Mind, Body, and 14 Recipes- 3/13/09

I've never kept track of how many recipes I've made in one day but today may have been a record. The Korean menu in this month's Gourmet magazine has 14 recipes and I made every one. I guess I technically made 3 of the recipes last night but that's still a lot of dishes for one meal. For that many dishes I was pretty impressed with how easy the menu was to put together. Several of the recipes were for banchan, or small dishes that are served alongside the main course. Pickled ingredients are a common banchan so I made the Cucumber Apple Pickle and the Soy-Pickled Jalapenos the night before so they could sit in the pickling mixture for 24 hours. For the Cucumber Apple Pickle, all that was necessary was some slicing and combining of ingredients. These pickles were Richard's favorite dish. The vinegar taste was light and did not overpower the sweet of the apple and the freshness of cucumber. The jalapenos were appropriately hot but still flavorful with a hint of sweet. I also made the dessert, the Mandarin Orange Ice Cream with Sesame Brittle, last night to give it time to freeze up after mixing in the ice cream maker. I halved the recipe and it worked fine. It took almost a whole bag of mandarin oranges to get a cup and a half of juice. I got a little nervous when the custard didn't thicken much but after cooling, it froze up well in the ice cream maker and was very good. The Sesame Brittle was very easy to make and looked really cool. The only thing was that I think the brittle in the ice cream was a little much. It made a great garnish but it overpowered the light citrus flavor of the ice cream.

Three of the recipes were for drinks. The first drink was the Grapefruit Soju Cocktails. Honestly, this was grapefruit juice with some alcohol. It wasn't that impressive. I tried the Soju alone and can only compare it to a sweet sake. It may be an acquired taste I haven't acquired yet. The second drink was a Roasted Barley Tea, a very mild tea that is supposedly good for digestion. It must have worked because I ate a lot 5 hours ago and I feel fine. The final drink was the Hot Ginger Tea with Cinnamon on page 108. The ginger flavor was very strong so I really didn't taste any cinnamon but I enjoyed the tea.

There were eight other banchan recipes. Kimchi is a quintessential Korean dish that usually ferments for days but this menu included a Quick Kimchi recipe. It was quite salty but had that traditional pickling fish sauce taste. The Korean-Style Romaine was a similar recipe but without the pickling. It was basically a salad with an Asian style dressing. The Warm Tofu with Spicy Garlic Dressing had a very similar dressing to the salad. Eyrleigh absolutely loved the tofu. I did not like tofu as a kid so it was great to see her eat it up! The Sauteed Oyster Mushrooms were just that, sauteed mushrooms. The oyster mushrooms do taste different than traditional white mushrooms, a bit earthier is the best way I can describe it. The Sesame Quail Eggs were the one recipe I found a bit overkill. They were a cool color but other than that I think they didn't add to the menu at all. The Shrimp and Scallion Pancakes were excellent. Eyrleigh loved them too. They were easy to make too.

This menu put a little twist on the ubiquitous rice in a Korean menu. The recipe for Brown Rice and Barley added a depth that white rice does not have. The barley added a chewy note that I enjoyed. The main dish, the Short Rib and Vegetable Stew, was good but not the standout of the menu. I used the hot pepper threads instead of the paste the recipe called for and I think the extra heat form the paste would have helped. The Korean radish was really good uncooked, I tried it, but cooked it lost is flavor. It was almost indistinguishable from the potato. The meat was very tender though and the soy sauce, fish sauce, and molasses came together for a great broth.
As a final summary, I really enjoyed making this menu. There were a lot of components but no one was so long and time-consuming that it drew away from the fun of doing them all. Aside from the Sesame Quail Eggs, I thought all of the recipes worked well together and we all loved certain parts of the menu. Richard's favorites were the Cucumber Apple Pickle and the Shrimp and Scallion Pancake. Eyrleigh loved the pancakes too as well as the Warm Tofu with Spicy Garlic Sauce. I really liked the pancake and the Mandarin Orange Ice Cream with Sesame Brittle.