Kimchi Mamas

Thank Galbi It's Friday

Thank Galbi It's Friday Jjim

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs bone-in thick-cut beef short ribs

Water

2 T sake or mirin

4 T soy sauce

1 T brown sugar

8 cloves of garlic, minced

½ onion, roughly sliced

4 carrots, large chunks

1-2 lb. Korean radish or daikon, large chunks

6-12 shiitake mushrooms (soaked in hot water for 30 minutes if dried)

2 green onions, daintily chopped

½ t pepper

1 T sesame oil (optional)

1. Soak ribs in cold water for at least 30 minutes, changing the water often (to get the blood out).
2. Cover with fresh water in a pot or Dutch oven, then boil ribs 5-10 min.
3. Drain the pot, take the ribs out, and wash them in cold water to remove fat and impurities.  Put back into the pot.
4. (Don't tell my mom, but you can skip the first 3 steps if you don't feel like it doing all that crap.)
5. Add: 2 cups water, mirin, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and onion.
6. Bring to boil, simmer ½ hour.
7. After ½ hour, add carrot/radish/mushroom.  Cover and simmer for AT LEAST 1 hour over low heat, stirring/basting/tasting occasionally.
8. Meat is done when you can poke it with a chopstick with very little effort.  
9. Separate fat from the Good Stuff.  You can use a gravy separator to do a decent job, or you can be hardcore (like my mom) and refrigerate the whole thing overnight, then scrape off the solidified fat.  Discard, or feel free to make candles or what have you, you hippie.
10. Garnish with green onions and fresh black pepper, and sesame oil IF YOU MUST (I think I've already mentioned my disdain for that flavor).

4/20 Pork Belly Kimchi Tacos

I had a huge craving this afternoon for some spiciness. And since necessity is the mother of invention, I created this recipe with some leftovers I had in the refrigerator.  Korean fusion cuisine is easy-peasy if you remember a couple things: Kimchi + pork = 2getha 4eva, and Korean side dishes (ban chan) makes pretty much anything taste more lively (or, dare I say it, exotic).  And let me just add that its name and culinary daredevilry aside, these tacos were not invented under the influence of actual 420.  It's more of an homage, let's say.

I believe this is the first recipe I've ever posted, so that should show you how religious this eating experience was for me.  I washed it down with Black Beer Stout made by Hite (yes, a Korean stout!!!) which is basically Guinness Lite and is my new favorite beer.

 

Julie's 4/20 Pork Belly Kimchi Tacos

8-10 slices of pork belly (samgyupsal), sliced vertically into 1/4-inch strips
2 large king oyster mushrooms (or 1 pack of normal mushrooms), sliced similarly to pork belly
1-2 cups kimchi, roughly chopped (depending on whether you want it to be mostly meat or mostly kimchi)
1 T butter or bacon grease
Chili flakes (gochugaru) to taste, optional
salt and pepper to taste
Corn tortillas
Taco fixin's: I used seaweed salad and crumbled tofu, but the more "traditional" shredded cabbage/salsa/queso fresco combo would be excellent as well.  Another possibility would be bibim-bahp toppings if you have them handy.

1. Heat a pan over medium-high heat.  Throw the pork belly strips in and let them brown.  Season with salt and pepper (watch the salt, since kimchi is naturally salty).

2. After 2 minutes, throw in the mushrooms and saute for 3-4 minutes.  Add 1 T butter or bacon grease for flavor and lubrication.

3. Throw in the kimchi and chili flakes!  Saute (but mostly leave it be) for 8-10 minutes, or until done.  The kimchi will release their juices after a few minutes; let that evaporate and caramelize.  The kimchi's done when it is slightly yellow in color and floppy.

4. Warm up your tortillas, and scoop in your filling and toppings.  Disfrutenlos, amigos!

Feeds 2+

Note: I didn't include sesame oil in the recipe because I personally hate the taste of it with kimchi, but include it if you wish.

 

--Julie

Extreme Makeover: Kimchi Edition

We all know how hectic life gets after your first, second, or eighth son is born, and being the selfless women we are, we often let our femininity fall by the wayside.  If I had a 100-won for every time I left the house with bedhead and no make-up, I'd be able to buy a 5th Gucci purse.  Sigh.

However, although I hardly ever wear make-up anymore, people are always so curious to know how I preserve my creamy Asian skin.  At least that's what I think they want to know, because they can't keep their hands off of it!  Well, the key word is preserve.  Let me explain.

We all know how delicious kimchi is, especially when eaten with a steaming bowl of lice, I mean, rice.  But did you know that the microorganisms responsible for making this cabbage-y concoction so delectable can also help you fill in those fine lines and wrinkles?  That's right!  The Fountain of Youth has been in hiding in your refrigerator this whole time!  At least that explains the smell.

Introducing...Kimchi Beauty Face!!!

Free picture collage personalized with Smilebox

For flawless skin, I recommend 2 cups of kimchi applied to your face weekly.  Feel free to try out different kinds of kimchi too!  I've found that buchu kimchi is great for minimizing pores, and kkakdugi also works for all-natural hair removal.  Don't ask me how I know that.  Let's just say I haven't had to get a Brazilian ever since.

Double Happiness Beauty Good Luck To YOU!!!

Warning: The actions depicted and/or described in this post are potentially dangerous, yet delicious. Julie is an experienced fermentationary professional. Results (and beauty) like Julie's are not guaranteed to everyone. Avoid the eye area.  Always wear the appropriate safety gear.

Cross-posted on Kimchi Mamas!

Spam. Korean style.

I've been filling some of my time by volunteering with an organization involved with foster children.  I can't practice here in California because I don't have a license, but it's an area I'm passionate about and I wanted to keep my skills up even if it was only four hours a week.  Anyway, that's how I found myself in a conversation with a group of mostly caucasian women.  There was one other mid-twenties Korean girl, but her and I were it in regards to minorities in the office.

Somehow, the subject of Spam came up.  I can't remember how it got mentioned, but I will never forget how one of the social workers exclaimed that it was gross!  and that's she's never tried it, and can't imagine why someone would eat it.  

I looked around at the other faces and saw that besides the other korean girl, the others didn't really disagree with her.  After a short pause, the other girl and I confessed almost at the same time "I love spam."  But I only felt embarrassed by it for a second before I realized that I had nothing to be ashamed of.  Spam is GOOD stuff.  Even the current President of the United States indulges in it. 

It was obvious that this had become a cultural/ethnicity thing.  The line was drawn as they looked at us with, not disgust, but sort of the beginnings of it, and we looked at them with pity because they did not know the oily rich goodness that we did.  This particular portion of the conversation ended when I pointed out that Spam was enjoyed by many cultures around the world.  Cultures that were touched by some sort of occupation by the American military, which is where the Spam came from in the first place, and was usually the only source of meat while the country healed and rebuilt.  The yummy BuDae Chigae was a hearty stew filled with canned things from America.  Then I wondered if this meant I should be a little more sly about buying spam in bulk at Costco.  In Hawaii, everyone has spam in their pantry.  It's a staple.  But I guess not so much here.

I came home that day with visions of spam and kimchi in my head.  I couldn't resist and made my self a huge pan of spam and kimchi fried rice. Here's my korean style (where there really isn't much measuring) super easy, spam and kimchi fried rice recipe.

Ingredients:

half a can of spam chopped.  1-2C kimchi chopped (the more sour and old, the better...).  a quarter stick of butter.  soy sauce...oh i'd say a couple of table spoons.  an egg for each person.  and rice (however much is left over in your rice cooker from dinner last night, or about one and a half scoops per person.)

1.  Put the spam, kimchi and half of the butter into a large frying pan.  Cook while occasionally stirring until the kimchi wilts.

2.  Put the rice, rest of the butter and the soy sauce into the pan and mix well while the whole thing cooks.

3.  In a separate pan, cook an egg (sunny side up is a favorite at our house) for each person eating.  

4.  Scoop the rice onto plates in equal portions, set an egg on top on each and ENJOY!!

Seriously easy, but seriously delicious.  Do you have any spam recipes to share too?  Come on, be proud you love spam too and share it with your fellow Kimchi Mamas!

-Jooliyah who was often sad to not find spam musubis at Seven Eleven or Mcdonald's this past year during her stay on the mainland.