April 24, 2008
bibimbop party!
We have a Korean music group for tots here in Brooklyn and had our first dinner together at our place, a bibimbop party where everyone brought one of the sides. It was great fun and something about the smells of bulgogi (that was my offering) sauteeing while little Korean feet ran about made me feel as though another unnamed something has come full circle in my life.
April 27, 2008
magic sauce
gochujang + sugar melted in a bit of hot water = instant banchan sauce!
Basically you can use this on almost any green vegetable and turn it into banchan: steamed broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, spinach.. not to mention a veggie filled bibim- naengmyun!
Maybe everyone already knows this but it didn't hit me until I discovered this baby swiss chard banchan at a korean restaurant, it was simply blanched and then covered in this sauce. The slightly bitter leafiness of the chard balanced nicely with the spicy sweet sauce and I couldn't stop eating it:
(and many apologies for the headache inducing iphone photo - obviously I was too hungry while taking this one!)