Cooking Korean: Manju (Sweet white bean buns)

I love to make buns, so when I was invited to my friend Ahsik-bot's bbq I decided I would make a sweet bun.  Maangchi had just posted a new recipe for Manju on her site - decision made.  The manju recipe is made with lima beans (for a white bean filling).  Lima beans are often sold as butterbeans.  Lima beans are nice and big ie easy to work with and mash nicely.  I'm sure you could replace them with a different large white bean (lima beans can be difficult to find in different places)



Now that you've seen the video, you know exactly what I did.  I used canned beans . . . with no negative lasting effect I think, as my buns were a huge hit.  I found I had to cook my beans a bit longer with the sugar in them to get them to thicken up.  I doubled the recipe, so I don't know if that was a factor.  I found that though I doubled the recipe and formed 16 buns, they were a bit small.  It seemed more like 1.5 the recipe - even though I did the math right.  It didn't seem to effect taste.

dough is on the left filling on the right

Going into the oven!

Coming out of the oven, they don't rise too much

Ninja trapped by manju!

As I mentioned the buns were a big hit.  I would definitely make them again.  It was quick and easy, while utilizing easy to find ingredients.  If your just starting out making buns this is a pretty forgiving recipe and dough, so probably a good place to start.

Cooking Korean: Yangnyeom tongdak (seasoned fried chicken) and hobakjeon (Squash Pancakes)

I made a two recipes from Maangchi.com for dinner tonight.  The seasoned fried chicken and the squash pancakes(zucchini) - you know to have a well rounded meal.  I had some chicken left over from a big grocery store sale, so I was in the market for a chicken recipe (I'm trying to clean out my freezer before going to Japan). I remembered seeing a interesting spicy friend chicken recipe at Maangchi's site on a day when I didn't have chicken.  Unlike today . . . when I do have chicken.  You can see the recipes at the links.  Or you can watch the videos here!





I made a half batch of the chicken.  It was easy to half the recipe(I used an entire egg).  I also used honey as I don't keep corn syrup.  As the meal was super super delicious I imagine it didn't effect the taste any.  The whole thing turned out really well. I made the squash pancakes during the final fry of the chicken and it worked out perfect.

zucchini ready to go

Chicken breaded and ready

Oil getting hot!

Fry number 1

Resting

Double fried!

Frying away in the pan

Coated in sauce!

See cooked all the way through!

Nice and brown

Super delicious dinner with ninja

I must say this might be the best chicken I have ever made.  Ever.  It is just fantastic.  In fact, it might be the best fried chicken I've ever eaten.  The crust was just so crispy and stayed on great!  I imagine it is the mochiko flour that makes it awesome . . . and all the potato starch.  It is just perfectly spicy and awesome.  The squash pancakes were also delicious.  Not quite as mind blowing, but a really nice veggi side for the meal.  The whole thing was really easy to make and pretty fast.  Took may be 40 minutes to get everything done.  I will note that I used chucks of chicken breast (fairly small ones) and I did not have to fry for nearly as long as Maangchi did (about 5 minutes each time).  Don't worry it was cooked through, no pink chicken!

Cooking Korean: Gyeran malyee (rolled omelet)

I have a great love for Tamago(japanese layered omelet) and can never quite make it right (despite trying many blogger's recipes of how to do it without a tomago pan - these efforts always involve rolling).  That is why I knew I had to make this rolled omelet when I saw it at Maangchi's site!  I finally made it tonight . . . after I dropped my box of eggs on the floor and had exactly 3 eggs to use (the recipe calls for 3 so it was fate).



If you've watched the video you'll see how easy the recipe is.  It was also very tasty. MOST importantly it turned out right for once!

Ninjas take their omelet very seriously . . .

Super easy recipe. Great for dinner or for bentos!

Cooking Korean: Ojingeochae muchim (spicy squid)

When I was traveling back from England I stopped at Yo!Sushi.  It is a fun little place where the sushi goes about on the conveyer and you pick the plates you want.  Different colors mean different prices.  One of the dishes I chose was spicy squid.  I love squid, so it was worth a try.  It was delicious bright reddish orange squid on a plate of greens.  Very very good . . . and the most expensive plate I got, but worth it.  It was definitely not a particularly cheap airport lunch.

it looks fun right?

Randomly I was looking at recipes before going shopping (I had no food in the house due to traveling so much lately).  I found a recipe for Ojingeochae muchim (spicy squid) at Maangchi's site that looked a lot like what I ate.  Click on the link to go to the site and watch the video if your inclined.   This recipe involves stirring the ingredients and that is all.  It doesn't get easier.  I halved the recipe as I didn't know if I'd like anything made with dried squid or not . . . half makes quite a lot.

Ninja got stuck in the squid . . .

Overall, I really like it.  It was super easy to make and apparently keeps in the fridge for 1 month.  It was very very spicy, which I like.  You may want to use caution though.  If you have any inclinaiton toward squid I would suggest it.

Cooking Korean: Japchae (stirfried noodles)

I decided to make something new from Maangchi's site today: Japchae or stirfried noodles and vegetables.  It just looked so good . . . I like to stirfry things . . . woks  are fun.  The recipe also looks like it will heat up well so I can many meals out of it.  That is how I like to cook.  Complicated recipes that will last me for a bit . . . but not too hard, I don't like failure. As always I recommend starting with the video to get an idea of the recipe.

As often happens I changed the recipe up a bit based on ingredients I have/could get.  It is beautiful spring here in Edmonton (finally), so I walked to the nearby grocery store rather than going somewhere fancy.  I couldn't find the starch noodles, so I used regular rice noodles . . . okay brown rice noodles . . . they seemed the most fun of my options.  I also used ground beef that I had to use like now rather than slicing up some beef I would have had to purchase today.  Overall, I think the soul of the recipe is intact.

bowl of ingredients!

Its a ninja trap . . .

The result? Fantastic!  And super easy.  I would make this again.  I changed up the recipe a bit and cooked more of my veggies together at each step . . . but I don't think it hurt the quality . . . I was very hungry at the time.

Cooking Korean . . . Redue: Hoddeok . . . kinda

Awhile back I made some very very delicious Hoddeok following Maangchi's recipe. See the video for the full recipe. See my old post for my adventure.  It was super delicious and yummy, but as I was making and eating it I thought . . . what else can I put in this.  This is my new adventure with alternative fillings.


To me the best part of Hoddeok is the nice chewy sweet dough the filling is wrapped in.  So, I thought it would be good to see what else you could put in the middle of it.  For quite some time now I've had a large bag of lotus seed paste that I've been meaning to use.  It is a very delicious Chinese dessert filling.  Very rich, but not too sweet.  Much like a red or while been filling you get in some Japanese desserts.  Having picked my filling it was time to get started.

Bought at the T&T of course!

It is super thick so easy to use as a filling!

I made the dough exactly as instructed in the video.  Don't be put off by it.  It is much easier to work with then it appears.  Just make sure you have flour for your hands etc, when working with it.  You end up with 8 largish hoddeok.  The filling it really rich, so one is probably enough for a portion.  Or two is you have some tea and a break.

Nice bubble dough after all done rising twice

dough balls ready to be filled

Filling them is super easy

One done!

Filled and ready to cook!

Frying side one . . .

Flipped and smashed!

First one done . . . it goes to the ninja . . .

Big plate of Hoddeok!

The results were pretty good.  I was worried the filling might totally overwhelm the delicate taste of the dough, but it didn't.  Not as good as the original brown sugar filling, but a fun and interesting variation.  I can't wait to try other stuff in there!