Daniel started taking a few steps some time after his 13th month. It's been about 10 days since and I finally caught a decent video of him in action. Enjoy!
I'm so happy that I met Jen. She's this friendly Korean lady who lives nearby and we got to talking yesterday about Korean food. The one dish that I've been trying to get right recently is galbi, Korean beef short ribs. I had already made this dish twice since I got to Palo Alto - using different recipes and different cooking techniques, but I wasn't fully satisfied with either of the finished products. So when Jen shared with me her simple home-style recipe, I was excited! This afternoon, I dragged my son across the Bay Area to Sunnyvale (a 1/2 hour drive away) to buy beef short ribs at a Korean supermarket. And this evening, I made delicious galbi! Absolutely yummy, juicier that my first two versions, and with just the right proportion of seasonings. Here it is - galbi, Jen style!
Galbi
2kg (or thereabouts) of beef short ribs - about 8 ribs *
1 cup soya sauce
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1tb sesame oil
1tb minced garlic
1 spanish onion, slices
3tb roasted sesame seeds
* Compared to the ribs solds in American supermarkets, the ones sold in the Korean supermarket were meatier and had much more fat on them. This might explain why 8 ribs weighed in at 2kg! By the way, the ribs at the Korean supermarket were also much much much cheaper than the American supermarkets!
1. Mix the sugar, water, soya sauce, and sesame oil together. To allow the marinade to soak into the ribs, put ribs into a large ziplock bag and pour all the marinade in. Seal the bag and shake the bag moving the ribs around so that the marinade is evenly spread out. Refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
2. Fire up oven to 200 degrees C on grilling/broiling function. Cover a baking tray with foil and spread the garlic and onion slices on the tray. Lay out the ribs, meaty side facing down, on top of the garlic and onion slices. Grill by placing tray on the rack closest to the top for 10 minutes. Then, flip the ribs so that meaty side faces up. Take this opportunity to spoon the remaining marinade over the ribs and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. Grill for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the meat is cooked thoroughly. **
3. Serve up with steaming hot rice. Use the gravy created at the bottom of tray as lovely gravy. The onions and garlic should be nice & fragrant and soft, a lovely complement to your ribs. Don't forget to cook a dish of veggies to even out the proteins and carbs! Enjoy your lovely Korean meal!!
** All times given are approximate as it really depends on the thickness of the meat. The ribs I had were really thick - about 8 to 10 cm thick if you can believe it! This were no sissy ribs man! The thinner your ribs, the shorter the grilling time. Just designate one of the ribs as your "test" rib and keep poking at it or slicing it to check for doneness!
So today after breakfast, I said something like, "Hey, let's get our Bibles so we can read while Daniel finishes his food." And Daniel suddenly goes, "Bi-ble." Husband & I were shocked. We proceeded to make him repeat his feat several times and even caught it on camera - watch this:
Yea, Daniel has been quite a talkative little boy. He says "nana" for banana and "papa" for papaya. He can also say bear, ball, flower, car, bird, mama and papa. Oh, and his favourite new word last week was "duck". We had this bizarre silly question we kept asking him, "Daniel, would you like cuck or duck?" and he would answer "duck!" It was hilarious. See this video:
It's amazing to see him grow. But the Bible thing just takes the cake - his first proper two syllable word is Bible. How cool!
In Japanese, niku means meat and jaga means potatoes. The meat in nikujaga is typically beef, but I prefer using pork since pork is sweeter & generally speaking, juicier and less tough. Anyway, there are many many recipes for nikujaga out there - I've tried a couple which use various ingredients like dashi stock, green onion shoots, carrots, and even mushrooms. But at the end of the day, I've found myself falling back on this particular recipe the most. It's clean & simple, and the gravy just makes your heart glow. Apparently, nikujaga is a dish Japanese children often ask their mothers/grandmothers to make for them. I can totally see why. Serve this up with a bowl of freshly steamed jasmine rice and I'm sure you'll have your children (& your Husband) clamouring for more. My husband certainly did at tonight's dinner table! Oh, and yea, Daniel loves this too!
Nikujaga (Japanese pork/beef stew)
4 potatoes, scrubbed & peeled
400g pork chop (or beef chuck)
1 white onion
1/4 cup soy
2tb sugar
2tb mirin
some water
1. Slice potatoes into bite-size chunks. Use scissors to cut pork chops into strips.* Slice onion thinly. Combine the soy, sugar and mirin in a cup.
2. Heat some oil in stew pot. When hot, fry the onions till soft. Then, add the pork on high heat. Stir till browned on all sides. Spoon in the soy, sugar and mirin mixture over meat & onions. Then, add the potatoes. Mix thoroughly.
3. Add enough water to cover 3/4 of the potatoes and meat. Return to boil and lower heat. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. You may wish to leave the lid open for an extra 10-15 minutes to thicken the gravy, if that's what you prefer. Remember to eat the stew with rice - enjoy the gravy!
* In typical nikujaga, more potatoes and less meat is used. As in, the potatoes are the main focus, with the meat playing a supporting role. But in my version, I use less potatoes and more meat, since I like meaty stews. Also, in typical nikujaga, the meat is sliced very thinly. For me, I prefer my meat slightly thicker strips, so that there's a bit of juice in it! Sorry, I a bit non-traditional Japanese la!
In one of my more inspired moments this past week, I managed to whip up a dinner menu consisting of juicy garlic & rosemary lamb chops, grilled asparagus, and parmesan potatoes. The idea for parmesan potatoes came from Real Simple, a wonderful magazine first introduced to me by the intrepid S. of The Apothecakery. I really simply love the magazine as it is full of recipes and household, beauty and money saving tips that make you go, "Now why didn't I think of that?" Plus, the layout and design of the magazine is so clean and beautiful - I just love reading it!
Anyway, here's my adapted recipe for a nice way to dress up baked potatoes in a hurry. No peeling of potatoes is required for this recipe - thank God! (Peeling potatoes is the sort of work that can drive one to drinking, as J of Kuidaore once said!) It's something you can mix up in a jiffy and chuck in the oven to do all the work. Enjoy!
Easy Parmesan Potatoes
6 potatoes, washed and scrubbed, but left unpeeled
2tb olive oil
4tb grated parmesan cheese, the powdery kind, not the shredded kind
black pepper
1. Preheat oven at 200 degrees celsius. Chop the potatoes into bite size pieces. Mix with the olive oil and parmesan cheese. Add as much black pepper according to your preference.
2. Place the mixed potatoes in a baking tray and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
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* Einstein Never Used Flash Cards - How Our
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