Caramelized kimchi fried rice over Korean corn cheese

 

So corn cheese is an artifact of the Korean war when American soldiers introduced canned corn, shredded cheese, and mayonnaise to the Korean peninsula. It's now often served there as a side dish or for kids, but in this dish, it makes a wonderful foundation for the spicy, tangy, boldly-flavored kimchi fried rice. Who knew global hegemony could taste so good?!

I like to caramelize the kimchi because it's intense, sharp flavor mellows and sweetens a bit. It's a fantastic combination of sour, tangy, acidic, spicy, and umami. Over the rich and slightly sweet corn, this dish is a balanced flavor powerhouse! 

Prep time 2 cocktails

For the corn:

2 cups fresh or frozen sweet corn kernels

2 cups grated low-moisture mozzarella

1/4 cup mayo (store bought or homemade)

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp gochugaru (you can also substitute hot paprika or Aleppo pepper)

1/4 tsp salt

Several grinds of black pepper

For the rice:
2 TBSP Gochutang paste
1 tsp soy sauce (you can also use a 50/50 soy/fish sauce combo)For the rice:

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

2 TBSP butter

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice, chilled

1-1.5 cups kimchi, coarsley chopped (try to keep as much of the juice as possible)

3 cloves garlic

6 scallions sliced diagonally

1 bunch spinach, coarsely chopped

Eggs (optional) - you can fry them over easy on the side and serve on top of this dish or add them scrambled to the pan before adding the rice and cook until they become ruffled around the edges of the pan and have set a little bit

Preheat over to 400F. Combine all the corn ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir until everything is integrated. Transfer to an 8" cast iron pan or a ~6x8" baking dish. Place in oven and cook until the center is melted and a little bubbly. Then switch on the broiler and broil until the top is nicely browned, about 2-4 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool a bit while you finish the rice.

Once your corn is in the oven, you can start the rice: Start by combining the Gochutang paste, soy (or soy/fish sauce combo), and sesame oil in a bowl and whisk until everything is integrated. 

Now heat a large frying pan or wok over medium heat. When the pan is warm, add the butter and melt, then add garlic and 2/3 of your scallions and saute 60 seconds or until aromatic but not turning golden yet. Add kimchi and saute, stirring frequently, until kimchi is a little caramelized, about 10 minutes. Once kimchi is a little caramelized, add the soy sauce mixture and stir well. Then add the rice (with the the eggs before the rice, if you're doing scrambled eggs), and stir well. Cook until the mixture gets sizzling (if the sauce sticks to the pan, you can deglaze with a splash of water). Add the spinach and cook, stirring, 2-3 more minutes until it has shrunken, softened, and turned a vibrant green. Adjust soy (or soy/fish) sauce and sesame oil, if needed.

By the time your rice is finished, your corn should be cooled enough to eat! Spoon the rice on top of the corn, which is still in the pan. Garnish with the  remaining 1/3 of your scallions (and sesame seeds or strips of seaweed, if you like). If you made any fried eggs, an egg can go on top each portion after you dish everything up. 

Vegetarian bibimbap - the best recipe ever?

I regularly slave over meals for whole afternoons. It's not at all uncommon for me to ferment vegetables, nuts, or condiments for weeks in preparation of a particular dinner. My Thanksgiving menu planning starts in mid-June in a typical year. In addition to being a kitchen slut, I'm an over-analytical type-A scientist with OCD and too much spare time.... What I'm trying to say is that I tend to overdo things in the kitchen. So it came as a bit of a pleasant shock today when the love of my life told me no less than 7 times that the dinner I made last night was the best meal I've ever made. And it was a breeze to whip up. So gone are my days of sleuthing through a dozen spice stores to find the freshest ajowan seeds in order to make some obscure Pakistani dish. In the future, I'll just whip up a quick bibimbap and spend the rest of my newfound free time soaking up lavish praise and compliments.

So what the fuck is bibimbap? In addition to a wildly popular 1997 hit song by teenage heartthrob brother band Hansen, it's a wonderfully vibrant, flavorful, and satisfying Korean medley of rice, vegetables, eggs, and hot sauce. Optional are beef, if you're of the carnivorous persuasion or tofu, if you're a fellow Chaco-wearing, leg-shaving vegetarian such as myself. Either way, you simply not go wrong with this meal. Just ask the love of my life!

Prep time: 2 cocktails

Rice:

1 cup forbidden black rice

1 TBSP rice vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

Sauce:

3 TBSP gochujang (a Korean chili paste available at Asian grocers or in the Asian aisle of many supermarkets)

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

2 tsp agave nectar

1 TBSP rice vinegar

1 tsp ginger, minced or very finely grated (optional)

Vegetables:

1/2 cucumber, sliced into the thinnest wheels you can possibly make (a mandolin is helpful if you have one)

2 TBSP rice vinegar

Several TBSP neutral oil with high smoke point (canola or avocado oil are great options), divided

1 large carrot, julienned 

8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced into 1/2-inch strips

4 cloves garlic

12 ounces (about one bunch) spinach, stems removed and chopped up a bit

1 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

2 TBSP soy sauce

2 TBSP mirin cooking wine (available in the Asian aisle of most supermarkets)

4 scallions

4 eggs

4 ounces bean sprouts

1 sheet nori (sushi wrapper) or similar Korean seaweed, chopped up coarsely with a knife or scissors

Several generous pinches sesame seeds

First, get the rice started. Combine all the rice ingredients, along with 1 3/4 cup water in a rice cooker or saucepan with a lid. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Keep warm.

After the rice gets going, toss the cucumbers with several generous pinches of salt and place them in a colander or strainer to let excess water drip out. After 20-30 minutes, transfer cucumbers to a bowl and toss with the 2 TBSP of rice vinegar.

As the cucumbers are sitting in the colander, prepare the sauce by whisking together all the sauce ingredients. Set aside.

Now, heat a TBSP or so of your neutral cooking oil on medium heat in a frying pan or wok. Toss in the carrots and saute until they've turned golden are are a bit blistered, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Return your pan or wok to stovetop, reduce heat to medium (or a little less) and heat up a couple more TBSP of the neutral cooking oil. Add mushrooms and cook about 8 minutes, until they turn a bit golden. Add garlic and stir for  about 30 seconds. Add spinach and cook until it's well-wilted, about 3 minutes. Stir in toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, mirin, and scallions and remove from heat and transfer to a covered bowl to keep warm. 

Now use a large frying pan (you can use the same one from the vegetables if it's big enough) and add 1-2 more TBSP of your neutral cooking oil. When pan and oil are totally hot, add eggs and cook sunny-side-up. 

As eggs are finishing, build your bibimbap bowls. Start with a big mound of rice in the bottom. Add a small heap of cucumbers, carrots, mushroom/spinach combo, and bean sprouts. Top with eggs and garnish with pieces of seaweed and sesame seeds. Serve with generous drizzles of the hot sauce. Then drink massive amounts of soju and bask in the compliments of your dinner companions!

Kimchi Chigae

Pronounced "chee-gay", this dish is actually best when you use super over-ripe kimchi. So opening the jar instantly makes your kitchen smell like an unkept college football locker room, you're in luck! And not to brag, but this recipe is better than any I've ever had in a restaurant. So if you're looking to expand your Korean repertoire and try something a little unusual, this is the ticket!

Prep time: 1 1/2 cocktails

3 TBSP peanut oil

3-4 cups kimchi (over-fermented is best), drained and liquid reserved

1-inch piece of ginger, grated

3 cloves garlic

2 Jalepeno peppers (optional)

2 TBSP Braggs

1 veggie bouillon cube

2 tsp sugar

1 12-ounce package firm tofu, drained and cut into ¾-inch cubes

3 green onions, chopped
A touch of toasted sesame oil

Prepared rice (optional)

Heat the oil in a large pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When hot, add drained kimchi, ginger, garlic and peppers/Siracha. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add Braggs, bouillon cubes, sugar, tofu, and reserved kimchi juice then fill the pot with water so that it comes a couple inches above the kimchi. Bring the soup to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add in green onions and continue cooking 2 more minutes.

Add more soy sauce to taste (the amount depends on how big and funky the flavor of your kimchee was when you started. Serve over rice or by itself and drizzle with a few drops of sesame oil before serving.

Kimchijeon (Korean Kimchi Pancakes)

I'm on a savory pancake kick lately. After concocting the world's greatest zucchini-feta pancakes a couple weeks ago, I found some over fermented kimchi in the back of the fridge. It was so far gone, it smelled as though my adorable black lab with a sensitive stomach ate a wheelbarrow of rotting cabbage and bottled the resulting flatulence for me as an early Christmas gift. It was rough stuff.

But the beauty of kimchi is that you can take a batch that's super overripe and turn it into all kinds of cool things, like kimchijeon--savory Korean pancakes. In fact, using overripe dogfart kimche is actually preferable (though the fresh stuff is good too). So next time you find a biohazardous science experiment fermenting in the back of the refrigerator, don't pitch it, pancake it!

Bonus points, you can whip this up in 15 minutes flat!

Prep time: 1/2 cocktail

Dipping sauce:

2 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP rice vinegar
1 tsp untoasted sesame oil
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame seeds

Whisk all this stuff together in a small bowl and set aside.

Kimchijeon:

1.5 cups white flour

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup kimchi juice

1 tsp sugar

Red chili flakes to taste

1 1/2 cup kimchi, chopped up coarsely (use either store bought or homemade), ideally overripe

A few TBSP oil

1-2 chopped scallions (optional)

Combine first 7 ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until all the lumps are gone. Stir in kimchi.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat with about 3 TBSP oil in it. When it's hot, ladle in enough batter to make a pancake about 6-8" in diameter. When the bottom gets a nice golden brown, gently flip. Remove when the other side is golden brown. Top with scallions.

Repeat until your batter is used up, adding more oil as necessary. 

Kimchi

Kimchi—a spicy, fermented cabbage dish—has been a staple in the Korean diet for at least two thousand years. Historically, kimchi was prepared by combining spices, salt, and cabbage in giant clay pots, then burying the pots underground for several days to ferment. Typically, kimchi is served as a side dish to Korean barbecue or other meat dishes, but I love it as an accompaniment to any Chinese or Korean meal. 

Note that any unusual ingredients—such as shrimp paste and fish sauce—can be purchased at any Asian grocer or can be found in the Asian aisle at many large supermarkets. 

I will mention that kimchi is a bit of an acquired taste. If you’re not feeling super adventurous, simply eat this dish right away (without fermenting it). The raw product is simply a spicy coleslaw and is a great side dish. If you're not as adventurous, using regular green cabbage instead of Napa cabbage makes this dish way easier to enjoy.

Finally, leftover kimchi or kimchi that has been over-fermented (more than three weeks) can be used in many recipes. You can incorporate it into dumplings, savory Korean pancakes, fried rice, or kimchi stew (kimchi chigae). I even love it as a topping for grilled veggie burgers with a fried egg and grilled pineapple! So if your kimchi doesn’t turn out as you would like or if it is past its prime, don’t throw it out—just get creative.

Prep time: 1 cocktail

½ cup salt

2 quarts + 1 cup warm water

1 large head Napa or Savoy cabbage, core removed, chopped into bite-sized pieces

3 TBSP fish sauce

2 TBSP ginger, grated

5 cloves garlic, minced

1-3 TBSP hot pepper powder (a mix of cayenne and paprika - vary the ratio and total amount depending on how hot you want your kimchi... or use Korean gochugaru  chili powder)

1 tsp shrimp paste

1 TBSP sugar

3 carrots or a piece of daikon, sliced into matchstick-sized strips (optional)

2 bunches scallions, chopped

Handful sesame seeds (optional)

                                                                                   

Dissolve the salt into 2 quarts of water in a very large mixing bowl. Add the cabbage. If there isn’t enough water to cover the cabbage, add more. Cover with a weighted plate to keep everything well-submerged. Set aside for at least 4 hours.

In a small bowl, whisk together fish sauce, ginger, garlic, chilies, shrimp paste, and sugar. 

Remove cabbage from its bowl, save the brine liquid, then rinse cabbage very, very well, gently squeeze out moisture, and strain or put through a salad spinner.

Combine cabbage, fish sauce/chili mixture, carrot and scallions. Mix well. As mentioned above, this is the point at which you can eat the kimchi raw. But if you want the fermented variety, pack the mixture tightly into pint or quart mason jars (don’t use metal containers, as the kimchi will react with it and it will stain plastic Tupperware after a few days) and fill remainng space in the jar with leftover brine. Firmly seal the lids and store in a cool dark place for ~48 hours or until you reach desired flavor, flipping the jars upside down after the first day. After that, move the kimchi to the refrigerator. Anytime after going into to the fridge, it is ready to eat. Don’t be afraid if you open the jars and see bubbles or it smells sour—this is a natural part of the fermentation process. As mentioned above, it is good in the fridge for about three weeks.

(Note that if you have a pickling crock, you can also ferment in there for 48 hours with brine covering the kimchi and a weithted plate on top to keep everything submerged.)