Marks&Spencer and Habitat for Humanity will hold a bazaar February 10th (2-8 p.m.) and 11th (10:30 a.m.-8 p.m.) at Geuckdong Sports Centre in Apgujeong.  All earnings will be donated to Habitat for Humanity in Haiti.

Tags: charity, habitat for humanity, haiti

Posted by Tammy

Today’s tteokbokki recipe keeps us on the Italian peninsula by using Bologna’s famous sauce as the wardrobe for the tteok noodles.

When I lived in Korea, I did not know much about cooking. My cooking skills was limited to grilled cheese sandwiches and the occasional one pot meal, usually featuring a couple of chicken breasts thrown in a rice cooker with 2 cups of rice mixed with random spices thrown in for flavor.

The last 3 months or so I lived in Korea, we had a Korean woman who made lunch for us every day. When she wasn’t making Korean foods like japchae, she was making some kind of Korean fusion recipe (with interesting results). When she made this sauce for us, I though the diced carrots were a Korean innovation. It wasn’t until much later that I discovered Spaghetti Bolognese and realized why the carrots were there. Our Korean cook was right, I was the babo.

There’s only difference between this recipe and hers. I remember our Korean cooks version was a bit sweeter (maybe because she didn’t put wine in her sauce) than the version I have here.  Hubby liked mine better.

There’s only one difference between this recipe and hers. I remember our Korean cook’s version was a bit sweeter — maybe because she didn’t put wine in her sauce — than the version I have here. Hubby liked mine better though.

1 carrot, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 pound ground beef
2 cans (15 ounce) tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup red wine (use a brand you’d actually drink, not “cooking wine”)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons basil
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon lemon peel, grated
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon thyme, dry
salt and pepper to taste
1 pound garae tteok, presoaked

1. Soak garae tteok (가래떡), which are the fat cylindrical rice noodles traditionally used in tteokbokki, in a hot water bath — not boiling water — for 10 minutes. (Check the instructions on the package of tteok noodles you bought at the Korean grocery store or Asian supermarket for recommendations on this step.)
2. Saute carrots, garlic, onion, celery and green pepper in oil on medium high heat.
3. Add ground beef and brown. Drain fat.
4. Add tomato sauce, water, red wine, sugar and Italian seasoning. Cover sauce and simmer for 30 minutes.
5. During the last five to 10 minutes of cooking time, add the garae tteok and simmer until they’re tender.

The leftover sauce — if there is any — will match well with any pasta, particularly penne.

Tammy Quackenbush lives in San Francisco.  Her love of Korean food started when she taught ESL in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do back in 1996-1997. However, she didn’t become “famous” for my Korean cooking style until she started making cooking videos on YouTube as Koreanfornian Cooking two years ago (had to put her college degree to use somehow).  Her recipes (mostly in video form) have been featured on Slice/Seriouseats.com, Foodbuzz, Korea.net and iFoodTV.com.

Tags: All Korean Food, ddeokbokki, korean recipes, recipe, tteokbokki

Posted by Tammy

Arrabiata sauce is an Italian pasta sauce. The word “arrabiata” literally means “angry sauce” and comes from the southern part of the Italian peninsula. This is the first Italian (and probably only) Italian sauce I’ve made that might make a Korean sweat (or want to blow their nose).

First, soak your garae tteok soak in a hot water bath (not boiling water) for 10 minutes (check the instructions on the package of tteok you bought at the Korean grocery store for recommendations on this step). While the garae tteok are soaking, start on your Arrabiata sauce.

Warning: Several of the recipes for Arrabiata sauce I read start off something like this: “Saute the gochugaru and red pepper flakes in about 3 tbsp. olive oil. Add garlic and saute until you start to smell garlic in your kitchen.” I’d say do this at your own risk. Unless you have a commercial kitchen with a heavy-duty fan, you will mace yourself and your family (and possibly set off your fire alarm) and that’s not a good first step unless you want your spouse, children and family pets to be very angry with you.

Here are the ingredients

1 lb garae tteok noodles (presoaked)
1 teaspoon Korean pepper powder (gochugaru) or hot paprika
1 teaspoon Italian red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons Olive oil
5 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup red wine (use a wine that you’d actually drink)
1 can (14 1/2 oz) chopped tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Start with approximately 3 tbsp. olive oil in your sauce pan. Add garlic and saute until you start to smell garlic in your kitchen. Add the onions and saute them until they are nearly translucent. At this point, add the gochugaru, Italian red pepper flakes and tomatoes. Cook for about 10 minutes. Serve it while it’s hot!

Tammy Quackenbush lives in San Francisco.  Her love of Korean food started when she taught ESL in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do back in 1996-1997. However, she didn’t become “famous” for her Korean cooking style until she started making cooking videos on YouTube as Koreanfornian Cooking two years ago (had to put her college degree to use somehow).  Her recipes (mostly in video form) have been featured on Slice/Seriouseats.com, Foodbuzz, Korea.net and iFoodTV.com.

Tags: All Korean Food, ddeokbokki, Korean Recipes, recipe, tteokbokki

Posted by shinshine

On January 24^th and 25^th, I attended The Essence of Japanese Food – Discover Authentic Japanese Ingredients, a culinary event sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) of Japan.  This free event ran for 4 days, first two days focused on introducing Japanese food culture and ingredients to culinary school students and junior chefs and the last two days on demo application of Japanese ingredients to restaurant chefs and food buyers.

I attended the last two days of the event based on my familiarity with the cuisine (on a relative scale).  It was a small (maximum of 40 attendees by registration), but fairly well-organized, packed event that presenting companies and chefs put much effort to prepare.  On both days, we started out with 10-minute introductory presentations from each company that brought 1 or 2 ingredients, including yuzu (유자; yu ja) liquor and sauce for cooking, sashimi-quality frozen sea scallops, wagyu (Japanese beef), nagaimo (마, ma), black garlic (흑마늘; heuk ma neul), somen (소면; so myeon), buckwheat noodles (메밀국수; me mil guk su), sake, gold flake balls, microwavable fish products over the two days.  After the lunch break on our own, we came back for company demo introductions (somen and buckwheat noodles) and featured chef’s cooking demonstrations (Josh DeChellis on the first day and David Bouley on the second day).  Following the demo and tasting, we were led to a separate product exhibition room, where we could ask more specific questions and taste ingredient samples.  The event ended with a happy hour of Japanese hors d’oeuvres and sake.

Here are some of my observations of the event.

• Most representatives from the Japanese companies made their presentation in Japanese, which helped them just be confident and showcase their ingredients.  One interpreter was available throughout the two days I attended who was knowledgeable in the ingredients as well as culinary terms.  There were also a couple of companies that brought in their own U.S. reps who were very much fluent in both languages and their products.
• Many of the introductory presentations addressed the issues that Americans are interested and care about.  Buzz topics such as ‘sustainability’ and ‘chemical-free’ as well as strict standards in processing and inspection were discussed.
• Presentations were also focused on their long (sometimes too long) history of the ingredients and products, including artisanal human care and geological advantage (weather and environment) that distinguish their products as high quality.
• While the presenters glossed over some basic culinary details since the audience was professionals, basic yet culturally different details were covered, such as boiling somen which is different from pasta that requires the cooking water to be salted and cooking time to be longer, yet doneness is determined at ‘al dente’.
• Informational brochures on Japanese food were available in the back of the presentation room, including ‘Japanese Beef Products Guide Book,’ ‘Dashi Culture,’ and ‘Umami.’
• Flyers informing the products to be showcased at the International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York (February 28 – March 2, 2010), along with two special events “World of Koji – The Secret of Japanese Fermented Products” and “Umami in Kombu and Other Food Products” scheduled at the venue, were also available.
• These companies were ready to discuss distribution.
• The highlight of the two days was chef David Bouley’s over 2-hour cooking demo of preparing a 4-course tasting menu.  Throughout the demo, chef Bouley’s knowledge and respect for the Japanese ingredients were flowing non-stop, which could only come from his long-standing personal interest in the cuisine, decades of relationships with Japanese chefs and countless trials of Japanese ingredients in his own cuisine “without compromising the integrity of Japanese or French cuisine.”

Thoughts after the Event

Introduction of a country’s cuisine is a multifaceted effort.  I don’t know how many direct deals the participating companies ended up getting from this event.  My wild guess is on an individual company level, participating in this event wouldn’t be cost-effective, which makes the role of the MAFF of Japan more important.  Although the companies might not gain immediate monetary rewards, events like this serve as long-term efforts that raise awareness and appreciation of the Japanese ingredients and food culture among the current and future chefs who are particularly interested in new ingredients and ways to incorporate them into their own cuisines.

Although I have not been in the food industry for long, I have not seen any notice for Korean food trade shows or seminars for people in the food industry in New York area.  I do not belong to any cool group that gets invitations to special events and that may be the reason I don’t know much about Korean food events.  I found out about this event, as I usually do for other culinary events, through my culinary school’s weekly news email for alumni.

Street festivals and advertisements on publications are aimed at the general public, which is one aspect of the introduction/familiarization of a cuisine.  We can debate all the possible ways to spell Korean food items.  I don’t know the specifics of what is planned at the government level or any company level and reasons to opt for certain routes.  On a personal level, however, it is disappointing not to find any Korean companies when Joe McPherson and I combed through the list of the exhibitors (as of February 5th, 2010) at the International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York (February 28 – March 2, 2010).

As a cook who is seeking out opportunities to learn more about what’s behind all the emphases on ‘well-being,’ high quality, natural Korean ingredients, I have not had a chance to learn in New York.  I just hope to see more focused, long-term minded efforts that introduce and familiarize the Korean ingredients and food culture to targeted audiences, such as the food industry right here in New York.

Shinshine grew up in Seoul and has been living in the U.S. roughly the latter half+ of her life.  She’s been living in New York since 2005.  Having switched careers from finance to food, she is now a full-time restaurant cook in New York City after culinary school in 2008.  Recently she started her food diary, www.shinshine.com, which is about three things in life she enjoys the most – food, Korea and New York.

Tags: All Korean Food, exhibition, globalization, japan, japanese food, new york

Korma Curry Tteokbokki in my trusty cast iron skillet

Posted by Tammy

The Fourth Day of tteokbokki continues our culinary journey in India. Today’s inspiration is Korma Curry, which is a staple of North Indian Mughlai cuisine. The recipe for Korma curry goes back to the 16th century, when Persia’s Mughal Empire controlled much of India.

This packs some decent heat, but Korma curry certainly has lots of flavor. The basic recipe comes from Sukhi’s.com, which is a San Francisco Bay area company that produces a popular line of Indian curry pastes and sauces.

1 lb Garae tteok noodles (soaked for about 10 minutes in hot water)
1 packet Sukhi’s Korma Curry Sauce
¼ cup whipping cream
¾ cup water

In saucepan, add Garae tteok, Sukhi’s Korma Curry Sauce, and water. Mix ingredients together well, and simmer on medium high heat. When tteok is cooked, stir in cream. Bring to boil. Serve hot.

Tammy Quackenbush lives in San Francisco.  Her love of Korean food started when she taught ESL in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do back in 1996-1997. However, she didn’t become “famous” for her Korean cooking style until she started making cooking videos on YouTube as Koreanfornian Cooking two years ago (had to put her college degree to use somehow).  Her recipes (mostly in video form) have been featured on Slice/Seriouseats.com, Foodbuzz, Korea.net and iFoodTV.com.

Tags: All Korean Food, ddeokbokki, Korean Recipes, recipe, tteokbokki

ZenKimchi has turned six years old today.  I can’t believe it’s growing up so fast!  Our little baby is old enough for the first grade now.

Posted by Grace Meng

There are a lot of hotteok recipes online.  Based on my blog stats, there are even more people looking for hotteok recipes.  It surprised me that a street food, a simple fried pancake stuffed with brown sugar and nuts, is so sought after.  And then I remembered what it tastes like.

My friend Diane and I agreed when we started working on our cookbook that we would focus on home cooking.  There were people who really wanted us to do a cookbook of Korean royal palace-style food, but we wanted to focus on the kind of food we like best: hearty, simple, and homey.

So where does something like hotteok (pronounced “hoe dduk”) fit in?  It’s not something Koreans generally make at home, though premade mixes are popular.  For all the food trends that come and go in Korea, hotteok has staying power.  The dough might change—one year, corn is in, another green tea—and the cooking contraptions change sometimes, too.  I’ve had hotteok that are practically deep-fried and hotteok that are airy, light shells around a thin film of sugar.  (They don’t taste as good as the greasy ones.)  But you can find it wherever young people are hanging out on the streets, even in the dead of winter, at rest stops all over the country, and even in chi-chi department store basement food courts.

I think this is why people outside of Korea are searching for the recipe online.  It might not be something you eat at home, but it’s still intensely familiar.  When it’s gone, there is a big hole in your life.  Like peanut butter for American expats in Europe, or Vegemite for Australians.

Having tried a couple of different recipes online, though, I have to say most of them are not quite right.  The biggest challenge is getting the perfect chewiness right.  It may be hard for you to find glutinous rice flour (also called sweet rice flour), but if the recipe you’re looking at only uses regular all-purpose wheat flour, you are going to wonder how these hockey pucks are supposed to resemble hotteok.  Gluten develops through kneading, and that can make an all-flour dough chewy to a certain extent, the way certain pizza doughs are chewy.  But hotteok aren’t tough-chewy, they’re tender-chewy, like Japanese mochi, Korean tteok, and other foods made with, you guessed it, glutinous rice flour.

The problem, though, is a recipe with a lot of glutinous rice flour is going to be ridiculously sticky.  I found one recipe that made a really wet, spongy dough, very similar to the dough from the mixes, and this one certainly resulted in a chewier pancake, but the dough was so sticky, my hands looked like those of a monster from the deep.  I had to practically sling the dough, misshapen as it was, into the pan, since it wasn’t going to separate from me otherwise.

So the following recipe is my two cents in the discussion of how to make good hotteok at home.  The ratio of glutinous rice flour to wheat flour is almost 1:1, but I keep the liquids low enough that the dough is still manipulable.  As lazy as I am, I’ve found it’s worth it to finely chop the nuts in the filling.  Otherwise, they take up too much space and not enough brown sugar ends up in the pancake.  It’s not as super-crispy as the almost deep-fried hotteok I saw last winter in Seoul.  Instead, it’s chewy with a crust that’s still a bit like bread, and the look is more traditional, a golden-brown center ringed with a paler crust.  Knowing me, I’ll probably tinker with it some more before it gets published in the cookbook, but if you get a chance to try it, I’d love to hear what you think.

호떡

Sticky rice pancakes filled with brown sugar and nuts

Hotteok

Makes 8 small pancakes.

• ¼ cup lukewarm water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon active-dry yeast
• 1 cup flour
• ¾ cup glutinous rice flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup milk
• 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

• filling:
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts or peanuts

Stir together the lukewarm water, one tablespoon of sugar, and active-dry yeast in a small bowl until the sugar and yeast dissolve.  Let it sit for 10 minutes, during which time it will start to bubble and foam.

Combine the flour, glutinous rice flour, salt and remaining tablespoon of sugar in a large bowl.  Add the yeast-sugar mixture and the milk.

Using your hands, bring the dough together into a sticky ball.  Knead it a couple of times, for about two or three minutes.  The dough will be sticky, but it should still come off your hands and stay together.  Cover with plastic and place in a warm spot for 3 hours.  (I put mine on top of my heater.)

After 3 hours, the dough will have doubled in size.  It will look pretty puffy.  When you knead the dough, the dough will almost puncture and let out some air, but remain relatively airy and spongy.  Knead the dough a couple times until it becomes more elastic, but keep in mind that it will never become a smooth, elastic ball of dough.

Combine the sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts in a small bowl.

Heat the oil in a large pan on medium-high heat.  Make sure your pan is hot before you start — your pancake should sizzle when it hits the pan or it won’t form a good crisp crust.  Oil your hands and pinch off a piece of dough, about 2-3 tablespoons.  Knead it into a smooth ball and then stretch it out into a loose circle, creating a depression in the middle.  Fill the depression with the sugar mixture, about a tablespoon worth.  (Ignore how large the walnut pieces are in this photo — this was an earlier draft experiment.)  Stretch and seal the dough around the sugar mixture and flatten it between the palms of your hands.

Drop the flattened ball of dough into the pan.  The oil should be hot enough to sizzle.  Smooth some oil on your spatula and press down on the ball of dough, flattening it further.  Continue making balls of dough until the pan has 3 or 4 pancakes in it. Be careful not to crowd the pan.

Fry the pancakes until golden-brown, about 3 minutes on each side.  Remove from the pan and let them drain on a paper towels or a wire rack.  Serve warm.

Grace Meng is a nonprofit consultant and writer living in Brooklyn, NY.  She was an immigration lawyer until a few years ago, when she ran away to Mexico to learn how to make mole negro and started blogging at One Fork, One Spoon.  She is now writing a cookbook on Korean food with her good friend Diane Choo, which has given them the best excuse ever to take road trips around Korea eating all the way.

Tags: All Korean Food, Korean Recipes, Street Food

Madras Curry Tteokbokki

Posted by Tammy

My next source of tteokbokki fusion inspiration comes from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Madras, the capital of Tamil Nadu, which is now called Chennai, is located in the southwest corner of India. The region is well known for its spicy curry.

First, soak your Garae tteok in a hot water bath (not boiling water) for 10 minutes (check the instructions on the package of tteok you bought at the Korean grocery store for recommendations on this step).

2 tablespoons grapeseed or coconut oil
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
4 cloves garlic (2 tsp minced)
1 large onion
14 oz. chopped tomatoes
3 tablespoons Madras curry paste (I used 1 packet of Sukhi’s Madras Curry paste)
handful of chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup chicken broth

First, finely slice the onion & peppers. Chop the cilantro as well, cutting off the stems.

Heat oil in wok (or cast iron skillet) over high heat. Stir-fry onions and garlic until lightly browned. Add peppers and stir fry for 2 more minutes.

Add curry paste, tomatoes, chicken broth and lemon juice. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the tteok and continue to simmer until the tteok are cooked (approximately 5 minutes). Put the cilantro in during the last minute of cooking.

This was the first sauce I made that I wish I had cooked up some plain white rice to use up the rest of the sauce. It was that good.

Tammy Quackenbush lives in San Francisco.  Her love of Korean food started when she taught ESL in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do back in 1996-1997. However, she didn’t become “famous” for my Korean cooking style until she started making cooking videos on YouTube as Koreanfornian Cooking two years ago (had to put her college degree to use somehow).  Her recipes (mostly in video form) have been featured on Slice/Seriouseats.com, Foodbuzz, Korea.net and iFoodTV.com.

Tags: All Korean Food, ddeokbokki, Korean Recipes, recipe, tteokbokki

ZenKimchi note: This is in response to the article and corresponding video written and produced by Daniel Gray of Seoul Eats regarding the promotion of 막걸리 overseas.  I appeared at the beginning of the video, which was taken at Dan’s 30th birthday party and during the taping of SeoulPodcast #82.

Written by Andrew Salmon

I’ll state my colours at the outset.

I am not involved, in any paid capacity, in official communications for any Korean government body, so I have no financial vested interest in this issue other than an affection for the bevvie under discussion. I am a journalist contributing an article on something of national interest. If the article has started a debate, so much the better. Perhaps I should mention that I do, however, have a background in international PR (three years with Burson-Marsteller) so can speak on marketing with at least a modicum of authority.

I take issue with the video clip. Here’s why.

The interviewer asks the right question  – i.e., “How do you pronounce the various romanizations?” – but does so to the wrong subjects – i.e., those who already know, and understand, Seoul’s official system of Korean romanization.

The problem with the methodology is glaring. He is posing the question to whose who already understand the government’s romanization system. However, the overwhelming percentage of the world’s non-Korean population is NOT familiar with this system, which, naturally, has certain quirks.

Take the word in question. Therein, the ”-kg” and the “-eo” are problematic. I continue to maintain that English speakers unfamiliar with the official Korean romanization (i.e., the vast majority of the global population of English speakers) will pronounce the word ”Mak-Ge-Olly” (hard g) or possibly “Mak-Jee-Olly” (soft g).

I am not suggesting that the entire system of romanization of Korea be changed yet again.

I am suggesting that interested stakeholders (e.g., producers and promoters) come up with a better romanization for the word in question, one that accurately reflects the Korean pronunciation.

(Of course there is the wider issue of whether it should be marketed globally using the word makgeolli at all; it might be wiser to use an English descriptor, e.g., Korean Rice Ale. For e.g., Taekwondo has been well marketing under the Korean name – albeit, it is usually mispronounced by non-Koreans. On the other hand, the marketing of the palaces as tourist attractions, I would guess, has not been helped by the lack of an English brand. Compare the way Chinese sites such as The Great Wall of China or The Forbidden City have attained international brand visibility due to their common English, not Chinese names, as opposed to Gyeongbokgung or Suwon Hwaseong. But this is a different issue that requires research and thinking.)

To return to the clip. Frankly, this is a prime example of how much market research on Korea is flawed. When testing perceptions of the international community, it needs to be done - as a general rule - on subjects outside Korea, rather than those who already here, who have in-built knowledge that the wider world will not. The latter approach results in misleading findings, and sets marketing strategies off on the wrong foot from day one.

International market research should be exactly that: international. Doing it the cheap and easy way (i.e., roping in resident foreigners) misses the point, yet I see this approach used again and again and again. More worryingly, it is often used as a tactic to justify bureaucrats’ or staffers’ own ideas to their superiors. (e.g., “We asked such and such Ambassador/Businessman/English Teacher; he agreed with us; he is a foreigner; ergo we are correct. Let’s execute!”)

FWIW, I agree with most comments about the best descriptor being rice beer, rice ale or rice brew, not rice wine (for reasons stated in the piece) but that is by-the-by.

The broader point is that if Korea needs to communicate an unfamiliar product to global audience, it needs to:

(a) Make the English reflective of the Korean original and/or

(b) Provide a realistic /accurate – and differentiated - descriptor of what the product actually is.

Andrew Salmon is a Seoul-based reporter and author. His works include the restaurant guide Seoul Food Finder (Seoul, 2001) and the military history To The Last Round: The Epic British Stand on the Imjin River, Korea, 1951 (London, 2009).

Tags: All Korean Food, magguli, mak--I give up, makgeolli, makkeolli, makkoli, makkolli, mccallie, mccollie