Kimchi Quesadillas

So, I've been reading all over food blogs that Kogi truck korean short rib tacos are really popular in LA. It looks so delicious online. I'm originally from LA, but they didn't have these when I lived there. And now I live in NYC (uh, for 6 years now!), and we don't have a korean taco truck! I just didn't have the ingredients or time to make Kalbi tacos right now ... but, hmmm ... but what do I have in the frig? ... tortillas, kimchi, cheese, onions, scallions, and frozen thinly sliced pork belly ... Quesadila! I saw kimchi quesadillas on the Kogi truck are popular too! Brilliant! Boy did my man love these! We made it enough times to use up a large jar of kimchi just from making a bunch of these.

Kimchi Quesadilla Recipe
(for one quesadilla)

1 8-inch tortilla
1/2 cup shredded cheese (used pepper jack)
1/2 onion sliced
1 slice thinly sliced pork belly or bacon, chopped bite sized
1 stalk scallion sliced
1/2 cup kimchi, chopped and drained on napkin
roasted sesame oil or rayu (red pepper oil)
Sriracha for serving

In a 10-inch fry pan, fry sliced pork belly or bacon over medium high heat. After some of the fat has melted into the pan, throw in the onions. Remove pork/bacon once cook to perferred crispiness. Continue cooking onions until lightly browned. Remove onions, and wipe down the bacon fat so there is a small amount to cook the quesadilla in.

Assemble the quesadilla by putting half the cheese on half of the tortilla. Over the cheese, layer on kimchi, pork/bacon, onions, scallions, and then the other half of the cheese. Fold the empty half over the filling. Put a touch of roasted sesame oil or rayu on the pan over medium high heat. Once the pan feels hot, put the quesadilla on the pan. Fry until it is browned and crispy. Flip over and brown on the other side. Remove from pan and cut into 3 wedges. Serve with sriracha hot sauce.

Hiyashi chuuka, two ways

If my boyfriend wakes up before noon on a Saturday morning after a long night of hard drinking, much less 10am, it better be for a good reason. This particular Saturday it was for the hiyashi chuuka that I prepped for us the previous day. Hiyashi chuuka is basically a Japanese pasta salad. It literally means "cold chinese" which refers to the fact the "pasta" is cold chinese ramen noodles.

Hiyashi chuuka is actually very easy to make. It comes in packages with uncooked noodles and the sesame dressing. The time consuming part is cutting and prepping all the toppings. Typically, I like crab, poached chicken, thinly sliced deli ham, egg crepe thinly sliced, cucumbers, wakame, fresh corn off the cob, grape tomatoes cut in half, and scallions.

Recently, I've tried a Korean variation on Japanese hiyashi chuuka called Bibim Guksu. Using the same toppings on soba noodles, I make a homemade spicy, sweet, and vinegary sauce. Its also very good on cooked cold ramen noodles or even those cheap maruchan ramen noodles (just the noodles, don't use the seasoning package).

For the dressing, I kind of just go by taste, but the basic recipe is mix the ingredients below. If you want it sweeter, add more sugar or honey. If you want it saltier, add soy sauce. If you want it spicier, add more gochujang. Pretty simple, but very delicious!

Ingredients:

2T gochujang

2T rice vinegar

1T soy sauce

1T honey

1T sugar

1T rayu

1T sesame seeds