Kimchi Mama

Do you like Korean food? I know a friend who doesn't..... For my family, Korean food is our favourite international cuisine, almost on par with Italian.

If I don't remember wrongly, my love affair with Korean food started during my flying days. I introduced it to Hubby, starting with Korean instant noodles. Now, hot & spicy Korean noodles are a must-have in our larder. Even KK, who doesn't take spicy stuff, will slurp up a bowl of Korean instant noodles. Hubby is such a fan that he's now taken to buying them in boxes from the wholesaler. We usually add some stuff into the noodles to make them more yummy and nutritious are: tofu, egg, sliced beef, shaved ham, kimchi, cabbage, enoki mushrooms.

Spicy Tofu Soup

My personal favourite is the Korean Spicy Tofu Soup. I bought the soup mix so I just have to add my own tofu, egg and some spring onion and I can eat that with plain rice. Tastes best on a cold winter day....slurp.

Homestyle Korean BBQ

It's Monday today and I was wondering what to cook for dinner. I decided to do Korean Bulgogi BBQ. The marinade is from City Mart, just opposite Queen Victoria market and the thinly sliced hot pot beef from KFL, the asian supermarket. Marinade them an hour in advance with the bulgogi sauce and that's it! We'll set up a portable stove on the table with a special bbq hot plate and enjoy it with lettuce and rice. Really simple and fanciful at the same time. The children love when I make Korean BBQ for dinner. They get involved in the cooking process like putting the beef on the plate and stirring them around, it's so fun for them.

Eat it the Korean way - wrap some rice and beef in a leaf of lettuce.

(Better still if you have the Korean chilli paste.)

My husband loves kimchi and we've found this really good kimchi from City Mart - Well Being Kimchi. It's made in Australia and we love the crunchiness of the vegetables and the seasoning's just right - not too spicy, not too sour, not too sweet. We eat kimchi with instant noodles or sometimes I'll do Kimchi Fried Rice. It's another easy dish with bacon, enoki mushrooms and of course, cabbage from the kimchi.

Kimchi Fried Rice

I also love Bimbimbap and it's really easy to make your own - a kind of mixed rice with salad veg like carrot, mushroom, bean sprouts, cucumber. In fact, you can put in whatever you like, so it's great for clearing leftovers in the fridge. The key ingredient is the bimbimbap chilli sauce, which you can get from any Korean mart.




See, there are so many Korean dishes we can make at home, we don't really need to go to a Korean restaurant. Yet we still do....What I cannot make are those little dishes of preserved vegetables served before the main course. Some of those I've seen in Singapore tasted so good, they're the highlight rather than the main course. I've yet to find something comparable here in Melbourne. Talking about that, I think it's time to check out a famous Korean restaurant here in the city. I think it's called Kimchi Grandma or something....