Seoul Eats Brings Us Rice Cake Competition

Image from here

Think of this as the Iron Chef for rice cake. The winner will not only get fame, they will also win 2,000,000 won. You heard me correctly. 2 million won. The Second Place winner will win 1 million won, Third Place 500,000, and fourth 300,000. Not bad huh?

For more Info Check out Seoul Eats here

Tteok (pronounced [t͈ʌk]) (also spelled ddeock, duk, dduk, ddeog, or thuck) is a Korean cake made with glutinous rice flour (also known as sweet rice or chapssal), by steaming. Normal rice flour can be used for some kinds of tteok. There are hundreds of different kinds of tteok eaten year round. In Korea it is customary to eat tteok guk (tteok soup) on New Year's Day and sweet tteok at weddings and on birthdays. It is often considered a celebratory food and can range from rather elaborate versions with nuts and fruits down to the plain-flavored tteok used in home cooking. Some common ingredients for many kinds of tteok are mung bean, red bean, and sweet red bean paste, Korean mugwort, jujube and other dried fruits, sesame seeds and oil, sugar, andpine nuts.

http://encyclopedia.vbxml.net/Ddeok

Image from here

If only I was still in the country for this I would so be there.
Here is a Video on how to make Rice cake
http://www.maangchi.com/recipes/gyungdan

My Favourite 송편

http://www.maangchi.com/recipes/songpyeon

http://www.kimchibulgogi.com/sweet-rice-powder-cake-recipe/

These Are really cute
http://mykoreankitchen.com/2007/02/02/strawberry-rice-cakes-for-my-valentine/

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David Chang

David Chang is a noted American chef. He is chef/owner of Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ko and Momofuku Ssäm Bar in New York City.^[1]
His Parents are Korean .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Chang

He taught English in Japan for a short while
.
His first restaurant and most famous Momofuku he see it as fast food.
http://www.momofuku.com/

Deluxe bo ssam dinner package from Momofuku.

Package 350 dollars for 8-10 people
Bo Ssam with sauces, Lettuce and rice
choose 4 seasonal Items
10 pork buns
cole slaw
sweet potato puree
brussels sprouts
azuli beans with bacon
kimchi apples
collard greens
Blondie pie

Bo Ssam is one of my favourite thing to call in on a Sunday
http://macs-foodkorea.blogspot.com/2008/06/bo-sam.html
http://macs-foodkorea.blogspot.com/2009/02/calling-in-bo-sam.html


Here he talks for an hour with Charlie Rose
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9181


More Reading here -here
http://gothamist.com/2008/03/17/the_new_yorker.php

Chang opened Momofuku Noodle Bar in 2004 after having an epiphany: "Why can't I cook something simple? I'm not an awesome cook—I just want to make noodles." MacFarquhar writes, "The idea of Noodle Bar from the start was to take the humblest meal—a bowl of noodles, a pork bun—and, with a combination of obsessive devotion and four-star technique, turn it into something amazing."

http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2008/03/david-chang-as-he-opens-momofuku-ko.html

Mr. Chang was born in northern Virginia, where his father, an immigrant from South Korea, worked in the restaurant industry, eventually opening a restaurant. His family wanted Mr. Chang to go into law or finance, but he studied religion in college and graduated with no particular goal. In his early 20's, he lived in London, taught English in Japan and had a variety of jobs in New York, from bussing tables to working in the finance industry. Finally, he enrolled in culinary school. He worked at Mercer Kitchen in Manhattan, then got a job in the kitchen at Craft after agreeing to answer phones for a month. After two years at Craft, he returned to Japan and worked at a small soba shop, then at a restaurant in the Tokyo Park Hyatt, followed by a year at Café Boulud in New York. Saying he was ''completely dissatisfied with the whole fine dining scene'' and its pretentiousness, he decided to open his own restaurant -- working with his Momofuku partner and co-chef, Joaquin Baca.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/david_chang_chef/index.html
David Chang Cooks With Marta Stewart
Here

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Pigs

Maybe some nice Sam gyup sal

LIKE style on the runway, style for pigs is changeable. With their abundant fat, the curly-haired Mangalitsa pigs of Hungary were all the rage a century ago. But as time went on, they became has-beens.

Now that succulent pork is back in fashion, the Mangalitsa — saved from near extinction on a farm here at the edge of Hungary’s bleak and barren Great Plain — are making a comeback.

Text from the NEW YORK TIMES here

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Beef, Stout and Potatoes

So with all the American beef on sale I decides to buy some but was not so sure what I was going to do with it . So I got home a looked in the fridge . This is what I came up with Beef ,Garlic ,Onions,Potatoes ,Thyme , Rosemary ,Stout, Butter , Flour and a drop of whiskey.
I fried the onions layered them over the beef and garlic . Made a roux with the flour and butter added the whiskey and stout. Added the herbs poured over the Potatoes and beef. Put in the over at 190 Celsius for 2 hours .


Tasty

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Kyung Hyes Amazing Apple Jam

My Friend Kyung hye sent me over the most amazing Apple jam She tells me there is Apples, sugar, Lemon juice and cinnamon. I cant stop eating it . Thank you Kyung Hye (Hope I spelled your name right )

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Calling in Jjim dalk 찜닭

I love ordering in something on a Sunday evening and I have convinced my boyfriend that there is more out there to order then Pizza . Last time we got Jjim Dalk. I was quite good and spicy .
It cost 20 000 for a big bucket full of noodles , potato , cabbage, squash and chicken. I have this on the list of things to cook before I go which is getting longer and longer now . Fat man so kindly posted the recipe for it here.
Just call 061 725-3436

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Ballymaloe cooking school In Gourmet

http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2008/05/ballymaloecookeryschool

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I like this

Obamas to Plant Vegetable Garden at White House

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/dining/20garden.html?ref=dining

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Sam Gae Tang My way .

Sam Gae Tang is Korean Summer Chicken Ginseng soup
More about it here

I put a Chinese twist to my Sam Gae Tang

So I took some cinnamon, Star Anise ,Garlic, ginger and black peppercorns. Stuffed a chicken then finished stuffing with rice and Boiled it for 2-3hrs.
Star Anise is plentiful in Ansan in Seoul .

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Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

http://macs-foodkorea.blogspot.com/2008/06/cherry-tomatoes-stuffed-with-cream.html
I made this one before but this time I used cream cheese milk green onion and pepper with a little lemon juice

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Pig head for sale Korean Market in Photos

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Great home made chips

I tried to make home made chips . Here is how I did it . Got some nice big potatoes and cut . Put them in water then dried them before I blanched them in hot oil (blanch cook with out color) After which I put in the freezer . Then I cooked again this time a the highest heat I could get the oil . Cook Till they were brown .

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Thai Sour Yellow Curry with Fish

My Favorite Thai curry . To make it you need Shallots, Dried red chilli, garlic, lemongrass, salt, shrimp paste, Tamarind and Turmeric . I cooked with mushrooms ,onions ,peppers ,Pollock and coconut milk.

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Kimchi Galbi Jim

So I went down to the Uni to eat on friday this is what we found . Kimchi galbi jim. It was very good would have been better only for the cats running round the kitchen.

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My last Weekend April 4th

So I am leaving Korea April 10th to go to cooking school. I am going to Ballymaloe school in Cork In Ireland. I start April 20th I am going to try and keep blogging . And will probably rename the blog A food journey in Korea-Ireland-
So I am having my final weekend party in Suncheon Info here
Suggestions what I should try and eat for the next 3 weeks would be good and what to cook would also be nice . This is the Final stretch.

T

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Mackerel

Mackerel is one of my favorite meals in Korea. I love it when they serve it at school so I tried my hand at cooking it at home. I used some apple vinegar ,garlic, soy sauce, water, brown sugar and chili. I then placed it in a pan with a lid. I put it on a low heat for 15-20 mins. You could garnish with some green onion. In my opinion this is a heavenly dish.

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Pork Fillet with apple-mustard stuffing

Pork Fillet
Apple
Mustard powder
Parsley
Cinnamon

Salt and pepper

Cut open the fillet and stuff with sauteed apples, mustard powder,cinnamon,salt and pepper
Cover the apples in foil. Put in a pre heated oven 180 Celsius. Put in for 20 mins then remove the foil . Cook again for another 10 mins.

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Pineapple sage

I was wondering in class today when I came across a plant in the window its called Pineapple sage . It smelled so good.

Salvia elegans, commonly called Pineapple sage, is a perennial shrub native to oak and pine scrub forests at 6,000-9000 ft. in the highlands of Mexico and Guatemala.^[1] It has tubular red flowers and an attractive scent to the leaves that is similar to pineapple. It produces numerous erect leafy stems and flowers in the late autumn. The red flowers are attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies. In a highland temperate forest in central Mexico, pineapple sage was found to be one of the three most-visited species by hummingbirds.^{[2]
From here}

^{What could you cook with this? . I found these Ideas.}

Walnut & pineapple sage paste

2 cups walnuts, 2 cups (packed) p. sage leaves, 3 cloves garlic, 1/3 to 1/2 cup walnut oil. It's wonderful on pork and chicken. I also sauteed some leeks in butter, added white wine and the walnut/p. sage paste and used it as a topping for grilled salmon: heavenly! From here

You can fry the leaves and serve as an appetizer: dip them in egg thinned with water and olive oil, dip in flour, fry quickly in oil, salt and pepper. from here

Here is lots of great Ideas http://www.nefffamilyfarm.com/PineappleSage.html

Pineapple Sage Salsa
2 cups fresh pineapple cut into 1/2" pieces
1/2 cup sweet red pepper
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon chipolte pepper, crushed (hot chili powder can be substituted)
1/4 cup pineapple sage flowers, coarsely chopped

Note: To get 1/4 cup of flowers, you'll need 20 or more flower stems of pineapple sage. It's a bit tedious, but you need to pluck the tiny, bright red flowers one-by-one. It's okay of you end up with a little bit of the sepals (the green stuff around the base of the flower.)

Combine all these ingredients in a nonmetallic bowl. Cover, then refrigerate for at least 12 hours before using. This allows plenty of time for the flavors to meld.

The salsa is also good as a dip with chips or served on seafood. And believe it or not, it tastes pretty good on ice cream, too! You might consider eliminating the onions, even though they're sweet.

Pineapple Sage Chicken

1/4 C Teriyaki or Tamari Or Soy sauce
1/4 C honey
1/2 C Olive Oil
2 TBS lemon Juice
2 TBS Apple juice
2 tsp ground ginger
Handful of Pineapple Sage leaves chopped
Boneless Chicken Breasts
Marinade chicken in above ingredients. Cook on grill
Serve with Pineapple kabobs

Pineapple sage is extensively used in Mexican traditional medicine, especially for the treatment of anxiety. Although scientific information about these medicinal properties is scarce, a preliminary study on mice found support for the plant potentially having antidepressant and anti-anxiety properties.
From here

I cant wait to try some of these.

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Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh, Happy Saint Patricks Day

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh

Paddys Day in Suncheon.

Saturday night In Elvis, Music, Stew, Soda Bread and great craic.
Also we raised quite a lot of money for the orphanage
Thanks everyone who showed it was a fun night.

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My St Paddys Day recipes in the Korean Herald

So I made it into the Korean Herald bringing Authentic Irish home cooking to Korea. All the Irish out there will be happy to know There is a Paddy's day party here in Suncheon On Saturday In Elvis. Not a PATTY'S DAY AN All Irish Paddy's day full of great craic.
If your in Gwangju go along and watch some Gaelic football. If your Irish why not play.

http://www.koreaherald.co.krCheck this out for the greatest sport in the World
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luQ2Vxez2V4

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Tous Les Jours

Need a lunch time snack.
After the sandwich shop Lime I have found a new sandwich that I can consider good for Suncheon. The sandwich above took me by surprise . The bread is good for this neck of the woods . I do recommend it . I did use to frequent the other big baker in Korea until one day I got maggots and flies with my sandwich. No kidding . But this one come with my praise .
Below is a wrap I do love wraps . This one comes with chicken in a tasty wrap a nice alternative to bread.

http://www.tlj.co.kr/

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