A Sweet After-School Snack Suprise {Recipe} & Looking Forward

Hey guys! Happy 2016! It's been so dead around here, I know!!. I was itching to post but I had a rough start to new year with a traumatic wisdom tooth extraction and back-to-back winter viral attacks for our family. It was no fun and our spirits were down for so long. But I'm happy to say that we are bouncing back and getting back on the swing of things. I have ton of things to catch up on but wanted to take a moment to sit down and look onwards to this year and think about personal and family goals. I don't usually make NYR (for the reasons that we all know) but I think it's important to have some visions, goals as an individual and as a family. I hope to share them with you here in next couple of weeks/months but for now I'll leave you with something sweet to nibble on!

This is one of our favorite after-school snack. It was also recently featured on FeedFeed! It's called Ma Tang (맛탕). It's a candied sweet potato and I've seen many variations of it but I tried making it this way and it was yummy! Boys shouted out big YASS! when I picked them up from school and told them this was waiting for them at home. Hope you guys get to try it and enjoy it. It's perfect for long cold winter days (thinking about the folks in east coast right now buried in snow).

1 // Peel and cut Asian sweet potatoes. 2// Coat lightly with potato starch. 3// Deep fry them in vegetable oil 4// I fry them twice to make it crispy on the outside and softly cooked inside. 5// Drain oil on kitchen paper towel and drizzle with some maple syrup. 6// Sprinkle toasted black sesame seeds. 

TIP: Used oil for frying vegetables can be recycled. Use small round pot to avoid using too much oil.

Kwang Jang Market Mayak Gimbap {Recipe}

This recipe is one of my favorite from latest Banchan Workshop #4. It's a very famous street food in Korea currently selling at Kwang Jang Market in Seoul. And it happens to be vegan! I like this a lot because it's so much easier to make this at home than regular Korean gimbap using less ingredients. It's a hand-rolled gimbap with seasoned rice and vegetables, in this case spinach, carrots and pickled radish. You can replace the fillers if you'd like, I think the key to this dish is making the mustard dressing to dip. 'Mayak' actually means drugs in Korean. I'm sure Koreans named it as such because it's that addictive? The name is definitely catchy and makes you want to try them! Well, you don't have to go all the way to Korea to eat this. You can make this at home! Check the recipe below and if you do get to try making them, make sure to leave a comment on how you like them?!!

PHOTO BY LISA WONG JACKSON // GOOD ON PAPER

DOWNLOAD RECIPE HERE

Seafood with Korean Pear Naengchae (Salad) - {Recipe}

It feels like my favorite season is finally here. Is it fall yet? I'm not sure if I'm ready to let go of this summer. It was a good one. I was busy working and juggling many things as usual but got to spend some time with my family going camping and squeezing in day trip activities here and there. Wish we had more time but kids are now back in school and I have to say it's actually really nice to be able to get back on the grind, back to our routine. Before I say goodbye to this summer, here is a dish that I want to share. It's light, refreshing summer salad with seafood and Korean pear! A Korean pear (Shingobae, 신고배) is usally large and round with rough golden brown skin. It has slightly bitter taste to it but super juicey. I recently found these different type of Korean pear at the market called golden pear (hwangkeumbae 황금배) which is much smaller in size with yellow skin. It's sweet, juicy and has little bit of sour taste like apple! I love adding fruit in my salad because it makes it juicy and refreshing. Hope you get to try this at home and let me know if you like it!

DOWNLOAD RECIPE HERE

Asian Style Potato Salad {Recipe}

Hello, Happy Friday! Summer is breezing by too fast. Kids will be going back to school in couple of weeks and I'm feeling sad already. I guess we just have to make the most out of every weekend that we have left. Here I'm sharing one of my favorite recipe. It's Asian Style Potato Salad. I make this pretty often because it's great for packing lunch, for a picnic and works as a side dish for any meal. I also like it with toasted bread as a sandwich. You can make small patties and coated with some flour, egg and breadcrumbs to pan fry it. There you have it, a Croquette, a favorite Japanese snack! Hope you get to try it, enjoy!

DOWNLOAD RECIPE HERE

Fried Bulgogi & Shitake Mushrooms {Recipe}

I'm not a huge fan of deep-frying but sometimes I just gotta do what I gotta do. It was a real treat growing up when my mom used to make this for us. I remember standing next to my mom in the kitchen and grabbing them as soon as it came out of the fryer. I couldn't wait until it made it to the table. >__< This easy recipe would make a good afternoon snack or even as a side dish at the dinner table. Using the pre-marinated meat (bulgogi, a seasoned beef) at the market does save a lot of time. I think this dish is good without any sauce or glazing since the bulgogi flavors underneath the batter really comes through when it's fried. For all you veggie lovers, using shitake mushrooms would work great since shitake mushrooms have meaty texture. Just remember to season the mushrooms (bulgogi flavors) before coating with flours and frying them. If you really crave some deep-fried food and if you must, here is a good one for you to try!

DOWNLOAD RECIPE HERE

Root Vegetables Stone Pot Rice {Recipe}

It's Friday! so it's time to share one of my favorite recipes. This stone pot rice recipe is a real special one because it's one of those food medicine, superfood kind of dish. In Korean, it's called 영양밥 (Young Yang Bap), which means nutritious rice. I'm using some unique root vegetables like burdock, lotus roots but you can use any type of root vegetables that you can find. I like adding little bit of chestnut to add some sweet nutty flavors. If you don't have a stone pot at home, no worries. You can make same type of rice in a pot or in rice cooker. Try making this at home and ask your kids to add vegetables that they like! Enjoy.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LISA WONG JACKSON @GOOD_ON_PAPER

DOWNLOAD RECIPE HERE

Chives & Chili Pepper Japchae {Recipe}

Happy Friday! Oh boy am I glad it's Friday. What a long tiring over-working week it has been. I've been spending so many hours in-doors in front of my screen. I can't wait to get out and get some sun and soak in plenty of vitamin-D this weekend. I like this trend of sharing my favorite recipes once a week on Fridays. I hope to keep it up. Here is one of all time favorite Korean traditional dish, Japchae. It's made with Korean glass sweet potato noodles and lots of veggies and meat. This dish can be served as an appetizer, a side dish or as main dish served over bed of rice or with sweet buns. For all you veggie lovers, you can replace the meat with shitake mushrooms for the same meaty texture and flavor. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD RECIPE HERE

Kimchi 101

A few weeks ago, I took a day off to spend some time with the kimchi guru (aka my mom) and learned how to make some kimchi!! She showed me three different types of kimchi: Gutjeori (겉절이) - Napa Cabbage Kimchi Salad (not fermented), Kkadugi (깍두기) - Radish Cube Kimchi and Musaengchae (무생채) - Radish Kiimchi Slaw. We made all this just using 1 small Napa cabbage and 2 small radishes. I love all types of fermented kimchies but also love preserved and quickly tossed kimchies like this one that you can serve like salad at dinner time. She also shared her secret ingredient which makes it clean (깔끔한맛), less salty and less fishy taste. Just the way I like it! Give it a try this weekend and store it in your fridge to eat with your family for days. 

GUTJEORI (겉절이) - NAPA CABBAGE KIMCHI SALAD (Not Fermented)

KKAKDUGI (깍두기) - RADISH CUBE KIMCHI (Fermented)

MUSAENGCHAE (무생채) - RADISH KIMCHI SLAW (Not Fermented) // Photo VIA

DOWNLOAD RECIPE HERE

7 Minutes Korean Steamed Egg (Gyeranjjim) - {Recipe}

I LOVE EGGS! I love to eat them for breakfast, eat them for lunch and dinner too. You put a fried egg on top of something that you thought looks "meh~" all of sudden becomes "deliciosos~!" This is one of my favorite Korean egg dish that only takes 7 minutes to make and a great dish to add to your dinner table at the last minute. Don't forget I'll be hosting my 3rd Korean Cooking Class (Banchan Workshop #3) on May 16. I'll be doing a quick egg technique demo to share! See the full menu and info about the workshop HERE or you can sign up through my blog HERE!

PHOTO & RECIPE VIA KOREAN BAPSANG

DOWNLOAD RECIPE HERE

Mandarin Orange Chicken vs. Korean Fried Chicken {Recipe}

I've been wanting to make Korean Fried Chicken (KFC) but never really had the time and energy to fry chicken at home so I came up with the easiest TJ hack and turned out to be the best hack I ever did! TJ's Mandarin orange chicken is one of the favorite items that we pick up at Trader Joe's. Kids really like them, I'm sure mostly because of its sweet flavors but my husband and I crave spicy food and it's so hard to make a dish that you know everyone on the table would enjoy. TJ's Mandarin orange chicken package comes with two individual sauce bags so you can make half for your kids and other half for youself! Perfect, right??!! Oh, and don't forget to add icy cold beer to go with your KFC. Happy TGIF!

DOWNLOAD RECIPE HERE!

What Are We Eating Today? | DakBokeumTang (Spicy Braised Chicken) - {Recipe} - Updated

Lately, I've been so glued to watching this cooking show on Korean food channel (OliveTV) called 'What Are We Eating Today' (오늘뭐먹지). Mostly for the entertainment but I find this show impeccably funny and the recipes are so doable for people like me who likes to cook on the fly with less ingredients and with the simplest instructions as possible. This show is hosted by two well-known Korean celebs, a singer and a comedian who doesn't have much clue when it comes to Korean home cooking. They would invite cooking gurus from all over the country, mostly successful restaurant owners with their best selling signature dish. You can watch the show on the LifeStyler website and get the recipe in Korean but I've translated this recipe for you here! I made this Spicy Braised Chicken (DakBokeumTang, 닭볶음탕) the other day and was so happy with the results and how fast and easy it was to make. My mom used to make this for us as our go-to family meal at any night. She used different method by pre-marinating the meat in chili pepper paste (gochujang) but this recipe uses only the chili pepper flakes which gives very clean broth taste with less spice kick. Do you have your own go-to dish that you like to make for your family? Try this easy recipe today and see if you like it!

요즘 성시경, 신동엽의 오늘뭐먹지를 보는 재미로 스트레스 해소하고 있다. 요리방송이 아닌 예능에 가깝다고는 하지만 보는 재미도 쏠쏠하고 만드는 음식마다 집에서 쉽게 해 볼만한것 같아서 좋다. 전국각지에서 소문난 맛집 고수들을 초대해서 음식을 만드는 포멧도 신선하고 잼있는것 같다. 오늘뭐먹지 보시는 분들은 어떤 레시피 만들어 보셨나요?

Download Recipe HERE

Kimchi Pork Tofu Stack {Recipe}

It's Friday and it's raining. I want to go out on a date-night with Appah but stuck at home with no sitter and not exactly in the mood to dress up and looking half decent. It's those nights I just want to crawl into my bed and turn on my favorite TV show or open up what's currently on my good read list. Whatever it is, I favor these date nights-in and have a really awesome recipe that I want to share. I think you might like the presentation of it too! It's a Korean side dish that goes well with drinks like Makgurli (막걸리), a Korean rice wine or Yogurt Soju (요구르트 소주) cocktail. All date nights (in or out) should be accompanied by awesome food. See and download recipe below. Yum!

Download Recipe HERE

MAKE YOGURT SOJU

2 bottles of yogurt drink (요구르트) or yokult

1/2 cup soju

1 cup sprite

1-2 cups of ice

mix & enjoy!

Bakesale Betty Coleslaw Bibimmyun (Cold Spicy Ramen Noodles) - {Recipe}

Here is one of our favorite recipe from Banchan Workshop 2. You can download printable recipe from the link below. Enjoy!

ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHY BY LISA WONG JACKSON @good_on_paper

DOWNLOAD RECIPE HERE

French-Style Scrambled Eggs

Here is my version of French style scrambled eggs. Have you had a scrambled eggs that is so creamy it melts in your mouth? I was kinda sad that it melted and disappeared in my mouth way too quickly! ;D Try this quick and easy recipe and start your morning right!

FRENCH-STYLE SCRAMBLED EGGS

Ingredients: 

+ 2 large eggs

+ 1/8 cup chives (finely chopped)

+ 2 tsp of non-dairy coconut milk

+ Vegetable Oil

Crack 2 eggs (remember to remove the white little eyes attached to egg yolk, which contains most of cholesterol!) and mix in chopped chives, add coconut milk and whisk it well.

Heat your best non-stick pan in the house with little bit of vegetable oil (enough to evenly code the pan) and pour the egg mix over once the pan is nicely heated. Wait few minutes until you start scrambling the eggs and lower the heat not to overcook the eggs. Flip and fold and mix gently to create fluffy eggs. Turn the heat off and remove from stove immediately.

Serve on toasted whole wheat English muffin and sprinkle some crushed black sea salt. 

Voilà !

There you have it, French-style scrambled eggs.