Oyster Sauce Chicken...

Ingredients:

Shallot - crush
Garlic - crush
Chili - crush it a bit
Onion - cut in round
Ginger - cut in a thin layer
Carrot - cut at your preference
Soy sauce - to darken only
Oyster sauce
Vegetable oil
Mushroom (Best to use shiitake, but I used oyster mushroom)
Capsicum (optional)
Black pepper (optional)
Water - a little bit
Spring onion (optional)
Salt and sugar to taste


Methods:

1) Heat about 6 tbs of oil in a wok/ pan
2) Put garlic, shallot, ginger, chili and black paper, sauté until aromatic
3) Add sugar - about 1/2 tsp and salt
4) Add oyster sauce and soy sauce, and water, stir well
5) Add chicken and simmer
5) Once chicken is 1/4 done, add carrot, mushroom capsicum --> add water if dry, cook until chicken is well done
6) Lastly add onion and spring onion - mixed well, leave it about few minutes
7) Ready to serve, garnish it with parsley....

*Note: You can fry the chicken 1st about 1/2 done 

Hoddeok....호떡....

I've got tempted when I was watching one of Korean show at KBS World when the VJ is eating Hoddeok at Insadong...And finally tried myself and walla.... it's nice and I can eat 4 hoddeok at one go.....

Hoddeok is a sweet Korean pancake...and very popular street food. This usually serve during winter... However you can see it being sold all year round in Korea...

Lifted the recipe from Maangchi.com....Thank you for sharing this great recipe....... I changed a bit the recipe based on how I did it...

Ingredients:

2 Cups of flour
1 cup of lukewarm water
2 ts dry yeast
1/4 ts salt
1 tbs vegetable oil
2 tbs sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

1 ts cinnamon - I put less since I don't really like cinnamon
2 ts walnut (I didn't add this)

Methods:

Dough

1) add white sugar, yeast, salt,vegetable oil into the lukewarm water and stir
2) add the water to flour
3) Let the dough rise for about an hour
4) Knead to remove bubles, and let rise for another  10-15 minutes

Filling

1) add brown sugar,cinnamon and walnut together <I'm only using brown sugar and cinnamon>

* you can use any filling based on your preference or liking

Next, let's make hoddeuk!

1. Knead the dough again to remove the gas bubbles.
2. Place and spread flour on your kneading board or you can use cutting board
3. Put the dough on the board and knead it. Make it into a lump, and cut it into 8 equal-sized balls.
4. Take 1 dough ball,flatten it, put some filling in the center of the dough, and then seal it to make a ball.
5. Repeat this with the balance of the ball
6. Heat up your non-stick pan over medium heat and add some vegetable oil.
7. Place 1 ball on the pan and let it cook for 30 seconds.
8. When the bottom of the dough ball is light golden brown, turn it over and press the dough with a spatula to make a thin and wide circle (about the size of a CD).
9. Let it cook about 1 minute until the bottom is golden brown.
10. Turn it over again and turn down the heat very low.
11. Place the lid on the pan and cook 1 more minute. The brown sugar filling mixture will be melted to syrup!

Serve hot!

Japchae - 잡채

Japchae is Korean side dish which is served with rice...sometimes a main dish... The glass noodle (cellophane noodle) or damyeon is made from sweet potato starch. It is different from vermicelli which is made from rice, which is popular in Thailand and Malaysia as well as in other ASIA countries...

Ingredients:

Cellophane noodle (Damyeon) - enough for 2-3 servings
1 cup of beef
2 eggs (separate yolk and white)
Spinach (based on your preference)
1/3 medium size carrot
1 medium size onion
3 Shitake mushroom (dried - but I use fresh)
Capsicum (3 colours) - based on your preference
2 cloves of garlic
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Sugar
Pepper
Sesame seed

Prepare ingredients:

1) Fry egg on frying pan with few drops of oil, then once done cut into thin strips about 5cm long like matchstick-shaped
2) Slice beef into thin strips, season with sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce and marinate for about 1 hr in fridge
3) Cut carrot and capsicum into thin strips same size and shaped as the egg
4) Slice mushroom
5) Cut onion

Methods:

1) Boiled noodle in boiling water until soft and drain them, add sesame oil and soy sauce, mix them  and keep aside
2) In boiling water, put the spinach and stir about 2 minutes. Take out and rinse in cold water, squeeze water and cut it. Season with soy sauce and sesame oil, mix it and add into the noodle
3) Heat the pan stir fry the beef
4) Then stir fry separately carrot, capsicum, shittake mushroom, onion with soysauce and vegetable oil
5) Stir fry shittake mushroom with garlic, pepper and soy sauce
6) Put all fried vegetables, beef and shittake mushroom into the noodle
7) Add soy sause, sesame oil, and sugar to taste
8) Mix all ingredients
9) Before serving put the egg strips and sesame seeds, alternatively you can mix together with the noodle...

Done and ready to be served.....

Ramen Tomato Soup with Tofu and Brocolli

Tomato soup recipe taken from BBC website... recipe is a mix of Japan and western recipe...Kinda like it...

Ingredients:

Tomato soup (recipe as per below, alternatively can use Campbell canned tomato soup)
Brocolli
Tofu
Ramen

Method:

1) Prepare ramen noodle as per package instructions
3) In boiling water add brocolli, simmer until cook and rinse with cool water
2) In a pot, pour tomato soup and simmer until boil
3) Add tofu, brocolli and ramen
4) Allow to cook about 5-10 minutes
5) Serve hot

* There is no measurement given, ingredients are based on individual preference

Tomato soup recipe:

Ingredients:

2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, peeled and diced finely
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 stick celery, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
450g/1lb fresh ripe tomatoes, halved
1 litre/1¾ pints vegetable stock
1 tsp sugar
salt and freshly ground black paper
handful fresh basil, shredded (optional)

Method:

1) Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onions, carrot and celery and garlic. Cover and cook gently for 10 minutes until soft.
2) Add the sugar, salt, pepper and tomatoes. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes.
3) Add the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Liquidise until smooth. If using the basil, stir in at the end.

Dak-Bokkeum - 닭볶음

I'm back after a long silence..... This is a recipe that I learned at KTO cooking class and I've tried it myself..... It is also known  as dakdoritang or chicken stew....

 Ingredients:
 
8 chicken pieces (I'm using thighs and breasts)
4 medium sized potatoes
2 onions
1 carrot
1 zuchini
Capsicum - based on your preference ( i add few with diff colour red, yellow and green) - optional
2 cups of water (soak shiitake mushroom about 2 hours in the water, best overnight)
1 tbsp mushroom powder (since i can't find mushroom powder, I add mushroom)
1 tbsp corn syrup (i replaced it with honey)
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp ginger
Salt and pepper

Methods:

1. Peel potatoes and cut them into 8 pieces.
2. Cut onions the same way as the potatoes
3. Peel carrot and cut it into lengths about the same size as its width. Cut each slice into four quarters
4. Cut zuchini and capsicum into same size with carrot
5. In a pot, combine all ingredients except capsicum
6. Cover and cook for 30-40 minutes over a medium flame
7. Add capsisum
7. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Simmer about 10 minutes.
9. Serve hot with rice or  bread

Kimchi Fried Rice.....

I've improvised the recipe according to my taste....

Ingredients;

2 cups of rice

1/2 cup of Kimchi (cabbage kimchi - cut into small pieces)

vegetable oils

1 egg (scramble or cook sunny side)

2 gloves shallots - diced/minced

1 gloves  garlic - diced/minced

2 tbs osyter sauce

1/4 cup meat (I'm using minced beef)

1 tbs Soy Sauce (optional)

Salt

Method:

Heat up wok... add oil and cook sunny side up egg and keep aside...

Add oil and saute garlic and shallots until aromatic... add osyter sauce and minced beef.... stir together until cooked... then add the kimchi. Stir till combine well and add the soy sauce. It is good taste it before adding the rice....Then add rice and stir until well combine.... Serve it immediately with egg on top of it...

**Note: Can be eaten with hobak jeon... perfect combination...

Korea Day 4....Part 2

Continued from Part 1....

Still at Nami Island... Don't forget to snap a picture Yu Jin and Jun Sang Sculpture....  This sculpture was built to commerate the memory of Winter Sonata...

Memory of Yong Ha

We left Nami Island at around 4.00pm.... rode the same bus to Insadong...

Bye Bye Nami Island ....

Left Nami Island

We reached Insadong/ Tapgol Park around 5.30pm local time.... We took a chance to wander around Tapgol Park also known as Pagoda Park... We didn't have a chance to walk around earlier since this park is only open to public at 10.00am....We can see that most of the parks in Korea are full with "warga emas" or senior citizen.... I guess this is how the senior citizen spend their times... which is a very different scenario from Malaysia....

The Statue of Son Byeong-hee

More information on Tapgol Park....Extracted from LonelyPlanet.com (July 2011) review;

"Tapgol Park opened in 1897, Tapgol is a symbol of Korean resistance to Japanese rule. On 1 March 1919, Son Byeong-hui and 32 others signed and read aloud a Declaration of Independence (a copy in English can be read on the memorial plaque). Many of them were high-school teachers, 16 were Cheondogyo followers, 15 were Protestant Christians and two, including poet-monk Young-un, were Buddhists. All were arrested and locked up in the notorious Seodaemun Prison. A torrent of protest against Japan followed in Seoul and throughout Korea, but the samil (1 March) movement was ruthlessly suppressed. Hundreds of independence fighters were killed and thousands arrested. In the park, 10 murals depict scenes from the heroic but unsuccessful struggle. The park’s other outstanding feature is the 10-tier, 12m-high stone pagoda that once graced Wongaksa, a nearby Buddhist temple destroyed in 1504 on the orders of the Confucian king. Buddhists were forced out of the cities into the mountains, where Korea’s great temples still stand today. The pagoda, a treasure of Buddhist art, has wonderful carvings all over it. Unfortunately it’s encased in a glass box, somewhat reducing its impressiveness."

Cherry Blossom at Tapgol Park

Then we went to Insadong which is opposite of Tapgol Park....This is a cultural district in Seoul and a must visit for tourist... To maintain as a traditional street/  district... all shops name are written in Hangul....and vehicles are not permitted to enter during weekend...There is cultural show during weekends....You can find Korean Traditional Culture and craft here from expensive to daily use items..... There are ceramics, hanji, hanbok, tea sets...pottery and others crafts for souvenirs...

JYJ... the spokesperson for Nature Republic...Local cosmetic brand....

Starbucks Coffee

 Ahjumma wearing Hanbok

Korean artist Socks

Lot of  shops are selling Korean souvenirs.... from as cheap as KRW1000 to thousand won... depending on the quality especially ceramics.... just be ready with $....

From Insadong... the nearest attraction is Cheonggyecheon Stream... It is just few minutes away (walking distance) from here.... We strolled along the stream.... still a beautiful place to visit even at night...

Cheonggyecheon Stream is an 8.4 km long, a public recreation in downtown Seoul. The river is flowing west to east through downtown Seoul to Jungnangcheon, which in turn connects to the Han River. Major restoration of this stream was started in 2003 by Seoul mayor. The restoration was started with the removal of elevated highway and restore the stream which nearly totally dry... And this project was completed in September 2005....

Mini Waterfall at Cheonggyecheon Stream

Awan Dania Shooting Location

That was the end of our 4th day in Korea...

Coca Cola Chicken Recipe

Simple and nice recipe.. finger licking good recipe....It's just like you are having a bbq chicken.....

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken breast ( I prefer to use chicken wing or drumstick)

1 Cup of Light sauce (I put less)

1 Can of coca cola

Salt to taste

Oil

<added turmeric powder>

Method:

Fry the chicken in frying pan then add coca cola and light sauce/ salt. Bring to boil until the sauce tickhens and chickens are caramelised...

I did a bit of changes on the recipe, marinated the chicken with turmeric powder and salt before fry it since I do not like to see pale looking fried chicken.. 

Korea Day 4....Part 1

Yeay... Nami Island here we come... main itinerary for the day.... Left the hotel at around 9.00am... only took us 15 minutes to Tapgol Park... to catch the shuttle bus to Nami Island... We took a long way to get here on the earlier day....ha ha ha ha... almost done touring the whole myeong dong area... ha ha ha... lesson learnt.... always to listen carefully when people give you diretions....Alhamdulillah....no more hanky panky happened... the driver gave us the 2 tickets... one for the bus... another one is Naminara Republic Entry Visa... More information on Naminara Republic Shuttle bus, please refer to Korea Day 2 post....

The entry visa to Nami Island

Bus ticket from Insadong- Nami Island

In the bus

The journey took about 1 hr to Nami Island... Enjoying the scenary of Han river and Olympic Stadium.....

Han River

Olympic Stadium

 Arrive at Nami Island around 9.30am... and saw a lot of buses from the tourist agency and group tours arrived at the same... and I can say this is the only place that we saw so many Malaysian.... all because of Winter Sonata..... a must visit when you are in Seoul.... Headed to the wharf...sine we already bought our ticket.... so no need to queue.... the queue was quite long....

The ferry

Happy faces to Nami Island

 There was shooting in progress... a film and guess what they are from Malaysia... The film will be in cinema in Jan 2012...Shaheizy Sam and Liana Jasmay are the actor and actress..... Story about university student.....

General Nami poet

Lighthouse of Love & Peace

Nami Island Map

About 15 minutes... we reached the island.....

Nami Maid... Passionately waiting for her prince

Central Korean Pine Tree Lane

Get a copy of Nami Map.... It is easier to follow the recommended track... or you can just follow where all the tour group....Take note at the place marked with love sign on the map... it is a main filming location if Winter Sonata....There are basically 5 lane to enjoy.... Metasequoia lane, Ginko Tree Lane, White Pine Tree Lanes, White Birch Lane and Red Wood Lane...the place is quite dusty especially when the wind blow.... My shoes has turned from blank to grey colour.... perrghhhh... I think it will not so dusty during autumn....

Baekpungmilwon Garden

Main attaction of the island is the filming location of Winter Sonata....and the favourite spot is the first kiss of  Jun Sang and Yu Jin and snowman location....

Snowman

Snowman Kiss

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The signage

We had kimchi lunch box for lunch at drama cafe..... A rice with kimchi and egg.... be careful... it is very hot and  make sure you use the glove provided to shake it...

 

Kimchi Lunch Box

Fish cake soup

We explored further and went to the river bank.....Didn't take the boat ride....

The log where Yu Jin stepped on it (at the back)

Red Wood Lane

Han River Bank

Too bad the place where Yu Jin bid her last farewell to Jun Sang no longer there.... what to expect... it was made by wood.... and the drama was filmed in 1996 or 1997....

Strolled along Metasequoia Lane..... Subhanallah..........like a poster....

My youngest bro and me

Continue to Part 2