Soul Food Archives - Page 6 of 8

Jajangmyeon: K-C & The Sunshine Noodle Bowls

By threejamigos | March 7, 2019 | Comments 0 Comment

Another cold and rainy day in normally sunny California. To combat the soggy blues I pulled out my favorite therapy tools. A pot, a bowl, and a package of NOODLES. When you think comfort food, don’t tell me a fork, a knife, and a plate pop up in your mind. Me? A bowl, a big spoon, and a pair of chopsticks, that’s what I reach for.
The plan was to make a bowl of yummylicious noodles, curl up on the sofa and watch the new episode of Romance is a Bonus Book on Netflix. Yes, my current favorite Korean series.
I had a hankering for Zha Jiang Mian for my “TV dinner” which got me thinking why not a mash-up of the Korean & Chinese versions of Zha Jiang Mian? I started with my recipe for Zha Jiang Mian, I didn’t want to re-invent the wheel, I just wanted to tweak it. The sauce for my original recipe contains pork, aromatics, and the bean pastes. Veggies are julienned and added to the finished dish. I love the play on textures, the crunch of the cucumbers and carrots with the soft noodles and flavor-packed sauce filled with chunks of ground pork, it’s delicious.

Contrast this with the Korean version 짜장면 where a variety of veggies are cooked in the sauce. The play on textures is much more subtle but just as yummy. A variety of veggies went into my K-bowl version. I used diced zucchini, carrots, and potatoes. The carrots added some bite, the zucchini added moisture and that characteristic melt-y center and crispness from the skin. But my favorite addition is the diced potatoes (Yukon, don’t use Russets, too starchy). Potatoes have a characteristic dense, yet creamy feel, so good-like the center of perfectly cooked potato wedges. I used ground pork in my K-version, but often the pork is diced like the vegetables. Your choice.

Try both versions and tell me which one you like best although I think you’ll find both are equally delicious!

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Zha Jiang Mian 2 Ways

Zha Jiang Mian Korean style and Chinese Style, both delicious!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian

Keyword Zha Jiang Mian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Ingredients

6 oz. ground pork
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon oil plus 1 tablespoon
⅛ teaspoon white pepper
3 slices ginger minced finely
4 cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoons sweet bean sauce I used 2 T Hoisin/1 T Sweet Ben Sauce
3 tablespoons ground bean paste Reduce to 2 T
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 cup water
8 oz. fresh noodles flour-based noodle. Fresh or dry. I've used udon and a combination of spinach and plain

Additional Chinese Ingredients

4-6 fresh shiitake mushrooms* finely chopped
1 cup julienned carrots
1 cup julienned cucumbers
½ cup julienned scallions garnish

Additional Korean Ingredients

3 fresh shiitake mushrooms diced
1 medium Yukon Gold Potato* 1/2 inch dice for Korean version
1 small zucchini 1/2 inch dice for Korean version
1/2 cup carrots 1/2 inch dice for Korean version
1/2 small yellow onion diced
1/4 head cabbage shredded, optional
1/2 cup green onions chopped
1/2 cup cucumbers diced

Instructions

Marinade the pork with the following for 15 minutes: ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, ½ teaspoon oil, ⅛ teaspoon white pepper.
Heat a tablespoon oil in your wok over medium heat, add the marinated ground pork to the wok. Cook for a minute to brown it, and then add the ginger, garlic, and mushrooms* Stir fry everything together for another 2-3 minutes.
**Add the Hoisin, sweet bean sauce, bean paste, dark soy sauce, and water, stirring everything together well. Lower the heat and cover the wok. Simmer the sauce for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the package directions.
Top noodles with the sauce and garnish with the julienned carrots, cucumbers, and scallions.

Korean Style*

Stir fry pork, ginger, and garlic for 30 seconds add diced vegetables. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Continue with recipe**
If you like, add shredded cabbage in the last couple of minutes of cooking.
Place a mound of noodles in your bowl, top with sauce and garnish with cucumber and green onions. Plop yourself down in front of the telly and enjoy!

Egga-licious Down Home Cooking (Steamed Egg with Shiitake Mushrooms)

By threejamigos | March 5, 2019 | Comments 2 comments

There are dishes that with the first bite I am instantly transported back to the dinner table of my childhood. My dad clanging pots and pans, putting the finishing touches on our meal. Me or my brother setting the table and my mom cleaning up in my dad’s “kitchen wake” (big job, trust me). A typical meal would be corn soup, stir-fried greens with oyster sauce and ginger, soy sauce chicken from our favorite Chinese deli, and a steamed dish. The steamed dish might be minced pork patty with salted duck eggs or steamed eggs with clams. These are the dishes of my childhood, my soul food.

Asian Soul Food

So, this past month, Food 52 featured Fuscia Dunlop’s Every Grain of Rice in their cookbook club. Listed is a recipe for steamed eggs. Bam, I’m 10 years old again watching my dad cook, hoping he will give me a morsel to “taste-test”. I flipped to the page with the recipe and hmmm, honestly, her egg dish didn’t look that great. (In her defense I tried a couple of the other recipes in the book and they are delicious). It looked a bit overcooked and bubbly on the top. My dad’s steamed eggs were silky smooth and soft, kind of like silken tofu or Japanese Chawan Mushi. Both are savory custards with tidbits of shrimp, bbq pork, or clams, indescribably delicious.

Guess what, I have never made this simple, homey, delightful dish and I’m not sure why. I love it. My kids love it. My niece Marisa REALLY loves it. Hello, what was I waiting for? I reached out to my bro for tips on how to make dad’s steamed eggs, he’s smart, he makes it all the time.

There is some wiggle room to the ratio of egg to liquid in this dish. Four eggs to one and a quarter to one-half cups of water. I replaced the water with low sodium chicken stock to amp up the flavor. The TRICK to mind-boggling silky, smooth custard is to steam the eggs over very low heat. Low and slow so you don’t get bubbles or overcooked eggs.

Add-Ins

Following Fuscia’s recipe, I added shiitake mushrooms and opted for diced Chinese sausage (lop cheung) instead of ground pork. The mushrooms add a nice earthiness and the sweet & salty sausage provides both flavor and texture. My dad liked dried shrimp or bbq pork. Ham or ground chicken or pork would work well. I mixed the ‘shrooms and sausage into the egg mixture before pouring it into the bowl. Next time I will scatter them on the bottom of the steaming bowl and pour the eggs over so they don’t float to the top as much. But really, NBD it will still be delicious.

Remember LOW AND SLOW, the key to a silky, smooth, damn that’s delish, egg custard. WORD.

The dish is done when the center is just set and does not jiggle too much. Garnish with green onions (mandatory) and cilantro (optional). Heat the peanut or vegetable oil until you see wisps of smoke, then immediately pour it over the green onions. This brings out the flavor of the aromatics and gives the eggs a nice sheen. Drizzle with soy sauce and/or oyster sauce on top. Ready, set, EAT.

Get out the bowls of rice and then follow my kids’ lead. Stir the eggs into your rice so it’s all smooshed together and goopy, grab a spoon and start shoveling.

Microwave Magic

Now you can make steamed eggs in the microwave! I recently bought Cook Anyday microwave cookware and whaddya know, the microwave works well for dishes that are steamed!!!

Put your ingredients all in one bowl, zap it, bring it to the table, off chance you don’t eat it all….toss the bowl in the fridge. Truly one-bowl cooking! I cooked at 300 watts or 50% power (I have a teeny 600w microwave) for 8 minutes, or until the custard is barely set in the middle, and jiggles gently if shaken. If it’s too runny, add time at 50% power in 30-second increments. Let rest with the lid on for 1-2 minutes to let the egg gently finish steaming.

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Chinese Steamed Eggs with Shiitake Mushrooms

A silky smooth, soft savory custard flavored with mushrooms. Perfect with a bowl of rice. this is Asian soul food.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian, cantonese

Keyword crispy roasted mushrooms, lop cheung, Steamed eggs

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Total Time 35

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

4 eggs whisked
1.5 cups warm water substitute all or part with chicken stock. Liquid should be lukewarm
2 dried shiitake mushrooms soften in warm water and diced
1 lop cheung (Chinese sausage) diced, substitutions include ham, little clams, fresh or dried shrimp
2 tsp rice wine
1/4 tsp salt
1 pinch of each white pepper and sugar

Optional (for garnish)

2 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil
1 green onion finely chopped
cilantro for garnish
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
2 drops toasted sesame oil optional
2 tsp oyster sauce optional

Instructions

Heat water in a wok or large saute pan with a steamer insert.
Combine eggs, water or stock, salt, rice wine, and sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Add mushrooms and Chinese sausage to egg mixture.
Pour mixture into a shallow heatproof bowl or pyrex pie plate. Place in steamer and cover. Steam over low heat for 20-25 minutes. The eggs should look set and not jiggle in the middle but not look dry.
Heat peanut oil in a small saucepan until wisps of smoke form. Garnish eggs with green onions and pour hot oil over the green onions and egg.
Drizzle with soy sauce and/or oyster sauce over top.
Serve immediately with rice.

MIcrowave Cook It!

Put your ingredients all in one bowl, zap it, bring it to the table, off chance you don't eat it all....toss the covered bowl in the fridge. Truly one-bowl cooking! I cooked at 300 watts or 50% power (I have a teeny 600w microwave) for 8 minutes, or until the custard is barely set in the middle, and jiggles gently if shaken. If it’s too runny, add time at 50% power in 30-second increments. Let rest with the lid on for 1-2 minutes to let the egg gently finish steaming.

Muffin been the Mochi that Caught My Eye (Butter Mochi Muffins)

By threejamigos | February 21, 2019 | Comments 64 comments

Always searching for new and different treats, I came across an article that spotlighted Third Culture Bakery in Berkeley. The baker is an alum of Cal (Go Bears) who chose food over toxicology (good choice) and thus Mochi Muffins made with sweet rice flour were put on the map. Though I haven’t made it to Berkeley to try one, I found a couple of recipes online that sounded scrumptious, so it was off to the rices! Update: I just posted a new mochi muffin recipe, Mango Mochi Muffins made with mango tea and freeze-dried mangos! It’s small-batch baking, only 8 regular size delicious muffins.

My Sweet Rice, Oh My Rice

For the uninitiated, mochi (sweet rice flour) is a cornerstone of Asian treats. Sweet rice is PULVERIZED into flour to which water and flavorings are added. It ends up looking like the BLOB, really. It can be flavored, baked, steamed, fried and made into countless delicious treats both sweet and savory. During New Year’s, Japanese families gather to pound mochi in a tradition called Mochitsuki. Just for your viewing pleasure here is Mitsuo Nakatani, Japanese Mochi Master. Enjoy.

Traditional mochi starts with steamed rice and is pounded and shaped into sweet or savory rice cakes. Mochi muffins and Hawaiian Butter Mochi start with sweet rice flour, mixed with liquids, and baked. Since I don’t foresee any of us pounding mochi, let’s make muffins and Hawaiian Mochi. Infinitely easier and pretty darn tasty.

Back on the Muffin Trail

If you have ever had Manju from Shuei-Do Sweet Shop in Japantown in San Jose, or Butter Mochi from Hawaii and liked it…you’re going to love these. If you haven’t had mochi, this is a good introduction. Not quite as gooey as Manju and definitely not cakey like a muffin, it’s a delicious hybrid of the two. A touch of sweetness, crispy on the outside, dense and chewy on the inside, and crunchy from the generous sprinkle of sesame seeds on top. It’s different but delicious. If that wasn’t enough, they are GLUTEN-FREE. You’re welcome.

Rice, Rice, Baby

The most important item in the pic is the Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour by Koda Farms. This is the go-to brand. You can definitely find it in any Asian store (along with the sesame seeds), and if you’re lucky, at some of your larger local markets. Take a walk down the international/ethnic food aisle.

I found quite a few recipes for Mochi Muffins online and finally settled on one from a beautiful blog called Snixy Kitchen. Her batch made 12 muffins, which made her recipe the frontrunner as most made 24. As yummy as they are, what am I going to do with 24 muffins?!

The batter comes together in a snap: melted butter, coconut milk, egg, brown sugar, and rice flour. Stir together and pour into a muffin tin. Boom, done. My batter was thicker than some of the posts I’ve seen. This may account for the slight dome mine had. I also found a recipe from Saimin Noshrat in the NYT. I think I may try a couple of her tweaks the next time I make these. Trust me, there will be a next time. I will use light brown sugar, substitute evaporated milk for some of the coconut milk, and brown my butter. Not to worry, a full report will follow. Hmmm, can’t wait to make another batch.

The longer you leave these in the oven, the less gooey and more cake-like they will be. The first batch was baked for 60 minutes. I think I should have pulled them out sooner, I like gooey. Now I check at 40 minutes and pull them out around 45 minutes. To test them, use a knife to poke the center of a muffin. It should come out fairly clean with a bit of crumb.

More Mochi Madness

After making these muffins if you like the chewiness, definitely try the Hawaiian Butter Mochi Muffins, inspired by Aloha Kitchen by Alana Kysar. A little less flour and a bit more liquid kick up the gooey, buttery, lusciousness of these bites. Bake them in a muffin tin for crispy edges. I ADORE both of these muffins.

These are soooo good, a little more squishy, very buttery, topped with shredded coconut.

Also check out Peanut Butter Mochi from A Common Table by Cynthia Chen McTernan. Delish! LOVE, love, LOVE

If you would like to try traditional Japanese Mochi, here are my recommendations: Fugetsu-Do in Little Tokyo in LA, the oldest family-owned Japanese Shop in the US, Shuei Do Manju Shop in San Jose, and in my hometown of SF, Benkyodo Company in Japantown (now closed😢😢😢 ). All family-owned artisan shops.

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4.53 from 19 votes

Butter Mochi Muffins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Asian-American

Keyword coconut milk, Gluten free, mochi muffin

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Ingredients

1/4 cup (2 ounces )unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for greasing pans sub brown-butter
2 cups (320 grams) mochiko sweet rice flour Koda Farms
1 cup (200 grams) organic dark brown sugar* light or dark brown sugar will work
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 tsp sea salt
1 13 ounce can full-fat coconut milk Sub evaporated milk, half to all
2 large eggs room temperature
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon molasses optional, added for flavor or use Golden Syrup or honey
1½ tablespoons each black and toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
Grease the sides and top of a 12-cup muffin tin well with soft butter.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sweet rice flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, coconut milk, eggs, vanilla, and molasses.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until completely combined.
Divide the batter among the prepared muffin tin, filling each cup all the way to the top.
Sprinkle the tops with black and white sesame seeds.
Bake 45-50 minutes until the top is brown and crispy and the muffin springs back when poked with a finger. Bake for less time. for muffins that are chewier and less cakey. Muffins are done when a skewer comes out relatively clean and the tops are brown.
Let cool 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Can be frozen and thawed at room temp.

Notes

Organic dark brown sugar is richer and more caramel-y than conventional, but you can use regular brown sugar.

Any muffin tin will do, but for ultimate crispy exterior, use a dark non-stick muffin tin.

If using a light muffin tin, you may have to bake the muffins a little bit longer.

If keeping them for longer, they'll lose their crispiness after a day or two in storage, put them in the oven for a few minutes to crisp again before eating.

Oyako Donburi Hmmm, Maybe the Chicken and the Egg Came Together?

By threejamigos | February 15, 2019 | Comments 0 Comment

I am soooo excited! We are adding a new category to 3Jamigos! The kids have flown the coop and are making their own way, Jeff in the City close by (yippee), Jorge in Korea teaching (so far away) and Jams currently working and freezing her tush off in Minneapolis (half of so far away). Luckily we have FaceTime, phones, texting and when that just won’t do, flights. Just an airplane ride away.

A California-Texas kinda gal, winter in Minneapolis is a new experience for Jamie. Down jackets, scarves and gloves are now a part of her wardrobe vernacular, as is staying indoors. The winter weather has her looking for activities inside to keep her busy. For Christmas, we gave her knitting needles, yarn and starter lessons from Wes on how to knit. Big hit, knitting up a storm haha.

Jamie has always loved to bake and cook. She’s a natural, and with this weather, she has been doing alot more cooking and baking.

A recent call went like this:

Mui (her nickname): Mom, can you send me your Oyako Donburi recipe? Is it easy to make?

Me: Sure. Yep, it’s pretty easy. One pan, a couple of eggs, chicken, and onions.

Mui: That sounds good, I love rice bowls and I can bring the leftovers to work.

LIGHTBULB MOMENT: Hey, why don’t we both make Oyako Donburi and then post about it? You have done spots before on 3Jamigos. We’ll alternate picking recipes to make and blog about!

THUS a new 3jamigos category was born, M&M which stands for Mom and Mui. Mui means little sister. We have been calling Jamie Mui since Day One.

Oyako Donburi is the perfect dish to launch M&M. Chicken, sliced shiitake mushrooms, onions are cooked in a savory-sweet sauce of soy sauce, sake, dashi. Lightly beaten eggs are then poured on top of the chicken and sauce and simmered until just cooked through, then the chicken and egg mixture is placed on top of hot rice. Watch your kids, hubby, neighbors, everybody gobble it up. So delicious, classic Japanese soul food.

So without further adieu, our inaugural M&M post by Jamie on making Oyako Donburi in cold & snowy Minneapolis.

HELLOOOO WORLD/readers of 3jamigos.com. It’s ME. J A M I E. Ya know, that crazy girl who moved to Minneapolis to live in -30 DEGREE WEATHER. Nope, that wasn’t a typo. It really was NEGATIVE 30 on my drive into work last week. GLOBAL WARMING IS REAL PEOPLE. (I know that doesn’t really make sense, but global warming is causing polar vortexes normally over THE NORTH POLE to break apart and dip down to lower parts of the globe). It’s so cold that you can’t stand outside with exposed skin for more than 5 minutes without getting frostbite. FROSTBITE. Schools were closed. The roads were empty. But I still had to go to work. Once I got over that, it really wasn’t bad. They are GREAT about paving and salting the roads, so it was actually a breeze getting to and from work.

BUT enough about me. Let’s talk about the fact that my mom and I decided to start a mother-daughter blog where we cook the same dish separately and talk about it, AND THE FIRST DISH WE PICKED JUST HAPPENED TO TRANSLATE TO “Parent (chicken) and child (egg).” Damn, we are GOOD, people. You couldn’t even make this stuff up. I mean, I guess you could. It would make a great lifetime/hallmark movie. Ok. Enough interruptions. Let’s get down to the food.

Okayo Donburi. The ultimate comfort food. It’s a mix of chicken and eggs (parent and child) with a sweet/salty/chickeny sauce and sautéed onions. Pour it over some rice, and all the stresses of your day melt away. The best part? It is SO easy to make.

Chop up some onions, slice some mushrooms, toss it into the pan with some chicken broth, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar, and top it off with some eggs and chicken. E A S Y and so foolproof even my mom could make it and she suuuuckkss at cooking (if you couldn’t tell). I like to add in extra mushrooms and chicken. Sometimes extra onions. Pretty much extra everything. It is that good. Mom used to make it all the time when I was little, and it was one of my favorite dishes then too. So far, I’ve made it 3 times since winter started. That’s how good it is.

So now, for lack of a better conclusion, stop reading this post and go make it. Go!

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Oyako Donburi

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian

Keyword Oyako Donburi

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 30

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces
4-5 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 yellow onion thinly sliced, red onion can be used
1 green onion sliced on the diagonal
2-3 dried shiitake mushrooms soaked to soften, sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Sauce Mixture

1 cup dashi (fish based stock) can substitute low sodium chicken broth
5 T soy sauce
2 1/2 T sugar can cut to 2 T
21/2 T mirin substitute sake to decrease sweetness
cilantro garnish if desired

Instructions

In a small bowl, lightly beat eggs and set aside.
Heat saute' pan, add vegetable oil then onions and mushrooms, fry for 1-2 minutes until onions are soft. Add sauce mixture, heat through.
Add chicken and lower flame to medium-low. Cook for 3-4 minutes, turning the chicken over. Cook until chicken loses pinkness
Add eggs evenly over top of chicken. Cover and cook over low heat until eggs are just cooked should not be dry.
Garnish with green onions or cilantro and nori strips
Divide into portions and serve over rice. If desired, individual portions can be made. Quarter ingredients and use a small omelet pan to make.

Bok Bok, Batch…of Three Cup Chicken

By threejamigos | February 12, 2019 | Comments 0 Comment

Gung hay fat choy! Happy Lunar New Year! This is the Year of the Pig and in celebration of this, I spent the last week in Hong Kong with my boys-PIGGIN’ out. It has been years since I have been in Hong Kong and with Jordan living in nearby Korea, we decided a rendezvous was in order.
I walked off the plane and took a deep breath and instantly knew I was back in Asia. The scent that wafted through the air and surrounded me immediately transported me back to my first visit to Hong Kong so many years ago. An amalgam of daily life, food, incense, years of humanity all rolled into one.

Before I regale you with our travels in Hong Kong…let me tell you about our flight. It’s been a while since I have been on a flight that lasts 14 hours. AUUUGH! I don’t care if you are in First Class, Business, or Economy…it’s a LONG time to be cooped up in a plane. I did manage to catch 40 winks, watch a couple of movies, and pick through multiple cafeteria-like meals. The highlight was a bowl of instant ramen on the last leg of our journey. By then even the K-Movie I was watching knew how I felt.

One of the meal selections was Three Cup Chicken. I knew of this classic Taiwanese dish but have never had it. This peaked my curiosity so I made a mental note to try this dish when I got home.

A day of vegging out to get over my jet lag and I was ready to hunt down the recipe for Three Cup Chicken. The first thing I noticed was, though called 3 cup chicken, most recipes did not use those proportions. Thank goodness since that is a lot of sesame oil.

I decided on a mash-up from two of my go-to blogs, The Woks of Life and No Recipes. You can use bone-in pieces like chicken wings but the next time I think I will try boneless thighs. This dish is easy to prepare and lands on the dinner table in minutes…my kind of dish.

The soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine form the braising liquid but the addition of garlic, ginger and Thai basil really sets this dish apart. No wonder it’s a classic that has stood the test of time. One recipe called for a touch of sugar, sounded good, so I included it. If you like spice, throw in 1-2 Thai chili peppers for good measure.

The aromatics are heated in oil before adding the chicken. Brown the chicken and add the braising sauce. Simmer, turning the pieces occasionally. The sauce will reduce and coat the chicken creating a deep caramel color. Can you say yum? Finish with the basil and green onions. Be generous with your basil it adds a ton of flavor to the dish.

The chicken is browned in the ginger, garlic infused oil.

Isn’t that a lovely color? Serve with steamed rice and veggies. The perfect meal.

So delicious. Don’t tell Cathay Pacific, but this version of 3 Cup Chicken is so much better than theirs!

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San Bei Ji(三杯鷄), or Three Cup Chicken

Taiwanese dish made by cooking chicken with sesame oil, soy sauce and rice wine.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian

Keyword 3 Cup Chicken

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Servings 4

Calories 460kcal

Ingredients

1 tablespoon peanut oil or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 inch piece ginger sliced then julienned
6-8 cloves of garlic lightly crushed, but left whole
1 thai chili seeded and sliced crosswise optional
1.25 pounds boneless skin-on chicken thighs sub: 1.5 pounds chicken wings
1/4 cup Chinese rice wine mijiu or shaoxing
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 cup loosely packed Thai basil leaves only
1-2 green onions thinly sliced

Instructions

Heat a large pan or wok until hot. Add the peanut oil then ginger and garlic (and chili if using). Fry until fragrant, but don't let it brown.
Add the chicken in a single layer, skin-side down and fry until the skin is well browned.
Flip the chicken over, and then add the rice wine, dark soy sauce, regular soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar.
Cover and simmer over medium low heat for 10-15 minutes, or until the chicken is tender, flipping the chicken over a few times as it cooks.
Remove the lid and turn up the heat. Reduce the liquid into a thick sauce.
Add the Thai basil leaves and toss to coat.
Serve with rice.

Seoul Satisfying: Bulgogi-Korean Grilled Beef

By threejamigos | November 21, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

Maybe it’s a way to stay connected to my kid who is living in South Korea and teaching English. My current obsessions are K-Dramas and Korean food. I absolutely adore both. My gateway to K-dramas was Amazon (damn you-Jeff Bezos, just kidding). Suffice to say the rom-com genre is alive and well in South Korea. My favorite show is about an immortal who has been searching for his “bride”, the only person who can actually put him out of misery-I know, ironic. It’s called Goblin or Guardian.

My other obsession is Korean food. Korean cuisine is right up my alley-spicy, flavorful tofu soups, pickled vegetables-Kimchi, Korean barbecue, noodles (Japchae), dumplings (mandu), and bap (rice), the cornerstone. When I was a kid I would always unceremoniously dump my bowl of rice into my soup. I’d swish the rice around to let it absorb the flavors of the soup before eating. Now I find myself enjoying Korean Tofu Soups in the same fashion.

Then there is Korean barbecue. Beef, pork, chicken marinated in soy sauce, garlic, sesame, and onions-grilled over charcoal giving the meat that lovely smokiness, so good.

Like Chinese meals, Korean meals are very communal. Dishes are placed in the center of the table to be shared by all. Parents select choice tidbits to place in each child’s bowl. Teens serve their grandparents. Everyone feeds the babies. Chopsticks constantly moving food from plates and bowls and finally to mouths. Eating is such a connection. For Koreans and Chinese we often greet family and friends not with hello but with “have you eaten yet?”.

Bulgogi is thin strips of beef, marinaded, grilled quickly and wrapped in a lettuce leaf. Nestled in the lettuce along with the beef, is a bite of rice, kimchi, and a dab of ssamjang (bean-chili sauce). Think tacos. So delicious. I adapted a recipe for bulgogi I found in Seoul Food Korean Cookbook (Kindle version for 4.99 right now) by Naomi Imatome-Yun.

The marinade starts with the trifecta of Korean seasonings, soy sauce, garlic, and sesame and builds on this with honey, Asian pear and scallions. So much flavor. Most Asian markets generally have pre-cut thin slices of short rib, pork, or chicken, which makes life easy. If you start with a whole piece of meat, toss it in the freezer for a couple of minutes. Makes cutting thin slices a walk in the park.

It’s not always easy to find Asian pears. Use a combination of finely grated apple (Fuji or Honeycrisp are nice) and pineapple juice in place of the Asian pear. Don’t let it marinate in pineapple juice too long as it will break down the meat. Add pineapple juice no more than a couple of hours before cooking.

Red leaf, Boston, or Gem lettuce, are the perfect shape, size, and texture for a bulgogi wrap. Winner winner, bulgogi dinner-sweet, salty, garlicky, and smokey wraps and you can use your hands, just like tacos! Broke da mouth good.

Don’t forget the kimchi!

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Bulgogi

Bulgogi, beef thinly and marinated in soy, garlic, and onions. Served with rice and saamjang, wrapped in lettuce. This classic Korean dish is a sure fire hit with its bold flavors.

Course Main Course, Meat

Cuisine Asian, Korean

Keyword beef, Bulgogi, Grilled

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 5

Marinade time 3

Total Time 20

Servings 4

Ingredients

3 tablespoons chopped garlic CHOPPED, not minced, which would be too much
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons grated Asian pear include juice substitute any apple, fuji or honerycrisp, grated 1/2 and 1/2 pineapple juice
1 tablespoon mirin substitute sake which is not sweet
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
3 scallions finely chopped
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound sirloin steak ribeye or short rib, thinly sliced

Instructions

In a large bowl, mix together the garlic, soy sauce, sugar, honey, pear juice, mirin, sesame oil, scallions, and pepper and stir until the sugar and honey are dissolved.
Add the meat and toss to coat thoroughly with the sauce. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight. For tougher cuts of meat, marinate the meat longer.
Grill the beef until well done and caramelized on the outside, about 3 minutes per side. You can also fry the beef in a cast iron pan.
Serve with rice, ssamjang and lettuce leaf. Garnish with sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds. Serve hot

Notes

TIP: Top sirloin or tenderloin work best, but almost any steak cut will do. The best quality meat will be more tender and will taste the best. Trader Joe's has thinly sliced ribeye that works well.

Adapted from Imatome-Yun, Naomi. Seoul Food Korean Cookbook: Korean Cooking from Kimchi and Bibimbap to Fried Chicken and Bingsoo

Instant Pot Easy Jook (Rice Soup) Soul Food Breakfast

By threejamigos | August 1, 2018 | Comments 3 comments

Last weekend Jamie played her version of NYT’s 36 Hours. We picked her up at the airport (SFO NOT SJC, grrrr) at 1:00 am Friday night (ok Saturday morning, delays) and dropped her off Sunday at 11:00 AM. Her first words upon seeing her bleary-eyed parents? DID YOU BRING MY SUSHI WITH YOU? I AM STARVING! Lucky we like her.

Happy Hour Any Hour

With Jamie coming home, the call went out for a happy hour, which, due to schedules, morphed into a Saturday morning breakfast happy hour. Any time of day is Happy Hour when it involves friends, food, and fun. It just means tweaking the menu that’s all. We decided on a bowl of fresh strawberries and summer peaches, Belgium Waffles, candied bacon, Jule’s Granola and yogurt. Jamie chimed in with “I want Jook (rice soup) too” Rice Soup is soul food, comfort food, each bite reminds one of being home. With its addition and the various toppings like shredded chicken, assorted sweet and salty pickles, and slivers of green onions to go along, our breakfast menu was complete.

A small stumbling block to this plan, who was going to make Jook (Rice Soup) in the morning? Ugh, the last thing I wanted to do was get up early after a late-night airport pickup. Then it hit me, hello…you have an INSTANT POT, Deb. A quick Google search yielded plenty of recipes so I decided on a mash-up of my Dad’s Jook and a couple of Instant Pot recipes I found online. Yay, I’ll get forty winks and have rice soup ready for breakfast.

Jook in an Instant Pot is so stupid easy it’s a crime. Saute a couple of slices of ginger in the Instant Pot add the washed rice, give it a few good stirs, add skinned chicken drumsticks, fill the pot with water and seasonings, seal it and set the timer for 20 minutes. That’s it. Jook Time. If you have chicken stock, use it for an extra rich and flavorful soup.

I have a confession, if I don’t have homemade stock or even low-sodium commercial chicken broth, I’ll add a tablespoon of a chicken stock base such as Better Than Boullion, or Chicken Powder by LKK or Knorr (a Chinese kitchen staple) just to kick it up a notch. It’s not necessary but it will add some depth of flavor. The soup will look thin when you first take off the lid. Stir it a couple of times to combine the rice and stock, hit the saute’ function, and bring it to a boil. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the Jook is the consistency you want.

*Notes from a Thanksgiving Table

My favorite post-Thanksgiving meals aka “What to do with your leftovers”.

Turkey Rice Soup (Congee or Jook)

DON’T THROW AWAY THE BONES AND CARCASS.

Get out your stockpot (or any really, really big pot). Throw the carcass, wings, drumsticks (sans stuffing) in and fill with water. Add a smashed chunk of ginger (2-inch piece) 1/2 cup of rice wine, a bunch of scallions, a large pinch of salt and bring it to a boil. Once it boils, reduce heat to a nice energetic simmer. Cover and fuggetaboutit for a couple of hours. You will end up with liquid gold to make any delicious soup you want. For a non-Asian bent, omit ginger and scallions and throw in carrots, celery, yellow onions instead. But honestly, it doesn’t matter, you could make jook with either stock.

I do make the stock separately so that I can strain the stock and remove all those little nasty bone fragments and seasoning vegetables. They have all done their job and can now exit stage left.

The stock will keep in the fridge for about a week or longer in the freezer.

Now go back to the top or to the bottom for the recipe on how to make jook….you’ll thank me, so so good.

Hello….Turkey Sammies a la Dagwood style which means all your Thanksgiving leftovers in between two slices of bread. Yep, turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, and a couple of slices of cheese from the appetizer plate. Don’t forget the leftover greens from the salad no one ate because WHO eats salad on Thanksgiving-puulease. Oh man-so good.

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Instant Pot Chicken Congee Recipe (Jook)

Jook or congee, the ultimate comfort food, when its cold outside, when you have a cold, anytime.

Course Soup

Cuisine Asian, Asian-American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 45

Calories 140kcal

Ingredients

For the Soup:

1 cup long grain Jasmine rice honestly you can use any kind of rice, long, medium or short grain
1.5 Tsp vegetable oil
3 Slices thinly sliced fresh ginger size of quarters
1 tsp salt
3-4 skinless chicken drumsticks or thighs or 2 whole chicken legs, can also add pork such as pork butt 2-3 2 inch pieces
8 to 10 cups water, fill to the 10-cup mark on your IP or use stock and water 1:1
1/8 cup rice wine
1 tbsp Better Than Bouillon (optional) Skip if you are starting with stock

At the Finish Line

2 tsp sesame oil toasted, Asian sesame oil
1/3-1/2 cup scallions-sliced on the bias garnish
1/8 Cup finely shredded fresh ginger garnish
Salt and pepper to taste preferably white pepper

Instructions

Wash rice. Add the rice to a bowl, and add enough water to cover the rice. Swirl the rice around. Drain and repeat a few times until the water is clear. Let drain and dry.
Turn on Instant Pot with Saute function. When hot, add 1 -1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil and ginger. Saute for 30 seconds, add rice and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir to coat rice with oil approximately 1 minute.
Add chicken pieces, bouillon, and rice wine to the pot . **If you are in a rush or feeling lazy, skip sauteing the rice and ginger. Just throw them into the pot, fill with enough water until it reaches the 10 cup mark in the Instant Pot.
Turn off saute, close the lid and make sure the knob is on "Sealing". Choose the "Porridge" button and set the time to 20 minutes.
While congee is cooking, shred ginger and slice scallions and place in small bowls for serving.
When the time is up on the timer, turn the Instant Pot off. Wait 15 minutes natural release before turning the knob from 'Sealing' to 'Venting'. Rice soup tends to splatter a lot, do not do a quick release.
Remove the chicken from the pot, when it is cool enough to handle, shred the meat and discard the bones. If the jook seems thin, turn saute' function on (without the lid on) and cook until desired consistency. If it is too thick, add water or broth.
Add the chicken back into the congee or put it in a bowl and let folks add at the table. Taste, add salt if necessary.
Ladle into bowls and top with desired amount of ginger, white pepper, sesame oil and scallions. Let folks add their own.

Toppings and Fixins'

My Dad's Jook calls for potatoes, I love them in my soup. Any kind of potato will work, peeled and quartered for large potatoes. Add at the same time as the chicken when making the soup.
For meatballs, follow instructions under Dad's Jook. This can be added at the end after pressure cooking. Remove lid and press saute function. When the rice soup comes to a boil, add meatballs and cook until done 2-3 minutes.
Additional toppings include cilantro leaves, fried garlic slivers, shredded fresh ginger, salted peanuts, shredded lettuce (iceberg works well)...the list goes on. Anything you eat with rice can be added. NO Rules!

Asian Bolognese “Zha Jiang Mian”

By threejamigos | July 12, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

When I lived in Los Angeles my favorite place to eat was a tiny dumpling shop in Chinatown. Before entering I would stop and watch the woman in the window folding dumplings, it was mesmerizing. She would roll the dough into a long rope, deftly cut it into pieces and then with a small rolling pin, flatten each piece into a thin round disc. A spoonful of filling plopped in the center of the wrapper, a couple of turns, and a perfectly pleated potsticker was born.

Hoisin-sweet sauce, Sweet Bean flour is a bit more pronounced in flavor, Bean Sauce is salty with a fermented flavor-umami central. If you don’t have an Asian market near you, I have posted product links in the 3Jamigos Shop for **Hoisin** **Sauce** and **Bean Sauce**-but it would be WAY cheaper at an Asian market!

As delicious as the dumplings were, I actually went for the noodles. Their Zha Jiang Mian was “drop the mic” delicious. The literal translation is fried bean sauce noodles. Stir fry ground pork or chicken with shiitake mushrooms, garlic, ginger, sweet bean paste, and ground bean sauce-throw in some water and simmer. Toss with the warm noodles and top with slivers of green onions, crisp carrots, and refreshing cucumbers, it is really yummy.

If a celestial chef decided to create the perfect bowl of noodles-this would be in the running.

My quest to make my own perfect bowl of noodles started with the recipe on the blog “The Woks of Life” (mom, dad & 2 sisters blogging from different parts of the world, check it out). The recipe calls for ground bean sauce and either sweet flour sauce or Hoisin. I like Zha Jiang Mian with a touch of sweetness so I used Sweet Bean Paste and Hoisin with the Bean Sauce. Stir fry the pork, seasonings, and mushrooms and add water to create the sauce. Reduce the sauce until it has thickened and has a nice sheen. Pour over noodles, add your veggies, dunzo. A little bowl of goodness ready to eat. Sadly, the little shop is gone and it’s a long drive to LA just for noodles anyways. It’s a good thing I can make my own Zha Jiang Mian.

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Zha Jiang Mian 2 Ways

Zha Jiang Mian Korean style and Chinese Style, both delicious!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian

Keyword Zha Jiang Mian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Ingredients

6 oz. ground pork
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon oil plus 1 tablespoon
⅛ teaspoon white pepper
3 slices ginger minced finely
4 cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoons sweet bean sauce I used 2 T Hoisin/1 T Sweet Ben Sauce
3 tablespoons ground bean paste Reduce to 2 T
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 cup water
8 oz. fresh noodles flour-based noodle. Fresh or dry. I've used udon and a combination of spinach and plain

Additional Chinese Ingredients

4-6 fresh shiitake mushrooms* finely chopped
1 cup julienned carrots
1 cup julienned cucumbers
½ cup julienned scallions garnish

Additional Korean Ingredients

3 fresh shiitake mushrooms diced
1 medium Yukon Gold Potato* 1/2 inch dice for Korean version
1 small zucchini 1/2 inch dice for Korean version
1/2 cup carrots 1/2 inch dice for Korean version
1/2 small yellow onion diced
1/4 head cabbage shredded, optional
1/2 cup green onions chopped
1/2 cup cucumbers diced

Instructions

Marinade the pork with the following for 15 minutes: ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, ½ teaspoon oil, ⅛ teaspoon white pepper.
Heat a tablespoon oil in your wok over medium heat, add the marinated ground pork to the wok. Cook for a minute to brown it, and then add the ginger, garlic, and mushrooms* Stir fry everything together for another 2-3 minutes.
**Add the Hoisin, sweet bean sauce, bean paste, dark soy sauce, and water, stirring everything together well. Lower the heat and cover the wok. Simmer the sauce for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the package directions.
Top noodles with the sauce and garnish with the julienned carrots, cucumbers, and scallions.

Korean Style*

Stir fry pork, ginger, and garlic for 30 seconds add diced vegetables. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Continue with recipe**
If you like, add shredded cabbage in the last couple of minutes of cooking.
Place a mound of noodles in your bowl, top with sauce and garnish with cucumber and green onions. Plop yourself down in front of the telly and enjoy!

Gettin’ Jjigae with Anthony Bourdain (Korean Army Stew)

By threejamigos | June 22, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

Ok. Are you looking at the pic above and thinking WHAAAT? Hot dogs? Spam? Kimchi? VanCamps BAKED Beans? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It’s like Mom pulling things out of the fridge and the pantry to make dinner… in the 1960s. But stay with me, these are actually the building blocks for Anthony Bourdain’s version of Budae Jjigae or Army Stew. A crazy concoction created during the Korean War when food was scarce and the US Army PX was ground zero for processed foods like SPAM and hot dogs-cheap, available protein. Combined with familiar Korean ingredients, a not so healthy but totally delicious, comforting stew was born.

Anthony Bourdain’s mischevious side was in overdrive when he decided to make this dish for Anderson Cooper. He thoroughly enjoyed watching Anderson squirm as he popped open the can of SPAM, container of kimchi, hot dogs, rice cakes, plopped them in a pan and added a generous dollop of Gochujang or Korean pepper paste on top. Anchovy stock is poured over this bed of deliciousness and set to simmer for 30 minutes. A pack of INSTANT RAMEN is added at the very end. Ten minutes later Bourdain was doing a happy dance while slurping his noodles. So was an amazed Anderson. Catch the episode here, watch it, smile and remember his wicked sense of humor, his intellect and his ability to never take himself too seriously. Then go make your family a pot of Budae Jjigae to fill your tummy, warm your soul and comfort your heart.

This dish is like that bad boy you were always crazy about in high school, knew you should stay away from but just couldn’t. My favorite line in the clip is when he says to Anderson, “it seems so wrong but taste so right, like true love”. Budae Jjigae is right up my alley, processed meats, fermented vegetables, ground meats and instant ramen noodles, yum. I grew up on baloney sandwiches on white bread, Fizzies as the fruit in my lunch, Spaghetti out of a can, thanks to Chef Boyardee, and Friday night Swanson’s TV dinners. In college, I survived on instant ramen and Banquet frozen fried chicken. Those were the days.

Just before serving, place a slice of American cheese right on top so it melts and oozes all over your ramen. That literally takes it over the top. Thank you, David Chang, for that addition.

Tips for your Budae Jjigae

Use Korean instant ramen, my favorite brand, Shin Ramen. If you don’t make Budae Jjigae, at least try the instant noodles. Use the seasoning packet and up your ramen game with an egg cracked into your bowl of noodles (the soup will cook it) and topped with a Kraft single (uh-huh you all know what I am talking about, real cheese food). You end up with a pretty fine bowl of totally unhealthy but ridiculously yummy noodles. To appease your conscious add some veggies, corn, peas, kimchi or shredded lettuce.

If you can find it, use Vienna Sausages (those old enough know EXACTLY what I am talking about, mini hot dogs in a flip top can) in place of hot dogs.

Rice cakes (tokbokki) come either tubular or disc shape, either will work. You can find them at Korean markets, along with kimchi, Gochujang and pepper flakes.

In place of anchovy stock you can use Japanese dashi or broth.

Have plenty of beer on hand to wash it all down and to toast the life of Mr. Bourdain.

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Gettin’ JJigae with Anthony Bourdain (Korean Army Stew)

Ingredients

1 dried shiitake mushroom
4 large dried anchovies heads and guts removed, wrapped in cheesecloth
One 3 × 5-inch sheet dried edible kelp or konmbu Use Japanese dashi in place of anchovy stock
½ teaspoon sea salt
12 ounces SPAM cut into ½-inch- thick slices
1½ cups Napa cabbage kimchi tongbaechu drain
8 ounces sliced Korean rice cakes
1 white onion peeled and thinly sliced
2 scallions white and light green parts, thinly sliced
5 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
3 hot dogs thinly sliced
6-8 ounces ground pork
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons gochujang Korean fermented chili paste
3 tablespoons medium/fine gochugaru ground Korean red pepper he uses a dash only I used about a teaspoon, he did not come close to 3 T in the video...trust me start small
3 tablespoons cheongju Korean rice wineor Chinese rice wine of Sake
3 tablespoons canned baked beans
1 package ramen noodles preferably the Korean brand Shin, seasoning packet discarded

Instructions

To make the anchovy broth, combine the mushroom, anchovies, kelp, 4 cups water, and the salt in a medium, heavy-bottom pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, strain and discard the solids, and set the broth aside.
Place the SPAM, kimchi, rice cakes, onion, scallions, garlic, hot dogs, and pork in small separate piles in a large shallow pot.
Add the soy sauce, gochujang, gochugaru, and cheongju to the pot, then slowly pour in the reserved anchovy kelp broth. Add the baked beans and 1½ cups water. Bring the contents to a steady simmer over high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
Cook for about 10 minutes, then add the ramen noodles. Ladle the broth over the noodles to help them break apart. Continue to cook for 2 or 3 minutes, until the noodles are cooked through but still chewy.