Homemade Kimchee & Kaktugee

Kimchee, my favarite korean side dish.
Kimchee, a classic korea food.
Kimchee, a very dynamic dish.
Very huge difference usage of ingredients and method varies from different kimchee master
Kimchee, can be the dish that I spend the longest time to master it.

Remember the first time when I made it, I used light soy sauce, and it turned out dark brown kimchee, really like rooten veggie LOL

Anyway it gets better consequently after I have been searching, combinng, experimenting and trying out different recipes available via cook books and from the web.

Have been tried with addtional stuff like asian pear, apple, fresh red chili, cincaro, raw plain sweet rice flour, but now I prefer to go simple by this receipe below!

 Ingredient for kimchee paste:

• fish sauce (doesn't matter made in korea or thailand)
• korean pepper powder
• garlic
• onion
• ginger
• green onion
• leeks, cut in 1 inch (optional)
• shredded raddish or carrot (optional, seasoned with salt for 10 mins, squeezed)
• sweet rice flour
• sugar & water

This way:

1. Mix sweet rice flour and sugar with water and simmer with middle heat, until it turned white color, that means it is cooked. Set aside, let it cold.
2. Meanwhile prepare garlic, onion, ginger, green onion (all minced). If you don't like the fiber texture of ginger, extract and just use its juice.
3. Add all ingredient above in to a mixed bowl when the paste cold off.

Notes: For kaktugee, you can skip leeks, raddish and carrot

Ingredient for Kimchee & Kaktugee:

• Chinese white cabbage (avoid choosing greenie leaf, as it taste a little bitter)
• White raddish
• Salt

This way:

For Cabbage kimchee

1. Wash and pluck cabbage leaf from it stem, remain a whole piece of leaf
2. Sprinkle salt over every single leaf evenly
3. Set for 2 hours, turn it around in between so that the salt soften the cabbage evenly
4. After the cabbage is soften (but not too over marinated, it is best to remain a little crunchy), wash with water and squeeze excessive water
5. Mixed with the kimchee paste that you have ready
6. Spread the paste evenly on the leaf and roll it piece by piece
7. Set them in an airtight jar with room temperature for 2 days
8. In between the fermentation process you can notice bubble in the paste that means it is fermenting (the sweet rice flour and sugar help kick start the fermentation process)
9. Taste and check if it is sour enough. If not up to your Sourness, let it ferment for longer
10. If it taste perfect, keep it in fridge, usually can keep for 1 month

 For Kaktugee

1. Peel off skin
2. Cut radish in cube size
3. Sprinkle salt over it
4. Set for 2 hours, toss it occasionally
5. Wash with water, to reduce the saltiness
6. Squeeze excessive water
7. Mixed with the kimchee paste above
8. Ferment it as step from above =D

Otak-Otak Spaghetti

      Saturday, it always be the the day where I just wanna spend lying on my bed, if there is no any other good plan for weekend.

       At some point, I'm really rotten, or I should put in this way: I'm enjoy to be rotten at home, don't feel like going out for meals and so on...

and here is my rotten recipe of Use-What-is-Available-Style spaghetti or simply call it Lazy Style lol

Otak-Otak Spaghetti

 

For ingredients, just grab whatever you have in the fridge, however for the sake of guidelines, so happen I got this Ingredient:

• Otak-otak (from Becky, she gave it to me and I store it in fridge, for unknown period of time...)
• fresh tomatoes cut in wedges
• garlic, minced
• onion, sliced
• dried rosemary
• black olive, sliced
• Tesco brand spaghetti sauce
• tomato sauce or chili sauce (Optional, just to add on to the taste and liquid, in case the whole spaghetti paste is too dry)
• chili powder (Optional, if you like spicy...)

 This way:

1. Heat 2 tbs of oil in frying pan
2. Add onion, garlic and rosemary, stir fry until they get soften.
3. Add tomatoes, stir fry until the it gets watery.
4. Add a little salt and pepper ( because you are not fully depend on the ready made spaghetti sauce, so need a little spice up)
5. Add your lovely otak-otak, stir fry it until it get melts
6. Add ready made spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce or chili sauce (to taste, it helps to make your paste to be more pasty, and will not become too dry, add a little water if needed)
7. Add black olive and chili powder, cook for 2 minutes so that all the ingredient blend together)
8. Alright, when the paste is done, serve hot with your cooked spaghetti!

p/s: All the portion and measuring above is my to taste measurement aka agak-agak measurement, so kindly adjust to your own preference, try and cook on your own risk lol

Italian Sick Part 2 - Veneeze

Sick form the next day we had another farewell lunch *treated by director xD*

we were planning to go for Brussels Beer Cafe, but we had it last farewell lunch with Belle (who has returned...) and Lisa....and we figured out that another newly opened restaurant in Jaya One, so far never been there before, so we gave a try

It was Veneeze, Italian food again but I was kinda excited for Italian food since I'm loving-sick with it xD

Not bad for the grilled button, but it will be more tasty if they use butter to grill this

Minced chicken with button

Carbonara Crabstick

Olive pizza

Sausage pizza

 The food pretty fine, not that high-ended, consider normal price, food quality ok-ok also, the pizza is crispy, but I wish the topping can be improved...

Summary:

• Price: Normal range from RM 8+  to  RM 20+
• Food: Portion just nice, taste okay-okay. Pizza is crispy type.
• Venue: Jaya One, Block D

Italian Sick Part 1 - d'italianekitchen

      I was like a pregnant guy, out of the blue I'm so eager to get certain food and indulged in it. We *with colleague* had Italian pasta in a high-end restaurant *at least for me* which located in Jaya 33, namely d'italianekitchen.

      It was a farewell lunch with Becky and Gurpreet, kinda nice environment and for price wise, we paid what it worth =P though sometimes I'm quite in to cheap, nice, affordable food place, but I don't mind gone high-ended once in a while, moreover, RM 25 for a pasta, once in a while, I can't afford meh??? LOL

Carbonara Bacons

Carbonara with bacon was the first dish served...smell really nice but it wasn't mine, belongs to Justin. I wander if I could take a bite when he was away...

 

Spaghetti seafood olio

 It was Kar Man's order, it looks kinda attractive for me, but I'm not taking seafood lol

...according to her, she wasn't really enjoy the seafood, I guess it was because the way it was cooked, the taste of seafood would be kinda mono, well, seafood was meant to be cooked in that way, if they are fresh enough, otherwise I would say kam heong style for seafood is better...

Smoked duck meat spaghetti with garlic

      I like smoked salmon, same for this smoked duck meat, surprisingly it taste like ya-shang from Taiwan, one kind of smoke duck meat, served as snack while having beer or alcohol drinks. 

      Just did not expect that it taste nice with spaghetti too, wandering if ya-shang came from Italy? or people in Taiwan invented smoked duck meat in the first place?

      Anyway, the grilled garlic slice was very blended with the taste of smoked duck and with the spaghetti of course, though I taste a little like having teppanyaki because of the garlic  XD

Summary:

• Price: RM 20+ and above
• Food: Good place for Italian food and pasta. You will pay what it worth
• Location: Jaya 33,  Seksyen 14, Petaling Jaya

July Hair, Price Tag & Overwhelming

      It has been awhile I ignore my blog, there were so many big issue I could write about, such as 709 rally which took place 2 weeks ago, too many emotions involve and WE ALL KNEW HOW WE ALL FELT, so forget about it, I'm not gonna to say anything just because most probably...eh eh there is nothing else I can say~ xD

      Well, the other big issue was i perm my hair into curly LOL all the while I don't "edit" or "customize" whatsoever my hair (1st time was I got my hair high lighted into orange, well...it was forced by my brother), this was second time...

 

      I'm pretty satisfied...on my hair XD that was what I want, it's not easy to get your hair right on what you expected okay?  Always I heard ppl complain about their hair cut ended up not fulling their expectation and regret plus keep complaining until their hair cut grow out of shape....

      and... I just like it messy, kinda random feel for me, just right for me lol

      On the other hand, recently, I'm easy to get provoked, by the prices of good & food, plus the frequently played song Price Tag, it is so damn sarcastic, I wanna get some kiwi fruits, wth 4 biji sell for RM9?? and the golden kiwi 8 biji sell for RM22.90 ??? or am I lost track too far away from the market? and didn't realize all the price had gone up so freaking holy high?

      .... I decided not to buy, I believe I could get cheaper fruits, how? “let's forget abt the price tag~" if I could and just grab what I want in the market, probably I will stay in the jail.

      Maybe, I was feeling intense of pressure, work 5 days a week, trying to come out with a proposal for master study, and preparing myself for studying full time master (it will be 1 or 2 days class a week though its so called full time study) and working full time; weekend, struggling for my own sweet time for hang out and chill out + personal time + family time, kinda overwhelming....below list is the thing I wanna accomplish T.T 

• proposal + Master study
• make a pot of kimchee
• food fiesta at my house, inviting friends come over and chill up together
• movie, I realized I didn't go for movie quite some time - Johnny English Reborn, American Captain, Transformer 3....
• made a parody song for Born This Way, to be a patriotic song
• shoot a parody mv for that song
• arranging the song bad romance + alejandro + judas with guzheng and flute ( i think it will be cool performed by chinese music instruments)
• lastly, of course will be traveling and get myself off from work for 2 weeks (wanna clear my annual leave like how I flush the water in the toilet)

Let me kill the first one....