July | 2013 | A Fat Girl's Food Guide to Eating in Korea

30
Jul
2013

Bali

categories: Shopping, Uncategorized

Today I am back at work after spending the most amazing week ever in Bali. I lay by the pool, got massages, drank my weight in cocktails and ate on average 5 or 6 meals a day. It was pure bliss and couldn’t have been any better. The icing on the cake was that I got engaged!!! Fat girl has finally found her fat boy and will be getting married. Sorry lads,I am officially off the market. I do hope there aren’t too many broken hearts out there. Due to the sheer amount of food I consumed on this holiday I really couldn’t let you know everything we had but here are a few of the highlights and what you can expect to bring back.

Chocolate

On Bali island itself, chocolate is quite scarce, although there are a few treats to be found, In all convenience stores they have Malaysian Cadburys. I use to be so particular over my Cadburys telling anyone who would listen that it’s just not the same as the English one, but this was rather good. Has it improved or have I just been in Asia too long? Be sure to stock up on a few bars. Also you can find Kinder Bueno and Kinder Joys everywhere. However It’s at the airport upon departing that things get good, Malteasers, Celebrations, Mars planets and Dime bars are all here! I managed to control myself this year and spent only a mere $36 USD on duty free chocolate this time, half my usual amount.

Crisps

Although you might be disappointed with the lack of chocolate on Bali, the variety of crisps more than makes up for it. They have kettle chips in a variety of flavours and even English Tyrells!!! Also Scottish Mackies and America’s Boulders. I munched my way through about 10 large bags of gourmet crisps this week, I just kept forgetting to take pictures of them. Also worth mentioning are a local brand of salt and vinegar crisps. Not strong in flavour but they had a really great texture. They tasted just like the little crispy bits found at the bottom of a potion of chips with salt and vinegar. They come highly recommended by me.

Supermarket sweep

One of the highlights of my holiday is always visiting a local supermarket to see what can be found at much lower prices. I stocked up lots of Indonesian ingredients like sweet soy sauce, rendang, satay paste, nasi goreng spice mix etc. I also bought vanilla pods and a big bag of saffron for a a mere 700 won. Lastly I got a bag of rigatoni, egg noodles, and a tin of British Heinz baked beans!

Toiletries

Yes I know you can’t eat these but I stocked up on everything as it was crazy cheap. We all know how expensive it can be to buy deodorant and brand name shampoos in Korea so I filled my basket.

Restaurants

We had one particularly fancy meal out at Jemme in Seminyak, which serves gourmet English food. How was I to resist this? They also have an all night 2 for 1 cocktail special which sealed the deal. Niall had a tuna tartar for starter whilst I had a Portobello stuffed mushroom. Both were great.

For the mains Niall had a crusted rack of lamb which was to die for. I had a roast chicken with a trio of gravies and cauliflower cheese with assorted veg. This was was for two people but I couldn’t resist and had one to myself, with a little help from Niall.

Onto the dessert platter, we once again had the special for two. Included was rice pudding, lemon tart, chocolate brownie, vanilla ice cream, citrus panacotta and coffee meringue. Niall was rather full after eating half his own dinner and some of mine so had to bow out on dessert, so I ended up eating most of this by myself. Fat girl likes a challenge though and never shrinks away from a task. The meal was spectacular and well priced at around $100 for the two of us including all our drinks.

Another favourite restaurant of ours was Kafe in Ubud. This organic paradise was fantastic. Everything was healthy, and they had plenty of vegetarian, gluten free, and raw dishes on the menu. We went here a few times over the week and tried lots of different things. It’s the kind of place I would love to own one day. Everything is locally sourced or made in house and was truly scrumptious. Star dishes were a feta chicken sandwich on focaccia, cashew chicken stir fry, and a mezze platter.

Cocktails galore are available on Bali. Everywhere you look there are 2 for 1 happy hours on all manner of fabulously flavoured mojitos. I drank them by the bucket load. I also managed to find my favourite cocktail in the world, the Rapaska! At Ku De Ta, the most gorgeous place on Seminyak beach, they serve up premium cocktails whilst you laze on large day beds overlooking the sea whilst watching the sunset. This is also where we got engaged. We washed down all manner of drinks to celebrate including a $50 fish bowl of sangria.

We also indulged in pizza, tacos, samosas, satays, dip platters and various quick bites whilst enjoying our many cocktails. Here are a few of our favourites. Everything on Bali was exceptionally good and I don’t think we had a bad meal the whole time we were there. Competition is so fierce it keeps up the quality. So I would certainly recommend it as a holiday hotspot for fellow foodies.

And just in case you were worried about my complete lack of nutrients this week, here are some of the lovely breakfasts that we had at our hotels.

27
Jul
2013

Huevos Rancheros

categories: Recipes

Every time I seem to watch TV, the characters always seem to be eating Huevos Rancheros. By the time I got to the third time I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I decided to whip myself up a batch. We like to vary our brunches, especially if we aren’t going out to a restaurant. It’s a nice change from the usual weekend brunch or even as a quick and easy dinner. Perfect for the summer time.

Ingredients

2 eggs

2 tortillas (I used the 6 inch ones)

1/2 a can of black beans

3 tablespoons of salsa

1 tablespoon of sour cream

1/2 an avocado

A few sprigs of cilantro

1 teaspoon of Mexican seasoning

Directions

The first step is to blend the black beans with 1 teaspoon of Mexican seasoning. You can just do this with the back of a fork if you don’t have a blender. Once the paste is formed warm it up in the microwave or a saucepan. Warm the tortillas, while you fry the eggs. chop the avocado. Put the tortilla on a plate, top with the black bean paste. Then top with the fried egg then arrange the salsa, sour cream and avocado as you like and sprinkle with cilantro. Voilà Huevos Rancheros.

25
Jul
2013

Roasted Vegetable Quinoa

categories: Recipes, Vegan / Veggie Friendly

Last week I picked up some insanely cheap fresh beetroot at my local market, (2 for 1,000). It’s insatiably good for your liver and my liver needs all the help it can get. Roasted beetroot is amazingly good just by itself, but I had some veg in the fridge that needed using so I decided to whip up this quinoa for my week day lunches. Tasty and healthy is always a winner for me. Switch up the veg depending on what you’ve got but be sure to keep in that beetroot.

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa (iHerb)

2 cups of water

2 beetroots

1 aubergine

8 mushrooms

15 cherry tomatoes

1 tablespoon of mixed herbs

2 tablespoons of freshly chopped herbs (I used cilantro)

A glug or two of olive oil

Directions

Rinse the quinoa in water then put in your saucepan with 2 cups of hot water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down once it is boiling and cook until all the water has evaporated and the quinoa is clear. Turn off the heat and leave to cool.

Chop and peel the beetroot and cut into chunks, top with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil, and bake at 200 degrees for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile chop the cherry tomatoes in half, and the aubergine and mushrooms into bite sized pieces. After the beetroot had had 10 minutes alone, add the other vegetables to the pan along with the mixed herbs and a little extra olive oil, and cook for another 10 minutes. When the veg is nicely roasted stir into the quinoa, make sure to include all of those lovely juices. Chop the fresh herbs and sprinkle on top along with a squeeze of lemon. Voilà a lovely beetroot and quinoa salad. Serve hot or cold.

23
Jul
2013

Blueberry Pancakes

categories: Recipes

Fresh blueberries are currently in season here on the peninsula. Priced around 3,000 for a small tub they are a similar price to what I would pay back in the UK. I had quite a supply of them, thanks to my friend Jen and a 4th of July cocktail that never made it past the idea stage. I ate plenty on my lovely homemade muesli for breakfast but thought I should make the most of them and try something else. I decided to stick with the American theme and make blueberry pancakes for brunch. Quick and easy to make, these were quite the little Sunday treat when it was raining too hard to leave the house. The recipe is Jaime Oliver’s with the addition of some lemon zest and juice and they came out perfectly.

Ingredients

130g (1 cup) of all purpose flour (I use the one for noodles and dumplings)

130ml of whole milk

1 egg

2 tablespoons of melted butter

2 tablespoons of white sugar

1 teaspoon ofbaking powder

1/2 a teaspoon of salt

lemon zest and juice

100g of blueberries

Butter and oil for frying

Directions

In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. In a jug beat an egg into the milk then mix in the melted butter. Pour the egg milk mixture into the flour and beat for a minute until a thick batter has formed. Add the zest and juice of half a lemon. Then let it rest for a few minutes. Heat a teaspoon of oil and a knob of butter in the frying pan on medium, or a little lower if you have a gas range. Spoon out the pancake mixture. I used 3 tablespoons of batter for each pancake and could fit two in the pan at the same time.

Give the mixture 30 seconds – 1 minute to set a little them top with the blueberries.

When the mixture has bubbled and firmed, the pancake should be lovely and golden brown on the other side, flip them over and cook for another minute or two. They should be golden on both side and the middle should be completely cooked. Repeat until all your mixture has been used. I made 6 small ones and 1 large. Serve with fresh sliced banana and a drizzle of maple syrup. Voilà freshly made blueberry pancakes.

21
Jul
2013

EZ Shop

categories: Shopping

Hello from Bali everyone!!! I am currently lying on a sun lounger next to a gorgeous private pool and getting drunk on a deliciously fruit cocktail. Being the selfless, kind and wonderful girl that I am though, I worked extra hard last week to make sure that I had plenty of posts about yummy treats to keep you going whilst I am off enjoying myself. So here’s a little post about where to shop and find those elusive foreign items.

I often receive comments telling me that I use far too many hard to get ingredients. Living in Itaewon I know I have life easier than most. However it is possible to get these things even when you live out in the sticks. I didn’t always live in the heart of Seoul and had to learn to be resourceful. No matter how hungover I was, I would never leave Seoul without a trip to the foreign food mart, buying as many lovely things as I could carry. Obviously for those living down south, trips to Seoul may not be as regular, but there are still plenty of ways to get the things you want.

EZShop is a great online site that will deliver all manner of lovely products to your home within 2-3 days of you placing an order. They have 1000’s of awesome items, scoured from here there and everywhere. It’s more or less like an online version of the foreign food mart.

It would be impossible for me to write everything they sell but here’s a quick run down of the hard to find or coveted items.

Meat – lamb chops, rack of lamb, bacon, steaks, sausages, chorizo, salami, and prosciutto.

Vegetarian Specialties – Vegetarian ham, vegetarian steaks, vegan chocolate chips, soy burgers, and vegetarian sausage.

Frozen – French fries, waffles, tortillas, spring rolls, puff pastry, hash browns, ravioli, smoked salmon, and scallops.

Cheese and Dairy – Sour cream, ricotta, Parmesan, Gorgonzola, Cheddar, Cheshire, cream, fresh mozzarella, feta, halloumi, Gouda, muenster, Gruyere and Emmental.

Dried – Spices, condiments – Sriracha, maple syrup, food coloring, taco seasoning and couscous.

Sweets and crisps – Twizzlers, Haribo gummy bears, Reece’s pieces, salt and vinegar kettle chips, Pop tarts, spinach and artichoke chips, Frito’s and pretzels.

As well as tonnes of food, they also sell beauty products, home gadgets, and English books for those who have yet to buy a kindle. Yes this site is more expensive than if you sourced it yourself. I’d say a 10-20% mark up on everything, but realistically how much is your time worth. If you live far away from your nearest Costco, paying a bit extra to get it delivered is worth your while.

You can pay using a Korean or foreign bank card, or just do a transfer. If you spend over 250,000 and pay by bank transfer shipping is absolutely free. Split an order with a few mates after pay day and you’re laughing! Even if you do live reasonably close to Seoul, with all this rain, it’s well worth paying a few extra bucks to get it all delivered. Happy shopping everyone!

19
Jul
2013

Cilantro Hummus

categories: Recipes, Vegan / Veggie Friendly

After trying the wonderful flavoured hummus of Hummus in Korea, I thought it was about time I started doing a bit more experimenting myself. I have made a spinach one before and a red pepper I never posted but I wanted to get more creative. I had a large bunch of cilantro in the fridge that was coming to the end of its life. I threw it into the blender and it totally tantalized my taste buds. Cilantro is not as hard to find as you would think. The Korean name is 고수 (go-su). It usually comes in large packets, cling filmed on to a white tray. The cilantro has long roots on it, which is always what used to throw me off.

Ingredients

Hummus

400g of Chickpeas (soaked weight)

A large bunch of cilantro

2-4 tablespoons of olive oil

1-2 tablespoons of cumin

1-2 lemons

1-2 tablespoons of salt

1 teaspoon of pepper pepper

Tahini

100ml of olive oil

3-5 cloves garlic

100g of sesame seeds

Directions

The first thing you need to do is soak your chickpeas. This can take between 6 hours to overnight. The longer the better in my opinion. After they have been soaked, you need to cook them. This can take a while. I usually cook mine in the rice cooker because you don’t have to top up the water as often and they won’t burn. If not you can cook them in a pan of water, they will take between 2-3 hours. Or you can skip this step and buy a can. When your chick peas are done, drain them but make sure you keep hold of that water, you will need it for the hummus.

The next step is to blend the chips peas, you may need to do this in a couple of batches depending on the size of your blender. If they are too hard to blend, use a little of the hummus water to get things going. Some like their hummus chunky and rugged others like it smooth and silky, so blend until you get the consistency you’re happy with. If you want want an ultra silky hummus then peel off all of the skins of the chick peas before blending. It’s a pain in the ass so I never do it. Also my hummus is generally made in industrial style batches so it would probably take me a month to do it, plus I’m very lazy.

You can buy tahini in the foreign food mart in Itaewon and on iHerb and various other stores. It’s also very easy to make. Just place the garlic, sesame seeds, and olive oil in a blender and blend for a few minutes until the seeds have been pulverized.

Once the chick peas are blended place in a large bowl and stir in the tahini and lemon juice. Then the salt, pepper and cumin. Hummus is a very personal food, so start by adding a little of each at a time until you get a taste you’re happy with. A lot of factors can affect the taste of hummus so you rarely use the exact same amount of each ingredient every time. I always get the best results when the chick peas are warm.

To make the hummus cilantro flavoured, blend your cilantro with a little olive oil until you have a vibrant green oil then stir into the hummus. Use as much or as little as you need. Serve with your favourite dipping apparatus and enjoy. Voilà cilantro flavoured hummus.

17
Jul
2013

Ovenless Lasagne

categories: Recipes

People often tell me that too many of my recipes involve an oven, which a lot of your lovely people are without. This can be remedied by a quick shop on Gmarket on which you can pick one up from 30-60,000. But for those of you that need every penny you have for more exciting things like beer and soju, I offer you this recipe instead. You shouldn’t have to suffer because you have trouble managing your budget.

Lasagne is one of those truly comforting meals that we all seem to miss while living away. I don’t know whether it’s the pasta, the cheese, or the beef, It just hits the spot every time. I often make a big one in the oven, but I was intrigued by the idea of doing one in the frying pan. I was skeptical if it would work at first, but it turns out it does. I made a very simple version of my usual one without a bechamel sauce, but you could easily add one. I also broke my lasagne sheets into pieces but I think if you removed the meat sauce from the pan, you could layer it up the same as a traditional lasagne. I think next time I will try the full monty, but for now this is quick simple and easy lasagne cooked in a frying pan.

Ingredients

400g of minced beef

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1 tin of tomatoes or 6 large fresh ones

2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons of ketchup

1 tablespoon of mixed herbs

1 cup of tomato juice

5 sheets of lasagne (foreign food mart/ iHerb)

200g of grated Cheese (i used a mix of cheddar and mozzarella

Directions

Finely chop the onions and garlic and fry off in a little oil over a medium heat for a few minutes until translucent. Add the beef to the pan and fry until its browned. Then add the Worcestershire sauce and the herbs and mix. Roughly chop the peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes and put into the pan too. Cook for a further 5 minutes until the tomatoes start to break down, then season with salt and pepper. Add the ketchup and cup of tomato juice then cook until it looks more like bolognaise. If you have a glass of red wine handy add that in too. The sauce needs to have quite a bit of liquid, as the pasta will soak it all up as it cook. Break the lasagne sheets into pieces and mix in with the sauce, finishing with a final layer on the top. Reduce the heat and leave to cook for about 10 minutes. You may need to add more water or tomato juice if the pan is getting a little dry. After 10 minutes check the pasta, it should be a few minutes away from being done. If it’s still hard keep cooking. Once the pasta is almost done, top with cheese and cook for five more minutes until the cheese has melted. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and turn off the heat. You need to give it about 10 minutes to set a little. Whip up a quick side salad, have a nice glass of wine, or possibly a cold shower to cool you down from all that heat in the kitchen. Cut a slice, serve, and enjoy. There you have it frying pan lasagne. No need to suffer without your favourite dish, just because you live an ovenless life.

15
Jul
2013

Once Upon a Milkshake

categories: Restaurant Reviews

Located at the spot where the now departed Poutine Factory was situated, is the newly renovated Once Upon A Milkshake. We waited weeks for them to open so last weekend, I thought it was about high time I go and taste one, as I really don’t drink enough of my calories. With a bounty of fab flavours I was overwhelmed on which one to choose. You can also mix two for an extra charge and choose your milkshake’s thickness.

Feeling in a fruity mood I decided to opt for a strawberry. Just one taste though and the disappointment spread across my face. It was just so milky and bland. Not a hint of strawberry or any sweetness could be found. For a flavour named Real Strawberry is was a bit of a joke. It just tasted like the insipid vanilla ice-cream that was used to make it. I like vanilla but it was just so lackluster.

I decided before writing my review I should at least try one more. Maybe the strawberry was not as I would like it, but one of the sweeter flavours may hit the spot. So I tried the cookies and cream. The cookies and cream milkshake was so bad I didn’t even finish it. Coming from a serial gorger like myself that is bad, it’s a rare occasion when I won’t finish something. It was every worse than the strawberry. A thick sludgy cream with a few cookie crumbs in. The only nice thing I can say about these is that they are a good consistency.

There are three sizes available at Once Upon A Milkshake; mini 80z (4,000); regular 12 oz (6,000); and large 16oz (7,000). The mini is tiny, and the regular is very small too. I buy a lot of smoothies and frappucinos but I have to say these were expensive for their size. I’d be willing to bite the bullet on that if they were tasty though, but these just fell flat on their face. Quite ironically their slogan is premium ice-cream at non premium prices. The ice-cream is neither premium or good value. Save your tastebuds and your money and visit Baskin Robbins instead.

As you may have surmised from this review, I will not be returning to Once Upon A Milkshake for their overpriced and underwhelming milkshakes. I wish Poutine Factory would come back, their food was pricey too, but at least it tasted good. You can get a better milkshake at Mcdonalds for a lot less.

If you would like to still see for yourself, Once Upon A Milkshake is located at 242 Noksapyeong-daero, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. To get there come out of Noksapyeong station (line 6) exit 2 walk straight until you reach the overhead bridge. Walk over the bridge and take the stairs on the right. Go straight and Once Upon A Milkshake is on the left. You can call them on (070) 7435-3513 or check out their facebook page for more info.

12
Jul
2013

Taco Salad

categories: Recipes

Taco salad is crazy delicous! Perhaps not so healthy, but definitely delicous. I made this for our 4th of July barbecue. It’s not the kind of salad I would eat everyday lest I become confined to my house, but it’s certainly nice for a treat. It went down a storm at the BBQ, so I thought I would share the recipe with you. This is the full fat, calorie ridden version, but you could make it much healthier by using less chips and cutting out the cheese and sour cream

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts

5 drops of Tabasco (or as much as you need)

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon of Mexican seasoning

1/2 a red pepper

1/2 a yellow pepper

1/2 an onion

1/2 an avocado

1/2 a can of kidney beans(use black beans if you can)

15 cherry tomatoes

100g of grated cheese

1 large handful of leetuce

1/2 a bag of tortilla chips

A bunch of Cilantro (고수)

Dressing

200ml of sour cream (about 1 cup)

1-2 tablespoons of lazy lime or lemon juice

2 tablespoons of finely chopped cilantro

A pinch of salt

A pinch of pepper

A pinch of cumin

Directions

This salad is pretty easy to put together, it’s just about chopping everything. To make the chicken, marinate in the Tabasco, Mexican seasoning and Worcestershire sauce for about 30 minutes. Then cook in the oven or fry in a pan until the chicken is completely cooked then leave to cool, before cutting into slices.

Wash and shred your lettuce. Finely chop the onion and cilantro. Cut the red and yellow peppers into pieces. Slice the avocado. Rinse your beans if using canned, and crush the tortilla chips.

To make the dressing, finely chop the cilantro and combine with the sour cream, lime juice and spices.

Once everything is prepared put all the ingredients in a large bowl, toss together and top with the dressing. If you are anything like me you will end up making a double batch of this, just because it’s so good. In fact I’m having it again for dinner tonight. Feliz Viernes!

10
Jul
2013

Broccoli Cheese Bread

categories: Recipes

After another afternoon browsing Pinterest I came across this recipe for a broccoli cheese bread. I instantly wanted it, and I am glad I did, because it tasted even better than I imagined. I made several changes to make it more suitable to what I could find easily here in Korea but the basic principle was still the same. After discovering how easy this is to make, I have thought of various other varieties I will be able to try in the near future.

Ingredients

250g of pizza dough(recipe here)

1 head of broccoli

100g of cream cheese

200g of grated cheese (I used a mix of mozzarella and cheddar)

Directions

Boil your broccoli for about 5-8 minutes so it’s softer, but still has a little crunch. Then leave to drain before chopping up into very small pieces. Roll out the pizza dough into a a large rectangle. Mine was roughly 35cm by 20cm. Then top with cream cheese or ricotta. Sprinkle on the grated cheese, then top with the broccoli.

Roll the bread up like a big sausage then cut into 7 pieces. Place the pieces into a round buttered tin.

Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for about 20-30 minutes until the dough has cooked and the cheese has melted and is golden brown. If the top is catching, then cover with foil after the first 15 minutes. Pull off each piece and serve. Voilà, broccoli cheese bread.

July 2013 archive