Chinese New Year 2010
February 15, 2010 § Leave a comment
I always get really homesick when it’s Chinese New Year. Usually we have some family friends come over and we all sit down to eat a huge meal of roast duck, roast pork, dumplings, etc. This year, in addition to celebrating the beginning of the Year of the Tiger away from home, I also had to deal with yet another date-less Valentine’s Day. womp womp.
No matter. To console myself, I made a menu of a bunch of delicious Chinese dishes that would at least make me feel like I was at home and with Jia’s help, we made a truly amazing dinner. Chinese-style eggs and tomato, hoisin glazed eggplant, pork and scallion dumplings (with even the skins made from scratch!), sesame noodles with chicken and cucumber, and the piece de resistance…Chinese BBQ spare ribs.
The big success of the night was definitely the ribs. In the Chinatown in New York, there’s always this one particular roast meats shop that our family visits to pick up spare ribs, roast pork, and roast duck, and I never thought I’d be able to replicate those flavors in my own kitchen. On Saturday night, I came back from a party a little tipsy but somehow managed to remember to create the hoisin-soy-honey marinade, which just goes to show that food is always a number one priority for me. So even with the ever-present danger that I’d drunkenly slice off my fingers while mincing garlic, the ribs made it to the fridge to marinate over night.
The next day, after fretting over the pork and setting off the fire alarm in our apartment, I finally pulled those babies out of the oven. They had that beautiful charred but glossy outer coating, and the meat on the bone was perfectly tender and succulent. They were a huge success with everyone and now, they’ll probably be my go-to barbecue recipe.
So, our 3 1/2 hours of cooking yesterday really paid off, especially since there are plenty of tasty leftovers in the fridge. Even though we weren’t with family and didn’t do the traditional exchange of New Year’s greetings and red envelopes, we still got a taste of home.
RW 1 – Sushi-Ko
January 18, 2010 § 1 Comment
So many people visited DC this weekend! Tiff came by Friday night, and we had an amazing meal at Sushi-Ko, Washington D.C.’s very first sushi restaurant.
It’s actually Restaurant Week here, so we were able to get the three course meals for a lot less than what the usual price would be. Jia and Tiff both chose the smoked mussels and eggplant miso soups while I had the sushi-ko crab cakes with avocado, which were meaty yet light. They also came with the usual Japanese-style and zingy horseradish sauce that I’m absolutely addicted to. They were gone in about 2 minutes. I have no restraint.
Second and third courses were great as well. Tiff had a beautifully presented dish of salmon ceviche with giant glistening beads of orange ikura, salmon roe. It came dressed in yuzu vinaigrette, the citrus giving a perfect balance to the whole dish. Her final course was a spread of yummy sushi and a spicy tuna roll. Jia had rock shrimp and asparagus tempura which I didn’t try, but she seemed to enjoy it. Jia’s final course was the beef tenderloin, and even though she opted not to get sushi, it looked absolutely delicious.
My second and third courses came together: the chef’s assortment of the day’s freshest fish as well as a crunchy spicy tuna roll with avocado and scallions. So fresh, so packed with flavor. You could really tell that everything, including the pickled ginger and wasabi, were homemade because they tasted so vibrant and powerful. I’ll definitely be returning a couple times this semester to try the chirashi and other entrees. YUM!
Samgyupsahl
January 8, 2010 § 1 Comment
I tried this grilled pork belly dish for the first time at Honey Pig in Annandale, VA. When I went grocery shopping with my mom this weekend at H Mart, I saw already-sliced pork belly and decided to give it a go. Though I know the traditional way to prepare and eat this dish requires that the meat is unseasoned and given the good old lettuce wrap treatment, I wanted something spicy, sweet, and savory.
With the 7 lb container of gochujang that I still have from one of my mom’s impulse buys, I threw together a bunch of traditional Asian ingredients for a marinade and hoped for the best. Surprisingly, the pork belly turned out just as I had hoped. Here’s the gist:
3 heaping tablespoons of gochujang, Korean red pepper paste
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 green chili pepper, diced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1.5 teaspoons salt
as much water as you need
Whisk all those ingredients together while pouring in water little by little, until you have a thick liquid. The marinade should not be pasty but able to soak into the pork belly.
Marinade 1.5 – 2 lbs of pork belly in the red marinade for at least an hour, preferably several. When done marinating, grill or pan-sear, flipping on to the other side after about 30 seconds and after 30 seconds on the other side, take off the heat. Don’t move them too much while they’re cooking. Also, make sure you don’t grill them for too long otherwise they’ll dry out and I hate nothing more than dry pork.
You can either wrap this in lettuce with white rice and Korean bean paste, or do as our family did and simply eat it over white rice with sauteed greens. YUM.
Asian comfort food: sesame peanut noodles
October 16, 2009 § 1 Comment
It’s starting to get pretty chilly here in DC and the rain isn’t helping any. On days like these, all I want to do is snuggle on the couch with a really good book and eat comfort food, which includes any type of carb. One of the dishes I start to crave the most is a sesame peanut noodle dish that my mom always used to make when she didn’t feel like making anything too complicated.
It’s great because you can customize it to your own tastes, and extremely simple so even if you’re living in a college dorm like me, it’s definitely manageable. I usually like to add shredded soy-poached chicken leftovers and lots and lots of hot sauce, but if you’re vegetarian, the dish is filling enough to be eaten without any meat. The sauce is wonderfully creamy and the flavors balance so well, with sweet countering savory perfectly.
I’ve made it enough that I don’t really use formal measurements, but I adapted the original recipe from, who else, Mark Bittman in his book, The Best Recipes in the World.
Sesame peanut noodles, serves 4-5
12 oz udon noodles, linguine would be ok too
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
chili oil or hot sauce to taste
salt to taste
minced scallions as garnish
* the recipe also tastes really good with grated cucumber mixed into the sauce
1. Cook the noodles in boiling salted water until tender. Drain.
2. Whisk the peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, hot sauce, and salt. Gradually pour warm water into the mixture and continue whisking until the consistency of the sauce resembles heavy cream. Adjust the seasoning if needed.
3. Toss together the noodles and the sauce and add any more seasoning if necessary. Drizzle with additional sesame oil, if desired, and garnish with scallions.
This dish tastes good both warm and cold, so save leftovers!
Post-LSAT visit to Momofuku Ssam and Milk Bar
September 28, 2009 § 1 Comment
I’m not getting test result for another three weeks, and even though I’m still pretty nervous, thank goodness the LSAT is finally over (for September anyway).
Sunday, our entire family went to New York City since Laura had to take pictures with the Wall Street Bull and some other historic NYC sites for her US History course. The weather was pretty awful, a drizzle that came at us sideways, but when we got out of the car to take a photo with the bull, there was a film crew surrounding it! Turns out Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell were in town filming a new comedy called The Other Guys.
Even with our intrusion onto a film set, the highlight of our day definitely had to be a visit to Momofuku Ssam and Milk Bars near Union Square. The last time I had visited was two summers again and I missed those pork buns like no other. Plus, I was dying to try the awe-inspiring desserts (with names like “Crack Pie”) at the new bakery.
The Momofukus did not disappoint. For savory, we got the famous pork buns, spicy rice cakes with chinese broccoli and sausage, and braised beef brisket pho. The pork belly oozed of fatty delicious and I loved how the cucumbers and Sriracha cut the richness just enough. The rice cakes were Korean ddukbokgi on steroids, fried so they had a crispy outer crust and gnocchi-soft on the inside. Plus, they were spicy as hell, mixed with a good amount of greens and…of course, more pork. And what is more comforting than a good bowl of pho? ‘Course, the $16 bowl was more expensive than an even larger portion at Pho 99, but after walking in the rain for so long, I thought it was well worth it.
Ssam Bar is the place for savory Asian food with a twist, but Milk bar just reminded me of my childhood. There aren’t any seats, just tables where you stand and eat your food. Laura and I tried the horchata soft-serve with the cinnamon sugar and tortilla toppings, a blueberry cream cookie, and the biggest slice of strawberry cake I have ever seen.
Everything tasted wonderful. The ice cream was rich and the toppings were inventive and delightful, the blueberry cream cookie (85 cents since they were actually from yesterday’s batch) was heavenly and still soft – Laura and I later regretted that we didn’t snag more – and the cake…with strawberry jam and sweet corn crumble fillings (which definitely reminded me of Cap’n Crunch cereal) was so large but so delicious that we felt obligated to finish it all regardless of the calories. Laura now demands that she gets such a cake for her birthday. We’ll see what happens.
Our visit to New York concluded with a visit to the Met, where we had hoped to see the roof garden exhibit, but it was closed due to the weather. However, the new Egyptian wings and American wing were more than interesting enough to keep us occupied until we had to head home. What started out as a rainy, gloomy day ended up being quite memorable.
Korean Barbecue in Annandale, VA
September 5, 2009 § Leave a comment
Last night a bunch of us went to a Korean BBQ place called Honey Pig in Annandale, VA, about an hour’s bus ride away from DC. I never knew this but there’s a really big Korean community in that area; once we got off the bus, almost all the signs I saw had Korean translations as well. When we went inside the restaurant, there was pop music – Korean and American – blaring as loud as possible and tons of little bbq stations set up. The decor wasn’t fancy or pretentious at all. In fact, it reminded of those little hawker stands in China where everyone just crowds around a table on makeshift chairs and just eats to their heart’s content.
One of us pointed out the huge posters advertising their current sales (1 serving of barbecued pork belly for only 12.99!) but it turns out that those posters are always up to make the customers feel like they’re getting a better deal.
We were seated in the back of the restaurant, far away from all the really loud music, and give two grills. Because one of the girls, Yung, had been before, she suggested that we just get pork belly instead of beef, which apparently was only mediocre. And oh. my. god. Well, in all honesty, the plain pork belly wasn’t that great; our lady didn’t get a good first sear and some of it was overcooked, but whatever’s in the spicy sauce of the second round, I LOVE. I’m willing to bet there’s a healthy amount of gochujang in there and if that’s really the case, I’m making some as soon as I get home.
Honey Pig Gooldaegee Korean Grill
7220 C-Columbia Pike
Annandale, VA 22003
703.256.5229
Ddukbokgi, Korean-style gnocchi
June 30, 2009 § 2 Comments
A lot of people call dduki Korean rice cakes, but that name always conjures up images of the Quaker oats man and flavorless pieces of cardboard. I think these dduk can be more likened to gnocchi, but instead of potatoes and flour, these dumplings are made of rice flour and water.
One of the most popular dishes to feature these starchy bites is ddukbokgi which I tried for the first time at Mandu in Dupont Circle, DC. After some recipe browsing online, I realized that I’d never be able to recreate the dish authentically unless I had the Korean hot pepper paste, dochujang, and since I had never tried anything else with that same sauce, I thought I’d never have the opportunity.
However, thanks to my mom and her grocery shopping impulses, the last time I was home during spring break, she brought home a HUGE tub of the stuff that only cost $7 without even really knowing what it was good for. When I saw it after coming back from Hong Kong, on my first trip to Kam Man supermarket, I made a beeline for the cylindrical dduk (you can use ovalettes in this recipe too but I prefer the meatier cylinders) and cooked the dish the same day. Paired with Korean-style bbq short ribs, this makes a really delicious and satisfying meal.
Unlike the version at Mandu, I add red bell peppers, which accented the sweetness of the sauce and added the necessary crunch to contrast with the soft and squishy dduk. Yum. Just a note: if you’re heating leftovers the next day, it’s better to heat them on the stove rather than the microwave. That way they soften up again.
Separate the dduk. If you think the cylinders are too big, you can cut each of them in half, but I like them to be quite substantial bites. Drop the dduk in a large pot of boiling water, making sure you salt the water first. Drain after cooked all the way through and soft; this usually takes about 5 minutes.
In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, dochujang, sugar, sesame oil, and garlic. It should taken on the consistency of ketchup.
In a wok or large saute pan on medium heat, add oil. When hot, add vegetables and stirfry for 3-4 minutes until cooked. Add the drained dduk as well as the sauce mixture and stir until everything is evenly coated and heated through. Add salt to taste. For garnish, you can top the ddukbokgi with sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds.
The Quans go to Washington
April 12, 2009 § Leave a comment
There’s only about 3 weeks left in the semester, and to help me through to the final stretch, my parents and youngest sister Jackie came down this past weekend to keep me company during my Easter break. At first I was a bit nervous since the weather didn’t look too good, but Friday, it was sunny and clear and we spent the entire day downtown at the National Mall and Smithsonian museums – American History, National Gallery (of course) and Natural History.
My parents left all the eating up to me, and I have to say I planned out a pretty damn good itinerary. We had a lovely light lunch at Teaism which was fast and cheap, but the bento boxes and other food were surprisingly fresh and tasty. Jackie really liked the mango lassi and the salty oat cookies (which I could eat with the tea alone), and I loved the little pot that the tea came in. The adjacent tea shop next doory wasn’t open at the time, but I think I might go back there to get a Mother’s Day gift or something. I could see how people go there day after day for lunch; there are so many different choices, so many possible combinations.
We started on campus, which was absolutely beautiful because all the tulips and flowers had already started blooming. Plus, mom and dad had to get the requisite shot of them in front of Healy Tower. My parents really enjoyed the National Gallery, especially the large rotunda on the second floor with the giant marble columns. I don’t think my mom realized that there were so many important paintings in DC, so she was pretty impressed with the Monets and Van Goghs housed upstairs. There was also a temporary orchid exhibit at the Museum of Natural History, so if you’re in DC during the next month or so, I’d recommend stopping by there as well. All Smithsonian museums have free admission! One reason why I really love going to school in DC. Free culture!
Finally, we had dinner back at Jaleo in Penn Quarter since my parents had never tried Spanish tapas before and Jaleo was one of the first restaurants that I had reviewed for The Hoya. I have always loved Jose Andres food since then, so I thought it would be a special treat for them to try a lot of his small dishes. Everything we ordered was delicious, especially the classic tuna salad ensaladilla rusa and the semolina cake for dessert, which had a lovely light texture, paired with the cinnamon ice cream.
So that concludes the first day while my family was down here. We spent the rest of the night at my mom’s college friend’s house in Fairfax, VA where a bunch of them got together and just drank cocktails and ate snacks while reminiscing about college life and passing along gossip about other classmates. The next day we went to Old Town Alexandria and had some of the best seafood of my life, but that’s for another day’s post.
Gimme my galbi
April 8, 2009 § Leave a comment
This is the recipe for the Korean galbi that accompanied the dry-fried green beans in the previous post. Sometimes, you just need a good helping of beef with a little bit of green on the side. These short ribs marinated for about 10 hours in the fridge before I slapped them on the smoking hot grill pan, and the flavor was amazing. Good caramelized crust on the outside and wonderfully tender insides.
Kiwi may seem like a strange ingredient, but other people – who add apple or pear – do add fruit, probably because it acts as a great tenderizer for the beef. Ideally you would puree everything in the marinade, but I don’t have a food processor so I just diced everything and it turned out fine. Everyone loved it, and this is definitely a great thing to eat when you have guests around and want to prepare them. In my experience, Korean bbq is pretty expensive in restaurants, so this is also a good way to eat well and save some money in the comfort of your own home. Just make sure someone else is delegated to do the dishes.
Korean Galbi
1 tbspn black pepper
Wash any bits of bone from the ribs and then pat dry with paper towels. Mix/puree the ingredients for the marinade and pour into a pan. Add the ribs and marinate for 8-10 hours, the longer the better. Heat a grill pan until smoking hot and grill for 2-3 minutes. These are thinly cut so you really don’t need that much time to get a medium rare short rib. Eat.
Dragon Palace-style Green Beans
April 6, 2009 § Leave a comment
When I’m home for breaks, there is one restaurant that our family must always go to for dinner – Dragon Palace. It serves amazing Sichuan food that we can’t get anywhere else, and the fact that it’s about a three minute drive from our house is a plus. We always show up early before the dinner rush, our waiter is always the same, and we always order the same three or four dishes and then branch out a bit. Sometimes, familiarity can only be a good thing.
One of the must-order dishes is the Sichuan dry-fried green beans. Now, my mom is a pretty good cook, but her green bean dishes could never compared to the wonderfully blistered and salty nuances of Dragon Palace’s version. The beans are crisp but somehow still juicy on the inside, and that light smattering of ground pork is always a good thing. The last time I was home, I think they knew we were going to order it, and they gave us an extra huge helping.
Originally, I assumed that their version was superior simply because they were a restaurant; they had to make it better because otherwise no one would pay for it. But, while browsing the archives of one of my new-favorite blogs, appetiteforchina, I found a dish called “dry-fried green beans” and I knew that I might have found the answer to my string bean-pleas.
We didn’t have ground pork when I made this version, and I also added maybe too much chili paste. It was a lot spicier than I intended to turn out but it was still delicious. We paired the beans with some Korean galbi which I’ll post about later. Together, it was probably the fastest, simplest, most delicious meal that I cooked while I was home.
Dry-fried Green Beans a la Dragon Palace
lots and lots of canola oil (about 3-4 tablespoons)
Heat the oil in a wok until just beginning to smoke. Add green beans and stir fry. Again, make sure that the beans are really really dry, otherwise they’ll cause a lot of oil to splatter when you add them. These are delicious but they’re not worth any serious grease burns. Make sure the beans all get a coating of the oil and stir them constantly for about 8-10 minutes until they finally begin to blister. When the beans are wilted, take them out and drain on paper towels.
Remove all but 2 tablespoons of oil. Add garlic, ginger, preserved mustard, shrimp and cook for about 1 minute until fragrant. Return beans to the wok and add chili bean paste (you can add more if you like it really really spicy), sugar, salt, sesame oil and stir until well combined. Serve blazing hot.
Notes on Food 