The Only Thing I Could Think of Was Tofu Stew

After a long and uneventful flight, we ventured out in search of some dinner. We asked at the front desk for a restaurant suggestion but were unable tosuccessfully navigate through the streets in the dark (yes, we have a map, but still...blame it on the jetlag).

It was ~8pm and most places were closed; those that were open were not very busy. We settled on a small restaurant that looked inviting & was relatively busy. They had an area for the traditional, on-floor seating, but we went to a table. After we sat down we realized that there wasn't an English menu (not a problem) and there also wasn't a photographic menu (definately a problem).

Our poor waiter gestured over to what we think was the menu posted on the wall...eventually my brain woke up enough to realize that (1) the table had one of those gas burners built into it, (2) we weren't really hungry enough for barbeque, but (3) the gas burner would be used for stews as well as BBQ.

Fortunately, I could remember the word for stew (chigae). Unfortunately I couldn't remember the other words to specify what KIND of stew, except for kimchee. So kimchee chigae it was!

(Note: the audio is a little quiet on this video clip. The restaurant was not very nusy, and I didn't want to talk too loudly. Also, we're still elarning how to use the camera...).

Better Late Than Never, and More On That Pancake

Christmas morning dawned at our house with a pile of presents, eggnog lattes, and total computer meltdown. My poor sister-in-law sat down at the desk to Google something; moments later she was heard to exclaim, “Should the computer be making that sound?” as an ominous warning tone sounded the death knell of our motherboard.

At first, I thought that Santa was playing a trick on me – had I been too naughty this year? Then I suspected my dear husband, who has been wishing for a new computer lo these many months. Finally I chalked it up to bad luck, and the short but happy half-lives of motherboards.

What this has to do with you, dear readers, is that it’s taken us several weeks to recover from the rebuild. (You don’t realize just how many programs you run on a daily basis until you have to reinstall ALL of them). Fortunately, no data were lost; some files just went missing for a while. Like the pictures I took of our Vigila feast. (And upon review, I realize once again that I am a lousy food photographer. Trust me, this all tasted better than it looks). So here you go:

First course, mushrooms stuffed with a mixture of crabmeat, goat cheese, and some panko (Japanese breadcrumbs).

Second course, crabcakes on a bed of baby greens dressed with a Balsamic vinaigrette.

Third course, Korean seafood pancake.

And that’s where the photos end, possibly because I’d had too much wine and couldn’t find the camera, but more likely because, as I mentioned in a previous comment, we got full. I made two of the pancakes and, unbeknownst to me, the Men of the Family had stopped off at a local watering hole for a game of pool and Hearty Appetizers while my sis-in-law and I were out for a nice sushi luncheon. So after we ate up the pierogies, I went ahead and made the seafood stew but we didn’t actually eat it until lunchtime the next day.

After all that food, even the dog was too full for seafood stew.

But more on That Pancake. Oh, how we love the pancake! I’ve made it four or five more times since Christmas Eve – we just can’t get enough of it. I’ve had it at restaurants, and it was good, but it tastes even better when it’s hot right out of the skillet. So get thee to an H-Mart, pick up some mix and try it for yourself. (Of course, you don’t need to buy Korean pancake mix. There are plenty of recipes out there on the ‘net that you can try instead).

Even though most recipes don’t direct you to cook the veggies and/or seafood first, I’m still to chicken to try it that way. So I use cooked, frozen shrimps and whatnot (thaw and drain them well) and saute the veggies until soft. When I have fresh seafood I saute it first, then take it out of the pan before cooking the veggies so the seafood won’t overcook.

I posted a quick version of this before, but because you know I love to be wordy, I’m gonna post it again! With even more instructions!!

Korean Seafood pancake (makes 12” pancake, serves 2 for dinner or 4-8 as an appetizer)

1 egg
¾ cup water
1 cup Korean panckae mix
2-3 tablespoons of oil
1 generous cup of miscellaneous cooked seafood, left whole or cut into bite-sized pieces: shrimp, scallops, shelled clams or mussels, langoustines, fish, calamari, etc.
1-2 tablespoons finely chopped onion or shallot
About 1/3 cup of carrot and/or bell peppers (any color), sliced into thin strips about 3” long
About 1/3 cup of sliced scallions
About 1 cup of finely sliced Napa or regular cabbage, or red cabbage, optional
¼ to ½ cup garlic chives, cut into 1” sections, optional
1 clove of garlic minced (skip it if you are using garlic chives)

Since I’m usually making more than one pancake, I like to have all the veggies arranged in little piles on a large plate. I combine the seafood in a small bowl and mix it all together. Call it the lazy cook’s mise en place.

Place the egg and water in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Add the pancake mix and stir well until the batter is smooth. Get out a large cookie sheet that has one side without a raised edge that you can use to flip the pancake (you can also use the backside of a sheet that has a raised rim all around, or a pizza pan).

Heat a nonstick, 12” skillet over medium high-heat. Add the oil and onion, carrots and peppers; saute for a few minutes until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the scallions and optional cabbage and chives, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage wilts. Stir in the garlic and seafood and distribute the ingredients evenly around the pan.

Use a rubber spatula to scrape the pancake batter out of the bowl and into the pan, covering the ingredients completely. If your spatula is also heat-proof, use it to gently wiggle the ingredients a bit so that the batter gets under everything.

Reduce the heat to medium and wait. Let the pancake cook until the top is no longer shiny and “wet” in appearance, about 10 minutes. Shake the pan gently and make sure that the pancake slides about freely; if it doesn’t, lift up the edges gently with a spatula and drizzle a little more oil underneath, then let it cook for a couple more minutes.

Put on a pair of oven mitts and get the cookie sheet ready. (If you have a gas stove, either turn off the flame or do the flipping over the table). Slide the pancake out onto the cookies sheet, then turn the skillet upside-down over the pancake. Put your oven-mitted hand in the middle of the skillet, your other oven-mitted hand on the cookie sheet, press your hands together and flip the whole thing over. Take the cookies sheet off the top and hope for the best. (If the pancake has ripped, push it back into place with a spatula).

Return the skillet to the stove and cook a few more minutes over medium heat. Slide it out onto a large serving platter or cutting board, cut into wedges and serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

CSA Week 3, Continued: Three Little Cabbage Recipes

This week we got a beautiful red-veined kale, fennel, lettuce, scallions, and Napa cabbage. I haven't tackled the kale yet but I'm thinking about a kale and mini-meatball soup (thanks to Kate for the inspiration). The fennel and lettuce went into hubby's lunch salads, along with lemony sorrel from the garden and goat cheese with macerated strawberries (thanks Paula). Scallions are everywhere in my cooking so they'll get used up over the course of the week.

As for the cabbage, I buy that frequently anyway and so was thrilled to get a beautiful, big ole Napa cabbage this week. I usually end up using half of it in Korean cabbage salad (see below); the rest gets shredded and put into Asian-style soups, lo mein, or fried rice. For a really fast soup, make some anchovy stock, add shredded or finely sliced Napa cabbage, and sliced fresh mushrooms (or dried ones, after soaking them in hot water). If you have some frozen dumplings, add those too. Instant dinner!

If you like to define cole slaw as a cabbage salad, then here are three different slaw recipes. They are very flexible and you will see that you can omit some ingredients, if you don't happen to have them on hand, and still have a tasty dish. All three can be made ahead of time, and while there's a fair bit of chopping and slicing involved, no heating is necessary - great for hot summer days (if only we would have some of those...).

We eat the Korean cabbage salad as a side dish in bibim bap, or with Korean barbeque (and sometimes with rice for breakfast). The Thai-style slaw is based on a green papaya salad and is great with Thai-style grilled chicken, which I'll get around to posting one day, or other grilled meats. Leftovers are really tasty eaten as a sort of salsa, with tortilla chips. Finally, the Citrus Cucumber relish is meant to be used as a condiment in fish tacos - a quick, easy summer meal that won't heat up your kitchen, especially if you grill the fish.


Napa Cabbage Salad
Adapted from Korean Cuisine by Young Sook Choi

1 lb Napa cabbage
¾ cup sliced Chinese chives (I think they are also called garlic chives)
½ teaspoon minced garlic clove
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon minced ginger root
2 tablespoons Korean red pepper powder
1 tablespoon Korean anchovy sauce (Thai fish sauce is a good substitute)
¾ tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Toasted sesame seeds

1. Wash and drain the cabbage. Cut or tear cabbage leaves lengthwise into two or three strips. [Note: I usually cut the pieces smaller than that, for easier eating].

2. Mix the remaining ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the cabbage and mix well to coat. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and eat!


Thai-Style Slaw with Chilies and Lime
Adapted from "Real Thai," by Nancie McDermott

6 fresh kii noo chilies, sliced, or 2 fresh serrano chilies thinly sliced, or any amount of fresh or dried hot chilies that you prefer
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
about 3 cups finely sliced or shredded Napa cabbage
9 green beans, end trimmed and cut into 2-inch peices
1 teaspoon palm sugar or sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 lime, quartered lengthwise
7 cherry tomatoes, quartered lengthwise (or ~1/2 cup red bell pepper, cut into thin slivers)
fresh cilantro leaves, as desired

1. On a cutting board, mince the garlic together with the salt, using the flat side of the knife to bash them together into a paste. Transfer the garlic to a large bowl and add the sugar and fish sauce and stir, Squeeze the juice from the lime into the bowl and stir, reserving the lime rinds.

2. Add the chilies, cabbage, green beans and tomatoes (or red bell pepper) and mix well. Add fresh cilantro, chopped, as desired or garnish with whole cilantro leaves. If desired, slice the squeezed lime thinly and add it to the bowl. Taste the "juice" in the bottom of the bowl and add salt, sugar, lime juice, or chilies as desired to balance the sweet, salty, sour and hot flavors to your liking.


Citrus Cucumber Relish
Adapted from "Mesa Mexicana," by Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feninger

3 small "pickling" cucumbers, or 1 regular cucumber, ends trimmed and peeled
1/2 small red onion, sliced thin
3 Roma tomatoes, cored and sliced into strips (or ~1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise)
1 cup shredded white cabbage (any cabbage will work, but since this post is about Napa, you should use Napa)
1-2 serrano or other chilies, stemmed, seeded if desired (to make the relish less spicy) and finely chopped (optional)
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tabelspoons grapefruit juice (optional, though it's great if you have it)
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon salt

1. Cut the cucumbers into thin slices, then into fine julienne strips. Place in a bowl and add the other ingredients. Mix well and let stand for 30 minutes or longer. Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

To make fish or seafood tacos, grill, broil or bake fish or seafood (Mary Sue and Susan recommend lobster, crab, shrimp or salmon; I generally use a white fish like Tilapia or cod). Warm up small corn tortillas by wrapping in foil and placing in an oven set to 300 F. On each tortilla, place a small piece of lettuce, a bit of the fish or seafood, and ~ 2 tablespoons of the cucumber relish. Add any (or all) of the following: sliced ripe avocado, sour cream, sweet green peas, sliced radish, cilantro leaves, a squeeze of lime juice, a drizzle of olive oil. These are messy to eat but oh so good!

A Long-Awaited Post About Anchovy Stock

First, I give you the recipe for anchovy stock, to show you how quick and simple it is to make.

Per cup of water: 1 small dried anchovy and 1 piece of dried dashima (kombu), about 1x2"

Place water, anchovies, and dashima in a pot. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove anchovies and dashima before using.

That's it. Now here's the backstory (there's always a backstory).

When we traveled to Seoul in 2006, I spent a fair amount of time browsing around markets and food halls. I took several pictures of impressive displays of things like this:

and like this:

without knowing what they were, or what they were for. Well, okay, the items in the first picture were obviously small silvery fish sorted into piles according to size, but what they were for was a mystery. Similarly, I surmised that the long black bar-like things in the second picture were seaweed, but had no idea how to cook it - or even get it into your car. (Some pieces were ~6 feet long - maybe the store staff sliced off sections for you?).

Fast forward a couple of years during which I acquired several Korean cookbooks. The piles of fish were probably anchovies, to be used with the seaweed to make anchovy stock (please correct me if I'm wrong, dear readers).

I love anchovy stock now and use it in lots of Asian-style dishes, not just Korean food. It's quicker to make than dashi (no soaking of bonito flakes required). It also works as a substitute for fish stock in Western-style recipes. The flavor is very light and not at all "seaweed-y" which is great for my hubby - something about the iodine in seaweed usually tastes too strong to him. He won't touch nori or the roasted seaweed (kim) that I buy for my son's snacks, but he likes anchovy broth just fine.

There are a lot of little variations on this recipe - some books tell you to pre-soak the seaweed, or to behead and gut the anchovies before cooking them. My palate is not so refined as to notice differences in the finished product, so I skip those steps. I am careful, however, to heed warnings of overcooking the anchovies and I only simmer the brother for 10 minutes. And if I happen to have a daikon radish on hand, I'll throw a slice of that in the broth, too.

Look for dried anchovies at an Asian market. The ones I bought are about 2" long; I store them in the fridge in a zip-top bag. The seaweed to use for this is kelp, known as dashima or kombu (the Japanese name for dashima). They sell it at Whole Foods as well as Asian markets.

And just what can you do with this little marvel? Other than make kimchee stew or brasied tofu, I use it in soup. I can make the stock while I'm prepping other ingredients (Napa cabbage, sliced daikon radish, etc...bit of foreshadowing here for this week's CSA post) and have a tasty meal ready in half an hour.

CSA Week 2: A Case of Fairly Bad Timing

Another one of my little concerns with going the CSA route was, will I use everything up each week? One reason that I've stopped "meal planning" a week's worth of meals at a time is that things often change and you end up eating out one night, or you just can't work up the energy to make borscht another, and then there you are with all those beets. Even though I'd signed up for a half/single share with the CSA, I was still worried about having too many veggies. So it was with great relief, and no small quantity of smugness, that I used the last of last week's share on Monday.

Then on Tuesday, a nice man came to our house and repainted our circa-1940's glazed-enamel kitchen sink. This was significant because Tuesday is also the day for our weekly veggie pickup. Usually I like to wash some of the greens right away - prewashing them gets a somewhat messy and time-consuming step out of the way, and most greens will be OK for a day or two if you dry them well before you store them in the fridge. On Tuesday, however, the whole kitchen was masked off to protect it from paint spray, and we were under strict instructions to refrain from using the sink for the next 10 hours: conditions not ideal for washing, let alone cooking, a big haul of leafy greens. Plus, my hubby had a business dinner, and I was too tired from the day too even think about cooking. No veggies, therefore, were consumed on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, my hubby jetted off on a three-day business trip, leaving me with a head of lettuce, a bunch of collard greens, a bunch of baby turnips, two wicked big bunches of bok choy, and two garlic scapes all to myself. (Well, okay, my son is here, but three-year-olds aren't generally known to be voracious veggie eaters). What to do?

What to do. The collards are pretty young, so a quick braise with some garlic and kielbasa should do nicely for them. I like sausage-and-greens dishes, because the leftovers keep well and when you think you can't eat them anymore, they can be sliced up and turned into soup (add some diced potatoes or cannellini beans). So that's on the menu for tomorrow night. The bok choy should be able to hold out until Friday when I'll stir-fry it with a Player To Be Named Later. Thanks to the trusty Internet I've just learned that garlic scapes can be stir-fried (and also, what the heck garlic scapes are). But how about those turnips? They were billed as "salad turnips," meaning that they can be eaten raw, such as sliced up in a salad. They still have their greens attached, so I'll add those to tomorrow night's collards and kielbasa. I sliced up a turnip to taste a sample and it reminded me of daikon radish, and that made me think of radish kimchee.

I love radish kimchee. Sometimes I buy it in a jar, but mostly I make it at home using a recipe from Korean Cuisine by Young Sook Choi (note: I bought this book in the English/Chinese version from Amazon, but currently only the Korean edition is listed. Caveat emptor). It's not really a fermented kimchee - it only sits out for a day - but it's easy, quick and oh so yummy. (Well, if you like spicy food). I usually serve it as a side dish when I make Korean food or any Asian-style barbequed meat for dinner. You can also use it as one of the veggie dishes in bibim bap. Or for a really fast dinner, cook some rice, add a fried egg and some radish (or any other, for that matter) kimchee. Sometimes I even eat it with a little leftover rice for breakfast. And, radish kimchee can be kept in the refrigerator for a week - and if you have any left by then, you can add a little anchovy broth to whip up a kimchee stew (or a modified radish soup, which I'll post someday). (And now I really need to write that post on anchovy broth!).

Since the salad turnips tasted so much like radishes, I decided to give this a whirl. I think it's pretty tasty. One note; I don't think there's a substitute for Korean red pepper powder; you can try it with other red chilies but I just don't think it'll be the same. Make space in your cupboard for some go chu ga ru (red pepper powder) and in your fridge for some go chu jang (Korean hot pepper paste; not used in this particular recipe but in many others that I love); with those two things, you can make a lot of really great food.


Turnip Kimchee

A warning: this stuff is pretty addictive. I've eaten about a third of the batch, just while I was writing up this post. So much for "preserving the harvest."

8-10 oz baby turnips (1 small bunch, about 7 2-3" baby turnips), washed but not peeled, sliced thin
1 scallion, chopped into small pieces (1/2" or less
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Korean red pepper powder
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon minced or finely grated fresh ginger (optional).

Mix everything together. Transfer into a sealed container and let it sit around at room temperature for a while (up to overnight). Keeps refrigerated for one week.

Rice Cake Soup for New Year's

We had the playgroup this morning, and the bibim bap was a hit. With the Mommies, anyway; I'm not sure the kids sat still long enough to eat any of it...

We also made a beef soup with rice cakes, which is traditional for New Year in Korea. (Not the Quaker, puffy-rice-type of rice cakes! The chewy, rice-flour-dough kind). I was going to post the recipe but then I saw that Aeri already did that on her blog, in her usual, beautifully written and illustrated way. So go visit Aeri's Kitchen (http://aeriskitchen.com/2009/01/korean-lunar-new-year-soup-%eb%96%a1%ea%b5%adtteokguk/#more-1957) and read about rice cake soup!

Bibim bap

Bibim Bap, adapted from "Korean Cuisine" by Young Sook Choi

I was typing up this recipe for a friend - she's making it for our sons' playgroup this week, to celebrate New Year - so I thought I would post it here, too. There are a lot of recipes out there for bibim bap, and they're all good! This one's adapted from "Korean Cuisine," by Young Sook Choi. It's my first Korean cookbook and the one I still use all the time.

This recipe is not as intimidating as it seems - most of the steps are accomplished quickly. I like to chop up a lot of garlic (~1/3 cup) and put it in a bowl, then scoop some out as I prepare each side dish. Any garlic that's left after everything else is assembled gets cooked along with the beef.

The hot sauce can be made well in advance (like a week) and the spinach, daikon, and bean sprout salads can be prepared several hours ahead of serving time. Cook the rice while you prepare the garnishes, then cook the mushrooms, beef, and eggs.

To assemble the bibim bap: put some hot rice in a large soup bowl and place a fried egg in the middle. Arrange the side dishes in little piles around the egg. You can put all the components together in each serving bowl, or present bowls of hot rice topped with an egg and let each diner add the side dishes and garnishes to their own preferences. Leftovers are good the next day, and even the day after.

The seaweed garnish is optional. You really only need to add two ingredients to your pantry to make this: sesame oil and Korean chili paste. (Yes, some of the side dish recipes call for Korean chili powder as well, but you can skip it if or use another chili powder for these dishes). Korean chili paste is so delicious that you may find your self sneaking it onto other things. We love it in breakfast burritos. So no excuses! Go make some bibim bap!


1. Hot sauce (bibim bap sauce)
1/2 cup of hot pepper paste (gochu jang)
1 1/2 tablespoons cola or water (I use water)
1 tablespoon beef stock (or additional water)
1/2 tablespoon red wine
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic clove

Mix everything evenly into a paste.


2. Shredded lettuce (use ~1/2 cup per serving of bibim bap)

3. Shredded cucumber (~1/4 cup per serving)

4. Shredded seaweed (cut sheets of nori or roasted seaweed with scissors into fine shreds)


5. Spicy daikon salad (1/4 cup per serving)
2/3 pound (total) of shredded daikon radish and carrot
1 teaspoon salt (I use much less)
4 teaspoons sugar (I use ~3 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper powder

Mix everything together in a bowl.


6. Bean sprout salad (use 1/4 cup per serving)
2/3 lbs mung bean sprouts (I prefer regular bean sprouts)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic clove

Bring a pot of water to boil and blanch the sprouts (a few minutes in the boiling water, until they get a little limp). Drain the sprouts and rinse them, squeezing out the excess water. Put them in a bowl and add the salt, sesame oil, and garlic.


7. Spinach salad (use 1/3 cup per serving of bibim bap)
2/3 lb spinach
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic clove
pinch of sugar
pinch of toasted sesame seeds

Bring a pot of water to boil and blanch the spinach (until it wilts). I sometime just steam the spinach, or cook it in a pot with very little water, stirring often, until it wilts. Drain the spinach and squeeze out the excess water. Chop the spinach coarsley (if the leaves were large), put it in a bowl and add the salt, sesame oil, and garlic.



8. Mushrooms (2 mushrooms per serving, though I love mushrooms and use more)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
4 shiitake mushrooms, shredded (or sliced)
pinch of salt

Heat sesame oil in a frying pan and add mushrooms and salt. Stir-fry over high heat until cooked. Transfer mushrooms to a bowl and set aside.


9. Beef (~1/3 cup per serving)
1 pound shredded beef (or ground beef)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sugar
pepper and minced garlic, as desired

Mix seasonings with beef. Re-heat the frying pan and cook the beef mixture until the color changes and beef is cooked. Transfer the beef to another bowl (or put it next to the mushrooms, in the same bowl).

10. Eggs (1 egg per serving)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 eggs

Heat the oil in the frying pan and then fry the eggs to your liking (I like over easy).