Korean sweet potato fries

Photo taken 10/10/2009.

I tried these sweet potato fries at the Lotte Department Store food court when we visited Seoul earlier this month. These fries were all about the sugar. They were covered in corn syrup or some other type of sweet sauce.

It was more like a dessert.

I thought I'd leave you guys with fries before I head off to work.

Korean Barbecue at Sariwon

Kalbi, Korean barbecued beef at Sariwon, Seoul, South Korea. Photo taken 10/10/2009.

I still think about the kalbi I had at Sariwon in Seoul. The beef was extremely tender and perfectly marinated. The meat was scored, which was probably the reason why it was so tender.

M. and I visited Seoul in early October. We're back in Upstate New York. But I miss South Korea a lot and wish I was still on vacation.

Dan Gray, of Seoul Eats, recommended this restaurant. He is an awesome blogger and a super nice guy.


Korean potato salad
M. and loved this potato salad for its sweet taste. For whatever reason, there's always a sweet element in Korean cuisine. We kept asking for more.


Sariwon
Location: Gangnam, Seoul, South Korea
Nearest subway station: Gangnam station, line 2 (green)
Directions: Get off at Gangnam station. Leave through exit 4. Go past Samseong Tower. Turn left at Seounno street, which is at a major intersection. Keep walking and you'll see Sariwon.

Whole trout with lemon and thyme and blue potatoes

The whole trout looked so fresh that I had to buy two. I had never cooked whole fish before. I didn't want to follow any one recipe. I just knew I wanted to use lemon and herbs.

Since I bought blue potatoes the other day at a farmers' market, I figured they'd go well with the fish.



Blue potatoes
As a side dish, I made roasted blue potatoes with rosemary.


I seasoned the inside of the fish with minced fresh thyme, salt and pepper. I laid lemon slices in the fish. Then I roasted them.

After 15-20 minutes in the oven, the flesh was flaky. I was so happy I didn't overcook the fish. The lemon and thyme gave the trout such a fulfilling taste. The flesh had absorbed the lemon juice, making the fish taste more refreshing.

Whole trout with lemon and thyme
Serves 2
Ingredients:
2 whole trout
1 lemon
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, minced, or season fish with dry thyme as needed
salt
pepper
olive oil
butter

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil the sheet pan you're going to place the trout in. (I cover a sheet pan with tin foil for easier cleaning.) Baste the fish lightly with olive oil. Seasonthe inside and outside of trout with salt and pepper. Season the inside of each fish with thyme. Slice up the lemon. Place lemon slices inside each trout.

Roast trout in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until flaky. Serve fish with a pat of butter in each one.

Print recipe

Note: Others cut a few slits in the fish and then season it with salt.
Here are more recipes:
How to cook a whole fish
Grilling whole fish

Roasted blue potatoes with rosemary
Ingredients:
4-5 blue potatoes
olive oil
salt pepper
fresh rosemary

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Chop potatoes into bite-size pieces. Place potatoes in an oiled sheet pan. Season potatoes with salt, pepper and rosemary. Roast potatoes for 25-30 minutes.

Print recipe

Noryangjin Fish Market

Photo taken 10/10/2009
The best place to watch people at the Noryangjin Fish Market is from the second floor. A family walked by a stall to browse. The fisherwoman, clad in a long pink apron, held up a crab for the family to see. The crab waved its limbs, displeased that it was out of the water.



The father pointed to another crab instead.

M. and I were at Noryangjin, the largest fish market in Seoul, in early October. The market was a kaleidoscope of octopi, big fish, little fish, crabs, bigger crabs and other shellfish.



I loved how the market brought the whole family here.



It's stall after stall of fresh fish.

M. and I ate lunch at a restaurant on the second floor of the market. Some people buy octopus or sashimi platters from the market and bring it to a second-floor restaurant to eat. But we were so hungry that we wanted to eat right away.

We had spicy fish soup. The broth was perfectly flavored and packed full of fish. We had to be careful of bones and picked them out of our mouths.


I loved letting the rice soak up the spicy soup.


We had this fish as part of the banchan, the cluster of side dishes you always get at the beginning of any Korean meal. I slipped pieces of the fish in my mouth, savoring its richness. The beans behind the fish taste wonderfully sweet.


We ate at Busan Ilbeonji restaurant on the second floor because it was listed in the Lonely Planets Seoul guide. We found the restaurant by looking for the Korean letters.

Some people scoff at guidebooks. But when we needed to find basic information, it was just easier searching the book no matter how stupid we looked.

After lunch, we walked through the market again.


A fisherman prepared sashimi as he talked on his cellphone.


Another fisherman carefully cut perfect pieces of fish.


Plastic-wrapped platters of sashimi glistened in the overhead lights of the market.

I loved the long aprons fishermen and fisherwomen wore. They looked so badass. I'd like a long apron like that.



Passing by huge crabs like these was a little scary.


Octopi and I don't think they look cute.

Noryangjin Fish Market
Nearest subway station: Noryangjin, line 1 (dark blue). Leave the station through the main exit. Walk up some stairs. Cross the pedestrian bridge to get to the market.

Beer-braised short ribs by America's Test Kitchen

Beer-braised short ribs

"I'm thinking about making beer-braised short ribs," I told my husband.

"I can support that," M. said.

M. and I love this dish. America's Test Kitchen has a great recipe.

When you're done cooking, all you have to do is pierce the beef with your fork and it falls apart. The short ribs have the enriched taste of beer and onions.

The dish requires a lot of prep work before you leave it alone in the slow cooker for hours. Friday night, I seared the short ribs and sauteed onions.

While I waited for the onions to caramelize, I clapped my hands and raised my arms. I was so excited about making the short ribs.

"You're like a cheerleader for food," my husband.

That's right. I am!

Go ribs!

Beer-braised Short Ribs
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen
Serves 4 to 6
5 pounds English-cut beef short ribs (6 to 8 ribs), trimmed of excess fat
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 pounds yellow onions, halved and sliced thin
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 (12-ounce) bottles dark beer, such as Newcastle Brown Ale or O'Doul's Amber Nonalcoholic. (I used Newcastle.)
2 tablespoons Minute Tapioca
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons soy sauce
12 pitted prunes
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

Directions:
Season ribs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until really hot. Add half of the ribs, meat side down. Cook until well browned, about 5 minutes. Turn each rib on one side and cook until well browned, about 1 minute. Repeat with remaining sides. Lean ribs against each other if they can't stand on their own. Transfer ribs to slow-cooker insert. Place them meat side down.

Pour off all but 1 teaspoon fat from skillet. Add butter and reduce heat to medium. When butter has melted, add onions and cook. Stir occasionally until caramelized, 25-30 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook, coating onions with tomato paste, until paste begins to brown, about 5 minutes.

Stir in beer. Bring to a simmer and cook, scraping browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon until foaming subsides, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in tapioca, bay leaves, 1 teaspoon thyme, soy sauce and prunes. Transfer to slow cooker.

Set slow cooker on low, cover and cook until ribs are fork-tender, about 8-9 hours. Note: America's Test Kitchen says to cook the ribs for 10-11 hours. But when I cooked it for 10 hours, most of the braising liquid had evaporated. The ribs tasted awesome. However, I would check your ribs at 7 hours and continue cooking until fork-tender. That way, you can watch the reduction of the sauce.

As an alternative, America's Test Kitchen recommends cooking the ribs on high for 4-5 hours.

If you don't have a lot of braising liquid after the ribs are cooked, you can just eat the ribs right away. If you have a nice amount of braising liquid, continue with the instructions.

Transfer ribs to baking dish and strain liquid into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 2 days.

When ready to serve, use spoon to skim off hardened fat from liquid. Place short ribs, meaty side down, and liquid in Dutch oven and reheat over medium heat until warmed through, about 20 minutes. Transfer ribs to serving platter. Whisk mustard and remaining teaspoon of thyme into sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Pour 1 cup of sauce over ribs. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. Leave a bowl of sauce for those who want more.

Print recipe

Step by Step photos:

Season ribs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until really hot. Add half of the ribs, meat side down and cook until well browned, about 5 minutes. Turn each rib on one side and cook until well browned, about 1 minute. Repeat with remaining sides.


Lean ribs against each other if they can't stand on their own.


Place ribs, meat side down, in the slow cooker.


Saute onions in butter.


Saute onions for 25-30 minutes until caramelized.


Stir in tomato paste. Cook onions until paste begins to brown, about 5 minutes.


Add beer to the onions.


Scrape brown bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook for 5 minutes.


Add 1 teaspoon thyme, prunes, tapioca, soy sauce and bay leaves.


Pour the sauce into the slow cooker.

Cook on low. At 7 hours, check to see if ribs are fork-tender. If not, continue cooking for another hour or two, up to 8-9 hours total.

Note: As I said before, I cooked the short ribs for 10 hours and most of the liquid had evaporated. We ate the ribs right away, forgoing the straining of the liquid, mustard and extra thyme. The ribs still tasted wonderful.

Bongeunsa, a Buddhist temple in Seoul

Bongeunsa Photo taken 10/9/2009.

We walked among the buildings of Bongeunsa, a Buddhist temple in Seoul. It was a place of reverence, a place of peacefulness. 

I loved looking at the design of each building, the colors of red, blue and green.

My husband and I visited Bongeunsa when we traveled to Seoul in early October. The temple was founded in AD 794. We had also visited Jogyesa, another Buddhist temple in Seoul.



Anyone entering a temple building must take off their shoes.


I was fascinated by the shoes on the shelves.






Worship inside the temple


An elaborate window


Lotus lamp


People bow before the stone pagoda.



Bowing


Leaving stones in reverance



Mireukdaebul Statue


Painted ceiling

Just so you don't get the impression that South Koreans are primarily Buddhist,  the country has a huge Christian population. Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul has the largest Christian congregation in the world.

Bongeunsa 
Location: Jamsil, Seoul, South Korea
Nearest subway station: Samseong, line 2 (green), COEX exit 5.
Directions: Get off at Samseong station and leave through COEX exit 5. Walk around the COEX Mall to get the North Gate. The temple is across the street.

Rice cake soup

Tteokguk 

My mother used to make tteokguk, or rice cake soup, when I was growing up. I liked to call the rice cakes "rice patties." What made the Korean soup so good was biting into the soft rice patty and feeling it squish between your teeth.

Rice cake soup is usually made for the New Year holiday. But I decided to make it anyway. It was my first try!

I adapted a recipe from Maangchi, who has great videos on how to make Korean food.

M. loved the soup so much he gave me a hug for just making it. I felt happy eating spoonful after spoonful of rice cakes.

Rice cake soup
Adapted from a recipe by Maangchi
Ingredients:
3 cups or 1 package of sliced rice cakes
Note: You can find rice cakes at an Asian grocery store.
2 boneless chuck steaks (about 1 to 1.5 cups), cut into small pieces. Maangchi used 100 grams of beef
brisket.
3 eggs
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
packaged roasted and seasoned seaweed (kim in Korean)
Note: You can buy packages of already toasted and salted seaweed at Asian grocery stores. The seaweed comes in 8 x 10 inch sheets. Maangchi appears to use plain seaweed and roasts it herself. If you buy Nori, seaweed for sushi, you'll need to roast it.
2 scallions, chopped diagonally
sesame oil to taste
ground black pepper
salt to taste

Directions:
Begin boiling 8 cups of water in a pot. Soak 3 cups or 1 package of rice cakes in cold water. Set aside.
Cut beef into small pieces, about 1 to 1.5 cups.

Prepare 3 eggs in 2 small bowls:
In Bowl 1, mix 2 egg yolks and a pinch of salt.
In Bowl 2, mix 2 egg whites, 1 egg and a pinch of salt.

While you wait for the water to boil, make your garnishes.

How to make thin egg yolk strips:
Heat up a non-stick pan. Let it get really hot. Add a few drops of vegetable oil and wipe off the excess oil with a paper towel. Turn off the heat. Pour the egg yolk mixture from Bowl 1 into the pan. Tilt the pan in a circular motion to make a thin pancake.

When the egg yolk pancake is mostly cooked, turn it over to cook the other side. When it's cooked, slice it into thin strips and set aside.

How to make kimgaru, or seaweed powder:
Put the roasted seaweed into a plastic bag and rub the bag with your hands. Set aside the seaweed.
Note: If you bought seaweed that hasn't been roasted yet, roast a sheet of seaweed directly on the stovetop, flipping it back and forth so it doesn't burn. Then crush the seaweed in a plastic bag.

When the water boils, add the beef. Boil over low medium heat for 20-30 minutes. Then add garlic and 2 tablespoons of fish sauce.

Note: The water will boil off. You need 6 cups. You can add more water as needed.

Drain the rice cakes and put them into the soup. Close the lid. A few minutes later, open the lid to check to see if the rice cakes are floating on the surface. Taste one. It should be soft.

Pour in the egg-white/egg yolk mixture from Bowl 2, a little at a time. Don't stir it until the egg mixture is cooked a little bit.

Taste the soup. Add salt as needed.

Chop scallions diagonally and add it to the pot.

Turn off the heat and drizzle in sesame oil. Add black pepper.

Garnish each bowl of soup with seaweed and the egg strips.

Print recipe

Step by step photos:
Soak rice cakes in cold water and set aside.



Mix 2 egg yolks in one bowl. Mix 2 egg whites and 1 yolk in the second bowl.



How to make thin egg yolk strips:
Heat up a non-stick pan. Let it get really hot. Add a few drops of vegetable oil and wipe off the excess oil with a paper towel. Turn off the heat. Pour the egg yolk mixutre from Bowl 1 into the pan. Tilt the pan in a circular motion to make a thin pancake. When the egg yolk pancake is mostly cooked, turn it over to cook the other side. When it's cooked, slice it into thin strips and set aside.



How to make kimgaru, or seaweed powder:
Put the roasted seaweed into a plastic bag and rub the bag with your hands. Set aside the seaweed.
Note: If you bought seaweed that hasn't been roasted yet, roast a sheet of seaweed directly on the stovetop, flipping it back and forth so it doesn't burn. Then crush the seaweed in a plastic bag.



When the water boils, add the beef. Boil over low medium heat for 20-30 minutes. Then add garlic and 2 tablespoons of fish sauce. Drain the rice cakes and put them into the soup. Close the lid. A few minutes later, open the lid to check to see if the rice cakes are floating on the surface. Taste one. It should be soft.


Pour in the egg-white/egg yolk mixture from Bowl 2, a little at a time. Don't stir it until the egg mixture is cooked a little bit.



Taste the soup. Add salt as needed. Chop scallions diagonally and add it to the pot.

Turn off the heat and drizzle in sesame oil. Add black pepper. Garnish each bowl of soup with seaweed and the egg strips.