Dukk Bokkee and Durian Shake

Sorry, J, today I made food only I like.


Once in awhile, I force J to eat dukk bokee, or spicy Korean rice cakes. It's one of my favorite dishes, and one that I'm almost always willing to eat. Sadly, J does not share my enthusiasm for chewy dense rice noodles drowning in spicy red sauce, so I try to remember to put a lot of other stuff in it. Today's version included plenty of pork belly, zucchini, bamboo, fish cakes, spinach, enoki mushrooms, green onions, and yellow onions. He didn't complain (too much) and I got to wallow in my dukk love.

I did also make something we both love: a durian milkshake! If you've never had this incredibly stinky tropical fruit, a milkshake is the best way to try it out because the iciness dulls the smell of the durian. If you'd like to try it, find frozen durian pieces in the freezer section of an Asian market; it'll cost you $4-5 for a pack of six small sections instead of $30-50 for a fresh whole fruit! For one mug:

• 1 section frozen durian, seed removed and cut into three chunks
• 4-5 ice cubes
• 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream if you have it
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp simple syrup if you like things sweet

Blend everything in a blender and serve!

Nodaji (Rowland Heights)

I ate a LOT of Korean food when I was in LA this weekend. It's kind of what I crave when I've been away for awhile, and it was also the best choice at 11 p.m. after a flight on a chilly, rainy night. My sister and b-i-l took me to Nodaji, a little Japanese and Korean pub (read: comfort food!). It was delicious.

We started with corn cheese, which is just canned corn sprinkled with melty cheese and baked until crunchy around the edges.

Then we had a huge omarice, which is fried rice wrapped in a big flat piece of egg and topped with ketchup. They served it with over half a dozen Korean side dishes, which was just perfect.

The photo doesn't do this justice, but my favorite dish of the night was the black goat stew. It was boiling hot, quite spicy, surprisingly herby, and full of falling-apart-tender chunks of goat meat. With a perfectly cooked bowl of rice, it was the perfect thing to eat on a cold night--really unique but also really comforting. I felt ten times better after I was done, and we spent under $40 for all three of us.

Miso Black Cod and New World Korean

Yum! Seafood! It's been awhile. We were at my favorite fish shop in the Mission (Sun Fat), so we splurged on a piece of black cod and marinated it in miso, rice wine, soy sauce, and plenty of grated ginger. Then we paired it with some tasty kimchi and marinated bean sprouts from New World Korean Market. SF can't match LA for Korean food, but New World takes the edge off the cravings with some great homemade kimchi and well-stocked shelves of most Korean basics. To keep up with our veggie routine, we had a plate of sauteed broccoli, carrots, and onions.

The project is slowly grinding to its closure (sort of). I hope to have an update soon!

Dukk Bok Gee

A few weeks ago, I realized it's been months, maybe even a year, since I've made Korean rice noodles. Which is crazy, because it's one of my favorite foods.

Don't worry, I fixed up a great big pot tonight, after referring to some of my previous posts for reminders about how to get it right.

I tried something new today: chol noodles. I read about them a few weeks ago, and a couple of friends said they are fantastic additions to dukk bok gee. And they were right! These noodles are sort of like spaghetti, but are more chewy and bouncy. They added a nice texture to the thick chewiness of the rice noodles.

I usually like my dukk bok gee with some slices of pork or pieces of fish cake, but I had neither today so we went vegan. For two meat eaters, we do tend to go completely vegan fairly regularly. A saucy noodle dish with plenty of kimchi and gochujang is one of those things that can survive meatlessness pretty well. Plus I had a ton of vegetables tonight: zucchini cut into wide ribbons, spinach, red bell peppers, shimeji and shitake mushrooms, onions, green onions, garlic, and napa cabbage kimch. It was a great meal, with plenty left for tomorrow.

Kalbi and Cucumbers

As those nearest and dearest to me know, beef is my favorite meat. I'm almost always willing to eat beef for dinner, but once in awhile the craving is more than whimsy driven. We ate a lot of seafood this weekend. And while it was tasty, I noticed I was getting really hungry but not really being satisfied by anything. My brain couldn't even really hone in on what I was craving, until I thought about beef.

Sure enough, three slices of short ribs later and the gnawing sensation in the pit of my stomach went away. I blame a series of fairly brutal workouts a few days ago. Bodies need repairing, and nothing gets the job done better than protein (plus a little garlic marinated cucumber salad on the side to balance out the flavors).

Korean BLT

Thanks, S, for this amazing idea.

A Korean BLT is just a traditional BLT but with the bacon substituted with bulgogi. When S told me her friend's mom fed them this as kids, I thought "What a fun idea." After I made one and ate it, I thought "OMG, how am I going to resist eating this every day?"

Mmmm....closeup shot. It's so delicious. I have no words.

Kukje Korean Supermarket

This week's trip to the Korean supermarket included a rare Korean meal out. Oh, Los Angeles Ktown, how I miss you.

The panchan at Kukje are pretty good. The broccoli with little tofu curds was a little different from usual, but tasty. I should start making little dishes like this at home so we eat more kinds of vegetables every day.

I had dok bok gi (spelling known to vary widely), Korean rice cakes in a spicy chili paste sauce. I fell in love with this dish in high school during International Food Week, when all the foreign language classes would team up with food-savvy parents to run food stalls representing all the cultures of the kids at school. It was always such a great time, and one of the most fun fundraising events I've ever seen. Kukje's version is a little lacking in depth of flavor (usually achieved by adding something fishy or meaty), but quite tender and saucy. Good enough, though not fantastic.

J's neng myun was less exciting. The noodles looked a little overcooked, but he said overall it was fine if not great.