Korean Barbecue (Galbi or, in Japanese, Karubi)

[Like CS I also like to experiment with more than just traditional East European fare. As the mother of a son who occasionally likes exotic flavors, I scoured through my cookbooks to find an interesting, easy to make recipe and this is what I found. It brings back some memories of the past, memories of another life:

Getting on and off the plane in Korea for buying and chatchka jewelry/accessory design trips in the 80’s, I mostly remember the smell of kimchi – the traditional national cabbage dish of Korea – I’m not sure if it was the long flights or the 5:00 am arrival and crazy non-stop foreign vendor work load, but the smell always made me nauseous. I never developed a yen for the Korean versions of the leafy green, and happily ate my tuna a la suitcase, though I understand kimchi has now become quite the rave here in the U.S. Go figure! 

However, with the secular New Year approaching and new resolutions abounding, we thought we would offer up a relatively healthy Korean grilled dish called Kalbi or Galbi  (means rib in Korean) or in a Japanese bastardization of the Korean namewhich can be substituted with chicken, BTW, for the truly resolute.  The beef or ribs are marinated in a Korean style savory sauce comprised of soy sauce, garlic sesame oil, and honey or sugar.  This dish is traditionally made with rice wine although any red wine will do; a hot pepper paste can be added to the marinade for those who want the extra kick to their dish. Enjoy served with your favorite rice recipe. SYR]

This photo doesn’t do justice to this dish, but since CS was not available I used the one that appears in the book on page 117

From Japanese Kosher Cooking by Kinue Weinstein (page 116)

Korean Barbecue (Karubi)

You’ll need a portable grill placed in the center of the dinner table

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef steak (rib eye is the best)
• 1 green pepper
• 1 round onion
• 1 leek
• 1 Italian eggplant (4 ounces
• 1 carrot
• 1 portobello mushroom

Marinade:

• 1 teaspoon white or sherry
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted and crushed
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• black pepper

Dipping Sauce:

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons red wine
• 6 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon sugar 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/2 lemon, squeezed

Directions

1. Slice the beef thinly 2-3 inch pieces.
2. Combine all the ingredients for the marinade, and marinade for about 20 minutes.
3. Combine all the ingredients for the dipping sauce, and divide into 4 individual dishes.
4. Cut the green pepper into 8 sections.Slice the onion in rings. Cut the leek into mpieces 1 1/2 inches long, and slice the eggplant, carrot and mushrooms thinly.
5. Place the meat and vegetables on platters.
6. Each diner will grill meat and vegetables on the tabletop grill and eat with dripping sauce when it is finished.
7. Serve with favorite rice.

Enjoy, gentle reader, I certainly did!

SYR

Kaizen! Perfection at Prime Ko

Have you ever had one of those microcosmic moments in time encapsulating a window onto something so much bigger in its depth and substance? Though most of mine have not been food moments, this one surely was this past week at the Japanese inspired restaurant Prime Ko (217 West 85th Street New York, NY 10024-3901 – (212) 496-1888) when I tasted Chef Makoto Kameyama’s signature sushi Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna appetizer. But more about that in a moment…

CS and I were escorted into the ground floor dining area; they’ve got a lower level with a wet bar, TV screen and more seating. Décor showed subtle Japanese influences. The waiting area had these lovely brown leather boxy ’kabuki’ shaped chairs and couch, fresh orchids on a dark rectangular table, with a wall of hand-painted coral peonies on soft aqua…

Wall dividers of slatted mahogany separated one area from another; windows were shaded with white bamboo semi-transparent treatments. Seating was brown textured suede on wood, a few striped suede backed benches, all tucked into square darkwood tables. Settings consisted of simple white geometric china, flatware laid out on deep red bamboo textured placemats, and chop-sticks resting on logo enhanced wood pieces. Lighting was recessed in one area and a framed oval shaped ruched red fabric with a back lit center aperture against the far wall, with a row of rice textured globe light fixtures in the other area.

A partial view...

Esteemed Chef Makoto Kameyama, the former prized Sushi Chef at Prime Grill for the past ten years, has served as Executive Chef at Prime Ko since it opened last year. His experience began in Tokyo where he assisted his father, a prominent Edo-sushi chef running a successful restaurant in Japan. In1981, Chef Kameyama came to the US and opened his own Japanese restaurant. Transitioning to Japanese kosher posed quite a challenge. Aside from the dietary restrictions on pork, shrimp, crustaceans, etc. sourcing fine quality kosher fish for sushi and sashimi, replacing basic Japanese cooking elements like bonita flakes and dashi (made of fish bone, until recently unavailable with a kosher certification), achieving consistent textures and creating exciting sauces were but a few of the obstacles he faced.

Chef Kameyama is very pleased with healthy low fat and low cal Japanese cuisine becoming staple of the American diet. Be it the DHA and heart healthy fresh fish, lung healthy miso, or vitamin mineral-rich seaweed, it is thanks to Japanese cuisine masters like Kameyama that this healthy streamlined fare is taking the nation by storm.

Now, back to our meal… The opening appetizer was an assortment of Rainbow Roll, yellowtail, tuna, and salmon sashimi and that fabulous Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna I mentioned earlier. That was the defining moment of kaizen (Japanese for perfection) . The mouthful of toasted rice cake topped with spicy tuna pureed with bell pepper, topped with jalapeño and aioli sauce was a bite of pure perfection. The creative combination of textures and genius flavors conjoining to taste so remarkably well, spoke volumes about the artistry of a chef whose collective experience and expertise arrive at the table each time this signature dish is served. Bravo! Omedetou!

Sushi and Sashimi

But we were just getting warmed up… CS and I shared lovely grilled miso Chilean Sea Bass skewers in a spicy teriyake sauce served aside sautéed bok choy & veggies which couldn’t help but be outshined by an outstanding Tuna Delmonico, edged in breading served with jalapeño sauce, wasabi, beet and ginger sauce, with a side of soba noodles and pickled radish/onion/carrot garnish.

Tuna Delmonico

Our waiter, Al, our server, Lebron, treated us like royalty; they were friendly, efficient, informed. I thought we were getting the ‘special treatment’, but service to the tables nearby was just as extraordinary. Al, had the menu and wine pairings memorized down to the last nori seaweed bit & dot of sauce. Service was the epitome of high Japanese hospitality; water goblets refilled with Prime Ko’s own filtered carbonated water, napkins refolded, tables cleaned between courses, and soy sauce, dishes and silverware replaced with the arrival of each new dish.

We enjoyed a cleansing, refreshing Borgo Reale Pinot Grigio 2007 as we waited for our next course, a medley of kobe chopped beef dishes. We sampled Kobe Meatballs with ground ginger and garlic in miso sesame sauce, spicy Kobe Pizza – crispy dough, house made marinara topped with chopped salad & chopped wagyu. Wagyu Beef Sliders – a mini kobe hamburger with spicy aioli and teriyake sauce – completed this tasty Americanized trio.

Cutlery was replaced again with a fresh set including steak knives. I starved myself till dinner in anticipation, but this was turning out to be a most extravagant meal… The best was next! Three ounces of the most amazing Kobe/Wagyu steak resting on a slab of Himalayan salt rock witha side of white mushroom cooked at our table with a spritz of fresh lime. When quality is this good, extra spicing could only detract from it natural flavors – it was melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

Taken before being cooked at table-side. 3 ozs of marbled beauty!

The second steak dish was a 6 oz. Grain Fed Chateau-Briand with vegetable rice served with a jalapeño/uzu/teriyake sauce, with salad and rice. The steak was so good, I would have preferred the sauce on the side.

Steak Chateau-Briand

Chef then surprised us with Eggplant Dengaku. Baked eggplant topped with miso and sesame sauce. Unusual, and superbly tasty. The evening’s crown,  came with the creative and most beautiful desert dish pictured below.

Beautiful presentation, superlative tasting

Two crepes laid out like a Japanese fan, topped with blueberries and strawberries with hot chocolate sauce, sprinkled with green tea powder and confectioner’s sugar that looked like fairy dust. Need I say more?

A brilliant meal overall. Our thanks to Chef Kameyama and the staff of Prime Ko for a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

SYR

I was looking for a Peking Duck recipe

Whenever I pass by a Chinese restaurant, my gaze invariably turns to those very shiny, brown colored, ducks that often are displayed so as to be seen from the outside. They look delectable but, alas, they are not kosher… I finally found what promises to be perfect directions for a delicious kosher Peking Duck on the Chef Kosher website.

Here is their recipe:

Photo by: nhahangvannam.com

 

Peking Duck

Ingredients

• 1 (4 pound) whole duck, dressed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 orange, sliced in rounds
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
• 5 green onions
• 1/2 cup plum jam
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
• 1/4 cup finely chopped chutney

Directions

1. Rinse the duck inside and out, and pat dry. Cut off tail and discard.

2. Mix together the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, white pepper and cloves. Sprinkle one teaspoon of the mixture into the duck. Stir one tablespoon of the soy sauce into the remaining spice mixture and rub over the entire outside of the duck. Cut one of the green onions in half and place inside duck. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

3. Place duck breast side up on a rack in a big enough wok or pot and steam for an hour adding a little more water, if necessary, as it evaporates. Lift duck with two large spoons, and drain juices and green onion.

4. Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and honey.

5. Preheat the oven to 375F. Place duck breast side up in a roasting pan and prick skin all over with a fork. Roast for 30 minutes.

6. Brush the honey mixture onto the duck and return it to the oven. Turn the heat up to 500F. Roast until skin is richly browned.

7. Prepare duck sauce by mixing plum jam with the sugar, vinegar and chutney in a small serving bowl. Chop remaining green onions and place them into a separate bowl. Place whole duck onto a serving platter and garnish with orange slices and fresh parsley. Use plum sauce and onions for dipping.

The more I reread the above recipe, the better it tastes in my mind… I think if I start preparing it now I could still enjoy for Shabbat, tonight. Hmnnn, that might make this Shabbat Rosh Chodesh, especially memorable!

CS