Exhaling Life

You've seen them on my Instagram , served with steaks from filet magnon to NY strip. Rather than scalloped potatoes and green bean casserole , I typically favor bibim-soba as a side dish to serve with steaks especially on weekdays when cooking dinner is rushed. It is quite divine when a perfectly cooked medium-rare steak without seasoning, seared in butter, and then tossed in a preheated oven is served with bibim-soba.  This pairing of steaks and bibim-soba was inspired by my love for galbi (beef ribs) and naengmyeon (cold buckwheat with sweet potato starch noodles). While this highly beloved combination is typically served separately, galbi first and then followed by naengmyeon, I usually ask to be served at the same time since I savor them together in one mouthful. While soba is a Japanese noodle made with buckwheat flour, I have discovered that they are delicious as bibim-guksu. By the way, bibim means mixed and guksu is noodles in Korean.  Instead of using various seasoning in

If you have been following me on Instagram , then you would've noticed that I started experimenting and sharing recipes that are Italian based such as risotto and strozzapreti with Korean ingredients such as kimchi and soondae while combining Korean comfort food such as the Korean Oxtail Soup in recent months for Oxtail Risotto and Soondae et Kimchi Strozzapreti . Having grown up with Korean food, I consider many of its dishes as comfort food. Combining Korean ingredients with Italian cooking to express my love for Italian food was inevitable.   As much as I enjoy Italian food, I love lamb and have kept the recipe somewhat simple as done with Herbed Lamb Double Rib Chops . So when I saw  Mingoo Kang's Doenjang BBQ Lamb recipe in Jang , it intrigued me since lamb is not a common ingredient in Korean cooking. Like Chef Kang, I wasn't exposed to lamb until I was an adult. His recipe using doenjang, fermented soybean and salt, inspired me to create a recipe using red miso . S

Healthy! That is the best word to describe Samgyetang, Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup, made with ginseng, daechu (Korean jujubes), leeks, and asatsuki (Japanese chives). While I didn't appreciate this Korean chicken soup as a child, my appreciation for its soulful flavor and power-boosting health benefits has grown over the years.  Before I start talking about its health benefits, let's talk about the chicken because it matters. I used a four-pound chicken directly purchased from a ranch at the Hollywood Farmers' Market. It was a bit on the expensive side, but it was organic and pasture-raised without machine handling. It was hand-handled and butchered. This chicken soup is medicinal, so the quality of the chicken matters.  Now that we've gotten the topic of chicken out of the way, let's talk about the health benefits of other ingredients of Samgyetang. "Sam" of the Samgyetang comes from ginseng in Korean. Considered potent in its medicinal value, ginseng boo

Salmon is a marvelous fish, even for those of us who are new to cooking and hesitant about cooking fish. Rather than a whole or with bones, I recommend using salmon filets if you are a novice to cooking for easy handling. Salmon, in general, is easy to cook with because it is forgiving. Even if you slightly overcook salmon, it will still deliver in flavor and texture. This Miso Brûlée Salmon recipe was inspired by a commonly found salmon dish at Japanese restaurants, miso salmon, and my soft spot for crème brûlée. While miso salmon recipes call for more miso than white sugar, this salmon recipe uses brown sugar and more than miso. I wanted to bring the burnt sugar flavor forward and balance it with savoriness from miso on the salmon with Miso Brûlée Salmon. Hope you enjoy it! INGREDIENTS a six-ounce salmon filet, skinless one tablespoon of brown sugar two teaspoons of miso one lime, juiced one teaspoon of sesame oil In a bowl, mix all the ingredients except the salmon. Lay the salmon f

If you follow me on Instagram and watch the Stories, then you know I've been in a budget mode. To curve my spending, I've sentenced myself to a budget prison until further notice. So! When I started testing pasta alla vodka recipes in recent weeks, I decided to recipe test with budget-friendlier and more commonly stocked ingredients. Rather than canned crushed tomatoes, I chose to test with canned tomato paste which costs less. I used Muir Glen Organic Tomato Paste . I also used whole milk and butter in the refrigerator to substitute heavy cream which I had been recipe testing with. Now, Vodka is not exactly a budget-friendly ingredient but it is a necessity at times in my space as I work with a handful of "extra special" people. When there isn't a nice thing to say about a person, the healthy thing to do is put them in that special bucket for our mental health and just let them be until they injure themselves while we draw boundaries and standards. The bowl was

This is my second shared recipe that combines my love for Korean and Italian food. First shared was  Soondae et Kimchi Strozzapreti , inspired by sautéd soondae and kimchi dish that typically accompanies late-night soju drinking.  Strozzapreti was the perfect choice to absorb the strong fermented flavor of kimchi, and Soondae et Kimchi Strozzapreti became one of the most liked and messaged shares among my IG Stories .  Although I had shared another Oxtail Risotto recipe here before, it was removed since I felt that it needed a bit of tweaking. After working on the tweaks on and off for more than a year, I am sharing the tweaked recipe that I am happy with.  This Oxtail Risotto recipe is drier than most of my other risotto recipes  to highlight the flavor of oxtail meat. Although you can cook the oxtails in the method of your choice for the Oxtail Risotto, I always cook this risotto dish with Korean Oxtail Soup . Korean Oxtail Soup is one of my winter staples since it keeps well frozen

When it rains in Los Angeles, that means Oxtail Soup for this Korean gal. I describe this soup as serene and comforting... The simmering soup fills my space with this indescribable fragrance of contentment. I love having this Korean Oxtail Soup on the stove simmering for hours as much as I enjoy eating it.  INGREDIENTS two pounds of oxtail seven garlic cloves, peeled two large [for cooking] + two large [for serving] green onions a half of yellow onion, cut in half one hundred and thirty fluid ounces of water Prepare the oxtails by soaking them in cold water, fully covered in water, for one hour. Drain the water and fully soak the oxtails in water again. Let them soak for 30 minutes. Drain and rinse with water. Soak the oxtails with water again, add seven garlic cloves and let them soak for another 30 minutes. Drain the water and discard the garlic cloves. In a stock pot , add the oxtails, two green onions, yellow onion and 100 fluid ounces of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high hea

Soondae et Kimchi Strozzapreti is a true fusion of Korean and Italian food. Inspired by stir-fried soondae and kimchi, a Korean comfort dish, I picked strozzapreti to balance the rich flavor of kimchi.  INGREDIENTS one cup of uncooked strozzapreti, cooked al dente six ounces of soondae, sliced and halved a half cup of napa cabbage kimchi, thinly sliced three tablespoons of white wine two tablespoons of grated parmigiano reggiano one tablespoon of tomato paste one tablespoon of unsalted butter, cut in half Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Once heated, add one piece of the butter. Add cooked strozzapreti and kimchi, including liquid from kimchi, once the butter melts. Sauté for about two to three minutes.  Add soondae and the other piece of butter. Sauté for a minute or two. Add tomato paste and white wine. Reduce heat to medium-high. Sauté for three to five minutes. Plate and sprinkle cheese on top before serving. 

It isn't photogenic, but Green Tuna Salad Sandwich is freaking good! Easy to make with canned tuna and avocado, this tuna salad served with butter lettuce on brioche bread will have you singing yum and yum. INGREDIENTS one can of tuna one avocado two celery sticks, sliced a half lemon, zest and juice two tablespoons of finely chopped yellow onion one tablespoon of horseradish In a bowl, mash the avocado and mix all the ingredients together. Assemble the sandwich with butter lettuce on brioche bread. Simple and delicious! 

Honey French Toast! Since I am not a baker, I rarely keep vanilla bean extracts and cinnamon in my spice pantry. While I've seen French toast recipes without ingredients to sweeten the French toast, I prefer my French toast to have more flavor than eggs and milk so I started using ingredients that I readily have in the kitchen to sweeten the toast. Back in January, I shared my Hazelnut French Toast recipe when I was flavoring my coffee with Chobani hazelnut-flavored coffee creamer. As I returned to lightening morning coffee with whole milk, I looked for other ingredients to sweeten the French toast and honey caught my attention. INGREDIENTS two slices of milk bread one egg two tablespoons of whole milk one tablespoon of honey one tablespoon of unsalted butter, cut into two pieces In a bowl large enough to soak one slice of bread at a time, whisk together egg, milk and honey. Place one slice of bread in the bowl to soak in the egg mixture and flip. Heat a non-stick frying pan over

You must love, and I mean LOVE, lemon to truly appreciate this Shrimp Scampi Orzo recipe! Okay, it helps if you also like shrimp and orzo. One of my favorite dishes, it took several tweaks over the past two years to perfect this Shrimp Scampi Orzo recipe for a party of one with refreshingly zesty flavor. INGREDIENTS 6 pieces of large shrimp, shelled and deveined a one-third cup of orzo eight ounces of chicken broth one small/medium size lemon, zest and hand-squeezed juice separated two garlic cloves, sliced two tablespoons of white wine one tablespoon of unsalted butter a half tablespoon of diced chives a half tablespoon of olive oil a half tablespoon of chili pepper olive oil  a quarter teaspoon of crushed pepper an eighth teaspoon of salt flakes Before we start with cooking, some fine print. I've used non-stick frying pans, dutch ovens, and cast iron skillets to make this Shrimp Scampi Orzo, and the one that worked out the best is an eight-inch cast iron skillet for Korean barbec

Growing up, fried rice was a staple. My Mom made fried rice and served it with yellow radish pickles and kimchi , sometimes with a fried egg on top. It sometimes got fancy, stuffed inside an omelet. And my favorite... Fried rice stuffed inside inari age, seasoned fried tofu pouches . Fried rice comes from many regions in Asia. China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam to name a few... Each with its own flavor and cooking technique. Although I cannot say that my fried rice is Korean, it certainly evolved from the Korean style and flavor with influence over time from my Chinese-Hungarian-American ex-husband and ingredients readily found in the United States such as leftover ham, jalapeño and calabacita. This version of fried rice, Surf & Turf, uses shrimp to represent the surf and ham (pork) to represent the turf. INGREDIENTS one and a half cups of uncooked short-grain white rice, cooked and cooled six ounces of shrimp, deveined, shelled and diced five ounces of ham, diced one bunch

Ever since I discovered feta cheese with jalapeño at Mom's Specialty Foods booth at the Hollywood Farmers Market, I had been obsessed with perfecting a gnocchi dish with this delicious tub of cheese. If you have been following me on Instagram  stories, then you've seen me sharing the moments of "one more tweak" as I recipe tested Feta Sausage Gnocchi several times over the past months. While it took me many tweaks before perfecting it, this Feta Sausage Gnocchi dish is simple and easy to make. INGREDIENTS for one serving a half of hot Italian sausage, casing removed one cup of uncooked frozen gnocchi a tablespoon of feta cheese with jalapeño  a half tablespoon of finely chopped chives a half tablespoon of unsalted butter In a small pot , bring water to a boil over high heat. Add gnocchi and stir. Let it boil for about 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the size of your gnocchi. Once cooked to al dente, carefully move them into a colander and submerge them in a prepared col

What started the Korean Barbecue craze in the United States decades ago? L.A. Galbi! The name gives credit to its origin in Los Angeles while giving a simple description of the cut with Galbi. Ribs in English. Even with no marinate trend in Korean barbecue, L.A. Galbi remains to be the classic favorite. INGREDIENTS two pounds of sliced short ribs two tablespoons of green plum extract two tablespoons of soy sauce two tablespoons of sugar a half of yellow onion, diced one tablespoon of minced garlic one tablespoon and one teaspoon of chives, diced two teaspoons of sesame oil In a bowl, mix all the ingredients except sliced short ribs. In a large baking dish lay and stack the short ribs. Evenly pour the prepared marinade over the ribs, cover and refrigerate for at least eight hours. The longer the short ribs marinate, the tastier they become. I usually like to marinate these ribs the night before for late lunch or dinner. An hour before you are ready to cook, take them out to room tempera

  My obsession with bigoli pasta started many months ago. Just in case you are not familiar with bigoli, it is very similar to spaghetti pasta. Bigoli pasta is a little longer and thicker than spaghetti. I've found that it holds sauce much better than spaghetti pasta.   While I have used bigoli pasta to substitute orecchiette pasta in my classic Spicy Italian Sausage Orecchiette recipe, it has also inspired me to create more heat-intensive pasta dishes such as Calabrian Clams e Abalone Bigoli recipe. There is something delectably marvelous about bigoli pasta, seafood, and oil from Calabrian peppers.  Flaming Shrimp Bigoli is simpler, and much less complex in flavor than Calabrian Clams e Abalone Bigoli recipe; however, this isn't for the faint-hearted when it comes to spiciness. Although the recipe calls for one tablespoon of Calabrian pepper oil, I recommend starting with a half tablespoon to taste before adding more to this pasta dish. INGREDIENTS four ounces of bigoli past

Rather than a rice bowl, I was inspired by a lovely dinner at KinKan in Los Angeles to present this fish roe rice in a teacup. Roe rice, known in Korean as al (egg) bap (rice), is served in a smaller portion than your typical rice bowls. Kinkan's Homage to Grandma delicately married Japanese cuisine with comforting Thai cuisine. The dinner felt old and soulful... Genuine care. The dinner reminded me of my Korean Grandma's comforting home-cooked meals. KinKan 's rice with uni and much more served in teacups reminded me of my Grandma's home-cooked meals and her campaign for me to eat pollock roes growing up. She campaigned for me to eat pollock roe since it is packed with calcium, vitamin B12, and omega-3 fatty acids.  I didn't start appreciating fish roes until in my thirties, over a decade after Grandma passed away. This Roe Rice Teacup recipe with fermented pollock roe, myeongnanjeot in Korean, a very common fish roe used in stews and in banchan, is my homage to

As much as I love Paris and French cuisine, it is very rare for me to cook French food. With fabulous restaurants like Bicyclette in Los Angeles, I leave the masterfulness required for French cuisine to the experts. Now, that doesn't mean that there isn't a French dish or two, perhaps even three, such as Coq Au Vin Blanc that I enjoy cooking at home.  It is a very easy dish to cook if you know the secret to a delicious Coq Au Vin Blanc. Is it the right kind of white wine? Well, that helps but the secret is using a Dutch Oven . My personal preference is LE CREUSET , which can be considered pricey. There are much less, more budget-friendly Dutch Ovens like from Martha Stewart available on Amazon .  INGREDIENTS four bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs two ounces of pancetta one shallot, diced a quarter of yellow onion, diced four garlic cloves, sliced five crimini (or button) mushrooms, sliced four thymes one cup of dry white wine one cup of chicken broth two tablespoons of butte

  Created while I was developing a Dakdoritang (Korean spicy chicken stew) recipe, for a slow cooker, this dish isn't anything like the stew that I had set out for. Although the ingredients of this delicious chicken dish are certainly Dakdoritang, the flavor and texture turned out unlike Dakdoritang. The thick sauce clung to the chicken drumsticks while slowly cooked for four hours as its flavor intensified as it clung to the chicken. Not what I tended to develop, this Slow Cooked Gochujang Chicken turned out to be big and intensely flavorful. Sometimes, what we get turns out to be much more interesting than what we intended. INGREDIENTS eight chicken drumsticks, skinless and bone-in one cup of pee-wee potatoes a half cup of sliced carrots a half cup of gochujang a half of yellow onion, chopped a third cup of chicken broth a quarter cup of soy sauce three tablespoons of minced garlic two tablespoons of diced ginger four slices of jalapeño two tablespoons of granulated sugar one tab

Did you know that salmon is packed full of health benefits? It is a great source of omega-3 fatty acid, a heart healthy fat that can reduce inflammation and support brain health. Salmons are also packed with vitamin B-12, which is necessary to produce red blood cells and regulate the health of the central nervous system. Although I am not a health conscious eater and you would know that if you followed me on Instagram , it is nice to know that one of the easiest fishes to cook is packed full of nutrients. Named Piquant for combining flavors from ginger and lemon, this salmon dish marries deliciously with sautéed spinach and rice pilaf.  INGREDIENTS six-ounce salmon filet with skin a tablespoon of diced ginger a tablespoon of lemon juice a tablespoon of white wine a tablespoon of unsalted butter a three quarters tablespoon of olive oil a three quarters teaspoon of diced chives a half teaspoon of thyme an eighth teaspoon of sea salt freshly cracked peppers In a bowl, mix diced ginger, le

Commonly known as Rangoons, these Cream Cheese & Crabmeat Fried Wontons will go in the blink of an eye as snacks and hors d'oeuvres! Quick and easy to make, ingredients for these Rangoons are minimized to spotlight the flavors of cream cheese and imitation crab meat. INGREDIENTS ...makes approximately 32 wontons a half cup of whipped cream cheese a third cup of imitation crab meat, chopped a quarter cup of diced green onions one egg white thirty-two gyoza skins and a few extras just in case two and a half cups of vegetable oil In a bowl , mix whipped cream cheese, chopped imitation crab meat and diced green onions. Place egg white in a small bowl. Take one gyoza skin into your palm, dab the egg white on the skin's edge, and place a half tablespoon of the mixed cream cheese in the middle. Fold the skin in half and press around the edge. The egg white will work as glue to help seal the skin.    Once the wontons are assembled, heat a wok over high heat and add vegetable oil.