There's no better way to warm up on a cold day than with spicy-hot kimchi! Good thing I have an annual tradition of making approximately 18 litres of the Korean red pepper cabbage ferment with my friend Joel. But in preparation for the day-long event, I had to eat the rest of … [Read more...] about Kimchi 2016 (Plus fried rice and kimchi jigae recipes, aka “what to do with the rest of last year’s batch”)
Korean
How to Make Homemade Korean Sake: Makgeolli with Koji
"You need a mother or a starter," explained Sebastien Bureau, the head of Research and Development at RISE Kombucha and the man who gave me koji. I was taking part in the Living Table Tour, a gastronomic bike tour offered by Melissa Simard through her company 'Round Table Tours. … [Read more...] about How to Make Homemade Korean Sake: Makgeolli with Koji
Sweet Sesame Eggplant and Chicken Salad Bowl
This is what you should do with leftover turkey or chicken. Always. It's a variation on Karen Solomon's Korean spinach recipe. She's the author extraordinaire of Asian Pickles Korea, a book every exotic flavour-loving pickler should have. She calls herself a "culinary tinkerer," … [Read more...] about Sweet Sesame Eggplant and Chicken Salad Bowl
Kimchi Socca Tarts: Savoury, nutty chickpea pancakes and a world of vegetarian umami
Seven ingredients. I love it. It's like one of those awful cookbooks for lazy people that come in handy once in a blue moon when you're desperate and horribly uncreative or understocked. Or, you know, alone on a desert island with a can of tuna and/or a fishing rod, bait, and … [Read more...] about Kimchi Socca Tarts: Savoury, nutty chickpea pancakes and a world of vegetarian umami
The Best Way to Eat 5 Lbs of Swiss Chard and 1/2 L of Kimchi: Spiced Red Lentil Dal
Think of supper as problem solving. The garden/farmers/supermarket (preferably in that order of importance, but we can't all be snobs about it) has provided me these ingredients, and now I'm going to cook something delicious. True, I normally just separate the leaves from the … [Read more...] about The Best Way to Eat 5 Lbs of Swiss Chard and 1/2 L of Kimchi: Spiced Red Lentil Dal
37 Jars of Kimchi and Impending Doom
The fact that my friend and I made approximately 22 litres of kimchi and stuffed it into 37 jars is not what's causing the impending doom. That comes from the fact that after two weeks of fermenting in my kitchen (maybe less because it's humid), I won't have enough fridge space … [Read more...] about 37 Jars of Kimchi and Impending Doom
Sweet Potato Pancakes with Spicy Soy-Lime Dipping Sauce and Avocado
I made a soup once that was a combination of everything good - it was sweet, salty, spicy, and sour all at once. Since that day, those four combined flavours have been my goal for all things excellent, especially when it comes to sweet potato. Now any time I eat sweet potato I … [Read more...] about Sweet Potato Pancakes with Spicy Soy-Lime Dipping Sauce and Avocado
Korean Japchae Noodles for the Shinnenkai Potluck
I guess I forgot to write this one up. It's such an easy recipe that I overlooked it. To the recipe (and anyone who wanted it, I suppose), I apologize. The only thing I changed from a traditional japchae recipe was the use of seaweed instead of spinach (oh, and I guess the … [Read more...] about Korean Japchae Noodles for the Shinnenkai Potluck
Bibimbap: In Search of the Perfect Gochujang
The trick to a good bibimbap, as far as I know, is the sauce. You take some sweet rice and cook it until it's perfect and then some vegetables and meat cut into strips (chicken, beef or pork, preferably marinated, leftover or freshly cooked), but you don't even need the meat. To … [Read more...] about Bibimbap: In Search of the Perfect Gochujang
Balance and Seaweed Salad
I ate this over the course of three days and not on one day did I remember to take a picture. Well, the seaweed is long, wide, flat, green and slimy -- kind of like "not my tagliatelle noodles" pictured above -- except my green guy looked like a forest and weren't so perfect. … [Read more...] about Balance and Seaweed Salad