Kimchi Fried Rice

Looking for a quick weeknight dinner?  Look no further this Kimchi fried rice is a great way to use up any leftover rice you may have from dishes earlier in the week (or you can use fresh rice)
This dish reminds me of my first few weeks in Korea when I was taken out to a little hole in the wall place and treated to a big skillet of fried rice.  It was sooo good.  Since then I have been trying to replicate the dish.  This recipe comes quite close.
I think this is the prefect dish for someone wanting to try Korean food for the 1st time because it is so easy and really carries all the quintessential Korean flavors.

You will need:

1-2 Chicken Brest cubed

1 Carrot finely chopped

¼ of a small head of Cabbage sliced

2-3 servings of Rice

½- ¾ cup of chopped Kimchi

1 TBSP butter

Prep all iningredientsnd in a large skillet melt 1 TBSP of butter over medium high heat. 

Add chicken to the pan and sear the outside 1-2 min.

      Add Kimchi and carrots and sauté for 3 min.

Add Cabbage and sauté till cooked down and semi soft.

Finally mixed in cooked rice (if you are using old rice warm it up a bit before adding to pan.)

If you want a crispy bottom to your rice spread it evenly around your pan and turn heat up to high and let it sit for 2 min (keep a close eye on the rice you want it crunchy and brown, not burnt)

*Extra Stuff: This dish is a great way to use up the last bit of kimchi in your kimchi jar.  Onions and garlic are also a great addition to this dish. 

*Serving Suggestions: I always serve this with pickled radish and some extra kimchi and a nice cold glass of cider(sprite or 7up)

Hope you all enjoy!  

Dolset Bi Bim bap

Dolset BibimBap (돌솥 비빔밥)

Mixed rice and vegetables in a hot stone bowl (Serving size 2)

When I lived in Korea there was a great BibimBap restaurant a few blocks away from my school.  My hubby and I would meet there once a week for lunch.  They had so many varieties of bibimbap I loved trying new dishes each time we went there.  This recipe is for a traditional bibimbap but really you can put anything on top.  Bibimbap literally translates to mixed rice so your options really are endless, you can mix anything in you want.  

Here's what you will need for a traditional Dolset Bimbap:

Toppings

• ¼ to ½ Ib of marinated beef (I used beef stew meat, but have used ground beef in the past as well as other cuts of beef made bite size)
• ½-1 zucchini julienned (sliced into thin strips)
• ½-1 carrot julienned (sliced into thin strips)
• 3 dehydrated shiitake mushrooms (rehydrate or use fresh)
•  Sigeumchi Namul (spinach salad) go here for the recipe
• Vegetable Oil to coat  1-3 tsp of oil to coat pan
• 3 pinches of salt

Yang Nyum Jang: Spicy Topping Sauce:

• 2 TBSP gochujang
• 1 TBSP honey
• 1 TBSP sesame oil
• 1 ½ tsp rice vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
• 1 TBSP roasted sesame seeds
• 1 tsp minced garlic (optional)

Marinade: For 1Ib of beef (the leftovers can be used for a side dish later on)

• ½ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup reduced sodium soy sauce (you can use 1 cup of soy sauce but I feel it makes the dish too salty)
• 2 ½ TBSP
• 4 cloves of garlic crushed
• 2 TBSP toasted sesame seeds
• ¼ cup + 1 TBSP sugar
• Marinade the beef for 1 hour or overnight.  If you want to store it for later use just pour the mixture into a freezer safe bag or container and freezer for later. 
•  

Instructions:

Cook 2-3 portions of rice

Bring a medium sized skillet to medium heat and coat with oil.  Cook ¼- ½ Ib beef till it reaches your desired temp level.  I like to cook min to medium rare or medium. Remove beef from pan and set aside.  Wipe pan with paper towel and re-coat with oil.

Add zucchini to pan and add a pinch of salt cook until zucchini is slightly soft 1-3 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Add carrot to pan and add a pinch of salt and cook until soft 1-4 minutes. Remove and set aside.   Let sit for 1-2 minutes before slicing into 1 inch slices. Wipe pan with paper towel and re-coat with oil.

Add sliced mushrooms to pan and add a sprinkle of salt.  Cook until soft 1-5 minutes.  Remove and set aside. 

Mix all the spicy sauce ingredients together.

Fry two eggs sunny side up.

Construction:

If you have a dolset heat it over an open flame or heat your oven to 350 and put it in your oven while it warms up.  (if you don’t have a dolset just use a medium to large sized bowl)

Lightly coat the bottom of the dolset with sesame oil.  Add rice (you should hear a sizzling sound)

Top rice with vegetables and meat, starting with the meat, next to the meat place some zucchini then mushrooms, carrots and spinach salad.  In the center of the bowl place your fried egg.  Drizzle with your spicy sauce and keep a small bowl on the table to add extra spice to your dish as desired. 

*Serving Suggestions: My favorite way to eat this dish is with kimchi and a cold glass of sprite.  If you want to try something extra fun add a bit of shredded mozzarella cheese to the mix of toppings.  

KalGukSu Korean Mussel and Knife Noodle Soup

KalGukSu 칼국수

I love to make KalGukSu for dinner on Sunday nights because the grocery store near me always has a great and fresh seafood selection on Sundays.  I'm not going to lie, this KalGukSu is not as good as you will get going out to a restaurant in Korea.  It is tasty and the flavor profile is there but I have not yet been able to achieve the creamy texture in the broth.  If you want a creamier texture I suggest cooking the noodles with everything else, however be warned if not cooked long enough your broth will have a bit of a raw flour taste, and if cooked too long you end up with a bunch of mush.  Because I am easily distracted I often opt to cook my noodles separate from the broth to avoid the mush factor.  But if you have an eagle eye, go on ahead and toss those noodles in with the rest of the good stuff.

Side Note: If you are feeling extra awesome you can try and make the noodles yourself.  Kalguksu translates to knife noodles.  The noodles are made from a simple flour, salt, water and oil mixture and then are rolled out and cut with a knife (believe it or not ;) I have yet to try making my own noodles for this recipe but have for others.  If you try it out yourself let me know how it goes in the comments.

Ingredients:

½-1 lb mussels or clams

6-8 cups of water

1 medium sized potato cut into 1/2in slices

½-1 carrot cut into medallions

1 onion cut into wedges

½-1 zucchini cut into medallions

2 bunches of Kalgusu noodles

2Tbsp-1/4 cup of soy sauce

Instructions

Let the mussels or clams soak in salted water for 30 minutes to 1 day to remove some of the grit.  Rinse and brush outside of shell with a coarse brush.  If the shells have any stringy bits on them use a kitchen scissor to cut them off.

In a large stock pot bring 6 cups of water to boil and add the mussels or clams. 

While clams are boiling slice up your vegetables.

See all the foam on top in this picture
 you will want to spoon some of that off.

Once clams have opened up you can add the carrots and onions to the pot.  If there is a lot of foam in the pot do your best to remove some for a tastier broth.

I got rid of some of the foam from the picture above
 don't worry if you can't get all of it.

Let the carrots and onion cook for about 5 minutes.

While the carrot and onion are cooking boil a pot of water and cook your kalguksu noodles according to the package directions.

After 5 minutes add the potato and zucchini and continue cooking until the potato is soft.

Once the potato is soft add the cooked kalguksu noodles and stir to mix everything together.

Finally add 2Tbsp-1/4 cup of soy sauce to taste.

*Extra Note: If you ever feel like too much of your broth has boiled off feel free to add more water.  I average 6-8 cups when I make Kalguksu, depending on how many veggies I add had how many mussels I start out with. 

* Serving Suggestions: Serve with Kimchi or MuKimchi or some Mandu (Korean dumpling)

Hope you enjoy your delicious knife noodle soup