and the filling I replace it with plums jam.

I have 3 versions of this …

1st  version:

The cake balls are rolling in cinnamon+sugar :

     Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of sweet rice flour
• 1 cup of boiling water
• salt, sugar, brown sugar
• 1 cups of red beans
• 1 ts of cinnamon powder
• black sesame seeds powder
• mugworth powder
• toasted yellow soy bean powder 
•  1 or 2 cups of flour

My version of the recipe:

2 cups of sweet rice flour

1 cup of boiling water

salt,sugar,brown sugar

1 ts of cinnamon powder

1 or 2 cups of flour

(for filling) plums jam.

Hope you like it!

mushrooms,some onion) and near the rice I  have some ruccola salad and red beet. 

P.S. if someone want the recipe don’t hesitate to ask me..(I am sorry I am not posting the recipe now..but I have a lot of

things to do..and this what I can do it right now..)

Here is the sauce mixture ingredients for the baek kimchi.As you see, there is nogochugaru (red pepper flakes) as this is a non-spicy dish.

Just your regular big-headed Napa cabbage, or baechu in Korean.

Split into quarters like this and rip it apart.

Cut into bite-size pieces or keep quartered until after fermenting.

Prepare the salt water to soak the cabbage for a minimun of 12 hours.

Prepare the sauce mixture in a mixing bowl. A larger one than this is recommended.

This mixture will be combined with sliced vegetables.

This will be added the cabbage and left to ferment a few days out in room temperature.

You probably won’t find real baek kimchi presented to you this way.I thought it deserved special attention for its photo shoot.

Servings: 12~14 people
Prep time: 10 minutes
Salting time: 12 hours to 24 hours
Fermenting time: 1 to 2 days

Ingredients:

• 1 Napa cabbage, quartered
• 2 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2  Korean radish, julienned
• 2 carrots, julienned
• 1/2 pear (or apple), julienned
• 5 chestnuts, peeled and julienned
• 2, 3 Korean dates/jujubes, thinly sliced (optional)
• 1, 2 red chili peppers, seeded and cut into thin strips
• 1, 2 green chili peppers, seeded and cut into thin strips
• 1/2 cup coarse salt

• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp ginger, minced
• 3 tbsp saewujeot (salted shrimp)
• 4 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp salt (kosher or sea salt)
• 3 cups water

1. Rinse cabbage under running water, removing any bruised leaves or rotten sections. Cut cabbage into quarters or small bite-size pieces to save time later.
2. Prepare enough water to cover cabbage and dissolve with 1/2 cup of coarse salt in a large bowl. Add the cabbage chunks into the the salt water until at least partically submerged. Leave it in the salt water for minimum 12 hours (24 hours preferrably).
3. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce mixture by peeling and washing the radish. Cut into thin discs (mandolin works well) and then cut into matchstick pieces. Do the same with peppers and pear.
4. If using dates, wash them and soak for 10-15 minutes. Remove the seeds and cut into thin slices. Puree the onion, garlic, ginger, salted shrimp, and 1/2 cup of water in a food processor until smooth. Combine with all the sauce ingredients plus adding 5 more cups of water into a large container.
5. Remove the salted cabbage and rinse well. Drain and squeeze excess water out.
6. Mix cabbage leaves with the sauce mixture. When all leaves have been lathered, place your new kimchi into an air-tight jar container. If you have quartered cabbage sections, place the stuffing mixture in between the leaves starting with the bottom leaf and work your way up. Repeat until you have used up all the filling. Pour remaining broth into the glass container.
7. Let sit at room temperature for a few days and then refrigerate. Enjoy with rice and other meals.

I’m not sure why I didn’t post bibimbab earlier since it’s such a popular dish among foreigners and Koreans alike. I hope Koreataste and its’ fans enjoy this super healthy dish that can made into many different variations (i.e. vegetarian, extra spicy, etc) according to personal preference.

Along with kimchi, bibimbap takes its place among the representative foods in Korean cuisine. Literally meaning “mixed rice,” it’s a popular and healthy meal consisting of white rice topped with vegetables, beef, a whole egg, and gochujang (red chili pepper paste). For those who cannot handle the spiciness (like our children), you can substitute with soy sauce in place of it. As with variations with different ingredients, there is also its distant cousin dolsot bibimbap, which is bimbimbab served in a heated earthenware bowl. I love these stoneware pots because they always come out sizzling/bubbling/steaming and keep the food super-hot, even after finishing the meal. Ddukbaegi (stoneware for soups & stews) is similar to dolsot and can be seen served in many Korean restaurants. Though we don’t own any right now, hopefully we’ll be able to purchase one of these rustic, traditional bowls when the colder weather comes around.

Here are the ingredients for our bibimbab.

Cook the spinach for a few minutes, drain, and set aside.

You can remove excess water by squeezing out the water with your hands

Slice up carrots into matchstick pieces and saute them for a few minutes.

Add a little bit of olive oil and cook until no longer firm.

Season the beef strips with salt and pepper before sauteing.

Cook the meat until browned or when pink is no longer visible.

You can use plain gochujang (Korean red pepper paste) with the bibimbab or you can make it runnier by adding these ingredients.

Prepare 4 sunny side up eggs and you’re ready to go.

Sometimes you don’t want to mix them together and ruin the beautiful colors.

Here’s the wife’s serving with gochugaru (red pepper flakes) as garnish.

• 4 cups cooked white rice
• 1 bunch fresh spinach (or pre-packaged spinach)
• 1 lb sandwich steaks, thin cut (any thin cut will work though)
• 2 carrots, cut into thin matchsticks
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 English cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks (mixed with gochugaru)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 large eggs, sunny side up
• 4 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp gochujang (Korean red pepper paste; Sriracha sauce okay too)
• 1 tsp sesame seeds (garnish)
• sprinkle gochugaru (red chili flakes; garnish)

We had another nostalgic Korean dish last week when the wife requested something a little more exotic, a dish called golbaengi muchim (spicy sea snail mix/salad). Though I am not a big fan of this particular dish, its request alone signals that some sort of drinking session will not be far off (party time).  In Korea, this is usually consumed as anju (side dish with alcohol) such as beer or the popular soju (distilled rice/Korean vodka). Sadly, I remember always having to order an extra side dish while my compatriots continuously tried to persuade me on this dish. But it was all in vain; I just couldn’t (and still can’t) get over the idea of eating odd-looking snails from a can. As for the dish itself, It is simple to prepare as long as you have the main ingredients: canned sea snails (aka whelks), vegetables like shredded green onions, onion, and cucumber, mixed with a spicy sauce (gochujang) and other seasonings. We included some cold somyeon (thin noodles) which really brings more flavor and texture to the dish. As with most Korean dishes, it can get a little spicy and sour (from the vinegar), so adjust the amount of red pepper paste and sugar to remedy this problem. Although I pass on the sea snails themselves (which is good news to the wifey), I do enjoy the spicy noodles with vegetables, which makes for a refreshing and satisfying appetizer with some cold brew.

Here are the ingredients for our golbaengi muchim. The only thing missing is onion, which was MIA in our pantry.

Some pieces can be pretty large, cutting them into smaller pieces is optional.

Prepare the vegetables like this, or cut into preferred sizes.

Add all the sauce ingredients and mix thoroughly. Sample the sauce and adjust seasoning according to taste.

Give them all a good mix until the noodles are ready.

The noodles are usually served on the side and then mixed in later, but here is a picture with all the ingredients at serving.

Cook time: 5 minutes (noodles)

Ingredients:

• 1 can golbaengi (sea snails/whelk)
• 6~8 oz. somyeon (thin noodles)
• 1 cucumber, cut into strips
• 1 small onion, cut into strips
• 1, 2 carrots, cut into strips
• 2, 3 green onions, cut into strips
• 3 tbsp gochujang (red pepper paste)
• 1 tbsp gochugaru (red pepper flakes)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp vinegar (cider vinegar or Mirin okay)
• sesame seeds (garnish)
• sesame/perilla leaves (optional)

Directions:

1. Drain the liquid from the can and rinse the sea snails under running cold water for several minutes. Continue rinsing until bubbles dissipate or no longer appear.
2. Cut the sea snails into bite-sized pieces, or keep as is if larger pieces are desired. Prepare the vegetables accordingly by cutting them into 2-inch strips (see pics above).

*The sea snails can be bought at most local Asian or Korean markets along with the somyeon noodles.

What am I talking about? ??

Then let’s take a look at the ‘Tteok Galbi’ (떡갈비)!

Isn’t it really looking like a hamburger patty? However the taste is more tender and rich with Korean seasoning and vegies.

Anyway here is the little historical back ground for Tteok Galbi;

Once up on a time, in the Joseon Dynasty era, it was very impolite to eat food with bare hands, especially for upper class people. Besides that, since the King is so virtuous one it was really troublesome to eat Galbi (the meat wrapped around ribs) with chopsticks. So the palace chef boned the meat and makes a patty for the King.

This is the secrets about the Tteok Galbi’s birth.

Since then it is widely enjoyed through upper classes people in Seoul.

Today I dare to try this King’s food.

Ingredients

Ground rib-eye beef (300g)

Chopped onion 1/4 C

Chopped green onion 1/4 C

U-JaCheong(Citron Marmalade )3T

Soy sauce 1T

Chopped green &red pepper

Seasoning ingredients

(soy sauce 2T ,sugar 1T, grain syrup 1T,minced garlic 1t, ginger juice 1/2t,sesame oil 1t,black pepper 1/2t)

Now, let’s start with by preparing fine chopped onion and spring onion.

Make sure the meat is minced evenly and mixed with prepared onion and spring onion.

And followings are the seasonings for it.

Put soy sauce,sugar, minced garlic ,sesame oil, grain syrup ,ginger juice, and black pepper into the meat and mixed well.

Now let’s make citron sauce. Put some citron marmalade and soy sauce into the pan and heat, stirring occasionally, over medium heat.

Take a golf ball sized piece of the beef mixture, make it round, and then flatten it.

Flip it over and press it with a spatula. Reduce the temperature to medium-low.

Occasionally flip them over but not too often. Fry them until the both sides of the galbi become nicely browned.

Here it is Your Majesty.

So birthday dishes must be special. Don’t y’all think so?

The other day I realize that there are special, Must Be, food for Korean birthday. One is ‘Seaweed soup’, and the other is ‘Noodle’. On a birthday morning ‘Seaweed soup’ (called ‘MIYEOKGUK’) Must be on the table and in the birthday party noodle should be there, especially for older people.

The reason they have noodle is wishing for long life just like long noodle. I like that idea and I’m gonna have spaghetti on my birthday for every year! Ha Ha.

However the noodle recipe is easier than I thought so wanna share with your guys out there.

Oh, by the say this noodle called ‘Janchiguksu’, in direct translation it’s Party Noodle.

Unlikely American noodle dishes many Korean noodles are soaked into watery soup.

So the first step is of course making anchovy broth.

Here is how to;

Anchovy Broth Ingredients:

2 cups dried anchovies(Myulchi)

2 pieces square dried kelp(Dasima)

1/2 cup dried shrimp

10  cups water

Directions:

To make the stock, boil 10 cups of water with all the stock ingredients for 15 minutes

Before pouring water, Fry anchovies and dried shrimps without oil. This helps to remove some odd smell and enhance its flavor.

While the stock is boiling, mix all the sauce ingredients in a separate bowl.

Sauce:

Sesame oil(1T)

Soysauce(4T)

Hot pepper powder(1t)

Minced garlic (1t)

Grind sesame seeds(1t)

And now it is the time to making topping (called ‘GOMYEONG’)

Cut the carrot, leeks and zucchini into 5cm length and thin strips.

Chop the red and green pepper. Separate the egg yolks and the whites.

Fry the cut carrot, zucchini with a little bit of oil for a minute.

Fry the egg yolk and the egg white separately, then cut into 5cm length strips.

Alright, we are almost there and the final step is preparing noodle.

When it’s cooked enough, rinse the noodles under cold running water while rubbing. Drain well. This thin noodle called ‘Somyeon’ and I really think this is really like Angel Hair Noodles for pasta. (my luck to find out this noodle for my next pasta cook!).

One caution! Do not rinse the noodle with warm water, this is not pasta cooking.

Put the noodles into a bowl and pour the stock gently on the side.

Arrange the vegetables and egg on top.

Finally put suitable amount of prepared sauce.

Why don’t you try it for your happy and long life.

One Special tip;

There is a step to prepare a bowl called ‘To-ryom’, pouring hot broth over the bowl to keep the noodle while you eat. This step is not really necessary.