My Most Favorite Korean Restaurant

We have many Korean restaurants in the vicinity (hooray!), but this one remains my favorite. It is the New Seoul BBQ Korean restaurant.

Don't expect slick decor, or anything fancy. This is a place where the food is the main attraction and nothing else. And as with any ethnic restaurant, my rule-of-thumb is, if the population and demographics can support it, the majority of the clientele must be of that ethnicity or else it is not a good restaurant. This rule certainly is alive and well at this restaurant, where you will see plenty of Koreans and other Asians on any given day.

If you order any of the items that is grilled at the table (such as the Bulgolgi), then they will bring out a charcoal pit/hibachi to your table. This is one of the few Korean BBQ joint that still uses charcoal pit instead of gas hibachi. I think it adds flavor to the food being grilled.

Here is a picture of what we had a couple of weeks ago.

It was scrumptious!

It is definitely one of my on-rotation restaurants.

Zz.

Malaysian Satay

Satay is a rather common menu items at Thai restaurants here in the US. And unfortunately, it has been thought of as being a "Thai food" when in reality, satay is a common and popular item throughout South East Asia. Each country and each region has its own version of this food, and the variation can be significant.

Having sampled many different types of satay throughout the region, I'd say that my most favorite satay is the Malaysian/Indonesian satay. While the satay you find in most Thai restaurant are flavored with nothing more than just turmeric, Malaysian satay has a lot more species, herbs, and flavors. This includes the peanut satay sauce that accompanies the satay. The flavor is significantly more complex and interesting.

Having moaned to my friends about the satay that we often got at Thai restaurants, I decided to put my money where my mouth was and actually made Malaysian satay at home and invited many of my friends to sample it. I basically started with a basic recipe, and then I adjusted it until the flavor that I get matched what I remember how it should be. Making satay at home isn't easy, and it is tedious. Satay is often eaten at food stalls or restaurants because of this. This is very seldom done at home. So I certainly was aware of what I was undertaking.

First, let me give you the basic recipe that I used to make satay. The meat used in the recipe is chicken (boneless dark meat) or beef (flank steak). But in Malaysia/Indonesia, you may find tripe, chicken liver, beef liver, etc. skewered as the satay meat.

Satay Recipe

2 boneless chicken thighs and 2 boneless chicken legs, cut into half-inch pieces. If using flank steaks, cut into thin strips (no more than 1/4 inch) about 3/4 inch long

5 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric power

Satay Spice Paste

6 shallots
3 stalks lemongrass
1 inch galangal root
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoons oil

Toast coriander and cumin seeds in a pan until fragrant. Combine all the ingredients for the Spice Paste into a blender or food processor and process until you get a fine paste. Add more oil if necessary to get a smooth paste.

Combine the Spice Paste with the chicken pieces, sugar, salt, and turmeric. Mix thoroughly. Let marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

Satay Sauce

2 cups dry roasted peanuts, skinned (may substitute with 2 cups of chunky peanut butter)
1/3 cup oil
1 heaping tablespoon tamarind paste, soaked in 1 cup warm water.
1 cup water
4 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt

Satay Sauce Spice Paste

1 dried ancho pepper, soaked in warm water until soft
6 cloves of garlic
3 shalots
4 stalks lemongrass
1 inch galangal root
3 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons cumin seeds

Toast coriander and cumin seeds until fragrant. If using dry roasted peanuts, chopped in food processor coarsely and set aside.

Blend Satay Sauce Spice Paste ingredients in a food process until smooth. Add cooking oil if necessary to obtain a smooth paste.

Heat oil and fry spice paste. Once fragrant, add tamarind water, water, sugar, salt, and peanut/peanut butter. Slowly simmer for about 15 minutes. Set aside and serve at room temperature or slightly warm.

Back to the satay. The next day, thread 4-5 pieces of meat per skewer.

In preparation for grilling, pour a cup of cooking oil into a bowel. Use another stalk of lemongrass, and lightly bruise the stalk end. Dip this end into the oil and let it steep for 1/2 hour. This will be the basting brush.

Grill the satay skewers over coal or on a grill at high heat. Brush the meat with the oil-infused lemongrass. Flank steaks should take no more than one minute on each side, while chicken may take 1-2 minutes per side, depending on how thick the pieces are. There should be slight charring of the meat for flavor.

Serve with satay sauce, sliced cucumbers, and red onions.

So, want to see what I did and how my satay party turned out?

These are the coriander and cumin seeds being dry toasted in a pan.

Preparing the satay spice paste. I couldn't find galangal root, so I substitute ginger root instead.

Frying the spice paste for the peanut sauce. I was making a large amount.

The lemongrass basting brush soaking in oil.

Grilling the satay. I made both chicken and beef.

Malaysian satay is served. I also made "pressed rice" to serve with the satay and peanut sauce, along with the sliced cucumber and red onions. Traditionally, the rice is "ketupat", which is rice cooked in a weaved basket made of coconut leaves. But hey, I can only do so much!

It was yummy, if I may say so myself, and it was definitely a success. I managed to give an idea to my friends what "satay" is supposed to taste like, at least from what I remember.

I may have to do this again next summer if I can find people to help me skewer the meat.

Zz.

Dinner at Chef Ping

This is what I call a feast!

We had a lovely dinner at one of our most favorite restaurant in the area: Chef Ping. It is a Chinese restaurant, but this is far from your typical Chinese restaurant in the US.

First of all, on any given night, Asian customers outnumber others. And you know my rule about ethnic restaurants: if the majority of the clientele isn't of that ethnic origin (assuming that the demographics can support number of clientele), then there's a very good chance that the food isn't that good or authentic. For Chef Ping, the majority of the clientele is Asian.

The menu includes the standard American Chinese items, but it goes way beyond that. It also has menu items that you don't normally find in such a restaurant. Browse the menu. You'll see sea cucumber, tripe, beef belly, etc.

Our favorite items are the fish with wood ear, beef stew hotpot, and the Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce. But we have never had a bad items here yet, and their noodle soups are especially good since they are fresh noodles made in-house.

The only drawback is that this place is often very, very busy. Heaven saves you if you show up at 6:00 pm on a typical Friday or Saturday.

Zz.

Malaysian Chicken Noodle Soup

I mentioned a few days ago of making a Malaysian Chicken soup. It turned out pretty well. I used the broth as the soup base for my noodle soup.

The noodles are thin rice noodles. The garnishes for the soup are the shredded chicken (actually, it is hen) meat, mung bean spouts, Vietnamese basil, caramelized shallots, and a squeeze of lime.

I served it at a small dinner party, and I thought it went quite well. Everyone loved it.

I still have some leftover broth, which I've been consuming for lunch with a bit of noodles and spouts. It is still good even after a few days.

Zz.

Malaysian Chicken Soup

OK, I'm having people over for dinner, and I'm going to serve Malaysian Chicken Noodle soup. I've started this morning to make the soup.

Unlike the standard, American chicken soup, the Malaysian version has a lot more spices to flavor the broth. I'm starting everything from scratch. I'm not using even any pre-made chicken broth.

I bought a whole hen (not chicken, so the name of the dish is misleading), and this is what I'm using not only to make the broth, but also later on serve the meat as part of the dish. The reason why I'm using a hen is because I want to simmer the broth for a long time. A typical supermarket chicken will simply fall apart and turn to mush if I simmer them for as long as I intend to. A hen is older, and frankly, has a lot more chicken flavor.

But what makes this different than the standard broth are all the whole spices that I added. The spices are: cinnamon sticks, whole cardamom, whole cloves, whole star anise, and pepper corns. I also put 3 sticks of lemon grass, 3 stalks of celery, one large onion, 5 cloves of garlic, and 5 thick slices of ginger root.

It is simmering slowly right now and the whole house smells wonderful! I'm going to simmer this for about a couple of hours, and then I'll fish out the chicken.. excuse me, the hen pieces and let them cool down. Then I'll shred the meat, and put the bones back into the pot and let then simmer for another hour.

When that is done, I'll strain the broth and I'll end up with the most flavorful soup base for my noodle soup. I'll post some more on how things progress, including the final dish.

Zz.

Pho For Lunch

Had one of my most favorite food for lunch this past weekend: Vietnamese pho at House of Pho in Hoffman Estates.

When we used to live in the city (Chicago), we often go to Argyle street, which is the epicenter of Vietnamese neighborhood, and we always have Pho there. Our favorite restaurant was 777.

When we moved out to the 'burbs, it was one of the food that we missed. It is quite a trek to go back to Argyle street to get our Pho fix, so it was quite a joy to discover House of Pho. While their Phos are not as flavorful as 777, they are still quite good and give us what we have been missing.

Zz.

Chap Chye

OK, this is one of those unsung dishes where it is typically served only at home (if you lived in a South East Asian household), and it probably has a million different variations for each household. I don't even know if this is the correct name, where it originated, or if this was the result of people simply adding things together and then calling it a dish.

I found a similar dish online, where it is called a Nyonya vegetable stew or Chap Chye. "Nyonya" is a word used in SE Asia that indicates a Chinese woman or mother, and Nyonya dishes are typically Chinese dishes that may have undergone a few local additions.

The version that I'm familiar with is not exactly this, but it is close enough. Interestingly enough, I think I've only made it, at most, 4 or 5 times in my life. And each time I made it, I didn't go by any recipe. I simply put things together from memory, and then adjusted the flavors until I think it match what I remember, or at least, as close as I could remember. It isn't that it is difficult to make, since you simply dump everything into a pot. It is just that there are a lot of ingredients, and most of the ingredients are not what you would normally find in a typical American supermarket, to say the least.

I'm not going to list a recipe (you can look it up on that link). Rather, I'll show the ingredients that I used to make this dish this past weekend.

This is cellophane noodles. This might be easier to find since I've seen them in regular supermarkets. Here, it is soaking to soften it before I add it to the stew.

There are two ingredients in the picture below, both are soaking in water. The first one towards the left of the picture is dried tofu skins. The second one, the thinner strands, are dried lily flowers. Both need to be soaked for about an hour before adding them to the stew.

These are dried wood ear fungus or mushrooms. They also will be soaked for an hour before cutting them up into bite size pieces and adding them to the soup. Interestingly enough, the flavor of these mushrooms is quite subtle. What I like the most is the texture. They become soft but crunch. If you have had seaweed salad, you'll find the texture to be similar.

Fish balls. I happen to have this brand, but any fishballs will do. I was making a large pot of stew, so I used the entire bag.

These are dried Shiitake mushroom. Also need to be soaked for about an hour, and then sliced.

This is one of the flavor base. This is fermented, salted soy bean. I used about 2-3 tablespoons of this. I mash it lightly and then added to the broth. The broth is just water and light soy sauce, with salt and pepper to taste.

I first make the broth. Once I get a rolling boil and after adding all the seasonings, I first add the wood ear fungus. I let this boil for about 10 to 15 minutes, then I add all the rest of the ingredients at once. Cook this again for another 10 minutes and then add green onions. It is then ready to serve. The stew should be a bit more soupy than a regular stew.

This is what it looks like when it is done. 

I serve this with rice. In fact, I've often ladle this into a bowl of rice and turn it into a rice soup or stew. You can also break a raw egg into the boiling stew and poach it. Serve a poach egg with the rest of the stew for each guest.

It is a very satisfying soup or stew during the cold months, which is interesting because I grew up eating this in the tropics where the weather is always hot and humid.

Zz.

Sukiyaki At Home

Had a great time last night having the Japanese favorite Sukiyaki at home. This a popular dish, and often prepared tableside. In this case, we prepared it right on the dinning room table as we sit around having wine, pleasant conversation, and preparing the food.

The prep work started earlier in the afternoon. There were lots of ingredients.

Yam noodles and Inoki mushrooms.

 

Tofu, bamboo shoots, Inoki mushrooms, Mung bean sprouts, green onions, white onions, and the yam noodles out of the package. The other ingredients not shown here are the sliced beef and the fresh spinach.

All the ingredients are cut into proper sizes and, when ready, brought to the table.

Now the fun begins. Cooking them. We had two separate pots to prepare them. First, the beef.

Then most of the ingredients are added.

The entire mixture is seasoned with beef broth, soy sauce, Mirin, and sugar. It is seasoned to taste, so you need to have a reference point of knowing what it should taste like.

After this has cooked for a couple of minutes, add the spinach.

Once the spinach has wilted, the dish is done and ready to be eaten. We each served ourselves in individual bowls.

While it is good as is, we accompanied this with a side dish of rice and pickled Daikon radish. The rice here was cooked with kombu, and then served sprinkled with rice seasonings and shredded Nori.

The meal was oishi! It was definitely the perfect dish to have on a cold, winter evening. It goes perfectly well with a slightly sweet Chardonnay.

Zz.

Bitter Melons

For the average American, the range of food that he/she eats is actually quite limited when compared to many other nationalities. This is especially true when compared to Asians.

The sad part about this is that, in many large metropolitan areas of the US, there availability of many "exotic" ingredients is actually quite easy. Here, in the NW suburbs of Chicago, there are many stores and markets, both ethnic and non-ethnic, that carry a wide variety of food products that one can try or add to one's culinary repertoire.

I just got back from Valli Fresh Market near here, and just in the produce isle alone, I can find lots of amazing stuff. This post focuses on this one particular amazing vegetable called the bitter melon. Here, they carry two types of bitter melons.

The ones on the right are the type that are generically called the bitter melon, while the one of the left has a more specific name as the Goya melon.

When I was growing up, I was more familiar with the one on the right. And I hated it. It does have a slight bitter taste, and of course, as a kid, you hate anything bitter. But now, as an adult, I love vegetables with a bitterness to it, and so, this bitter melon is one of my favorite. I cook with it often, usually in a quick stir fry.

The Goya melon, on the other hand, is quite popular in Japan, especially in Okinawa. It has been credited as one factor on why Okinawan has the highest percentage of citizens older than 100. It is often served stir fried in a dish called Chanpuru.

Both melons are popular in other parts of Asia. The generic bitter melon is a common ingredient in the Filipino dish Sinigang, while the goya melon is popular in many parts of India (it is sometime called Indian bitter melon).

I bought some today, and will be having it for dinner tomorrow evening. :)

Zz.

Caramelized Shallots

I use caramelized shallots as a garnish in many dishes. We especially love it when we sprinkle some on soups, stews, or even just plain white rice. It adds a bit of complexities and "exotic" flavors that one do not find regularly. Using caramelized shallots as a garnish is quite common in many cuisines of South East Asia.

I made some over the weekend for the dinner party that we hosted. In fact, I made a rather huge batch, which I intend to store in an airtight container and use it for the next few weeks to sprinkle over many dishes.

To make this, you need to thinly slice shallots, as many as you want. For this one, I had 10 shallots. Then, using a heavy skillet (better heat distribution so that your shallots caramelize evenly), heat about a 1/3 cup oil (yes, you will use quite a bit of oil, but read on) for that much shallots. If you drop a piece of shallots and it sizzles, then the oil is hot enough and you can pour all of the shallots into the pan.

Sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon salt, and saute the shallots over medium heat. You don't have to saute it constantly, maybe every minute or so, but you do need to monitor it closely. This is how it usually look in the beginning.

It may look a bit wet and soggy, but just continue on. Eventually, you'll start seeing caramelized bits and pieces.

Lower the heat just a bit if it is browning too fast, but it is not necessary if you are diligent in stirring it. Eventually, it will become caramelized.

I like it this color, or even slightly more.

When it is caramelized, drain it on a paper towel, but save as much as the oil in the pan as possible.

Let it cool down and then using your fingers, or with forks, separate them out (like shredding meat) if they become a clump. The shallots should be light and crispy after it has cooled down.

Now, for any leftover oil in the pan, I usually save that. It is very flavorful, and I usually use it to cook fried or scrambled eggs, saute vegetables, etc. So don't throw out that flavorful oil.

I'll post a few dishes some time soon where I use these caramelized shallots as a garnish.

Zz.

Chinese 5-Spice Powder

I have lots of whole spices. I use them frequently in my cooking, so I buy them in bulk. This actually saves a lot of money because I buy them at ethnic food market where they cost a fraction of what you pay for in those little jars that you find in a supermarket.

One of the flavoring spices that I use often is the Chinese 5-Spice powder. I've used pre-made ones when I rubbed chicken pieces before grilling them and then glazed them with a Chinese BBQ sauce. But one day, I looked up the ingredients for the 5-Spice powder, and realized that I could it myself since I practically had all of the ingredients except for the Szechuan pepper corns, which I promptly bought at a nearby Asian grocery store. And I can tell you that the one I make my own is waaaaay more fragrant than the one I bought pre-made. It is worth the extra effort to make this from scratch.

So here is the receipe for the Chinese 5-Spice powder.

• 1 tablespoon Szechuan pepper corns
• 6 star anise
• 1 1/2 teaspoon whole  cloves
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons fennel seeds

I dry roast them in a pan for a few minutes until I can smell the fragrant aroma from the spices. Then I pour the spices into a coffee grinder and pulverize them into fine powder. Keep in an air-tight container, and it'll keep for weeks or months. It won't go bad, but the fragrance and punch will certainly taper off after a couple of months.

I'll post some time soon a recipe for a glaze that you can use with the 5-Spice powder that will be perfect for summer grilling.

Zz.

A Good Hot Bowl Of Miso Soup

It is a cold, wet, windy, and dreary day here in the Chicagoland area. And since I don't feel like having a regular lunch, I opted for a nice steaming bowl of miso soup filled with napa cabbage, wakame (seaweed), tofu, and green onions.

It was just the perfect meal, light but filling. I would have used kombu to make the dashi (stock), but I didn't have time. So instead, I used a powdered kombu/soup seasonings that I added to the boiling water before I added a tablespoon of miso paste.

Now my tummy is quite satisfied, and I feel all warm inside. This soup has always been satisfying on a cold day like this.

Zz.

Cooking Fish Wrapped In Banana Leaves

I love cooking fish in banana leaves. Doing this accomplishes two things: (i) the fish tends to be moist, and even if you overcook it slightly, it doesn't dry out as quickly, and (ii) the banana leaves themselves impart a rather nice aroma to it.

Wrapping food items in banana leaves is popular in many cultures, especially in Central America, India, and Southeast Asia. And I also think that it has a preserving quality to it, and food doesn't seem to go bad as quickly even when kept at room temperature. A very popular dish in Malaysia is Nasi Lemak. It is cooked rice, served with a hot chili paste cooked with dried anchovies or squids, and garnished with maybe a sliced egg and cucumber. The entire thing is wrapped in banana leaves while it is hot, and as it sits for a bit, the aroma from the banana leaves permeate through the rice. It is delicious!

Anyhow, my version of cooking fish wrapped in banana leaves involves several different variations. I've used whole fish such as trout or even mackerel, and have used seasonings such as a mixture of ground dried ancho chili, ground cumin, and tumeric powder. I've also used a wet paste mixture. The ingredients from the wet paste include: onions, garlic, fresh ginger, lemon grass, anchovy fillets, fish sauce, sugar, salt and pepper. I blend the first 4 ingredients in a blender until smooth and then saute the entire thing, including the remaining ingredients, with, get this, a cup of vegetable oil. It requires that much oil because it will saute for a long time. In fact, there is a trick that people who cook this type of food will tell you, which is to saute it until you start seeing the oil leaching out of paste. Then you know that you've cooked it enough.

I let the paste cools down, or maybe even cook it the day before and store it overnight in the refrigerator. Then, when I'm ready to use it, I simply smother the fish with this paste, and then set it onto the banana leaf. Here, I've added sliced lemons top and below the fish filet, in this case, a piece of salmon.

I then wrap this up with the banana leaf.  I used to use toothpicks to keep the whole thing wrapped up, but a while back I decided to use an outer lining of aluminum foil. It is so much easier to keep the either thing wrapped up using it.

Place the whole package on a baking sheet and bake it in a hot oven, 425 F, for about 20-30 mins, depending on the size and thickness of the fish. This one took about 20 mins but I always check if it is done.

When done, I remove the aluminum foil, but keep the banana leaf, because that is how I present the dish.

I've also done this on the grill, and the banana leaf not only cooked it to perfection, but the wrappings prevented it getting the fish to stick to the grill.

It has always been a crowd pleaser, and it is something I'll continue to do.

Zz.

A Bowl of Udon Noodles For Lunch

Sure, why not? Don't you have a bowl of udon noodles for lunch often? :)

It was cold here yesterday, and I just wanted to good big bowl of hot, steaming udon noodles for lunch. So I want to the Mitsuwa Market near where I live, and went to the food court. Got the big bowl of beef curry udon from Sanuki Seimen Mugimaru. It was delicious.

I also got a few tempura pieces from their tempura bar. While the noodles were terrific, the tempura was hit-and-miss. The problem here is that getting tempura from a tempura bar means that you might end up with pieces that were not steaming hot. And there's nothing worse than cold tempura. I've had days where their tempura was excellent since they just got out of the fryer, while other days, not so much. (BTW, there is another vendor there that will make tempura to order.)

I like the food court at Mitsuwa. It feels as if you have several street vendors with a variety of food to choose from. This is definitely one of my favorite places to get a quick bite, and do some grocery shopping.

Zz.