Japanese cuisine is pretty popular in Korea… Frankly, I grew up eating a lot of Japanese dishes thinking they were Korean… Just because I ate them all the time!

And Hamburg Steak is one of them.

When I found this recipe on Nami’s blog, I was pretty excited to find out that I had all the ingredients that were listed in the recipe.

I think the highlight of this dish is definitely the sauce that goes on top of the patties.

It’s what makes these steaks so unique and so delicious, too.

You will need some ground beef. I used 10% fat ground beef, although Nami uses a mixture of ground beef and pork. I can see how that would make the meat tenderer, but I settled with just beef and it was still really good.

I also skipped onions because my husband hates them! But by all means, if you’re an onion lover, add them! If you’re using onions, finely chop 1/2 onion and saute it in oil in large pan, until onions are translucent. Combine beef and onions together. Then add an egg, milk, panko, salt, black pepper, and nutmeg (I used cinnamon instead because we are allergic).

Mix well by hand and make small patties about 2 – 2 1/2 inches wide.

Cook the patties in oil about 5 minutes on the one side. Do not flip until they are nicely browned.

Flip the patties and add the wine to the pan and lower the heat to medium low. Cover and continue to cook until the patties are fully cooked. Then increase the heat to high to evaporate the wine. Remove the patties. Do not wash the pan.

In the same pan, combine all sauce ingredients together and simmer until thickened. Skim any fat that you might see in the sauce. I used 10% fat ground beef and I hardly saw any fat floating in the sauce.

Pour the sauce over the steak and garnish with chopped green onions if desired.

Japanese Hamburger Steak

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Adapted and changed from Just One Cookbook

Cuisine: Japanese

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• ½ large onion, finely chopped
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lb ground beef (I used 10% fat but if you want your steak tenderer, use 20%)
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• ⅓ cup Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoons nutmeg or ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons oil
• ¼ cup red wine
• For the Sauce
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 tablespoons red wine
• 3 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons Ketchup
• 3 tablespoons Tonkatsu Sauce (or Worcestershire sauce)

Instructions

1. If using onion, saute chopped onion in oil or butter until translucent. Season with salt and black pepper.
2. In large bowl, combine beef, sauted onion, egg, milk, panko, salt, black pepper and nutmeg (or cinnamon) and stir well until well mixed.
3. In large pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Cook patties on one side for 5 minutes or until nicely browned.
4. Flip over to the other side and add the wine and reduce the heat to medium low. Continue to cook, covered, until the meat is cooked through. Bring the heat to high until the wine evaporates. Remove the patties from the pan. DO NOT WASH THE PAN.
5. In the same pan, melt butter, then add the rest of the ingredients in the order, stirring well. Simmer the sauce until slightly thickens.
6. Pour the sauce over the steaks.

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There’s nothing like cold noodle dishes in Summer. There are so many great cold noodle recipes on my blog to enjoy during summertime. I am excited to add this one to the list.

I am in love with this delicious noodle dish. I will have to admit, though, that I never really liked soba or this type of noodle dish when I was growing up in Korea. I always preferred salty and spicy noodles to savory goodness like this.

As I get older, I find myself appreciating more authentic and savory flavors of soba noodles. It’s healthy. It’s super good for you. And the broth is pretty good, too. Unfortunately, I have yet to learn how to make good homemade broth…

But until then, this good bottle of soba broth would work.

Combine 1/2 cup sauce with 1 1/2 cups cold water and stir in chopped green onions.

Top the noodles with some dried seaweed, more green onions, and cucumbers. And tada- a crummy soba noodle bowl!

Soba Noodle Bowl

 

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Cook time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 bunch soba noodles (regular or memil soba)
• ½ cup bottled broth for soba noodles (concentrated)
• 1½ cups water
• 2 green onions, chopped
• ¼ cucumber, sliced then cut in matchsticks
• handful dried seaweed
• toasted sesame seeds, to sprinkle

Instructions

1. Cook noodles according to package instructions. Cool noodles under cold water for several minutes until the noodles are chilled.
2. In bowl, combine broth and water and chopped green onions together. Stir.
3. Place two equal portions of the noodles in separate bowls, pour broth, and top it with cucumbers, dried seaweeds, and sesame seeds.

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I. Heart. Kimchi Bokeumbap (김치볶음밥)  and I crave it all the time.

When I first came to the States over 10 years ago, when I had no idea where to find descent Korean food or Korean grocery stores, I would always daydream about Korean food, especially Kimchi Bokeumbap.

It is easy to make Kimchi Bokeumbap, but it took me a while to make it the way my mom used to make it.

I think that it is important to know that you can’t add too much rice – it’s all about the ratio of –

• how much rice
• how much kimchi
• how much liquid from your jar of kimchi

And all that is done correctly, you will get some of the most delicious Kimchi Bokeumbap ever. Here is a regular Kimchi Bokeumbap recipe, if you’d like to check it out.

To make this dish, heat 1 tablespoon sesame oil in wok or pan. Add chopped kimchi and sliced turkey or regular bacon to the wok and cook until Kimchi is wilted and darker colored, about 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

This is about 3-5 minutes later.

Add about 2 cups white short grain rice – or about small bowlful of it. Do not add too much rice or your bokeumbap won’t be as tasty. Or you can double the recipe and add more Kimchi liquid from the jar.

Add about a scoopful of Kimchi gukmul (Kimchi juice from the Kimchi jar) (a little over 1/2 cup or more) to the rice and stir well immediately.

Sprinkle with about a handful Mozzarella cheese.

Stir well until the cheese is melted.

Kimchi Bacon Bokeumbap

 

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Cook time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
• 1 cup chopped Kimchi
• 4 slices turkey or regular bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 small bowl of cooked white short grain rice (about 1½ – 2 cups)
• ½ cup or more Kimchi gukmul (juice/liquid) from your Kimchi jar
• ½ cup Mozzarella cheese

Instructions

1. Heat sesame oil in wok or pan over medium high heat and add kimchi and bacon. Cook kimchi and bacon until kimchi turns darker and wilted, about 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the sugar and stir.
2. Add a small bowl of white short grain rice to the wok, then add the kimchi juice over the rice. Stir immediately.
3. Add the cheese and stir. You may season with salt if needed.

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Yay, it’s Friday! I am pretty excited about this weekend…

Not that I have spectacular plans or anything. My husband is taking our five year old to a father-son campout tonight… so I’ll be with my two year old alone. It’s kind of exciting to spend alone time with him, though.

Today, I’d like to share a simple recipe that uses Kimchi. Kimchi is pretty awesome because there are so many things you can make with it.

This Dubu (tofu) recipe is refreshing and pretty simple to make. Fresh Kimchi, tuna, and a little bit of seasonings all combined in a bowl, then top grilled Dubu with a spoonful of the mixture.

You will need to cut Dubu about 1 1/2 inches wide.

And panfry them in pan.

You’ll need about a handful Kimchi.

Chop Kimchi small.

In bowl, combine the chopped kimchi, drained Tuna, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon sugar together. Top panfried Dubu with a spoonful of the mixture.

And ta-da, yummy and healthy Dubu recipe for ya.

Kimchi Chamchi Dubu

 

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Cook time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Ingredients

• ½ firm tofu, cut into 1½-inch pieces
• cooking spray
• 1 cup kimchi, chopped
• 1 can tuna in water, drained
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

1. Spray pan with cooking spray. Cook tofu on both sides until golden brown. If you prefer, you can heat oil and cook the tofu.
2. In a bowl, combine kimchi, tuna, sesame oil, and sugar together.
3. Top each tofu slices with a spoonful of the kimchi mixture.

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Just like any other Koreans, I love Bulgogi.

There are so many dishes that use Bulgogi in Korea — and this is one of very many.

This is a pretty easy recipe – for anyone who lives in America or other places where they can’t get authentic ingredients for a good Bulgogi recipe. You can skip Gochujang or plum extract if you want. Just use a little more chili garlic sauce or sugar.

I used ground beef instead of thinly sliced beef… And it still works great.

Bulgogi on a bed of rice… Tempting, isn’t it?

This is a great recipe with a little kick. It reminded me of Bulgogi Dupbap I used to have back in Korea…. Sweet beef Bulgogi with a little bit of heat.

Marinade the meat in the sauce with sliced onions for about 30 minutes.

Cook until the meat is cooked.

Sprinkle with chopped green onions and serve with steamed rice.

Bulgogi Dupbap {Bulgogi Rice}

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Cuisine: Korean

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons rice wine
• 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce or hot sauce
• ½ tablespoon gochujang (hot pepper paste)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• ½ tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon plum extract (if you don’t have any, use more sugar)
• ½ tablespoon sugar
• freshly ground black pepper
• ½ yellow onion, sliced
• 2 green onions, chopped
• steamed rice

Instructions

1. In a bowl, combine soy sauce, rice wine, chili garlic sauce, gochujang, minced garlic, sesame oil, plum extract, sugar, and black pepper. Add the ground beef to the sauce. Place onion on top and marinade for about 30 minutes or longer.
2. Transfer the marinade to a large pan and cook until the meat is cooked through. Sprinkle with chopped green onions.
3. Serve with rice.

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I had to bookmark this recipe as soon as I saw it on Stumble Upon. My family is crazy about pizza… but I have to admit, I am somewhat afraid of pizza… As delicious as they are, the calories in them are scary and I always feel guilty after eating them.

… Which is why I got so excited to find the recipe. I had never heard of using cauliflower for a pizza crust and I thought it was brilliant. I had tried cauliflower mashed potatoes and really enjoyed it so I thought why not use them for a pizza crust?

Some days I try to avoid carbs and this recipe came to a rescue when I was craving pizza the other day. I didn’t feel so guilty about eating a pizza – the crust was delicious and went great with the toppings.

You have to remember though. This is not a flour dough crust… so it is definitely different from the regular flour crust. It is softer but it is packed with wonderful flavors from the cheeses and seasonings.

So you will need about 1/2 head cauliflower to make a pizza for two. Use the whole head to make for more, just double the recipe.

Next, you need to “rice” the cauliflower which means pulse the cauliflower in blender (I used Vitamix) or food processor until it looks like rice grains. Do not overdo it. If it gets mushy, it won’t work as well.

This is about what my cauliflower looked like. Microwave the rice cauliflower for 5-8 minutes.

Add Mozzarella, Parmesan cheeses, 1 egg (I used 1/4 cup egg substitute), garlic and seasonings to the riced cauliflower and mix well.

Spread the cauliflower mix on baking sheet, evenly in a round shape. Do not press it down too thin.

The crust looked like this after baking it in the oven at 450 degrees F. for 15 minutes.

Top it with your favorite pizza sauce and toppings. I used some tomato sauce, turkey pepperoni, olives, green onions, cheese, and basil leaves for mine and they were fantastic.

This is what my pizza looked like after it was done! The crust tasted nothing like cauliflower… instead it tasted more like Parmesan garlic crust and it smelled amazing! I truly enjoyed this crust. Although it is different from what I was used to, but I can see myself making this again. It’s a healthy alternative and it’s quite tasty, too!

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

Adapted from Dear Crissy

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower (1/2 head is how much I used)
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 egg, beaten (or ¼ cup egg substitute)
• 1 tsp italian seasonings
• ½ tsp crushed garlic
• ½ tsp salt
• pizza sauce & toppings of your choice

Instructions

1. To rice the cauliflower, cut florets into chunks and pulse in a food processor or a blender (I used a Vitamix and it worked nicely) until the florets turn into rice grain sized bits. Do not overprocess or they will be mushy.
2. Microwave the riced cauliflower in a bowl for 5-8 minutes. No need to add water.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
4. In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup riced, cooked cauliflower, 1 egg and your cheese. Next, add Italian seasonings, crushed garlic and salt. Making sure everything is well mixed, place your “dough” on the cookie sheet and pat out a 9″ round. Be sure not to press it too thin as it’s easy to create holes.
5. Bake your dough at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.
6. Remove from oven. Add sauce, cheese, and your favorite toppings and bake until cheese is melted, about 3-5 minutes.

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Did everyone have a wonderful Mother’s day? I sure did. I seriously have the best husband and the best sons. They are so sweet and I love them dearly. My husband spoiled me all day yesterday with all kinds of delicious food. He made Fettuccine Alfredo with grilled chicken and shrimp for dinner and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Everything was so yummy and I woke up this morning, still feeling full from last night’s dinner!

I should be sharing his amazing fettuccine alfredo recipe, but today, I am sharing a simple yet tasty scallops recipe.

I made these juicy and flavorful scallops a couple of weeks ago when I found some frozen scallops in my freezer. Sometimes I feel like there are only so many things you can do with scallops so I’m always on the lookout for great and creative scallops recipes. And this one didn’t disappoint. These scallops are seasoned with great flavors such as chili powder and cumin. I added a little bit of garlic seasoning (the kind that is combined with garlic powder and Italian seasoning) as well. I had a hard time cooking scallops when I first started cooking and found that if you cook them too long, they get rubbery and not very good. So make sure not to overcook them. If you cook them just right, you will get the soft and juicy scallops.

Combine all seasonings in small bowl.

Rub the seasonings on dry scallops.

Cook scallops in butter for 2 minutes on each sides.

Melt the remaining butter in the pan that the scallops were cooked in.

Add wine or chicken broth and bring it to a boil, scraping all the seasonings that are left in pan.

Serve the scallops with the butter-wine sauce.

Southwestern Scallops

 

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Cook time

20 mins

Total time

20 mins

 

Adapted from Taste of Home Cookbook

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound sea scallops (about 12)
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided
• ½ cup white wine or chicken broth

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Pat scallops dry with paper towels. Rub seasoning mixture over scallops.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Cook scallops for 2 minutes on each side or until opaque and golden brown. Remove from skillet; keep warm.
3. Add wine (or chicken broth) to skillet, stirring to loosen any browned bits from pan. Bring it to boiling. Cool until liquid is reduced by half. Stir in remaining butter until melted. Serve with scallops.

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