Taste of Korea Philippines 2014

So I was not able to post anything last month, this is because I gave Taste of Korea Philippines 2014 a try. This is how crazy and fascinated I am with Korea, I learned how to cook some of their dishes and took my knack on it the next level.  I was busy the whole month preparing for the competition.

The Taste of Korea Philippines 2014 is a cooking contest exclusive to residents and is open to professional and amateur chef, by the way , I don’t fall in any of the two I am just an amateur cook 😛 It was sponsored by the Korean Cultural Center (KCC).  I must say this contest is  neatly organized.

I did not win…LOL but I sincerely enjoyed the contest.  Being there and getting selected as one of the participants is good enough for me.  It was nerve wrecking.  Having to cook two dishes in 1 hour with the judges observing is so stressful. Now I know how it feels to be in Master Chef show.

I prepared one of my favorite Korean dish, 수두부 찌개 (Sun dubu jjigae) known as spicy soft tofu stew.  This is the very first authentic Korean dish I had.  In one of the local Korean restaurants in the Philippines, I tried this stew served in stone pot before in preparation for my first ever travel to South Korea in 2008.  I am never a fan of spicy food but this stew changed the way I eat spicy food.  I really liked the combination of tofu’s soft delicate taste and the spiciness of the stew.  Since then, this became one of my favorite Korean dishes.

Sundubu jjigae is easy to prepare.  I a sharing my not so winning recipe but it taste really good.

Ingredients:

For the Stock

12 dried anchovies (intestine part removed)

3 pcs of dried kelp (about 2 inches each)

1 medium sized onion (cut into half)

5 cloves of garlic

2 dried shiitake mushrooms

5 cups of water

 

For the stew

100 grams of beef or pork

100 grams cut cabbage kimchi

1 cup diced zucchini

20 pieces of clams

2 green onions (stem part)

1 green chili pepper

3 tbsp of hot pepper flakes

2 tsp olive oil

sesame oil

1 tube of sundubu (silken tofu)

1 tbsp of fish sauce

1 egg

Procedures:

1. Prepare the stock first, pour 5 cups of water into a pot and add 12 dried anchovies after removing intestine part.
2. Add onion, dried kelp, dried shiitake mushrooms, 5 cloves of garlic and boil it over high heat.
3. Approximately 10 minutes later, lower the heat to low medium heat and boil it for another 20 minutes.
4. Set aside the stock and take out the mushrooms and chop them into small pieces.
5. Heat your earthen ware (or ceramic pot) on the stove and put 2 tsp of olive oil.
6. Stir in 100 grams of pork.
7. When the pork is browned, add the chopped shiitake mushroom and stir.
8. Add 3 tbsp of hot pepper flakes and keep stirring for 1 minute.
9. Add the kimchi and stir for another 1 minute
10. Pour 2 cups of the stock.
11. Add 1 tbsp of fish sauce.
12. Cut the tube of Soon du bu (soft Tofu) in half and squeeze it out into the pot and break the tofu with a spoon several times in the pot.
13. Add the clams (it opens when it is cooked)
14. When the clams are cooked, put off the fire and garnish 2 chopped green onions, 1 green chili pepper and enoki mushroom on top.
15. Crack egg and drizzle some sesame oil before serving.

Instead of serving this with plain rice, i made some Korean style burrito which is basically kimchi fried rice, bulgogi, cheese and seaweeds wrapped in tortilla. It was a hit at home when I was practicing although I did not get to impress the judges 😛  A chef in a 5 star hotel actually won and to compete with chefs and aspiring chef was a feat in itself for an amateur like me.

Joining this contest was like ticking one item in my bucket list.  It was a first for me and it was something I enjoyed doing.