Fry-Day Miscellaniea

I thought I'd just post some of what we ate this past week, when we didn't go out.  Back in September I picked up a bag of "Korean Pancake Mix" from Hannam Chain Market World in Diamond Bar. This past week I decided to actually make an attempt to make this.

So when I finally read the instructions, I was a bit surprised. It was truly, just add water and mix! Here's the first one I made; Shrimp and Green Onion:

It was pretty good, though a little "gummy" in the middle. What ended up happening is that I increased the amount of water, and it turned out great. Though there's no picture, my favorite, is thinly sliced onion, bean sprouts, furikake, and.....Spam! It tasted great, and Furikake adds a nice saltyness, the onions and sprouts added nice texture. I hope I didn't insult anyone with my choice of ingredients. I was so amazed how easy this was. Oh, and why did I pick this brand? Well, it was the only package with English instructions. If there are any recommendations out there, please let me know! BTW, my next one is going to be Portuguese Sausage......

I finally had the Okahara Saimin that I purchased from Orient Bowl/First Korean Market.

And yes, that's Spam again. After all I didn't want to waste what was leftover from the pancakes, right? I hadn't had Okahara's for at least 5 or 6 years, and found that the "dashi" flavor was alot more pronounced then I remember. Probably due to several years of eating Ramen. I really enjoyed the flavor, I've probably missed this on some sub-conscious level. The noodles were firm, and the broth very flavorful.

The change in weather always wears me down a bit. I just felt a bit lethargic, and really just wanted some "comfort food". And that little craving voice in my head was requesting a BBQ Beef Sandwich from Rainbow Drive In. It really wasn't realistic to make a marinade, etc.... So what to do? I drove down to Zion Market, and bought some "10 up" Bulgogi from the Meat Department, at $4.99/lb, I thought it was a bargain. And in about 10 minutes I had my own BBQ Beef Sandwich:

Now I could've gotten "8 up" Bulgogi for $3.99/lb, but I thought a buck really wouldn't make much difference, for a better quality meat. I could make 3 sandwiches for a pound of meat. Other then perhaps being too heavy on the  sesame oil, the meat was so very tender and flavorful. I thought it was pretty delici-yoso!! Who knows, maybe I'll start seeing Bulgogi Sandwiches on menus soon?

So just some really simple food for Friday......

Oh, and did you read the BBC article on what could 'cure bird flu?'

Have good weekend!

Comments

[Reid]

Hi Kirk,

I live here and haven't had Okahara's saimin in almost 10 years. I actually go out to eat it nowadays since I'm so lazy to make the dashi from scratch. I used to buy the fresh Liliha Saimin noodles years ago. Maybe I should do a saimin post huh?

[Pam]

Mmmm! Bulgogi burgers! I've gotta try that myself--sounds good!

And the Spam & furikake w/ the Korean pancake mix sounds good too!

Thanks for the ideas!

[milgwimper]

Kirk,

No offense taken. It is nice to experiement. Actually one of my favourite pankakes is the perilla. The korean broad leaf one, although I think it is called egoma in Japanese??? I find that the wrinkly leafed and the ao shisho taste different then the korean gaenip/egoma(?), but in the Korean pancake mix...*sigh* yeah. Mixed with kimchi and perilla...or just perilla by itself. Then again I have a thing for Perilla.
Ahhh Bulgogi burgers...Yes so good. Used to eat them a lot more when I lived with my parents. ;P :> top it with kimchi! :P The A&W here (when it was open) used to sell bulogogi burgers, but they always called them teriyaki burgers. The owners said they called them that or the americans wouldn't try them. Ahhh Well it was so good, and unfortunately they closed and a taco stand has replaced them. Boo Hoo...I add spam to most things Kirk, and so your noodles and pankae looks good! :)

[milgwimper]

pankae = pankake...see talking about food has endangered my typing.! Yeha right! ;P :)

[MEalcnetric]

Man oh man those sandwiches look good. Whats the differences between 8UP and 10UP?? Quality of meat I assume?

Who woulda guessed kimchi could kill good breath and bird flu?

[Kirk]

Hi Reid - Yes, a saimin post would be great - also with a really good explanation of saimin vs. ramen.

Hi Pam - I'm glad you appreciate stuff I threw together in my eternal lasting laziness! LOL!

Hi Mills - Thanks for the idea - I'll try it soon! I think Bulgogi-Bun could be a hit, they just have to name it something....Oh, BTW, I used gochujang, soy sauce, and green onions as my dipping sauce.

Hey Mealcentric - I once asked a guy who used to work at Seoul BBQ, and got a very confusing answer - but after using both types of meat. 10 up is more tender and marbled, and doesn't have as much of that tough connective tissue. Kimchee will eventually cure everything! LOL!

[milgwimper]

Kirk,

Tell me how the experiement goes, and I have to agree that the bulgogi buns would be a hit. :) I finally talked to one of the butchers here at the Korean market, and he basically said it the 10 up was more tender, but still had a hard time figuring out why it was named that way. *shrug*

[Kirk]

Hi Mills - Ok, that's what I thought.

[Rachel]

Hi Kirk,

mmmm those bulgogi burgers look so good ! I need to try to make that sometime. Did you mean the meat was bought already cooked ? Or did you have to cook it? We have to probably season and cook our own here.

Hehe I like the taste of spam as well. Its very good in fried rice. My hubby can't stand even the smell though so I don't use it as much. I heard you don't have many varieties here. Surprisingly, OZ has different ones like tabasco flavoured and bbq sauce flavoured, turkey spam, spam lite etc.

That was a great link to the cure for bird flu. Its one medicine I don't mind taking !

Milly, mmmm that is such a super idea putting kim chi on the burgers :)

[Dylan]

Kirk, fun post. the bulgogi sandwiches remind me of what we used to do back in college... drunk. We'd initially have korean bbqs (kalbi and bgg) and tacos at the same time. Well running out of carne asada, we'd use kalbi/bgg meat and use it as taco filling. we'd ate some kimchi and a little guacamole. Trust me it's good!

[Kirk]

Hi Rachel - It was bought pre-marinated - I just had to cook it, at $4.99/lb, it was pretty cheap.

Hi Dylan - I've had Alan Wong's Kalbi Tacos - it's very good, and we've made bulgogi fajitas as well - and we weren't even drunk(yet)!