Dekalb Market in Brooklyn, NY

I helped with the cooking part of Food 360, farm-to-fork job training program within FamilyCook Productions in June. Despite all the challenges that came with it, it turned out to be a fun, exciting experience because of the location, the program and the people.

Have you been to Dekalb Market in Brooklyn? It's an outdoor market with artsy stores and food stalls housed in salvaged shipping containers. It also has a 'farm' or what I consider an oversized backyard garden. It's super cute and grows more than enough of so many herbs, vegetables and flowers. The market is pretty small, but there is enough to keep you occupied for a lazy afternoon with stores that sell knick-knacks, ice creams, wines and seatings in the shade. Plus, you can check out the farm and see how many vegetables and herbs you recognize. It's also very close to a couple of subway stops, which makes an easy trip from Manhattan.

For my last class at Food 360, we made Korean food with many of the ingredients from the farm, a.k.a., farm-to-fork Korean dishes. Before we began cooking, we talked about Korean food with its heavy focus on fermented condiments and vegetables. Then the participants went out to pick the vegetables we needed for the recipes. We made my summer favorite bibim guksu (비빔국수) and Swiss chard & mint pancakes, a slight modification of the traditional scallion pancakes (파전 - pa jeon), to make the best use of the abundant, fresh vegetables right outside.

Although the scallion kind is the most popular savory pancake, often with seafood (해물 - hae mul), it doesn't have to be limited to scallions. Depending on the season, sturdy leafy greens also work, in this case, Swiss chard. Kale or collard greens can be also used. Don't use spinach as they wilt in a second and let out lots of liquid, so it's not a good candidate for pancakes.

A spoonful of chopped mint adds a bit of refreshing punch without overpowering the pancakes. I use mint often, in small amounts, as a substitute of perilla leaves (깻잎 - ggaet nip), because it's easier to get and has a similar tone to it.

For both recipes, I used gochujang (고추장 - Korean red pepper paste). It was a big part in the sauce for bibim guksu, which basically makes the dish with its spicy, sweet punch. It was also added to the batter of the pancakes to give a subtle hint of spiciness. I wanted the students to taste the different roles this Korean condiment could play in different dishes.

J, one of the students, was so taken with gochujang, he started eating big spoonfuls of gochujang right out of the tub. I ended up leaving the leftover gochujang with him after I made him promise that he wouldn't finish the whole thing that day.

We devoured both bibim guksu and Swiss chard & mint pancakes, a legitimate excuse not to have good pictures of the food in my opinion. It's always gratifying to see that people really enjoy the Korean food we make, ask questions about where to get certain ingredients, and share ideas on what other ingredients could be used or added to the recipes learned.

Thank you all for your enthusiasm and hard work!

After we ate, I went outside and picked a few herbs and vegetables to take home that would last me a week. I also picked this beautiful red flowers and lavender, which stayed with me on the windowsill for a few days and made me smile, thinking about the whole experience.