My good friend Hmingi wanted to know how to make the chili oil I mentioned in my previous posting “Jihye’s Spicy Sesame Noodles” (http://jihyechang.com/wisdom/2009/11/27/jihyes-spicy-sesame-peanut-noodle)

Szechuan style chili oil is made with hot peanut oil and dried chili seeds or flakes. However we make chili oil with dried chili powder (“Gochugaru,” 고추가루) and garlic in Korea. Korean style chili powder is very different from “chili powder” that you would use for chili soup, so make sure you get it from a Korean grocery store! I also like to add a bit of grated ginger and salt. There are a few different methods for making the chili oil, but my favorite method is photographed above.

Here’s what you need:

1 cup oil (Canola or Sunflower seed)

4 TB Korean chili powder or powdered chili (Gochugaru), 4 cloves garlic, minced/ 0.5 ts grated ginger/ a pinch of salt

And this is how you make:

1) Heat up the oil in a small sauce pan – hot enough, but not smoking hot. I usually heat it up until the surface of the oil gets a bit shimmery. If the oil’s too hot, it will burn the chili powder. If it’s not hot enough, it will not release much flavor from the other ingredients.

2) Line a big strainer (as in the picture) with a kitchen towel. In a small bowl, mix the chili powder, garlic, salt, and ginger carefully. You don’t have to mix it thoroughly. Put the chili powder mixture over the strainer.

3) Prepare a heat-proof bowl underneath the strainer.

4) Pour the hot oil evenly and slowly over the chili powder mixture. If the chili oil comes through the strainer too slowly, wait a little bit and then pour again.

5) Cool completely and store in a glass jar.

This oil is great for making the best Kimchi fried rice and other yummy Korean foods. I will post something about Kimchi and Kimchi-related recipes soon!

Recently Konkuk University area in Seoul saw a lot of commercial development, including the glitzy Lotte department store and Tower Palace.  With a large university, a few apartment complexes, a big department store, a mega movie theatre, and hundreds of other retail stores, this is one of those busy-traffic areas in Seoul. (Other examples: Dongdaemun market area, Myungdong, and Gangnam station area) Because of the enormous amount of traffic, many of the restaurants in these areas are not that great, and the same effect holds for coffee. However there are always a few gems in these areas, and Choi-Ga Coffee is one of these gems.

Choi-Ga means “Family name Choi”. And yes, the owner of this cafe is Mr. Choi. But “Ga” could also mean “Beauty” in Chinese characters with the same pronunciation as “Family name.” So Choi-Ga has another meaning, the most beautiful, or the best of the best.

This coffee shop has been open since July 28, 2008. Mr. Choi used to work in the hotel business – he worked for the best hotel in Seoul for 20 years as a restaurant manager, development manager, and education consultant. Because he was in the restaurant business at a premium hotel, he got into the world of freshly brewed coffee and espresso early on (before the coffee boom in Korea began), and making and drinking good coffee has been his hobby for a long time.

I found out about this cafe from a Korean blog (http://blog.naver.com/joowoo5?Redirect=Log&logNo=40062426860) last year and befriended the owner while I was visiting Seoul in December 2010. This cafe has been very popular among the locals and students of Konkuk University as well as some who visit from farther away.  Mr. Choi roasts coffee beans at the cafe, using the “Proaster” machine made by the Korean company “Tae-Hwan.” His espresso machine is Gaggia. I personally like the drip coffee much more than any espresso drinks here. Mr. Choi personally makes hand-drip coffee for every single order, and he prepares the strength according to the customer’s preference. (Mild, Medium, and Strong)

Choi-Ga cafe also serves very nice waffles and ice cream. I find waffles to be a very puzzling fad in Korea, especially among the young girls. I never understood the fascination with this – Korean girls do not eat waffles as a breakfast, but they have become popular as a fancy dessert or pass-time snack. Waffles are often decorated with fruits, caramel or chocolate syrup, scoops of ice cream and whipped cream and can have a price tag as high as 12,000 won. (about $11-12) Considering a good meal costs about $5-8, this does not make any sense to me. But somehow young girls go crazy about eating waffles.

Just to make sure I wasn’t missing something amazing about waffles (!), I ordered waffles at three different coffee shops – once at a very big chain (Caffee Bene. This one served below-average coffee and undercooked, soggy waffles), once at a coffeeshop near Sejong University, and once at Choi-Ga cafe. The nut-waffles with blueberry ice cream at Choi-Ga cafe were very tasty and well-prepared. (Small nut-waffle with ice cream is 6500 Won and large size is 11000 won)

I asked Mr. Choi what his coffee “philosophy” is, and his answer was this:

“Coffee is honest. What you put into the cup is what you taste. If you make a cup of coffee with the best beans you have and best skills you can produce, that cup will taste good. I try to make every cup to be the best I can.” And I have the feeling that his philosophy will continue to please many more coffee-craving customers in that busy subway area.

How to get there: Take subway line 6 or 2, and get off at the “Konkuk University” station. Take exit #2. Walk toward the Sejong University direction for about 150m. When you see “Rainbow Glasses” store, turn left. Walk about 60-70m, and it’s on your left side. Look for “최가커피” sign on a wooden panel.

Phone: 02-465-7998

Pricing: Drip coffees: around 4500Won-6000Won, depending on the beans you choose/ Espresso drinks: around 3500 Won – 5000 Won

(From left: Gochu-jang, Toban Dian, Sriracha Sauce, Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, Taiwanese chili paste with garlic and oil, and Tabasco chili sauce. Bottom: a tube of sweet and sour gochu-jang for cold noodles – in-flight meal, Korean Air, from Seoul to Chicago)

I used to get a bit frustrated and a bit annoyed whenever a recipe called for “chili sauce” or “hot sauce” without explaining or specifying WHAT KIND. And then there is the overwhelming confusion one gets in front of hundreds of red bottles at any Asian grocery store. After reading many cookbooks and cooking a lot with different types of chili sauces, I came to understand more about chili sauces in general and now have a few favorite brands and ideas to share. I have had the idea of writing about chili sauces for a long time and finally finished it today.

1. Korean Chili Sauce

Gochujang – This is more like a chili paste than sauce, made with dried chili powder, rice, fermented soy beans, and salt. Gochujang has thick, almost sticky texture and sweet soy bean flavor along with spiciness that kicks in slowly. This is the sauce that goes on top of Bibimbap, one of my friends’ favorite Korean food. Korean chefs use Gochungjang for all kinds of dishes – stir fried spicy pork (Doeji bulgogi), stir fried squid and octopus (Ojingeo bokkum & Nakji bokkum), all kinds of spicy stews (Zigae), spicy noodles and so on. Also very popular among Koreans (especially the younglings) is tokpokki, which is rice cake sticks, fish cakes, and vegetables simmered in sweet Gochujang sauce. It’s also good with plain rice (short grain rice, not Jasmine or long grain)and a few drops of sesame oil. Soonchang gochujang from Chung Jung Won brand is my favorite.

2. Chinese Chili Sauce

Toban-Djan (Chinese chili bean sauce)- This is the famous Szechuanese chili bean sauce (or chili bean paste) that’s used in Ma-Po tofu, Twice cooked pork, and other Szechuan style dishes. Lee Kum Kee brand is very good and trusted. This sauce is highly salty and has very strong fermented flavor. Stir-frying it in oil makes it more tasty and less smelly. Also you need to add some sugar, soy sauce, or Hoisin sauce to balance the flavor. This is different from Chili garlic sauce, which has more sour taste.

3. Other Asian Chili Sauce

Chili Garlic Sauce - This is coarse textured chili sauce with garlic that comes usually in a round plastic container with a green cap, from Huy Fong Foods. (There’s a rooster on the label.) You will see this in a lot of Vietnamese restaurants. It has very pungent and sour taste with lots of saltiness. I love putting it on top of Pho or anything that tastes bland. I prefer not to cook with it as it’s a bit messy.

Sriracha Sauce – More smooth type of chili sauce. This is sold in a tall tube with pointy tip. It’s used sometimes as a garnish on top of spicy tuna or other kinds of spicy sushi rolls. Sriracha has a cleaner taste compared to Sambal Oelek, and can be mixed with mayonnaise. I have only seen and used the Hui Fong Foods brand Srirach Sauce.

Sambal Oelek (Ground fresh chili paste) – This looks very similar to Chili garlic sauce and also comes in similar looking plastic jar, but with a golden label. I have never used it, but Huy Fong explains that it has only chili, not garlic.

Thai Sweet Chili Sauce – This is a really nice chili sauce that’s not too spicy and well balanced with pleasant sweetness. I love the Mae Ploy brand. Thai sweet chili sauce is wonderful as a dip for fresh spring rolls, mixed with a bit of lime juice. Fried chicken wings covered in this sauce are more often spotted in restaurants. About any fried food will go well with this sauce.

4. Chili in oil – Not exactly “sauce,” but still used a lot in Asian cooking. Thai style chili (or chili seeds) in oil is sometimes used as a dipping sauce ingredient and sometimes as a tom-yum ingredient. Mae Ploy and Pantainorasingh are good brands. Japanese Ra-Yu (or La-Yu) comes in a very small container, and it’s great for making spicy mayonnaise along with Shichimi (Japanese 7 spice mixture). I like the S& B brand. Korean food also uses a lot of chili flavored oil, usually sesame chili oil. Haeorum brand makes very flavorful chili sesame oil. Taiwanese chili paste in oil is used mainly as a dipping sauce ingredient for hot-pot. There’s also pickled chili used for Szechuan/Sichuan “fish flavored” dishes, and I have a bottle from my mother in law in the fridge. I will post something when I have enough courage to open it and cook with it..

6. American/Western Chili Sauce -”Hot Sauce”

Chili sauces are often called for Cajun cooking or for Buffalo wing kind of recipes in American cookbooks. Also these sauces are used as base of BBQ sauces. I think Asian chili sauces are more complex in flavor and not always sour while American hot sauces are always vinegar-salt based and often scorching-hot. Tabasco sauce seems to be the most commonly found and used, but I personally adore the Cholula Chile sauce with wooden cap. (Cholula is great on top of omelet or buritto.) I also like to add a few drops of Tabasco sauce in my tomato meat sauce. My husband loves pouring the Tabasco over his pizza and blister his lips. There are so many kinds and brands of chili/hot sauces with different level of hotness – they will kick your taste buds, numb your tongues, and make you cry!

Whoa. I think that’s about it. I am now going to make some spicy tuna rice ball with shichimi, mayonnaise, chili oil, and some sriracha sauce!

This is one of Ben’s favorite snacks, especially in the summer. My mom used to make it whenever I and my brother and sister were hungry and she did not have enough time to make a full meal. Somen is very thin wheat noodle, and it’s sold usually in a large packet with 8-10 bundles each tied with paper strip. This dish is super easy to make and only takes about 10 minutes. And it is so tasty! If you have some left over rice and a can of tuna, you can serve it with some rice balls as well. (I will post a recipe for that soon.)

Mom’s Summertime Somen Noodle

Ingredients

2 sticks somen noodle (Japanese or Korean thin wheat noodle, labeled as “Somen” or “Thin noodle”)

Dressing: 2 TB Soy Sauce, 3TB seasoned rice vinegar (such as Marukan), 3/4 TB toasted sesame oil (such as Kame or Baeksul brand) – mix together. If you have plain rice vinegar, sprinkle one pinch of sugar when you mix the dressing with the noodle.

1 clove garlic, minced/ 2 stems green onion (green part only), chopped/ black pepper

How to Make

1) Boil the noodle according to the package. Drain and wash with cold water. (Swish with chopsticks while boiling in order to prevent the noodles from sticking)

2) Pour the dressing and top with garlic and green onion. Mix thoroughly with chopsticks. Sprinkle a bit of black pepper.

3) Enjoy!

Tip: here is how I cook my Somen noodles.

Boil the noodle with a pinch of Kosher salt -> put the noodle in when the water starts rolling -> when it boils again, pour some cold water -> boil again ->pour cold water -> boil again and then drain/ wash.

Seoul is bursting with many artsy coffee boutiques. Hand-drip coffee is still the most favored method for drip coffee, and more and more small batch coffee roastery and cafes armed with Clover machine and top line espresso machines (La Marzocco and Dalla Corte are favored) are popping up everywhere. There are some really fantastic cafes and roasters, but many of them are just following the “trend” to make money. I feel as though about half of them will not exist the next time I visit Korea.

Anyways. Buam-dong is the “Seo-rae-maul” of the Gangbook (northern part of the Han River). There are so many little coffee shops and restaurants in this quiet area near Bookak mountain. Club espresso began the trend a few years back, but that coffee shop has lost its touch. Instead I found a newer gem called “Dropp” – a cafe near the Buam-dong office with minimal decoration and sophisticated atmosphere that serves small batch roasted organic coffee.

Young baristas working here seem to be very well trained, and I really loved their espresso macchiato. Silky smooth, sweet, and well balanced. Their drip coffee is also superb.

To go here: Take the subway line #3 (orange line). Get off at the “Gyungbok-gung” station. Go out exit # 3. Walk about 10 meter, and then wait for a bus. Take bus 7022, 7018, 0212,1020 and take off in front of the Buam dong office. The Dropp is on the right side of the three way fork, and it’s near the “Bom” photography shop.

Photo courtesy of Jinho Kim (blog.naver.com/schreier)

Last year I stumbled upon the “Belle” espresso by a micro-roastery in California while browsing the internet. There was a “coffee guru” guy (Kenneth Davids) and his website called “coffeereview.com” and the Belle espresso beans from the Klatch Coffee in CA got the highest ever score (94 points) by him. Davids described the bean as ”

So I ordered just to see how good it was and it turned out to be the best choice for my Ascaso machine. Ever since I bought that machine in 2006, I have used many different kinds of beans – Intelligentsia’s Black Cat, Barrington Coffee Roasting company’s Gold espresso, Peet’s, Gimme! Coffee’s Leftist, Counter Culture’s Toscano and Rustico, Batdorf & Goodman’s, etc. So far the Toscano from Counter Culture was my favorite, but this one provided a bit more depth and body than the Toscano. (Also the price and the shipping method used to be nicer.) It really tastes like chocolate and brandy, with really sweet smell of caramel.

The package used to look like the picture on the right side – now they have changed the packaging and their website outlook. Sure, the bag looks more modernized, and the website has a lot of useful information and cool facts about the company. The sad thing is that the price changed (upward), too. The Belle used to cost $12.95 for 1lb (about 450g), but now 12oz (350g) costs $11.95, which is similar to the Counter Culture Coffee’s pricing. Klatch still ships via USPS, and it’s much better than the usual UPS ground shipping.

Next beans to try are – Stumptown Hair Bender and Terroir.

I made this noodle for a party and many people wanted the recipe. It’s my variation on the Szechuanese Tan Tan Men and spicy cold noodle. You can vary the topping and the amount of seasoning according to your taste!

1) Cook the noodle:Thin Spaghetti noodle, cooked al dente and drained/ washed with    cold water.

2) Prepare Topping: Cooked chicken, cooked tofu, peas, asparagus, red bell peppers,  etc. (whatever you want!) Plus liberal dose of toasted white sesame seeds

3) Make the dressing - this is the basic proportion. You can alter the saltiness, spiciness, and the amount as you go. This can easily be doubled.

2 TB soy sauce - Kikkoman is good all purpose soy sauce. Also Sam-pyo soy sauce from Korean grocery stores is good

1 TB Creamy peanut butter

1 TB Peanut oil and 0.5 TB canola oil (or 1.5 TB canola oil, if you don’t have the peanut oil)

1 TB Chili sesame oil (less if you don’t want it too hot) – get Korean Chili sesame oil from CJ Baeksul or Haioreum brand/ or Japanese chili sesame oil from S&B

0.5 TB Asian toasted sesame oil – get any Japanese or Korean brand, not the unrefined sesame oil

2 TB Unseasoned rice vinegar - get any Japanese or Korean rice vinegar. Mitsukan is good and easy to find.

1 ts Sugar (or more)

2 TB thinly sliced green onion and 2 cloves garlic, minced+2 pinches of ginger powder or 0.5 ts of minced ginger

Mix all the sauce ingredients and taste/ adjust seasonings to your taste

4) Mix the noodle with 2/3 of the dressing and put the topping. Drizzle the dressing over and serve! (You may garnish the topping with crushed peanuts or more green onion slices.)

Enjoy~~

Last year I participated in an amazing fund-raising event called “Gourmet Soup Kitchen.” It was for the homeless shelter in Fargo, and was organized by Linda Coates and other wonderful people of this area. I was one of the chefs who donated 5 gallons of soup, and I made the “Nuro-men” which is Taiwanese national beef noodle soup. My soup was the first to run out (partly because I did not make the full 5 gallons..) and a lot of people asked for a recipe. It is really easy to make but you do need a specific spice packet that’s shown in the picture. If you can’t find it, you may substitute it with some star anise, clove, ginger and cinnamon.

Ingredients:

1 pack (about 1.5 lb), Beef boneless short-rib

0.5 lb, Flank steak (This is for more flavorful and less oily soup. You can replace it with more short-rib meat.)

4 garlic cloves

1-2 TB Canola oil

1 rock sugar clumps, about 1 inch diameter (or a few small pieces of rock sugar)

2 TB rice wine (Mi-Chiu is good. You can also use sake or dry sherry. Do NOT use Mirin, which is the sweetened rice wine!)

1 soup packet labeled as “Spice for Spiced Food” from Taiwan – this you can find in Asian grocery stores. This soup packet contains cinnamon, cloves, star anise.

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 lime, sliced and 1 tomato cut in half

Chopped green onion and cilantro for garnishing

Dried Asian Noodle – not egg noodle or thin noodles. I used Korean Udon noodle (Choripdong brand). Japanese udon noodles would work, too.

Taiwanese chili sauce for extra spice (optional) – get the “Ichiban hot chili and garlic paste”

How to Make:

1) Cut the meat in 2-3 inch cubes. Pat with kitchen towel and get rid of any blood.

2) Slice the garlic.

3) In a large Dutch oven or Le Creuset pot, put the cooking oil and heat up the pot.

4) Put the meat and garlic slices. Stir until the meat is a bit browned and garlic is fragrant.

5) Stir in the rice wine and mix well

6) pour enough water to cover the meat and 1 inch more/ put the soy sauce, rock sugar and tomato.

7) Lower the heat and simmer for about 1-1.5 hours until the meat is really tender.

Put the sliced lime and put into the soup and simmer for 30 minutes more. Taste the soup and put more soy sauce and sugar according to your taste.

9) Cook the noodle and drain according to the package.

10) Put the noodle in a deep bowl and pour over the soup. Garnish with green onion and cilantro and serve hot. Enjoy!

I have been drinking only espresso macchiato and lattes for the last 3.5 years with my own espresso machine and grinder. (My husband drinks dripped coffee, and I sometimes drink a bit of what he brews.) However on a hot summer day like today, iced coffee seems to be so much more appealing, and I decided to follow the method that’s introduced at the Counter Culture Coffee’s website. (Counter Culture Coffee makes one of my favorite espresso beans, Espresso Toscano.) And the result? The BEST iced coffee I have ever tasted! It’s also much lighter tasting than iced Americano, which is made with espresso shots and ice/water. Also it gets the most aroma from the beans, and it tastes much more fresh than a lot of iced coffee that you get from the commercial places.

You can find the original instruction here:

http://www.counterculturecoffee.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=574&Itemid=

I used a coffee stand that my dear friend Robert Scott – a dentist, flutist, and a beautiful wood-worker – made for me last Christmas. It’s supposed to be a Costa Rican chorreador stand, but I think it works much better for this recipe. You can make your own following the direction here: http://www.runnerduck.com/coffee_maker.htm You can buy one at www.chorreador.com as well. (Of course the one that I bought in San Jose was much cheaper, but I am thrilled that you can finally order one in the states.)

Here is how I did:

1) Hang the coffee basket and filter on the chorreador stand (or find a similar way to suspend a basket above the glass that you’ll use for the finished coffee).

2) Boil enough water to fill a tall glass – you won’t use all of it, because the glass will have ice in it.

3) Put 3-4 tbs. of freshly ground coffee in the filter.  Today I used Coffee Klatch’s Ipanema Dulce.

4) Fill a tall glass to the top with ice cubes, and put it under the coffee basket.

5) Slowly pour the hot water over the filter.  Watch the coffee level in the glass so it doesn’t overflow.  You’ll wind up using less water than you would if you were making hot coffee with the same amount of grounds, to compensate for the dilution that happens when the hot water hits the ice cubes.

Enjoy!

The owners of Leela and Thai Orchid opened a noodle bar called “Drunken Noodle,” on NP avenue (the old Green Market location) recently. Drunken Noodle is a name of a Thai noodle dish. I read about this dish in “Bon Appetit” magazine a few years ago – that it is a very spicy noodle that makes you drink a lot of water afterward, hence the name. Drunken Noodle serves not too spicy drunken noodle along with several noodle dishes and pasta dishes. This restaurant used to be the Green Market. It is spacious and simply decorated. All the dishes are under $7, and food is served super fast. Pad Thai is too sweet for my taste, and the drunken noodle dish has too much jalapeno taste in it (and a bit too salty). But Bah Mee Gaeng (Coconut soup with noodle) is tasty, although it sometimes contains too much fish sauce. This restaurant is open until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays. Someday I will go there at 2am, eat the Bah Mee Gaeng super spicy, and then head to Fargo Coffee Co. for some espresso..!

Update (Sep. 21, 2009) - I went to the Drunken Noodle at 12:30am on September 19, Saturday, and it was packed..! Amazing. I wonder if it’d be the same when it’s -30F outside.

Another new restaurant is Kobe’s. I visited that place three times with my husband and friends, and my husband decided that he never wants to go back. It is an OK place for family gatherings or experiencing “hibachi” (the fire show and everything), but not for sushi – especially the rolls. They are big but not a lot of fish slices are used (the proportion between rice and fish seems off in general). Sushi rice seems to be poor quality (somewhat gummy and sticky), and all the sauces they use for rolls and appetizers are too sweet and mayonnaise-like. Service is friendly and fast/ prices are not bad.

Update (October 2009) – I convinced my husband once more to visit Kobe’s with some of our friends. It was rather a disappointment, and I don’t want to go back there, either. Rolls are covered with too much sauce and rice is still gummy, grilled dishes are too sweet (especially their teriyaki sauce – too gluey and has unpleasant taste). Kobe’s website states that the chef at Kobe’s consider the rolls are “all about sauces.” Well, there you go. I think I will pass on those sauces and eat something else. Salmon Passion was pretty good, but that was the only thing that we liked among about 6 dishes we ordered that night. Kobe’s  is doing really well, though. I think it hit the right note with a lot of people, just not with me or my husband.

Update #2 (December 2009 and January 2010) – Wasabi restaurant opened at the back of Drunken Noodle. I like a few of their rolls (Nothern pacific and spicy salmon). In my opinion it is better than Kobe’s as the balance between the rice and other ingredients is much better, and the overall taste is cleaner, but I have not ordered their nigiri or sashimi. (In fact I almost never order Nigiri sushi or sashimi in any of the small city sushi places. Most of these places use frozen fish and pre-cooked or prepared ingredients. For example one cannot expect unagi or egg rolls cooked from scratch from any Japanese restaurants in mid-small cities in the states. I have eaten a lot of sushi and sashimi in various places from Japan to New York City, and I know what I like and what’s worth my money. Wasabi has a few things that I would spent my money on. Wasabi also serves Korean style Galbi (or Calbi – short ribs marinated in sweet soy mixture and grilled) and Bulgogi. Galbi was pretty good (standard restaurant taste, so to speak), but Bulgogi was a bit too salty and the meat was not of a good quality. They also added a few lunch box items. Bulgogi lunch box is $9 (Galbi box is $15), and it comes with soup, rice, 2 pieces of California roll, fried chicken pieces, salad, and bulgogi or galbi. Decent taste and decent price that’s worth a try. I would not say it’s a great restaurant, but it’s in downtown -and I love Fargo downtown!- and it’s good enough. So I will probably go back there again when I have some roll-craving or seaweed salad craving..