What I'm Cooking: Asian (Cooking) Invasion

It's no big surprise that I'm Korean!  Let's take a quick ride in my time machine....

  

Hipster circa 1984

I look like a baby doll

How presh!

Striking a pose with my little brother (He's not so little anymore)

I'm thinking this is when I was in 6th or 7th grade

Here are some fun facts: 

• 1) I was adopted. I was born in Seoul, S Korea and lived with a foster family until I was 3 months old. 
• 2) I don't speak the language, at all. I actually have 2 Caucasian cousins who have lived and taught English in Korea that speak the language fluently.  Also, I love (sense the sarcasm) when creepy, old Korean-war vets come up to me and try to say something to me in Korean. (Met with a blank stare)  It's often followed by "When I was over there...blah blah, I loved the food...blah blah, I loved the women..." (OK, time for me to go!)
• 3) In college, I briefly lived with another Korean girl who tried her best to help me learn the food. language and culture.  Hey Sandy! (if you happen to read this)  It was her who first introduced me to Korean barbecue (and Koreans' love for Karaoke).  

Thanks to this eye-opening introduction into Korean cuisine, I have had a major love affair ever since.  The flavors are so indigenous and unique and so far-removed from Chinese or Japanese cooking with the use of sweet sesame oil and the sour pickling of anything they can get their hands on.  

In my free time, I've been collecting recipes that I lie to tell myself I'll get around to trying. One.of.these.days.    

So I decided to try my hand at one of the more well-known Korean dishes: KALBI (Korean marinated short ribs).  I found a great recipe from Food Network.  

Kalbi Flank Steak - original recipe can be found here

2lbs flank steak

1 cup brown sugar

For the marinade:

1 small onion, peeled and finely grated

1 small Asian pear, peeled and finely grated

4 tablespoons minced garlic

1 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup rice wine

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Garnish:

2 green onions, thinly sliced (optional)

To start, I generously massaged the flank steak with the brown sugar and set aside in a large bowl.  

To make the marinade, I decided to make my life a whole lot easier.  I took my onion, pear and garlic and tossed them together into my food processor.  All the fine chopping and dicing is done in a matter of seconds.  

In a medium sized bowl, I whisked the soy sauce, water, rice wine, sesame oil and black pepper in a medium sized bowl.  Then I combined the minced veggies.  I poured the marinade over the flank steak (still in the large bowl), covered it with saran wrap and stuck it in the fridge.  To make the most of the marinade and to really tenderize the steak, I let it marinate for 24 hours.

D was in charge of grilling it up.  I recommend searing it for 3.5-4 mins on each side to get a perfect medium rare.  Once it's done, let it sit and rest for 5 minutes.  

(I know the meat doesn't look like a true medium rare.  The pictures are from our first attempt.  We corrected ourselves when we made this meal again 2 days later.)  

I poured the remaining marinade back into a plastic container to use again at a later time.  This stuff is not something you let go to waste. 

Prior to finishing the Kalbi Flank Steak, I looked for some more recipes of side dishes that I thought would really compliment the beef.  Thanks to my love of other creative, magnificent bIoggers and websites, I discovered interesting recipes for Steamed Egg Cup Soup and Egg Fried Rice.  

I found the Steamed Egg Cup soup on the blog Escapades in Cookery.  This is based on a Japanese recipe called chawan mushi (steamed tea cup).  This was a risky recipe because I had to improvise the preparation based on the recipe I found and the equipment I had to work with (I don't own fancy tea cups).  

Chawan Mushi (Steamed Egg) - original recipe can be found here  

4 eggs

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 tsp rice wine

1/2 tsp soy sauce

pinch of salt

2 shiitake mushrooms, sliced into strips

1 green onion, chopped

I like to start all recipes by getting the veggies chopped so I sliced the shiitake mushrooms and chopped the green onions and set them aside.  

Then I whisked the eggs, chicken stock, rice wine, soy sauce and salt in a medium sized bowl.  

 The author of the original recipe had a wok with a steaming rack which I don't.  Instead, I used my rice/vegetable steamer and just prepared it in the steamer bowl.  I combined all of the ingredients and placed them in the steamer.  I just had to watch and continuously monitor how the soup was doing.  This took about 8-10 mins in all.  Once I poured the soup into 2 separate bowls, I topped it off with fresh, ground black pepper.

And lastly, I found the easiest Egg Fried Rice recipe from All Recipes.  I didn't want anything overly complicated because at this point, the marinade aroma from the flank steak was invading my nostrils and I was starving!!

• Egg Fried Rice - original recipe can be found here
• 
  
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 cup uncooked instant rice
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup green beans
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

In a medium sized sauce pan, I combined the first 3 ingredients and brought them to a boil.  I added the instant rice, stirred and then removed from heat and set it aside.

In a large, deep skillet (I NEED a real wok), I heated  the vegetable oil to medium heat and sauteed the onions and green beans for a couple minutes.  Then I poured in the lightly beaten egg to fry up and scramble (approximately 2 mins).  I introduced the rice into the skillet and let the whole combo mix and heat up together.  Lastly, I added freshly ground black pepper.

And finally!!...we were ready to chow down!!

I think my night's dessert was seeing D's face of complete enjoyment and satisfaction.  This was a team effort and we totally hit it out of the park.  


To my fellow bloggers, does your significant other get annoyed by you not letting them dig in until you've been able to capture a few glamour shots of the food? 


Luckily for us in the Indianapolis Area, if you're ever not in the mood to cook, there are quite a few Korean places around town.  I definitely recommend you try them out. Click on links for more information.

• Cafe Korea 
• Naked Tchopstix
• MaMa's
• Bando (no website) (317) 897-8277

What I'm Eating: Cafe Korea (A place for Seoul Food)

After reading a review of Cafe Korea, I knew I had to check it out for myself.  So when I was done tending to some wedding errands in Fishers, The Bride and I decided to grab lunch.  She had already eaten lunch but decided to come along anyways to keep me company and just chat.  It is located about 2 mins from my mom's house, another plus, in a busy shopping center on the corner of 116th and Allisonville Rd.  We walked in and were immediately flooded with the delicious aromas of the food.  It was virtually empty at 1pm which was a little sad to me.  It is a small space but it is set up nicely with simple decor and quiet music playing.  We were warmly greeted by a smiling Korean woman who was our server (Unfortunately, I never caught her name).  I ordered a water and Dol Sot Bi Bim Bop ($13.99).  The woman brought out what I think was Bindaetuk ("traditional Korean pancake with mung beans and veggies") on the house!!  Such a nice gesture.  It was light and super yummy.  Kind of like a potato hash with thinly sliced veggies (zucchini, red bell pepper, onion) and topped with melted cheese and soy sauce on the side.  It was perfect for settling my huge appetite as my entree was being prepared.

Bindaetuk
(Very sloppy pic: I was starving and ate some before I took this)

My sizzling order of Bi Bim Bop arrived shortly afterwards and the noise of the rice still cooking in the cast iron bowl it is served in caught my attention and got my mouth watering.  It comes with thinly sliced ingredients: beef, cucumber, carrots, bean sprouts and then topped with an egg.  Spicy chili sauce can be added to your specific taste.  And if that wasn't enough, some tradition sides were brought out (kimchi, pickled cucumbers, spicy marinated bean sprouts). Korean food is not like any other Asian cuisine.  They use a lot of sesame oil and love to pickle all of their veggies.  I would have enjoyed a little bit more beef, as I found it to be on the skimpy side.  The rice crisps up on the bottom of the bowl and it is crunchy goodness of texture.  It was every bit of awesome that I was hoping for and I ate til I thought I was going to be sick. 

Dol Sot Bi Bim Bop

Sides

Our server cleared our plates then dropped off a bowl with about 5 bites of fruit.  Another gracious touch and just the right amount of light, sweetness to cap off a great meal.  I tried my best to say thank you in Korean (one of about 3 sentences I know), paid my bill and I went on my way.

It is so great to see the expansion of interest in ethnic cuisine.  I've been a fan of Korean for several years and the fact that the town of Fishers has 2 Korean restaurants shows such tremendous progress.  I had an amazing experience at Cafe Korea with scrumptious food and genuinely friendly service.  I will definitely go there again and again and again!

The Verdict: Out of 5 stars
Location/Atmosphere: **** (not close to where I live but luckily in walking distance from my mom's house)
Service: ***** (super sweet server and little freebies)
Food:***** (Great flavors and textures)
Will I eat there again: You bet your ass :)

Cafe Korea
7262 Fishers Crossing Drive Fishers, IN 46038
(317) 578-1987