Fire Chicken with Cheese

Korean chili peppers,  Oh yeah~

The sauce!

Skinned chicken leg. (Gross!)

Hi, I'm marinating!

On my way to becoming yummy

Mozzarella-ed

Yes! 

Green onions for garnish

The final step: gobble!

Now that I have the stress of long-winded theological essays and exams behind me, let me re-start blogging at one of my favorite places of all time - spicy.  This recipe was born out of the love of chicken and sinus-clearing spicy-ness.  It's also the place where the ramen from the famous Korean Spicy Ramen Challenge came about.  (FYI:  Korean name for this recipe = Buldak; Korean name for the ramen = Buldak Ramen)  It is probably one of my favorite chicken recipes and it is way too easy to make considering how amazingly yummy it is. I made edits to the recipe based on other Korean food blogs. 

The Recipe:
Fire Chicken with Cheese by Maangchi

Changes I Made:

1. Instead of vegetable oil, I used sesame oil.  I will do this every time because sesame oil adds an extra flavor to the recipe which I absolutely want in this dish.
2. I also added about 2Tbsp of mirim (Japanese cooking wine).  From what I understand, this step helps to eliminate the unpleasant odor that can come from chicken.  In other words, it enhances the flavor of the chicken.  I believe you can add just regular cooking wine from the store if you don't have access to a Korean store.  Mirim is used a lot in Korean cooking, when cooking wine is required.
3. I also added about 2Tbsp of sriracha sauce.  One of the Korean food boggers said to add spicy sauce but did not specify which one so I thought...of course, sriracha!  Do this if you can handle the spice though.
4. Another awesome addition was green chilies (also suggested by other Korean cooking blogs).  I chopped them up (you can see it in the pix) and added them into the chicken mix before marinating it in the fridge.  I used the Korean chilies cuz I had access to them, but I think jalapenos would work fine.  Again, do this at your own risk.  This adds another layer of ear-popping spicyness.
5. I used regular white sugar instead of corn syrup. 
6. I used green onions for garnish.
7. I did not pan fry the rice cakes but I think this would be a great step!
8. I also marinated the chicken mix in the fridge after mixing in all the ingredients (except for the green onions and the mozzarella cheese) for at least 4-5 hours.  Seriously.  No one ever regretted marinating their meat before cooking.  You can even marinate overnight. 
9. I used pre-grated mozzarella cheese instead of mozzarella cubes.
10. Adding about a table spoon of sesame seeds to the mix will add more pizzazz to the recipe. 

Other Suggestions:

• You are so welcome to add onions and bell peppers to the mix.  I've also seen many Korean food bloggers add sesame leaves - which I think is just friggin awesome! 
• When I first made this, I bought bone-in chicken legs and labored for a good long time to cut out the meat.  I did like the flavor of the meat very much but just your good ol' boneless chicken breast will also work fine. 
• I ate it with rice (of course!) and coleslaw.  'Twas perfect! 

And...you're welcome for the recipe.  :P 

Mr. Baek's Korean Curry

Korean Curry (Hot!)

Curry Paste

Colorful Veggies!

'Almost' caramelized! 

Veggies in the pot!

Cookin'

Almost done!

Ready to go in yo belly!

This may sound strange to the non-Korean ears but curry is a very popular staple in a Korean household.  In our house, we even had mom's version and dad's version of Korean curry.  Korean curry is not as dense as Indian curry.  The flavor of the curry is not as in-your-face but more gentle on your palate.  That's the best I can describe it anyway. 

The below recipe is a slight deviation from the traditional Korean curry.  I've been seeing this recipe floating around the Korean food blogs, so I had to try it out.  The below video is of Mr. Baek from whom the recipe came from.  (Scroll all the way down to see the vid!)  The difference in this recipe from the traditional Korean curry is that the onion is caramelized (actually 'almost' caramelized) before adding the other ingredients.  I say 'almost' because it isn't caramelized in the traditional sense.  (This is how you really caramelize onions)  This step adds greater depth to the flavor of the curry and I do think there's a huge improvement in the flavor.  This is why we use more onions than the traditional Korean curry recipe.  Caramelizing reduces the volume of the veggie.  I also used chicken broth rather than just plain water - a trick I learned from my husband, who is known for his amazing Korean curry.

Mr. Baek's Korean Curry
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Medium carrots 
• 3 Medium potatoes (I used Russet)
• 2 Medium onions
• 1 Bell pepper
• 5-6 White button mushrooms
• 1 1/2 Cup of diced chicken (I used boneless breast, but wouldn't mind trying chicken thighs)
• 2/3 Cups of Korean curry powder (Click if you wanna buy this online) 
• 4 Cups of chicken broth (You can use water or veggie broth)
• 1 tsp of ground pepper
• Pinch of salt
• 4-5 TbspVegetable oil

Instructions:

1. Cut all vegetables into 1/2 inch pieces.  (You may cut it length-wise like Mr. Baek does in the video.)
2. Use about 1/3 cup of chicken broth and pour it into the curry powder to make curry paste.
3. Heat about 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil in a skillet on medium high heat and cook the diced chicken for about 2-3 minutes until most of the skin is white.  Do not fully cook.  Set aside.
4. In a large pot, heat 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil on medium heat.  Put in the diced onions and ground pepper.  Cook the onions for about 10 minutes until it is (almost) caramelized - refer to picture.  Stir frequently with a wooden spoon to avoid burning.  
5. Once the onion is caramelized, add all the vegetables and the chicken to the pot with the remaining vegetable oil and cook for about 3 minutes on medium high heat.
6. Pour the chicken broth and continue to cook on medium high heat for about 5-8 minutes or until the potatoes get soft and all the vegetables are cooked.  
7. Add the curry paste and stir.  Cook for another 3-4 minutes.  
8. Turn off the heat and serve with your favorite rice!  (I recommend Jasmine rice.)  

If you can read Korean, check this site out with the original images and instructions.
If you want an English version of the traditional Korean curry recipe click here for Aeri's Kitchen recipe.

Tuna Kimbap (Korean Sushi)

I discovered David Lobovitz yesterday. Apparently a big name in the food blogging world and on the blog roll of many of my favourite blogs so I took a gander at his blog and discovered that he loves Korean food. That did it for me. Now he is on my blog roll.

Anyway, on to the 'fooooooood.' I love baked goods but when it comes to the main meals, I veer towards Asian. So, here's a great Korean recipe for Tuna Kimbap (Korean for sushi).
This is the lunch I made along with the lemon cupcakes. (A very sensible food combo. I know~) Just a note - this is not your traditional Korean kimbap. I guess this is classic 'fusion food.'

Recipe from Maangchi.com (here's a video of this recipe by Maangchi herself!)

You need:

• Sushi rolling bamboo mat
• 5-6 cups of cooked rice (made from 3 cups of uncooked rice)
• laver ("kim" aka the seaweed stuff)
• yellow radish pickle ("danmu ji" in Korean - can get it at almost any Korean stores)
• 1 avocado - skinned and chopped into long strips
• 1 C crabmeat
• can of tuna (in water or oil)
• 1/4 C of sesame oil for glazing
• For the tuna: 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil, 1 Tbsp sesame seeds, 1 green onions chopped up into little bits
• For the rice: 1/2 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp white vinegar

Rice
*Traditionally, Kimbap rice, unlike sushi rice, is served plain . This is because the contents in Kimbap are very well seasoned. But somewhere along the way, people started to season Kimbap rice. Tse!

1. Put the cooked rice in a large bowl
2. Make your mixing sauce by mixing up the sugar, salt, and vinegar. Mix until the liquid looks clear (I used sushi vinegar which was fine)
3. Mix the mixing sauce with rice and stir it evenly.

Tuna

1. Drain the canned tuna.
2. Put the tuna on a heated pan and drizzle about 1 Tbsp of sesame oil over it. Toss it and cook it for 2 minutes.
3. Add soy sauce, sugar, garlic, and black pepper. Cook for another 3 minutes while stirring.
4. Remve from heat. Add green onions, the remaining sesame oil, and sesame seeds.
5. This should be very flaky.

Rolling Kimbap

1. Place a sheet of laver ("kim") on the bamboo mat and evenly spread a layer of rice in the centre. (Refer to the illustration - my pic of unrolled kimbap may not be helpful...still learning here.)
2. Place 2-3 spoons of seasoned tuna flakes on top of the layer of rice in a strip. Add radish, avocado, and crap meet in the same way on top of each other.
3. Roll it up using the bamboo mat. Glaze the Kimbap roll with some sesame oil. You can use your hand or a brush for this.
4. Cut the roll into 2-cm pieces.

*Tip: Have a wet cloth to wipe the knife while cutting. This makes it easier to cut the kimbap rolls.

Trust me. These are very yummy. You'll be the hit of the international potluck party. :D