Candied Sweet Potato

고구마맛탕[go-gu-ma-mo-tang]
Gogumamotang used to be one of my favorite side dishes when I was little. But sometime in the past few years I lost my sweet tooth, and my usual craving for gogumamotang never came back. It saddens me whenever I find something I used to love so much as a child doesn't delight me any more. It feels like growing 'old' not up. So this time, determined to reproduce good memories again, I made it again but using less sugar than usual. With less sugar, it came out to be perfect to my grown-up taste and just sweet as I remembered as a child.

Ingredients for 4 Servings

Asian sweet potatoes (4-5)
sugar (2-3 tbl)
water (7 tbl)
sesame seeds (1/2 tbl, black)
oil (1 tbl, and additional oil for deep-frying)
sugar

1.

Thoroughly wash the sweet potatoes and cut them into small wedges.

2.

Soak the sweet potato wedges in water for 10+ minutes to wash off starch.

3.

Pat-dry the sweet potatoes in paper towel.

4.

Deep fry.

5.

In a sauce pan, melt sugar (3 tbl) in water (7tbl) and oil (1tbl) over low heat. Don't stir the sugar. Just let it melt slowly.

6.

When the sugar is melt, add the fried sweet potatoes from Step 4.

7.

Quickly coat the sweet potato wedges in sugar sauce and sprinkle black sesame seeds right before removing from the heat.

Related Posts:
Sweet Potato Fries

Kimchi Rice Patty

김치밥전 [kim-chi-bob-chun]

It's been three months since my last post. It doesn't feel like that long though... My mind is rewinding the past couple months to see if I can come up with any excuse for my leave. No, I can't find any thing except that I've been just lazy.

I come back with a kimchi-cheese rice patty recipe. Kimchi and cheese may sound like the least sought-after combination of food ingredients. When these two ingredients meet together, however, with some help of a middle man which is played by rice in this case, a real Korean-western fusion recipe is born. Cheese and rice help the ingredients stick together while softening the tangy flavor of kimchi. Agreed there is always some risk involved when making a fusion dish, but don't be afraid to put on your experimentalist' apron any time. The finished product comes almost always with a delight surprise on your palate like this one.

Ingredients for 2 Servings

cooked rice (1/2 bowl)
kimchi (1/3 cup, drained by squeezing)
onion (1 medium, diced)
cheese (1/3 cup, mozarella)
green onion (3 tbl)
flour (2 tbl)
egg (1)
salt (1/2 tsp)

1.

Chop kimchi and drain excess water by squeezing it tight.

2.

Chop onion and scallion.

3.

Add kimchi, onion, green onion, an egg, and flour.

4.

Add rice to the mix.

5.

Add cheese. I used parmesan instead...

6.

Mix well.

7.

Make rice patty and fry over medium heat.

Related Posts:
Kimchi Fried Rice

Jihea's Kitchen

Oyster Salad

Majeon

Seafood over Rice

Beef Wrap

Tofu Vegetable Patty

Vegetable Trio

Did I impress anyone yet? I wish I made all of these wonderful dishes myself. We were invited to a friend's house for dinner few months ago, and this is what they had prepared for us. How lucky we are! :)

These dishes come from our friend Jihea's Kitchen. Her cooking is far beyond my level, and I have lots to learn from her. It turns out Jihea is not only an excellent cook but also a very talented food stylist. I didn't hesitate a second to invite her to Migi's kitchen, I mean the KoreanHomeCooking.com. Thanksfully, she accepted my invitation, and decided to be a co-chef for the KoreanHomeCooking.com. She is currently visiting Korea away from her kitchen, so won't be able to see her cooking for awhile. I can't wait till she gets back and starts sharing her recipes here, starting with the dishes above. Thanks, Jihea unni!

Deep-fried Rice

누룽지 튀김 [nooroongji twikim]
We are often mistaken to believe that the best dishes are made from a sophisticated recipe. Behind the curtains though, we all have to agree that the tastiest foods are the simpliest foods after all. Deep-fried nooroongji meets that category. Nooroongji is a slightly burned rice which could be easily made from overcooking your rice, or by roasting a thin layer of cooked rice on a griddle. This is a good way to utilize those left-over rice. Deep-fried nooroongji with sprinkles of sugar makes a wonderful rice snack for the young and adults.

Ingredients

cooked rice
sugar

1.

Got left-over rice?

2.

On a griddle, spread a thin layer of cooked rice over low to medium heat.

3.

Roast them on both sides until they turn crispy and golden brown in color.

4.

You can stop here and eat this right away as rice snack. Or, keep reading below to make deep-fried nooroongji.

5.

Deep fry the nooroongji from Step 4.

6.

Sprinkle with sugar.