Kimchi

One-pot chicken and rice

1/2 c chopped shallots
3-4 cloves garlic chopped
8 dried mushroom rehydrated and sliced
3/4 lb chicken thighs, cut into 1/2 in pieces
1 1/2 c long grain brown rice, washed

2 c chicken stock (or combination with mushroom soaking liquid)
3 T soy sauce
2 T oyster sauce
1 t sesame oil
pepper
sliced scallions

heat dutch oven with oil. stir fry shallots and garlic until fragrant. Add chicken and mushrooms and cook until rawness of the chicken disappears. add liquid mixture and bring to a boil. stir in rice. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 45 minutes. Take off heat and add scallions. Rest for 10 minutes. mix up mixture.

Charles Pham Caramel Chicken

Chicken in Caramel Sauce
adapted from SF Gate

Serves 4 to 6
The inspiration for this dish that Charles Phan serves at his Slanted Door restaurant in San Francisco came from a street cart in Vietnam. It's a good example of the great food that is served from street stands throughout that country.

1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce (see Note)
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dark or regular soy sauce (double/triple)
1 teaspoon slivered ginger (double/triple)1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 small Thai chiles (fresh or dried), broken in half
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 shallot, sliced (double/triple)
1 3/4 pounds skinless, boneless dark-meat chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
1/4 pound skinless, boneless white-meat chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
Steamed white rice
Cilantro sprigs for garnish

Combine the brown sugar, water, fish sauce, vinegar, garlic, soy sauce, ginger, pepper and chiles in a small bowl. Mix well, and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large pot over high heat. Add the shallot and saute until brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chicken and saute until it is slightly browned, about 5 minutes.
Add the sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has reduced by half, about 12 to 20 minutes depending on the pot size. Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro.
Note: Fish sauce is available in Asian markets and upscale supermarkets.
Per serving: 400 calories, 41 g protein, 22 g carbohydrate, 15 g fat (4 g saturated), 131 mg cholesterol, 903 mg sodium, 0 fiber
The secrets: The interplay between the fish sauce and brown sugar creates a complex flavor. The combination of white and dark meat gives interesting texture to the dish.

Chicken and ginger simmered in caramel sauce (ga kho gung)

Chicken and ginger simmered in caramel sauce
adapted from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen -- Andrea Nguyen
1 2/3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, well trimmed and cut into 1 in chunks
Chubby 2 in piece fresh ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
3 T caramel sauce
2 T fish sauce
1/4 t salt

1. In a small saucepan, combine the chicken, ginger, caramel sauce, fish sauce, salt, and water and stir to distribute everything evenly. Cover and bring to a strong simmer over medium heat. Stir again to break up the chicken pieces and cover. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring every now and then. Fragrant plumes of steam will shoot from under the lid and the content will boil vigorously. The sauce will increase in volume as the chicken releases its juices. If the content threaten to boil over or the lid rattles, lower the heat.

2. After the 10 minutes, uncover and continue cooking for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce reduces and the color deapens to a rich reddish brown. Remove from the heat, cover and let rest for 5 minutes.

3. Taste the sauce and adjust the flavor with extra fish sauce, if necessary. Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with scallion, and serve immediately.

Mapa Tofu

my favorite mapa tofu made with beef and kochu jang.

curry chicken jjim-ppang

Pichet Ong's Kabocha Squash Cheesecake

I've beeing wanting to make this cheesecake for years. it's been in the NY times as well as in his cookbook, Sweet Spot. well finally came around to it. the grahm cracker-walnut crust is crisp, strumptious (though maybe more butter than called for to firm and crisp up). the custard is sweet, creamy and not-too-leaden as most cheesecakes tend to be. (afterall it calls for just one package of cream cheese as opposed to most other recipes which average around 3 packages!

the recipe calls for steaming the squash as opposed to roasting (or using canned pumpkin) as typically suggested. i found Kabocha to be denser than butternut so this worked well but not sure if it would with less denser species.

after our rich and extended portguese dinner, the family didn't seem too enthused about this one. but i'm willing to bet it was more about timing and state of stomach than the actual results and am willing to make (after some tweaks) this one more often. (perhaps in the form of mini cheesecakes.

Strawberry shortcake birthday cake

further to my preference for asian-style desserts, i made this strawberry shortcake for dad's 70th birthday. i used a sponge cake recipe from America's Test Kitchen and for the frosting i whipped 2 cups of heavy cream with 2 T of sugar. i tried using some soften gelatin to stabilize the frosting since i had to make this a day before (too much to do for dad's big day). the gelatin didn't quite combine completely with the cream creating some unappealing web-like clumps. turns out the whipped cream held up pretty well (for at least 2 days) on the cake so i don't think it's necessary for future whipped-cream frostings.

in any case, this is my favorite kind of dessert: light, fresh, not-too-sweet. i'll definitely beef up the strawberry middle layer (the sponge cake can take the load as i've learned) and continue to experiment to perfect this.

Honey Castella

I’ve always been on an enthusiastic quest for recreating desserts from the Korean bakeries I frequented as a kid in Seoul. From anko-pang to soboro, being able to make these treats that are a staple in asian bakeries at home is especially comforting and exciting when it’s a success.
That’s why I was thrilled with this Honey Castella recipe from Pichet Ong's "The Sweet Spot." It definitely goes down as a favorite. For whatever reason, these “traditional” western-style asian desserts tend to be on the drier, less sweet side, which may be why this cake really appeals. Its dry spongy texture and subtle honeyed flavor really took me back….

I used this loaf pan instead of the cake pan called for in the recipe (since that's how it's done in Korea). The pan which I got from IKEA turned about to be perfect for half the recipe.