Curry Drumsticks

Dear Readers,

This is now my 2nd time trying to perfect this dish, but yet again, I have failed. I'm not getting the taste that I've been imagining throughout 1.5 hr commute from work to home.  Why?  Am I trying to keep the dish, too, simple?  Hm... Maybe that's it.  And maybe the way I'm cooking it isn't helping to bring out the flavors. v.v  I'll have to try again, and hopefully, third time will be THE IT DISH. (sigh).  Until then, please go ahead with the recipe below and maybe help me out and give me some pointers on how to improve this recipe!  I'd really appreciate that... We can do this together!!!

Thank you,

Bella

1. 10 drumsticks- Make about 3 slices with your knife into the meaty area of the drumstick. This will help the drumstick obtain more of the curry flavor. Also, I boiled the drumsticks in a separate pot (with water) for about 3 minutes.  This method is used to rinse out the excess blood and juice out to keep the dish clean, and also it helps reduce the smell.

1/4 of red bell pepper and green bell pepper, 1/2 onion, 4 large mushrooms, 3 stalks for green onions.

(Cut ingredients as shown in the picture).

2.  The curry base- 2 1/2 cups of water and stir in 1/2 cup of curry powder- bring to a boil.

After 3~4 minutes of boiling, bring the heat down to medium, and keep stirring.

*I used Ottugi (오뚜기) Curry Powder.  You can find it in any Korean markets.

3. Add the drumsticks and onions and cook until onions soften, or I say about 10~15 minutes.

4. Add in the veggies and cook about 5 minutes.  You don't want to cook the veggies for long because it water down the curry sauce.

5.  Add in the green onions. Let it cook for about another 2 minutes and your curry drumsticks are ready to be served!

Wow, doesn't it look great in the picture?  Maybe, just adding a little salt can help?  I don't know what it is, but this isn't it.  ㅠ.ㅠ

Odeng Hot Pot/ 어묵전골 (Uhmook Juhngol)

1.  Bring 3 cups of water to a boil with radish. Add 1/2 cup of Mizkan udon soup base. 

2. Ingredients:  1 udon noodle, 3 sticks of assorted fishcake, 1/4 of onions sliced, 3 hard boiled eggs, 1/2 jalapeno pepper, green onions, 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, and some dried red pepper.

3. Lay the noodle on the bottom and top rest of the ingredients and boil for about 5~7 minutes.

There you have a hot pot full of Odeng Tang or 어묵전골 (uhmook jungol)!  It's perfect for cold rainy days with a shot of 소주 (soju).  YUm~  you can't ask for more.  Enjoy!

"I have no time" Kimchi Jjigae

1.  Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups of kimchi, 5 strips of pork belly (samkyupsal), 1/2 onions, 1 Tbs. red pepper paste, 1 tspn. sugar, 1Tbs. of seasoned soysauce (hyangshin soysauce I will post a picture of this soysauce tomorrow), 2 tspn. minced garlic, 1 red pepper, and 5cups of water.

2.  Drizzle a little oil in a medium sized pot.  Put the kimchi, pork belly, onions, minced garlic and stir for about 3~5 minutes.

3.  Add 5 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Add sugar & seasoned soysauce (hyangshin)  and cook for about 30 minutes in medium heat. ***Make sure the ingredients do not submerge under water.  If you do, you're in to making kimchi soup rather than jjigae, and that's a big NO NO!

4.  Relocate some of the delish Kimchi Jjigae to nice little pot and serve with rice and seasoned seaweed!

1. Marinate with Mirin (rice wine), salt and pepper, for about 5 minutes.

2. Heat pan with a little bit of oil and place the pork belly steak onto the pan.  Since it is pork make sure to cook both side WELL-DONE~

3. While the meat is cooking, make your yangnyum (sauce) for the onions. 1.5 tbsp. of gochujang (korean red pepper paste), 1tbsp. of gochugaru (korean red pepper flakes), 1 tbsp. of soysauce, 1/2 tbsp. of mirin (rice wine), 1/2 tbsp. of cooking syrup,  1tsp. of garlic.

4. Cut one whole onion into nice 1cm slices and add to a heated pan with oil.  3minutes add the gochujang sauce and stir the sauce & onions together.  Add more oil as needed. Add in a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until the onions are just about to soften.  As you are about to finish up sprinkle in 1tsp. of sesame oil, stir once and it's ready for plating.

5.  Place the cooked pork belly steak nicely onto the plate, and top it with gochujang onions.  Finish off with a sprinkle or sesame seeds on top... It's READY~

Enjoy! 

curry potato stir-fry

1. potatoes, mushrooms, onions, yellow pepper, and buchu.  You can substitute the buchu with green onions.

2. Drizzle 1 tbsp. of  grapeseed oil on a slightly heated pan.  Add the potatoes & onions.  And cook for about 3-4 minutes. 

3.  Then add the mushrooms, yellow pepper, and buchu.  Sprinkle a generous pinch of salt and add 1tbsp. of curry powder, and stir. Cook until the potatoes are done.  If needed, add a little more grapeseed oil. 

4.  After plating sprinkle a small amount of sesame seed on top, and it's FINISHED! 

ENJOY!

korean-style curry veggie pancakes

1. Chop the veggies you wish to add. In this recipe I used buchu, enoki mushrooms, onions, and korean zucchinies.  Adding carrots would be nice for the color and texture.

2.  Add 1.5 cups of Korean pancake mix (부침가루), 1 cup of water and stir. ***(You do not want your mix to be pasty). Add in all the veggies, tbsp. of curry powder, and good pinch of salt for seasoning and mix well.

3. Heat the pan with oil. 

4. Use a ladle to scoop a generous amount of the yummy mix and spread out the the veggies evenly.  You want to make sure it's not spread out too thick, you want to keep it thin to keep it crispy.

5.  Flip it over to the other side when you see that the bottom has a nice yellow-glow (like the picture above). Make sure you add more oil when you flip it over.  Cook until it's nicely crisp.

To suit your pallette, make a mini sized pancake to see if you need more salt or curry powder.  Or you can keep it as is and use soysauce as dipping sauce when served.

ENJOY!

bbq drumsticks

Chicken drumsticks marinated in garlic, salt and sake, & coated with some rockin' bbq sauce.

The rockin' bbq sauce purchased from Williams-Sonoma.