Sweet 16

January 12th was Elly's 16th birthday .... and my first attempt at Korean food.  When I began looking online for recipes and techniques, I began to get pretty excited.  (New foods do that to me!  Heck ..... Let's be honest here:  FOOD does that to me!)  But Korean food looks so darned interesting and tasty and fun to make.


So, please join me as I make 2 dishes.

1.  Jeyuk Bokkeum (Korean Spicy pork)

The ingredients you see at the top right left are what's in the jar at the top left:  Gochujang or spicy red pepper paste.  It's used in a lot of Korean food and you can add as little or as much as you like depending on how spicy you like your food.  I erred on the side of caution this time around and just used the minimum that the dish called for.  I mixed together Gochujang, soy sauce, minced garlic and a little sugar (lower right pic), then marinade thinly sliced  pork tenderloin and veggies for 24 hours.  Fry (and adjust the spice or sweetness level to your liking).

2.  Gung Jung Ddukbokki (Royal Palace Rice Cakes)

Ddukbokki are a little trickier to make, or at least to make them as delicious as the street vendors do.  Aren't they interesting!  These little tubes of compressed rice which get softened by immersing in boiling water (off the heat).  While this is happening, you stir fry veggies, make a sauce of soy sauce, honey, minced garlic and sesame oil, add ddukbokki and sauce, simmer for a few minutes; and sprinkle with sesame seeds to serve.     

It was delicious!  There were 7 of us round the table:  Canada, Korea, Brazil and Japan were represented; and we all enjoyed the meal.  Elly gave me top marks on the Jeyuk Bokkem and a fair mark for the ddukbokki.  I'll keep trying.


This was followed by Elly's favorite dessert -- New York cheesecake.  


I made the cheesecake the night before, so it had the required day to "cure".  It was a very decadent recipe -- 5 pkgs cr cheese, 5 eggs plus 2 egg yokes, 1/2 heavy cream.  But man!  What a divine cheesecake!  I can honestly say (especially as the other six round the table said it first), it was probably one of the best cheesecakes I've ever eaten.  It was lush and creamy with subtle hints of the orange and lemon zest.  I served it with a homemade blueberry sauce and whipped cream.

I got top marks from the Birthday Girl (and by the looks of it, the Whipped Cream Queen)!  What a fun night with family and friends.  I can't wait to try my next Korean recipe.


BTW - I'll post the cheesecake recipe in the next day or two.  Trust me:  it's so worth the 5 million calories!!!