3 Jars of Kimchee sitting in a tree...

There we go, Chang's Kimchee. Except, not.
I didn't have carrots.
I didn't have scallions.
I didn't have Korean chili powder.
I didn't have two teaspoons of salted shrimp.

Sigh.

So...
Instead of carrots - threw in a chopped up sweet red pepper and a chopped up cucumber.
I had garlic scallions, so made do with those and added less garlic than called for to recipe.
I used a Korean kimchee paste base instead of plain korean chili powder, and threw in some regular chili powder to make it spicier.
I made do without the salted shrimp. In the end, the stuff is too salty anyway.

Learnings:
I had NO IDEA how much garlic, and salty products go into this stuff. Garlic - ok, not worried about. But soy sauce, fish sauce, etc. Woah. This stuff is supposed to be some of the healthiest food you can eat, at least if you ignore the reports about stomach cancer incidences in Koreans. (Can't only be because of the kimchee...)

Don't get me wrong, I am happy to have those three jars sitting in my fridge now, fermenting away. But I think we need some further adjustments to Chang's recipe. And next time I will at least make sure I have most of the ingredients at home before chopping up the cabbage.

BTW, anyone know anything about the fermentation process? I mean, are those jars gonna explode in the fridge?

Momofuku Octopus

Tried another Momofuku recipe this evening. Quite nice but a lot of work if you follow all of his directions. You are supposed to braise the octopus in the oven for two hours and then grill it. I didn't have that kind of time, so took a few shortcuts. And...it was delicious, but still on the chewy side. (I actually like it chewier). Also, had a few SMALL substitutes here and there, nothing crazy. Full of: octopus, green onions, bamboo shoots, green algae, carrots, red peppers.

Would make it again.

Trying Chang's kimchee recipe for cabbage kimchee this weekend as well. Although I guess it'll be about two weeks before it is done marinating.

My sister mentioned a restaurant near her where she goes to eat occasionally - where the food gives her tons of energy. I am curious to hear more about those dishes. This octopus salad felt a bit like one of those recipes, I think. Lot of spice and crunch and chew, and next to zero fat.

Momofuku Pork Buns

You start with something like this....

...which I have to admit is pretty scary for me. Because 1) I almost never buy meat, and when I do, it doesn't look like this. It is rather an understated chicken breast or a pound of ground lamb. You know, the kind of meat which doesn't remind you too much of the animal that has been sacrificed for your caloric intake (and eating pleasure.) The woman weighing it out for me at the counter told me that it was enough for 5 "normal" eaters, at which point you wonder what the meat consumption per capita in Germany is. And then you choose not to wonder. Anyway, this 1.xx kilos of pork was put in the fridge with salt and sugar coating overnight and then roasted for about 3 hours on Sunday morning. I was following David Chang's famous Pork Bun recipe. I have heard that some people are thinking about creating a new religion around these famous sandwiches.

In addition to the PORK, if you are doing things correctly, you are also mixing up the dough for the buns, letting it rest, chopping it up, rolling it out, steaming it. All 50 of them per recipe. (David explains they freeze well and I am taking his word for it.)

The rest is very straightforward. Actually, the whole process is straightforward, just takes some time. Sliver some chives, pickle some cucumbers and radishes, buy some hoisin sauce and kimchi and whatever other pickles or spicy sauces you wanna add into the mix...and done.

Serve it up to hungry guests.

This is what the finished product looks like, although...this was not one of mine. I stole this photo from the internet - you will find literally thousands of photos

(See)

of this sandwich (remember - religion) and variations of it. I was just running around last night and not feeling like being übergeek and taking photos.



But what i can tell you:
1) they were yummy - and I managed to buy pork belly without much fat -just a layer on top, much of which I removed, so the meat was quite lean in the end. I am sure they would have been even better with layers of fat, but no one at the table would have been eating them quite so voraciously.
2) Yes, there are plenty of leftovers, despite that meat salesperson's assurances that the 1.xx kilos of meat would serve 5 eaters (we had 7).
3) yes, I would make them again, but might veer more towards peking duck style...although the kimchi etc. was very nice...

Come on over tonight and I have dinner for you....