Korean Potato Salad

I may have mentioned before that my love of Korean food is due in large part to the variety of sides that exist to be added to everyday meals. A normal dinner can feel like a feast just with the addition of one or two sides that have been made ahead of time. This potato salad gets better as it sits, so you can make it on the weekend and have a scoop with each meal during the week when you want to make dinner feel a bit more special. Or, if you’ve had a bad day, just eat it for dinner by itself. The flavours go well with pretty much any style of meal, I served it with Teriyaki chicken and the creaminess was a nice contrast.

The original recipe has hardboiled eggs in it but I’m not about that life. Swap ingredients in or out as you please but try to keep some crunchy elements in there for the texture. I’m even thinking of making a version with chopped up pickles in it for extra tang. 

Korean Potato Salad

(Adapted from Korean Potato Salad over at Asian at Home)

500g potatoes, peeled and quartered

2 tbsp cucumber, medium dice

1 tbsp red onion, finely diced

2 tbsp carrot, peeled and finely diced

2 tbsp ham, finely chopped

1/4 cup kewpie mayonnaise

1/2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp vinegar (your choice)

1/4 tsp salt 

1/4 tsp pepper

Place potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water and add 1/2 tsp salt.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 mins or until fully cooked.

While you are waiting for the potatoes to cook, sprinkle 1/4 tsp salt over the cucumber and allow it to sit for 5 mins.

Wrap in a paper towel and use it to squeeze out the excess moisture, then set aside.

In a small bowl mix together kewpie, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper and mix until sugar dissolves.

Drain the potatoes and place in a large mixing bowl then add the cucumber, onion, carrot, ham and the dressing.

Mix well and don’t worry about the potato breaking down, this is what we want.

Taste and add more salt and pepper to suit your preference.

Cover and place in the fridge for at least 30 mins before serving.

Weekly Menu 2nd October 2016

 

Pad Siew – I only make this when I can get my hands on fresh rice noodles, I pick them up from my local Chinese supermarket.

Drunken Pulled  Pork – I wanted to make Tomatillo Pork but apparently Brisbane is having a Tomatillo shortage so I had to come up with a Plan B for my pork shoulder. I’ll be serving it in corn tortillas with different salsas.

Quesadillas – Using the leftovers from the Drunken Pulled Pork..

Duck Fried Rice – Classic Fried rice with Chinese roast duck as the protein. I like to render the fat from the duck first and then cook the rice in it.

Beer Chicken + Bean Gratin – I always double the sauce for the chicken because it’s so tasty with the gratin.

Weekly Menu Saturday 13th August 2016

Pad Siew – Fresh rice noodles stir fried to perfection and (in my case) covered in kecap manis.

Korean Fried Chicken + Tofu Bulgogi – It’s my first time cooking this chicken and I am PSYCHED!

Ham Sammich – You don’t need me to tell you how to make a ham sammich but I would highly recommend using Turkish bread and lots of condiments.

Karaage Teriyaki – Japanese fried chicken covered in teriyaki sauce, add a drizzle of Japanese mayonnaise, toasted sesame seeds and spring onions.

Mexican Chicken – I usually serve this with guacamole, capsicum and red onion.

Yachaejeon (Vegetable Pancake)

Sweet pancakes have never really been my jam (they make feel like I’m eating that flour and water paste we used to paper mache with as kids?) but after my first encounter with the Korean savoury pancake I was smitten. As well as being delicious, it also doesn’t require any specialty ingredients which makes it a great last minute addition to dinner if more people turn up than you expected. I just realised that maybe the general population wouldn’t consider dried shiitake mushrooms a pantry item but most Australian supermarkets stock them on the regular so they shouldn’t be too hard to find. These pancakes can be a starter, a snack or a side dish so I guess you could say they’re the Hugh Jackman of the pancake world.

You can really make this pancake with any vegetables, use it to clear out your veggie draw at the end of the week.

Yachaejeon (Vegetable Pancake)

1/4 cup sliced dried shiitake mushrooms

1 medium carrot, grated

1 spring onion, finely sliced

In a heat-proof bowl cover the mushrooms with boiling water, allow to soak for 15 minutes.

Drain completely and squeeze out as much water as possible.

Roughly chop.

Batter:

1/2 cup plain flour

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp sesame oil

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, water and salt until smooth.

Stir in all the prepared vegetables.

Place a large circular pan on medium-high heat and add vegetable oil.

When the pan is hot pour in the batter and spread thinly into a circle.

Cook for 1 minute then drizzle sesame oil around the side of the pancake.

Tilt and shake the pan to evenly spread the oil under the pancake, cook for another minute (press down the pancake with a spatula to help it get crispy).

Flip the pancake and drizzle more oil around the pancake if the pan seems dry.

Cook for 2 minutes, continue to shake the pan.

Have a peek under the pancake and when you are happy with the level of crispiness slide it onto a serving plate and eat wih dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce:

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp white vinegar

1/2 tsp sesame oil

Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl.

Yangpa Jangajji (Korean Pickled Onions)

Moving on from sharehousing to living just with The Boyfriend has been so much nicer than I anticipated. I knew that I would enjoy it but I didn’t know that I would enjoy it this much. When we first moved in I would just walk from room to room to remind myself that, yes, you really do have all of this space! Our furniture has trickled in gradually and using our new dining table for the first time, after 5 years of eating in front of the TV, felt pretty spectacular.

These pickled onions are an attempt the replicate my favourite side dish at my favourite Korean restaurant, Madtongsan 2. Their pickled onions blow my mind and I was determined that they would be mine. Another reason to love pickles (like I need one?) is how long they will hang out in your fridge for, just getting better with age. You can also use the pickling liquid as a spicy dipping sauce for Korean pancakes or any other dippable savouries in your life.

Yangpa Jangajji (Korean Pickled Onions)

Adapted from Korean Pickled Onion: Yangpa Jangajji Recipe over at Asian at Home.

1 3/4 cup water

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup sugar

1 cup white vinegar

1 lemon

2 1/2 white onions

1 large red chilli

In a medium saucepan over high heat combine the water, soy sauce, sugar and white vinegar.

Stir to dissolve the sugar and bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and squeeze in all the juice from the lemon, set aside.

Peel and cut the onions into bite sized pieces and slice the chillies.

In a large airtight jar (mine is about 1L) alternate layers of onion with the pieces of chilli until used up.

Pour the warm pickling liquid into the jar with the onions until they are covered (if you have left over pickling liquid you can use it as a dipping sauce for Korean pancakes).

Cover tightly with the lid and allow to cool completely on your kitchen counter.

When it’s cool, place in the fridge for 1-2 days before eating (you can eat it straight away but I like them really pickled before I go to town on them).

Weekly Menu Saturday 30th April 2016

Gnocchi– Technically ricotta dumplings but the easiest way to fulfill gnocchi cravings without all the tricky potato business.

Turkish Kofte– I’ll be serving these in pita bread with red onion, cucumber, tomato, hummus, tabbouleh and yoghurt.

Banh Mi with BBQ Pork Meatballs– I’ll be making nem nuong (Vietnamese grilled pork patties) and serving them in bread rolls along with pickled carrot, cucumber, coriander and mayonnaise.

Crumbed Veal– This isn’t the exact way I cook my veal but it is very close. Finely grating parmesan into the crumbs is a simple way to add big flavour.

Soba Noodle Soup– Considering that this looks like a soup version of Teriyaki sauce, who wouldn’t be thrilled to give it a try?

Weekly Menu Monday 7th March 2016

No menu picture because I’m currently helping to house/cat sit this little scrumpnugget. Look at those pink little paws!

Classic Pork Fried Rice – This is an easy week night dinner, as long as you remember to pre-cook your rice (not one of my strong suits).

Korean Black Bean Sauce Noodles – I’ve been wanting to try these for ages and it looks like an easy way to feed my household of 5.

Chicken and Chinese Sausage Clay Pot Rice – Got a great deal on some Chinese sassage and this looks like a delicious new way to cook with it.

Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken – Special request from my brother, if you have a pressure cooker you can get this done in half the time with the same results.

Claypot Chicken Salad – As usual I’ll serve it with rice, pickled carrot, cucumber, mint, coriander and nouc cham.

 

Weekly Menu Saturday 2nd January 2016

Pad Siew – A favourite from when we visited Thailand, this recipe is exactly how we remember it (although I can’t stop myself from adding a whole lot of kecap manis).

Chicken Satay – The ever-present Chicken Satay, The Boyfriend can’t get enough of it.

Claypot Chicken – As usual I’ll serve it with rice, pickled carrot, cucumber, mint, coriander and nouc cham.

Teriyaki Chicken – The sauce is so good that I want to keep a bottle in the fridge at all times. Hopefully this week I can cook the chicken over coals for an even better flavour.

Crispy Sassage Stir Fry – A lot of old favourites this week, I needed at least one thing that wasn’t chicken!

Weekly Menu Tuesday 6th October 2015

Spaghetti and Meatballs – I’m using the recipe from Nigella Bites but I couldn’t find the exact one online, this is the closest Nigella recipe I could get.

Char Kway Teow – I always add way more kecap manis than recommended. Kecap manis is love, kecap manis is LIFE!

Satay Chicken – I’m buying peanut butter in bulk because I cook this so often.

Chilli Jam Stir Fry – This dinner is so easy, you just have to get your hands on some Thai chilli jam.

Honey Mustard Chicken – I always try to include at least one non-Asian recipe a week otherwise we tend to get rice fatigue.

Weekly Menu Monday 28th September 2015

Eight Treasures – Made this last week and it was fantastic. Lots of veggie and tofu action.

Hong Shao Rou – The Boyfriend searched for ‘Chinese glistening pork’ and this is where we landed.

Crumbed Veal – No recipe, just veal coated in breadcrumbs and served with mashed potatoes, peas, carrots and gravy.

Dakbokkeumtang – A good recipe for anyone interested in trying Korean food.

Gochujang Pasta – This one is pretty decadent, especially with the amount of parmesan that I grate on top.