The Wall Street Journal has a profile of the man who started the gourmet taco truck craze and was inadvertently one of the big boosts to Twitter in the early years (early as in late 2008)–Roy Choi.  Yes, the same Roy Choi of the Kogi Taco Truck.  The story goes into his Korean-American background and the all-to-familiar themes of pressure to perform at school with subsequent rebellion.

It also gives some hints to what his upcoming rice bowl restaurant will be like.  They say in the article that there’s no name, but I could have sworn that I read somewhere that it was going to be “Scoop.”

[HT to Edward]

The King of the Streets Moves Indoors

Tags: All Korean Food, Food, kogi taco, Korea, korean, korean taco, koreatown, los angeles, mexican, Restaurant, roy choi

Posted by shinshine

Living in New York usually means limited space.  I go through an automatic justification process in my head on how much space a specific item will occupy even before considering its price.  I have a stovetop coffee maker for its compact size and a hand mixer instead of a kitchen aid.  There are so many other things I just decided not to get because it wasn’t worth trying to re-define the kitchen boundary (can I keep an ice cream machine next to my couch?).

Then it dawned on me that the biggest instrument sitting on the kitchen countertop is my rice cooker.  The frequency of use somewhat makes up for its permanent occupancy, but even after reading all about the things I could/should be making with my rice cooker, I’ve made so many of the same plain rice for so long.  Time to change it up and get more rent out of the rice cooker.

Hence the carrot-mushroom rice.  This is an abridged version of my Japanese host mother’s takikomi gohan (I lived in Japan for a year a long time ago), rice mixed with chicken, sliced carrots, shitake mushrooms, fried tofu skin (abura age), and burdock roots (gobou), seasoned with soy sauce and sake, then cooked in dashi water.  Variations are easily found on the internet.

To Make Carrot-Mushroom Rice) To make rice for 2, make dashi water with a piece of kelp (size of any of your 2 fingers) soaked in 2 cups of water for an hour or boil then cool down.  Soak 1 cup of rice in dashi water for an hour.  Add thinly sliced vegetables, in this case, carrots and shitake mushrooms.  Add one tablespoon of soy sauce.  Adjust the water level to barely cover all ingredients sittng flat on the rice cooker bowl (may not need all 2 cups of dashi water).  Press the ‘cook’ button and walk away.  When the rice is done, crack an egg into the rice cooker, and start the rice cooker again.  Check after 5 minutes (may need more/less time) for a perfectly cooked egg to put on top of the rice bowl.  Don’t forget to turn off the rice cooker!

The ratio of water to rice is the tricky part and also varies slightly depending on the rice cooker.  Dashi water is optional, you can use just plain water.  I also used sticky brown rice (=glutinous brown rice, sweet brown rice), which is my favorite kind of rice because of its stickiness and texture (vs. short-grain brown rice lacks stickiness, short-grain white rice lacks texture).

The title of ‘Rice Cooker Series’ is more for me – to encourage myself to make more varied use of my rice cooker.  This could be one of my new year’s resolutions!

Shinshine grew up in Seoul and has been living in the U.S. roughly the latter half+ of her life, including the last 5 years in New York.  Even with her career in finance, her true passion, the kitchen, has always beckoned.  After culinary school last year, she is now a full-time restaurant cook in New York City.  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.  When she’s not in the kitchen, she’s usually scouring New York’s markets and streets for cooking inspiration.

Tags: All Korean Food, Food, foods, Korea, korean, Korean Recipes, korean recipes, rice

Just out of curiosity, what would you like to see more of on ZenKimchi?

• More Korean recipes?
• Korean food basics?
• More restaurants?
• Videos?
• Song and dance numbers?  (I hope not)
• A specific restaurant or recipe?

Please toss the suggestions into the comments.  We have Team ZenKimchi members in Korea, San Francisco and New York.  We may just be able to give you what you’re looking for.

Tags: All Korean Food, Food, foods, Kimchi

Posted by Tammy

I didn’t have time to make a YouTube video version of this recipe before Thanksgiving, but I didn’t want the recipe to collect “dust” on my computer’s virtual shelf so I submitted my kimchi stuffing recipe to Food52’s Thanksgiving stuffing recipe contest. I made it for my family for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and the guests were surprised at how much they liked it. They were also surprised it didn’t turn them into fire-breathing dragons.

The kimchi flavor in this recipe is subtle. It’s a perfect opportunity to introduce the flavor of kimchi to your spice-adverse family members. If your family and friends love spicy foods, you can either add an additional cup of kimchi or replace the black pepper with Korean pepper powder (고추가루/gochugaru) for an additional kick.

INGREDIENTS

• 12 oz. seasoned stuffing mix
• 2 onions (diced)
• 5 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 cup toasted pine nuts (or walnuts)
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 cup (배추 김치) baechu kimchi/nappa cabbage kimchi (chopped)
• ½ cup (신고 배 주스) Korean pear juice (or orange juice)
• 2 sticks butter (melted)
• 14 oz. chicken broth
• 1 tbsp sesame seed as optional garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix the stuffing, onions, garlic, walnuts, pepper, oregano and thyme together in a large bowl.
2. Add the kimchi, pear juice, butter and broth. Mix well.
3. Transfer stuffing to a 13 x 9 baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees in the center rack of your oven.
4. Remove foil and bake for 5 more minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Based on a recipe from Granny Choe.

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, christmas, Food, Fusion, Kimchi, recipe, thanksgiving

Cornerstone, the flagship restaurant of the Park Hyatt Seoul, will host dessert buffets every weekend afternoon from 3 to 5 starting in January.  They pride themselves in using natural ingredients and as little chemical sweeteners as possible–bringing out the rustic qualities of ingredients without muddying them down with sugariness.  Macaroons, cakes, tarts, cookies, chocolates.  There are also a few savory items, like ham croissants, smoked salmon croque monsieurs and Lavoche bread with camembert cheese.  The 25,000 won price includes gourmet coffee or organic tea.

View Larger Map

Tags: dessert, Food, Korea

Posted by Steve Ward

It’s the weekend! Why not branch out and visit a new area of Seoul this time around?
Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Viddler video.

It seems like everyone has been to Shincheon once or twice to meet someone that lives near there. It’s a nice little area with some great places to enjoy.

Best places in Shincheon

Realized a map would probably be beneficial. I also found:

• a Korean blog with some nice pics of Aladdin
• an older blog post about Pao Pao (seriously, the Jjinbang there is my favorite wintertime comfort food in the world)
• the Naver Cafe for Burn
• pics of the awesome liquor at Mr. Saimon (also a favorite gathering place of the Korea scotch Malt Whiskey Society).

Then my browser crashed and I gave up

Tags: coffee, Food, Shincheon

I think I’ve just come across the first sighting of pierogies in Korea.  Please tell me if you’ve seen them sold anywhere else.

They come from a fairly new pub, Happidus,  in the Beomgye district of Anyang.  The chef is Canadian, and he’s gradually introducing foods that he has missed to the menu.  We had a good talk and a few beers with him, and hung out in the kitchen as they made the pierogies.

They also offer some of the best nachos I’ve had in Korea and a mean chili with cheesy garlic bread.  There’s the traditional Korean hof fare, too, but it’s not popular–even with the Koreans.  The pierogies are the hottest seller.  They call them Polish Mandu.

Just look at ‘em!  Cooked in real bacon fat with red onions and smothered in cheese, bacon and sour cream.  They make the dough from scratch and don’t cut corners.

Photographed by Chris Patch

I had two servings last night, and I’ve been craving more all day today.

Happidus also has a pool table and looks to be in the running as the new foreigner bar for Anyang, challenging Uncle Don (burritos and fresh salsa) in Bisan-dong and Irish Dream (the Friend Lee bar) in Ilbeon-ga.  The Beomgye area (off of Beomgye Station, of course) is a cool looking area but has long been short on actual things to eat unless you’re in the mood for fifteen chicken hofs.  Happidus is a welcome newcomer to the scene.

To get there, walk from exit 2 of Beomgye Station and head down the strip.  It’s on the fourth floor of the last building on the right.

[More pictures here]

Tags: anyang, beomgye, Food, Korea, pierogi

I’ve been waiting for this to get online.  Fatman Seoul and Seoul Eats beat me to the news, but I’ll post it anyway.  So Gourmet has posted the entire episode online.  It comes in at just under 27 minutes.  And in case anyone’s skeptical, Ruth’s recipe in the show is authentic.

Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie: Korea

Tags: diary of a foodie, Food, gourmet, Korea

Matt Lamers and Olga Min did a story on how international couples cope with dinner decisions.  Eun Jeong and I (not pictured) were interviewed for the piece.

Also check out Jean Oh’s piece on summer ‘boyang’ foods.

It also looks like “hansik” (Korean traditional cuisine) restaurants are dying out at the big hotels.  Let’s hope that the Korean menu at the W Walker Hill can buck that trend.

Cho Tae-kwon, known in these quarters as having owned the poster child for overly pretentious Korean restaurants, the Gaon, again harps that Korean food must be prissied up on white tablecloths to be acceptable outside Korea.  Personally, I think he’s just trying to sell his liquor and pottery.

Tags: Food, herald, Korea