Kimchi jjigae

I typically always do a vegetarian kimchi jjigae, but you can make it with pork, or fish and seafood. Here is my simple and basic recipe:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup of kimchi (and its juices)

2-3 tablespoons of gojijjang (red pepper paste)

1/2 teaspoon of gojujadu {red pepper flakes)

4-5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 green onion

1 package of Tofu

1 package of Enoki Mushrooms

Instructions: Put the minched garlic, chopped kimchi and its juices into a pot, and add 2 cups of water. When boiling, add the gojijjang, and simmer/boil for 25 minutes. In the meanwhile, cut the tofu into squares, and cut and clean the enoki mushrooms. Add them to the stew and stir, sprinkling the gojujadu over the tofu. Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes, and at last adding a cut green onion on top. Serve piping hot with rice!

Ingredients!

These are the ingredients for panfried tofu! I made it again recently and I liked how it all looked out as raw ingredients :]

Here is the original recipe blog post --

[http://nomadichimee.blogspot.com/2010/09/panfried-tofu-with-spicy-sauce-dubu.html]

Spicy Shrimp

If you're using frozen shrimp, make sure they've been defrosted and drained before marinating.

Ingredients:
About 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
One 1-inch piece ginger, minched
Juice from 1/2 lime
1 teaspoon Korean chile powder (gojugadu)

Instructions:
Put the shrimp in a large bowl. Add the soy sauce, red wine, garlic, ginger, and lime juice and combine. Sprinkle with the chile powder and toss.

Place a large pan on a preheated grill/stove. Add the shrimp and cook, turning, until they've turned pink.

Serve hot with rice and other side dishes.

Smoked Salmon-Rucola- Parmigiano Reggiano Salad

I made this at 1 in the morning because I was hungry and craving something light and healthy. The ingredients are:
- Wild Smoked Nova Salmon
- Organic Baby Rucola
- Vine tomatoes
- Parmigiano reggiano cheese
- Capers
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Black pepper and salt to taste

Put a bundle of the organic baby rucola leaves at the bottom of a bowl. Add the sliced smoked salmon, cubed tomato chunks, capers, parmigiano reggiano cheese- grated and some chunks, along with some salt and pepper to taste, a splash of extra virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Mix and enjoy:)

Crab & "Original" Stuffed Mushrooms

[Photo: "Original" Stuffed Mushroom on the left, and Crab Stuffed Mushroom on the right]

I made two different types of stuffed mushrooms tonight for dinner... Crab stuffed mushrooms, and I'll call the other style "the Original stuffed mushroom".

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms:

- Fresh oversized mushrooms
- 1/2 a cup of crabmeat
- 2 green onions / scallions
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise (i used mayo made with olive oil)
- 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a medium bowl, combine crabmeat, green onions, spice and pepper. Mix in mayonnaise and the grated Parmesan cheese until well combined. Refrigerate filling until ready for use.
3. Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp towel. Remove stems (Save the stems, I used it for the next recipe) Fill the mushroom caps with rounded teaspoonfuls of filing, and place them in an ungreased shallow baking dish. Sprinkle tops with parmesan.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, Remove from oven, and serve immediately.

"Original" Stuffed Mushrooms:

- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 red onion
- Oversized mushrooms
- 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Mint leaves
- Basil leaves
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs (I used a loaf of sourdough bread and hand grated it)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Grease the pan with some olive oil
3. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, red onion and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool.
5. When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in parmesan cheese, basil leaves, mint leaves, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Mixture should be very thick. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.

오이 냉국 "Oi naengguk" - Cold Cucumber Soup

Oi naengguk is another simple but popular Korean side dish, perfect for summer. The seasoning in this recipe could be changed a little according to your taste, more sugar if you like it sweeter, or more chili peppers if you like it spicier. (I went for more red hot chili pepper)

Ingredients: Cucumber, garlic, green chili pepper, red hot chili pepper, green onion , 1½ tbs vinegar, 1 ts salt, 1 ts fish sauce, 1 ts sugar, 1½ cup of cold water (purified or boiled and cooled down), and 3 ice cubes.

1. Get a bowl ready, one that can hold more than 2 cups.
   
2. Put about 1¼ cups of cucumber, cut into thin strips (julienne style), into the bowl.
3. Mince one clove of garlic, chop up half a green onion, and cut up 1 or 2 ts worth of green chili pepper (depending on how hot you like it). Add them to the cucumber strips in the bowl.
4. Add 1 ts of salt, 1 ts of fish sauce, 1 ½ tbs of vinegar, 1 ts of sugar to the bowl and mix it well with a spoon.
5. Pour 1½ cup of cold water (purified or boiled and cooled down) to the bowl and mix it.
6. Add 6 ice cubes.
7. Cut some red hot chili pepper to garnish and sprinkle on the top of the soup.
8. Serve it with rice.

Panfried tofu with spicy sauce (Dubu buchim yangnyumjang)

A spicy Korean vegetarian dish that is yummy in the tummy.

Ingredients:

• Package of tofu (about 15oz) [I prefer soft tofu over firm so I went for the soft]
• soy sauce
• hot pepper flakes
• sugar
• green onion
• garlic
• sesame oil

1. Slice the tofu into bite size pieces (¼ inch thick rectangles). You should get 10 pieces. Towel off each piece with a paper towel.
2. Heat a pan with 1 to 2 tbs of vegetable oil. Add the tofu and lower the heat. Cook over low heat about 5-7 minutes.
3. When the bottom of the tofu looks golden brown, turn it over and cook another 5 minutes.
4. Transfer the cooked tofu to a serving plate.
5. Make your sauce in a small bowl by mixing these ingredients:
   1 clove of minced garlic, 1 chopped green onion, 1 ts hot pepper flakes, 1 ts sugar (or honey), 2 tbs soy sauce, and 2 ts sesame oil
6. Spoon the sauce evenly over the tofu.
7. Serve with rice as a side dish