27 Sep 20 (Sun) - Kimchi Jjigae

Watched "House on Wheels" and learnt a lot of Korean dishes which I have never eaten before. One of them is Kimchi Jjigae. Re-watched that particular episode a few times to copy the ingredients and steps.

  1) Sauté minced garlic

  2) Add thinly sliced pork belly and stir fry till half cooked

  3) Add bite-size kimchi

  4) Add enough water to cover

  5) Add soy bean paste, oil, Korean chili powder and sugar (optional)

  6) Cut green chili and scallion to 1" length and add in to boil

  7) Cut firm tofu to 1" cube and add in to boil till cooked

  8) Serve hot with rice

Of course, this means that it will not be very accurate and given that I have not eaten the dish before, I do not know exactly how it should taste like. Therefore, I googled for a proper recipe online and found one by "My Korean Kitchen". Modified the recipe I copied from the tv program with the recipe I found online and created this.

 1) Sauté minced garlic

  2) Add thinly sliced pork belly and stir fry till half cooked

  3) Add bite-size kimchi

  4) Add enough water to cover

  5) Add 1 tbsp chili powder, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp Korean chili paste and some sugar

  6) Cut firm tofu to 1" cube and add in to boil till cooked

  7) Cut spring onion to 1" length and add in to boil

  8) Serve hot with rice

The recipe from My Korean Kitchen asked for Korean chili flakes but I do not have it so replaced with chili powder instead. The recipe from the tv program used scallion which I also do not have so replaced with spring onion instead.

Taste-wise, really cannot comment since I do not know how the actual dish should taste like. Haha... Perhaps I should try to eat this dish in a restaurant one day and I will know the answer.

22 Sep 20 (Tue) - Kongnamul Muchim (Soybean Sprout Side Dish)

Went to the K-fresh zone at the NTUC Finest over at Tiong Bahru Plaza last weekend and bought a packet of soybean sprouts. Have always wanted to try making Korean side dish also know as Banchan and decided to attempt this one called Kongnamul Muchim (Soybean Sprout Side Dish) by Korean Babsang.

The steps were very easy and this dish can be kept for 3-4 days.

21 Sep 20 (Mon) - Pad Krapow Moo and Pickled Radish & Carrot

Been stuck at home (and work from home) most of the time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and thought of trying to grow some edibles at home since I cook more often nowadays. Started with mint which is relatively easy to propagate. Then I decided to grow dill and basil. Went to the NTUC to look for them in the chilled section and bought a box each. Used water to try to propagate some cuttings and used the rest for cooking. So what can I cook using basil? Went back to my favourite dish, pad krapow moo, since I cannot visit Thailand anytime soon. Guess I got to work hard on my plating and cooking of the sunny side up. Heh.

There were some radish and carrot left in the fridge from last week so googled for a recipe to use them. Found one from "My Korean Kitchen" which was easy to follow. Tweaked the recipe to use 75g sugar, 75ml water, 75ml apple cider vinegar and a pinch of salt for a 500g honey jar. Used half of a small radish and half of a carrot. The amount turned out to be just nice. Now just need to chill it in the fridge before eating.