Korean Pupu Chicken

I didn't want to waste the oil that I had used to fry some lumpia in so I fried up some chicken too.

I used to make this a long time ago with chicken drumettes, but lacking drumettes I cut up thighs instead.

After you salt and pepper the chicken you dredge in flour and fry.  Right after frying you dunk the chicken quickly for about 5 minutes in a shoyu/garlic sauce and that's it.  The recipe for the sauce is below.  I made half for four good-sized thighs.

It got the "good chicken" approval from Landon. In fact, he took our leftovers to his friend's house to share.

1 cup shoyu

3/4 cup sugar

2 garlic gloves

2 green onions

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon garlic chili sauce 

Spicy Bulgogi Chicken

Landon:  That's good chicken.

Me: Yay!

And guess what.  I just used this.  I didn't even add anything else.  I marinated one pound of sliced-up chicken in it overnight.

After I fried the marinated chicken in a little bit of oil, I threw some sliced pre-fried tofu into the leftover sauce.

This is how I ate um.

I got the package from Didi who ordered it online.  She said that Whole Foods just started carrying it, and it just so happens to be on sale right now!  But . . . can somebody tell me . . . are the lines still long?  I stopped going because of that.

Cleta's Soon Tofu Soup

 Look at that pikcha!!  Makes me want some right now!

Cleta said she made it with this soup kit which she got from H Mart for around $1.99.  She enhanced it with Kauai Sugar Shrimp (from Sam's), sliced zucchini, soy sprouts and kimchee with "juice".

Wendell's Korean Tofu Soup

Wendell made this the other day, and it totally hit the spot.  He got the recipe from a site called Jan's Food Steps.

Ingredients

• 2 pkg silken tofu
• 200g sliced beef
• 1 cup kimchi, chopped into smaller pieces
• 1.5 tsp red chili pepper flakes or gochugaru
• 3 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2.5 cups unsalted chicken broth 
• 1 scallion, finely sliced for garnish
• kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. In a pot over medium heat, add beef, kimchi, garlic, red chili pepper flakes and sesame oil. Stir-fry until beef is almost cooked and kimchi has softened, about 3-5 minutes.

2. Add the broth and bring it to boil. Let the soup boil for about 5 minutes while skimming off the scum.

3. Add in the silken tofu in big chunks. I just cut the tube-shaped package in half and squeeze the tofu into the pot. Let it cook for another 3-4 minutes or until tofu is warmed through. Add kosher salt and black pepper to taste.

4. Just before serving, sprinkle the chopped scallion on top of the soup (if using).

My Kim Chee Tofu Soup

I almost messed this up by putting twice the amount of red pepper flakes than needed. When I realized my mistake I ended up scraping out whatever I could. So typical of me. Luckily it still came out gooooood. 

I can't remember where the original recipe came from so I can't give credit, but I did tweak it a bit so maybe it's okay.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 pound-ish ground pork

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon ginger, grated

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup kimchi, chopped

2 tablespoons Korean red pepper paste (gochujang)

1 tablespoon Korean red pepper flakes (gochugaru)

1 1/2 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon

1 cup kimchi juice

6  cups water 

1 block tofu, cut into cubes

PREPARATION

1. Combine garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil and fish sauce in bowl. Add ground pork, mix and let marinate for 10 minutes.
2. Fry pork mixture in a pot. When half cooked add onion, stirring, until softened. Add kimchi, gochujang, gochugaru and Better Than Boullion.
3. Add kimchi juice and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a brisk simmer and cook for 20 minutes. 
4. Add tofu just before serving.

Here's the Better than Bouillon (and Kona)

Wendell's Kochujang Lettuce Wrap "Sausage"

Wendell found this recipe in this week's Crave section of the Star-Advertiser. It can be found here. Instead of making patties, he just stir fried the whole thing so that it could be eaten in a lettuce wrap. Good idea yah! 

The flavor was very potent, so you don't need to add any additional sauce, although Landon did along with some eggs.

Korean Kochujang Sausage

Courtesy Glenn Shinsato 

• 2 pounds ground pork
• 1/2 cup kochujang sauce
• 6 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 ounce honey
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup fruit jam
• Won bok kim chee, chopped (optional)

Combine ingredients and mix until sticky. Shape into 4-inch patties about 3/4-inch thick. Heat oil in pan and fry patties. 

Wendell's Soft Tofu Stew

I'm very partial to soups and this one was very tasty.  Wendell got the recipe from here. 

Ingredients

• 1 package (11 ounces) soondubu, 순두부 (extra soft/silken tofu)
• 2 ounces beef or pork (rib eye, sirloin, pork loin, or pork belly)
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced kimchi
• 1 scallion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes (gochugaru)- add more for a spicier stew
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil (use a little more if using more gochugaru)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon saewujeot, 새우젓 (salted shrimp) or salt
• pinch black pepper
• 1 cup anchovy broth* (or other broth or water)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons juice from kimchi
• 1 egg (optional)

Instructions

• 1
  Cut the meat and kimchi into small thin strips. Add the kimchi, meat, red chili pepper flakes, garlic and sesame oil to a small pot, and place it over medium heat. 
• 2
  Stir-fry until the meat is almost cooked and the kimchi is soft, 3 - 4 minutes. 
• 3
  Pour in the broth (or water) and juice from the kimchi. Bring it to a boil, and continue to boil for 3 - 4 minutes. Skim off the scum. 
• 4
  Add the soft tofu in big chunks. Stir in the salted shrimp or salt to taste (start with 1/4 teaspoon) and black pepper. Cook for 4 -5 minutes. Add the chopped scallion right before turning the heat off. If desired, crack an egg into the stew while it’s still boiling hot.
  
  
  *For anchovy broth, boil about 5 or 6 medium dry anchovies and 1 3-inch square dried kelp in 2 cups of water for 10 minutes.

  • 
    

Grandpa's Kim Chee Recipe

My sister Geri made this kim chee following Wendell's dad's recipe. I didn't even know that he had a kim chee recipe.



Here is my father-in-law's hand-written recipe that Geri gave to us. She made a copy for herself. Geri said that he had given the recipe to her a long time ago with a package of the "secret ingredient".

Wendell's Kimchee Stew

This is another recipe that Wendell saw on Facebook. It's a COOKAT TV video that is also on YouTube (yay!). I've embedded the video below if you want to watch it.




*W = Wendell used*

250 g pork shoulder blade 
1/4 kimchi (W - one small bottle kimchee)
1 green onion
1/2 tofu (W - 1 block)
1 spicy red pepper
340 ml rice water (W - 1 1/2 c. plain water)

Sauce:
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp red pepper flake
1 Tbsp fermented shrimp (W - 1 Tbsp patis)
1/2 Tbsp fermented soybean paste 

1. Add kimchi, pork, and rice water in a clay pot (W - no clay pot)
2. When it boils add Sauce
3. Boil about 20 more minutes.
3. Add tofu, onion, green onion, spicy red pepper and simmer. 

Wendell's Bulkogi

I think Wendell might've gotten this recipe from the same magazine that the jerk chicken recipe was in. Wendell couldn't find "skirt" steak which the recipe called for so got "flap" instead.  It was kinda tough to me. But the taste was still ono.

2 lb. skirt steak

1/3 cup tamari soy sauce

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 tbsp. fresh lime juice

2 or 3 cloves chopped garlic

1/2 cup scallion

2 tbsp. sesame seeds, toasted

1/4 cup sesame oil

2 tbsp. coarse salt

Marinate 1 to 24 hours

Wendell's Chicken Jjim

Wendell made this the other night.  He got the recipe from Kimchi Chronicles.  It's actually called Marja's Easy Braised Chicken.  It was veeeeery tasty.

Didi's Kim Chee Pork

I woke up at 9 this morning.  I usually get up at around 6:30.  The staying-up-late-crochetting thing is making my body clock all messed up.  I feel jet lagged.  I'll show you pictures of my latest creations later.  In the meantime . ..  ta daaaaa . . .. Didi's Kim Chee Pork recipe!




2-3 lbs. pork , butt, shoulder or pork steaks, sliced *
Wooden bamboo skewers, soaked in water 30 minutes


Marinade:
3 cloves garlic minced
2-quarters ginger, peeled, minced
4TB ko choo jang sauce
4 TB chili garlic paste
4 TB sriracha sauce
2 TB honey
2 TB oyster sauce
2 TB soy sauce


In a mixing bowl; combine marinade ingredients. Marinate pork 1 hour. Thread pieces onto skewers. Grill over charcoal until cooked through. Serves 8-10. Optional to marinate pork “steaks,” cook as desired and slice for service.

Note from jalna:   So Didi, what is pork steaks?  And where da kim chee?

Korean Pancake

I bought this Korean Pancake mix from Palama Market for $1.99 about a month ago. I finally made it yesterday.



These are my four ingredients. Talk about simple.


I first added water to the pancake mix. The directions were in Korean so I really didn't know exactly how much to add. Then I chopped up everything else and threw them in the batter.
Fried um up . . .


and got this. It was really good . . .


especially with this sauce . . . ko chu jang, shoyu, honey, sesame seeds and vinegar mixed together. I wanted to add sesame oil too, but I couldn't find it. I don't know the proportions - I just eyeballed it. I had to add some water too cause at first it was too thick and potent.

Landon's Pork Belly without Mochi

One of my favorite things to eat from Palama Market is Pork Belly with Mochi. I blogged about it before here. Actually I usually just eat the mochi and Landon or CQ will eat the pork belly.

Landon made his version of the dish tonight minus the mochi (boooo!) and it tasted really good, almost like Palama Market's.



Landon said he cut up about 2 pounds of pork belly into cubes and boiled it for one hour. Then he sauteed the pork, one large sliced carrot and 2 cut-up bell peppers in some vegetable oil. He added 2 tbsp of the ko chu jang sauce on the left, 1 tbsp from the container in the middle and 1 tbsp from the jar on the right - all that he could find in our 'fridge. I think they're all ko chu jang sauces, but he thinks not. He then added about 1 tbsp of shoyu, 3 tbsp of sugar and finally when almost pau 1 to 2 tbsp sesame oil to taste. He also said that if he could've found the sesame seeds he would've added some in too.

Geri's Chap Jae

Geri's chap jae turned out really good considering it was her first time to make it, and considering she was taught how to make it by a customer in Palama Market who came to Geri's aid when she noticed the confused look on Geri's face while she was shopping.

1 package of what Geri calls "Korean long rice noodle". I went online and discovered that it's called dang myun/yam noodle/sweet potato starch noodle/cellophane noodle.

1 carrot, sliced thin like in the picture
Some "spinach-looking green vegetable", blanched very quickly
Some dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water, sliced
1 round onion, sliced

Add 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 cup shoyu and 1 package dashi to a pot of water and boil. Throw in the noodles and boil for about 10 to 15 minutes. (Geri said the lady said 15 minutes, but it seems long so I added the "10 to"). When the noodles are ready, drain into colander BUT DON'T RINSE because you don't want to rinse out the flavor. Instead pour 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons sesame oil onto noodles and mix together so that the noodles don't all stick together.

Sautee the vegetables in some oil, season with some pepper and a little dashi. Add to noodles. And, like CQ says, "Walla!"

My Korean Tofu Miso Soup

Korean miso soup is like 3 times more potent than the Japanese version so be prepared. Geri, Teren and Wendell all ended up coughing after tasting the first spoonful; in fact Teren sprayed the whole dining room table.

I got this from Palama Market. I can only best decribe it as an anchovy dashi.
Put 1/4 cup of the dashi into 13 cups of water, set on medium heat.

Add 3 beef boullion cubes.

This red chili paste (kochujang) is also from Palama Market. I asked a customer there to tell me which one was her favorite and she chose this one for me. Add 1/4 cup to the broth.

I guess you should be using Korean miso for this soup, but I already had a tub of this in my fridge so I used this miso instead. Add 1 1/2 cups.
Add one zucchini, 1/2 onion and some chives. The recipe I was following called for green onions, but I had these chives so I used them instead.
Add two tubs of cut up tofu. Transfer your soup to a bigger pot and add 3 pounds of thinly sliced beef. It turned out to be kinda a lot of meat so you might not need that much. Simmer. And that's it! Pretty simple yeah!

Kim Chee!!!

The most incredible thing to me (besides the fact that I made it) is that yesterday this was a head of won bok cabbage, and today by lunchtime it was kim chee! So fast!

I bought this head of won bok at Palama Market. It was only 50 cents a pound! First, slice the head in two. Then I took almost 1/2 cup of Hawaiian salt and rubbed it between the leaves.

I said "almost" 1/2 cup cause this is what happened when I was almost done with the rubbing.

Put in press. This was about 6:30 p.m. yesterday.

After 4 hours it already looked like this, and according to reader Josefina's Korean friend, you can remove it after it's wilted (usually 4 to 6 hours). Not knowing any better, I left it overnight. The next morning I rinsed it out twice and took it to work with me to finish.

I also brought with me this Parks Brand Kim Chee Sauce (from Palama Market), some chives and garlic gloves.

I used about one fourth of the Kim Chee sauce and mixed it with some water.

We added a little bit of honey!! Yup, honey.

And chopped up one clove of garlic.

We added the chives, garlic and sauce to the won bok.

By lunch time it was ready to eat!! It was a hit!