I find myself making bulgogi -Korean marinated beef - a couple of times a month, mainly because it’s easy to make and is an acceptable item to take to the office for lunch. (Read – not as pungent as some other dishes.)
But every now and then, I get bored of eating the same thing… so I reinvent it a little bit. These are not really “recipes,” but a reinventions. That’s how the best things are created!
So here are a couple of new ways to enjoy bulgogi:
This is a combination of two separate recipes I’ve seen on my food blog reading journey. The scallop dish was adapted from Recipezaar, while the bacon + asparagus is from the infamous food blog, Serious Eats.
My alertness level wasn’t as high as it should have been, after a long day of work and play, I set my sights on this meal beginning at 10 pm. That’s right. Can you imagine my neighbors, getting ready for bed and then thinking, why do I want to eat bacon all of a sudden?
I blame the slightly burnt scallops on myself. It had a bitter aftertaste that I didn’t care for too much. The heat was turned up way too high. What I did enjoy, however, was the flavors of the crispy bacon with the tangy asparagus, paired with the softness of boiled eggs.
Continue reading…
I learned about this dish a couple of weeks ago, when I went for a wonderful tapas meal with some friends in honor of G’s birthday 
. This is a basic tapas dish and has a lot of variations. I enjoyed it so much at the restaurant that I came home to research the recipe to see if I could make it.
The crunchiness of the potatoes goes well with the flavorful sauce. Instead of Tobasco sauce, I used Sriracha for heat. I refrained from deep frying the potatoes. Instead, I boiled it first, then made it crispy on a cast iron skillet by using less oil. It was really delicious and went perfectly with my otherwise boring eggs!
I totally lost some of you fish haters with this title, didn’t I? But since you’re already here, please hear me out.
This simple dish is often found in Korean restaurants and is usually served in a stone plate to keep it warm. Mackerel is full of good oils and tastes great. It’s buttery and totally melts in your mouth!
The Korean grocery store actually cuts the fish for you so that you don’t have to deal with the fish guts. After my traumatic chicken experience, I was happy to let someone do the cleaning for me. This is so easy to make that I feel like things that taste this good shouldn’t be done so quickly!
Looks like there are some more newcomers, so I’d like to just say- welcome! Not sure how you got here, but it’s great to have you! As always, feel free to email me suggestions/comments/questions. I’d love to hear from you 
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Now, I acknowledge that devoting an entire post to French toast might not be so exciting for some of you. It’s true. I never thought that this would be “special” enough to post about, but here I am.
I’m here to shed some light on the secret to making really good French toast.
Where to start? How about from the beginning?
One of my favorite food blogs, The Amateur Gourmet, posted an entry about really good broccoli. Since I often find myself lacking in recipe creativity, especially when it comes to broccoli, I just had to try what Adam called the “best broccoli of your life.”
It’s so simple- toss broccoli in some salt and good olive oil, bake for a little bit, then zest with a lemon and add cheese. I did all of those things, and while it was really yummy, it would still have been really good without cheese.
How did the flavors go together? I thought there might be too much going on for one meal, but it actually turned out to be pretty good.
Kimchi fried rice is so delicious, especially when it’s made at 2 am when you’re starving!
This particular “dish” is not something you’d serve to guest, as it’s made with whatever leftover vegetables one would find in the fridge, along with cold rice. Fried rice is best when made with cold rice – it will keep the dish from getting too soggy.
It has a dual purpose – get rid of old rice and kimchi in a new, yet flavorful manner.
So what if the holidays are over? It’s never too late for ginger spice cookies!
The recipe called for crystalized ginger and molasses. I’ve never cooked with either of those ingredients before so it was very interesting! The “crystalized” ginger had a sugar coating and was pretty to look at. Doesn’t it remind you of rock candy? It gives the cookie a subtle ginger flavor.
I imagine using shortening would have contributed to the texture of the cookies, making them more chewy than cake-like. I didn’t think it was super important, so I omitted it. I’ll leave it up to your discretion.
Try these cookies! They’re super delicious!
I’m not sure if that’s a good loose translation for this dish. If you have a better one, by all means, please let me know.
Over the weekend, my friend J came over and we made this dish together. It was my first time making it and her first time eating Dak Doritang. =)
My mom and I share our dislike for meat with a gamey aftertaste, commonly found in dark meat. She suggested blanching the chicken with some ginger and garlic, then draining all of the liquid from it before cooking.
Happy new year! I hope everyone had a safe and fun celebration into 2009! I also want to welcome those you came on the site through the new Facebook page. Welcome aboard!
After I publicly declared my love for these Australian delights, I’ve received a couple of emails about how Pepperidge Farm had come up with their own version for a limited time.
I had both brands at my disposal so I decided to go for a taste test. Is the Pepperidge Farm brand really just as good as the original?
© 2010 All photos and content by Esther Chai, unless otherwise noted. All Rights Reserved.
