even know what "melon" flavored liquid they used to make it,
but if ever you go out for a night on the K-town, stick with the originals.
First, American markets had boil-in bag rice. Now they have Uncle Ben's ready made rice that you just heat up in
the microwave oven. So why can't Asian markets have ready-made rice? They do.
At the Korean market, I came across rows and rows of ready made steamed rice, that even came in their own bowl. No
need to dirty another plate! You simply pull back the vacuum-sealed plastic, stick it in the microwave, and minutes
later, you have perfect, fluffy steamed rice to eat with your kimchee. The rice also comes in different
"flavors" - brown rice as well as rice mixed with other grains like barley, oats, and beans.
I am not unfamiliar with microwaved rice. In college, my Mom used to steam entire pots of rice, let it cool,
package them into single size servings in zipper bags, then freeze them. All I had to do was unzip, re-heat, and I was
ready for a final exam cram session. If only we had known back then to market it and sell it...
I've been going to the Korean
markets in LA a lot more often now as I explore my Korean side in the kitchen.
Though I am not unfamiliar with many of the rather unusual and new food products and
ingredients to be found in Asian markets, I was pretty amused on my last few visits. I am not sure if I was just never
aware of certain products, or that they really are new. Clam jerky?
Now don't get me wrong. I know all about dried seafood. Dried seaweed (called "gim" in Korean and
"nori" in Japanese), dried fish, and even dried squid. In fact, I used to gobble up dried squid while
watching tv when I was a kid. However, I just can't imagine what clam jerky would look or even taste
like. Pretty damn good if it's $4.99!
Few things help me to kick the winter blues better than a steaming hot mini-cauldron of
soon doo-boo jji-gae, or Korean silken tofu stew. And, truth be told, I've also counted upon its therapeutic
effects to chase away many a hangover. Some may balk at the idea of silken tofu stew as inherently boring and
probably envision a pale porridge. But soon doo-boo is anything but boring.
The tofu itself consists of rich, creamy curds bobbing in a reddish orange broth that's spiked with plenty of red
pepper. I’ve seen people order the mild version and that does resemble a boring porridge. At the other
extreme lies "very spicy," which I have tried only once. I have no desire to do so again, not that I'm a wimp
when it comes to heat. It was just too hot. "Spicy" is just perfect for me. There are several varieties,
including vegetarian, seafood and intestine. I have not had the fortitude to try that last, but I am quite fond of
"suh-kuh," combination soon doo-boo. Clams, shrimp, mussels, beef and mushrooms make for a heady mix when
combined with the nutritious homemade tofu. Crack an egg into the bubbling stew and you’re one step closer to
shaking off that winter hangover.
"Gim" is the Korean word for the seaweed wrapper, also known as "nori" in Japanese.
"Bahp" is Korean for cooked rice. Put them together, and you have some great snacking for the back of the
station wagon! Who knows, maybe we'll do a slashfood video short of how to roll these guys!
Kimchee bok-keum bahp is a Korean home and café food. At home, it's a way to use up kimchee before it gets
too ripe to eat (at which time, it gets dumped into a big pot and turned into kimchee jji-gae).
"Bok-keum" means sauteed or fried and "bahp" is steamed rice if you're only halfway through Korean
101. So essentially, kimchee bok-keum bahp is fried rice with kimchee, and yes, all those stories about Asian
restaurants - today's leftover rice is tomorrow's fried rice - is totally true and totally applies here.
Here's a nasty little sercret - kimchee bokkeum bahp tastes infinitely better when cooked with chopped Spam, but
since I don't ever just have Spam on hand and the point of kimchee bokkeum bahp is to use leftovers, I usually use
frozen leftover galbee or bulgogi. Of course, leave all of that out and your kimchee bokeeum bahp can be
vegetaarian.
If you didn't already know about it, then you know about Korean barbecue now with all of my posting about how
Korean will be the new "it" cuisine this year. Korean barbecue restaurants serve raw,
marinated meats, and diners cook the meat themselves at the table over a gas or charcoal grill that is usuall embedded
in the table. Galbee (marinated beef shortribs), bulgogi
(thinly sliced marinated flank steak), dae-jee bulgogi (spicy marinated pork) - these are all Korean barbecue
meats.
But you don't have to restrict yourself to Korean restaurants for Korean barbecue. Japanese restaurants also serve
their version of Korean barbecue and call it "yakiniku." They keep the same principle of grilling at the
table and the same basic marinade for the meats. The Japanese restaurants add their own flair with
fancier grills and different types of things to cook over the grill. Korean barbecue traditionally grills only meats
with an occasional sliced onion or mushooms and get their vegetables from bahnchan. Japanese add vegetables to the
grill - sometimes directly on the grill, or in small foil packets with butter.
In LA, Gyu-kaku and Manpuku are the only strictly yakiniku restaurants I've
tried. Places like Musha in Santa Monica and Torrance serve yakiniku style items as part of a widely varied menu.
This week, the Inquirer is all about Korean food, especially in Philly's burgeoning "Koreatown" (their moniker, not mine). And in the wake of the 10-day revelry that was Beer Week, it's probably best that we load up on some home cooking to soak up all that alcohol. 
When a reader directed my attention to this 
If you live on either coast, or even in the Midwest in a major metropolitan area, you'll have no problem finding an 
I don't know about you, but I like Korean food vibrant – popping with peppers, kimchi and fresh garlic. This sort of fare commands a commensurate libation. Specifically 
The two most popular cuts of beef for Korean barbecue are cross-cut shortribs (galbee) and thinly-sliced ribeye (bulgogi). However, marinating a whole side of beef, or in this case, a flank steak ,in the same seasonings, grilling, then slicing the grilled steak after cooking is a good way to enjoy Korean barbecue as well. Most Koreans wrap up a slice of beef with a little spoonful of rice and some red pepper sauce in a lettuce leaf, but I usually leave the rice out and double up on the hot sauce.
That's right. South Korean astronauts may be taking a specially designed type of kimchi with them when they travel on a Russian spacecraft in 2008. The news comes from a recent 
We've talked about Korean sojus here before, and even 
Few things help me to kick the winter blues better than a steaming hot mini-cauldron of
soon doo-boo jji-gae, or Korean silken tofu stew. And, truth be told, I've also counted upon its therapeutic
effects to chase away many a hangover. Some may balk at the idea of silken tofu stew as inherently boring and
probably envision a pale porridge. But soon doo-boo is anything but boring. 
What Can I Get You Folks? - Server Revenge
Reality-Show Celebrities Serve Up Chef Curtis Stone's 'Hundred-Dollar Burger'
Foods Celebrity Chefs Hate
