Mashin-neun Jip Miga, home-cooked food, Seoul

Being a working girl, one thing that I get frustrated about is a lack simple Korean food without MSG. So I was very happy to learn that my colleague OH's mother re-opened her restaurant. It is called Mashineun Jip, Miga (味家) right behind Daehan Cinema in Chungmuro area. To celebrate the reopening, all of my colleagues went there to have dinner.

The restaurant serves baekban (which literally means white rice) where various banchans (side dishes) are served with rice and soup/stew. This is what Korean eat every day at home, and we do go without dishes like BBQ. Since there were seven of us, we ordered dak-bokkeum-tang (spicy chicken stew) and Miga Sangcharim (more hearty of the two baekbans on offer).

Dak-bokkeum-tang (spicy chicken stew). Chicken, potatoes and onion pieces are gently cooked in sweet spicy broth.

If you order Miga Sangcharim, these are what you will get. But I must remind you that banchans change daily, all prepared by OH's mother. I usually don't eat kimchi when I eat out, because most of them are from kimchi factory. But since I knew it was all prepared here, I ate it. It was good, like what you will get if you visit your friend's house.

My favourite among them are steamed green chili (green chilis are tossed in seasoned flower, steamed and then seasoned again) and courgette pancakes. So yummy. I was also quite surprised that pan-fried platycodon tasted nice.

Rice and doenjang jjigae (bean paste stew). Inside jjigae are tofu, onion, courgette and fresh water seashell. It was a light jjigae which I liked.

Spicy chicken stew is kept warm through out the meal.

We had Miga Sangcharim on the left, and more simple Miga Jeomsim is available during lunch.

More menu available...I would like to try stir-fried pork in sweet chili sauce in the future. If you want simple meal, you can choose from noodle soup, dumpling and rice cake soup or noodle mixed in sauce.

It is a very simple restaurant, nothing fancy. However, a lot of attention has been put to make simple yet hearty meal, and that defintely makes a huge difference. I would definitely go back after watching a movie. Poor excuse for pasta can easily cost more than 12,000KRW (around ￡5-6), but for 6000KRW, you get a hot meal that is a lot healthier. I was told that they have regulars who come back. I wish it was near where I work. I would know where to go to if I want MSG-free meal.

Unfortunately, it is not very eas to get to. But not an impossible task either. Refer to the map and pics.

맛있는 집 味家
Tel)2269-8492
충무로역 1번출구로 나와 대한극장/행복예식장 직진.
LG Telecom 골목으로 들어가 왼쪽으로 보이는 좁은 골목으로 10m 직진.

Mashin-neun Jip Miga
Tel)2269-8492Chungmuro Station (Line 3/4) Exit 1
Walk past Daehan Cinema and Hangbok Weeding Hall.
When you see LG Telecom, turn right and take the alley.
As soon as you walk into the alley, you will see another very small alley. Take that alley and walk for 10 m. The restaurant in on your left.

Bolognese Crumble - Recipe

Bolognese Crumble

This dish is easy to make and can be serve on its own or as a main dish with vegetable. It takes just around 30 minutes from prepartion to cooking it.



Ingredients:
Minced Pork 350g
Minced Lamb 200g
Mixed herbs 1tbs
Garlic, minced 1tbs
Tomato paste 6oz (well, I used the whole tube)
Black pitted olives, halve (about 4-6)
Water 2 cups
Bay Leaf 4 leaves
Sliced bread 1-2slices
Butter 2tsp
Cheese Powder 1 – 2 tsp
Sugar 1tbs
Pinches of salt and pepper to flavour

Directions:

1. Cut bread into small cubes (about 1-1.5 cm), heat up in saucepan until slightly golden and crispy on the shell. Put it aside for later.

2. Heat up oil in high heat and put in garlic and sauté for about 2-3 minutes until golden before adding in tomato paste and heat for another 3 minutes. Keep stirring to mix the oil and paste together before adding in the minced meat. Keep stirring until meat is cooked through.

3. Add in bay leaves, mixed herbs, black olives and water, cover with lid and let it simmer for a good 20-25 minues.

4. The sauce should thicken and it’s now ready for adjusting the flavor with salt, pepper and sugar. Sometimes I’d add just a few drops of white vinegar to make it more acidic. Some people like sweeter Bolognese sauce so feel free to add however much sugar you like, just so long it suits your taste.

5. Once ready, put the mince sauce into a baking tray and place the prepared cubed bread on top. Smear the bread with melted butter and sprinkle on some cheese power before placing into a preheated oven of 220c for 8 minutes or until the bread have turned golden brown.

Seoul suh dool jae ro jal ha neun jip (The Second Best House in Seoul), redbean porridge, Seoul

Autumn is here! Trees turned yellow and red, and it gets quite chily in the morning and in the evening. I am lucky to work in Samcheongdong, which is surrounded by beautiful mountains.

Since it is quite chily today, I decided to treat myself to a bowl of sweet red bean porridge. In my neighbourhood, there is a place called 서울에서 두번째로 잘하는 집, Seoul ae suh dool jae ro jal ha neun jip, which literally means the Second Best House in Seoul. It is known for traditional herbal teas and red bean porridge. In fact, the red bean porridge served here is Japanese style porridge, which is sweet and made of purreed red bean paste, as oppsed to Korean style which leaves most beans whole. It has been there for over 30 years I think, long before Samcheong-dong became 'hip'. I remember, as a little girl, stopping by there with my mom for a take-out. I did not appreciate the taste of red bean porridge then, but I remember the quiet place filled with smell of Korean herbs. It has very old-fashioned area for customers who decided to eat in. The place was rennovated, but I am glad that the owner decided to keep the original retro deco.

As you can see in the pic, the chairs remind me of da-bang, 茶房, an old-fashioned and kitch tea room where instant coffees are served. Those da-bangs are near-extinct as people prefer cafes that serve proper coffee these days. I don't remember ever going there, but I find these da-bang style very nostalgic.

The lady in the pic above are preparing my porridge. Red bean porridge is prepared en masse, then boiled in small batches again with glutinous rice ball (ddeok, mai-chi, mochi) when order is placed.

My colleague ordered SooJeongGwa, (left, served cold) sweet cinamon tea with boiled dried perssimon, and I ordered a bowl of sweet red bean porridge (right).

The porridge is served with ddeok (rice cake), boiled chest nut pieces, wooltari beans, gingko and cinamon powder on top.

It looks messy but to give you a closer look......

On the way back to the office...

Seoul suh dool jae ro jal ha neun jip (A real challenge to pronounce)

Adress : 28-21, Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul

Tel)02-734-5302

서울서 둘째로 잘하는 집

주소 : 서울시 종로구 삼청동 28-21

전화번호 : 02-734-5302

Bucella, Sandwich, Seoul

The first thing I do every morning is checking canteen menu. If I don't like it, I go out for lunch. Yesterday was once of those days, so I went out with a colleague of mine who did not like the menu either.

Bucella, a sandwich/bakery shop, is a popular institution in Sinsa-dong Garosu-gil, and it recently opened a branch in Samcheong-dong where I work.

They have an oven there, so I assume that they do a bit of baking themselves on premise. I think they sell wine in the evening.

Bread pieces are for you to taste, and the bread in the picture below are for sale. They do nice croissants.

And tarts.

I ordered salmon in cream sauce sandwich. It is served with salad.

The bread was soft and slightly chewy. Salmon is cooked in cream sauce, flaked, and sandwiched between bread with lettuce and sprouts.

It is laced with honey mustard. However, I found it a bit blend. More salt for the salmon part is called for. And I hate sweet sandwich. Why do they put sweet sauce everywhere!!! I found sprouts part too earthy...I could almost taste soil. But then I hate sprouts in general.

Now the dessert....I ordered 'baked lemon tart' which looked like lemon meringue pie and a baked custard tart with prune.

I was a bit disappointed by what appeared to be a lemon meringue tart. I mean, there was lemon layer an meringue layer, but I did not expect to find almond sponge layer so thick. But it was nice though.

Baked custard tart...there is a french name for this tart, but I just can't remember right now. This variety is sold in every single patisserie in France...

Sandwich: 7000KRW (£3.50)

Tart: 4500KRW (£2.25)

Mariage frères tea: 7000KRW (£3.50) for a pot.

Samcheong-dong, behind Red Forest (빨간숲)

Korean style hoe (raw fish/sashimi)

I am not going to tell you where the restaurant was. It was hard for us -Koreans- to find. But I wanted to show you readers how we eat raw fish.

We do eat normal sashimi dipped in red chili sauce or wasabi soy sauce, but this mak-hoe (mak refers to rough, without finesse and hoe is raw fish/sashimi. Not raw fish as in uncooked fish, but raw fish as in sliced raw fish ready to be consumed with various condiments) is a typical way that people from Gyungsang Province eat. The fish in the pics below are not fancy fish like black sea bass, but cheap ones. I don't even know the names of them.

The fish are roughly sliced into thick ribbons, and some of them have not even been boned. The bones are fine enough to be consumed. There are 4 different fish I think. Baby spring onion battons, sliced green chili, sliced onion, sesame leaf and wakame are served along.

This is how you eat it. First, get a piece of wakame on the plate. And then put fish, chili, sesame leaf, onion, sauce, etc and wrap them up with wakame.

Chogochujang, sweet and sour chili sauce is made of Korean gochujang (chili paste), vinegar and sugar. Some people add purred fruits, but these three ingredients are the baisic component of chogochujang.


We also ordered grilled sea shell. It was yummy. We were told to dip it in onion soy sauce.

Oyakodon - Recipe

This is another simple dish that can be done in less than 30 minutes. (Unless you'd like to marinate the chicken for longer, which I sometimes do.) There's plenty of variation like say if you like sweetcorn, green peas, mushroom, etc. you can just add in to the dish. For the photo, because I had some extra mushroom in the fridge so I used that.




Ingredients:

2 Chicken Thighs
4 - 5 Mushroom, sliced
1 small Yellow Onion, sliced into thin strips
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 tsp of Ginger, grated
1 - 2 tsp of Garlic, finely chopped
2 Eggs (beaten)
1/2 cup Dashi or Chicken Stock
3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Mirin
1 Tbsp Sugar
1tbsp of Spring Onion, finely chopped

Method:

Step 1:
Skinned and chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. You should be able to pull the skin off with relative ease, and then cut around the bone.

Step 2:
Marinate the Chicken pieces with 1 tbsp of dark soy sauce, pinch of salt and white pepper, 1tsp sesame oil, 2tbsp of cooking wine and 1 tbsp of water. Leave the meat to marinate for at least 20 minutes. Meat can be kept in the fridge for over night for stronger taste. Add in 2 tbsp of cornstarch and stir well before cooking, you may find it easier to add in a little water for it to mix well.

Step 3:
Sauté the onion, garlic, beans, and shallot, and ginger for about 5 minutes before adding in the dashi (Japanese Fish Stock).

Step 4:
Add the Soy Sauce, mirin, sugar, to the chicken. Mix it before pouring it all into the mix to cook. For a more yellowy-oyakodon, use normal or light soy sauce instead and water down the stock with a little bit of water.

Step 5:
Once the chicken is cooked, check the flavor and add more of the soy sauce / salt / Dashi if it needs to. For a thicker sauce, add about 1 tbsp of flour or 1/2 Tbsp of corn starch and let it simmer for 5 minutes while stiring it constantly. Slowly drizzle the beaten eggs on top of the chicken. Let it cook until the eggs start to harden then turn off heat. Remember: the egg shouldn't be completely cooked through as shown in photo.

Step 6:
Serve it on top of hot rice and use a large spoon to spoon lay the oyakodon on top than top it with finely chopped spring onion (optional with thinly sliced seaweed strips).


This bonito fish soup stock is used for soup base for miso soup, hot pot, and soup noodles. To make Dashi, with Bonito Fish soup, simply add in 1 tsp in a cup of hot water. If you are unable to find it in your supermarket you can replace it with Chicken Stock.

Sample picture of Dashi

Sprinkles Cupcake, Beverly Hills

My mom woke me up this morning saying that "There are Sprinkles cupcakes waiting for you". I thought I was hearing things.

*FYI, I am perfectly capable of getting out of bed by myself. It is just that today, I was very tired. :P

I sprang out the bed asking how did they end up in our home in Seoul. My cousin, a devotee of Sprinkles Cupcake was on a business trip to LA and brought back some for us. They were hand delivered to our door today morning. Bless him.

It is impossible to get cupcakes -decent ones- in Seoul. For some reason, people cannot differentiate between muffins and cupcakes. So more often than not, I end up buying muffins with fancy icing that claim to be cupcakes. Cupcakes are light. They are really a miniature version of cakes. They are for treats, birthday parties and tea. Muffin is heavier than cake. It is served for breakfast. Anyways...

Some people do not think highly of Sprinkles, but for me, theirs are the best ones I have ever had so far, so do bear with me when I make songs and dances about them.

Since Red Velvet Cupcake is too sweet for breakfast, I brought them to work for my mid-morning snack with tea. It was too sweet to finish in one go, so I saved half for afternoon.

Sickly sweet, yet so blissful.

sprinklescupcakes.com

I only tried their red velvet cakes, but other flavours seem equally delicious.