Some Kinda Korean

Fresh, clean, simple flavors.

Just perfect for hot, humid days. 

I called it “Some Kinda Korean” so as not to have someone come after me telling me it’s not.

I used a Korean Beef Bulgogi Marinade. That’s all.

I love the simplicity of their summer dishes. It’s more of a salad. 

Easy, light, refreshing ….. preparation is easy too. My fav kind.

INGREDIENTS

Beef slices (for stir frying)

Beef Bulgogi Marinade (bottled, any brand will do)

Dash of sesame oil

White vinegar

Ground white pepper

Carrots, julienned

Spinach, cut into about 2” lengths (or your preferred greens)

Toasted sesame seeds

Oil for stir frying

* I don’t have exact measurements for this. Just use enough marinade sauce to coat beef generously. The vinegar was added to compliment the sweetness of the sauce. 

METHOD

Toss beef slices with the bulgogi marinade sauce, dash of sesame oil, dash of vinegar and ground white pepper into a baggy or container. Coat beef well with the marinade. 

Leave in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Blanch carrots and spinach (or just have them raw if you prefer. I like blanching the carrots as it makes it a little sweeter in flavor.)

Drain the veges.

Heat a little oil in the pan.

Stir fry the marinaded beef and remove from pan once cooked. Leaving it too long will make it tough to chew. 

If you have some liquid left from the marinade, add it to the pan and cook it down to a thick syrupy consistency. Otherwise, simply pour a small amount of bulgogi sauce from the bottle and heat through. Spoon over cooked beef.

Serve beef and veges over fluffy rice or just as a salad on it’s own. 

Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on top and devour!

Pumpkin Rice

~Pumpkin, Pumpkin,

Round and fat.

Harvest time is coming.

Yum, yum, yum.

That is that!~

I have the sniffles and I think it’s pumpkin fever. Incurable. I die happy.

I found this recipe on a fellow blogger’s site. It caught my eye. And why not? It’s got pumpkin in it.

Hers is a loaded version. You can check it out here.

I just made a simpler one since I’ll be having kung pao chicken on the side. Altho this turned out scrumplicious, basmati rice would be a better choice as it's less fluffy and with a springier bite. 

It’s so appetising! Good even on its own. Thanks Phong Hong!

I’m gonna be making this very often and with different variations.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup jasmine rice, rinsed and drained

1 Chinese sausage, thinly sliced (or substitute with any meat of your choice)

1 cup diced pumpkin

2 tbs dried shrimp, soaked, drained and coarsely chopped

1 small onion, coarsely chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cups chicken / vegetable stock

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbs oil

Chopped scallions

METHOD

Heat oil. Sauté the garlic and the dried shrimp.

When it’s fragrant, toss in chopped onion, pumpkin, sliced Chinese sausage and ground cinnamon. Stir it around until onions are soft.

Turn off the heat and mix in the rice. Coat evenly.

Transfer into a microwave safe bowl and add in the stock.

(Same method as how I cooked rice before. Alternatively, you can also plonk it into a rice cooker if you have one).

Cook uncovered on high for 10 mins.

Sprinkle chopped scallions just before serving.

Down Memory Lane : Leek and Tofu Stir Fry

There are comfort foods and then there are comfort foods that remind you of your childhood. 

There are so many of them from the good young days, I can’t remember them all. Then you see a particular ingredient at the market stalls and it triggers that inner childhood tummy pangs. Some of which I used to hate eating before but all of a sudden develop a hunger and craving for it …. strange. No …. no durians yet. That would take some serious doing.

This was one of the dishes my Chinaman uncle used to love as a condiment to his porridge. Porridge as in Chinaman rice porridge, not the oat porridge westerners eat every morning. 

I also used to dislike rice porridge. It was bland, boring, colourless, textureless … but I guess that’s why the condiments that go with it. But you’ll be amazed at the way a typical Chinaman eats porridge and how much of it is shoved into the mouth with their chopsticks while accompanied by the minutest sliver of condiment and then followed by another five to six shovels of porridge.

I eat (if I had to and it’s usually when I’m sick) a spoonful (yes, I use a spoon. I would have porridge all over my face and lap if I tried using a chopstick) of that bland, boring white mush with a gazillion condiments. That’s sick food. Yes. 

Oh forgive me my ancestors … sigh.

I’d forgo the porridge and have all them condiments with white fluffy rice. So much better. 

I’ve always loved tofu. Leeks only in leek and potato soup. Then one day…….a bunch of leeks called out to me from a grocer’s shelf …. and the rest, as they say, is … in my tummy! Yum!

Of course I had this with rice … not porridge. I’m not sick, you know.

INGREDIENTS

Bunch of leeks, whites and greens, sliced whichever way you like

Firm tofu squares

Oyster sauce

Sesame oil

Oil for sautéing

Optionals:

Thinly sliced / minced pork or chicken

METHOD

Heat oil.

Brown tofu squares on each side. Remove from pan.

Slice into thick slivers.

Set aside.

Brown meat in the same pan. Add a little more oil if need to. 

Stir in leeks until slightly softened. Longer if you prefer it softer.

Add oyster sauce to taste.

Stir in sliced tofu.

Turn heat off.

Add a dash of sesame oil. Stir to mix. 

Dish out and serve.

To make it a little more fancy, sprinkle on some toasted sesame seeds.

Enjoy! And welcome to the Chinaman’s world.  

Just Plain (Rice) Talk

You know, the average Malaysian is spoilt rotten. 

Myself included. 

We’re blessed with all the latest and greatest electronic gadgets that promise to cut time short, make life simpler … work, cook etc….yeah right.

Anyway, I’m talking about our very-taken-for-granted rice cooker. I’m quite surprised that something that you’d probably receive 7 units of at your wedding as a gift over in this part of the world, is such a rarity in the average mat salleh’s (foreigner) household. 

Why am I talking about cooking rice? 

It’s so simple right? Not worth blogging about. But hey … take away the rice cooker and our fellow Malaysians would probably be at their wits end. You can only take that much instant noodles.

I found myself in a situation where I didn’t have the luxury of a rice cooker.

Googled for the correct ratio of rice to water. Most of the instructions (if not all) come from cooks in the western countries. Yeah … but of course … no rice cooker at home right?

But they seem to like their rice a little softer than how we like it here … of course that all depends of the type of rice you use as well.

Let’s just talk plain, unassuming jasmine rice. The type that plain, unassuming people like me eat daily… well… almost daily … ok ok … once a week. But then, I’m not your average Malaysian either.

After a couple of crusty, crunchy, sometimes porridgy (is there such a word?) meals …. I’ve come to a ratio that’s pretty much how I like it.

INGREDIENTS

Aww … seriously?! Ok ok …

Water

Uncooked jasmine rice, rinsed

No, we don’t put a pinch of salt 

Ratio of 2:1, Water to Rice

(I usually just cook 1 cup of rice, so this ratio works perfectly. I haven’t tried it with a larger amount …. yet).

METHOD

Place rinsed rice and water into a deep dish microwave safe container. (I used a glassware deep casserole dish).

Cook on high for 20 mins. 

(I cook for 10 mins, check to see if it’s blown up, and then continue for another 10 mins, without stirring)

When cooked, remove from microwave oven (be careful of hot steam). Fluff with a fork and serve hot with your favourite condiments.

So simple. Not worth blogging about.