Posted by Steve Ward

My contract finishes this week and I found myself at the end of the year with some vacation time left, so this week I’m off all week, trying to get some rest.

…only it hasn’t been very restful so far, as I tend to keep myself pretty busy. Feels like I’ve been running all over town running errands. Anyway, lately, especially with the weather warming up, I’ve been a little homesick for Kansas City (well, to be honest, I’ve been homesick for about the past 6 months to 1 year…), so I thought I’d have a taste of home by using some of my massive stock of BBQ sauce and rubs to make some barbecue.

At first, remembering a classic episode of Good Eats, I looked into building a cardboard box smoker (despite what he says in the video, you can totally smoke meat with the cardboard smoker, but you have to add something to catch the drippings so there’s no flare-ups, which would be very bad inside a cardboard box).

As I made my plans, I realized it might take a while to assemble the proper materials (I’ve since found out that wood chips can be bought at Hannam market), so I decided to make that a long-term project and, in the mean time, to keep it simple and slow cook a pork shoulder (Costco, ~25,000 won for ~1.2 kgs). I’ve done improvised slow-cooker bbq many times before, but this was my first time to do pork and to try and follow some sort of thought-out process rather than just making it up as I went along.

Now here’s a confession: I cheat. I cheat big time. I’ve got a store of rubs and sauces from my three favorite KC barbecue joints and I’m not ashamed to use them because a big part of if, for me, is getting a taste of home. I took the pork shoulder and covered it liberally with the Jack Stack rub. That being said, it doesn’t seem too difficult to make your own brine or rub, or even barbecue sauce. One of these days I might try it myself, but it would be purely an experiment, as I don’t really see how I could improve on the best of the best of Kansas City barbecue sauces (the rub I could understand though, as any pre-ground spices won’t be as fresh after sitting on a shelf for a while).

Based on some recipes I saw online, I put a bed of sliced onions in the base of the slow cooker before I added the shoulder, and then I added a can of beer (Max, specifically). It’s important to note that the meat does not need to be submerged in liquid, nor should it be, because the juices from the meat will come out during cooking. In fact, next time I do this I’ll skip the beer altogether, as it adds significant flavor, to the point of masking some of the flavor of the rub I think.

After ten hours of cooking on low, I woke up at 6am to take the shoulder out, drain the slow cooker, pull apart the pork with two forks, add about a cup of Jack Stack original sauce, then put it all back in the slow cooker for another hour. I intended to go back to sleep, but the hunger pains wouldn’t let me

I used a single slice of whole wheat bread to make an open-faced sandwich and put a little sauce on top (being conservative with it as there was quite a bit of flavor added through the whole process). I didn’t have anything to garnish it with, but I might look into some cole slaw or beans for next tie.

The finished product was pretty darn good if I don’t say so myself. Using beer in the process tasted good, but I think it’s a trade-off and may be masking some of the rub’s flavors, not to mention the natural flavors of the meat. Still, most people probably wouldn’t notice. I’m looking forward to having plenty of meat left over for sandwiches through the weekend!

I’ll definitely be making this again.

Steve Ward has been living in Seoul for nearly five years now and has dabbled in many different hobbies and types of work in that time. SteveWard.TV is the homepage of his official online presence.

Posted by Tammy

Koreans are often critized for their lack of copy editing. Israelis need some copy editors, too.

I found a Korean pomegranate recipe on Korea.net by Kim Yong-ja back in December 2009. When I decided to make the Seongnyu-muk (Pomegranate Jelly) recipe, I knew immediately that I’d have to make a couple of modifications to make it more user-friendly (and edible for me and my family).

The first modification was the purchase of already squeezed pomegranate juice rather than squeezing it from scratch. Since pomegranate juice is readily available in most American supermarkets, that alteration went smoothly.

However, I also had to make a more serious alteration to the recipe. My family lives by kosher dietary laws. This means we do not eat any pork or shellfish, ever. Since most gelatin is made from pork, someone who lives a kosher lifestyle must read labels to find out if the gelatin on the grocery store shelves is suitable for consumption. If you are looking for flavored gelatin, in such products as Jell-O, finding kosher certified options are no problem. Most of Jell-O’s offerings are Kosher-certified, but I didn’t want flavored gelatin, I needed unflavored gelatin and Jell-O doesn’t sell unflavored gelatin.

The only kind of unflavored gelatin available in all the stores I visited was Knox. Knox’s gelatin is not kosher. I traveled to every grocery store I could think of to find kosher unflavored gelatin and I came home empty handed every time.

Since none of the local stores near my home carried the unflavored kosher gelatin I needed for this recipe, I ordered it online at IsraeliKosher.com. Since the shipping was so expensive, I ordered more than I needed (and gave away the rest to some of my friends who find themselves in an equally difficult situation if they want to make this recipe.)

It arrived in the mail about a week after I ordered it. Even though the box was stuffed with old newspaper, the boxes were a bit rough around the edges.

The Hebrew makes much more sense than the English. Trust me.

The second detail I noticed was the misspelling of the word gelatin. Korean companies are often criticized for neglecting to hire native English speakers to review their packaging, PR releases, etc., before publishing. They aren’t the only ones with that issue, apparently.

However, packaging and shipping are minor details. My main concern is whether the kosher gelatin works as well as the regular gelatin. I’d never had “fish gelatin” before so this was quite the experiment for me.

Do you have a “must have” cooking ingredient that’s impossible (or nearly impossible) to find on your local grocery store shelves? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

Tammy Quackenbush lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. 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 in 2007 (had to put her college degree to use somehow). Her recipes and articles have been featured on Slice/Seriouseats.com, Foodbuzz, Korea.net and iFoodTV.com.

Posted by: Tammy

As we cross the Pacific, the next stop for tteokbokki inspiration is Hawaii. America’s 50th state is also the first place many Asian immigrants settled in the 19th century.

Hawaiian cuisine is synonymous with Asian fusion cooking as immigrants from Japan, Samoa, Portugal, the Philippines, China and Korea settled there mixing the culinary traditions of their respective homelands with indigenous ingredients to create a unique and iconic cuisine.

Today’s tteokbokki recipe features a simple Hawaiian sauce

First step, start by soaking 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). While the noodles are soaking, you can start on the sauce.

1 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion, minced
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp. curry powder
14 oz Coconut Milk or milk
2 oz soju
1 tsp. garlic sea salt
1 tsp. ground ginger or ginger juice
3 tbs. soy sauce

Put 1 tbsp coconut oil into your skillet. Sautee the onions until they are translucent. Add the garlic and sautee for a minute more. Add the rest of the the ingredients into the skillet. After the sauce starts to bubble, add the garae tteok and cook for about 5-10 more minutes until the noodles are cooked to your satisfaction.

If you really need some protein, add a can or two of chopped Spam or Ham to the recipe during the last 5 minutes of cooking to heat it up to maintain the Hawaiian spirit of the dish.

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.

Buffalo Chicken Tteokbokki

The Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York is the undisputed home of Buffalo Chicken Wings. Their sweet, fiery sauce is often imitated, but never duplicated, at least until the Anchor Bar decided to start bottling the sauce in large quantities for sale.

A friend of mine brought me a bottle of Buffalo sauce direct from Buffalo, NY (thanks Cynthia) and I’m using this as the basis of my latest fusion tteokbokki recipe.

The first step in any tteokbokki recipe is to pre-soak the noodles in hot water for about 10 minutes (but consult the Garae tteok package and follow those directions).

Put the butter in the skillet set on medium heat.

Add the soaked and dried tteok and fry for about 5 minutes. Flip over and fry on the other side, until golden-brown. Set aside.

Add the chicken and saute until it’s about 1/2 cooked. Increase the temperature to medium high.

Pour the buffalo wing sauce into your skillet, add the celery and cook for about 5 minutes . Add the tteokbokki noodles and cook for about 5 minutes more until the noodles are cooked.

Serve with an optional cup of bleu cheese or ranch dressing on the side for dipping.

Today, I’m bringing tteokbokki to the new world, first stop in Mexico. Due to the labor-intensive nature of traditional Mexican mole sauces, I didn’t make this mole from scratch. The mole that Americans recognize is Mole Poblano.

Wikipedia says, “Mole poblano is prepared with dried chili peppers (commonly ancho, pasilla, mulato and chipotle), ground nuts and/or seeds (almonds, indigenous peanuts, and/or sesame seeds), spices, Mexican chocolate (cacao ground with sugar and cinnamon and occasionally nuts), salt, and a variety of other ingredients including charred avocado leaves, onions, and garlic. Dried seasonings such as ground oregano are also used. In order to provide a rich thickness to the sauce, bread crumbs or crackers are added to the mix.”

Before you start making the sauce, 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). Dry them off.

Here are the ingredients

1 lb Garae tteok noodles (presoaked)
1/4 cup Mole Poblano paste
1 cup chicken stock
1 lb chicken thighs, diced
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, diced
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds for a garnish

Sautee the chicken thighs, garlic and onion in grapeseed oil until the chicken is about halfway cooked. Add the chicken stock and mole paste. Once the mole sauce has returned to a boil, put in the tteok and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes until the tteok is cooked.

Notice that the sauce has an appearance similar to Jjajangmyun (Korean Black Bean Paste Noodles). This recipe could make an interesting North American alternative for Jjajangmyun when “Black Day” comes around on April 14. Something to think about.

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.

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.

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.

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.