Less-words Tuesdays: Kimbap

AHa! Get it? Since I really suck at "Wordless Tuesdays", I am instead creating a "Less-Words Tuesday". Muhaahah. I can still leak a few words here and there without being a loser! ..Or did I just validate that by creating a nonsensical phrase? Oh well! You still love me, right? Anyways, here's a post on one of my favorite lunches in the whole world, the kimbap.


sauteed fish cakes, aka o-deng or uh-mook in Korean


different ingredients, or "stuffings"





my mom's beautiful kimbap rolling

Kimbap is almost like the Japanese maki, except it's Korean and you don't put raw seafood into it. Well there's slightly more to that, too. The flavor is quite different, generally uses more ingredients and the shape is often fatter and shorter than its' Japanese cousin. You can always make a fusion Kimbap or Roll too! Koreans are so creative with their ingredients and there are some really wild and non-traditional ones out there! My favorite ones are cheese, tuna salad, pork cutlets, kimchi, and corn, although never all together. :P




I love kimbap because it's tasty, bite-sized, and healthy, but mainly because it brings me good memories of childhood. In Korea, Kimbap is the staple food that kids take to school field days or trips. I remember those exciting but smoldering summer days where hundreds of kids would sit on the floor with their frozen bottled water and little plastic lunch boxes. We would all open our korean-style tupperware with our perfect rolls that our mothers have lovingly packed. I loved those days. So I eat my kimbap with much nostalgia and sentiment.

Not so rainy day

In korea, there is a saying, "On a rainy day like this, let's just flip some flapjacks!" Well we might not call them flapjacks, but it's basically the same thing. Korean pancakes are called Buchimgae-- "buchim" which is from "to fry" a kind of food that involves flipping: to cook both sides, that is. Anyways, this delicious version of a pancake is quite popular among koreans and non-koreans alike, including me! I loove buchimgaes because they are so easy to make and soo yummy.



All it really involves is some flour, water, and well, any "topping" you'd like. Really, it's like one of those creative foods (like pizza!) that you can basically put in anything you want. It ranges from different meats, seafood, and vegetables. More typical ones are like zucchini, kimchi, green onions and chives.



Althought today wasn't such a rainy day, I was craving some soft and chewy buchimgae anyway. We had some chives that we bought from a Chinese market (they were humongous -- more like green onions, I'd say!) It takes less than 5 minutes to prepare and just around 2-3 minutes to cook each one. How easy is that! For those who can't get their hands on Korean pancake mixes, it's totally fine to just use all purpose flour. The pancake mixes are basically just flour, a bit of gluttonous rice flour (to give some added chewiness) and some maybe a bit of salt. When we run out of that, we substitute it for All purpose flour, no problem. I know some people like to ground some POTATOES in their buchimgae, which gives it a little more starch, making it a little more chewy, but there's always a danger that it'll get too stiff. If you want to add that in, make sure you don't put too much.



Koreans often each buchimgae with some dipping sauce because they are oftened not salted. A soysauce sauce is delicious for buchimgaes, I guess it's like a pancake's syrup! Haha! (But substantially less drenched, of course!) You can eat the soy sauce straight out of the bottle, or for more flavor, add some sesame oil, korean style finely ground red pepper, and sesame seeds. Yum!

Buchimgae with Chives, Red Peppers, and Mushrooms

about 4 large pancakes

ingredients

2 cup korean pancake flour (you can get this at any korean supermarket and most asian groceries)
1 1/2 cup water
1/3 cup chives, cut into 1" long
1/3 cup red peppers, cut into 1" long thin strips
1/3 cup oyster mushrooms, cut into thin strips

1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp toasted sesame seeds
1/4 tsp korean style finely ground red pepper (optional)

directions

1. Mix the pancake flour and water until there are no lumps. Add in the washed and cut vegetables into the batter and mix well.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Ladle batter on pan until it covers the pan and flatten out pieces that are sticking out. Flip over after around one minute, or until golden underneath. Heat the other side for another one to two minutes. If the pancake is starting to brown too much, reduce the heat to low.
3. Combine the soy sauce with sesame oil, seeds and red pepper, if desired. Dip Buchimgae with soy sauce for better flavour.

Happy New Year!!

So with the arrival of my parents and grandmother, we celebrated New Years morning the right way: the traditional Korean way.

a bright day

Oh! Finally a new entry! It's been so long but that is really how busy I was.
I haven't touched my dear mixer in weeks, and I miss it terribly. At the same time, I've been enjoying being a busybody. It's always nice to have things to do, chances to be productive. Things have been soo peaceful and bright despite all the busyness. And so I am so grateful to be able to enjoy it. It's so beautiful out too lately. And my heart is so bright. Only through the strength that God provides...



Anyways. So today. I didn't do any baking, but... Boiling! My grandmother has been home with us for quite a while now, and she's done a LOT of cooking the past month, but I wasn't able to record any of it. But I remembered to take photos of this one! My grandmother made delicious little rice cakes, that look more like chocolate truffles than anything. I remember watching my grandmother make it when I was a little girl--crouching on the floor with her (also known as the "kimchee squat") and being so fascinated by the pretty, round morsels. Many many years later, now sitting on chairs, my grandmother and I together made these rice cakes called "Kyung-Dan", which is often eaten on special holidays.




to be continued...