s h i n s h i n e

Cinnamon Manju (계피 만주)

Manju is a Japanese word that covers a variety of pastries with bean paste filling.  The pastry 'manju' is more narrowly defined after it made its way into Korea.  Its dough is made with wheat flour, condensed milk and butter and its filling is made with sweet white or red bean paste, although white bean paste seems more prevalent.  The most popular and common manju is chestnut manju that is shaped like chestnut but it doesn't necessarily contain chestnut in the filling.

It is a bit challenging to make manju at home.  Because of condensed milk, the dough is pretty wet, which makes it difficult to shape.  If you don't use condensed milk or very little of it, its fragrance and flavor don't come through in manju, which to me is important.

I was looking for manju recipes to learn more about ingredient ratios and dough consistency and I finally came across this cinnamon manju recipe in the Korean blog Choutte Maman.  Cinnamon manju is rolled, dusted with cinnamon powder and cut to smaller pieces.  It gave me an idea on how to handle the wet, delicate dough in an easier way.

Rolling out the dough in a ziploc bag helps to manage the wet dough in a cleaner way with better yields.  Once you get used to working with this consistency of the dough, try increasing the amount of condensed milk next time for more delicate, softer result.  Although cinnamon manju always comes in this rolled shape, you don't need to dust it with cinnamon powder if it's not your thing.  I use very little, which gives a hint of cinnamon.  There is no need for any garnish on top, but why not?  Try different seeds and nuts and decide which one you like the best.  To my surprise, my favorite topping turned out to be the most common garnish for manju - both black and white sesame seeds.

 
  

Cinnamon Manju (계피 만주 gye pi man ju)
Yield - 48 Pieces
Adapted from Chouette Maman's Recipe

INGREDIENTS:
Dough
1 Large egg
1 tablespoon Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
3 tablespoons Unsalted butter, cut to cubes
1/3 cup Condensed milk

1 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons All-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Baking powder

Filling
1 1/2 cup White bean paste (store-bought or homemade)
1 1/2 tablespoon All-purpose flour

Water to seal the dough
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon powder
1 Egg yolk, whisked
Assorted seeds and nuts of your choice such as sesame seeds, walnuts, pecans and pistachios for garnish on top

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a metal prep bowl, whisk together egg, sugar and salt.  Fill 1/2 of a sauce pot with water and bring it up to a gentle boil.  Turn off heat and place the metal prep bowl on top of the saucepan.  Make sure the bowl doesn't touch water in the saucepan.  Add butter and whisk until completely melted.  Mix in condensed milk and whisk until completely incorporated.

2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and baking powder.  Mix in the egg liquid from #1 in the flour.  Bring together to form a dough.  It will be shiny and sticky.

3. Place the dough in a 1-gallon size ziploc bag.  Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to a flat sheet of the ziploc bag size.  If you don't have a ziploc bag, use plastic wrap instead and roll out to about 8x11-inch sheet of an even thickness.  Refrigerate the dough on a flat plate or a cookie sheet for an hour to overnight.

4. While the dough is resting, mix together the white bean paste and flour.  Divide it into 4 equal portions.  Dust 2 tablespoons of flour on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Roll out one portion of the white bean paste mix on the dusted baking sheet into 11-inch log.  Repeat with the rest of the white bean paste mix.

5. Take out the dough from the refrigerator and cut open 2 sides of the ziploc bag.  Open the ziplog bag and dust the dough sheet with flour.  Close the ziploc bag, flip, and open from the other side so that the dusted side is down and you're facing the shiny side of the dough sheet.

6. Carefully transfer a white bean paste log onto the dough sheet.  Roll the dough to wrap the log completely and cut the dough with a knife.  Open up the dough and press down both sides of the dough with fingers. Wet one side of the dough and bring to wrap and glue to the bean paste log.  Wet the other side of the dough and press gently to completely wrap the log and glue it to the other side of the dough sheet.  Place it with the sealed side down.  Repeat with the rest of the logs.

7. Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.

8. Cut each log into 12 pieces.  First, cut a log in half, then in another half.  From there, cut to 3 pieces from each short log, which will get you 12 pieces.  Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, not touching each other.  Brush with egg yolk.  Place garnish of your choice (seeds, nuts) on top.

9. Bake in the 350 F degree oven for 25~30 minutes until the top is golden.  Let it cool to room temperature.  If you can, refrigerate in an airtight container overnight.  Its flavors will settle and its texture will soften and you'll taste something closer to what manju should taste like.  At least in a way that I remember as what manju is.

It keeps for a week in the refrigerator.

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KOREAN WORDS
향신료  (hyang shin ryo)  spice
계피  (gye pi)  cinnamon

Zucchini-Pistachio Cake in Rice Cooker

My internal clock seems to recognize summer as time to 'bake' in the rice cooker.  Summer heat or not, I want sweet bites after meals, so it's great that the rice cooker is there for me to produce a cake without heating up my whole apartment.  I can put together a few basic ingredients and suffer (?) through a bit of arm work, i.e., whipping egg whites to meringue.  Within 20 minutes, cake batter with today's special ingredient mix is in the rice cooker, then the rice cooker takes care of the next 40 minutes to turn it into a cake.  The most agonizing part is waiting for it to cool down for a few minutes or even overnight to let the flavors settle.  Waiting really does make a difference, so I might take a little corner off as soon as it comes out for quality control (?!), but I do wait until the cake tastes as best as it can be.

This zucchini-pistachio cake is moist and sweet (but not too sweet) with a light green hue from the specks of zucchini and pistachio crumbs.  It's okay to use other nuts or eliminate nuts altogether, but pistachio does help bringing out pretty light green.  When it comes to adding oil, 1/3 cup is enough to make it a successful cake, and 1/2 cup will get you to its 'wow-it's-moist' texture.  No spice?  No problem.  But small amounts of cinnamon and nutmeg go a long way and give you a pleasant hint of spice-y kick.  It's about making choices.  You can start from a simple cake, then decide what you gain or lose with the type and the quantity of ingredients.

Try a little when it comes out of the rice cooker, then try another bite after 30 minutes when it's cooled down.  Wrap it in plastic, refrigerate, then have a real slice the next day.  You'll be surprised how its flavors come together after a day.

INGREDIENTS:
Dry ingredients
1 cup All-purpose flour
2 teaspoons Baking powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon powder
1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg

Wet ingredients
4 Eggs, whites and yolks separated
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Neutral-tasting vegetable oil, plus a few drops to grease the rice cooker bowl
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1~ 1 1/2 cup Shredded zucchini (about 1 medium-sized zucchini)
1/2 cup Pistachio nuts, chopped

DIRECTIONS:
1. Grease the rice cooker bowl with vegetable oil by drizzling a few drops of oil in the rice cooker bowl then coating the inside of the rice cooker bowl with a piece of paper towel.

2. Sift dry ingredients together - flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon powder and nutmeg - and set aside.

3. Whisk egg whites.  When egg whites turn opaque white and foamy, add 1/4 cup of sugar and continue to whisk.  When sugar is incorporated and the egg foam starts to turn glossy, add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and continue to whisk.  Stop when the egg foam is firm and silky-glossy, i.e., meringue.  When you lift the whisk, the tip should gently fall, which is about soft-medium peak.

4. To the egg white meringue, add the following in order and mix in completely before adding the next set of ingredients.
   - Add egg yolks and whisk gently to incorporate.
   - Add oil and vanilla extract and whisk gently to incorporate.
   - Carefully mix in shredded zucchini and chopped pistachio.

5. Mix half of the dry ingredient mix into the wet mix with a wooden spoon.  When there is no dry spot in the batter, mix in the rest of the dry ingredient mix.  Make sure there is no dry spot.  Don't overmix.

6. Pour the batter into the greased rice cooker bowl.  Tap the side of the bowl to release big air bubbles.  Place the bowl in the rice cooker.

7. Press 'Steam' (a.k.a. 'Multi-cook') for 40 minutes if your rice cooker has the option.  Alternatively, 'Cook' twice, which means that you should press 'Cook' and when it's done, press 'Cook' again.  You might have to wait for the rice cooker to cool a bit before starting the second run in case of an older, simpler rice cooker.

8.  When it's done, flip gently on a wire rack.  Let it cool to room temperature.  It can be served at room temperature or cold.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight to allow time for flavors to settle.  Or just have a bite now.

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KOREAN WORDS
애호박  (ae ho bak)  Korean squash similar to zucchini
호박 (ho bak) pumpkin

Rice Balls (주먹밥)

 Yes, rice balls!

Rice balls (주먹밥 ju meok bap) used to be food for travellers and soldiers, not because of its taste but for its transportability.  The word itself literally means 'fist-rice,' indicating its size with not much seasoning but salt.  I heard from my parents that it was more for sustenance than anything else.

Times have changed.  Abundance of colorful vegetables along with sunny days mean that rice balls can be made for picnics.  It's a fun family activity to mix in vegetable confetti, squeeze handfuls of sticky rice and roll them in sesame seeds and dried seaweed even if you don't go for a picnic.  At the end, you're left with pretty little things to fill up on.  These are just slightly bigger than chocolate truffles, so it's easy to keep popping them in your mouth before you realize how full you are.

I used red bell pepper, carrot and chive here, but feel free to use other vegetables, all finely chopped.  Make sure you sauté vegetables, especially if they have a lot of their own liquid.  I've also used onion before, which doesn't help much on the visual attractiveness, but it sweetens the rice ball in a savory way - the only way that the onion can do.  When rice balls are as colorful as these are, you don't even need any coating.  But it's still nice to get a little sesame bites and the flavor of nori if you like both.  I do.

The most important step of making rice balls - or even rice rolls (김밥 gimbap or kimbap) - is to season rice when it's just cooked and still hot.  Hot rice will soak up seasoning - salt, vinegar, sesame oil.  It's hard to season cold rice because the flavors won't quite get absorbed into rice and all the seasoning liquid might leave the rice a bit wet.

This is also the recipe I used when I went to Camp Sunshine in early July and led a class for other camp counselors and volunteers.  Hopefully you'll enjoy this as much as we did at the camp.^^

 

 
 
 
 

RICE BALLS (주먹밥 ju meok bap)
Yield: 4 servings (about 32 1-inch rice balls)

INGREDIENTS:
4 cups Freshly cooked short-grain or medium-grain white rice (a.k.a. sushi rice)

Rice seasoning
1/4 cup Rice vinegar
1/4 cup Sesame seeds, toasted and crushed
2 tablespoons Toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon Salt
Pinch Black pepper

1 teaspoon Neutral-tasting cooking oil
1 Red bell pepper, cored and finely chopped
1 Skinny carrot, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons Chopped chives
Pinch Salt and pepper

For coating
1/4 cup Sesame seeds, toasted and crushed
5~6 sheets Nori (김 gim)

Optional sauce for spicy heat
1~2 tablespoons Gochujang (고추장 Korean red pepper paste)
2 tablespoons Toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons Rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Soy sauce
1 tablespoon Honey

DIRECTIONS:
1. While the rice is still hot, add sesame oil, rice vinegar, 1/4 cup of sesame seeds, salt and black pepper.  Set aside to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

2. Drizzle oil on a heated skillet.  Sauté finely chopped red bell pepper with a pinch of salt and pepper.  When liquid from the red bell pepper has evaporated, add carrot.  Stir to mix and sauté chopped red bell pepper and carrot together.  Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

3. In the meantime, set up a rice ball station.  Place sesame seeds on a plate.  Tear nori into small pieces and place them on a separate plate.  You can also do this by putting nori in a sealed ziploc bag and rub nori to small pieces and powder.  Prepare a small bowl of water to dip your fingers while making rice balls.

4. If using the optional sauce, mix all ingredients - gochujang, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce and honey - and set aside.

5. Mix sautéed red bell pepper and carrot and chopped chive in the seasoned rice.

6. With clean hands, take out about 2 tablespoons of rice.  Squeeze lightly in one hand so that the rice sticks together first.  Then shape it into a ball.  Repeat with the rest of the rice.  Dip your fingers in water when your hands get too sticky along the way.

7. Roll the rice balls on a bed of sesame seeds or nori.  For a spicy version, dip a rice ball in the gochujang sauce half-way, then roll it on sesame seeds or nori to cover the sauce.  

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KOREAN WORDS
여름    (yeo reum)    summer
소풍    (so poong)    picnic

Updates - Cooking with Shin & etc.

Hope you're enjoying your Fourth of July weekend!

I'm still packing to go to Camp Sunshine for my outreach trip with a group of Culinary Corps chefs.  I'll be making an overnight stop in Boston, catching up with a friend and having a hot pot dinner to celebrate the Fourth of July. ^^

Before I take off, I want to share a few things with you.  You might have seen a few video instructions in some of my blog posts lately, and now 'Cooking with Shin' has a page on the DramaFever site.  The art team at DramaFever made me look great as you can see above, with the awesome cuteness level I've never been able to achieve in my real life.  Now you can find all episodes from one page and leave comments/questions for the show in general or specific to each episode/dish.  Please check it out when you get bored from all the Fourth of July festivities and let me know what you think!  It's also still available on YouTube - you can find a collection of 'Cooking with Shin' from the DramaFever channel.

I also had a chance to translate and style all the recipes and menus for the Korean Temple Cuisine events in June.  It was a big learning experience for me, bringing me back to the simple and mindful cooking and eating practice.  My last duty was to help with Venerable Jeok Mun's cooking demo at the Fancy Food Show.  After that, I had a chance to look around and found some interesting stuff.  You can see more photos from the Fancy Food Show on my Facebook page.

While I left my blog go pretty quiet, I did cook a lot of things in small quantities for fall/winter cooking class menus.  But first, I plan to post my recipe on these cute rice balls when I come back.  This is what I picked for the Korean class I'll be leading for other volunteers at Camp Sunshine next week because they are easy, fun and delicious.  We also have some Korean banchan (side dishes) and snacks for tasting with a generous donation from H-Mart!  Oh, I also received a jar of Korean citron tea (yuzu tea) from Ottogi and a bottle of fancy soy sauce from Sempio at the Fancy Food Show, and they will be very useful next week.  Of course, my deepest appreciation to my friends who donated for this cause and made this program possible.  Thank you all!

I'm leaving in a couple of hours so I should finish packing now.
Have a wonderful Fourth of July weekend!

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KOREAN WORDS
여름    (yeo reum)    summer
휴가    (hyu ga)        vacation

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