So one of the joys of long haul flights is that the change in air pressure can cause a toothache to rear its ugly head. So after a trip to the dentist I have been confined to eating soft foods this past week. Nothing beats a good bowl of soup so I stopped by my local mart and grabbed a couple of the green squash and a bag of sweet potatoes. I knew the soup could be knocked up in an hour but I was craving bread. I didn’t have the time or inclination to go to the bakery to pick one up and neither did I want to wait over 2 hours myself to let one rise. I had bought the Paul Hollywood book for the Fat Boyfriend for Christmas as he has recently taken up baking. I was flipping through and found this soda bread recipe which is super quick and easy because it has no rise time. Hurrah dinner was saved and an hour and a half later I was enjoying a delicious bowl of soup with a slice or three of homemade bread smothered in butter.

Ingredients

Soup

2 kabocha squash

4 small sweet potatoes

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock

1 tablespoon of curry powder

1 teaspoon of cumin

500ml of milk or coconut milk (optional)

Soda bread

500g/9oz  of plain white flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

420ml/15fl oz buttermilk (make by putting 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into regular milk and waiting 5 minutes)

1/2 a red onion

100g of cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon of mixed herbs

Extra flour for dusting

Directions

Soup

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Cut the squash into pieces and discard the seeds. Although you can roast them with a little oil and salt if you like and have them as a crunchy snack.

2. Cut the sweet potatoes in half and arrange on a tray with the squash. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle on a little salt. Bake in the oven for about 30 – 40 minutes until they are soft.

3. Meanwhile finely chop the onion and garlic and fry off in a little olive oil in a large saucepan. When the squash has cooked remove the flesh from the skin and add to the pan with your onions. If you like to eat the skin, sprinkle with a little spice or seasoning add a touch more oil and pop them back in the oven for another 10-20 minutes until they are crispy. I find them more addictive than crisps! Peel the sweet  potatoes or just pop them in the pan with their skins on. I left mine on because all the goodness is in the skin and because  I’m lazy.

4. Turn the heat on and add the curry powder and cumin and cook for a minute or two before adding the stock. Bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes to bring it together before blending. Once you have blended it, add the milk or coconut milk until you reach your desired consistency. Reheat and season to taste.

Bread

1. To make the bread Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt.

3. Grate in the onion, cheese and herbs if using, then mix again.

3.  Add the buttermilk and mix until a sticky dough forms.

4. Lightly flour a work surface and tip the dough onto it.

5. Gently roll and fold the dough a couple of times to bring the mixture together. Do not knead.

6. Shape the dough into a ball. Flatten the ball gently with your hand. Score the dough with a deep cross dividing it into quarters. Dust the bread with flour.

7. Place onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment and bake for 30 minutes at 200C/400F/Gas 6. The loaf should be golden-brown.

8. Leave to cool on a wire rack. This is best eaten on the day of baking. Thanks Paul!

Bonny’s

First stop was Bonny’s Pizzeria and self service bar. Here we tried the kimchi cult pizza. I have always given this one a miss in the past ,as I am not really a fan of kimchi. However I thought it would be churlish not to try it and it was actually quite tasty. I much prefer kimchi when it is hot, rather than cold, throw in some cheese and a pizza dough and it’s actually pretty damn manageable. Our drinks special here was the Russian beer, an awesome accompaniment to kimchi  Not bad at all.

Indigos

Or second stop of the day was Indigo’s. Here we got to try my absolute favourite sandwich, the basil pesto chicken. It was totally amazing and as yummy as always. Glad a few others got to try it too. We also tried the tomato soup. A lovely homemade one, which would just be ideal on a cold night.

Phillies

If we were to eat anything here, it has to be the Philly cheese steak. Although more bulgogi than steak ,it was still rather tasty. We also tried the vegetable platter with ranch dip that went down a storm. Even with the hard to please Jonah and Katy. Who said kids don’t like vegetables?

Ditori

Last stop on this week’s tour was Ditori. Here we tried Korean potato pancakes. They were wonderfully tasty, and  it was great for me to try something new. We also indulged in their fabulous makgeolli range. Co-leader Joyce recommended the champagne makgeoli, which really does have a resemblance to champagne. Locally made it’s for those that like the finer things in life but cant afford them. We also tried the black bean makgeolli too, which again I was surprised I liked too, the perfect end to the tour.

The Itaewon foodie crawls are a weekly event hosted by Chip’s Maps with a little help from yours truly. If you are interested in attending one of the future foodie crawls, please check out the facebook page for more details and information on how to sign up. Hope to see you at the next one!

This sandwich is the holy grail of grilled cheeses. It requires a lot more effort than a regular grilled cheese but boy is the pay off worth it. The spectacular taste of French onion soup all contained in sandwich form. It was so good that the second I finished mine I looked over to my boyfriend to see that he had half of his left. I almost ripped it right out of his hands it was so good. Now sadly this sandwich doesn’t come cheap as the Gruyère and proper bread can set you back a fair whack, about 20,000. It also takes a good 30 minutes to caramelize the onions, but every second spent by the stove will be worth it when you bite into this glorious creation.

Ingredients

4 slices of really nice bread

2 onions

120g of Gruyere cheese

1 glug of olive oil

1/2 a stick of butter

1 tablespoon of white sugar (optional)

Directions

Start by chopping your onions into thin slices. Heat your frying pan to medium then add a glug of olive oil and a a knob of the butter. When the butter has melted add the onions.They will take around 30 minutes to caramelize so be patient. Never leave your pan’s side even for a second. Stir them regularly to make sure they are getting an even coverage. They should be golden brown when they are done but not burned. While your onions are cooking, grate your Gruyère. I find that the Korean onions don’t brown as much as I would like, so if you want add a tablespoon of white sugar about 20 minutes in to help them out a little. When the onions are done remove them from the pan and place in a bowl. Butter one side of each piece of bread Then put two slices of the bread butter side down in your frying pan. Then top each slice with a quarter of the grated cheese.

Then add the caramelized onions.

Finally add the last of the cheese and place a slice of bread on top butter face up. Heat your pan to medium, and cook for a few minutes on one side before carefully flipping it over to cook the other side. The bread should be golden brown and the cheese should have melted. When they are ready, serve and devour. Voilà the best cheese sandwich you are ever likely to have.

Taipei was not the foodie trip I had imagined it to be, as we spent a large quantity of out time drinking. I did manage to pack in a few culinary delights for you to enjoy which I shall present to you now.

Most of the eating that we did went on at our Hotel. We decided to treat ourselves and stay at the W. It certainly did not disappoint. The food was all spectacular, especially the breakfast buffet. Highlights included the french toast, fried rice, Eggs Benedict, and Caesar salad served in a giant bowl made from Parmesan.

Lazing by the pool can really take it out of you so to keep up our strength we ordered some chicken quesadillas and french fries with truffle mayo’ and a truffle, rocket, and fontina cheese pizza.

Being the lazy trollops we are we also enjoyed various delights from the room service menu, including a Reuben sandwich, a club sandwich and some bircher muesli.

The star of the W show really was the cocktails, I was too drunk to remember all the names so i’ll just show you the pictures instead. They also came served with the best free bar snacks ever, test tubes filled with potato chips and wasabi peas. I dread to think how many of these I consumed. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t account to your daily calorie allowance if they are free though.

You possibly know how I adore the 7-11 . Although no Hong Kong, Taipei 7-11 still had a few favourites within its grasp, inclusing malteasers, mixed berry skittles and Kinder buenos. So not too bad a haul.

I had made plans to visit Din Tai fung whilst there but didn’t get around to it. We still managed to have plenty of soup dumplings though, as there was a handy restaurant in the department store next to the hotel. We tried the usual pork ones, a curry and leek, and a few vegetarian varieties. We came here twice so I am quite sure I managed to get my quota of dim sum.

Sadly our trip ended on a bad note when we managed to lose my bag filled with duty free goodies somewhere between the taxi and the house. Some lucky son of a gun will be feasting upon my Godiva goodies and Mango vodka as we speak. There’s $60 I’ll never see again. Though as they say worse things have happened at sea. All in all it was a great trip and a good time was had by all.

Nestled in a side street in Kyungnidan is El Grecos, a small Greek style restaurant. Serving up gyros and falafel’ it’s a cute place to hit up the next time you are craving all things Greek. The menu is much smaller that the Greek restaurants in Itaewon. I haven’t actually eaten at them so I am not sure if the food is better or not.

After perusing the menu we couldn’t decide between the gyro or the gyros platter (13,000). The platter was bigger so we went for that. However after seeing the gyros I think I would prefer to try one next time as they looked great. The meat was rather fatty, which wasn’t so great. Although, the chips were excellent, some of the best I have had in a long time.

My dining companion chose the falafel plate (12,000). The falafel was ok but not amazing,  we all agreed they needed a little bit more seasoning or oomph. The tzatziki was good though and so was the pita bread. The hummus was also fine but personally not the best I have ever had, though I am quite fussy when it comes to hummus.

For a greek restaurant I was surprised to see no lamb on the menu . The gyros come in pork or chicken but no lamb. However we looked at the specials board and they had a lamb and chickpea soup (5,000). It was served with their lovely pita bread and was very tasty. Such a cheap and filling meal.

We all agreed that the food was fine, but not all that special.  However it was cheap and is a nice option if you are looking for something a little different. I do have to mention that the day I came I had gotten some bad news, so for once in my life I wasn’t all that fussed about eating. However the cocktails are excellent and I felt much better after a hot toddy made with brandy and a mulled cider. I plan to drink all of my troubles away there from now on.

El Grecos is located at 273-11, Itaewon-dong,Yongsan-gu, Seoul. To get there take a train to Noksapyeong Station (line 6) exit 2 and walk straight down past the entrance leading to Haebangchon and go over the pedestrian bridge  above the road. You will see the Bakers Table as you exit the stairs on the other side. Walk down the alleyway to the right of Bakers Table until you reach El Grecos. You can call them on 070-8263-8678.

Shanghai soup dumplings or Xiao long bao are so amazingly good that I wish that I could eat them every day. Funnily enough I first tried them when I was in Shanghai, however I didn’t get around to eating them in Korea until just recently. They are served at Crystal Jade and Din Tai Fung, both located in Myeong-Dong if you are hankering after them as much as I am. After eating even more of these bad boys I decided it was about time I tried to make my own. A quick search on Google gave me the basic formula of how to make them. You get the soup into the dumpling by making a meat jelly, which you can cut into chunks when it has cooled. Then when the dumpling is cooked, the jelly melts back into the delicious soup. Pretty clever, eh? I also decided to try using mandu wrappers instead of making the dough. Making and cutting tonnes and tonnes of little wrappers would have driven me insane so I though I would try it with the mandu wrappers instead. They worked pretty well actually, although they didn’t taste the same as the real thing.

Ingredients

200g of minced pork

I pack of mandu wrappers (만두피) (the large round ones)

500g of chicken wings

750g of belly pork

1 packet of gelatin crystals

3 cloves of garlic

1/2 an onion

2 litres of water

Directions

Place your onion, garlic, chicken wings and belly pork into a large saucepan and top up with the water and place a lid on top. A lot of recipes online recommend using Chinese ham too, but I didn’t have any and the broth still tasted great.  Boil them for about 2 hours until the water  has reduced to about 1/2 a liter and you’re left with a great stock. Strain the stock and mix in the gelatin. Then pour the stock in to a flat shallow container and leave in the fridge for a few hours to set. Once the jelly has set you can cut it into cubes. Meanwhile season the minced pork and roll it into small balls. Defrost your mandu wrappers then take one and place a piece of jelly on top.

Then place a small ball of the pork mince on top of the jelly.

You now need to gather the dumpling together, making as many pleats as you can. This is a true skill and mine are certainly not all that artistic. You can watch this video on you tube to see how the professionals do it. As long as they seal then that’s the main thing. You can practice working on their appearance the more you make them.

Once the dumplings have been formed put them in a bamboo steamer (I bought mine at Bangsan bakers mart). Place the dumplings on a piece of parchment paper, then  cook them above a pot of simmering water for about 10 minutes.

You can tell when they are done when the skin turns translucent.

Carefully remove the dumplings from the steamer and serve with Chinese rice vinegar and thinly sliced pieces of ginger. To eat the dumplings place the dumpling in a soup spoon and make a small bite on the side. Suck out the soup then eat the dumpling. Voilà homemade Shanghai Soup dumplings.

So a few weeks ago my lovely friend Susan asked me out to dinner. Never one to turn down a free meal, I quickly accepted her kind offer. The restaurant of choice was Aligato, a Sushi restaurant in the alley just behind the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon.

We arrived and started to peruse the menu thinking that it was looking rather on the expensive side. Luckily for us she had a voucher that she had to use as it expired the next day. We were recommended the set (35,000) which was very expensive considering that it only came with 12 pieces. However after investigating further we found that all the sushi rolls came with 8 pieces and they were very reasonably priced.

Susan was shocked when I said I don’t actually like fish and had wondered why the hell I had come. However even for the non fish eater like myself there are plenty of options. I love shellfish so I always go for the prawn or vegetarian options. There is a conveyor belt at Aligato but we decided to sit at a table instead and just order off the menu. The dishes on the belt ranged from 2,500 – 4,000.

My companions ordered the Beautiful Roll, 12,000 – Which was Prawn tempura, salmon, tuna and avocado. Sadly I couldn’t try any of them but they certainly didn’t stay on the plate too long.

They also ordered the spicy salmon rolls 12,000. Again I couldn’t partake of these but they seemed to go down well.

I ordered myself the Tempura Roll, 8000. Which was stuffed with prawn and avocado. Always a winning combination, they were truly a tasty delight. The prawn tempura was perfectly entwined with the avocado and encased in the rice and seaweed. It was great, I used to eat this a lot when I lived in Australia so it was great to have it again.

We also ordered Chicken Karake roll, 8,000. Filled with chicken, avocados, radish sprout and topped with a spicy sauce these were really nice too.  A definite must try for any fishists out there, you can still do sushi even if you don’t like fish!

The restaurant bar had a cool atmosphere. It got much busier as the night wore on, so try to get there early if you need to be served quickly. I certainly enjoyed my evening at Aligato. The sushi was good and the complimentary miso and tea  kept on coming. They have a bar and lounge upstairs which I would be keen to try next time as I hear they do great cocktails. They are open until very late on weekends and would make a welcome change to my usual late night kebab.

Aligato is located at 112-3 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Take a train to Itaewon station (line 6) Come out of exit 2 and walk straight. Take your first left which passes by a clothing store, Thai restaurant and the Flying pan. As you reach the Alley behind the Hamilton Hotel take a right and keep walking straight for about 100 meters. Aligato is on your left just next to Bungalow. You can call them on 02-795-1533.

If you are an avid reader of my blog you may have heard me mention My French Heaven a few times. It is an amazing blog that you should all go and check out straight away.  When you visit said blog you should follow it then leave a comment telling him that it was me the fat girl who so kindly delivered you so you can help me win a holiday to stay in his glorious château in France. I was in the lead but pole position could be lost at any time so please, please, please, please, help me out and help me to win a very well deserved holiday.

Anyway back to today’s post, one of the fabulously French recipes Stephane featured was this amazing French onion soup. I had to tweak it ever so slightly to make it work here in Korea. I have of course displayed Stephane’s beautiful picture of the soup at the top. My less attractive picture sits at the bottom. But looks aren’t everything are they? It’s the taste that counts.

Ingredients

9 small onions

4 cloves of garlic

1 1/2 liters of water

1 chicken stock cube

A knob of butter

1 tablespoon of olive oil

Directions

Thinly slice your onions and garlic then fry them in a large knob of butter and a glug of olive oil. Do this on a medium to low heat. This will take around 30 minutes, never leave your pan’s side even for a second. Stir them regularly to make sure they are getting an even coverage. They should be a very brown, but not burnt, by the time they are are done. Once your onions have caramelised, put them into a saucepan along with a 1.5 litres of water and a chicken stock cube. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat so the soup is simmering and cook for 20 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and fresh parsley if you have some. Pour the soup into bowls and top with a slice of baguette. Top with grated cheese (Gruyère in an ideal world, in Korea this will probably entail cheddar, mozzarella, or a mixture of both). Cook under a grill until the cheese is has melted and is slightly browned. Carefully remove bow from under the grill and enjoy! Voilà une très facile soupe à l’oignon.

So this week I am trying to be semi healthy. I even exercised yesterday for the first time in a year. Sadly today I can barely move, so we shall see how long that lasts. You wouldn’t believe it from this blog, but I am generally quite a healthy eater and always eat my five portions of fruit and veg a day. However I always seems to get my five portions of fat and sugar too…. (which kind of balances out all the good work from the  healthy stuff). Anyhow this soup is one of my favourites to make in the winter time. It is a glorious green colour and packed full of vitamins while still being quite tasty. I managed to get two bunches of spinach for 1,500 on Sunday so it is also very cheap to make.

Ingredients

1 large onion

2 large bunches of spinach

4 green peppers

5 cloves of garlic

1 litre of chicken stock (you could also use vegetable)

A glug of olive oil

Directions

Finely chop the onions and garlic and fry off for a few minutes until softened. Chop the green peppers and add to the pan. Chop the spinach and add to the pan in batches as it may not all fit at once. Cook until all the spinach has wilted. Add the chicken stock and boil for a further 10-15 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and let the soup cool. Once the soup has cooled blend it up then reheat. Serve with healthy wholemeal bread. Voilà the green goddess!

The weather is cold, but nothing warms you up like a good bowl of homemade soup. Korea has plenty of soup options that are ready to buy. However despite its popularity throughout the globe, tomato soup has yet to make its debut on the supermarket shelves of Korea.  Sure you can buy a can of Campbells in the Foreign Food Mart but it’s not available in your local supermarket.  Back home a tin of soup and a few slices of bread really hits the spot. So if you’re hankering after a bowl I present to you my recipe. Which is as close as you can get to the cream of tomato soup from back home. With the added bonus that this homemade variety is even better. You can also source all your ingredients at your local home-plus.  I also make a fantastic roasted tomato and red pepper soup, however I usually  make that in spring when tomatoes are cheap, ripe and plentiful. This is the store cupboard standby of you dreams.

Ingredients

2 cans of hunts tomato paste (comes in small cans found at homeplus etc)

400ml chicken stock

600ml milk (I use half fat, but go full fat it you like it very creamy)

1 onion

4 cloves of garlic

200ml cream (optional)

A knob of butter

1 tablespoon of mixed herbs

2 tablespoons of garlic powder

Fresh basil leaves

Salt & Pepper

Directions

Finely chop the onions and garlic and fry off in a little oil and a knob of buuter. Add the tomato paste and chicken stock to the pan and bring to the boil. Once the soup is boiling, add the milk and cream. Stir in the herbs and salt and pepper then serve with delicious homemade bread.Voilà tasty tomato soup.