Sorry KTown, your meat is very expensive. I found $7.99/lb hot pot meat in Chinatown instead. I also need to return for the second pound of meat; half the marinade is still sitting in the fridge! Recipe from mykoreankitchen.com.
Bulgogi (Korean marinated beef)
2 lb beef sirloin, thinly sliced (like hot pot meat), marinated for 4 hours to overnight in:
Process 1/2 small onion (2 tbsp), 5 cloves garlic, 1/4″ ginger (1 tsp), quarter giant korean pear (5 tbsp), 1 scallion with 1/2 cup dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp rice wine, 3 tbsp brown sugar, 1/8 tsp pepper.
Stir fry in batches with 1 onion, 1 carrot, 2 scallions sliced thin. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
I go out of my way in Chinatown to buy cha siu because it was a dish that I never dreamt of cooking. However, when I bought a pork shoulder on a whim and subsequently frantically looked up ways to cook it Chinese-style, cha siu came up. I didn’t even realize that was the cut used! Next time, I will be sure to buy the fattiest cut available.
Shoutouts to thewoksoflife.com, with consistently good Chinese and Taiwanese recipes, and invaluable advice on how to emulate industrial cooking equipment in the home kitchen.
Cha Siu (Cantonese BBQ Pork)
sliced: lean cut. back: fatty cut.
3 lb pork shoulder/butt, very fatty, cut obliquely into flat 1”-thick strips. Marinate in bag overnight.
A few days ago, eight weeks into my cooking project, I found a package of sliced cheese tucked under the vegetable crisper. It was rather moldy. I chuckled a bit before chucking it.
I used to buy that cheese every two weeks. It went in the same sandwich that I made every day to bring to the hospital. In the sandwich also went versatile ingredients like tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach; they were things I could throw into random entrees to cover dinner. I cooked regularly before 2017; in fact, I got by all of third year only buying cafeteria food but once (a chicken wrap in Queens; it was meh). However, priorities were minimal thinking time, flexible utility, and financial efficiency. For four years, my food — including that sandwich — were boring.
Korean food time! Korean restaurants often start with a big collection of banchan, little side dishes like pickled veggies, preserved seafood, and other little things. Feasible on a restaurant scale (or a habitually Korean-eating household, I guess!), but I’m just going to make one: japchae, the glass noodles. I’ll make it up by making it super colorful.
Japchae (Korean glass noodles)
250g sweet potato starch noodles, boiled for 7 minutes, then rinsed in cold water, then mixed with
To use up more of my copious amount of gochugaru, we cooked some spicy pork. Somewhere I read that typically beef bulgogi is cooked non-spicy, and pork “bulgogi” is cooked spicy. Can this be verified?
A true sign I’m turning into a true American home cook: I’m deep frying!! Except I’m making Japanese pork loin. lol
If I’m making Japanese food, without fail I consult justonecookbook.com. She writes detailed precise recipes, includes invaluable tips, and takes beautiful photos. I think I used smaller panko crumbs so the breading came out flatter, but the color was great and the pork was so tasty.
Tonkatsu
4 pork loin chops, boneless, about 1/2” thick. Cut off extra fat and slit connective tissue, pound to tenderize, season with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.
Dredge in 1/2 cup flour (1/4 cup might be enough), knock off excess flour. Dip in 2 eggs + 1 tbsp oil. Dredge in 1 cup panko, pressing in crumbs.
In oil at 350 F (if panko crumb immediately floats), without crowding, fry for 1 minute each side. Rest standing up for 4 minutes, letting excess oil drip off.
Fry for 30 seconds each side. Rest for 2 minutes.
Cut into strips by cutting straight down, not sawing.
Serve with tonkatsu sauce or curry on raw shredded cabbage with rice.
I can’t really write a terse recipe for steak and potatoes because it’s just featured ingredients plus salt/pepper/oil plus lots of technique. I’ve picked up some from watching cooking shows on YouTube.
Sorry for the subpar photo. I was a little eager to eat this after my ridiculous snow adventure today. I was also trying to disguise the fact I only own one plate, which is much too small.
Home-Fried Potatoes
Scrub skin. Dice potatoes to 1/2″ cubes.
Parboil for 2-3 minutes. Drain.
Transfer to skillet. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil.
Roast at 425 F for 30-35 minutes. Turn twice in between, trying to achieve sear on sides.
Separately, saute 1/4 small onion, diced.
Combine, garnish with chives.
Steak
Bring to room temp. Pat dry to remove blood.
Season with generous kosher salt, cracked pepper.
On skillet on high heat, heat olive oil, then lay steak down to sear.
After about a minute, flip over, then turn to low heat.
Cook without moving 5-7 minutes, depending on thickness. Flip.
Add knob of butter, a couple whole cloves garlic, a couple sprigs thyme. Baste with butter. Cook for 6-8 more minutes.
Remove steak, pour juices over, rest for 5-7 minutes.
The fluffy cheesecake has been making (jiggly) waves across social media thanks to BuzzFeed Tasty.
For my first iteration, I took justonecookbook’s recipe and halved it for a 6″ pan. It came out less fluffy and more tart than I expected. My friend then offered me a tried and true recipe to use for next time. Will be updated after next trial.
Japanese Souffle Cheesecake
Prepare 6-in cake pan, lined with parchment paper on bottom and at least 4” on sides.
Over double boiler, melt 150g (5.3 oz) cream cheese, 2 tbsp butter, 100 ml (.42 cups) heavy cream
Whip 3 egg whites, cold, until opaque and bubbly (2 minutes). Slowly add 100g (~1/2 cup) sugar, then beat at high speed until soft peaks form.
Fold meringue into batter gently in thirds.
In water bath, bake at 320 F for 70-75 minutes, then 300 F for 10 minutes, until top is golden brown.
Dust with confectioner’s sugar, serve with strawberries.
With the leftover cream and borrowed cake pan and mixer, I couldn’t help whipping up (literally) another Japanese style pastry. They love their fluffy things. Recipe from washoku.guide.
Except it didn’t turn out that fluffy. Boo.
Matcha Sponge Cake
Line 6” springform pan with parchment paper.
In clean bowl, whip 2 egg whites while gradually adding 80g (~3/8 cup) sugar. Whip meringue to stiff peaks.
Mix in 2 egg yolks.
Sift in 66g cake flour (~1/2 cup AP flour, 1 tbsp cornstarch) plus 6g (~1 tbsp) matcha. Then fold in.
Melt 20g (1.5 tbsp) butter into 33ml (2tbsp + 1 tsp) milk. Slowly stir into batter.
Pour batter into mold. Eliminate bubbles, smooth surface.
Bake 30-35 minutes at 170 C (340 F)
Cool on rack, then refrigerate for a day.
Slice horizontally and fill with (matcha) whipped cream. Dust with confectioner’s sugar.
Matcha Whipped Cream
Freeze metal bowl and metal whisk for 10-15 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup heavy cream over 1 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp matcha. Whip to stiff peaks.
Castella (Japanese honey cake)
I may import the recipe here to better categorize it.
I’m quickly learning that making curry is not as intimidating as it first seemed. Now that I’ve built a reasonable spice cabinet, it’s a matter of dicing onion, mincing garlic, grating ginger, and adding the right brown/yellow/red powders and/or seeds.
This time, a fish curry, which is actually probably the first time I’ve cooked fish in a year.
Started from bbcgoodfood.com but adjusted to taste. Which is audacious for me to say because I don’t actually know what the component spices taste like haha.
Goan Fish Curry
Saute 1 onion.
Add 1 green chili sliced, 4 cloves garlic minced, 1” ginger grated, 3” stick cinnamon, 1.5 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp garam masala, 2 tsp ground coriander, 2 pods cardamom, (1 bay leaf). Fry 2 minutes until fragrant.
Stir in 1 can coconut milk, 1 (15 oz) can tomatoes chopped, 1/4 can wateras needed. 1/2 tsp salt, some pepper, 1 tsp sugar if needed. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add 1 lb white fish (haddock, tilapia, cobbler), cut into chunks. Optionally add veggies. Cook until done, about 5-10 minutes.
Add 1/2 lime of juice. Sprinkle with fresh coriander.
