Tags: food, korea, Photos.
Categores: Daily Life.
I made it my resolution (not New Year’s) to learn how to cook Korean food (my fave cuisine) before I leave Toronto in 6 months. Mainly, because I couldn’t find any good Korean food in Singapore and I doubt there’ll be much in China as well. So anyways I went to the supermarket P.A.T. at Korean Town to get thinly cut samgyeopal (pork belly), kimchi and gochujang to try to make jaeyook bokum (stir-fry spicy pork with kimchi).
I couldn’t find the right recipe, so I had to improvise using whatever I thought I tasted whenever I have jaeyook bokum at restaurants. I’ve never been good at cooking or chemistry, and I don’t particularly enjoy either of them. Everyone who’s ever tasted my dishes claim that they are a fusion between Asian and Western cuisines. The worst thing is that I never intended to mix the cuisines in the first place. Looks like my kids will be having sweet and sour pork with a side of french fries and sushi for lunch in the future.
Anyways, I tried to cook Korean food and this is how it turned out:
The smell was very similar to those served at the Korean restaurants in Toronto. But I couldn’t get it to taste exactly the same. My gravy was way too thick, and wasn’t spicy enough. Most likely, it’s because…
- the kimchi wasn’t fermented long enough
- there wasn’t enough kim chi and gochujang
- I forgot about ginger
- the pork was still too thick and too fatty (maybe I should have used the neck instead)
- Korean red pepper powder should have been used instead of Chinese
It was a good learning experience and good meal while it was hot. I will try to cook Dak Gal Bee (Spicy BBQ Chicken) next. Stay tuned.