eG Foodblog: Domestic Goddess - Adobo & Fried Chicken in Korea

[Domestic Goddess]

so what are you cooking up for us now?

There was a filipino recipe in saveur magazine during the holidays that looked delicious.  I believe it was a soup where tamarind was one of the main ingredients.

Do you guys really eat ice cream in a hamburger bun?

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I am cooking a spanish-inspired dish called Chicken Afritada. I'll post pics and recipe later.

The Filipino soup with the tamarind you are talking about is called Sinigang. I'll be featuring that tomorrow. It's Billy's favorite.

Ice cream in a hamburger bun is available from any sidewalk ice cream vendor cart. My sisters and brother love it but I don't eat ice cream. I don't like sweets at all but I do bake a lot of cakes, muffins, cookies, etc. for my men. LOL My own family, a family of sweet tooth, calls me the black sheep of the family. When my dad buys a gallon of ice cream, he gets a small pizza for me.

[SheenaGreena]

so what are you cooking up for us now?

There was a filipino recipe in saveur magazine during the holidays that looked delicious.  I believe it was a soup where tamarind was one of the main ingredients.

Do you guys really eat ice cream in a hamburger bun?

←

I am cooking a spanish-inspired dish called Chicken Afritada. I'll post pics and recipe later.

The Filipino soup with the tamarind you are talking about is called Sinigang. I'll be featuring that tomorrow. It's Billy's favorite.

Ice cream in a hamburger bun is available from any sidewalk ice cream vendor cart. My sisters and brother love it but I don't eat ice cream. I don't like sweets at all but I do bake a lot of cakes, muffins, cookies, etc. for my men. LOL My own family, a family of sweet tooth, calls me the black sheep of the family. When my dad buys a gallon of ice cream, he gets a small pizza for me.

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yes, sinigang!!! It looked so comforting and delicious in the photo, especially with a few head on shrimp floating on top.

Im not a huge fan of sweets either, but I just finished half a pint of ice cream for breakfast - holy moly I think i'm going back to sleep. If that sinigang soup isn't hard then I think I will try it out (after seeing you make it). I have never cooked with tamarind before so this should be fun

[Domestic Goddess]

Cooking time!

I'll be making Chicken Afritada. It is a spanish tomato-based stew that has bell pepper, carrots and potatoes in it. Here are the ingredients: (chicken cut up in pieces, diced carrots, diced potatoes, chopped onions and minced garlic.

Not in the picture are the sliced bell peppers and chopped tomatoes.

The recipe is very simple. First, brown the chicken in a little oil in a wok. Take out the chicken and reserve for later. Add the garlic and onion and saute until golden brown. Add the tomatoes and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and let the mixture simmer for about 7-10 minutes or until the tomatoes have exude oil.

NOTE: This is very important. Cooking the tomatoes and tomato sauce for a long time until it gives out oil is one of the scret cooking techniques passed on from one cook to another in my family. It helps brings out the flavor of the dish and helps keep the dish longer (prevent early spoiling) in a hot and humid environment such as my country.

Ok, back to the recipe, when you see oil on top of the simmering sauce add the bell pepper. Then add the carrots and the chicken. Stir everything up until the thick sauce covers everything. Add enough water up to the level of the meat in the pot. Bring to a boil and let simmer. When the chicken and carrots are half-done, add the potatoes. It would look something like this.

Season with salt, pepper and about 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Let the sauce simmer until it becomes thick. Serve hot over rice.

Edited March 5, 2007 by Domestic Goddess (log)

[Milagai]

Hi Domestic Goddess: thanks for yet another vastly enjoyable

eg food blog....

a few questions:

1. The flavor profile of Filipino food seems very different

from Korean or SE Asian food; I mean that just looking

at what you have posted it seems like Filipino food seems

much less spicy and uses much less red chili etc.

Do I have this wrong? Can you shed some light on this?

Which do your kids prefer?

2. Re Korea: is there such a thing as "vegetarian" kimchee,

I mean all bottles I've seen in stores call for fish sauce

as an ingredient? Before I knew about this, I used to

love Kimchee in our local Korean restaurant.....

3. Explanation of your "moniker"?

Thanks...

Milagai

[Domestic Goddess]

1.  The flavor profile of Filipino food seems very different

from Korean or SE Asian food; I mean that just looking

at what you have posted it seems like Filipino food seems

much less spicy and uses much less red chili etc. 

Do I have this wrong?  Can you shed some light on this?

Which do your kids prefer? 

2.  Re Korea:  is there such a thing as "vegetarian" kimchee,

I mean all bottles I've seen in stores call for fish sauce

as an ingredient?    Before I knew about this, I used to

love Kimchee in our local Korean restaurant.....

3.  Explanation of your "moniker"? 

Thanks...

Milagai

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Milagai - here are answers to your questions.

1. I can't classify that all Filipino food is not spicy because we have a province that is known for its spicy dishes - Bicol province. Bicol dishes are usually coconut milk-based and super spicy. They even have a dish that consist 7 kinds of chili peppers simmered in coconut milk. Tongue searing hot! I guess it would depend on different provinces. I come from a province that borders the sea hence the Spanish influence (galleon trade and such). Our food is milder and not spicy at all.

2. Traditional kimchee would call for fish sauce. Older generation koreans would insist on using it. Newer generation koreans would substitute sea salt for the fish sauce component or leave it out entirely (for health reasons). I have heard that Chinese-made kimchee does not use fish sauce but I don't know what brand.

3. My moniker? LOL In other message boards I am known as Riverdancer, in a Terry Pratchett board I am known as an orangutan. When I was invited to join here I was trying to figure out a name that would describe my dominance in the kitchen. I intially wanted Domestic Diva first but found it too snotty for my taste. I settled for Domestic Goddess instead because my husband always mention how he worships the food I fixed him and me.

[miladyinsanity]

3-inch long strawberries sold for 10 dollars per container.

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I sometimes buy these strawberries here for a treat. Boy are they expensive!!!

[little ms foodie]

DG this is great, your photos of the market are awesome. I really have no understanding of Korean life so this is quite interesting to me!!

Is banchan what you call all the little sides that are served with meals?

[SheenaGreena]

DG this is great, your photos of the market are awesome. I really have no understanding of Korean life so this is quite interesting to me!!

Is banchan what you call all the little sides that are served with meals?

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I'll answer for doddie, because I bet she is asleep. I think its 1:30 am over there now. Yes, banchan are all the little side dishes and they are served with every meal.

[Rebecca263]

We have all of those ingredients and my daughter is making that chicken afritada right now. Well, we don't have a wok, so she is using our immense stock pot. It will stock pot chicken afritada. This is the first time she read something on eGullet and we actually made it right away. I am glad there was a recipe up for her to make for dinner, she feels better when she is cooking! Thanks, oh wonderful Domestic Goddess.

[Ann_T]

Doddie, I'm so glad you are blogging this week and that I didn't miss it.

Your boys are adorable and I love all your market photos. I'm not a big fan of breakfast usually, but that could change if I had garlic rice every morning.

Ann

[Domestic Goddess]

Miladyinsanity - I bought half a container of these fabulous strawberries. I'm thinking about making strawberry shortcake with them later tonight.

Littlemissfoodie - Sheena's right! Ban chan is the korean word for side dishes.

Speaking of side dishes, I remembered MizDucky wistfully wishing she could taste all those covered ban chan trays. I thought that I wouldn't since 70% os those side dishes are sooo salty and the rest are very sweet.

Rebecca - I am so happy that your daughter fixed Chicken Afritada! You're welcome and one question - how do you like it?

Ann - am not a fan of breakfast either. Most of the times, I just have decaf coffee and have an early lunch.

Brekkie pics coming up.

[Domestic Goddess]

Yesterday Jai told me he wanted potato omelet again. I wanted to fix something different this morning and I remember somebody fixing sausage hash in the breakfast section. I took out one of hubby's frozen sausage, crumbled it in the pan, added cubes of potatoes & a dollop of bacon grease and let everything get nice and brown and toasty. Towards the end, I added beaten eggs and a sprinkling of pepper. Of course, Jai had garlic fried rice on the side.

[Domestic Goddess]

Today, I need to go to the grocery. I made a list and I checked it twice.

Okay it's a short list.

[prasantrin]

Doddie, do you ever bake Filipino goods? I'd love to see a good ensaimada or pan de sal (new style, rather than old style) tutorial!

Or a Filipino-style empanada tutorial. When I was in Bacolod last spring, my aunt special-ordered some empanada from a place in Silay that still does the crust the old-fashioned way, using leaf lard. The filling was a bit too sweet for my tastes, but the crust...oh my!

[Domestic Goddess]

Rona aka prasantrin - I haven't tried making ensaymada yet but I did make pan de sal a couple of times. They were busts (hubby said it didn't taste like the ones in the small bakeries in Manila).

Empanada, now that I can do for you. I think I have all the ingredients in my fridge. I'll make chicken empanada later and post the pictorial for you.

[suzilightning]

obligingly woke up for him.

I decided to make a classic Filipino breakfast - Potato omelet. Like what I said before, a lot of our cuisine is inspired and influenced by the Spanish culture. The Potato Omelet is one of them. I actually found similar dishes served in the Spanish tapas restaurants.

Frying the potatoes first.

Then adding the beaten egg.

Let everything cook and set over low heat.

ohhhh... eggy potatoes. love the images and so neat to learn about cultures i barely am aware of....

[Shaya]

This is a wonderful blog. Great to see where all that gorgeous food gets made. I love seeing the photos from the market, and the food as you're preparing it. And your boys are just beautiful.

[bavila]

Hi Doddie,

This is the first blog I've followed this year, as I only found them post-reorganization the other day. I love the market pics.

Is that crawfish in the first pic on post 32?

How do people prepare the tiny crabs (which I'm assuming are kin to our "hermit" crabs in the states, which, to my knowledge, no one eats)?

Thanks!

[Carrot Top]

A hot pot of dwenjjang jjige (soybean stew) contain chockful of tofu blocks, zucchini slices, potato and root veggies.

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Ahhh. That looked so good that I had to go online to find this to buy.

And I understand the cheek-pinching thing totally. How can you *not* want to pinch the cheeks of children that are so totally adorable? Impossible.

[Rebecca263]

Esteemed DG, my daughter and I just finished dinner, thank you! She even took a picture before she served it, we had it with brown rice. I'll ask her to post it in the dinner thread. I love my Kiddle!

I found it very similar to a couple of dishes that we ate as children, the main difference being the use of soy and chopped pepper as seasoning instead of allspice and bay leaves, or fresh basil in in another dish. We are Italian and Syrian in my family.

[Dejah]

Doddie: What kind of rice do you use? From the pictures, it looks like glutinous rice.

I asked my Korean students if they ate rice for breakfast every morning. Both of them, one being 35 years old and the other is 24, said they don't, but their parents do.

[sun]

Hello Doddie!

Thanks for your wonderful blog.

"Garlic rice...garlic rice...garlic rice"

I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to have some. I'd never made it before. I heated garlic paste in some veg oil and then sauteed leftover rice. It was so good!

[Domestic Goddess]

Shaya - thank you for you kind words. I do try to capture the beauty of the place and culture where we live in now.

Bavila - those red things in post 32 in the street market pics are not crawfish, they're spicy-seasoned chicken legs!

The tiny crabs are cooked and also seasoned with ever present gochujang (chili pepper paste) and other seasonings. You can actually see them being mixed by the ban chan vendor in the same post (32) it's the 4th picture from the top.

Carrot Top - I'll show your quote to the kids and let them read it themselves/

Rebecca - I can't wait to see pics of your afritada! Tell your daughter I am so proud of her. She gets an honorary Filipina title from me.

Dejah - I use the Ichon rice variety, it is one of the best that is found here in Korea (we live 30 minutes away from Ichon city). It is soft, fluffy and fragrant, yet it is quite okay to use in friedrice which require non-sticky rice. In the olden times, Ichon rice was reserved solely for the king's and his family consumption. Now it is readily available everywhere, especially here in Janghowon. When my parents visited me two years ago, my mother wanted to bring a huge sack home. LOL

Sun - now you can see why Jai bugs me for garlic fried rice for brekkies.

[SheenaGreena]

doddie, aren't those crabs used in the soy sauce preparation as well like the bigger ones? When they are that small you can put them in your mouth, chew on them, suck on them, and spit them back out

[lovebenton0]

great blog, doddie. i'm enjoying see your mix of food traditions and life in korea.