Today is a public holiday and I happened to have the mood to cook ㅎㅎㅎ
I have been thinking about my 감자탕 Gamjatang (Pork and potatoes soup) for a long time, so I decided to try it out for tonight's dinner. I went through a few online recipes and realised there is one ingredient which we hardly use in Singapore. This ingredient is 깻잎 Korean perilla leaves. Perilla leaves is also known as sesame leaves. I have a feeling that perilla leaves is the ingredient that makes 감자탕 Gamjatang different from our normal pork and potatoes soup. You can check out maangchi.com if you are not sure how a perilla leaf looks like. I think I have eaten perilla leaves before when I was in Korea many many years ago...did I ate it with 닭갈비 Dak galbi at that time?? Can't recalled but the leaves tasted a bit bitter, right? In my impression, the leaf has a strong smell but I don't know how to describe it...
I went to several places, including "Market Place", Cold Storage, NTUC, ShengSiong and even Shine Korean Supermarket to look for perilla leaves this morning...but none of them has perilla leaves..I called up Sol Mart but they informed me stocks may only arrive tomorrow....I also tried looking for it at one of the wet market but all the stalls were closed. That's right. In Singapore, Monday is not a good day to buy veggie...either the stalls are closed or very few varieties of veggie available.
I knew perilla leaves is not commonly used here but I thought I saw it before in some supermarkets...or maybe in my dreams......zzzzz....zzzzzz.....
I decided to go ahead with my own version of 감자탕 Gamjatang without perilla leaves ...felt kinda incomplete and dissatisfied ㅠㅠ
As I explored Korean recipes, I realised Koreans have different cooking methods which I couldn't really understand the reasons behind those methods. Hope I have the opportunity to learn from a Korean expert one day ㅋㅋㅋ
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| ㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎ I knew I am too greedy... I used pork ribs instead of pork spine or pork neck. My "magic pot" contained pork ribs, potatoes, 배추 cabbage, portobello mushrooms, 콩나물 big bean sprouts, 부추 leek, 된장 soybean paste and 고추장 hot pepper paste.. |
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| After simmering for an hour... |
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| 계란 말이 Gyeranmalee is one of the dishes for dinner ^^ |
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The most difficult step is to roll the omelette successfully!! |
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Oh noooo this is not my 계란 말이 ...I am not so smart! hahahaa Well, remember this picture? It was taken when I went to Gwanghwamun Jip during my trip. How did 아줌마 make her egg omelette so nicely done? I mean mine was fine but I really like 아줌마 egg omelette...her egg omelette was very soft, unlike many recipes where their egg omelettes doesn't look soft like this. |
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부추전 Buchujeon (Garlic Chives Pancake) is the third dish for dinner At home, we always called this veggie "Koo Chye"...Ehhh....I think "Koo Chye" is Hokkien..hahahaa...too used to calling it "Koo Chye" until I don't really know what language is this! In Mandarin, it is called 韭菜(Jiu Cai). I used only prawns and chives for my 부추전. |
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You can see that my 부추전 Buchujeon was an absolute failure...It looks perfect before I flipped over...guessed I don't have the skill to flip it ㅠㅠ Ehhh.......I thought it looked more like our carrot cake ㅋㅋㅋ |
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| 부추전 Buchujeon(Garlic chives pancake) One online recipe shared about using 1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce with 1/2 tablespoon vinegar as a sauce for this pancake. I tried it! Niceee ^^ |
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계란 말이 Gyeranmalee (Egg roll omelette) My own version of 감자탕 Gamjatang....still not satisfied although it tasted ok but I wanted the Korean taste...arghhh.. |
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| My second bowl of rice goes directly into the soup ㅋㅋㅋ It may not looked very appetising to you but this is my favourite way to eat my jjigae ^^ |
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Guilt slowly arises as I post this picture....omgggg...I ate two bowls of rice...that's why I fear to eat jjigae and Korean rice together.... |
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