Bulgoki with kimchi fried rice

making my own bulgoki at home with side dishes from Korean store, H Mart

Japchae - Stir fried noodles with vegetables

The noodles used is not the regulat sotanghon. Koreans call it dangmyun or starch noodle. It is darker in color and thicker in size and chewier too.

The procedure is similar to the bimbimbap. Ingredients are cooked separately and dumped in large bowl.

Start by cooking the starch noodles in huge pot of boiling water for 5-7 minutes. Drain the cooked starch noodles (save the hot water to cook the spinach) and add soy sauce and sesame oil, then set aside in a large bowl, big enough to mix all the cooked ingredients (see comment below). Stir fry the julienned carrots for few minutes in vegetable oil. Set aside with the cooked noodles. Meanwhile, cook the spinach in the same water the noodles were cooked. Drain and immerse in cold water immediately. Rinse 3 time and squeeze excess water each time. Add soy sauce and sesame oil to the cooked spinach. Set aside with the noodle and carrots. Stir fry separately the thinly sliced onions, green onions and sliced mushrooms (I forgot to buy the white mushrooms; my dish did not have this) and combine with the noodles. Finally, stir fry the sliced beef, add soy sauce, a bit of sugar, salt and pepper and sesame oil. Add the sliced shitake mushrooms and cook for few more minutes. Combine the cooked beef and shitake mushrooms with the rest of the cooked ingredients.

Combine the cooked ingredients thoroughly using two large spoons or with your hands adding more soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Serve with hot bowl of rice.

Bon Appetit,,,,

bowl I used was not big enough, I used the cover of my wok so I can combine the cooked ingredients thoroughly.

Thai food for Trina's bday

Time out from Korean food. We originally planned on having soba noodles but there was a last minute change. I'm glad we decided to go for Thai food. Here's the restaurant where we decided to celebrate Trina's birthday:
Bodhi Tree
58 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10003
Btwn 10th & 11th St
It was a fifteen minutes walk from my office. Since it was bit early, we took advantage of the happy hour. Drinks were 50% off. I had the sake with lychee for $4 and Trina had the Sapphoro beer for $4 too. She said that our drinks were cheap and I believe her, as most drinks usually cost at least $5 for a small glass.
For starters, we both decided on having a salad. It is a bit hot and eating something hot and spicy will probably not be appetizing. I had the Bodhi Papaya Salad - green papaya salad with grilled marinated shrimps and mussels, topped with fried papaya. It was really good and filling too. Trina chose the Duck Salad - crispy marinated duck, mangoes, red onions, scallions and pineapple with chili lime dressing. Both salad were equally satisfying and flavorful.
For our main entree, we decided on sharing. We had the Soft Shell Crab Pong Garee - crispy soft shell crab, onions, and scallions in a yellow curry sauce. The serving size is average but the salad that we had was good enough for dinner. We only ate half of the soft shell crab and had to request for a doggy bag. Dinner was delicious and reasonably priced. No need to wait for restaurant week in New York City. I plan on coming back for other interesting dishes I want to try.

Sunday lunch-continuation of my latest craze

I went to another Korean store in my area to buy some more ingredients for my future Korean cooking. It would take some time for me to learn how to make my own kimchi, so I decided to get some at the store.

For my lunch, I still have some bimbimbap from yesterday, so I just complemented my leftovers with some ready made side dishes from the Korean grocery. The ddukbokkie or spicy rice cakes are favorite snacks I see when I watch my Korean novela, so I was intrigued with how they taste. It does not seem spicy but I guess, the ones they sell at street corners in Korea are really spicy.

I had two kinds of kimchi. The regular ones (napa cabbage kimchi) and another one with cucumber skins and some kind of root veggies. I prefer the second one because it is sweet, spicy and crunchy.
My Sunday lunch was really good. It is now time for my siesta.... hey, what else can you do after lunch on Sundays? nap time.....

Bimbimbap, my favorite Korean dish

I have always wanted to prepare this dish. Eating out is getting to be expensive and cooking at home is really the way to go these days. You just need to get the know how in preparing your favorite dishes.

Several blogs have posted their version of the bimbimbap, but nothing comes close to what I have at Kum Gang Sang, Gahm Mi Oak and other Korean resto at Korea Town in NY. I was fortunate enough to get to this blog where the author has video in You Tube and her blog explains and shows pictures of her ingredients.

My bimbimbap does not have all the required ingredients but I can proudly say that this is as close as it can get. Next time, I will make sure I have the bean sprouts and kosari. My plan is buy a tub of the gochuyang or red pepper paste. There are other dish that I could use the gochuyang.

For those interested in cooking this dish, here's the list of ingredients. check the blog (www.maangchi.com/recipe/bibimbap) for the procedure.

• Cooked rice
• a package of bean sprouts
• 2 small size of zucchinis
• Shiitake mushrooms
• fern brakes (kosari)
• 200 grams of ground beef (about half a pound)
• 1 small carrot
• eggs
• soy sauce
• hot pepper paste
• garlic
• sesame seeds
• sesame oil,
• and vegetable oil

My latest craze, Korean food cooking

Sweet and crispy chicken (dakkangjung)

I had cut up the chicken to prepare fried chicken for dinner. Sometime after that, I found a blog where, in addition to the recipes provided, the author have instructional videos uploaded in Youtube. What a discovery.... my intended ordinary fried chicken turned out into something really delicious.

This is an easy dish to prepare. Ingredients are usually in your pantry or in your fridge. I did not have corn syrup so I just added more brown sugar. The sauce makes all the difference because of the ginger. Addition of the red pepper flakes, sesame seeds and peanuts makes it really crunchy, sweet and spicy.

Based on comments I read, this would be a good dish to bring to potluck gathering as the chicken will remain crispy until after six hours. However, I just have to warn you, your rice consumption will increase threefold. I did eat more rice than I should.

Thai Iced Tea

I wanted to make my own after my officemate gave us a taste of her Thai iced tea
Thai Tea made from scratch
First time I had this was in Washington DC. After my seminar, my son and I decided to try the Thai restaurant a block from our hotel. The waiter suggested this iced tea for our drink. It went well with the chicken satay we ordered. The next time, I had this was when I saw a ready mixed drink package being sold by the Oriental store I usually go to. All you need to do is mix with hot water. Adding more milk and sugar is optional. Have not had this for a while, until last week, when an officemate brought a pitcher of homemade Thai iced tea.

Recipe is really easy. You need to steep half a cup of Thai tea in hot water for 30 minutes. Mix the tea with half a can of condensed milk, a cup of half and half and sugar according to taste. Pour the mixture over a glass of ice.

Enjoy your cool drink of Thai tea.

Baked ziti

step by step pictures in how to prepare the baked ziti
bake at 450F
cover with lots of mozarella
cover with grated parmesan cheese
half cooked pasta covered with meat sauce

Organic seedless cucumbers

I am using up all my mixed greens before it wilts. For lunch, I mixed up all leftovers I have. Boiled chicken, pasta with mayonnaise, suchini and seedles cucumbers.

Crudites with herb dip dressing

I can't help it. I just want to bring those fresh produce home. Although the produce at the Farmers market are a bit pricey, they are really good tasting.
As soon as I got home, I made a bowl of crudites and went on line to make a suitable dressing. Fortunately, I have sour cream, mayonnaise and fresh herbs from my window herb garden. The cut up veggies were good on its own.

I had more than enough for tomorrow's brown bag lunch.

Farmers market at Union Square

I got some yellow and green mini zucchini, apricot,eggplant, seedless cucumbers and golden apples.

Greek yogurt with honey and granola

Since I am so close to Trader Joe's, I always seem to find something new and interesting. This could be my breakfast or my dessert. I have a feeling that I will be eating more healthy food than ever.


This reminds me of the appetizer we had at Becco. It's ricotta cheese with honey and it so delicious with any kind of bread.