s h i n s h i n e

Cannellini Kisses (구리볼)

Now, shall we continue from where we left off last time with Sweetened White Bean Paste (백앙금 baek ang geum)?  This is one of the sweets that require white bean paste in its traditional form.  It's called sangtoo gwaja (상투과자), named after the top knot (상투 sang too) of the traditional hairdo for men up until early 1900's.  It's also called guri ball (구리볼) as it is said to have been originated from Japan in its chestnut (kuri) - looking shape.

I'm calling this Cannellini Kisses, since it's made with cannellini bean paste (a.k.a. white bean paste) and it also resembles the chocolate drops that many of us can relate to.  I think the name appropriately relays the image of how cute these little white bean drops really are.

Whatever you want to call it, it's an easy, delicious sweet that you can whip up once you have white bean paste.  The recipe below will give you a mild-tasting cannellini kisses.  If you want a sweeter version closer to the ones you can buy from Korean bakeries, add 1~2 teaspoons of sugar, noted as an optional ingredient.

 
From a Korean bakery in Manhattan - They're sold as 'White Bean Balls.'

As for the pastry tip, the French star tip (with fine teeth) is the one to use for the traditional look.  But as you can see from the picture on top, I think a regular open star tip produces a slightly different, yet still fine-looking cannellini kisses.  I also found the open star tip a bit easier to manage.  Also, a bigger tip gives you a bigger sized cannellini kisses and it's easier to handle, especially if you are a beginner.  Piping with a pastry bag takes patience and practice, but just remember to keep them all about the same size.  Also, they'll taste great regardless of the shape, so all is well.

If you are so disciplined that you can hold back from popping them into your mouth as soon as they come out of the oven, it does taste better the next day as the flavor settles.  It will be also slightly more moist as it should be.

   

Cannellini Kisses (구리볼 / 상투과자)
Yield: About 40 kisses

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Sweetened white bean paste (백앙금 baek ang geum See my recipe here)
1/4 cup Almond powder
1 Egg yolk
1 tablespoon Honey
1 tablespoon Milk
Optional) 1~2 teaspoons Sugar

DIRECTiONS:
1. Mix to combine sweet cannellini paste, almond powder, egg yolk, honey and milk.  Mix in 1~2 teaspoons of sugar if you prefer it to be a on a sweeter side.

2. Prepare a pastry bag with an open star tip (easier) or a French star tip (traditional), depending on your preference.  Add the paste mix into the pastry bag and tie the bag.

3. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.

4. On a parchment-lined sheet pan, squeeze out a shape like the chocolate kisses.

5. Bake in the oven for 20~25 minutes, until the bottom is golden brown.  Remove from the oven and let it cool to room temperature.  Keep it refrigerated in an air-tight container for up to a week.  It tastes sweeter and more moist the next day.

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KOREAN WORDS
별  (byeol)  star
꿀  (ggool)  honey

Green Tea Mochi with Red Bean Filling (녹차 찹쌀떡)

It just keeps on coming now. ^^

We're releasing another episode of Cooking wiith Shin, this time making green tea mochi rice cake, 녹차 찹쌀떡 (nok cha chap ssal ddeok), in a microwave.  It can turn into a sticky mess, but set it up the right way and it can be a fun and delicious stress reliever.

* You can follow this link to the YouTube site.
* You can follow this link to DramaFever's post on this episode.

You might remember this from my blog post not too long ago... And you're right!  This video shows you how to make a green tea version of it by adding 2 teaspoons of green tea powder (1 teaspoon if you just want the color, 2 teaspoons if you want a hint of flavor, too) without altering the recipe from my mochi rice cake post.

And yes, I'm coming back with treats made with sweetened white bean paste soon... Thank you for your patience!

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KOREAN WORDS
녹차    (nok cha)    green tea
차       (cha)           tea (in general)
차       (cha)           car (in general)

Weeknight Japchae (잡채 Glass Noodles with Sautéed Vegetables)

First, I'd like to thank you for all the great responses for my first cooking show episode on red bean rice.  In less than a month, it has been viewed over 49,000 times on YouTube with many comments, questions and even stories of the viewers' own traditional dishes using red beans.  It's amazing to see a variety of responses that can be brought out from a 7-minute video.

In case you missed my first moment of awkwardness, you can check out the video here and my post including the full recipe here.

Today, we're finally releasing the second episode on japchae, one of the most popular Korean dishes.  

* You can follow this link to the YouTube site.
* You can follow this link to DramaFever's post on this episode.

Traditionally, japchae - glass noodles with assorted vegetables - is a festive dish with each ingredient cooked separately then mixed together right before serving so that the ingredients maintain their own flavors in the dish.  As the title of this post implies, my version of japchae is a simplified version, a one-skillet dish that's still delicious but with fewer steps and much less oil (which also means fewer dishes to wash later).

I soak the dried glass noodles made with sweet potato starch (당면 dang myeon) along with dried shitake mushrooms and season the soaking water.  This way, the noodle will soak up flavor while it softens.  As you wait for the noodle to soften, prepare vegetables.  I go with what I have in the fridge, but try to choose the vegetables that can hold their shape, bite and color in heat.  Of course, feel free to add meat or seafood in yours.

Quickly sauté the vegetables, then add the noodle, mushroom and its soaking water.  You'll cook the noodles until soft and reduce the liquid at the same time, so keep it uncovered over high heat.  You may need to add a bit more water or take out a little bit of the liquid if necessary.  When the noodle looks all shiny and soft, eat one and see if it's really soft enough to eat.

Since this requires very little oil during cooking, be generous on sesame oil at the end to toss everything together.  The dish will be shiny with the nutty fragrance of sesame oil as if it's cooked in the traditional way.  The oil at the end will also help the noodles from sticking and forming a big lump.

Any leftover can be stored in the refrigerator and can be re-heated on the stovetop.  You can heat it on a skillet over low heat with very little oil, if at all, just until the noodle turns translucent and glistening.

It's not much different from what I posted a couple of years ago.  It works best for making a small amount quickly.  I hope with the video and better pictures in this post, it gives you a better motivation to try it yourself.  Once you get the hang of it, you can make this for your simple weeknight dinner.  Make sure to have everything ready before turning on the heat.  It's a fairly quick process.  Enjoy!

 
 

Glass Noodles with Sautéed Vegetables (잡채 jap chae)
Yield: 2 Main Servings

INGREDIENTS:
4 oz. Glass noodles made with sweet potato starch (당면 dang myeon)
2~4 Dried shitake mushrooms, depending on size
2 cups Warm water
2 tablespoons Soy sauce
2 cloves Garlic, peeled and grated
1/2 teaspoon Ginger, peeled and grated
A pinch Freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon Neutral-tasting cooking oil (canola oil or sunflower seed oil)
1/2 Onion, medium-sized, peeled and sliced thinly
2 Thin carrots, peeled and julienned
1 Red bell pepper, seeds removed and cut to thin slices
A pinch Salt
1 tablespoon Rice vinegar
1/2 bunch Spinach, stems trimmed and washed
1 tablespoon Toasted sesame oil (dark-colored)
1 teaspoon Toasted sesame seeds for garnish

DIRECTIONS:
1. Soak dried shitake mushrooms in 2 cups of warm water for 30 minutes.

2. Make seasoning marinade by adding soy sauce, garlic and ginger to the shitake mushroom soaked water.  Soak glass noodles in the liquid.

3. In the meantime, prepare vegetables.

4. When the mushrooms turn soft, squeeze out water and slice thinly.  Put mushroom slices back in the seasoning marinade.

5. Heat up a skillet and drizzle cooking oil.  Sauté onion, carrot and bell pepper slices with a sprinkle of salt until translucent.  Add the soaked sweet potato noodles and mushroom slices along with 1 1/2 cups of the liquid.

6. Turn up the heat to high and cook the noodle until soft and chewy and reduce liquid.  Stir occasionally to cook evenly.  When the noodles are soft and there is almost no liquid left, reduce heat to low.  If necessary, add the remaining 1/2 cup of the marinade liquid to cook through the noodles.

7. Add spinach and mix carefully.  Steam from the dish should be enough to wilt spinach.  Add vinegar and mix.  Remove from heat.

8. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.  Right before serving, toss everything in toasted sesame oil.  Sprinkle sesame seeds for garnish.

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KOREAN WORDS
표고    (pyo go)    shitake
버섯    (beo seot) mushroom in general
표고 버섯 (pyo go beo seot)    shitake mushroom

Sweetened White Bean Paste (백앙금)

Although sweetened white bean paste (백앙금 baek ahng geum) doesn't capture as much attention as red bean paste, it is still a popular, common ingredient in many Korean desserts.  It is sold in ready-made packages in Korea, but it's hard to find in the U.S.  But where is the fun in that anyway?  Besides, I like that I can adjust the level of sweetness of homemade paste, as I often find store-bought pastries and fillings cloyingly sweet for my taste.

White kidney beans, also known as cannellini beans, are used to make white bean paste.  You can use other white beans, but I find the white kidney beans, just like its red counterpart, incredibly creamy when cooked without leaving any beany aftertaste.  The traditional method requires removing the skin of each bean after it's cooked, but even I can't put that much effort.  Once you blend soft beans, you won't notice any fiberous bean skin anyway.  It just becomes sweet, creamy, thick, white (okay, off-white) paste that's ready to be used in many delicious Korean and Asian desserts.

It can be used as a filling for desserts that usually require sweet red bean paste.  But certain desserts do require white or red bean filling as an ingredient.  I'll come back with desserts that specifically call for white bean paste next week.  Hopefully you can see why it's worthwhile to make this at home.

   

Sweetened White Bean Paste
YIeld: About 5 cups

INGREDIENTS:
1 package (16 oz.) White kidney beans (aka cannellini beans)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
5~6 cups Water plus more to soak beans
1 1/2 cup Sugar

DIRECTIONS:
1. Rinse white kidney beans in cold water. Pour cold water, at least double the amount of beans, to completely immerse the beans.  Soak until the beans double in size, for a couple of hours to overnight in the refrigerator.  I usually do this at night and leave it in the refrigerator to cook the next day.

2. Drain water.  Bring soaked beans, 5 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a pot over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium and cook beans until completely soft.  Skim off foams that come up to the surface.  If necessary, add more water.

3. Once the beans become soft, continue to boil while constantly stirring so that the remaining liquid is reduced to the bottom.  Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

4. Blend soft beans to a smooth consistency in 2~3 batches.  The blender top should always be only half-full.  Transfer to a clean pot.

5. Heat smooth white bean paste in a clean pot over medium heat.  Add 1 1/2 cup of sugar and stir to mix.  As the paste is heated and sugar is dissolved, the paste will become loose.  Stir with a wooden spoon all around so that steam gets out and the paste thickens again.

6. After enough water has evaporated, you will feel the paste getting thicker again when you stir.  Test its doness by cutting through the paste with a wooden spoon.  The streak should hold for a few seconds if not longer before it comes back to a thick sauce, almost to a paste consistency.  See the picture on top.

7. Turn off heat.  Taste and adjust sweetness by adding more sugar.  It should be sweeter than your usual preference.  If you add more sugar, stir again to completely dissolve in the paste.  As it cools, it will thicken slightly.  Divide the paste in 1~2 cups and keep in airtight containers.  If using within 3 days, keep it refrigerated.  Otherwise, keep it frozen.  You can defrost the paste by moving it to the refrigerator the night before you need it.

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KOREAN WORDS
강낭콩    (ghang nhang kong)    kidney bean
콩    (kong)    beans in general
킹콩 (king kong) King Kong, obviously nothing to do with beans