Seaweed Soup (MiYuk-Guk)

This seaweed soup is traditionally served on birthdays and for new moms who just gave birth. Made just right, there is nothing ocean-y about this soup. And it's so healthy and cleansing for the body.

Ingredients:

1/4 to 1/2 lb of ground/minced sirloin or other high quality beef
a handful of dried seaweed (found in Asian stores, usually long package, need to cut into smaller bunches)
1-2 large onion(s)
1-2 tsp soy sauce to taste
1/2 tsp of minced garlic
1 tsp sesame seed oil
4-5 cups of water

Let the dried seaweed soak in cold water for 20-30 minutes to let expand and the saltiness subside (ocean taste). Brown the beef in a frying pan with a little bit of oil, and then add the seaweed (already soaked and heavily rinsed and water squeezed out of it). Cook lightly for a minute or two adding in some more oil and the garlic and then the soy sauce. Then put the ingredients into a small pot and add water (water level covering the seaweed completely) on mid-high heat and add onion. Let boil and then serve with rice.

Chicken Carbonara

When you taste carbonara sauce that has the right balance of creamy, savory, and a hint of tanginess - it is pure happiness.

Ingredients:

1/2 to 1 lb of chicken tenderloins (cooked and salt/peppered)
1 package of linguine (dry)
1 pint of heavy cream
8-12 slices of bacon (cooked and juices reserved)
1 bunch of fresh parsley
4 egg yolks
1/2 tsp of minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

As you boil lightly salted water for the pasta, cook the chicken and the bacon. Reserve some of the bacon juices to add to the sauce. In a mixing bowl, mix the egg yolks and cream, pinches of salt and pepper, and garlic. Once pasta is cooked, add in the cooked chicken and bacon (cut into edible pieces). Mix well and on mid-low heat, add in the sauce (mixing all the while). This will cook the sauce but be careful to keep mixing on lower heat so that the sauce stays creamy (not solidify) and then turn down the heat as you continually stir. As you stir, add in some parsley and stir. Once you are confident that the sauce is cooked and mixed well (the sauce should turn creamier), serve immediately.

Kalbi (marinated beef)

In Korea, there is such a thing as it has a "hand" taste, meaning the hands that made the food are just as critical to the recipe. The ingredients to any kalbi recipe has many similarities, this one works for me and what my mom handed down to me and this made it my own (with my "hand" flavor).

Ingredients:

1 package of LA Kalbi 2-4 lbs (sliced rib meat with bone, found in Asian food stores)

Marinade:
1 large onion chopped
1 bundle of scallions chopped into 2-3 inch pieces lengthwise
1 apple/pear grated with juices
1 garlic clove minced
2/3 cup of soy sauce
1/2 cup of sesame oil or canola oil
1 can of soda (like coke)
1 cup of sugar

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade together. Rinse the LA Kalbi pieces briefly under cold water and then put into the marinade. Marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight in the fridge before grilling or frying. Serve with rice and/or wrap into lettuce wraps and add some miso paste to the wrap.

Oxtail Soup

This soup is light yet very flavorful. It can also be used as a base/broth for a number of different soups such as Miso/DuenJang JjiGae or Spicy beef broth with bean sprouts.

Ingredients:
1 package of oxtail (sold in local supermarkets or Asian markets) approx 2 lbs.
2 large onions cut into quarters
lots of water to make the soup
chopped scallions (set aside)
salt and pepper to taste

In a big stock pot, put the oxtails in and add cold water immersing the oxtails. Let the blood from the oxtails run out into the water (30 minutes) and then dump the water and fill again with cold water. After another 30 minutes, dump the water and add in new water completely immersing the oxtails (2/3 of the pot). Add the onions and on high heat, let boil for 15 minutes. Turn down heat to medium and continue boiling for another 15 minutes. Turn down heat to low-med and let slow boil for 2 to 3 hours. During boiling (especially the first boil) use a ladle to gather the oil that floats on top and dump it out. This helps to get rid of excess fat and unnecessary grease. You can store the soup in the fridge once it cools down. Reboil to heat. Before reboil, you can remove any hardened fatty bits.
Serve with rice and add scallions, salt and pepper to taste for the soup.

Dumplings almost from scratch

The kimchi adds some spark to the dumpling's flavor. Also the green squash reminds me of when my grandma used to make the dumplings using Korean green squash which made it more aromatic.

Ingredients:

1 package of dumpling wrappers (sold in Asian food stores - freezer section)
1 package of firm tofu, chopped finely
1 lb of ground pork cooked and seasoned lightly salt/pepper
2 cups of briefly rinsed and squeezed and then finely chopped kimchi
2 cups of finely chopped green squash
little water to adhere the dumpling together

Mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl. Grab a dumpling wrapper and put a teaspoonful of the mixture into the middle of the wrapper. Using a finger dipped into water, move your finger along a top half of the dumpling wrapper and fold. Then make a few creases along the top of the wrapper. Fry or boil the dumpling into your favorite broth (add in some sliced rice cake). Put the rest into the freezer to consume next time.

Korean Curry

Korean curry is more thick and stew-like than other curries. The apple and onion adds some sweetness to the spice.

Ingredients:
1/2 brick (package) of curry block (sold in Asian food stores in either medium or medium-hot)
3 cups of water
1 large onion chopped
1 large bell pepper chopped
1 potato chopped into cubes(optional)
1 apple chopped into cubes (optional)
1 lb of chicken (or for more flavor use a can of spam)

Stir fry the onion, bell pepper and meat until slight browned. Add in water to a boil along with the potato and apple. Add in 1/2 brick of the curry and stir until melted completely. Serve with rice.

Kimchi Stew

This is my fave way to cook Kimchi Stew using spam as the meat. It makes it really savory.
I like adding in the cellophance noodles and rice cakes to add different textures to the stew.
If it gets too spicy for you, you can also add in cubes of tofu.

Ingredients:
1 half can of cut up into squares spam
4 cups of kimchi (preferably well fermented not just made kimchi)
1/2 large onion chopped (prefer sweet onion)
4 cups of water
1 cup of chopped mushrooms (optional)
a few cellophane noodles (optional)
a fistful of sliced rice cakes (optional)

On a medium heated saucepan, brown the spam and then add in the kimchi. Keep stiring until the kimchi is starting to wilt and the spam is cooked (about 5 minutes). Add in water (to the point BEFORE it covers the top of the ingredients in the sauce pan. Let boil and add into onions and turn down heat a little. Add in mushrooms, rice cakes, and cellophane noodles and stir until cooked through. Serve with rice.

Simple Veggie Sushi Rolls

Ingredients:
1 sheet of Sushi Roll Seaweed (available in Asian markets or Whole Foods)
1 cup of Cooked Rice (preferably in rice cooker using asian rice, slightly sticky)
3 TSP rice wine vinegar
1/2 avocado cut into thin vertical strips
1/4 cucumber, seeded and cut into strips

Place seaweed (shiny side facing down) on flat clean surface. Add rice to the middle of the seaweed and spread thinly over the seaweed allowing room on the top and bottom of the seaweed (to fold). Sprinkly rice vinegar onto rice. Put strips of avocado and cucumber towards the bottom of the seaweed. From the bottom roll the seaweed over the avo and cuc strips and keep rolling and making sure from left to right the roll is smooth until rolled over the top of the roll. Optionally use a bamboo sushi roller (sold in Asian food stores to help you roll all sides of the roll evenly). If roll is too thick or does not stick, remove some ingredients or add a little bit of water to stick. Cut the roll into edible sizes.
Optionally you can add in imitation crabmeat and you will have a cali roll. If you want the rice showing on the outside of the roll just turn over the seaweed after you put rice on it and add the strips on the outside and then roll.
Alternatively use daikon (picked radish sold in Asian food stores), steamed spinach, and ground beef cooked and slightly seasoned with soy sauce as a different kind of roll.

Cornflake-breaded Chicken

Ingredients:
3 cups of cornflakes
1 lb of chicken breast cutlets
garlic powder, salt and pepper or other seasonings to taste
5 TSP canola oil to fry
Makes 2- 4 servings

Using cornflakes as the breading for this chicken gives it a bit of a crunch and slightly sweet flavor.
Hammer the cornflakes (inserted into a plastic bag) until fine. Rinse the chicken in water real quick (let water drip off the chicken) and then dip the chicken into the breading both sides. Alternatively, you can use one mixed raw egg to moisten the chicken breast before dipping into the breading. On a middle heated skillet (with the oil) brown both sides of the chicken until cooked through.
Serve with veggies, salad or potato.