Easy Bulgogi Recipe

I love bulgogi, and turns out, it's much easier to make than I originally thought!

Ingredients (5-6 Servings)

2 pounds Rib-eye or other tender Beef (thinly sliced)

2 tablespoons Soy Sauce

2 teaspoons Asian Sesame Oil

1 tablespoon Sugar

1 bulb Garlic (minced)

Freshly Ground Black Pepper (to taste)

3 Green Onions (cut into 1 inch pieces)

Toasted Sesame Seeds (for garnish)

Optional: Oyster/Shiitake Mushrooms, Onions, Zucchini, Bell Pepper, Thinly Sliced Carrots

Prep

1. Marinate the beef in the soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and garlic for 30 minutes (or overnight)

Cook

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef and stir-fry completely until browned. (5-7 minutes)

2. Add the black pepper and green onions and cook until the green onions are slightly limp, but still retain their color. (1-2 minutes). 

3. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

I'm not sure when you should add the optional ingredients. I'm assuming you would put those in right after you add the beef and stir fry them all together. Or maybe I should put the onions in first, and then the beef to get the flavor.

Credits to Quick & Easy Korean Cooking by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee

J.Crew Diversifies Summer 2014 Catalog!

When I was browsing through the J.Crew Catalog, I was really surprised to see an Asian male model for the Men's section. It's nice to see J.Crew being more progressive about hiring different races and ethnicities, effectively rejecting the unsexy Asian male stereotype.

look at that little eyebrow raise ;)

I was trying to look up who he was, but couldn't find it. So, who is this man? I guess there is a pretty great incentive for stores such as J.Crew to diversify their catalog. With still mostly white models, the brand extends their consumer base while retaining their original customers. With an awareness of this, I looked at LLBean's catalog and literally everyone was white. I saw one African American in the entire catalog and that was it. As an American brand, I would really think that they would try to at least embrace diversity somewhat.

Fashion often runs the fine line between celebrating different ethnicities and cultural appropriation/reinforcing stereotypes, but I think J.Crew does a good job in this instance. I would like to see more Indian or indigenous models in the near future, as they often get even less coverage in fashion and are more stigmatized in society. 

How to Make Wontons

My grandma taught me how to make wontons the other day! They're a bit intricate, but also fun to make, especially as a bonding event with someone else.

Aren't they cute?

Making the Filling

Ingredients 

Ground Pork

Rice Wine

Salt

Ground Pepper

Sugar

萁菜 （Qi Cai）or Bok Choy

Mix the Ground Pork and Rice Wine together and let it sit for a while. Then add Salt, Ground Pepper, and Sugar for taste, mixing it all together. Chop the vegetable in miniscule pieces (as small as possible) and mix it in with the Ground Pork.

Wonton Folding

Ingredients

Pork Mixture

Wonton Skins (Store bought, but I'm sure there are some recipes online)

Water bowl

Put about a 2 teaspoons of the Pork Mixture in the middle of the Wonton Skin. Fold Wonton skin from bottom to top (hiding the Pork Mixture), leaving a little gap between the edges (bottom edge should be about 1/2 centimeter lower than the top. Fold the top edge down to the bottom again and join the bottom corners, using the water as a "paste" to glue the corners together.

Making the Soup

After freezing the wontons for a while, and then boiling them in water, add them to this soup mixture: 

Ingredients

Premium Soy Sauce

Sesame Oil

Salt

Ground Pepper

Zha Cai (Preserved Mustard Tuber?) 

Hot Water