First, you need some steamed rice...
If you don't have a rice cooker it's okay! Follow how to cook steamed rice in a pot steps.

Then, let's steamed the bean sprouts...
(This is not the mungbean sprouts you get for pho...)

Just get a pot of water and put bean sprouts in and cover the pot. Bring it to boil.

Make sure you cover it and don't open it too often. My mom says that prevents a strong odor from bean sprouts and keeps the taste fresh. When it starts to steam just don't go too far and turn your sprouts mushy. It should still be crunch enough.

Now the sauce...

soy sauce
sesame seeds
chopped scallions
red pepper flakes
drops of sesame oil

Don't put too much soy sauce...it's too salty...when you mix them in taste it and adjust accordingly to your personal taste.

And just mix them up!

Enjoy!

It's basically the same steps with Hobak/Zucchini Jun but just use Tofu.

You can make both of them at the same time and you get 2 banchan. If you made too much at once, you can always save them and heat it up again. That's what we did for couple days.

They are easy to make, healthy, and yummy~!!  Hope you like it as much as I do.

So shall we start?

I sliced tofu into good bite sizes. Make sure not to slice too thin. Just thick enough like the following picture.

Sprinkle some salt lightly evenly over the tofu. Just enough not too much!

I lightly turn them over and sprinkle some salt again so the salt gets evenly distributed.

Just make sure you don't crumble them. Ha ha...

Get a bowl for flour and a bowl for eggs. Oh add some salt in the eggs again so the eggs and tofu taste goes together nicely. Sorry, I took the picture when I was almost done...

Usually I end up cracking too much eggs so I chop some scallions and fry leftover eggs afterwards...you know the one you fry and roll up like a roll cake? Another banchan for you there!

So, back to the recipe...

1. coat each tofu slice with flour. Coat it evenly all over so eggs will stick all over as well. I use hands to coat flour and toss gently couple times on hand to shake off excess flour. I don't want to eat chunk of flour you see...

2. Now, drop in the stirred eggs and I use a spoon to pick it up. And on to the pan!

Lightly coat with oil and cook it. I used the griddle since I was making a big batch. I think temp was about 325 degrees.

You can eat Tofu raw so just make sure you cook eggs thoroughly. If eggs are all cooked, you are done~! Yay.

You can dip in soy sauce or eat it as it is.

Don't forget to try Zucchini Jun too!

Enjoy!

For lunch, I wanted something instant and fast...but still something with a kick. Spicy and salty...yes...Mmmm

When I went grocery shopping, I realized I haven't been eating canned tuna for a while, so I just grabbed a 4-pack canned tuna today.

I'm planning to go eat Jjajangmyun later tonight (one of my must-eats now) so eating rice will balance the noodle I'm going to eat later. I'm so planned out with meal plans. LOL.

So anyway...if you ever want to try this here are the things I used:

1-2tbsp Gochujang-Red Pepper paste (I didn't try the sweet kind, bibimbap sauce, but I think that could be better)

1/2 cup Kimchi-chopped (you choose if you want more or less)

A can of tuna

ground garlic (OPTIONAL)

AND steamed rice

*WARNING* This might not be your best lunch menu if you are going to eat at an office....^^ I ate at home so please be advised when eating somewhere else.

I got a small pot and put all the ingredients and just heat it up! That's all!!

I prefer Korean Canned Tuna since it's chunkier and 'meaty' but I guess it won't hurt to use any other canned tuna. Bring it to boil and I stirred it on high so everything gets cooked and mixed well together.

After boiling it and stirring it for couple minutes, it turned out like this.

I just got steamed rice and poured it over and mixing time~ Yummm

I had some Romaine Lettuce so I wrapped some and that was pretty good too.

Now...whew I'm full....a cup of just brewed coffee will be nice!

Related items on ebay:

Korean Red Pepper Paste (Gochujang) 200g (Medium Hot) US $8.08

Korean hot pepper paste gochujang sweet sauce bibimbab 해찬들 소고기 볶음고추장 US $.99

Korean Sunchang Gochujang 200g/sauce bibimbab/SunChang US $19.99

Korean Red Pepper Paste Gochujang Midium Hot 500g + 200g in Plastic Container US $12.63

Nishiki medium grain premium grade WHITE RICE 5 pounds US $18.57

Unlike Quick ‘n Easy Korean Banchan(sidedish)-Fresh Spicy Cucumber Salad Recipe which only uses the flesh part of cucumber (no seeds, no skin), this sidedish just uses the whole cucumber like other regular salads.

Ingredients

1 tbsp sea salt for pickling
1/2 lb cucumber

1 chopped scallion
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sesame seeds
2 tsp red hot pepper flakes
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp minced garlic

*NOTE: salt, sesame oil, pepper flakes, sugar, and garlic are all basic Korean spices. There's no right and wrong amounts to these like all other cuisine. Try it first as the recipe and feel free to adjust to your liking ^-^

First, cut cucumbers like the picture and put sea salt to 'pickle' just little bit. Maybe 15 min. Let it sit for a while...just enough that it's flexible but still fresh and crunchy.

When you think it's enough (don't let it sit tooooooo long), wash and gently squeeze excess water out.
and mix with all other ingredients. Adjust the spices accordingly to your liking.

Enjoy!

Other Recipes:
Bulgogi-Korean BBQ beef
Zucchini fried jun
Korean style Pickle (Oiji)
Fresh Spicy Cucumber Salad
Fresh Tofu Salad
Stir Fried Eggplant

Kimchi Recipes:
Traditional Whole Napa Cabbage Kimchi
Quick 'n Easy version Kimchi

Once a friend told me she ate a very healthy meal...spinach salad. Yes that's good but let me show you an alternative way...Asian way...of eating spinach, as a Banchan/Sidedish with rice. I think that's little more filling than just a salad heh heh.

Just slightly cook and mix with sesame oil and salt and you are done!
Okay..okay...I'll be little more specific...scroll down!

Ingredients

1 bunch spinach
1 tsp salt
2 cups water

(Mix)
1-3 chopped scallions
1/2 tsp Sesame Oil
1/4 tsp salt

(OPTIONAL)
Little garlic
1/2 tsp sesame seeds

Let's Start!

Wash spinach thoroughly several times so you don't have to wash it after it's cooked.

Add salt to water and bring it to boil. When the water starts to boil put clean spinach and let it sit only for about 2 minutes. No longer than that!

Take spinach out and drain water. If it's too hot just briefly wash spinach once and squeeze excess water out. Cut spinach twice (into bite size).

Now just mix spinach with scallions, sesame oil, salt and sesame seeds (and garlic if you want).

Serve with rice and other banchan. If you didn't make it too salty, feel free to just eat it by itself.

That's all!

As you get familiar with the basic spices and sauces for Korean food, like sesame oil, feel free to add more or less depending on your preference. After all it is to please you not me ^^. Beauty of cooking after all is to adjust to your liking right?

Enjoy!

250 water spinach garden plant heirloom fruit / vegetable / herb seeds US $.99

♥FANTASTIC Genuine Natural Wide Spinach Green Grade A+ Quality JADE BANGLE♥ US $158.00

Other Recipes:
Bulgogi-Korean BBQ beef
Jhuck-Special Occasion Bulgogi
Korean style Pickl (Oiji)
Fresh Spicy Cucumber Salad
Fresh Tofu Salad

Kimchi Recipes:
Traditional Whole Napa Cabbage Kimchi
Quick 'n Easy version Kimchi

A bowl of steaming hot soup during cold winter, especially this year, sounds so good! I LOVE soup just for the taste, but it happens to have some health benefits too!

Soybean sprouts are known to have 'isoflavone' which is beneficial for women near menopause. Also it's known within Koreans to help hangovers after heavy drinking by breaking down alcohol. So maybe next time you wanna try the Korean way to ease your hangover LOL.

Many Koreans are known to be heavy drinkers (not including me LOL) and they eat many different kinds of soup to relieve hangovers. Some spicy and some clear soup like what I am going to share today. This clear sprouts soup that I'm going to share is one of the popular ones.

However, you don't have to be a heavy drinker to enjoy this soup. I love to eat rice and this soup with Kimchi. Simple but tasty meal and healthy too!

Let's Start!

Ingredients

1 bag soybean sprouts (1lb)
3 scallions
1/2 gallon water
1tbsp salt
1tbsp minced garlic

Wash sprouts and put them in a pot with water, salt, and garlic.
Cover the pot and bring it to boil on high temperature.

After it starts to boil, cook it for another 5 minutes and then lower the temperature to about knob 6 (we have number dial) and put scallions.

Cook 5 more minutes again.

If you want it to be little spicy, you can add some red pepper flakes.

Sorry everyone...I wasn't there to take the picture step by step. Young did her best to take the picture and still get the recipe right so Yay! And I'm sure you wonderful cooks can do it okay ^^

Eat it with a bowl of rice and kimchi! They go so well!

(WHISPER: Mom...that's little too much rice there....LOL...need bigger bowl for the soup and some more kimchi please~!)

***NOTE**
Do not confuse Soybean sprouts and Mung bean sprouts!
Soybean sprouts and Mung bean sprouts usually are sold on the same section. Just make sure that you get SOYBEAN SPROUTS for this soup! Soybean sprouts have bigger and yellow head (?). Mung bean sprouts are not used for this kind of clear soup. It's good for Vietnamese noodle or for sidedish ^^
Try not to keep soybean sprouts in the refrigerator no more than a day. It goes bad real fast so eat it as fast as possible!
**********

So when you get the right kind of sprout and eat it fast, you'll get lots of health benefits while pleasing your tummy!

Enjoy!

Asian bowl sets on eBay

Asian Stir Fry Set 1-Wok/4 Bowls/Spoons/Chopsticks New US $29.99

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First pour salt into water and bring it to boil.
Add vinegar just before turning your stove off. Turn stove off.

Add clean cucumbers into the hot salt water and let it cool.

When it cools, transfer cucumbers and salt water into a glass jar.
Make sure cucumbers are tightly placed and make sure to place something heavy or anything to push down (but not crush) cucumbers tightly in the jar to enhance pickling process. Young even suggest putting some chopsticks to tighten the top of cucumbers. And let it sit for 3-4 days.

When you are ready to eat, take some out, wash, and slice thinly. Top with scallions and some fresh water. You can also sprinkle red hot pepper flakes if desired. Adding water or red hot pepper flakes is totally your choice! But chopped scallions with pickles are really good!

*Variation:You can turn this into different spicy banchan. Mix pickle slices with some sesame oil, minced garlic, chopped scallion, sesame seeds (optional) and red hot pepper flakes. And there's another banchan for you! Enjoy!

Other Banchan/Sidedish Recipe:

Fresh Spicy Cucumber Salad
Fresh Tofu Salad
Stir Fried Eggplant
Mini Ground Turkey Pancake
Zucchini Jun

Kimchi Recipes:
Traditional Whole Napa Cabbage Kimchi
Quick 'n Easy version Kimchi
Non Spicy American Cabbage Kimchi
Kimchi Fried Rice
Young Radish Water (YeoulMoo Mul) Kimchi
White Non-Spicy Kimchi

Kimchi Facts:

About Kimchi
Different Tastes of Kimchi
Korean Homemade Kimchi Part I-Most Popular
Homemade Kimchi vs Store Bought Kimchi

This was all we had. But it doesn't matter. Whatever you decide to put in your Joomukbob is totally up to you. We had only Costco's Kirkland bacon bits and some old kimchi. I just quickly fried bacon bits and kimchi together (chopped them nice and small). We had extra bacon bits on the plate. We found some sesame leaves and new rice that's all cooled. down.

If you don't feel like using bare hands just like us, you might want to get a disposable kitchen glove (not the medical rubber stuff LOL). You can buy those in Asian Markets...Lotte or H Mart...etc. I included it in the lower left of the picture. It's very convenient for mixing.

This is what we did...my friend sprinkled little salt and some sesame oil over the cooled rice and mixed nicely. These will not only season the rice, but also will help rice to stick better into different shapes.
We just started to take handful of rice and started to shape them into whatever we wanted to.

I just rolled them into spheres first and then pressed down on the middle to make dents to top with some fried kimchi. Then I just closed little up. My friend just started to randomly add bacon bits and wrapped it with sesame leaves. At the end we just mixed all leftover ingredients together (like fried rice) and shaped them into triangular shapes like onigiri.

We quickly packed them and ate 'em at a park. They were so good! Especially ones wrapped in sesame leaves! Yummm! It was our first time making these and it tasted good! Next time we should try some other stuffings.

Variation suggestions: Tuna salad, spam, any fried rice of your choice, any marinated meat. Just make sure they are chopped finely. Don't be afraid to be creative with your ingredients. Try vegetarian!

Some other ideas for Joomukbob!

Rolled with thinly cooked egg.

Small riceballs covered with finely grated or chopped veggies like carrots and green onion, crushed dried seaweed, finely mashed cooked egg yolks and whites.

Fried rice covered with cooked spam slice, eggs, and dried seaweed. As you can see that these can be basically made into all different kinds of shapes.

Just keep each one small enough so that you can easily eat it in a bite or two. That would also help you control your portions if you are on a strict diet too! That's it! Enjoy!

And everyone PLEASE let us know of any other variations you like or would like to try!

If you wanna get better shapes there are actually rice ball molds available for perfect shaped Joomukbob everytime!

Rice ball molds on Sale on eBay

Japanese BENTO accessories rice ball mold mould with nori punch PANDA shape US $13.99

Quality Japanese 7.5" Slim Sushi Roll Mold Mould Riceball Maker Reusable New #1 US $8.50

2 pc Quality Japanese Onigiri Sushi Mold Mould Rice Ball Maker Reusable New #5 US $7.99

And some tutorial I found on how to use the molds to make riceballs, onigiri style.

Ingredients
500g sweet rice powder
2 eggs
1tsp baking powder/flour
1.5 tsp baking soda
4 cups milk
2 tbsp sugar(can be adjusted to your liking)
1 tsp salt
nuts
raisin
(optional) 1 steamed sweet potato sliced thinly

***Let's Start!

Mix eggs well first.
Add milk and mix again.
Add sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda one by one while mixing nice and slow.
Add sweet rice powder and mix really well.
Add sliced steamed sweet potatoes, nuts, and raisins and mix.
Bake at 375F for about 45-50minutes.
Let it cool, cut, and serve.
Pair it with tea or coffee (or just this) and Enjoy!

Following recipe makes about 4 servings:

Ingredients
2 quarter-head kimchi
1 cup frozen vegetables
3 Tbsp sesame oil(or olive oil, vegetable oil)
4 cups steamed rice
3 scallions-chopped

Well, Let's Start!


Chop Kimchi to your own bite size, but not too big. They should all blend in nicely at the end.

Fry half of 3tbsp (so 1.5tbsp) of sesame oil and Kimchi together first. Fry till Kimchi color turns little deeper and more tender.

Then add some frozen vegetables and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Now Add rice and rest of the sesame oil. Lastly add scallions and fry lightly. Now you are done! That wasn't so bad eh?

***Bonus Tip: You can put a fried egg on the top or scramble and mix with fried rice itself. If you think vegetarian dish is not enough for you, you can add grounded meat, shrimp, or fish cakes. (Or in my case, I sometimes put Spam or hotdogs. Easy fast meat(?) LOL.)***

Well, all you have to do now is ENJOY!

Kimchi related items on ebay:

Premium Sanitized Red Pepper 1kg for Kimchi Korean Food US $89.99

K is for Kimchi - food funny humor lol tee t-shirt NEW US $16.75

K is for Kimchi - food funny humor lol tee t-shirt NEW US $14.25

K is for Kimchi - food funny humor lol tee t-shirt NEW US $14.25

Kimchi Recipes:
Traditional Whole Napa Cabbage Kimchi
Quick 'n Easy version Kimchi
Non Spicy American Cabbage Kimchi
Young Radish Water (YeoulMoo Mul) Kimchi
White Non-Spicy Kimchi

Other Recipes:
Bulgogi-Korean BBQ beef
Spicy Chicken Bulgogi
Korean style Pickl (Oiji)
Fresh Spicy Cucumber Salad
Fresh Tofu Salad
Stir Fried Eggplant
Mini Ground Turkey Pancake
Zucchini Jun

Kimchi Facts:

About Kimchi
Different Tastes of Kimchi
Korean Homemade Kimchi Part I-Most Popular
Homemade Kimchi vs Store Bought Kimchi