Crab Bibimbop and Crab Soybean Soup

꽃게된장찌게[kot-gye-dwen-jang-ji-gye]
Sorry for the delay with updating this blog. No excuse except that I just can't remember how the last two months flew by so quickly. As a Korean saying goes, it feels like all things happened in a blink of an eye. Since this is the first blog post for this year, I would like to send a belated wish to everyone a very happy new year! I am sure hearing new year's greeting at this time of the year would again make you think how time had simply jumped from the new year's day.

The weather in the San Francisco Bay Area has been very unpredictable for the past few weeks. We planned a weekend getaway to Monterey in anticipation of nice spring weather, but the weather forecast showed rain and windy so we had to cancel the trip. Then I woke up on Saturday morning only to find a bright sun light on my eyes. So, I was itching to make it a fun-filled weekend regardless of the weather, and decided to throw a house party with friends savoring our 10-legged crustacean friends that thrives in the northern California coast around this time of the year.



We invited about 10 guests and bought 11 Dungeness crabs, of which we dunked two into soybean soup and steamed the rest to make crab bibimbop. Both of them were big hits. To make crab bibimbop, you first steam crabs upside down (so that the juice stays in the back shell), crack open the shell, and add steamed rice, dry seaweed, a teaspoon of sesame oil and a pinch of sesame seeds into the shell, and then mix them together. This gets you an instant bibimbop right in the crab shell that is full of ocean flavor.

To complement the crab bibimbop, I also made crab soybean soup which is a popular delicacy in Korea. The combination of soybean paste and crabs is surprisingly delectable with a hint of fresh ocean aroma. Here is how you make it.

Ingredients for 4 servings

Stock:
anchovy (7-8, medium to large size)
dry kelp (3"x3")
water (10 cups)

Sauce:
soybean paste (1 tbl)
chili paste (1 tsp)
chili powder (1/2 tbl)
water (1/2 cup)
minced garlic (1 tbl)
ground ginger (1 tsp)
salt (1/2 tbl)
pepper (1/3 tsp)

Other:
Dungeness crab (1)
daikon radish (1/2)
kabocha (1/4)
zuchini (1/2)
Korean leek and or green onion (1 stalk)
green and red peppers to taste (2 each)

1.

Make anchovy stock by boiling dry anchovies and dry kelp (kombu) in water. Fish out kombu when the water starts boiling and anchovies about 5 minutes later.

2.

While the stock is underway on your stovetop, make a mixture of soybean and chili pastes, chili powsder and fresh ground ginger (see ingredients for sauce above).

3.

Add soybean/chili paste mixture from Step 3 to the anchovy stock from Step 1.

4.

Slice daikon radish into 1/8" thick and about 1/2" square.

5.

Add sliced daikon radish from Step 5 into soybean paste stock from Step 4 and boil for about 5 minutes until they are softened.

6.

Prepare other vegetables that usually go into soybean paste soup. I have kabocha and zuchini.

7.

Slice green and red peppers and some Korean leek/green onion for garnish.

8.

Add fresh crabs that are washed and cracked in 4 parts. Skim off the foam as it develops.

9.

Add remaining vegetables and boil for 5 and then add scallion and pepper to garnish and then boil for another 2 to 3 minutes. Be sure not to overcook it, otherwise the shells will get too soft.

Seafood and Vegetable in Mustard Sauce

양장피 잡채[yang-jang-pi-jap-chae]
I impressed quite a few of my guests, including my mother-in-law and my mom with this dish. Though it looks quite sophisticated, you can easily deceive your guests because this is actually very easy to make; all you need to do is to slice the ingredients individually and then arrange them as neatly as you can. This makes a great party dish because you can prepare everything in advance and serve it chilled from a refrigerator and it looks great.

I have to make one disclosure here. This recipe deviates from the original yangjangpi recipe in that the noodles (seen in the middle of dish) are not mung beans noodles, but instead I used Vietnamese rice papers because they are easier to find in a supermarket. It turns out I like it beter with rice papers because they give more chewier texture.

Ingredients for 4 serving:
A. Seasoned noodles:
Vietnamese rice papers (6, crushed)
soy Sauce (1 tsp)
sesame oil (1 tbl)
garlic (1/2 tsp, minced)
salt

B. Stir-fried vegetables:
pork or beef (100g, thinly sliced)
garlic chives (100g)
cabbage leaves (2, thinly sliced)
onion (1/2, thinly sliced)
carrot (1/3, thinly sliced)
leek (1/2, sliced)
Korean green pepper (5, sliced)
ginger (1/2, chopped)
mushroom (shitake or moki, 1/2 cup)
soy sauce (1 tbl)
sesame oil (1 tbl)
cooking wine (2 tsp)
salt and peper
oil (4 tbl)

C. Fresh/cooked ingredients:
shrimp (1 cup)
egg (2, yolk and white separated)
cucumber (1/2, thinly sliced)
bell peppers (1, thinly sliced)

D. Mustard sauce:
water (1/2 cup)
sugar (3 tbl)
salt (1 tsp)
vinegar (3 tbl)
soy sauce (1/2 tbl)
sesame oil (q tbl)
garlic (1 tsp, minced)
yellow wasabi (1 1/2 tbl)
peanut butter (1 tbl)

1.

Make the mustard sauce by mixing all the ingredients together [Ingredients List A].

2.

Boil shrimps, drain and slice in half.

3.

Julienne fresh vegetables, faked crab meats, etc [Ingredients List C]. You may choose different vegetables to fit your taste, but try to pick different colors of vegetables.

4.

Make egg threads by frying the egg yolks and whites separately.

5.

Prepare the vegetables [Ingredients List B] for stir-fry.

6.

Stir fry the vegetables in Step 5 with a little bit of soy sauce, sesame oil, and cooking wine.

7.

Make the sauce for noodles by mixing soy sauce, minced garlic, and sesame oil [Ingredients List B]

8.

Soak Vietnamese rice paper in hot water for 30 seconds and drain.

9.

Season the rice paper in the sauce from Step 8.

10.

Arrange the prepared vegetables and seafood around a plate. Alternate different colors.

11.

Place the seasoned noodles from Step 9 in the middle of the plate. Pour the sauce over right before serving.

Featured Items:

Braised Black Cod

은대구찜[eun-dae-gu-jjim]
It takes about 6 hours to get to my parents' place in Southern California from Oakland (where we live). When we are visiting my parents over the weekend, we usually drive down on Fridays after work and arrive there around the midnight. My parents are usually awake until then, so we chat for about an hour before we go to bed. Because of a long drive from the night before, we usually wake up late the next morning. And by then, my mom and dad had already come back from a fish market in Newport Beach, and mom is busy in the kitchen preparing much anticipated her specialty dish, braised black cod. This has been more or less a routine whenever we are visiting.


My parents usually leave home for the fish market around 6 o'clock in the morning when we are deep in sleep, so we never had a chance to tag along to the fish market or to take pictures of my mom cooking until now. But this one time, I was determined to wake up earlier than usual to join them.


That's my dad getting some fresh crabs for an appetizer. Yes, steamed crabs are only an appetizer to the braised black cod.

This dish is something that Min and I look forward to whenever we are visiting my parents'. It is very special because you can only use fresh fish, not frozen ones. Some restaurants use frozen cods, but it can't compare to fresh cods. This dish is not one of the most photogenic dishes, but it has to be one of our favorite dishes made by my mom. It's totally worth a 6-hour drive.

Ingredients for 6-7 serving:
black cod (3lb)
daikon radish (1/2)

Ingredients for sauce:
green onion/scallion (5-6 stems, chopped)
onion (1/2, chopped)
garlic (2-3 cloves, minced)
chili powder (1/3 cup)
sesame oil (1 tbl)
sesame seeds (2 tbl, roasted/ground)
fish sauce (1 tbl)
oligo syrup/corn syrup (1/3 cup)
soy sauce (1/3 cup)

1.

Prepare a fresh black cod. Chop the fish into chunks about 1/2" thick.

2.

Slice a daikon radish about 1/2" thick and cover the pan like in the picture.

3.

Place black cod chunks over the radish slices.

4.

You need the following ingredients for the sauce.

5.

Plus chopped onions.

6.

And chopped green onion and minced garlic. My mom normally grind the garlic in large batch then freeze in small cubes or rectangular shapes for individual uses.

7.

Mix everything together from Step 4,5 and 6.

8.

Spread the sauce over the cod slices.

9.

Heat over high at first and then at medium for about 15 to 20 minutes until the fish are all cooked.

Featured Items:

Scallop and Brussel Sprouts with Jalapeno Salsa

Brussel sprouts are quite new to my diet. At first, I thought they are just miniature cabbages. So, I never really paid attention to them until I learned this recipe from the Nobu cookbook. Ever since then, brussel sprouts have become a staple to our grocery list. How do I use brussel sprouts in Korean dishes? I throw in a couple of heads into soybean paste soup. When they are cooked in the soup, they become infused with the soybean flavors . And those bite-size heads are so soft and sweet.

Just like Cabbage Steak, this is another signature dish by Nobu where he uses the minimum required ingredients to bring out the very best of the flavors in those ingredients.

Ingredients for 1 serving:
scallop (1, large)
sea salt
brussel sprouts (5 heads)
grapeseed oil (1 tbl + 1 tsp)
clarified butter (2 tsp)

Ingredients for Jalapeno Salsa:
red onion (1/8)
coriander leaves (a few)
jalapeno (1/2)
jalepeno dressing (puree of 10g of chopped jalapeno, 100ml of rice vinegar, 5g of grated garlic, 1 1/5 tsp of sea salt and 120 ml of grapeseed oil)
olive oil
dry red pepper slices (shilgochu)

1.

Finely chop the red onion, coriander, and japaleno in the jalapeno dressing.

2.

Salt the scallops.

3.

Peel away the individual leaves of the sprouts.

4.

On a small frying pan, saute the scallop on both sides until they are lightly browned.

5.

On a separate frying pan, add grapeseed oil over medium heat. Salt the sprout leaves and quickly saute them. Add the clarified butter and quickly heat through. Place the ingredients on a plate as seen in the picture.

Featured Items:

Roasted Seaweed - Gim

김[gim]

This is my favorite way of eating rice! Just place a piece of roasted seaweed paper on top of a bowl of rice, then make an instant sushi by squeezing the rice with chopsticks. This is even better with a piece of kimchi. I can probably finish a large bowl of rice just with roasted seaweed and kimchi.


Japanese dry seaweed paper nori is widely popular as a sushi paper, but Korean dry-seaweed gim is not much known to non-Koreans. Both nori and gim are red laver harvested and dried in paper-thin sheets of a standard size, but the main difference lies in its thickness. Nori is often used for wrapping sushi rolls. On the other hand, gim is served more like a side dish to a rice meal in Korean culture. You can still use gim for making California rolls or gimbab, but nori is preferred for sushi or rice wrapping than gim. The best way to enjoy gim is as shown above. It is a very simple combination, but the crispy gim with a right amount of salt makes a wonderful taste together.

Please note this post shows how to season and roast gim at home. If you don't mind factory-packaged gim, there are many pre-roasted and seasoned gims sold in the market these days.

Ingredients:

Korean dried-seaweed paper (gim, similar to nori in Japanese but thinner)
sesame oi
salt

1.

Brush each sheet of Korean dried-seaweed paper, gim, with sesame oil.

2.

Sprinkle salt evenly onto each sheet of gim. Stack each sheet of gim on top of another so that they are seasoned on both sides.

3.

On a griddle, roast each sheet of gim on low to medium heat. Be careful not to over-roast. If the color turns light green, that means it's overdone. You want to make it just be crispy and yet not burnt.

4.

Cut each sheet of gim into approximately 2"x4" size. You can make approximately 8 small pieces from a standard sheet of gim. You can either use a pair of scissor or use a knife to cut into a stack of roasted gim. I find using a knife easier to cut a large amount of gim at once.

Featured Items: