A couple of years ago, Todd, Diane and I flew to NYC to work on a small video project with the French Culinary Institute. We met up at the hotel on the first day and after a 14.63 second hello, we jumped into a cab and headed to Momofuku Saäm Bar. If you know us, food is on our minds – ALL THE TIME. We’d rather stay in a clean hotel in the crappy part of town to save money — so that we could spend it on food…..which we did.

Our hotel….err….motel was nice, tidy but sooo small. If I wanted to stretch out my arms, I’d have to open the door to so. And I’d probably even hit the elevator button in the same motion.

But enough about the hotel, back to the food.

At Momofuku Milk Bar, we saw little jars of Kimchi Butter for sale (see DL’s mention and photo of the jar), and I was so tempted to buy a gallon to bring home with me, but I don’t think TSA would appreciate a vat of butter in my carry on.

Kimchi butter is spicy, savory, a touch of sour and is awwwwwesome on steak, burgers, vegetables or eggs. Psssstttt…..great hangover breakfast: scrambled eggs cooked with kimchi butter and a side of bacon.

Here’s my version that includes chopped kimchi, a spoonful of miso (for savory) and some good butter. Other things you can add to make your own – a few shakes of fish sauce, finely minced garlic, finely grated fresh ginger and Korean chili powder to make it more spicy.

Add everything to your food processor and whiz, whirl until everything has come together nicely. Or, if you like, just chop everything by hand and mix in a bowl.

You can put this in a jar and refrigerate, but I like to make Kimchi Butter logs that I can refrigerate or freeze. When I need some, I just cut off a piece of the log and return the rest to the freezer.

Kimchi Butter Logs

I use a sushi mat to make rolling a lot easier, but you really don’t need to if you don’t have one.

Lay the sushi mat on the counter with the slats going horizontal. Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on top.

Spoon the Kimchi Butter onto the plastic wrap.

Wrap the bottom edge of the plastic wrap up and over and shape loosely into a log shape. Try to keep a 1.5″ edge of plastic wrap  on both sides.

Grab the bottom of the sushi mat and roll on top of the log.

Now use two hands – right hand is pulling back on the mat to tighen the log. The other hand is holding the edge of the mat out. Notice that the edge of the mat (in my left hand) stays on top – do not let that edge tuck under the Kimchi Butter. Keep tugging and tightening until the Kimchi Butter is a nice, solid, evenly sized log. (this is also the way to make sushi rolls too)

Ta-da! Twist the ends and refrigerate or freeze.

Or you could just skip all this fancy rolling and place the Kimchi Butter in a jar or plastic tub to refrigerate.

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2012. | Permalink | 29 comments

Every week, about 2-3 times a week, I go to physical therapy for my knee. The exercises are quite boring – lift your leg up….put it back down…and repeat 3,251 times. In the middle of the wall hangs a television, and every time, I thank the owners for putting that TV there. I don’t know if I could handle the monotony of these exercises without the company of Regis & Kelly, Rachael Ray or Dr. Oz.

Rachael was on last week and she came up with another clever little saying, “BLD” or food that’s great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Of all her quirky (“stoop”) and annoying (“yum-o”), I think I like BLD the best. It’s practical, and the food is practical.

So here’s my BLD recipe for you – a Kimchi Omelet. It’s full of savory vegetables (green onion and zucchini) and the chopped kimchi inside gives it a little spicy, crunchy, kick.

But kimchi isn’t the secret ingredient here – it’s actually the Mirin, or Japanese sweet rice wine that really brings it all together. The mirin gives the omelet just the right touch of sweetness to balance all of the flavors – so that you have salty, spicy, sour, savory and a tinge of sweet. Kimchi adds the spicy and sour.

This is a recipe I’ve created for client Mitsukan, the makers of one of the very best Mirin out there. It only takes 10 minutes to make – perfect for either for breakfast, lunch or dinner….BLD FTW!

How to make a Kimchi Omelet

Here’s whatcha need:

Continue reading Kimchi Omelet...

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 28 comments

I’ve been on a kimchi rampage lately, using it like relish for everything like hot dogs, hamburgers, eggs and even making kimchi butter to top a perfectly grilled steak. Kimchi goes with everything. I think most would expect me to also say that, “the spicier, the better” but in reality, I’m not a dragon-mouth chili-head. I do enjoy chilies, but just the milder version. In fact, in my cookbook, I couldn’t even decide how to spell chile: Chile, Chili or Chilli or Chillie.

In many Asian countries, the correct spelling is Chilli with a double-L. I had an entire convo with Michael Ruhlman about this and he pulled up some reference guide by some famous food historian dude. So, I went with “chili” for the book. But honestly, I think I’m a single-L and an E gal, so from now on, “chile” it is.  Okay, okay, I just can’t do it. I can’t argue with Ruhlman. CHILI.

This recipe is from The Kimchi Chronicles by Marja Vongerichten, and if you recognize that last name, you’ll know her husband is the one and only Jean-George Vongerichten, or as I affectionately call “J-Vo”

Marja is Korean and the cookbook is a collection of Korean American recipes that her family enjoys. Most of the recipes are accessible for the home cook, with a couple of odd-ball dishes that J-Vo had a hand in (not in a bad way) – like Korean Baeckeoffe and Jeju Bouillabaisse.

Some of my favs from the book:

Spice-Rubbed Korean Chicken – uses gochugaru (Korean red pepper powder)
Bibimbap
Kimchi Fried Rice
Kimchi Bloody Mary

For the Korean food lover, I absolutely recommend this book!

The Kimchi Chronicles, by Marja Vongerichten is available on Amazon)!

Continue reading Hot Dogs with Kimchi Relish...

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 26 comments

I. LOVE. KIMCHI. I love it on rice, in tacos (and just for the record, I did this before Kogi even!), I love it with seaweed, rice and spam (okay, don’t roll your eyes….it’s GOOD!), in soups (Kimchi Jigae) and to spice up midnight instant noodles. But I’ve never made kimchi myself before, which is why i asked Amy Kim of Kimchi Mom to help me out and teach you all how to make kimchi! She’s even made a little video to show you. ~jaden

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I’m Amy Kim of Kimchi Mom, and my blog is a collection of stories and family recipes from my kitchen. As a kid, I watched my mom cook Korean food everyday but never paid attention to any of it even when she tried to teach me (ah, those teen years). But I do remember being at the dinner table every night at 5 o’clock and having totally consumed dinner 20 minutes later. Yes, it was that good! Fast forward to a couple of years ago. My parents stayed with us for several months to help when my second child was born. And by “help”, she cooked! The dishes she made were flavorful, easy to make, and most importantly, voraciously devoured by my toddler son! I was intent on learning how to make these dishes and Kimchi Mom was born!
Continue reading How to Make Kimchi (video)...

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 37 comments

Kimchi Pizza Recipe over at New Asian Cuisine!

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2010. | Permalink | 5 comments

Last week was “Sneak zucchini on  your neighbor’s porch day” – and lo and behold, I got a few on my doorstep.

Except none of my neighbors have gardens.

It’s a complete mystery, and I appreciate the thoughtful gesture. I guess if anyone could find a use for zucchini on my block, it would be me. Though I’m hoping the kind gifter was not expecting me to make Zucchini Corn Dog.

Continue reading Korean Beef Rice Bowl...

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2010. | Permalink | 85 comments

My parents live in Los Angeles and until just recently, so did my brother. About three times a year, I go back to LA to hang out with the family, get my In-N-Out Burger fix and get the very important big dose of smog and traffic. It’s important because it gives me that fantastic talking point when the Los Angelenos ask me, “why the heck did you move to Bradenton, Florida?” Hmmm…well, let me cough the reasons!

Just a few days ago, my brother, Jay, packed his bachelor belongings in a moving truck and moved to Wichita, Kansas to start a brand new fancy job as a Doctor of Cardi-$dollar$-gy. At first, I was like, “Are you crazy? Giving up living in Beverly Hills to go live in Kansas?”

Not that I have anything against the good state of Kansas, it’s just that it’s a totally different lifestyle than the fast-paced, Botox’d, diamond-studded city of Angels.

Last night, Jay called. He’d just arrived after a couple days of driving to his new home, “Hey sis, you must come and visit. FOR THE BAR-B-QUE!!!” He went on to describe the pulled pork and smoked ribs that he’s sampled in the past 24 hours.

That was a good enough reason to commit one of the most important holidays of the year, Thanksgiving, to haul my family to Wichita, Kansas for a week’s vacation. And it got me thinking. Take award-winning barbequed pulled pork and combine it with an Korean style barbeque sauce and a puckery Asian cucumber relish. The result is something you’d find on the street corner of Cahuenga and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, the Kogi BBQ truck.

As I’m sure you’ve heard, Kogi is the hottest thing to hit the streets of Los Angeles (literally!), smashing standard taco truck fare with the zing and spice of Korean flavors. They use Twitter to announce their itinerary for that evening and serve hundreds of people at each stop. Sometimes, the lines form an hour before the truck even arrives and snakes carelessly around cars, fire hydrants and benches.

I haven’t sampled their fare, I gave one of the owners, Alice Shin, a call and told her that I’d like to make a pulled pork taco from smoked pulled pork. Alice was able to nudge their chef, Roy Choi, into creating a BBQ sauce to match the deep smoky flavor of traditional BBQ’d pulled pork.

This recipe is mid-west meets Los Angeles. Good luck with your new adventure, my brother.

Korean Style Tacos with Kogi BBQ Sauce on Daytime TV

I would have loved to pair good ol’ spicy kimchi with these tacos, but my local Asian store had really sad looking kimchi. So, last minute, I decided to create a quick cucumber pickle for television as well as the photo shoot.

Dr. BBQ and I tag teamed that morning on a Daytime segment – he made his very famous pulled pork smoked in the Big Green Egg in a Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwich with Spicy Tangy Slaw (I also posted the video) – and I took his leftovers to make these Korean Style Tacos with Kogi BBQ Sauce.

hey, p.s. the video shows you what happens when you forget your dang mandoline and end up slicing cucumbers by hand in a hurry. They look like hockey pucks. Use a mandoline.

Thank you Sur La Table for providing the Shun Perfect Paring Knife and the beautiful Foldable Grilling Tools

***

Other great recipes from around the web

Kimchi Recipe by David Lebovitz
Bulgogi Kimchi Tacos by My Korean Kitchen
Korean Beef Tacos by Week of Menus
Korean Short Rib Tacos by Tasty Eats at Home
Kimchi Pork Belly Pizza by No Recipes

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2009. | Permalink | 53 comments

Korean BBQ Beef on Crispy Wonton Chip

Slideshow of Korean BBQ Beef on Crispy Wonton Chip

Fundraising events these days usually include children hawking stuff I don’t need (enough magazines already!) athletic events (can’t I just drive that 5K?) or food and wine events (oh yeah, sign me up baby!) These folks who run food and wine festivals sure got the formula right. Have a bunch of local restaurants dish out samples of their food, wine and beer companies dole out unlimited pours. All they need to complete this formula is maybe a few tour buses, you know, the good ones that have reclinable seats and drive you around town and let you sleep off that gorge-and-glug fest.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Florida Aquarium’s SeaGrapes event. Tables and tables of vendors snaked in and out, around and about the aquarium. Over 800 people sipped and snacked their way through the event. It was a record year, they netted over $87,000. People were bidding like crazy at the silent auction! These silent auctions are such a smart thing, get a bunch of people happy-drunk and let them compete with each other to bid on prizes. Love it.

At the Florida Aquarium SeaGrapes event, almost every restaurant vendor served seafood. You know I love my fish…but it was just sorta weird to be waving hi to Nemo while enjoying one of his mates on my plate. But then I found Chef Rick from Publix Apron Cooking School who made a Korean BBQ Beef on Crispy Wonton Chip appetizer that my meat-lovin’ husband just raved about. I’ve modified their recipe a bit, making it easier for the home cook.

The flank steak is marinated in Korean-style sauce. While technically this isn’t “Korean BBQ” it does use similar ingredients in the marinade and the secret ingredient….grated pear.

The pear does 2 things. It sweetens the marinade and it also tenderizes the beef. It’s the secret ingredient of authentic Korean BBQ beef. You’ll grate the pear with a large-holed grater. Traditionally, an crispy Asian pear is used, but you can really use any type of pear.

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More Korean BBQ Beef…

Korean BBQ Kalbi (Short Ribs) and Bulgogi Recipe

or how about Korean noodle dish to go with it?

Korean Glass Noodles – Chap Chae/Jap Chae

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2009. | Permalink | 34 comments

from the Steamy Kitchen archives….

The software that runs my website has a nifty little feature that tells me what terms people are entering into the search box when they come to Steamy Kitchen. Although smart authors would probably use this information to enhance their site and serve the needs of their readers, the only reason I check this page is for comic relief. Most terms are legit, such as a recipe for jap chae, but at least once a day, I find a gem, something that just makes me giggle. It’s a total mystery why someone would come to my Asian recipes Web site and enter into the search box: “what foods give you spots” and expect that I have the answer!? I doubt if these people ever found what they were searching for on my blog, but I wanted to take the time to address these curious questions and concerns:

• Egg fried rice secret smell: There should be no secret smell to your fried rice. Maybe you’re using rotten eggs? Dishes that you serve really shouldn’t have secret smells. That’s totally gross.
• Burger shrink: Thank you, but my hamburgers are emotionally stable. No therapy needed.
• Horrid Chinese chicken: Most Chinese chickens are pretty nice. Sometimes if you get a mother hen that enjoys nagging and bossing chicks around, yes, then the hen might be a little horrid. But that’s nothing that a bottle of wine can’t handle. That’s how the Chinese came to invent the dish Drunken Chicken.
• White stuff that goes out of salmon: I don’t know … maybe the salmon has some sort of chickenpox? Bad case of acne? My advice: If your salmon has pus, don’t eat it. But how you landed on my site is a mystery. I’ve never written a recipe for diseased salmon.
• Chinese chicken cancer: Is this like the Beijing bird flu? Symptoms of the Chinese chicken cancer are: a sudden uncontrollable urge to peck at your computer screen; hair falling out in clumps, leaving you with a mohawk “comb”; strange feeling of wanting to sit on your computer mouse to keep it warm; and, lastly, waking up at the crack of dawn and scaring your mate by screeching “BAAAAKKKAAAACCCCKKKKKK!!!!!” You need professional help. None of my recipes will cure this. And for the rest of you, here’s a recipe for jap chae, the No. 10 most-popular search term on my site. The noodles used in this dish are made from sweet potato starch and become translucent when cooked, which is how they got their English name, “glass noodles.” They are also gluten-free and are wonderfully springy and light. You can use any type of fresh mushrooms, such as shiitake or even the standard button mushroom, but traditionally, dried wood ear mushrooms, found in most Asian markets, are used. Just rehydrate the mushrooms in warm water for 15 minutes, drain and they will be ready for your stir-fry. I love making this dish in the summertime because you can serve these noodles at room temperature or even slightly chilled. ***

This dish can also be spelled: Jab Chae, Chap Chae. The type of noodles used in this dish is made from sweet potato starch and translucent when cooked, which is how they got their English name, “glass noodles.” They are also gluten free and are wonderfully springy and light. I love making this dish in the summertime, because you can serve these noodles at room temperature or even slightly chilled.

You can find them at Asian markets or online at Komart. Just boil the dried noodles for 5 minutes, drain and toss with sesame oil so that they don’t stick together:

You can use any type of fresh mushrooms, like shitake or even the standard button mushroom, but traditionally, dried wood ear mushrooms, found in most Asian markets, are used. Just rehydrate the dried wood ear mushrooms in warm water for 15 minutes, drain and they’ll be ready for your stir-fry. The spinach was shy – didn’t want to jump in the group shot.

Stir fry the carrots and onions until softened, oh…about 1 minute…but it really depends on how thin you slice your onions and carrots:

Add garlic, scallions and mushrooms. Fry 30 seconds:

Then add spinach, noodles, soy sauce, sugar, fry 2-3 minutes until noodles are heated through. Turn off heat, toss with sesame seeds and remaining 1 1/2 tsp of sesame oil:

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2008. | Permalink | 52 comments

These past few days, I needed to cook healthy. Not for me, but for the sake of my children. You see, last week, I had Lasik eye surgery. As any reasonable mother would do, I milked it as far as I could go in terms of slacking on my housewifery duties. Laundry? bah..eyes too dry. Ironing? doc said no heavy lifting. Dishes? need to lay down to put in drops every 2 hours. Vacuuming? nope…can’t see squat after squirting in drops. Best to just sleep in every morning and let Scott handle the kids. It took 3 days before the kids confessed me what they’ve been eating for breakfast….

Continue reading Korean Glass Noodles – Jap Chae / Chap Chae...

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2007. | Permalink | 106 comments