Grilled Salmon Kebab with Spicy Miso Glaze

This is inspired by the Ahn Joo (click for all their locations on map) Salmon Scallion Skewers I had at one of their locations at Americana Brand in Glendale, Los Angeles during my recent travel. It's a modern take on food truck snack food which gained its popularity when they first started introducing it during the LA Film Festival.

The K-Grub Story: It all started as a pop-up snack truck during the LA Film Festival...

Ahn Joo Salmon Scallion Skewers and Pork Belly Kimchi Fried Rice.

Korean Hot Pepper Paste and Miso Paste that I use.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound of Salmon (cut into 1 inch cube size, makes around 6 pieces)
1 stalk of Scallion
Sweet Onion
Cilantro (chopped finely)


Marinate:
1 tbsp Korean Hot Pepper Paste
2 tbsp Korean Miso Paste
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Sake or Rice Wine
White Pepper (to taste)

Instructions:

Mix marinate ingredients with the Salmon and marinate for 30 minutes. Use metal skewers or bamboo skewers (pre-soaked in water to prevent from burning when grilling) and skewer the scallions, salmon and onions and place on a baking tray covered with aluminium foil. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F and over-grill it for 10 minutes, then flip over to the other side and grill for another 10 minutes. (If you prefer a medium cooked salmon, shorten about half the cooking time.)

Meanwhile, heat up a small pan and cook the leftover sauce used for the marinate, glaze it on top the grilled salmon kebab before serving.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with your favorite salad or korean side dishes or even Kimchi.

Braised Pork Belly

Ingredients:

1 lb Pork Belly
1 bulb of Garlic
3 slices of Ginger
2 whole Star Anise
2 tbsp Cane Sugar
1 tsp whole Peppercorns
4 whole Dried Red Chillies (or more if you prefer a spicier taste)
1/2 cup of Soy Sauce (according to taste)
2 tbsp of Dark Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Chinese Shao Xing Cooking Wine
White Pepper (to taste)
3 cups of Water
2 Hard Boiled Eggs (or more according to preference)


Instructions:

First pan sear the pork belly for 10 minutes (make sure it's already dry, pat with kitchen towel to remove excess water from washing) Add in the ginger and garlic into the pan and stir fry for another 1 minute before adding in the remaining of all ingredients. Braise for around 2-3 hours or more until the pork belly becomes tender and the eggs have absorbed the sauce and turns dark brown in color. Continue to braise until the liquid is reduced to a thicker consistency.

Garnish with chopped spring onions and it's best served with hot steamed white rice!

'Bak Kut Teh' with Noodles

Ingredients:

1/2 bulb of Garlic
1/2 packet of 'Bak Kut Teh' Spices (shown above)
1/2 lb of Pork Ribs (pre-boiled to remove excess fats and impurities)
Fried Tofu Puffs
Dried Bean Curd Sticks

Seasoning:

2 tbsp of Soy Sauce
2 tbsp of Oyster Sauce
1 tsp of Dark Soy Sauce
White Pepper (to taste)
Salt (to taste)

Instructions:

Boil a pot of water and add in the garlic, 'Bak Kut Teh' spices and the rest of other ingredients for about one hour. Then, add in the seasonings and boil for another 10 minutes.

Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve with hot steamed white rice or noodles with boiled Chinese Baby Pok Choy.

Sushi Mushi

'Mushi' means DRAGON (It's the Dragon year!) in old asian language or cute/awesome/cool/delicious according to Urban Dictionary. Ok, chop chop, enough of nonsense, let's get to the point...

It's been quite a while since my last update as I was either enjoying all the good food prepared by my dearest mom at home or going out to all those restaurants or food stalls that I've missed since I left home! So I gained 2kg in one month!  (T____T)

Moreover, I didn't have my camera with me most of the time (I know it's irresponsible for me to say this). But anyway, me and my dearest mom managed to put up a good sushi dinner for the family at home for celebrating the New Year without turning the kitchen upside down.

Clockwise from left: Spicy fried Udon, Sushi Platter, Unagi Roll, Ebi Tempura, Dragon Roll, etc.

I'm taking five classes for my final semester this year including two upper level Economics classes and two German classes. That's really keeping me busy all the time but I'll try to update more often soon! So that's all for this time. Now running off to my German conversation class!

Tschüss und bis später! (Bye and see you later!)

Korean BBQ Dinner Spread

It's been one and a half years since I left home and I'm now back again in Malaysia! It was also more than a month since my last recipe update before I got busy with final exams, assignments, and tons of term papers! Yesterday was the first day I came back and really settle down at home after spending a few days in Bangkok, Penang, and Ipoh. Oh, and I was eating too much like a pig, from street food and burning spicy Thai food in Bangkok to Laksa and seafood in Penang and the local hometown favorites in Ipoh.

So yesterday me and my mum thought of making Korean BBQ for dinner since we got home late and we thought of just pulling out all the ingredients from the refrigerator and grill everything on the pan. The beef was pre-marinated and everything else is pretty much fresh ingredients such as seafood and vegetables.

Clockwise from top-left: Marinated Beef and Mushrooms; Garlic Fried Rice, Lettuce, Squid, Fish, Vegetables and more mushrooms; Kimchi and Fish Cake; Sausages, Shrimps, Miso Soup.

All I remember was that we had a good evening. It's always good to be home...  :)