I know I've been gone a long time and I'm going to cheat and not even give a new recipe but something that I should have finished up long ago. It's crazy because I'm not working and my son is in preschool which means I have a LOT of time to myself. Yet, I feel busier than ever just going around and doing random things. I'm supposed to go back to work soon, but taking this last year off has been a blessing in disguise. I feel so much better and re-energized!
I keep saying how I wish there was a way that I never had to work again. Wishful thinking. In this economy, I guess I should be happy that I have something to go back to. =P
Anyhow, here we go! Clear ojinguh gook. I have no idea what else to call it! All the women in my family make this soup for special occasions like choo-suk or my Grandpa's jae-sah. I think the reason is because it's quite time consuming because there are a lot of steps. It's a "special" gook that we eat once or twice a year.
First go and grab some book-uh. This is the brand my MIL sent from Korea. It’s great. I don’t know if they sell it here. =/
Anyhow, grab about 1/2 cup of book-uh with some dashima (sea kelp - thanks to whoever pointed that out!) and boil it in about...oh let's say 8 cups of water. Boil it for about 20 minutes or so while you're getting everything else prepared. I didn't measure anything yet again. Sorry. Am I becoming a Korean mother on you? A little bit of this and a little bit of that! =)
Wash and clean your squid and bring a pot of water to a boil.
Drain about 1/2 cup of beef...
Slightly boil the squid. This really helps in getting the fishy smell out and it also gets rid of all the excess liquid from the squid.
Chop up about two cups of moo.
In a pot, heat about 1 TB of sesame oil, 1/2 TB of minced garlic, and 2.5 TB of gook ganjang.
Add the beef and saute until done.
Chop up your squid like so....
And add the squid and moo and mix it for a little bit.
Then add the book-uh broth and some tofu and let it boil for about 30 minutes on low heat. The broth will eventually turn white.
The finished product! Munchkin *LOVES* ojinguh so this is one of his favorite gooks. =)
Back in the day, I used to frequent a certain cafe in K-town that had this spicy shrimp dish. The cafe is no longer there, but I figured I could try and replicate the dish. First wash and peel about half a pound of shrimp.
In a small bowl, mix together to following: 1TB red pepper paste, 1/2TB red pepper powder, 3/4TB honey powder, 1TB rice wine, 1/4TB minced garlic.
Turn up the heat in a wok and add some sesame oil. Add the shrimp and cook until almost done.
Remove the shrimp from the heat and clean up the wok.
Add another 1TB of sesame oil to the wok and then throw in whatever vegetables you prefer. I used onions and mushrooms.
Next, add your spicy mixture and keeping mixing around.
Throw in the shrimp and mix well.
Keep cooking until the shrimp is all done!
You're now ready to serve!!!
Almost every Saturday the MR, Munchkin and I head to the local farmer's market. Today, I saw that the yellow corn looked particularly fresh so I made sure to grab some.
I bought four ears of corn and steamed them. Munchkin promptly polished off three all by himself. =P
Wash and peel 3 small white potatoes.
Quarter them like this...
And add it to some boiling water. Let it boil for about 20 minutes or so until they are soft.
Grab a masher and start mashing! I didn't measure today (too busy), but I added about 6-8 TB of mayonnaise (maybe more).
Speaking of mayonnaise, this is the BEST when making this salad.
I then took the lone leftover corn and cut it up like so.
Mix everything together!
Throw in some parsley (roughly 2 TB).
And you're ready to serve!
You can eat as a side dish at the table OR you can use it in a sandwich. I made both the MR and Munchkin a corn/potato sandwich (cut off the crusts!) and they ate it all very quickly! That's all! More updates will be coming this week.
I will be making a clear ojinguh gook tomorrow along with a spicy shrimp main dish. Stay tuned!
One of my current obsessions right now is the Korean drama called Brilliant Inheritance (찬란한 유산). In one of the episodes the main character makes Steak Bibimbap and ever since I've been dying to try and replicate it. =P
The MR, Munchkin and I don't eat at the dinner table together. I often eat standing in the kitchen while the MR takes his food in front of the computer and Munchkin eats on the coffee table while watching Special Agent Oso. =P We're all on different schedules.
SOOOO - the MR and I got to talking and decided that we will eat together at least on the weekends......even if it kills us. So far, so good. The first time we did it, Munchkin said, "Why we eating at the table Mommy?" hahaha. Yah, I felt really bad after that.
Anyhow, for breakfast/lunch I made the steak bibimbap I mentioned yesterday.
Ever since the cancer diagnosis, I've been trying to cut down on meat consumption and if we do eat meat, I make sure it's organic. It's a little pricey, but since we only eat it maybe once a week our grocery bills haven't gone up much.
In a bowl mix together the following: 1TB soy sauce, 1TB sesame seeds, 1TB honey powder, 1TB rice wine, 1/2 TB minced garlic, and a dash of ginger powder.
Thoroughly coat the beef (this is a little more than 1/2LB of NY steak) and let sit while you prep the other food.
Grab some bell pepper and onions and stir fry with some olive oil and a dash of lemon pepper.
Meanwhile, wash some baby greens...
And mix the following for the bibimbap sauce: 2TB red pepper paste, 2TB rice wine, 1.5TB honey powder, 1TB sesame seeds, 1/2TB sesame oil, and 1/2TB vinegar. (If you have some sprite/7-up, add a splash of that as well).
Fry two eggs and slice them up thinly...
Then grill your steak until it's well done.
Slice the steak into thin pieces and set it aside as well.
You're now ready to assemble. First plate your rice at the bottom of a large bowl.
Layer the greens on top. At this point you can use some scissors to cut up the greens into smaller pieces.
Plate the onions and bell pepper with a little bit of the hot sauce on top.
Add your steak pieces on top...
And then I threw on the eggs.
And I added gim as well. =P Before mixing, drizzle a heap of sesame oil on top and start mixing it around.
Add more hot sauce according to your own taste and you're ready to eat!
PS. My tolerance to spicy foods is slowly coming back. I still can't eat the rooster sauce, but kimchi and everything else in moderation no longer sets my mouth on fire. My biggest fear was not being able to eat spicy foods again so I'm happy. Each day my face is lightening up more and more and now I can go around without makeup. You can still tell, but it's no longer as red as it was in the beginning.
I'm healing.
