Korea at home

South Korea. In not so many words.

9 days of street food, Korean BBQs, local fresh produce, raw fish and seafood, plenty of chili, sesame oil and Kimchi Kimchi Kimchi. As is, fried and in soup. 

There were Pajeon (pancakes) and red bean paste, cuttlefish crisps (with peanut) and rice, because rice is all you really need at any given time be it a breakfast porridge served alongside a rice tea, cooked with chili, placed in soup, as noodles or in dumplings, sweet or spicy, as a cool drink or a sharp wine, in cakes or for dessert. 

Fish were a plenty: raw, dried and fermented, in soup, as snacks or as pancakes and it turns out one can never have enough of BBQ;  touch and go spicy hot grilled eel, pork, octopus, beef, chicken, clams and other mollusks were all, at one point or another, placed on a leafy green, slathered in chili paste and scrunched up to a green bundle of mouthwatering goodness.

I'd do it again and I'd do it right now.

Independence day BBQ

Boiled Processed mini hot dogs- 

cats may not eat them but they seem to go down well with the kids, 

particularly when covered in Ketchup.

Getting ready

Veggie skewers- all gain, no pain

Chicken thighs, charred 

Chocolate chip Peanut butter blondies with dark chocolate ganache 

topped with Momofuku Milk bar's cornflake crack (crunch)

Eaton mess- Mascarpone whipped cream topped with 

macerated strawberries, meringues and toasted pistachios. 

Passover 2012

Lemon glazed Madeleines de Commercy

I was always the last one. At least, that’s what it felt like. Its as if I have a delayed reaction to life, growing up and figuring things out, a bit like slow cooking; raw ingredients are placed in a heavy cast iron pot then placed over a gas lamp to slowly cook for hours. At first all the ingredients break down and exude their flavors, before they are fused to create a new deeply caramelized whole. Time is of the utmost importance for a full, well rounded and deep flavor. It is the secret ingredient, the silent partner and an essential must. Easy come easy go.

And so, I disappeared and took time with me to recharge and be inspired, throwing myself into the unexciting comforts of familiar soups and stews of winter greens flavoured with aged Parmesan rinds. Now that winter is coming to an end, I too, along with the darling buds of March am coming out to play with flour, sugar and plenty of vanilla.

These Madeleines de Commercy are adapted from Dan Lepard’s exquisitely wonderful ‘Short & Sweet’. These delectable sponge cakes are quick and simple to prepare, and result in a light and fluffy vanilla explosion.

The crunch and the crumb

It happened quite casually several weeks ago, cycling. A week passed before I realized I had broken a rib. It turns out that ribs are quite fragile and tend to break rather easy. It was around that same time the Momofuku milk bar cookbook arrived in the post, now responsible for my latest addiction. I cannot get enough of the crunch nor the crumb; as the cracking sound of a crunch echoes my aching rib cage it is simultaneously sending frequency waves of pleasure to the rest of me.

I’ve already gone through and made 3 crumbs and 1 crunch featured in the book just this past week so this must be an addiction. crunch. crumb. crumble.

They’re the easiest thing to make, not only in the book, but in the history of ever; they take 2 minutes to mix together and lay on a tray but the result triggers immeasurable pleasure and the smell in the kitchen is criminal.

They go on and in everything from ice cream, cakes and cookies, with pudding, sprinkled on yogurt or simply scoffed down by the bowlful. They'll last about a month if kept in an airtight container in the fridge/ freezer, so you can make plenty in advance and be ready for whatever life throws at you.

I have a sneaky suspicion these will go wonderfully well sprinkled over a buttered slice of bread, a la hagelslag.

It’s the crunch in any dish that adds an element of oomph, that je ne sais quoi quality, a crumbling joy, a crunchy excitement and a crispy pleasure in one mouthful, loud and noisy. The chocolate, milk and birthday crumbs as well as the cereal crunch all share the same highly addictive nature, sweet, salty and crunchy like that. They tap to our primary snacking pleasure gland, the achilles heal of snackers unite, with crumbs thats echo a buttery cake crust (aka the best part of the cake) and crunchy treats that elevate and celebrate the munching of cereals straight from the box.

Here is a link for the chocolate crumb and chocolate crumb cookie Recipes,

here is one for the milk crumbs and

one for the cornflake crunch.

For an older post on Momofuku milk bar's compost cookie click here.

To healed ribs and a crunchy 2012.

Calas and an antitheists Hanukkah

I first heard of Christopher Hitchens when he died. Then I spent the better part of a saturday afternoon watching, listening and reading his lectures and interviews and articles.

Coincidentally with this time of year, Hitchens wrote a fascinating piece on Hanukkah in 2007, offering his alternative interpretation to the supposed victory of light over darkness and, reasonably and rather convincingly, claiming it a the victory of faith over knowledge and free thought and in so, the victory is of darkness over light.

As a firm believer in alternatives myself, I’ve attached a link to the piece here. Its an interesting read if you have a few minutes to spare, are open minded, inquisitive, value free thinking and the importance of asking questions about the world around us even if you think we hold all the answers already. It does not, however, offer a reading as to why we eat fried dough this time of year, every year.

In the spirit of offering alternatives at this particular sizzling season I made traditional Calas, a New Orleans breakfast specialty that is golden brown rice fritters just this side of sweet. Best served warm and freshly fried, the steaming fritters release a festive aroma complimented with a bite- an alternative option to the traditional latkes and doughnuts (and apparently works great with rice leftover from dinner).

Happy holidays, one way or the other.

Calas

Lightly adapted from Marion Cunnungham’s ‘The breakfast book’

Approx. 15 calas

Ingredients

¾ cup water

¼ cup long grain rice like Basmati, Perisan and Jasmine.

½ tsp salt

¼ cup lukewarm water

10g fresh yeast (or 3g active dry yeast)

1 large fresh egg

2½ Tbs sugar

½ tsp lemon zest

½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

¾ cup all purpose flour

oil, for frying

Serve with: confectioner’s sugar

1. A day earlier: In a medium saucepan boil¾ cup water. Add the rice and salt, reduce to a low flame, cover and cook for 25 minutes (longer then you would do making rice. The rice should melt to a lumpy paste). Strain any remaining water and use a fork to mash the rice.
2. In a small bowl, pour the¼ cup lukewarm water and add the yeast. Stir well and set aside for 5 minutes, until the yeast has fully dissolved in the water.
3. Add the yeast mixture to the mashed rice, cover with plastic wrap and set aside overnight.
4. The next day: in a bowl, beat the egg. Add the sugar, lemon zest, grated nutmeg and ½ cup flour and beat until combined.
5. Add the yeasted rice to the mixture and mix well for 2 minutes.
6. Add the remaining 1q4 cup flour and mix well. Taste and add salt, if needed. Cover and let proof at room temperature for 30 minutes.
7. In a large sauté pan pour oil to about 3-4 cm deep. once hot (but not smoking!) carefully drop batter in heaping tablespoons into the oil, 2-3 at a time. Fry the Calas until golden, about 1 minute for each side. Make sure the oil isn’t too hot as the calas would overfry on the outside and remain raw inside.
8. Using a slotted spoon, remove the Calas from the hot oil to a paper towel.
9. Serve warm, sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar.