KKangpung Saeu (Sweet and Spicy Shrimp)

Hello all! I'm sorry that I have not posted in a week. Things have been a little hectic around here. My roommates have had a guest staying with us while he was visiting from Japan. We had a really fun time but this also meant a lot of going out. So while I did make some food I wasn't as diligent about writing about it here. I don't know how other bloggers do it. How do they cook this delicious food, photograph it beautifully, and still maintain a full time job, while making time for friends and family? My hat's off to you bloggers. You make it look beautiful and easy. Maybe one day my blog game will be on par with theirs. But regardless of how my blog looks or reads, I love it. I truly enjoy cooking and eating this food. Korean food makes up the majority of my diet and to be honest I feel great. While I may not make the healthiest dishes I do think that most Korean food is healthy and has many benefits. I think it's all the fermented ingredients like kimchi. I also think that most Korean food is made with love. There is so much time and effort put into these dishes. My roommate says that growing up her mom always made the most delicious, healthy food. That's my goal. I want to create beautiful, delicious, healthy meals made with love. I'm still getting the hang of creating a full meal but I'm improving.
I'm going to make an acceptation regarding my playlist this week. Normally I only talk about Kpop but since Prince passed away this week I am going to dedicate this week to him. My mom is a big Prince fan and I grew up listening to his music. I loved the movie Purple Rain! Prince is incredibly talented. The first song on my playlist is Raspberry Beret. I loved singing this song when I was younger. There was just something about this song. Maybe it was how he chose to describe this woman. I definitely wanted to have a Raspberry Beret. The next song on my playlist in U Got the Look. I love the line "I've never seen such a pretty girl look so tough." I really enjoy how prince described women. It always painted the picture of a real woman as opposed to some ideal image that was dreamed up. His songs were so sexy and real. I also feel that for the most part they were empowering to women. I know that for me his song made me feel like I could be a strong, independent woman and still be loved by men. I didn't have to cower down or hide myself to be loved in his world and that was so awesome! We need more of that.
Ok, now onto the cooking. I got this recipe from the Korean Bapsang.

Ingredients
1 pound large shrimp (about 22 large shrimp), peeled and deveined.
Oil for frying

Batter
8 tablespoons potato starch
1 egg

Aromatic vegetables
4 to 5 small dried red hot peppers, roughly cut
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 inch ginger, thinly julienned
1 scallion, finely chopped
1/4 medium onion, finely diced
1/4 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 green chili pepper, finely diced

Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons rice or dry white wine (or use more water)
2 tablespoons water (or chicken or dashiki broth)
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil.

Step 1.
Clean the shrimp, drain and pat dry with paper towels. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let it sit until ready to coat with the batter

Step 2.
Prepare the vegetables.

Step 3.
In a small bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients, except the sesame oil, well until the sugar is dissolved.

Step 4.
Add the starch and egg to the bowl with the shrimp. Mix everything well by hand until there is no visible starch powder and the shrimp is evenly coated with the batter.

Step 5.
Add 4 cups of oil to a deep fryer, wok or large pot. Heat over high heat to 340 degrees Fahrenheit or until a drop of batter in the oil moderately bubbles up to the surface. Using metal tongs or chopsticks, drop the shrimp in the oil one at a time, in two batches. Cook until lightly golden, about a minute.

Step 6.
Remove them quickly with a wire skimmer or a slotted spoon. Drain on a wire rack or in a large mesh strainer set on a bowl. Reheat the oil to 340 degrees Fahrenheit between the batches and for the second frying.

Step 7.
Add the shrimp and briefly deep fry again until lightly golden brown. Drain on a wire rack or in a large mesh strainer.

Step 8.
In a large pan or wok, add the dried pepper and 3 tablespoons of deep-frying oil over low heat until the oil starts to turn red. The only takes a few seconds. do no burn the peppers.

Step 9.
Turn up the heat to high. Add the garlic, ginger, onion and scallion, and stir fry briefly until fragrant. Stir in the green chili pepper and red bell pepper, and cook for an additional minute or two.

Step 10.
Add the sauce, and boil for a couple of minutes until the sauce is slightly thickened, about two minutes.

Step 11.
Drop the shrimp into the pan, and quickly stir everything together until the sauce is almost absorbed. Drizzle the sesame oil, and toss everything together again. Serve immediately.

I really enjoyed how this dish turned out. It is so colorful and flavorful. I wasn't able to find dried whole chili peppers so I used these peppers cut until strings. I think that if I had used dried peppers is would have come out spicier. I would have liked this dish to have a little more heat to it. The sauce didn't thicken as I had anticipated. If it had been a little thicker I think it would have coated the shrimp better. Overall it turned out delicious and I am happy with it. Thank you for joining me for another adventure.

XOXO,
Rachel

Budae Jjigae (Army Stew)

Last week I was introduced to a dish called Army Stew or Army Base Stew. I had hear mention of this dish before but it didn't seem like something I wanted to eat. But then I went out with some friends and we ordered this along with a couple other dishes and it was amazing. It tasted so good! So I decided to try my hand at making it. Apparently this dish was created during the war. There were American soldiers mixed with Korean soldiers and they created this by mixing together whatever they had on hand. You can see both the American and Korean influences in this dish.
This weeks playlist is all about the girl power. The first song on my list is OOH-AHH Like OOH-AHH by TWICE. This song is so bubbly and upbeat. I can help but dance and sing along with it whenever I hear it. The video is pretty interesting. I didn't expect the zombie theme would go well with the song. I love the dance moves and costumes. It's definitely the kind of video I would make if I were a Kpop musician. The next song on the list is My Type by Jessi, Cheetah and KangNam from Unpretty Rapstar. This song is pretty badass. I love seeing powerful, beautiful, talented female rappers. This song is so much fun and I love rapping along with it in my car. Check out their performance here.
Now time for some Budae Jjigae. I got this recipe from My Korean Kitchen. You can find the recipe here.

Ingredients:

4 cocktail franfurt sausages (I used hot dogs)
200g Spam
200g Enoki Mushrooms
200g King Oyster Mushrooms
100g Shiitake mushrooms
1/2 cup Bite sized Ripe Kimchi
250g Tofu
50g Korean Sliced Rice Cakes
30g Green Onion
110g Ramen Noodles
2 slices American Cheese
4 cups Chicken Stock

Sauce
1 tbsp minced Garlic
2 tbsp Korean Chili flakes
2 tbsp Rice Wine
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1/2 tbsp Korean Chili paste
1/2 tbsp sugar

a little bit of black pepper

Step 1.
Cut up the sausages, spam, tofu, mushrooms and kimchi into bit size pieces and add them to the pot.

Step 2.
Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.

Step 3.
Add the sauce to the middle of the pot and then add the chicken stock around the sides of the pot.

Step 4.
Cover and cook on media, high heat until the mixture comes to a bowl.

Step 5.
Add the sliced rice cakes, ramen, green onion and let it cook uncovered until the noodles are cooked.

Step 6.
Add the black pepper and slices of American cheese then it is ready to serve.

This was pretty easy to make and it will feed a lot of people. You can swap out ingredients for others. Some people like to add addition vegetables or use anchovy stock instead of chicken stock. I think everyone has their own version of this recipe. Play around and make it your own. I hope you have a wonderful week! Until next time :)

XOXO,
Rachel

Yangnyeom-tongdak (Korean Fried Chicken)

Hello! Welcome to my first recipe in my new kitchen. We've had a few guests visit so I made us a lovely dinner Sunday night. Since most of these recipes are new to me I usually only make one in a night. So making a full meal was different. But it was a fun experience and everyone enjoyed it. It wasn't a traditional Korean meal but all of the dishes were Korean. I can't wait to develop my skill set to the point where I can make a traditional Korean meal, complete with appropriate presentation.

Recently Baauer released a song called Temple featuring M.I.A. and G-Dragon and I am loving it. It has an amazing beat. I love how M.I.A. and G-Dragon's style meld together and compliment one another so seamlessly. M.I.A. always has the most interesting lyrics and her style is unique. G-Dragon is one of my favorite rappers. He just has this captivating energy that he brings to each song. The other song that I've been listening to recently has been Rhythm Ta by Ikon. It's a fun, upbeat song. I think Ikon is a good group and they produce rather catchy songs. I enjoy listening to Rhythm Ta while I drive and singing along with it. It helps me to get out of my head and just enjoy myself. 

Now onto the recipe!

This recipe comes from the Maangchi cookbook.

Ingredients:

For the chicken

2 pounds chicken wings or chunks of chicken, rinsed in cold water and patted dry, tips removed, drumettes and flats separated. 

1/2 cup potato starch or cornstarch

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Corn oil for deep frying. 

For the sauce

2 teaspoons corn oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup ketchup

1/3 cup brown rice syrup (ssal-yeot), corn syrup, or sugar.

1/4 cup Korean hot pepper paste (gochujang)

2 teaspoons distilled white or apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds.

1. Make the chicken: Combine the chicken, potato starch, flour, salt, pepper, baking soda and egg in  a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon or your hand until the chicken is well coated. 

2. Heat about 4 inches of corn oil in a deep pot over high heat until it reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don't have a thermometer, test it by dipping one piece of chicken in the oil. If it bubbles, it is ready. Carefully add the chicken to the oil. Add one piece at a time. Fry the chicken in batches to avoid crowding. Cook the chicken until golden. 10-12 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a strainer and shake to drain. 

3. Meanwhile, make the sauce: While the chicken is frying, heat a large heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add the corn oil and garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the ketchup, brown rice syrup, hot pepper paste and vinegar. Turn the heat down to low and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the sauce bubbles and becomes shiny, about 7 minutes.

4. Fry the wings again: Fry in batches, turning a few times, until the chicken is golden brown and a very crunchy on the outside, 10-12 minutes. Transfer the wings to a strainer and shake to drain, then add them to the pan with the sauce and stir until the chicken is coated.

5. Arrange the chicken on a serving platter, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

The chicken turned out delicious. It was sweet, spicy, crunchy and full of flavor. This also made a lot of food which makes it perfect for parties. I will definitely be making this one again. In addition to the chicken I made cheesy corn and Tteokbokki with cheese. All of it was amazing, delicious and great for a group of people. Thank you for joining me on another journey. Have a wonderful week!

XOXO,

Rachel