Courgette & Green Chilli Pancake ( Yachaejeon)

This pancake is a good end of Summer pancake. Kind of my childhood rainy Summer day's comfort food, of course before crisps or chocolate bar were widely available in Korea.

Courgette's sweet taste and chilli are perfect combination, if you have field sesame leaves ( shiso) are in your kitchen, in my case , in the garden( you can grow in the pot) add  as well.
It is a perfect afternoon snack , this is all my family's all time favourite with dipping sauce.

Ingredients:. 3-4 courgette. 3 long green chilli. 1 garlic ( grated). Strong bread flour.  1tbsp vegetable stock powder. 1 egg. rape seed oil . Dipping sauce: soy sauce ( 2tbsp). rice vinegar (3tsp). 1tbsp chopped spring onion. toasted sesame seed.

Cut courgettes like 5 cm long match stick and sprinkle salt (1 tsp) and leave 30minutes rinse quickly and pat dry with tea towel, do not squeeze, set aside. Cut chilli very thinly and mix with courgettes.
In a big mixing bowl, put vegetables , Put stock powder in a small dish and pour boiling water and stir, add to vegetables.
Put 2 cup of flour into the vegetables and add water little by little and make batter, it should be like thick pancake mixture. season with salt and pepper. If you have sesame leaves (4), chop and add to the mixture. Finally add egg mixture in the batter . leave 30 minutes .
Heat oil in the pan and put 1 ladle of batter in the middle and spread out with back of spoon and cook until light brown, turn over and cook.
Cut cooked pancake 2cm square and serve with dipping sauce ( All dipping sauce ingredients in the bowl and mix, if you like spicy one add chopped red chilli)

Pan cake is better eaten when they are hot.
This is much healthier option than cake or crisps for a snack,, perfect for the vegetarian!.

PS: October Korean Cookery: 6th, 13th.

I will blog from Korea when I am in Seoul , from mid of October.


 

My ideal 5 course Real Korean Food

 

Korean food is getting really a lots of attention from Londoners , and one glamorous TV chef is going to open Pop Up Korean Restaurant in East London.  It is a very good news indeed as long as the chef knows how to make real one, as the chef is cooking all of dish ( according the article).

Mentioned of making spicy fried chicken marinated in butter milk but sounds just like American / Texan chicken than Korean .

5 course meal for £35 with fun karaoke as well.

 

The chef was inspired by Korean Food Scene in LA and NY, specially David Jang's eatery in NY.

Lets hope the chef knows all about Korean cuisine first.

I love David Jang's Book, MOMOFUKU, but certainly it is not a Korean cook book , more like his own take, twist on Korean ( as he is America born with Korean parents from Korea), Japanese, and Chinese. Do not get me wrong, I think Jang's recipes are wonderful and lovingly westernised on Oriental cuisine.

 

Well My only wish is the chef know traditional Korean food first !!

I do not mind fusion Korean food but not call them Korean, should serve and understand Kimchi, without kimchi, Korean cuisine does not exist that's the very uniqueness of Korean cuisine.

As far as I know , any other cuisine in the world has one single dish has to be eaten every meal like Korean food, Kimchi!! Lets hope chef serve real kimchi,

 

Let me tell you how I present my ideal 5 course Korean Meal.

 

1.Steam 3 dumplings and serve with  beef broth (Manduguk)  or Spicy Beef Soup (yukgaejang)
 

2. Seafood  mini pancakes with dipping sauce (Haemul pajeon).Or asparagus wrapped in pancake

3. Grilled spicy fish ( salmon or mackerel) with asparagus or Seafood Japchae wrapped in the pancake.

4.. Short rib ,grilled ( galbi gui) with kimchi and mooli salad or cucumber salad.

      OR  Spicy belly pork or Chicken

5. Mini bibimbab with tofu soup, Mini baked kimchi rice with fried egg on the top and soup

6. Spicy fruit soup with pear

 

 

Wash down with cold beer or dry white wine !!, Yummmm

 

 



Glyndebourne Opera and Picnic

 

Finally I could be able to buy  tickets for the 2012 Glyndebourne Summer Opera Festival but I got  tickets for the double bill by Ravel's Opera , I would have loved to see Marriage of Figaro but by the time I was able to buy, they  were  sold out . Since I moved to UK, I always wished to go to the  Glyndebourne Opera but it looks so over the top with picnic and champagne and black tie event, it  looked out our reach.  but this year, I decided to go and judge for myself.

 

 

Set off 3:00 pm to Sussex , arrived around 4:15pm ,greeted by very polite old guard, our small Honda civic looks odd among posh and big cars. The garden looks so pretty and lake was far end. Already a lots of people were having picnic, chairs and tables dotted around this vast garden with wine and food .  not an ordinary picnic at all. It looks more like very a posh social event and opera through in !!!!!!!

 

Some ladies are wearing velvet cape,just like in the old movie, all of men were in black tie, but a few  men were wearing open shirts( surprisingly), some ladies were in long dress, but mostly wearing cocktail dress like me.
 

 

 90 minutes picnic break are too long for my liking, my husband and I had nice very well made, tasty sandwiches ( by me actually) smoked salmon and ham, had to eat in the car because, it was too cold have picnic dinner in the garden. Washed down with sparkling water rather than sparkling wine because of driving.

The opera itself was extremely well produced and enjoyed very much , but we won't be back next year, too long and too far from our house.
 I will try to see Glyndebourne production when they are touring near us. I am glad to be able to see the most famous English Summer opera and picnic event at last !!

 I and my husband had a very good experience but not for us. I will stick to Royal Opera and ENO as usual.

  

Stuufed and Griiled Beef /찹쌀 불고기

This is another Korean wrapped dish from my family, it is not the famous Korean BBQ dish, Bulgogi but the idea is similar, using very thin piece of meat and wrapped with herb and vegetable makes more interesting to look and different layer of texture and flavour are linger in your mouth. I usually serve with soy and mustard sauce. As Sir Loin  stake meat is quite expensive I am using more economical beef such feather Blade side , thinly cut feather blade is widely use for the famous Korean grilled meat, bulgogi and get from local butcher. first of all ask them cut thinly as possible or just but at Korean super market.
This dish is easy to make , tasty and very presentable.

Thinly cut feather blade beef or sir loin beef (about 5cm by 8cm)  ; 20 pieces.  Shiso leaves( M size) : 20,
Sticky rice ( glutenous rice) flour for dusting, Spring onion; 1 bunch,
Sauce: 2 tbs soy sauce, 3 tsp mustard, 2 tsp white wine vinegar, 1 tsp sugar,

Warpped beef

Cooked beef with sauce

My students Dan & Cristina,

1. if using feather blade side, marinade in apple juice( 1 cup) for 1 hour , sir loin does need to marinade.
2. Cut spring onion very thinly 5cm long and set aside. 2. Put rice flour in a wide dish, wash and dry shiso leaves and get ready for wrap.
3. Dust a piece of beef with flour, and hold on your left hand, and dust shiso leave but only one side, and put a few piece of spring onion in the middle and wrap carefully and stick with a small tooth pick and carry on until finish.
4. Making sauce: mix all ingredients in a bowl and season as you like.
5. Heat oil ( rape seed oil), in a pan and cook wrapped beef , and turn over cook as well, serve with sauce . 

Korean Cookery/ learn how to cook Korean home food with me

I am receiving a lots of email from readers and Korean food lovers about my Korean cookery. I am running Korean Home food cookery mostly on Saturdays ( as all my cookery members are working in London)) at my house in south Buckinghamshire. If any readers like to receive monthly cookery information please send me email to me.

My email: kiejosarsfield@hotmail.co.uk.

September Korean cookery Dates:  1st/ Sept, 8th/Sept, 15th/Sept, 22nd/Sept.

Time, usually 2:30 Pm to 5:30 Pm .

 



Stuffed Tofu with beef /두부졸임.

Since I applied to Oxford food Symposium , on Food and Cookery, wrapped & Stuffed, I have been thinking about wrapped & stuffed food in Korea, this is one of them from my family.

Tofu is versatile in Korean food, you can make soup, stew , or just raw with special sauce or simply wrap with baechu kimchi leave, but stuffed tofu is more a elegant dish, if you like as 3 course Korean meal, this can be a starter with green salad.

1 pack of tofu/ firm, 100g  minced beef, 5 of spring onion.

1tsp crashed garlic, 5 green chili, 1tbsp soy sauce, 2tsp sugar, vegetable oil. toasted sesame seed.

Cucumber skin(0,3 wide and 10cm long, with potato peeler), plain flour

1. wrap tofu with tea towel and put under heavy thing like chopping board , leave for 15 minutes to get rid of excess water. cut 1cm tick, 4cm by 2cm, dry again with kitchen paper.

1. heat oil on a frying pan and fry tofu until golden both side.

3. In a bowl put minced beef, chopped spring onion, garlic mix well by hand, season with salt and pepper and set aside. In a wide dish put 3tbsp flour and coat cooked tofu with flour ( one side only) and ready for stuffing.

4. Put 1 tsp beef mix on the flour coated side of tofu and ,put another tofu ( coated side) on the top and carefully wrap with cucumber skin and set side, repeat this .

5, chopped chili thinly and put in the pan , put stuffed tofu on the top, mix with soy sauce, 2 chopped garlic clovers and sugar add 3 tbsp water and pour in the pan. cook gently until stuffing is cooked, serve in a wide shallow dish and sprinkle wit sesame seed on the top.   

Brunch at Wolseley

Lazy weekend brunch is a bonus most of  the times and specially invited by our children to London Piccadilly, famous restaurant, Wolseley were such a special for us. I like this casually smart atmosphere and interior,  high ceiling ,black and white colour scheme and a few Chinese antique furniture, all very tasteful without showy, felt I am in Hong Kong, colonial hotel , Peninsula .
Brunch menu are extensive, all kind egg dishes and kipper, kedgeree .

Three of us choose fish cake and poached eggs , my daughter had toast with blueberries .

The portion of fish cake is huge even I ordered small portion, they served me large one by mistake but a well trained waiter quickly apologies and will be charged as small, this is a sign of  good business management.

Poached egg was perfectly cooked,  bright yellow egg york running out when I break with Knife,` it was just perfect. i love this casual all family eating out , with a good conversation, Being a foodie, I probably I can(?) cook like here but eating out with family makes more interesting and conversation can be more richer than at home . Time to time go to nice restaurant with family is a good therapy ,I think.