Weekend #13 : Abiko Curry, Hongdae

Okay, so this is a really late post. Like, 2 weeks late post, but I'm gonna post it anyway because we were impressed with this restaurant.

I never thought I would find a nice curry house here in Seoul. Don't get me wrong, but Japanese food seemed a bit rare here, the restaurants are dominated with Korean specialities.

Curry is one of my and Mr. M favorite foods in common. And it's not a long list, we are in different paths when it comes to food most of the time.

When we caught this restaurant in the corner of Hongdae mall, we instantly agreed to have our lunch there. I gotta tell you, I had some pretty good feeling about the restaurant. But it doesn't matter, since most of the time I was completely wrong.

First impression, very lovely interiors. It was warm and saying outloud "we're Japanese!". Look at some of the evidences.

Manga figures

More Manga figures

Second, they have an English speaking waiter! Yaayy.. I could ask whatever I didn't understand on the menu, what they were contain of, how spicy was "spicy", etc.

Four steps in ordering :
1. Pick your carb. There were plain white rice, hayashi rice (hashed beef and rice), and udon.
2. Pick your protein. There were chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, etc.
3. Select the level of spiciness. Mr. M decided to go with "Spicy" and I tried the "Extra Spicy"
4. Add additional deep fried for topping, such as fish cutlet, beef, chicken, etc.

So, I ordered beef curry over white rice with addition of fried chicken and Mr. M ordered Chicken curry over white rice with chicken katsu and vegetable croquette. Our curries comes with two bowls of miso shiru, scallions, and fried garlic. Andra got rice, fish cutlet, and miso shiru.

Yes we took some time to take pics while waiting for our foods to come

My curry turned out to be too spicy for me even though I didn't feel it at first bites. I ended up having watery eyes while finish it up but I really enjoyed it. It was warm and full of flavor. The fried chicken, we really liked it! It was that crispy-on-the-outside-and-tender-in-the-inside kinda thing. Andra also enjoyed his fish cutlet and miso shiru so much.

For sure we are coming back to Abiko Curry, but next time I would have my curry just in "Spicy" stage.

Korean Sea Snail Salad

First time I read this sea snail salad recipe, I was excited. It seemed like a either-you-like-it-or-you-hate-it kinda recipe. And I am that kind of person who's quite adventurous in food, in my own opinion at least.

In a week, I've been making the salad twice, and I am still craving for it. It has strong flavor, the acidity, the spiciness, the crunch, I totally fall for it.

If you can't find the sea snail, you can try chicken gizzard instead. I find it quite similar in texture and flavor. Dump the gizzard with crushed ginger in boiling water until soft and diced, and you are ready to go.

Recipe from here.

Ingredients

1 canned golbangyi (Korean sea snail)

1/4 cabbage, thinly sliced

1/2 onion thinly sliced

1/2 carrot, julienned

1 small cucumber thinly sliced diagonally

1 clove garlic finely minced

2 T Korean chili paste

2 T Korean chili flakes

2 T white or rice vinegar

1 T sugar

2 T juice from the canned golbangyi

1 T toasted sesame seeds

1 green onion chopped

Korean thin wheat noodles/vermicelli 

Directions 

1. Drain the golbangyi and reserve 2 tablespoon of juice. Rinse the golbangyi and cut in half if the pieces are too big.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine cabbage, onion, carrots, cucumber, and the golbangyi. Set aside.

3. In a small mixing bowl, combine garlic, chili paste, chili flakes, vinegar, sugar, golbangyi juice, and sesame seeds. Mix them well to make the sauce.

4. Drizzle the sauce over to the golbaygi and vegetable mixture and toss well. Chill in the fridge while you are cooking the vermicelli.

5. Cook the vermicelli in a package direction or boil in the water for 3-4 minutes. Rinse it in the cold running water and drain well.

6. Put the salad in a bowl with the vermicelli. Mix well before serve.

Our meals recently #2

It's obvious that here I cook more often than when I was still in Indonesia. When we were living in Jakarta, I could easily buy our meals outside for a relatively cheap price.

The Apartment we stayed in was surrounded by so many restaurants, food courts and street vendors so it was pretty easy to get your meals without a fuss. Most restaurants even had a delivery service. So all I had to do was cooking for Andra and call a delivery to get my meals.

I think the benefits are, I could practice my cooking skill more here, I get to know that some recipes are not as complicated as they seem they are, or opposite. Here are some of our meals recently.

White rice + Indonesian sambal goreng kentang daging + stir fried veggies + Padangnese sambal hijau

Bubur Ayam Cakwe (Indonesian chicken porridge)

Stir fried prawn with king mushroom and cilantro. So good!

Spaghetti Aglio d'Olio made by Mr. M

Mie Ayam Jamur + Bakso (Indonesian noodle with stir fried chicken and meatballs)

Week #11 meals recap

Monday 24/6 :

Breakfast : oatmeal + apple
Morning snack : plain yogurt
Lunch : rice + chicken soup (with potato and carrot)
Afternoon snack : banana
Dinner : rice + chicken soup

Tuesday 25/6 :

Breakfast : oatmeal + apple + raisin
Morning snack : plain yogurt
Lunch : rice + fried mackerel + stir-fried eggplant and tomato
Afternoon snack : sliced apple
Dinner : rice + fried mackerel + stir-fried eggplant and tomato

Wednesday 26/6 :

Breakfast : rice + nori sheets
Morning snack : plain yogurt, cheese sandwich
Lunch : rice + miso soup (with tofu, cucumber, and bean sprouts)
Afternoon snack : raisin
Dinner : rice + miso soup

Thursday 26/6 : 

Breakfast : cheese sandwich
Morning snack : plain yogurt, raisin
Lunch : rice + Soto Bandung
Afternoon snack : biscuits, fresh milk
Dinner : rice + Soto Bandung
Evening snack : mango jelly

Friday 27/6 :

Breakfast : oatmeal + apple
Morning snack : plain yogurt
Lunch : rice + steamed carrot + salmon nugget (with mayonnaise and cilantro)
Afternoon snack : crackers
Dinner : rice + steamed carrot + salmon nugget

Saturday 28/6 :

Breakfast : oatmeal + apple + raisin
Morning snack : plain yogurt
Lunch : Fried rice (with egg, bell pepper, and spring onions)
Afternoon snack : cheese
Dinner : rice + nori sheets + soft tofu

Sunday 29/6 :

Breakfast : oatmeal + apple + raisin
Morning snack : oreo
Lunch : potato soup (with broccoli and beef)
Afternoon snack : biscuits
Dinner : potato soup

Let's start again on the meals recap

When Andra was having his first solid, I kept a food journal about food he ate and snacks he had. Writing down his meals made me know what he needed to eat next. Sometimes he even had allergic and what I did, just look at the journal 3 or 4 days before, because that's when the body show intolerant with a kind of food.

When he was a one month old baby, he got this rash all over his body and I quickly realized that he was allergic to salmon fish I ate a day before (he was still exclusively breastfed). Over time, he is not allergic to it anymore, he can even eat a big salmon fillet without a single rash now. Sometimes, eating shrimp could show some allergic signs but not heavy. Usually it was because the shrimp is not so fresh anymore.

Last week I tried to start to write down his meals for a week. Let's see what he's got.

Week #10 (I refer to our length of stay here in Seoul)

Monday 17/6 :
Breakfast : peanut butter sandwich
Morning snack : plain yogurt
Lunch : rice + Tom Yam Goong
Afternoon snack : cheddar cheese
Dinner : rice + Tom Yam Goong

Tuesday 18/6 :
Breakfast : plain croissant
Morning snack : plain yogurt
Lunch : rice + tofu soup (with enokki mushroom, eggplant, spinach, and anchovy stock)
Afternoon snack : plain crackers
Dinner : rice + tofu soup

Wednesday 19/6 :
Breakfast : oatmeal + choco chip
Morning snack : biscuits
Lunch : rice + pan fried salmon with tomato carrot sauce
Afternoon snack : plain yogurt
Dinner : rice + pan fried salmon with tomato carrot sauce

Thursday 20/6 :
Breakfast : rice + crispy nori sheets
Morning snack : plain yogurt
Lunch : Beef bowl (rice topped with stir fried ground beef, red pepper, and shimeji mushroom)
Afternoon snack : chocolate cereal
Dinner : beef bowl

Beef Bowl

Friday 21/6 :
Breakfast : oatmeal
Morning snack : plain yogurt + korean melon
Lunch : rice + chinese egg drop soup  (with enokki mushroom, nori sheets, spinach
Afternoon snack : cheddar cheese
Dinner : rice + chinese egg drop soup

Chinese egg drop soup

Saturday 22/6 :
Breakfast : rice + nori sheets
Morning snack : churros with sweet potato filling
Lunch : Korean yellow rice + beef soup with leeks
Afternoon snack : fresh milk and cheese bagel
Dinner : rice + Korean Sollontang (beef, scallions, thin noodles)

Sollontang

Sunday 23/6 :
Breakfast : oatmeal + apple
Morning snack : churros
Lunch : rice + Indonesian soto ayam (with cabbage, chicken, green onion, vermicelli)
Afternoon snack : whole wheat crackers
Dinner : rice + scallions omelette

You see, he always eat meals with rice. He totally loves it! Sometimes I give him pasta or noodles, but nothing beats the rice. He's truly my Indonesian boy! In Indonesia there's a joke that someone has not eat meals if s/he haven't had rice yet. Bread or potato? That's only side dish for us.

So this is my first recap of Andra's meal. I hope I can keep track down his meals.

Tom Yam Goong

I am a big fan of soup. A bowl of soup will give a pleasant, comfort, warm feeling. And it's an extra point if the soup is sour and spicy.

This Tom Yam Goong is my all time favorite. I didn't remember when was the first time I had it, it was maybe when I was still in elementary school. My mom used to make this soup, but without chilli at the time because I couldn't handle that spiciness, and neither could my siblings.

When I made this soup this morning, it was suppose to be for my lunch and dinner (and Andra's too, I separated his soup before I added the chilli), but it seems like it's all gone in my tummy during lunch time. Ooh the comfort..

Recipe from here with modifications here and there.

Ingredients

8 big prawns, remove the head and shell except the tail but don't throw away
1 stalk lemongrass, cut in 1 cm long
1/2 tomato, cut into wedges
1 shallot, cut in half
5 kaffir lime leaves
1 cm galangal, bruised
2 bird's eye chilli
1T chilli oil, made from 3/4T oil and 1/2T chilli powder
100 gr mushroom (I used shimeji)
1/2T sugar
1/4T salt
600 ml water
2T lemon juice

Directions

1. Put water in a pot. Add the prawn's heads and shells to make the stock. Turn on the heat in medium. Once it boils, turn to simmer for 10 minutes and remove the scums.
2. Remove the head and shells, add the shallots, galangal, and lemongrass. Simmer for two minutes.
3. Add the mushroom and tomato wedges, simmer for another 2 minutes.
4. Season with salt, sugar, and chilli oil. Adjust the seasoning to your liking.
5. Add the prawns, cook for 1 minute.
6. Add the kaffir lime leaves and bird's eye chilli.
7. Add the lime juice. Serve immediately.

Note :
1. I find it that the prawn need to cook only a while in order to maintain their sweet juicy flavor.
2. If you're not going to serve the soup right away, don't add the lemon juice. Add it right before you serve.

Cakwe

Cakwe is one of my childhood snacks. Although it was not originally from Indonesia, but Indonesians love it because of the savoriness, the soft inner and the crunchy crust. I remember I could easily find street vendors selling this cakwe in almost every schools with its orange-y sauce. From elementary, junior high, to senior high school.

Back then, I was not suppose to buy snacks from those street vendors, because my mom would lecture me about the hygienic and the ingredients but sometimes I was just being ignorant. 

This is my first time making this cakwe and it was quite good. I got the recipe from here, but I cut it in half, which makes about a big full bowl of cooked cakwe.

crunchy, crunchy..

Ingredients

250 gr all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
200 ml lukewarm water
1/2T baking soda
1t baking powder
1t salt
oil for frying

Directions

1. Mix together salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
2. Pour the water and mix well. It will start to make bubbles. Quite cute.
3. Add the flour in batches. Mix well between batches to prevent lumps. Cover with cling wrap and let it sit for 20 minutes.
4. Cover a clean surface with extra flour, knead the dough until it's no longer sticky. Shape into a rectangle.
5. Cover with a clean cling wrap and let it sit for another 30 minutes.
6. Cut the rectangle to a 6 cm width, roll each piece to make 1/4 cm thickness.
7. Cut the dough every 1 cm  so you'll have 6 cm x 1 cm small rectangles. Put a rectangle over another one, and gently press a bamboo skewer or a chopstick lengthwise to stick them together.
8. Heat the oil in the pan on medium heat. Make sure the oil is hot enough otherwise the dough won't risen. Stretch each cakwe to 10 cm long. Put the cakwes on the pan and let them rise and turn golden brown.
9. Drain with paper towel. Serve warm.

 

Fried Bread Roll

I made this Fried Bread Roll this morning as breakfast. Andra, as always, had his breakfast first. I made him oatmeal with quail eggs, carrot, and spring onion with cheese.

Making this fried bread made the kitchen sank in a mess. Bread crumbs everywhere, bread crust leftovers, but it was so worth it.

Ingredients

5 slices white bread
5 beef/chicken sausages
2T mayonnaise
1 egg
3/4 cup bread crumbs
oil for frying

Directions

1. If your bread has crust like ours, cut it near the edge. It will make them easier to roll later.

2. Roll each slice with rolling pin to make it thinner. Because I don't have a rolling pin yet, I just used my salt container after clean it up.

3. Spread the mayonnaise, and place the sausage in one of the edges. Make sure the sausage is shorter about 1/2inch each side so the bread can cover it completely.

4. Put on a cling wrap and and wrap them tight. Tighten the edges too.

5. Set them aside to maintain their shapes. Meanwhile, prepare the coating. Beat the egg lightly and put the bread crumbs on a wide plate.

6. Heat the oil in a pan with medium heat. Open the cling wrap, coat with egg, then the bread crumbs. Put on the pan carefully.

7. I still have beef floss left so I fill some with the mayonnaise and beef floss too.

8. Enjoy them with chilli sauce! Mmm..

Balinese Satay Lilit and Sambal Matah

Wow.

 I can't believe that after so long, I'm finally going on a contest again. And it is my first recipe/cooking contest! Last time I took part in a contest, it was like 20 years ago, on my dad's company's drawing contest for kids.

This recipe has been on my mind since I heard about the contest from mbak Indah. I wanted to share Indonesian recipe which represent me and my country. At first I couldn't imagine how i would do it. And just like I thought, the making process was really a challenge. Picture this : a woman blending the fish with the spices and stuffs all over the kitchen table, with a little boy who asked her to sing his favorite songs. Plus asked her to dance with him. Or when the boy asked her to help him draw a star on a paper. While she was kneading and shaping the paste. Quick run to the bathroom, a soap and water help, and a star is drawn. Not to mention the dirty dishes afterwards.

But I made it. I successfully cooked the Satay and Sambal,  while still be able to entertain my baby, arrange the dish for presentation, took pictures, submitted my recipe and photo to the contest, and did the clean-ups.

I am proud of myself. Because I think the greatest challenge was myself with the doubts and the laziness. As cliche as this may sound but winning is not the only goal. I did my best, I made it to the finish line, and that's all that matters now. Moreover, when Mr. M came home and we had dinner, he complimented the dish and he loved it! It was more than a reward for me. 

If you are interested in Indonesian food and you like my picture and recipe, please submit your vote to my dish here. I would really appreciate it!

Balinese Satay Lilit w/ Sambal Matah

Satay Lilit
Ingredients
A
- 250gr mackerel, blend until smooth
- 25gr shredded coconut
- 6 kaffir lime leaves, remove the stem, slice thinly
- 1 tsp gochujang
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste
- 1 tbsp tapioca flour
- 12 stalks lemongrass
B
- 7 pcs shallots
- 3 pcs candlenut
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 cm turmeric
- 2 cm galangal
- 1 cm lesser galangal
- 3/4 tsp prawn paste (terasi/belachan)
- 3/4 tbsp palm sugar
- 1 tsp salt

Directions
- Blend all the ingredients B until smooth
- Mix well ingredients A with B except for the lemongrass
- Divide the paste in 12 equal balls
- Put the paste around the bottom of the lemongrass, grill until cooked

Sambal Matah, mix all the ingredients
- 7 bird's eye chilli, slice thinly
- 8 pcs shallot, slice thinly
- 2 lemongrass, white part only, slice thinly
- 6 kaffir lime leaves, remove the stem, slice thinly
- 1 tsp prawn paste (terasi/belachan)
- 50 ml hot coconut oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
 

Jjajangmyun #2

Did I mention that I finally bought the black bean paste for Jjajangmyun? Last weekend in Yongsan, we stopped by Emart and after asking for a help to find it to one of the staffs, I finally got it.

Btw it's called Chunjang, not Jjajang like I always said to the staff in Emart nearby (no wonder they always said they didn't know, sigh..)

Okay, so I was very excited to make my own version of Jjajangmyun. I took the recipe from here, but I made some modifications.

Ingredients

200gr beef
1 medium sized potato
1 eggplant
1/4 onion
1/8 big sized cabbage, or 1/4 small sized cabbage
2T chunjang (black bean paste)
1T oyster sauce
1/2t sugar
1/2T soy sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1T corn starch
3T oil

err.. corn starch and sugar, where are you?

Directions

1. Heat oil in medium heat. Add the chunjang and sugar. It won't soak up much oil, so don't worry. After 3-4 minutes, scoop up the paste and drain the oil, set aside. Keep 1 tablespoons of oil in the pan.
2. Diced the beef, eggplant, potato, cabbage, onion in 1/2 inch pieces. Heat the remaining oil, add the beef and stir until the surface is brown. Add the onion, cabbage, eggplant, potato until withered.
3. Add the chunjang, soy sauce, and oyster sauce, mix well. Pour the water and let it boil first, and then simmer for 3-4 minutes until the vegetables are soft enough to chew.
4. Mix corn starch with 4 tablespoons of water. Pour onto the pan and mix. The sauce will thickened as it begins to boil. If it's too thick or too thin for your taste, adjust with more water or more corn starch mixture.
5. Serve with noodles or rice. Equally delicious!

Our weekend

This weekend we went to I-Park, a shopping complex in Yongsan Station. To get there, we needed to take line 6 to Gongdeok, transfer to line 4 to Seoul station, and then line 1 to Yongsan.

Seoul Station

We arrived at I-Park in the afternoon, and we headed straight to lunch because it was past the lunch hour. We picked this Thai restaurant, and it was really crowded with only 2 waiters. Luckily we had the last table available.

Andra's shrimp and pineapple fried rice.

Seafood pad thai

Followed with some coffee.

Starbucks I-Park's interior

It was an exhausting but exciting day, as we arrived home late at night. And Andra had his nap at 5 because he was busy running around and being curious about everything.

On Sunday afternoon we had pizza night with friends from Indonesia. Great dinner and great laughs, I am loving it.

Cheese pizza

Seafood pizza

Happy Birthday mas Ris!

Bottom line, what a great weekend we had!