Korean fried chicken (Hanguk tongdak) on a hot day? Serve it up with creamy cold potato salad and deep fried cornmeal-crusted kimchee. Summer arrived early in Brooklyn, but it’s worth the hot oil and toil on a humid day such as today. The chicken was marinated in grated onion, miso, ginger and kimchee juice for two hours, then twice-fried in seasoned potato starch. The only thing missing is a big ol’ sweet iced tea.
Kimchee fried rice with a fried egg and more kimchee—this is my favorite go-to meal, especially when I’m cleaning out the fridge.
Vegan Korean borscht—you don’t have to be Jewish, Korean or vegan to enjoy this cold summer soup. This borscht is made with red beets, tomatoes and bunhong dongchimi, a non-spicy kimchee made with beets and radish. The tangy flavor is and refreshing as the deep magenta color.
Mashed baechu sweet potatoes are so creamy and delicious that you’d never believe this was vegan. I used coconut cream, minced baechu kimchee, toasted coconut and pistachio nuts but the key ingredient in this dish is my Hanguk Ham, made from pan seared pogi-style Napa cabbage kimchee cured in sugar.
This is the largest batch of vegan mak kimchee I’ve made so far—by artisanal standards this is simply huge. I eventually abandoned the spatula, put on the gloves and mixed it by hand. There’s something very gratifying about rubbing all that paste into the cabbage. I only wish the vinyl gloves went up to my elbows.
Say hello to the Mak Kimchee meal at McDonalds. Always bring your own kimchee with you. I guarantee that you will never have a problem getting a whole table to yourself. Mas-issneun!
I’m not a huge fan of escargot, per se. But these delicate Baechu Snails were hot and ready to eat in 14 minutes. Certain foods complement the complexity of a fine-aged kimchee (sharp cheeses, nuts, cured meats, apples… etc.) especially when they’re baked. These pizza roll-ups are made with fine-aged baechu kimchee, prosciutto, Stilton cheese and crushed pistachio. I brushed them with melted butter, crumbled more Stilton and pistachio on top and baked at 425°F for fourteen minutes. If you think these look good, you should taste them, it’s an umami hurricane.
Meatloaf sandwiches slathered with gochu-nnaise—the best thing about making meatloaf is having hot meatloaf sandwiches for the week. I made a Korean aioli with equal parts of mayonnaise and my fermented Korean chili paste (gochuchang), hence gochunnaise. It adds a nice tangy heat to any sandwich, but I could just eat it up with a spoon.
