We needed something for dinner tonight and I actually felt up for cooking for once, so I consulted my short list. I wasn't up for a lot of cooking, but I felt I could do something small and simple and this cream sauce recipe fit the bill.

Dumplings in Cream Sauce

Adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 white or cremini mushrooms, sliced
• ~100g ham, chopped
• 2 c. milk
• 1/2 c. milk powder¹
• 1 Tbsp. chicken stock powder
• black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan
• 450g frozen dumplings (mini dumplings work especially well)
• 1 c. frozen peas
• 2-3 green onions, chopped

Directions

1. Heat the oil and butter over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.
4. Add the mushrooms, cover, and cook until they begin to release their liquid.
5. Add the ham and cook until heated through.
6. Add the milk, milk powder, and chicken stock and bring to a simmer.
7. Stir in pepper and Parmesan and adjust seasoning to taste.
8. Add the dumplings and peas and bring to a boil.
9. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until dumplings are heated through and sauce has reached desired consistency.
10. Stir in green onions and serve topped with additional Parmesan.

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¹ The original recipe called for cream. We only had milk. So I decided to try to approximate cream by adding some whole milk powder to skim milk. I'm quite pleased with how this worked and would absolutely do it this way again in the future. ^Back

Beef and Potato One-Pot Rice

It's been a while since I've watched any Aaron & Claire videos or tried any of their recipes. This one-pot rice is from one of their more recent posts, and looked quite appealing. Plus, we already had all of the ingredients on hand!

I did mess it up slightly by trying to scale the recipe up. We had 450g of beef rather than the 300g the recipe called for, so I just bumped it up to a 1.5x batch. It still came out tasty. But it took much longer to cook than stated in the recipe. Next time I think I'd just stick with the standard recipe and go slightly heavy on the beef if I had a larger amount available.

Photo goes here.

Beef & Potato One-Pot Rice

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Rice

• 2 c. uncooked white rice (pref. short-grain)
• 2 c. water
• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce¹
• 1 Tbsp. mirin
• 1 tsp. dasida (or other bouillon powder)
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 300-450g ground beef
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 green onions², chopped (whites and greens kept separate)
• 225g white or cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 2 Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• pat of butter³

Sauce

• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. mirin
• 1 Tbsp. gochugaru (Korean chile flakes)
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
• 1 green onion, green parts only
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Rinse the rice, then add enough water to cover by at least a cm or two and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine the water, soy sauce, mirin, and dasida and set aside.
3. Heat the oil over medium heat.
4. Add the beef and cook for ~2 minutes, break up, and cook for another minute or so.
5. Add the garlic, white parts of the green onions, mushrooms, and potatoes and stir to combine.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. Cook for 5-6 minutes.
8. Drain the rice and add it to the pot.
9. Stir to combine and cook for a minute or so.
10. Pour in the seasoned water, scrape the bottom of the pot, stir well, and bring to a boil.
11. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes.
12. Meanwhile, mix up the sauce by combining the soy sauce, mirin, gochugaru, sesame oil, green onion, and sesame seeds and mixing well. Set aside.
13. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Do not uncover!
14. Remove lid and fluff rice.
15. Sprinkle with green parts of green onions, top with a generous pat of butter, and stir them in.
16. Spoon into bowls and top with sauce as desired.

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¹ I used a mix of 2 parts light soy to 1 part dark soy. ^Back
2 We were short on green onions, so I just used 1 yellow onion in place of the white parts of the green onion and then added the green parts of some green onions at serving. ^Back
3 I only just realized that I completely forgot to add the butter. Whoops! ^Back

Budae Jjigae (Korean Army Base Stew)

I've made budae jjigae ramen before, but I'd never actually made the stew itself before. So I decided to finally give this version of it a try while I was in New Zealand.

I think, in the end, I actually preferred the budae jjigae ramen to this stew. But I'm still glad to have tried it! And, honestly budea jjigae is such a flexible recipe that there's really a lot of room for variation and adjustment. So I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to making this again with slightly different ingredients and proportions at some point.

Photo goes here.

Budae Jjigae

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Seasoning Paste

• 6 Tbsp. gochugaru (Korean chile flakes)
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2-3 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 2 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. dasida (Korean beef stock powder)
• 1/4 c. water

Soup

• 400g cabbage
• 1 Yukon Gold potato
• 4-5 green onions
• 400g SPAM
• 6-8 sausages
• 4 slices bacon
• 400g ground beef
• 1/4 c. baked beans
• 2-3 slices American (or mild cheddar) cheese
• 3 c. Korean bone broth (sagol yuksu)
• ~3 c. water
• 1-2 cake(s) of instant ramen noodles (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the gochugaru, sugar, garlic, soy sauce, dasida, and water. Mix well and set aside.
2. Cut the cabbage into bite-sized pieces.
3. Slice the potato, green onions, SPAM, sausages, and bacon.
4. Arrange all the ingredients nicely in a pot (or divide into two smaller pots).
5. Add the seasoning paste in the middle.
6. Use the ground beef to make some tiny meatballs -- no seasoning necessary -- and arrange them around the seasoning paste.
7. Add the baked beans and place the cheese on top.
8. Pour in the bone broth and water and bring to a boil.
9. Once the rest of the ingredients are almost cooked, add in the ramen (if using) and cook until done.
10. Serve with hot rice and/or kimchi.

This was a bit of a last-minute whirlwind meal. I got a bit carried away making goodies for my last day of class in NZ. I ended up making an apple-feijoa crumble, maple butter tarts, and maccaroni & cheese. Then, in a panic, realized that I didn't have anything for dinner. So I whipped up a quick batch of this pasta to serve to Reiver and the Kidlet before I went.

Reiver later pointed out that I really needn't have worried about it and that he could have easily fixed them some dinner while I was at class. Also, the Kidlet ended up basically eating her body weight in leftover mac & cheese when I got home anyway. So I probably should've just taken the extra few minutes to chill before class. Oh well...

Photo goes here.

Creamy Kimchi Pasta

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Pasta

• 200g kimchi, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. gochugaru (Korean chile flakes)
• 2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 500g dry pasta
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 4-6 green onions, chopped and divided
• 6-12 mushrooms, chopped
• 100g uncooked bacon, chopped
• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 c. milk
• 100g grated Parmesan
• ~1/2 c. pasta water
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Combine the kimchi, gochugary, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar and mix well. Set aside.
2. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Reserve ~1 c. of the water, then drain the rest.
3. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add the onions and the white parts of the green onions and sauté for 2 minutes.
5. Add the mushrooms and bacon and cook for another 2 minutes.
6. Add the kimchi mixture and cook until liquid has evaporated (~3 minutes).
7. Reduce heat to medium and add the cream and milk.
8. Simmer until thickened slightly (3-5 minutes).
9. Stir in the Parmesan and reduce heat to medium-low.
10. Add pasta, stir, increase heat to medium-high, and mix in ~1/4 c. of the reserved pasta water.
11. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
12. Add more pasta water as needed to achieve desired consistency.
13. Top with the green parts of the green onions and a bit of extra Parmesan to serve.

Gaji Namul (Korean Spicy Eggplant)

This is an old one. I made this the last time I was in NZ. I just never quite got around to writing it up. Which is a shame. Because it was delicious! Luckily, I kept a list of everything I made while I was over there. So I can rectify this grave oversight now.

Gaji Namul

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 450g Asian eggplants
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. gochugaru (Korean chile flakes)
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. sesame oil
• pepper, to taste
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 mild red chile or bell pepper (optional), minced
• 1/2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Halve eggplants lengthwise, then cut into pieces about 5cm (2") long.
2. Set up a steamer, bring water to a boil, add eggplants to steamer, cover, and cook for ~5 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
4. Combine the soy sauce, sugar, gochugaru, fish sauce, sesame oil, and pepper to taste and stir to combine.
5. Add the garlic, green onion, and chile/bell pepper (if using). Set aside.
6. Once eggplant is cool enough to handle, tear it into bite-sized pieces.
7. Pour the sauce over the eggplant and toss to combine.
8. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
9. Stir once more before serving.
10. Serve with rice and other banchan (side dishes) of your choice.

Classic Tteokbokki (Korean Rice Cakes)

This is the classic spicy tteokbokki preparation. And it was... fine? I didn't dislike it. But I have to say, I also didn't enjoy it nearly as much as some of Aaron & Claire's other tteokbokki recipes. So, not a huge success overall, but I'll still make a note of it for compleness' sake.

Classic Tteokbokki

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 600g tteokbokki (Korean rice cakes)
• 3 sheets of Korean fish cakes
• 4 green onions
• 3 c. water
• 1/2 Tbsp. dasida (Korean beef stock powder)
• 2-4 hard-boiled eggs

Seasoning Paste

• 2 Tbsp. gochugaru (Korean chile powder)
• 2 Tbsp. gochujang (Korean chile paste)
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 3 Tbsp. corn syrup
• 1 Tbsp. dasida (Korean beef stock powder)
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground

Directions

1. If your rice cakes are frozen, soak them in cold water for 20 minutes first.
2. Cut the fish cakes into bite-sized pieces and the green onions into long strips. Set aside.
3. Combine the gochugaru, gochujang, sugar, corn syrup, dasida, and black pepper for the seasoning paste. Mix well and set aside.
4. Combine the water with the 1/2 Tbsp. of dasida. Mix well and set aside.
5. Combine the tteokbokki, fish cakes, green onions, stock, seasoning paste, and hard-boiled eggs in a large pot and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce is thickened and rice cakes reach desired doneness (10-13 minutes).

I was pretty tired when making this one and I think it came through in the final results. It was edible, but not great, honestly. And I've had "classic" tteokbokki before and liked it. Oh well... it happens. Maybe I'll make it again sometime or maybe I'll just stick with some of my more reliable tteokbokki recipes.

Classic Tteokbokki

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Calire

Ingredients

Flavour Paste

• 2 Tbsp. gochugaru (Korean chile flakes)
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. dasida
• 2 Tbsp. gochujang (Korean chile paste)
• 3 Tbsp. corn syrup
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground

Everything Else

• 600g tteokbokki (Korean-style/long cylinder rice cakes)
• 3 c. water
• 1/2 Tbsp. dasida
• 3 sheets Korean fish cakes, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 4 green onions, cut into 5cm lengths
• 2-4 hard-boiled eggs

Directions

1. Combine gochugaru, sugar, dasida, gochujang, corn syrup, and pepper. Mix well and set aside.
2. If using frozen rice cakes, soak in cold water for 20-30 minutes, then drain and set aside.
3. Combine the remaining 1/2 Tbsp. dasida with the water and mix well.
4. Combine rice cakes, stock, fish cakes, green onions, and eggs and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until tteokbokki are cooked through (12-13 minutes).

Dumplings with Steamed Egg and Rice

I picked up a bag of frozen beef and kimchi dumplings on sale at the grocery store earlier this week. So, when I wanted something quick and easy for dinner tonight, that seemed like the way to go. I hit up Aaron & Claire for preparation ideas. They have a whole bunch of frozen dumpling recipes, but this one looked pleasingly straigh-forward and we hadn't made it before, so that helped me with my choice.

I scaled up the sauce to match the number of dumplings, but I think I'd cut it back slightly next time. I also think it really wanted a few mushrooms in. It was okay as-is, but some mushrooms would've really made it. And, since we had a bunch of asparagus on hand, we also added that to the pan. Not strictly necessary, but having something green in does help to balance it out a bit.

Dumplings wiht Steamed Egg and Rice

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. dark soy sauce
• 1/4 c. light soy sauce
• 1/4 c. mirin
• 1/2 c. water
• 500g frozen dumplings
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 2 onions, halved and sliced
• 225g shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 225g asparagus, broccoli, green beans, or vegetable of your choice, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 6 large eggs, beaten
• 6 green onions, chopped
• cooked rice, to serve
• toasted sesame seeds, to serve

Directions

1. Combine the sugar, dark soy, light soy, mirin, and water in a bowl and mix well.
2. Place the dumplings in a bowl with a little water, cover, and microwave on high for 4 minutes.
3. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add the onion and mushrooms.
5. Break up 6 of the dumplings, add them to the pan, and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
6. Add the remaining dumplings, asparagus, and sauce and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat to medium and pour in the beaten egg.
8. Sprinkle with green onion, cover pan, and steam until eggs are set (~10 minutes).
9. Serve dumplings over rice and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
10. Add the onion

Yachaejeon (Korean Vegetable Pancakes)

I think I was a bit too skimpy with the oil when frying these pancakes. They were good, but came out a little gummy. I think a bit more oil, a slightly higher temperature on the pan, and going to the trouble of properly julienne-ing the potato (rather than grating it) probably would've made the difference. But I was still feeling a bit tired and decided to try to save some time and simplify my life by grating the carrot and potato rather than exercising my knife skills. And I had hoped that I could get away with just a light coating of oil on the pan to make these somewhat healthier. But, sadly, this lead to somewhat lacklustre results. Not bad. Just not great either.

On the bright side, this did make for a very low-effort vegetable side to go with the leftover stir-fry from the night before. And it let me clear some things out of the fridge that needed to be used anyway. I didn't have quite as many garlic chives as I would have liked, but everything else was lovely. Although I might consider adding some thinly sliced yellow onion along with the green onion next time. Can't go wrong with more alliums!

Also, given that the batter is basically just a lightly seasoned mix of flour and water, I'd be tempted to try making these with sourdough starter at some point. The hydration of the batter is much higher than what I usually keep my starter at. But that could be easily remedied by simply watering it down a bit. A 2:1 ratio of starter to water by mass should produce the right proportions. The flavour would be a bit different, to be sure, but I think it'd still be good! Something to try for next time...

Yachaejeon

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Sauce

• 1 cheongyang or jalapeño chile, thinly sliced
• 1 mild red chile, thinly sliced
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 c. light soy sauce
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. white vinegar
• 1/8 tsp. sugar

Pancakes

• 180g flour
• 1/2 tsp. dasida (or salt)
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 360g water
• ~150g (or more) garlic chives, cut into 5-cm pieces
• 1 small Yukon Gold (or similar) potato, julienned
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 cheongyang or jalapeño chile, thinly sliced
• 2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the chiles, green onion, yellow onion, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar for the dipping sauce. Mix well and set aside.
2. Combine the flour, dasida, and pepper and stir to mix.
3. Pour in the water and mix.
4. Add the garlic chives, potato, carrot, bell pepper, chile, green onions, and yellow onion (if using) and mix well.
5. Heat a pan, skillet, or tawa over medium-high heat.
6. Pour in ~1 Tbsp. of oil.
7. Spoon some batter onto the tawa and spread thin.
8. Cook until golden-brown on underside, then flip and cook until second side is also nicely browned.
9. Repeat with remaining batter, adding more oil as necessary.
10. Serve pancakes with the chunky dipping sauce.

This was quite easy to make and we all enjoyed it. It's not a spectacular dish or anything, but it's pleasant enough and simple and comforting. And the egg gives it a little substance too.

Tomato Egg Drop Soup

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 2-3 green onions
• 1-2 Tbsp. oil
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 small (~400mL) tin diced tomatoes
• 3 1/2 c. water
• 1 Tbsp. dasida (or chicken bouillon powder)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. ketchup
• 1/8 tsp. while peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil

Directions

1. Chop the green onions, keeping the white parts and green parts separate. Set aside.
2. Heat oil over medium heat.
3. Add the garlic and the white parts of the green onion, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until oil is infused (1-2 minutes).
4. Add the soy sauce and cook for another 30-60 seconds.
5. Add the tomato and cook until heated through (3-5 minutes).
6. Add the water, dasida, ketchup, and pepper, increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.
8. Mix the cornstarch with the remaining 2 Tbsp. of water to make a slurry and stir it into the soup.
9. Cook until broth thickens slightly.
10. Reduce heat to medium-low and slowly drizzle in the beaten eggs.
11. Remove from heat and give the pot a stir.
12. Sprinkle with the green parts of the green onions, drizzle in the sesame oil, and serve.

Aaron & Claire describe this as "easy" and "so simple", and as a "15-minute" recipe. I submit that this is only the case if you don't count any of the time needed to prep the sauces and the ingredients; once the mise-en-place is done, yes, it comes together very quickly and easily, but the mise-en-place is a lot! I can't argue with the results, though; it's delicious.

Compared to the original recipe, this uses more carrot, and consistently chooses shaoxing wine over mirin where the choice is given, but is otherwise unaltered.

Beef & Onion Stir-Fry

Aaron and Claire

Ingredients

• Marinade
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp white pepper, ground
• Sauce
• 5 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp chicken stock powder
• ½ tsp dark soy sauce
• Stir-Fry
• 500g chuck flap tail, steak, or similar beef, cut into thin strips
• 1+1 tbsp neutral oil, divided
• 2 large yellow onions, sliced
• 4 green onions, sliced, whites and greens divided
• 3 tbsp garlic paste
• 2 tsp ginger paste
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Directions

1. Whisk together all marinade ingredients in a medium bowl.
2. Add the beef and toss thoroughly to coat. Marinate in the fridge for at least ten minutes.
3. Whisk together all sauce ingredients and set aside.
4. Do all mise-en-place before proceeding.
5. Heat the wok and add 1 tbsp of oil.
6. Add the beef in its marinade and stir-fry until comfortably seared all over. Remove and buffer.
7. Add the other tbsp of oil.
8. Add the onions and let them sit for 1-2 minutes until they start to char and soften.
9. Add garlic, ginger, and green onion whites. Stir-fry until fragrant, <1 minute.
10. Add beef, carrots, and sauce. Stir-fry until slightly thickened and heated through, 1-2 minutes.
11. Remove from heat and toss with sesame oil and green onion greens.
12. Serve over rice.

I've been a little preoccupied lately and haven't felt up to doing much meal planning or cooking. This meant that I needed to find something quick and easy to do for dinner last night. Normally my go-to for that is curry. But I've been feeling kind of curried out lately, so I decided to hit up Aaron & Claire for some ideas instead.

I ended up settling on this spicy chicken stir-fry. We were all out of doubanjiang (豆瓣酱/Sichuan spicy bean paste), but we did have Laoganma (老干妈), so I just used that instead. It's not the same. Laoganma is much more oily and salty than doubanjiang. But it makes a tasty dish nonetheless. And some people¹ find they prefer the results of dishes made with Laoganma over doubanjiang anyway. Personally, I think I still prefer the doubanjiang flavour, but this certainly got the job done.

Spicy Ground Chicken Stir-Fry

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. doubanjiang (豆瓣酱/Sichuan spicy bean paste)
• 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. mirin
• 1 tsp. chicken bouillon powder (or dasida)
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground

Stir-Fry

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 500g ground chicken
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. minced ginger or ginger paste
• 200g garlic scapes, cut into bite-sized pieces (optional)
• 450g asparagus or green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 small red bell pepper or mild chile, chopped
• 1/2 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
• cooked rice, to serve
• fried eggs, to serve

Directions

1. Combine the doubanjiang, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, mirin, bouillon powder, and pepper. Mix well and set aside.
2. Heat a wok over high heat.
3. Drizzle in the oil and swirl to coat.
4. Add the chicken and cook until underside is browned.
5. Flip and continue to cook, breaking up as it sears, until chicken is cooked through and liquid has boiled off.
6. Add garlic, ginger, and garlic scapes (if using) and cook for 2-3 minutes.
7. Add the asparagus and bell pepper and cook for another minute or two.
8. Pour in the sauce and stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes.
9. Remove from heat and sprinkle with sesame oil and sesame seeds.
10. Serve on a bed of rice, topped with a fried egg.

---

¹ Looking at you, Reiver!

In theory this was meant to be an udon dish, but I'm not crazy about udon, so I decided to try making it with fettuccine instead. I also added a whole bunch of extra veggies to the sauce, both because we had them and they needed to be used up and because I figured it would make it both tastier and healthier.

Photo goes here.

Korean-Style Curry Noodles

Adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 200-250g beef, cut into bite-sized pieces or sliced thin
• 1 carrot, halved and sliced
• 1-2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 tsp. gochugaru (Korean chile flakes)
• 55-65g S&B Golden Curry mix
• 1 c. milk
• 250g dry fettuccine (or other pasta)
• 200g broccoli florettes
• 200g cauliflower florettes
• 1 c. pasta cooking water
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium-low heat.
2. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion has softened and is just beginning to brown (~10 minutes).
3. Increase heat to medium, add the beef, and sear on all sides.
4. Add the carrot and butter and cook for another minute or two.
5. Add the gochugaru, curry mix, and milk.
6. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, while pasta boils.
7. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and add the fettuccine.
8. Cook the pasta for 3-4 minutes, then add the broccoli and cauliflower and continue cooking until vegetables are tender and pasta is al dente.
9. Reserve 1 c. of the pasta cooking water and then drain the pasta and veggies.
10. Add the noodles, veggies, and reserved pasta cooking water to the sauce and stir vigorously for a few seconds.
11. Once sauce thickens, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Yesterday was a weird day. We were all pretty tired. Reiver spent the day in the office (rather than working from home). I didn't get enough sleep, forgot my meds, and was pretty much a zombie for the whole day. And the Kidlet was still recovering from whatever NZ hell-virus she contracted here. So we were all a little out of it and ended up eating at somewhat weird times.

Since lunch was relatively late and large, none of us felt like a very big dinner. (The Kidlet didn't actually want any dinner.) And I wasn't really feeling energetic enough to make anything too substantial anyway. That said, I knew that I'd want something before bed. So I decided to throw together this quick tteokbokki recipe along with some Korean-style corn cheese as a light supper later in the evening. I think it worked quite well (if I do say so myself)!

Photo goes here.

Fried Tteokbokki

From Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. gochugaru (Korean chile pepper flakes)
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. corn syrup or honey
• 1/2 Tbsp. gochujang (Korean chile paste)
• 1/2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. garlic paste
• black pepper, to taste
• 250g tteokbokki (Korean-style rice cakes)
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1-2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Combine gochugaru, sugar, corn syrup, gochujang, oyster sauce, garlic paste, and pepper and stir to combine.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the tteokbokki. Boil until just tender (but still a bit chewy).
3. Drain the tteokbokki and toss with the sauce and oil.
4. Heat a pan over medium-low heat and add the tteokbokki along with the sauce.
5. Pan-fry, stirring often, until sauce is a bit caramelized¹ and tteokbokki is cooked through.
6. Sprinkle with green onion and sesame seeds and serve.

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¹ I didn't cook mine for long enough. The taste was still excellent, but it didn't get the crispy exterior that Claire raved about in the video. I was just too impatient to wait for the crust to develop. ^Back

I had originally been planning on doing some braised potatoes to go with dinner, but I'd forgotten that the recipe I'd used for it before had a bunch of gochujang in it. And since I was cooking for folks who weren't really keen on spicy foods, I figured I'd better pick something else. And while getting the mixutre prepped for these pancakes is a bit annoying, they're not actually that difficult or complicated to make. And if you leave the chilies out (which are mostly there for aesthetics anyway) then they're a nice, mild, non-spicy option.

Everyone seemed to like them, especially the Kidlet. Honestly, I think the only change I'd make next time is to make a double batch! They went pretty fast and it would've been nice to have some leftovers.

Korean Potato Pancakes

From Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Pancakes

• 4 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
• 1/4 large yellow onion
• 1 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt (or chicken bouillon powder)
• 4 Tbsp. neutral-tasting oil, divided
• 1-2 sliced green and red chilies (optional)

Dipping Sauce

• 1 green chili
• 1 mild red chili
• 1/2 green onion
• 1/4 yellow onion
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 2.5 tbsp white vinegar
• Small pinch of sugar

Directions

1. Cut the potatoes and onion into bite-sized pieces. Add them to a blender with 1 cup of water. Blend until smooth.
2. Pour the potato mixture into a strainer and let it sit for 10 minutes until most of the water has drained.
3. Meanwhile, thinly slice the chili peppers and half of the green onion for the dipping sauce.
4. Cut the onion into bite-sized pieces.
5. Combine the chilies, onion, green onion, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar, mix well, and set aside.
6. Once the potato starch has settled at the bottom of the strainer, gently pour out the excess water, leaving the wet starch behind. Add this back into the potato mixture. If needed, substitute with 1 tbsp of store-bought potato starch.
7. Add 1/4 tsp salt.
8. Heat 1-2 Tbsp. oil in a large pan over medium heat.
9. Once hot, scoop out some batter and add to the pan. Cook for 3 minutes or until golden brown. Optionally, place sliced chilies on top for decoration.
10. Flip and cook for another 3 minutes or until fully cooked. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining batter.
11. Arrange the pancakes on a plate. Serve with the dipping sauce, ensuring there are enough veggies in the sauce to enjoy as a garnish.

Mayak Eggs (Korean Marinated Soy Sauce Eggs)

I was originally thinking of doing a rolled omelette to go with our Korean dinner. But, having taken a closer look at the recipes, I decided that these marinated eggs would actually work better. Both because I could prepare them ahead of time and because the marinade is useful in a variety of other recipes.

Mayak Eggs

From https://aaronandclaire.com/korean-marinated-eggs-mayak-eggs/

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. soy sauce
• 1/2 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
• 1/2 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 Cheongyang chili pepper (or serrano, jalapeno, etc.), thinly sliced (optional)
• 1 mild red chili, thinly sliced (optional)
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6-8 large eggs, hard- or soft-boiled

Directions

1. combine the soy sauce, water, sugar, vinegar, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and black pepper. Mix well.
2. Add the onion, chilies (if using), green onion, and garlic and stir to combine.
3. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Reduce heat to low and gently add the eggs. Stir gently to center the yolks. Cook for 7 minutes for soft-boiled eggs.
4. Transfer the eggs to an ice bath to cool completely. Once cooled, peel the eggs.
5. Add the peeled eggs to the marinade and gently stir to coat. Ensure they are fully submerged. If needed, stir halfway through marinating. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
6. To serve, place a marinated egg on top of hot steamed rice, drizzle with extra marinade, and add a touch of sesame oil. Enjoy!

Gochujang Jjigae (Gochujang Stew)

I finally managed to get my hands on some gochugaru over here! Of course, much like at home, they don't appear to believe in selling it in small amounts. So now I have an entire kilo of the stuff! But oh well... I won't use all of it in the next two months, but I'll definitely use some. And now I can make more tasty things like this gochujang stew!

Photo goes here.

Gochujang Jjigae

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Calire

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. gochugaru (Korean chile flakes)
• 1 Tbsp. dasida (Korean beef stock powder)
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 3 Tbsp. gochujang (Korean chile paste)
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
• black pepper, to taste
• ~750g potatoes
• 1 large onion
• 5-10 mushrooms¹
• ~300g zucchini
• 300g tofu (preferably firm or medium)
• 3 green onions
• 5-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• ~450g stewing beef
• 6 c. rice water²
• 1-2 Cheongyang chile, sliced (optional)
• 1 mild red chile, sliced (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the gochugaru, dasida, sugar, gochujang, soy sauce, fish sauce, and black pepper. Mix well and set aside.
2. Cut the potatoes, onion, and mushrooms into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
3. Cut the zucchini and tofu into bite-sized pieces and set aside in a separate bowl.
4. Chop the green onions, keeping the whites and green separated. Add the white parts of the green onions ot the flavour paste.
5. Mince the garlic and add it to the flavour paste.
6. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
7. Add the beef and cook until seared on all sides.
8. Reduce heat to medium and add the flavour paste mixture. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
9. Add the potatoes, onion, and mushrooms along with the rice water and bring to a boil.
10. Cook until potatoes are just tender (~12 minutes).
11. Add the zucchini and tofu and cook until zucchini is tender (6-7 minutes longer).
12. Sprinkle with the green parts of the green onions and chilies (if using).
13. Serve with rice.

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¹ Aaron recommends 5 shiitake mushrooms, but suggests oyster, enoki, and/or white button mushrooms as possible alternatives. Given that white button mushrooms were on sale this week (but much less flavourful than some of the other options), I just used them and tossed in twice as many as the recipe called for. ^Back
2 This stew is best served with a bowl of rice. Save the water you use to rinse it before cooking and use it in this stew. If you forget, plain water is also fine to use. But I prefer using the rice water if I can. Both because it gives the stew a bit of extra starch and because... why waste it? I'd much rather use the rice water than pour it down the drain! ^Back

Symbol: I ended up changing the proportions on this recipe slightly. Mostly because kimchi is a bit harder to come by here than it is at home, so I ended up cutting it back to essentially a half batch, but with extra onion, green onion, and bacon relative to the original.

Stir Fried Kimchi

Slighlty adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Sauce

• 1/2 Tbsp. gochugaru (Korean chili pepper flakes)
• 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 3/4 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp. dasida (Korean beef stock powder)

Kimchi

• 1 c. well-fermented kimchi
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1/2 Tbsp. neutral-tasting oil
• 100g middle or back bacon (optional)
• 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
• Generous pinch of toasted sesame seeds, to garnish

Directions

1. Make the sauce: Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small container and mix well.
2. Using tongs and scissors, cut kimchi into small, bite-sized pieces.
3. In a pan, heat the oil over medium heat.
4. Add the bacon (if using) and cook until golden brown, then remove from the pan and cut into thin strips.
5. To the same pan, add the green onion and sauté for 1 minute or until fragrant.
6. Add the kimchi and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat.
7. Add the onion, bacon, and sauce and cook for another 7 minutes, being careful not to burn it.
8. Turn the heat off. Finish with sesame oil and sesame seeds.

Figuring out dinner was a bit of a scramble last night. I didn't have a plan, but I was suddenly hit by a hankering for Korean. So I quickly threw together some ground beef bulgogi and whipped up a few simple sides to go with it.

This seasoned spinach was probably the most straight-forward of the bunch. It's not amazing on its own. But it does work quite nicely when combined with all the other dishes.

The original recipe used fresh spinach. I didn't have any fresh spinach on hand though, so I just thawed out some chopped frozen spinach and used that. If you are using fresh, you'll need to blanch it for a few seconds first, drain it and press out most of the liquid, and then proceed from there.

Korean Seasoned Spinach

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 250g frozen spinach
• 1 tsp. garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp. chopped green onion
• 1/2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds (preferably ground)

Directions

1. Thaw the spinach over medium heat and then cook for a minute or two to boil off some of the water.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the garlic, green onion, soy sauce, and sesame oil.
3. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

These potatoes were a big hit. Such a big hit that we actually polished off the whole batch the first night and I had to make some more the second night!

Julienne-ing everything is a bit of a pain, but it's a very simple and easy dish otherwise. I was really pleased with how it came out (both times).

Korean Stir-Fried Potatoes

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 2 russet potatoes, julienned
• 1 carrot (~80g), julienned
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1-2 Tbsp. oil
• 1/2 tsp. dasida¹
• pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
• 1 green onion, chopped

Directions

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil.
2. Add 1/2 tsp. of the salt along with the potatoes and carrots and boil for 2-3 minutes.
3. Meanwhile heat oil over medium heat.
4. Add the onion to the hot oil.
5. Once the potatoes and carrots are done, drain them and add them to the pan with the onion.
6. Add the remaining 1/2 tsp. of salt, dasida, and pepper to taste and stir-fry for 3-5 minutes.
7. Drizzle with sesame oil and sprinkle the sesame seeds and green onion on top.

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¹ The original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp. "chicken stock or chicken bouillon powder". Personally, I think dasida would go great here. Sadly, I didn't have either when I was making this, so I ended up just putting in a somewhat larger amount of fresh chicken stock. I think I used ~1 Tbsp. ¹