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Also please join my new blogring – I can’t live if living is without Korean food.

You know how they always show what’s inside everyone’s fridge on MTV Cribs?  Well I have a ton of work to do tonight, so I thought I’d put it off by showing you what’s inside my fridge instead.  Plus I cleaned it last night too.  This is the fullest you’ll ever see it (except maybe after I visit my parents), because we got a FreshDirect delivery today, and went to the Korean market too.  I usually go to the Korean market 2x/month, get Freshdirect delivered 2x/month, then go to the local Gourmet Garage or D’Agostinos 2x a month. 

Welcome to my Korean-American fridge!  (It’s a small one because this is Manhattan… but we also have a separate stand-alone freezer.)

I love these broth paste concentrates from Better Than Bouillon much better than the canned or cubed variety.  Just add boiling water and you have instant broth!

I bought the salsa habanero hot sauce in Mexico, but you can find it in Mexican markets here.  It’s so spicy and so good!  I have a hot sauce for every occasion!

I told you I liked eggs!   Note: I freeze all my meat right away because I don’t know when I’ll cook it.  There’s only ground beef in here because I plan on making chili tonight. And the sheen (fermented) kimchi is made by my mom - I use it for kimchi jjigae.  The rest is all store bought.  (gak doogee = type of radish kimchi, boreecha = barley tea, dwenjang = soy bean paste, gochujang = red pepper paste, and all that other stuff on the left is banchan (side dishes).)

And since everyone keeps asking… yes there is soju in the back… see it says Sahn Soju?  But I hate soju!

Note: Moo (Korean radish) isn’t pictured because I forgot to put it in the fridge.

This was actually a lot of fun.   Leave me a comment if you decide to do this too – I wanna see what’s in your fridge!

I haven’t logged into this site in over a month  - sorry guys you know the story – been super duper ridiculous busy.  Those of you who messaged me, I don’t check my messages here, so if you want to contact me, message me on my other xanga site – justbee.  Thanks!

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How To Cook Rice

Miss_Snow_Pea asked me to write an entry about rice, and I just happened to be making some!

Say hello to my pressure rice cooker from Cuckoo.  The downside of a pressure cooker is that it makes a lot of noise as it releases steam.  But I don’t really mind it at all because the upside is it makes delicious rice!

It has different settings for different types of rice – white, brown, porridge, etc.  It also has a timer which I have yet to use, but my mom uses all the time.

The three types of rice I cook regularly are: black wild, brown, and plain white.  I add a very small handful of black rice to the brown or white rice, and that’s what makes that purple rice.  My favorite is plain white rice, then white with a little bit of black wild rice, and my least favorite is brown rice.  Sometimes I’ll mix 50/50 white and brown, sometimes white, brown, and black, and sometimes all brown since that’s healthiest.  My parents add beans for that super healthy rice you hated growing up, but I have yet to get to that level.   (although I do like the little green peas on top of white rice.)

I made all brown rice last night because it’s the weekend.  Mr. Bee and I don’t eat together during the week, but we usually do on the weekends and he prefers brown rice because it’s healthier.  Brown rice cooks best after it’s been soaking in water for a couple of hours.  I washed this rice late last night, let it soak overnight, and cooked it this morning on my brown rice setting (brown takes longer than white).  I don’t soak white rice though, and just cook it right away.

One of the most common questions people ask is how much water they should add.  With this rice cooker it’s easy – I just use the measuring cup that came with it to measure the rice, then add water up to the line indicating the corresponding number of cups inside the cooker.  With my old rice cooker though, I’d place my hand flat on the rice, and add water up to just above my middle finger knuckle no matter how much rice you’re cooking.  You can also point your index finger so that it’s touching the rice, and then add water up to the first line on your finger.  Sorry I didn’t take a picture to demonstrate before I pressed cook!

Now I typically wash the rice 4-5 times before cooking it.  Washing rice removes excess starch and makes the rice cook fluffier and more even.

When the rice is done cooking, fluff your rice immediately using a rice spatula.  Serve and enjoy!

What’s your favorite type of rice?

BREAKING NEWS!

“Paul McIlhenny, the company’s chief executive, has entered into licensing deals to add Tabasco to Spam, steak sauce and mayonnaise and ramped up the business with the food service industry, which now counts for more than half of sales.”

Read the full article here.

Tabasco and spam together at last!  It’s a marriage made in heaven!

And I love tabasco with A1 sauce for steak, and tabasco w/ mayo for dipping veggies and ojinguh.  Oh happy day!

I went to try the new Bon Chon Chicken in Manhattan this weekend.  It’s on 5th ave, just south of 32nd. 

We got there at 6, and the place was already packed.  The service was bad – it took over an hour to get our chicken!  But it was really good I must admit. They offer two different seasonings – spicy and garlic (I think?).  Without any moo (radish), jalapenos, or even garnish of any kind it was a bit lonely. 

This is how much you get for $20.

It’s not tong dak though, more like fried, seasoned chicken.  We also ordered the haemool pajun, corn on the cob, and sausage bokkeum, but definitely stick with just the chicken.

This was the sausage bokkeum, which was basically 4 different kinds of fried sausage.

Verdict – I’d definitely go again, but hopefully they have faster service next time.  I hate waiting for food!  Oink!

A friend sent me a link to this NY Times article on Korean chicken aka tong dak being all the rage. 

Can’t have it without the moo (radish) and jalapeno.  I’m gonna go check out the new tong dak place in Manhattan this weekend!

Where’s the best tong dak you’ve ever had?

I’ve recently come across three great Korean cooking/food blogs, so I had to share them:

My Korean Kitchen
The Delicious Life
Kimchi Mamas

Some other cooking blogs I enjoy:

Evil Jungle Prince (korean recipes from time to time)
The Scent of Green Papaya
Immaeatchu
Obachan’s Kitchen and Balcony Garden

Do you have any great cooking/food blog suggestions Korean or otherwise?

Galbi

I went to LA this past weekend to visit my family.  You can see some food pics from my trip here.  We have a barbecue every time I visit, so my mom was making galbi.  You can hear her explaining the galbi making process here…

Of course she doesn’t give me any exact measurements, but you don’t really need to be exact with galbi as long as you have enough marinade for your meat.

Ingredients:

5 pounds short ribs
1 cup soy sauce
sugar for coating meat
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 onion, blended
1/2 asian pear, blended
4 tb minced garlic
1 tb pepper

Directions:

Soak the beef in water for about an hour to get the blood out.  Wash the meat.  Dip each piece in sugar.  Put onion and pear in blender and puree.  Pour into a bowl and mix in all remaining ingredients.  Coat each piece of galbi with the marinade.  Allow it to marinate in the refrigerator overnight for at least 12 hours. 

You can add some fresh ginger if you like, but my mom and I don’t really like ginger that much, so it’s not included in the recipe.  You can even add some rice wine or wine, and a kiwi instead of the pear.  Experiment with what you like best.

Galbi tastes best if you barbecue it, but it also turns out great if you bake it in the oven (400 degrees, around 10-12 min).  Of course you can always fry it as well, but be sure not to use a nonstick pan.  Happy eating!

Check it out – Cantonesecooking made homemade pinkberry! 

I just got off the phone with my mom, and she wants me to email her a menu of Mr. Bee’s favorite foods because we’re going home to visit next week.  Now that I’m married, there’s no more love for me, only Mr. Bee.

Besides homecooking galore, the things I always eat when I’m visiting LA are dungeness crab, carne asada tacos, and In ‘n Out.  It is so hard to live without real Mexican food in New York I tell you.  It’s definitely my favorite cuisine after Korean.  While gourmet food in New York can’t be beat, I think LA has the best ethnic food anywhere.  And I’m an ethnic food kind of gal.

As for good old homecooking, everything my mom makes is delicious to me.  What I like best is that she makes things super duper spicy for me even though she doesn’t like food super spicy.  Thinking about her sweat-inducing ojinguh bokkeum and bibim gooksoo is making my mouth water…  I’m dieting right now in anticipation of the impending gorge fest.

What are your favorite homecooked dishes?