When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. There is nothing better on a hot day than a cool tangy glass of lemonade. But I refuse to buy the ever so popular blue lemonade that is sold on the streets of Korea. I don’t know why but it really annoys me for some reason, what’s wrong with yellow I ask you? However a life without lemonade is not worth living, so I figured it was about time I made my own, sans food coloring.

Ingredients

2 cups of sugar

2 cups of water

7 lemons juiced and zested

1 lemon cut up for decoration

A few sprigs of mint

Directions

1. Zest and juice 7 of the lemons into separate bowls.  In a saucepan put the sugar, water, and zest and bring to the boil on a low heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. As soon as it starts to boil you can turn off the heat.

2. Mix the lemon juice with the syrup and allow to cool. You can now strain the syrup if you want to remove the zest and store in a bottle in a fridge. It should keep for at least a week.

3. To make the lemonade, mix the syrup with water in equal ratios, although feel free to add more water if it’s too strong for you. Serve over ice and garnish with slices of lemon and sprigs of mint.

4. For a twist you can make this fruity strawberry and watermelon version, which you can add rum or vodka to after a hard day at work. Blend a handful of strawberries and a wedge of watermelon with a shot of lemonade syrup and a shot of sparkling water (or vodka). Then serve over ice and enjoy. Voilà, Fat Girl’s traditional lemonade.

Cheung Kee is a restaurant that The Fat Boyfriend and myself had been longing to try for quite sometime. But whenever we were in Itaewon we just weren’t in the mood for noodles. However the time finally came to try it out. Now I’m only mad that I didn’t go sooner.

As we walked in we saw the chefs were making noodles themselves at one of the tables, which I always consider to be a good sign. The hand made noodles are cooked in various different ways and can come in a soup broth or fried. We decided to go for variety and have a few different ones. They also have wontons!

I ordered the Wonton and Pork Dumplings with noodles in Soup (9,500). When it first arrived the broth smelt a bit fishy, but when I ate it, it didn’t taste that way at all. The noodles were really great and had a very authentic taste. The wontons and dumplings were plentiful. They were nice and very Chinese in their taste, but for me no dumpling will ever live up to a Shanghai soup dumpling! The wontons and soup here are very close to what you would get from a restaurant at home. It was good to have it again.

My friend Alex ordered the Braised Beef with  noodles in Soup (9,500). The broth in the beef soup was divine. So flavourful with plenty of chunks of the tender braised beef. I really enjoyed this one and I would probably order it again over mine, but I would have had some dumplings in it too.

The Fat boyfriend went for the Pork with hot & sweet sauce, dumplings with noodles (9,500). I especially enjoyed these noodles as they were fried. I am always torn between the soup and the fried noodles. So I think it’s always best to have both. If pushed I would say these were my favourite. The sauce was delicious, as were the noodles and strips of porks. the dumplings were the same as the ones I had.

We also couldn’t resist the fried wontons (5,500). Crispy pieces of fried goodness. The shrimps inside were small and could have held a little bit more filling. But the skins were perfectly crisp. I would certainly still order them again.

Cheung Kee is located at 128-4 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul to get there take a train to Itaewon station(line 6) and come out of exit 4. Turn back on yourself and take a right around the corner. Cheung Kee is just on your right underneath Gekko’s Terrace. You can call them on 02-322-3913 for more information.

Ever since I cracked the triple cooked chips I have been gunning to make this British classic. However I had quite a time of it trying to find some fish fillets. Finally, after weeks of searching, The Fat Boyfriend found some pollack at Costco. It was only 10,000 for 1kg of frozen fillets. However, when we opened them up the pieces were very small. I think they are meant to be used for sashimi or a Korean dish, but we made them work all the same. You get a much bigger batter to fish ratio, which I don’t find particularly upsetting but if you could find some chunkier fish it would be better.  I believe they have some tapia fillets which would probably work well. This batter recipe is also absolute perfection, making that lovely thick batter that has the white coating inside, while still being crispy on the outside. 

Ingredients

Fish

225g of flour

330ml of beer (I just used Cass)

3 teaspoons of baking powder

Salt and pepper

100g of seasoned flour

400g of Fish fillets

Tartar Sauce

200ml of mayonnaise

1-2 little packets of pizza pickles

1 tablespoon of capers

1/2 lemon (juiced)

Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Prepare the triple cooked chips. They will take the longest. Click here for full instructions.

2. Weigh out the 225g of flour and put it in a bowl and pop it in the freezer. Heat the oil to 180-190 degrees. How hot you need it depends on the size of your fish, the thicker the fish the lower the temperature or the fish wont cook.

3. Once your oil is almost heated, take the flour out of the freezer. Whisk in the salt and baking powder, then the beer.

4. Coat the fish in the seasoned flour, shaking off an excess then dip them into the batter and pop them in the oil. They should take about 2 minutes on one side and a minute or so on the other. The batter should be a nice golden brown. If you have a thicker piece of fish, be careful to make sure it’s cooked through. When it’s done remove and allow to drain on kitchen paper whilst you cook the remaining pieces.

5. To make the accompanying tartar sauce, finely chop the pickles and capers then mix into the mayonnaise. Stir in the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Voilà fish and chips.

So this week I have been a very happy camper indeed. Not just because I still have a whole shelf in my fridge dedicated to the chocolate I brought back from home, but also because I have 400g of goats cheese. I really can’t begin to tell you how much I love goats cheese. It is certainly up in my top 3. Obviously in Korea goats cheese is expensive and hard to find, right? Wrong. Goats cheese is easy to find is you contact the amazingly awesome people at Waeg Farm. A fabulous farm full of goats that make the milk that makes the cheese. Hurrah. No more trips to Hong Kong just to get that goaty goodness. Check out their website for details on how to order yours.

Since I had this premium ingredient I felt compelled to really do it some justice and make something proper out of it, however tempting it was just to eat it smeared on the Fat Boyfriend’s sourdough and have it topped with onion jam. No, no, no an ingredient of this caliber deserved it’s own recipe. I recently made the most magnificent tart whilst I was at home. If you’re a fan of my facebook page I’m sure you would have seen it. It was pure culinary perfection but really it was just shop bought puff pastry with a a few of my favourite ingredients thrown on top. A treat for the taste buds but ever so easy, any novice could knock one up in 10 minutes. But for this I decided I would go the whole hog and make my own pastry. Yes, I could have just walked to Itaewon and bought some pre-made, and yes I did think about it, but that’s not really fair to you now readers is it. So even though I’m crap at making pastry I gave it my best shot and it actually turned out great. Paul Hollywood you are a legend!

Ingredients

Short crust pastry (Paul Hollywood’s recipe)

250g of flour

125g of cubed butter (chilled)

50ml cold water

2 egg yolks

A pinch of salt

Filling 

300ml of cream

3 eggs

100g of cheddar cheese

75g of goats cheese

3 rashers of bacon

1 onion

1 bunch of spinach

Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Start by making the pastry. Put the flour and salt in a bowl and mix. Then add the butter cubes in and rub together using your finger tips until it forms a bread crumb like texture.

2. Add the egg yolks and start to mix with your hands, before slowly adding the water and mix until it comes together to form a ball. Do not overwork the pastry, as soon as it’s a ball, press it down to form a disk with your fingers, wrap it in cling-film, and put it in the fridge for 2-3 hours to chill.

3. When the pastry has had it’s rest, roll it out on a floured surface. Make sure you roll it out so it’s large enough to fit in your tin. Put the pastry in your tin, press it down so it’s nice and snug and leave an overhang over the edges.

4. Bake in the oven at 180 for about 15 minutes until the pastry has cooked and its golden brown. Trim the edges and leave to cool.

5. Cut the bacon into chunks and fry in a pan. Thinly slice the onion and add to a corner of the pan. When the onion and bacon is almost done, make a space and add the spinach leaves and cook until wilted.

6. To assemble the quiche, first add the cheddar cheese, then the bacon and onions, then the spinach and top with the goats cheese. Whisk the eggs and cream together then season with the salt, pepper and paprika, you could also add a pinch of mixed herbs. Pour the the filling into the quiche almost to the top. Pop in the oven and bake at 170 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until the custard has set in the middle. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the pan and serving. Can be enjoyed hot or cold.

You can also switch the ingredients up a bit, I added tomatoes to my second quiche.

Rainy season seems to be over and the heat is dying down. So it’s time to get out those barbecues again, and spend the day lounging in the sun rather than in a darkened room with the air conditioning on. I knocked these up with a little help from my BFF Matt. He came up with the idea, and I made the recipe. I do love a good Bloody Mary and I can never get enough burgers, so these are the perfect combination.

Makes 15 burger

Ingredients

1kg of beef mince

1 onion

2 sticks of celery

150g of bread crumbs

1 egg

8 drops of Tabasco

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon of horseradish

½ teaspoon of celery salt

½ a teaspoon of black pepper

A glug of olive oil

Bloody Mary Ketchup

1 cup of tomato ketchup

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

8 drops of Tabasco

1 teaspoon of horseradish

½ a  celery stalk (very finely chopped)

½ teaspoon of celery salt

½ a teaspoon of black pepper

The juice of half a lemon

Directions

To make the Bloody Mary ketchup, put all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix. Feel free to adjust the measurements to suit your own tastes.

To make the burgers, finely chop the onion and celery and fry off on a medium heat  in the oil for five minutes or so until they have softened. Allow to cool then add to a bowl and mix together with the bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Add the minced beef, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and horseradish, and mix everything together, making sure the bread crumbs, onions, and sauces etc are well distributed throughout the meat.  Beat the egg, and add to the mince, this will help them to keep their shape better. Grab a handful and form into to a patty shape. If you are not using them right away, wrap them in cling film and store in the fridge or freezer. When you are ready to use them, throw them on the barbecue or cook in a frying pan until they are done to your liking. Personally I like mine still slightly pink in the middle. Serve in a bun, with salad, a slice of cheese and top with bloody Mary ketchup. Voilà the  Bloody Mary Burger.

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.

In France they call it pain perdu, in America French Toast, and in England the far less glamorous eggy bread. A few days ago I  discovered that I am absolutly amazing at making French toast.  I have to confess that I haven’t really eaten my fair share of french toast over the years but it is now one of my favourite foods. In England we’re not really a fan of sweet things for breakfast. We like a savoury start to the day. A bowl of crunchy nut corn flakes is as crazy as we get. However when my bestest friend in the world came to visit  me last week, she introduced me to this fabulous phenomenon. We had some pretty amazing French Toast at the W in Taipei and some hideously awful dry crap at a well-known restaurant in Itaewon which will remain nameless. After tasting that dried up piece of cardboard I knew I could do better. So I set upon making my first batch, and suffice it to say, I nailed it. It almost makes me want to set up a restaurant just to sell my own Fat Girl French Toast to the masses. You too can make amazing French Toast, all from the comfort of your own home with little to no cooking skills needed. It’s so easy a monkey could make it, so wow your friends the next time you have them over for brunch. The key is using good bread. I picked up this loaf of morning toast from Paris Baguette (3,000). It’s half way between a croissant and bread and is perfect for French Toast goodness.

Ingredients

1 loaf of bread (Morning toast bread)

300ml of cream

300ml of full fat milk

3 eggs

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

4 tablespoons of sugar

Half a stick of butter (for frying)

Directions

Cut your loaf into 3/4 of an inch thick slices. I made mine using a fresh loaf but if you let it go stale for a day I am told it’s even better. In a large bowl beat together the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla until mixed together. Heat your pan to a low/medium temperature and throw in a knob of butter. Dip a slice of bread into the custard mixture, let it soak up those juices, then turn it over to do the other side and throw it into the frying pan. Depending on the size of your frying pan you will be able to cook 2-3 slices at a time. After a few minutes it should be golden brown on the bottom side. Flip it over and do the other side for a few more minutes. Making sure that the custard has set in the middle, remove from the pan and cook the remaining slices. Serve with berries, maple syrup and, if your feeling extra naughty, throw on some whipped cream or ice cream. At this point a bit more cream really isn’t going to hurt. Voilà the fattest French Toast in town!

A few weeks ago it was my birthday. Like any respectable 28 year old girl I yearned for a Hello Kitty birthday cake, lets face it, who doesn’t yearn for one?  However, considering my boyfriends lack of baking skills the chances of me getting one without making it myself were slim, very slim (not unlike myself). I set him the task of trying to find a cake shop that might make it for me but where in the world would I find such a thing in Seoul? It seems that cake heaven was not actually too far away. The lovely Dali of iDalicious Homemade Bakery creates and makes her own wonderful cakes and will custom make anything you want.

My boyfriend sent a few ideas of what he wanted, then she sent him back several pictures to choose from. You can then pick the size of your cake. We went for the medium which cost around 30,000. The design was amazing and the cake was delicious. I was thrilled when it was presented to me and it made all my birthday wishes come true. So if you have someone specials birthday coming up and you want something different, then iDalicous bakery is the place to go. It beats a crappy cake from Paris Baguette any day of the week. You can contact Dali through her facebook page and check out all the pictures of her delightful cakey creations.

I have been making and devouring this cake for ages now but have only just got around to posting it. It was another pinterest find. The second I saw it I knew it had to be mine. I love chocolate éclairs, can’t get enough of them, so I was intrigued by a cake that shared the same name but that was made with graham crackers. How could it possibly be like a delicious, delicious éclair? Turns out I was wrong and the texture was very similar. I have changed the recipe a bit as the original called for vanilla pudding and cool whip. I used good old custard and regular cream and it went down a storm. It is possibly one of my new favourite desserts. The only bad bit is that you have to refrigerate it for at least 12-24 hours before you can eat it.

Ingredients

custard

6 egg yolks

1 egg

75g white sugar

25g of flour

4 teaspoons of corn flour / cornstarch (I got mine at the bakery mart)

500ml of milk

1 tablespoon of Vanilla syrup

A few drops of vanilla extract (you can use the extract, the syrup or a vanilla pod)

Graham crackers (Itaewon foreign food mart)

150g of milk or dark chocolate (I just used Dove or Ghana)

100ml of milk

200ml of cream

Directions

To make the custard whisk your egg yolks and egg with the sugar until it has become a very pale yellow. Whisk in the flour and corn flour until it has combined then set aside. Heat the milk and vanilla on a low heat until it has just started to boil then take it off the heat and whisk for 30 seconds. Slowly mix the hot milk into the yolk and flour mixture until it has combined then pour it into a saucepan. Put the custard on a very low heat and whisk it continuously until it begins to thicken. This will happen all at once so make sure you keep an eye on it or it will curdle. Once its thickened into custard you can remove from the heat. Sprinkle icing sugar on the top to stop a skin forming as you wait for it to cool.

Whip the cream until it is stiff then fold into the cooled custard.

To assemble the dessert put a layer of Graham crackers onto the bottom of your dish. Top with a third of the custard and cream mixture then put on another layer of the Graham crackers. Top with the second third of custard then another layer of Graham crackers. Top with the final third of custard and the fourth layer of Graham crackers.

In a clean metal or glass bowl melt the chocolate and milk over a bowl of simmering water. Once the chocolate has melted you should have a nice glossy chocolate sauce. Pour this over the top layer of Graham crackers and spread it over to make sure it’s even. Put the dessert in the fridge for at least 12-24 hours. Overnight is best, as this makes the Graham crackers soft and éclair-pastry like. Voilà, éclair cake, the easy way to make a chocolate éclair.

I can’t believe I’m actually posting this as it’s such an easy thing to make, however I totally forgot how awesome it can be. I used to make it loads when I was a teenager but haven’t had it in years. I always see the boxes  in the foreign food mart but never end up buying one. I usually have a bag of macaroni in my cupboard that I rarely use for anything other than pasta salad. Macaroni is so easy to find in Korea. They sell it in every supermarket so I though it was about time I made use of it.

It was actually my lovely friends over at Pumpkinface that turned me back on to wanting it. They recently put up some pictures of their vegan Mac and Cheese that looked so good I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Then it dawned on me I could just make some when I got home. So quick and easy but incredibly comforting this was just what I needed on a day I felt a bit down in the dumps. Comfort food at its finest! I also threw in a bit of spinach, just because I love it and it to give it a meager amount of nutrition.

Ingredients

250g of macaroni (no need to precook)

1 litre of milk

1/2 stick of butter

50g of flour

A teaspoon of mustard

200g of  cheddar cheese (grated)

100g of breadcrumbs (빵가루)

200g of spinach

1/2 a chicken stock cube (dissolved in a small amount of hot water)

A pinch of Salt and pepper

Directions

Melt the butter in a sauce pan, turn down the heat then stir in the flour to make a paste. Add the milk to the saucepan and keep whisking. After a while the mixture should thicken and become a lovely white sauce. If it’s too thick add a little more milk. Add half of the cheese and the mustard and stir until the cheese has melted. Add the dissolved stock cube to the mixture and keep on stirring.   Roughly chop the spinach and add to the cheese sauce. You can remove it from the heat at this point. The sauce will still be warm enough to wilt the spinach. Put your uncooked macaroni in your oven proof dish, pour in the sauce and and mix it all together. Top with the other half of the grated cheese and then the breadcrumbs. Bake in the oven at 170 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes until golden and brown and the macaroni has cooked though. Voilà an easy dinner that will always put a smile on your face.