Jjajangmyun (짜장면)

This summer, my mom and I are visiting Korea for the first time in 19 years. My family and I moved to the States when I was four and my dad's the only one who has gone back a few times. A few of my relatives have visited us here but not recently. I am really excited because, one, it'll be great to see everybody. My aunt is excited to show my mom and I around and apparently have already made arrangements for us so we've got nothing to worry about.

The second reason I am very excited about this trip is the food. Nobody will beat my mom's cooking, but there are just some dishes that my mom doesn't cook due to limited access to ingredients and equipment. There's nothing all that fancy about Korean food though. Sometimes it's as simple as this dish I'm sharing with you today.



It might not be so simple when you don't have access to the black bean sauce, but any Asian market should have a jar of it. If not, ask the owner and see if it can be ordered. As for the noodles, you can use any you like, though the thick white Korean ones are the best. Or avoid all that hassle in even looking for the noodles and go with rice. It can get kinda messy when you're eating these noodles so just have some napkins ready! This recipe is also easy to make for a big group and very adjustable. Vegetarian? Just take out the pork! Don't like zucchini? Then add some carrots. What I listed has just always been the standard in our household, but I'm sure you can add whatever you like as long as they are cut into small pieces. Look for pickled radish at an Asian supermarket as well. It's a must-have side dish for Black Bean Noodles.



When I used to watch Korean dramas, I remember that in every single one of them, somebody at one point always ordered delivery. The delivery man showed up on a scooter with this dish, in an actual bowl (not styrofoam), covered in plastic wrap with a bunch of side dishes (also in actual dishes, covered in plastic wrap). The food got eaten and the delivery man came back for the bowls. I hope that's how they still do it nowadays because that is on my list of things to do while in Korea!

Black Bean Noodles/Rice
From Maangchi and my mom

1/2 lb pork belly (or pork roast), diced
1 tbsp + 2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small potato, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 zucchini, diced
1/4 cup black bean sauce
2 cups water
2 tbsp cornstarch + 1/4 cup cold water

Korean noodles or white rice, cooked

In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil on medium high heat and stir fry the pork until golden brown and crispy on the outside. Pour out excess pork fat.

Add the potato, onion, and zuchinni and saute for 3 minutes until the potato is translucent. Clear a space in the center of the saucepan and add 2 tbsp vegetable oil and the black bean sauce and stir for 1 minute. Then mix black bean sauce with everything else and cook.

Add water and bring to boil. Cover saucepan and lower heat to let simmer for 10 minutes. Sample the potato to see if it is fully cooked. If so, stir in cornstarch water little by little and keep stirring until well mixed and the sauce is thickened. Take off heat.

Place cooked noodles or cooked rice into bowl. Spoon black bean sauce on top of choice of starch and serve!

Brown Sugar Bacon Biscuits

Here I am, writing an entry, when I should actually be heading to bed. Early, yes, but tomorrow is Faculty Meeting Day which means my day starts earlier, which means I have to end my day today earlier as well. It always makes the rest of my day rough. Who knew waking up just 30 minutes before the usual time would make such a difference? This whole week is probably going to be rough. Actually, it's been rough since Spring Break. I spent a week in San Francisco with my sister eating wonderful food and seeing some great sights and it's been hard to get back into the groove ever since. I come home ready for a nap more days than before and it's days like them that I am grateful for simple, fast dinners.



I made a batch of these Bacon Biscuits a while ago and I am so glad to have frozen the leftovers. They still bake up to softness and deliciousness. As soon as I make it through the hardest part (preheating the oven and waiting for them to finish baking!), I cook up 2 eggs, slap on some cheese, and assemble the sandwiches. They're gone in 10 seconds. Maybe 12. These biscuits are great on their own too but they are just fantastic with egg and cheese.



If I remember correctly, making these biscuits were quite easy as well. Sure it gets messy when rolling out the dough and cutting out the circles, but it makes a lot and it's worth it in the end. My apartment windows don't open (weird, yeah) so I don't like cooking bacon too often which is another reason I love this recipe as it cooks the bacon (and in BROWN SUGAR) in the oven. That way, I can just close the oven and lock the smell in there! Some of it at least.



Enjoy and enjoy the sun. Finally, Spring is here. And yet, I still find myself needing a coat...

Brown Sugar Bacon Biscuits
From Joy the Baker

6 slices of bacon
1 tbsp brown sugar
Coarse ground black pepper
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 to 1 tsp coarse ground black pepper
3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 large egg
3/4 cup buttermilk

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 375F.

Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and spread bacon across baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with brown sugar and black pepper. Bake until crisp and cooked through, about 13 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully use tongs to place the hot bacon on a cutting board. Don’t put the bacon on paper towels or they might stick. Allow to cool until you’re able to handle the slices and chop into medium chunks. Set aside.
Increase oven temperature to 425F. Line another baking sheet with parchment paper or foil, and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and black pepper. Add cold butter and use your hands to quickly break the butter into the flour until mixture resembles coarse meal. In another bowl, combine egg and buttermilk and beat lightly with a fork. Add to flour mixture all at once, stirring to incorporate. Once batter is nearly incorporated, add bacon and mix in.

You may want to dump the shaggy biscuit mixture onto a lightly floured board to knead together a few times. Don’t overwork the dough and melt the butter, Just make sure it comes together.

Roll or pat dough into a 1-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch rounds using a biscuit cutter or cut into 2×2-inch squares. Reshape and roll dough to create more biscuits with excess scraps. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees F for 12-15 minutes. Serve biscuits warm with jam or a fried egg.

They can be kept in the fridge and will last for two days. The shaped, uncooked biscuit can also be frozen. Thaw in the fridge overnight and bake up in the morning.

California Roll

I love an outing to a buffet once in a while. The variety of foods that buffets offer amaze me and I love getting a little bit of everything and finishing off the meal with some fruit and ice cream. I found a great buffet in Roanoke and I've been there twice in the past few months. The price is a great deal (especially with coupons) and the food is great. I love that they have a whole booth dedicated to seafood so I get to eat as much cuttlefish, clams, and mussels as my stomach can fit. It's also impressive that they have sushi at the buffet. It's limited to just rolls but it's still pretty good. Of course, it inspired me to make homemade sushi.

It's actually pretty easy to make, but rolling it sure is an art. I tried my best to explain how to roll in the instructions below, but videos or picture are more helpful. I'm sure you can find a good instructional video on YouTube. Thankfully, my boyfriend was accepting of the not-so-perfect rolls. I guess I technically made Calidelphia or Philornia rolls since there was cream cheese in these but no salmon and imitation crab instead.



Do you like the dish I used? No real fish in these rolls but it was the fanciest dish I had in my cabinets. No pickled ginger though. Make this for a date-night dinner. Two people working at it together will make the process go quickly. I was even able to take step-by-step pictures for this recipe! Enjoy.

California Rolls

2 cups uncooked sushi rice
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
Cream cheese, cut into 1/4-inch sticks
Imitation crab sticks, cut in half lengthwise
Avocado, cut into 1/4-inch sticks
Nori sheets, cut in half

In a medium pot, place the uncooked rice and 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer until done, 30 minutes or so. Or use your rice cooker. Fluff and let cool.

Once cool enough to touch, place cooked rice in a large mixing bowl. Add rice vinegar, sugar, and salt and mix well. Set aside. Prepare the cream cheese, crab sticks, and avocados and set aside.

To make the rolls, have a cup of cold water available to wet your fingers. It will help keep the rice off you and stay on the rolls instead. Place bamboo roll on counter. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the roll. Place a half sheet of nori on lower half of roll. Wet fingers and grab a handful of rice. Spread out the rice to create a single layer.



Since California Rolls have the rice on the outside, we need to flip this. Take the upper half of the bamboo roll and plastic wrap and fold over the lower half. Flip over and turn so that the nori and rice are on the lower half of the bamboo roll again. Now the rice is on the outside!



Place the cream cheese, crab stick, and avocado in a line on the lower third of the nori sheet. Now, time to roll. Hold the plastic wrap and bamboo roll with your thumb and index finger and use your other fingers to hold onto the filings. That way, you can make sure that they stay inside when you start rolling instead of slipping out. Once you get the rice and nori over the fillings, squeeze along the seam so that it sticks together. Then grab the plastic wrap and bamboo with one hand and roll the rest of the way with your other hand.



Once you reach the end, wrap the whole thing in the bamboo roll and squeeze all around evenly. Release and behold! Your beautiful sushi roll.



To cut, place the roll on a cutting board. Wet your hands and your knife every time you cut a slice. If not, the rice will stick on your hands and it will come off. Wetting the knife will also make sure you make a clean cut each time. Place on serving dish and serve with a blob of wasabi and a side dish of soy sauce. I like mixing a little wasabi into the soy sauce for dipping.

Kimchi Pizza

Kimchi has been in my life a lot lately because I wanted to eat up the batch I had before it got past its fresh and crispy stage. I also wanted to make room for my third (and possibly my best) batch. I've made a simple stew (kinda like an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink stew), fried rice, and even pizza.



Kimchi is not an ingredient I would have imagined using in pizza, but it actually works really well. It had been on my mind for a few weeks because the idea just popped into my head when I was trying to come with different ways to eat kimchi. So I went Googling and I'm lucky I found this one recipe. This is exactly what I had in mind: an all-Korean pizza. I have seen pictures of pizzas in Korea where they have kimchi and cheese on top which I thought was weird so I kept looking until I came across this one. The pork belly adds a nice meaty texture, but you don't have to add it if you want to keep this meatless. Bacon would probably work but keep in mind that bacon is a lot saltier than pork belly.



This was definitely a successful cooking experiment. I didn't think this could go wrong anyway because they are all ingredients that I'm a big fan of. My cooking experiments this weekend, however, are another story. To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I tried to cook with Guinness as much as I could. I made Guinness pancakes (this recipe with half milk/half Guinness), which weren't too bad. Then for dinner, I made Guinness mashed potatoes and Shepherd's Pie meatballs with Guinness gravy. Bitter is all I can say. My boyfriend said it was fine, but he could have just been saying that. He was nice enough to keep eating it though. Next time, we'll have to make Guinness brownies instead so that most of it is baked out! Enjoy this pizza meanwhile.

Kimchi Pizza
From No Recipes

For the sauce
1 tbsp Korean red pepper paste
Kimchi juice
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 clove garlic, crushed

For the pizza
1 lb of dough
Flour
Cornmeal
1/2 cup kimchi, squeezed of excess juice and chopped
4 very thin slices of pork belly, cut into squares
1 scallion, sliced thin on the bias

Put the oven rack in the upper middle position, put a pizza stone (or baking sheet) on it and preheat to 475F.

To make the sauce, just mix the gochujang with enough kimchi juice so it’s thin enough to easily spread (but not watery). Add the sesame oil and garlic and stir to combine.

On a well floured surface, roll the dough out until it is less than 1/4″ thick. Dust a pizza peel (or wooden cutting board) with course ground cornmeal and lay the dough on top. Use a spoon to spread the sauce on the dough. Top with chopped kimchi and sliced pork belly.

Gently transfer the pizza to the preheated pizza stone and bake until the crust is golden brown. Remove from oven, sprinkle with scallions, slice and enjoy!

Caramel Chocolate Pretzel Bark

When I started teaching, I got roped into buying for whatever fundraiser the students' sports teams or classes were doing. I've gotten a wallet from Thirty-One, discount cards for restaurants around town, and my favorite kind: food. Frozen cookie dough comes in handy when I want to bake rewards for students on weeknights so I get a couple tubs. Virginia Diner categories are fun to look through as there are always a lot of offers, especially around the holidays. This year I got some peanut brittle squares which are very good and next year, I look forward to getting something different (like the pecan turtles!)
  



Looking through the category though, I can't help wonder why I haven't tackled making the same things myself. I made it a goal of mine to make my own candies so when I saw how easy this recipe was, I went for it. I haven't gotten really reached my goal, but I think I'm well on my way. I've perfected homemade caramel with this bark recipe. I'm sure there's a more difficult way to make caramel to make it taste even dreamier, but I'm happy with the way this turned out. I love the combination of all the flavors and textures in this bark. I guess the only thing missing is peanut butter since peanut butter and chocolate make the best couple in the world!



This recipe makes a little less than 2 pounds of bark so it certainly makes a lot. I shared this with my students the other day and they loved it. Break this up into small pieces as it can be rich in just one small bite. Enjoy!

Caramel Chocolate Pretzel Bark
From Live Love Pasta

2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 lb bag of mini pretzels (you won’t use the whole bag)
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
Sea salt, for sprinkling on top

Preheat the oven to 400F. Cover an 11×17 baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place enough pretzels on the prepared baking sheet to form a single, even layer.

Melt 2 sticks of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the brown sugar and stir well to incorporate. Allow the brown sugar and butter to simmer and bubble, but do not let it boil. Stir the butter-sugar mixture occasionally. It should take about 3 minutes for the butter and sugar to caramelize, but keep a close eye on it because it will burn quickly.

When the sugar and butter have caramelized, pour the mixture evenly over the pretzels, strafing it back and forth down the length of the sheet. The caramel hardens quickly so it’s important to pour it as evenly and quickly as possible. If there are any clumps, use an offset spatula to spread the caramel as best you can. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Microwave chocolate chips in intervals of 30 seconds, stirring after each interval, until smooth. Pour the chocolate over the pretzel-caramel mixture, strafing it down the length of the baking sheet just as you did for with the caramel layer. Again, move evenly and quickly. Use an offset spatula to smooth out any clumps or thick spots. Sprinkle sea salt evenly over chocolate before it starts to harden. Allow the baking sheet to harden in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

When the bark has cooled and hardened, remove from the fridge and carefully pull the aluminum foil off the back. Break the bark into pieces and serve. Best stored in the refrigerator.