I would eat the hell out of chicken and cauliflower curry. And then I would crop dust my girlfriend out of the house. :) Sounds like something to add to the rotation.
But Queso Fundido … I have a huge weakness for queso. How was it? I’d be tempted to add a little chorizo to it.
On the plate we’ve got a nice portion of beef bulgogi (sliced sirloin marinated in shredded Asian pear and onion, sliced onions and carrots, green onions and garlic, brown sugar, corn syrup [I had no rice syrup], sesame oil, soy sauce, and a smidge of black pepper, then sauteed over high heat); sticky rice (just plain Japanese shortgrain Nishiki steamed); some oi-muchim (sliced cucumber tossed with sliced onion, minced green onion and garlic, sesame seeds, gochugaru pepper flakes, sesame oil, brown sugar, and soy sauce); and finally some ssamjang (a pastey dipping sauce made of doenjang fermented soybean paste, gochujang fermented pepper paste, minced green onion and garlic, chopped onion, corn syrup, sesame seeds, and sesame oil).
The meal’s spicy, sweet, “tangy” from fermented pastes, and reasonably salty, too. It’s a lovely balance of flavors.
Coming later this week should be some braised new potatoes, kale pancakes, kimchi pancakes, japchae stir-fried noodles, and some bokkeumbap–fried rice.
You had me at beef bulgogi. That cucumber and onion looks great too, though. You can pair an alternative side with all that, pajeon, or as we shitty American workers for my Korean parent company like to call them: Korean pizza. I’ve never had the mixed pastes though, that sounds good, the ssamjang. I’ve always had them as separates, with no additions (bean paste in one small dish, chili garlic paste in another.)
The green onion pancakes look good enough that I almost wish I didn’t have half a pound of kale intended for kale pancakes instead! Man, this stuff is really good.
Downside here is that the local enormous Asian market didn’t stock any doenjang, so I ordered off Amazon (at a noticeable premium!), and the container I got is “best by,” uh, two days ago, lol. So I’ve gotta rework my plans to just keep doing KR cuisine for awhile before it goes bad (it’s already getting kinda dark at the edges of the container).
Upside is that means that I get to do Korean fried chicken and doenjang-jigae (a more potent Korean take on miso soup) this coming week!
I usually pick up things like that at HMart when I travel, it says there is a new location in Cary? Worth a visit if so, all of anything you need is there, including obscure veggies, fruits, meat, fish, frozen ingredients, etc. You can spend a day in one just looking at all the cool stuff.
EDIT: You should have a hot bowl bibimbap for Korean week as well.
Today’s lunch: kimchi fried rice cooked with Spam (yes, it’s basically “traditional” now), chopped kimchi, green and regular onions, sesame oil and seeds, and a little fried egg for the top (plus some more of my beef bulgogi on the side). Came together pretty quick, all things considered!
I think he mentioned his girlfriend liked them that way. I’m hoping that is the case. Otherwise I’ll have to drive a couple of hours away just to take his cooking card away. ;)
In fairness, he’s probably eating delicious kimchee fried rice.
Oh, pro-tip regarding fried rice, although really broader than just fried rice:
Some of the best fried rice, and food period, literally in the entire world, is at the original “Sidestreet Inn” in Honolulu.
The place is a total dive, and exists in an alley next to a stripclub. If you are ever in Honolulu, you must go there. It is perhaps my favorite restaurant in the entire world. Go there with many people, and just order a ton of things, and share them. Their fried rice (both kimchee and house) is amazing.
They also opened up another restaurant in the past year or so, that’s closer to the beach, and presumably more respectable looking? I have not been there. Go to the original dive.
I’m so sorry to disappoint @Timex, @CraigM, and @Skipper so badly, but yes, I am indeed someone who prefers their eggs fried over hard. Bizarrely, I don’t mind runny scrambled eggs at all. My gf hates that though, so ours tend up wind up overdone to appease her.
In this case, I’m doubly unhappy with my egg. The extreme heat leftover in the pan from making the kimchi-bokkeumbap browned the outside very quickly, but actually left the egg only partially cooked through, so there was runny yolk after all! I’ll probably just do the eggs in a separate pan from now on…
Go get some ingredients and get to work, @Timex! Or else it’s off to the Glorious Penbladian Autocratic-Socialist Utopia’s definitely-not-Gulag with you!
