Easy Peasy Kongnamulguk (Improvisation)

I haven't been cooking for a while and I felt so rusty that I thought that I should prepare something very easy to begin. Mild to the taste, spicy to the smell, kongnamulguk an easy dish to prepare and to get initiated to Korean cuisine if you haven't yet discovered it!

The classic Kongnamulguk is usually made with soybean sprouts, but this time, as we only have regular bean sprouts, I gave it a try and I must say that it tastes pretty similar, except that the sprouts are softer and the stock is slightly sweeter. Also, I have replaced dried sardines with fish sauce, since I didn't have them anymore and also, I remembered that for Kimchi recipes, most modern Korean recipes replace sardines with fish sauce.

Alright, less talk.


Kongnamulguk (4 servings)

Timeline:
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
at least 100 g of beansprouts
5 cups of water
1 piece of kelp (about 5 g)
1 tbps soysauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp gochugaru
Salt to taste
a drop of sesame oil
Green onion to taste

1. Rince the beansprouts and the kelp, put them in a stockpot with 5 cups of water and bring it to boil.
2. When everything is boiling, remove the kelp from the water. Lower the heat to low, add in soy sauce, fish sauce, gochugaru, sesame oil and salt. Let it simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat. Serve it with chopped green onion. If you have sesame seeds, you may crush them between you palm before topping them. Crushing the sesame seeds helps release a nuttier taste which would be a great combination with the soup. (Note: there are no sesame seeds in the picture)

Good luck and enjoy! 

Summer Salad: Home-made Wafu dressing (improvisation)

It's been a hot summer and the hot weather won't leave for the next few weeks! Food is hardly delicious under such condition, which is why one should turn to something nutty and easy to make. No cooking required -- unless you consider boiling water "cooking".

Alright, less talk. 

Timeline:
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Ready time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
2 tbsp white sesame seeds
1 tbsp Konbu water
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp cup soysauce
1 tbsp freshly grinded onion
1 tbsp sugar

1. Wash the piece of Konbu and soak it in hot water for about 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, grind about 1 tbsp of onion, be sure to keep the juice -- it will help create a sweet after taste.
3. Grind the sesame seeds. You can do it with a coffee grinder, which will take you less than 10 seconds, or you can do it manually in a mortar with a pestle, which will result a more interesting taste.
4. After 20 minutes, when the Konbu water is ready, remove the kelp and add in rice vinegar, soysauce, onion and sugar. Mix well and finally add in the grinded sesame.
5. It can be served right away, however, in order to get a more sophisticated onion sweet taste, it is suggested to let it sit for at least 20 minutes. Serve it with a cabbage salad or boiled spinach.

Good luck and enjoy! 

Chocolate Oatmeal Bars - no added sugar

Once upon a time, Myopeman said: "It's like a mix of granola bar and chocolate bars. It feels "healthy" eating this kind of junk."

Long story short, I had a huge bag of oatmeal at home, but most of all, I didn't want to do something too complicated. There was also cranberry and sunflower seeds at home. Gotta use those stuff once you buy them!

As simple as it is, there is no baking step, it saves up electricity and time! 

Alright, less talk. 

Timeline:
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Ready time: 4 hours and 15 minutes

Ingredients:
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup milk
1 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup dried cranberry
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1. In a bain-marie, melt the chocolate chips with milk. Stir until it becomes smooth.
2. Add all the ingredients and mix well.
3. Take parchment paper and place it in a pan. Pour the chocolate mix in the pan, gently pressing on them and let it cool in the fridge for 2 hours, take it out to cut or break it.
4. Put it back in the fridge for another 2 hours and the bars are ready to serve.

Good luck and enjoy!