Gyeran Jjim 계란찜 (Korean Steamed Egg)

Ready for another egg recipe? I love this dish as an appetizer from Korean restaurants, so I spent a week perfecting the recipe, with varying time and stove setting. Every stove top and cookware is slightly different so I would suggest giving this one a few go until you perfect it for your particular kitchen. Enjoy!

A handy tip: use a pot with clear lid so you can tell when the egg is done without lifting the lid, which allows steam to escape and creates inconsistencies.

Before...

and After!

Gyeran Jjim 계란찜 (Korean Steamed Egg)

Ingredients:
Eggs - 2 jumbo
Shrimp Sauce* - 2 tsp
Water - 1/2 cup

Optional seasoning: salt, white pepper, sesame oil, soy sauce

Optional garnish: scallions (chopped), enoki mushroom (cut in half length-wise)

Directions:

1. Beat eggs vigorously in bowl, add all seasonings (shrimp sauce, salt, white pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil). Go very light on the salt and soy sauce - can always add salt after dish is cooked.

2. Mix in 1/2 cup water. Can also add scallion or enoki now if you are adding veggies.

3. Pour eggs in small sauce pan and cook in medium heat with lid on (my stove goes up to 10 and I put this at 5) for 4 min.

4. After 4 min, turn heat down to low (at 2/10) and cook for another 2 min. Keep lid closed. Check back often. When eggs look fluffy**, remove from heat and it's ready to be served.

* The shrimp sauce is available in Korean / Asian super markets. You can also substitute with fish sauce but it doesn't taste as "Korean."

** This is what it should look like when the egg dish is ready.

Red Wine & Tomato Oxtail Stew

Oxtail stew is one of my favorite meat dishes, so I have set out to perfect it. Actually, the meat is such a perfect marble of tendon and fat, and the bones add so much flavor to the sauce, one can hardly mess up.

A tip on cooking with wine: the general rule of thumb is that you don't cook with wine you won't drink. For this recipe, I used Trader Joe's boxed Shiraz (only $13 for 3 liters, the equivalent of 4 bottles!) and could not be happier.  Before you hate on boxed wine, they are great for cooking since they stay fresh after opening for 6 weeks. Shiraz is also a great choice for cooking meat since it adds a hint of sweetness.

In 4 hours, you'll have a bowl of piping hot stew with meat that falls right off the bones. Enjoy!

Before...

and After!

Red Wine & Tomato Oxtail Stew

Serves: 4

Ingredients:
Oxtail - 2.5 lb
Flour - 1 cup
Tomatoes - I used 3 cups from a can of Whole Peeled Tomatoes
Red Wine - 2 cups (Shiraz is great because of its sweetness)
Onion - 1, chopped
Garlic - half, minced
Bay Leaf - 3
Carrots - 2, cut into half-thumb size chunks
Celery - 2 stalks, cut into 3 (for flavoring only)

Directions:
1. Rinse and soak oxtail in water briefly. Cut off excess fat. Cover with salt and pepper and let sit for at least 15 minutes.
2. Lightly coat each piece of oxtail in flour and dust off any excess.  In a pan, heat olive oil in medium heat, brown the oxtail, about 3 minutes on each side.
3. In a separate pot, saute garlic and onion in olive oil. Add oxtail, wine, tomato and bay leaves. Make sure that the meat is entirely covered in the wine. If not, add more red wine or water. When it simmers, turn heat to low, let cook for 2.5 hours.
4. Skim the fat. Add carrots and celery, let cook another hour. Continue to skim the fat as necessary.
5. Before serving, remove celery and bay leaf. Serve with a side of rice.

Homemade Tomato Meat Sauce

While trying to find the best off-the-shelf pasta sauce, I realize that nothing beats a homemade recipe. This recipe takes time but is pretty simple. Make a large batch and freeze the rest, it's good for pasta and pizza, or wherever your creativity takes you. I got this recipe from my friend Jenn O., who is a wonderful cook and friend. I guess people who cook good food tend to be great people too, enjoy!

Before...

and After!

Homemade Tomato Meat Sauce 

Ingredients:
Crushed Tomatoes – 3 to 4 cans, 28-oz each (Rienzi or Tuttorosso brand)

Bone-in Pork Chop – 3
Onion - 2, chopped (I like to use sweet onions)

Mushroom - 2 packs (around 16 oz total; I like to use Baby Bella)
Garlic - 15-20 cloves, sliced or chopped

Season with: 
basil, bay leaf, salt, pepper and sugar; can also add parsley or Italian seasoning
(for this batch, I used 2 handfuls of basil and 4 bay leaves)

Serve with: 
Romano Grated Cheese

Optional:
Spicy peppers (I used 8 jalapenos in this recipe and it still wasn't spicy)

Diced Tomatoes – 1-2 cans (for chunkier texture)

Directions:

1. In big pot, put in some olive oil, cook chopped garlic and onion, then pour in tomatoes and all seasoning, cook for 1 hour on low/medium heat.

2. Season pork chop with salt and pepper, brown in frying pan.

3. After 1 hour, add pork chop to sauce. Cook for hours (minimum of 2 hours, but the longer the better) on low heat. Stir occasionally and taste and season, skim fat on top. Careful because sauce can be very splashy. 
4. When it's done, remove the pork chop and bay leaves.

* I used 4 cans of crushed tomatoes for this batch, and it made enough sauce for a meal for about 12 people. I like to freeze half of the sauce, and saute it with sausage/turkey/ground beef, or add mozzarella cheese before serving it with pasta.