It’s easy to find kimchi and other Korean dishes in any Korean or Asian restaurant that wears its Korean bona fides on its sleeve. One click on Yelp, and you’re on your way. However, there’s no sense of adventure or discovery in that. When one diligently searches for and finds the best kimchi burger hidden in…
Tag: fusion
Recipe: Kkaenip (깻잎) Hummus
Kkaenip in Korean cuisine commonly is made into a 김치 kimchi — a general term for pickled vegetables — or wrapped around barbecued meat and related 반찬 banchan (side dishes). Adding Kkaenip (similar to shiso in Japanese cuisine) to hummus pairs the minty earthiness of the herb with the tang of citrus in the chickpea paste.
Recipe: Crock Pot Kimchi Jjigae with Norfolk dumplings
Hubby and I work eight-plus hours a day, and there are times I don’t have much time to be creative in the kitchen. It doesn’t help that Himalayan, Mexican or Thai carryout is only a phone call and 10–20 minutes away. However, one cannot live on a budget and on carryout. I was also eager to try…
‘Fusion’ cuisine is older than the Silk Road
Among the cuisine trends noted at the beginning of 2015 was the comeback kid “fusion.” Nation’s Restaurant News Senior Food Editor Bret Thorn blogged that such talk could reawaken the dismissive epithets of “fusion confusion” chefs heaped on “the combination, often self-consciously, of elements of different cuisines in a single dish,” but he urged these…
The Gray Lady has belated shades of kimchi love
New York Times food writer David Tanis in the Jan. 20 article “Cooking with Kimchi” extolled the versatility of kimchi: “At home you can do something as simple as topping a hot dog with kimchi, or layering it into a Reuben or a grilled cheese sandwich.” Glad to see that I’m ahead of my time….
Hidden Kimchi: The Counter, Corte Madera, Calif.
Korean cuisine (both authentic and fusion) is still fashionable in 2014, in ways that South Korea’s former first lady Kim Yoon-ok could not have predicted when her husband Lee Myung Bak was President from 2008 to 2013. One of her causes as First Lady was making Korean cuisine popular worldwide. Sometime Korean food fusions, such as…
Recipe: Namu Gaji soy-glazed red onions banchan
Men’s Journal recently published an article singing the praises of Dennis Lee‘s Namu Burger, which is one of the signature dishes on Namu Gaji‘s menu. After calling it the best of the Asian-influenced remakes of the hamburger, Lee was kind enough to divulge the recipe of the components of this “stoner food” burger. As I…
Quick Recipe: Cinnamon Basil Bulgogi
Cinnamon basil, aka Vietnamese basil, is popular in soups, salads and stir-fried dishes in that country. I decided I decided to try the herb in an intra-Asian fusion version of 불고기 bulgogi, because the savory-sweet sauteed beef dish is a form of stir fry. Last week, I received a small bundle of it in my…
Banchan pizza: A second life for side dishes
Typical of many Korean households, my refrigerator is stuffed with little containers of leftover 반찬 banchan. Many recipes for those side dishes are scaled to serve six to eight people, so the two of us always have leftovers. I can only eat so much 비빔밥 bibimbap. Banchan pizza with sauteed carrots, cilantro kimchi and bulgogi…
Recipe: Gochujang Pasta
Gochujang (고추장) is one of Korea’s most important “mother sauces.” It is the backbone of many popular recipes: 닭갈비 dakgalbi, 김치찌개 kimchi jjigae and 떡볶이 tteokbokki. It’s also used to make 쌈장 ssamjang, the quintessential barbecue condiment. Gochujang‘s fermented yet sweet demeanor can also add some spicy backbone to your favorite marinara meat sauce. Take…