Best vegan cupcakes ever!

Ok I do not usually cook vegan anything, nor have I eaten anything vegan apart from salad and some traditional Korean dishes. But I have been itching to try out a few recipes , because I was curious and believed that vegan cooking was bland and cardboard tasting.


I decided to use the recipe from here . I saw her on Cupcake wars just last week,( never heard of the programme before and found it on line..rather interesting for sure!) And I have to say that it tasted better than any normal cupcake that I have had the chance to eat here in Korea and bake myself.

Though I tweaked the recipe to use gluten free flour, cocoa and soy milk, as well as tofu, but also I have made a batch for my son using this recipe and they seem to disappear with no complaints! ( Granted he is 3.5 and will scoff anything with icing on it! But sometimes he will ONLY eat the icing, but ate the whole thing so it meets his picky standards!)

 I cooked them at 180 for around 25-30 mins until the cake tester came out clean. I let them cool.

And I used left over frosting I had in the fridge that I had made for a client a couple of days before.
But for those of you who looove frosting with dairy in it then you can't go wrong with Martha Stewart's fluffy vanilla frosting BUT I have found the most amazing vegan frosting that is sinfully sinful here and here

Mapo Tofu - Spicy Pork and Tofu

Well, I have been having a hankering for some proper Chinese food ( not the stuff you can order from the restaurant) has been Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐)  The real stuff I use to eat in China. You knw the stuff that is so hot that is makes your tongue numb and no amount of Bai jiu can affect you:)

So I have been trawling the internet for a recipe. One similar to the one I learnt from my friends Dad, and the closest one I found was one here 

It tastes so very very similar to the one I have been craving, but since I live in Korea find the exact ingredients..

And it turned out something like this....

The ingredients you will need...

1 block silken tofu (19 oz box)
1/4 lb ground pork ( I used Chicken mince)
3 tablespoons Sichuan spicy bean paste (辣豆瓣酱)
2 tablespoons chilli powder
2 tablespoons cooking oil
3 tablespoons chilli oil
1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns (roasted and ground to powder)
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon fermented black beans (rinsed and pounded)
2 stalks of leeks or scallions (chopped into 1 or 2-inch length)
2 gloves garlic (chopped)
1/2 cup water
Salt to taste

* In light of the fact that Sichuan peppercorns and possibly Sichuan spicy bean paste are not readily available in Korea I just added more fermented black beans and the Korean sauce 두반장 - which has beans/chillies and yumminess all mixed into it)
And if you do happen to have Sichuan peppercorns you are a bloody lucky bugger! They are numbingly HOT! So bloody hot that they will make your lips and tongue numb if you use waaaay too much

Cut the tofu into small pieces, drain the water from the tofu and set aside.
Heat up a wok and pour in the cooking oil and chili oil.
Add the chopped garlic, ground pork, spicy bean paste and stir-fry until the pork is half-done.
Then add in chili powder, soy sauce, fermented black beans and stir-fry until aromatic. Add in the tofu and water; stir gently to blend the tofu (don’t break them) well with the sauce.
Lower the heat and simmer for about 3-5 mins or until the sauce thickens. Add in the roasted Sichuan peppercorn powder and chopped scallions.
Gently stir and blend well. Dish out and serve hot.
If you don't want it this spicy ( and this is the proper Sichuan spice level - Which for those of you who are unfamiliar is pretty bloody spicy!) add less Chilli oil and powder.

은행 and 어묵 what could be better

Ok so I finally found a recipe that I could actually understand and had the ingredients for ( I added broccoli cos I just love the stuff, reminds me of baby trees)

Anyways what I found was called 어묵과 은햏볶음 pretty easy really.
This is what it turned out like:

If your like me nothing beats "fish cakes" on a cold winter's day while your freezing your tit's off outside waiting for a taxi at 3 am in the morning. ( oh those were the days)
So here is the recipe:

1 packet of 어묵 (fish paste cake/fish cake? I never really know what
to call it)
1/2 tablespoon of sugar
1 BIG arse handful of Ginko nuts
1/2 onion - roughly sliced
4-5 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tsp of crushed garlic
1 tsp of sesame oil
1/4 c water
1/2 tsp cooking wine ( I used soju*^^*)
1/2 tsp chilli paste
1/2 tsp honey
pinch of salt
roasted sesame seeds
1/2 carrot - julliened

Right first stick the soy sauce, honey, sugar, garlic, cooking wine and chilli paste in a pan with the water. Stir thoroughly on low heat.
Add the chopped up Fish cake and add the Ginko nuts, stir to coat and cook gently until the ginko nuts are soft.
Add the carrot and onion and cook for a further 5 mins. Make sure it doesn't burn!!
Add the sesame oil and sesame seeds at the end and mix well.
Serve as a side dish or as a main.. keeps well for about 2 or 3 days afterwards^^ ( Great with Rice!!!!!^^)

Everyone say "Hooooo~~~ddok"

ㅋㅋ Gottcha! Well I thought since it tis the season for change ie Summer to Autumn I decided to whip up a batch of these delish Korean sugary peanutty fried pancake thingees!
Plus Benjamin loves these! And it's really simple.
My friend who will be called "S" has a problem with wheat ( she thinks) and she had sent me a txt about asking what they are made from and said she had a nommy one made made with rice and cornflour. So I thought to myself hmmmm lets see if I can make some non wheat ones too. I had rice flour,, yeast, and all the other ingredients and I set out to make them. However they turned out to be an EPIC fail. They were more like flat sonpyeong with sugary goodness on the inside..DOH. If only I had used both rice AND cornflour.

Well my son was lucky cos I made him a normal lot.. exhibit A

and exhibit B

Hmmm I hear you say whilst licking your chops and smacking your lips together. WEll I will tell you it's easy as pie to make and here is the recipe:

Dough
125ml flour
1 egg
40ml milk
2 tsp white sugar
2 tsp yeast
1.2 tsp salt.
10 ml warm water
Filling
30 g Brown sugar
cinnamon
2 tbsp crushed peanuts

Seven steps away from deliscious-ness on your plate...

Step 1:
Stick the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Give it abit of a mix.
In a cup mix the egg and the milk thoroughly, and add it to the flour. Mix this really well to form a dough.
Step 2:
Add the yeast to the warm water and stir it around. Let it sit for a few minutes and then add it to the dough mixture and mix well. Knead for a few minutes, then cover the dough and let it rise for 30 mins until double in size.
Step 3:
Mix the brown sugar cinnamon and peanuts. ( Now I like cinnamon so I give it a good shake or 3, but you can add as little or as much as your heart desires. Though I would say no more then 2 tsp!)
Step 4:
Heat oil in the pan. (Now traditionally Hoddok is cooked swimming in oil! However I don't like that so I make mine less fried!)
Step 5:
Punch down teh dough and knead it ( with a little extra flour so it's not too sticky. Make into 8 balls.
Step 6:
Flatten the balls into a circle roughly the same size as your hand. Add some filling ( maybe a tablespoon) and seal. continue for all 8.
Step 7:
Place balls *haha* sealed side down and cook for 30 seconds then flip them over and squish them flat and cook for 1 min, then turn them again and cook till golden brown.

Be very very very very careful! These suckers are full of hot melted sugar which you can burn not only your tongue but other various body parts when you bite into one and find out exactly how hot it is on the inside and drop it like it's hot. So let them sit for a few mins, or cut them up..

Enjoy.

An ode to 무 ( 깍두기)

Muu, muu how I love thee, though I was buggered if I knew what to make with them when my hubby presented me with these gigantic things!!

But then he commanded me.. "Make me 깍두기( radish kimchi) woman!"
Thus 깍두기 was made.

Now I have only ever made this once and for me I liked it, not too spicy, not too fermented, but my hubby commanded me, I want spicy stuff, none of this pussy foot kimchi you make.
Right, bugger you I secretly thought so I set about a diabolical plan of making the spiciest Radish Kimchi he has ever had!! ( queue evil laughter)

So to start off with I washed and peeled those suckers, then sliced them into about 2 cm slices, and then diced those babies up

Now this is the part where you wash them, salt them and let it stand for 30 mins. Now those 2 big arse radishes made alot of little baby radish cubes so I used about a good handful of rock salt and 4 tablespoons of sugar. Mix them around and set aside.
When time is up,save 1/3 cup of the juice, drain,rinse and put them in a really BIG bowl.

Now for the kimchi spicy paste.
The ratio I used was this
1 onion, 6 garlic cloves, 1/4 Nashi ( Japanese pear/ 배) , 1/4 cup of Fish sauce ( 멸치액젓 not sure of spelling forgive me I get things mixed up sometimes) 4 spring onions sliced .The original recipe called for 2/3 cup of chilli flakes but I stuck in a good 1 1/2 cups ( evil I know!)

Now with the paste you roughly chop up onion, pear, and bang the garlic in your kitchen whizz and whizz the bejezzes about of it ie

Then you add the fish sauce, 1/3 cup of the radish juice, spring onions and the chilli paste, and mix it really really well.

Doesn't that colour just scream " If-you-eat-me-I-will-burn-your-tongue"^^

Then rub that glorious spicy paste all over those tiny little innocent radish cubes and watch them scream.

Typical me pose.. now you see why I don't want to be in photos, I have no dress sense!!

Now if your scared to use your barehands it's ok to use gloves. I had to cos well I had a cut under my thumb nail of all places and chilli and cuts just DO NOT go together. Plus the fumes from the mixing where bringin tears to my eyes, and my son was crouching looking at me, then to the kimchi, then to me again and then fanned his mouth in the sign for spicy^^
Also I found out that when the paste touched my beautiful lily pale skin I got big red rashes!Bloody hurt too!

So my possums that is how I make radish kimchi, though ideally you should leave it out of the fridge for a good day or two, so we haven't tried it yet. Though me being me I did swipe my tonuge across the finger tip of my glove, my tongue fair shot itself back down my throat. I fear my possums I will not be able to eat said creation ...bugger.

Banchan 1

Now I love to make 반찬 ~ Korean side dishes! I try to make enough for the week or usually at the moment whenever I remember.

Now I have this weird fascination for 냉이. I have no idea what it is called in English so I used daum to find it.. it came up with Shepards purse?!!? That can't be right I thought.. who would name a plant that?!
So I googled it and there it was, proud as can be Shepard bloody purse! (Looks nothing like a purse) and it had it's Latin name listed next to it ; Capsella bursa-pastoris.
Neither name hit me in between the eyes with recognition, even with my vast background in horticulture, did I have an inkling as to what this bloody thing was...
Anyhoo it looks like this

I love this in 됀장찌개 it gives it an.. oh I can't explain the taste..an earthly goodness to it. It doesn't taste like dirt or worms or anything like that, it's just really really delish and if you like veggies, then you will like this!!

Right so anyways this is what you need to make 냉이나물

4 handfuls of 냉이( shepards purse)
4 spoons of Bean powder ( 볶은 콩가루)
1 spoon soya sauce
1/4 tsp of salt
1 finely minced spring onion
1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 tp of sesame oil
5 c water
1 spoon of rock salt.

First wash the 냉이 really really well( cant stress that enough!). Dirt tends to hide in those suckers and nothing worse than chomping on a bit of grit!

Then boil it in salted water for about 2~3 minutes.Rinse in cold water ( like a longer version of blanching). And drain well.

Then add the bean powder, and mix it well. This makes less 빡빡해 ( crisp I guess it would be)
Next add the soya sauce, garlic, salt, onion and sesame oil.

Then you should have something that looks like this

I forgot to take a photo of the last stage so I borrowed this picture...
( thank you naver!!)

Surprise!

Ok can you guess what I am going to make with these ingredients?? This is something I make when I cant be arsed cooking...

ha ha that's right 부대찌개 ( Budaejjigae) on days when I can't be bothered cooking I usually whip up a stew or filling soup so instead I decided to make Budaejjigae,( as I have been having a craving for it... Not sure why.. hope I am not up the duff!) Budaejjigae is a famous spicy concotion of kimchi, spam, sausage, beans, and everything else you may happen to have hanging around your fridge. Apparently inspired by the army..

It's piss easy to make and I'll guarantee you can't bugger it up!
So I will share with you "my" way of making it.
WARNING I like mine to be spicy.. so you may want to adjust the Chilliness of it all!

Ok well here is what you need for the 양념 (seasoning/marinade/sauce)
3 HUGE arse spoons of Chilli flakes ( 고추가루) 1 small spoon on Chilli paste (고추장) 1 ~2 big spoons of soya sauce (간장) and one BIG spoon of crushed garlic.
Mix them all together and you get something like this

Mmmmm deliciousness in itself!

Next you need 5 big cups of 육수 ( broth) I made my own using those funny big dried 멸치 ( anchovies) specially for soups...

Next for your big pan/wok you need the following
150g Minced pork ( or beef/chicken/turkey if you dont have Pork and or and have an aversion to pork)
150g spam ( hmm I guess you could try and substitute this for some tofu/protein made goodness if you want, but it does tend to give the soup a certain yum factor on the flavour scale)
a couple of snags sliced ( sausages for those of you who don't speak Kiwi English. Not real ones but those fake plasticky processed looking ones
that are often found in hot dogs^^)
1 onion (sliced) 1/4 can of Baked Beans, several handfuls of kimchi ( plus extra kimchi juice) several handfuls of sliced rice cake ( 가레떡) and a big spring onion sliced.

Place the mince in the middle of the pan. Put the spicy sauce ontop of it. Place all the ingredients around it and then add the broth.

Like so...

Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 15 mins until everything is close to being completely cooked and then for the piece d'resistance place a packet of plain noodles ontop.
Cook till noodles are soft . Then dig in!

My husband's comment was " Wow this is great! Better than mine. If I was in the army I think everyone would want seconds and thirds. Good job baby"

Well that comment warmed my cockles, though the fact that the food in the ROK Army is not of the highest standards and they think Choco-pies are luxury I am not sure if I take that as a compliment of not^^

So bon appetite my lovelies, would love to know how yours turned out!!!

Part two: Squid and bean paste soup

I was faced with this the other night....

What the hell was I going to do with this fully intact squid? Then it came to me, why not try making 오징어됀장찌개... so away I went.

First thing I had to do was de-squid the squid. ( ie take out its guts, and squishiness)

After much screaming and getting squid bits between my fingers I ended up with this beautiful sexy sleek thing

And sliced it up into pieces. And made soup following this recipe :

4 cups water ( when you rinse the rice)
2 Tbsp bean paste
1 handful of cockles
300 g semi firm tofu
1 tsp of seafood stock
1 handful of chopped leeks
dash of salt

Heat water up and dissolve the bean paste.( 10 mins)
Add cockles and boil for about 5 mins.
Add tofu and squid.
Boil for about 5 mins.
Add chopped leeks towards the end and serve with rice, kimchi, banchan etc

I add a few 청양 chillies. ( super hot ones) for a kick in the teeth.

Korean food : Part One

Well since I live in Korea I thought maybe I should impart some of my favourite Korean recipes that my MIL has taught me to cook. And I have had the most surprising comments from my husband, when he told me " You can make this better than my mum!" If that didn't blow my socks off having my MIL tell all her friends that I made the best Mi-yok soup she has tasted. I was
truely humble that day and strived to perfect the art that is Korean cooking.

So I though I would start with something really very simple.

됀장찌개(Dwenjang jjigae) or for those that don't read Korean Fermented Soy Bean paste and Tofu Soup.

What you need are the following ingredients ( and this got a Wow, this is like my Mum's one from Darling hubby)

Now the secret of the smoothness of the soup is to use the water that you wash your rice in ( MIL secret tip) So when your washing the rice fill a large pot with this water.

Like so.

Then add 2 BIG spoons of the Fermented Soy Bean paste.
Huge tip is to dissolve it in a ladle submerged in the pot, Otherwise the paste will stay in one big hunk.

To this add a big handful of pre washed cockles. I guess my North American freinds would call them clams (?) Anywhoo a BIG handful ( I like cockles^^)

While this boils away get one 애호박 a young pumpkin, like a marrow light green.
Anyways slice that into quaters and chop roughly.

Next add some enokitake mushrooms. They are long and stringy!

Next roughly chop up 1/2 an onion and add it to the mix.

Drain your tofu and use as much or as little of a 300g pack you want. I like to use alot of it so I stick the whole thing in.

Then let it bubble away for 20 mins. If it's alittle bland I add a tiny bit of salt and some shellfish stock.

I add some scallions, a good handful, roughly chopped and then bubble away for another 5 mins until it ends p looking like this...

Then you serve it with Kimchi, rice and other side dishes that you happen to have in the fridge.

Honestly it is an easy recipe and very delicious and healthy. Even my 2 year old son loves this. Well he loves all Korean soups so...

I hope you try this out. YOu can't go wrong with it!

Enjoy
( I had to "borrow" the pics of the young pumpkin, tofu and onion off the web as I forgot to take photos ...doh so thank you to the people who posted them^^)