Two days ago I received the Korean cookbook which I ordered from Amazon.de. It's in German and written by three Korean women who have settled in Germany for a few decades. The book is beautifully illustrated by Tina Kraus and I was very thrilled by the cookbook since I am a real sucker for good, colourful illustrations - if you are more into photos, then this book is not really for you, but if you love something delicious and artistic at the same time, I highly recommend this cookbook :).

The cover says what the cookbook is about:
The Korea-Cookbook - Pictures, Stories, Recipes

The cookbook costs €19,95 which I think is quite decent for 160 pages of delicious recipes and heartwarming illustrations.

A sample of two pages from the cookbook.

Usually I love to look at Maangchi's site, Aeri's Kitchen or Beyond Kimchee when I want to cook something Korean, but I still love 'old-fashioned' (cook)books which I can hold in my hands - in fact I do have a collection of them...:)!

Originally the recipe in the book is called Dwaejigogitwigim - Fried sweet and sour pork, but after doing some research, I couldn't find any recipes with the Korean name Dwaejigogitwigim, instead most (Korean/ and non Korean) people refer to Korean-style sweet and sour pork as Tangsuyuk - that's why I decided to stay with this name, or are there any Koreans out there who would like to enlighten me with the difference between Dwaejigogitwigim and Tangsuyuk? I'd be very grateful :)!

Korean-Style Sweet and Sour Pork - serves 4

Adapted from Das Korea-Kochbuch

• 600 grams pork, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cups tapioca starch
• Oil to deep fry the pork

Marinade sauce

• 3 cm ginger, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoon sesame oil
• Black pepper to taste

Sweet and Sour Sauce

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 3 slices of canned pineapple, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 carrot, sliced thinly
• 1 sweet pepper, cut into cubes
• 1 spring onion, sliced
  
• 1 tablespoon tapioca starch, mixed with 3 tablespoons water
• 400 ml water
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Marinade the pork pieces with the marinade-sauce for 2 hours (I only waited for 20 minutes).
• Cover each pork piece with tapioca starch before deep frying.
• Sweet and Sour sauce: Heat oil in wok and stir fry the onion and carrot until slightly brown.
• Add water and the rest of the sauce ingredients (except the sweet pepper and spring onion). Cook for 1 minute.
  
• Add the sweet pepper cubes and spring onion slices just before you turn off the heat. Mix well.
• Serve the sauce on top of the deep-fried pork pieces.

This recipe is very delicious, the only thing that could have been better is the pork bites, they could have been crispier. I think the batter from the Korean Fried Chicken would be perfect for the pork.

What a change, no bento today...;)!! Well, I have sort of missed posting 'normal' foods in my blog. The last time I posted a non-bento post here was about 2 months ago.

Steak with salad and fries are one of my husband's comfort foods, I think I made him really happy by making this luxurious portion for his lunch - thanks to Charles from Five Euro Food, who gave me the idea to make this meal for my husband :). I also used his recipe for the mushroom sauce, but I didn't blend the sauce since I don't have a hand blender - my mushroom sauce also looks much browner than Charles's because I used the pan juices from the pork chop and beef steak to sauté the onion and mushrooms, but it still tasted wonderful...! Thanks, Charles :)!

Mushrooms and Onion Steak Sauce

Source: Five Euro Food

• 150ml heavy cream
• 2 large mushrooms
• 1 onion
• Juice from 1 lemon (about 4tbsps)
• 3-4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 25g butter - * I used pan juices from the pork chop and steak
  
• Salt and pepper to taste

If you're wondering where the mushroom sauce is, it's the brown thing inside the little metal cup. Next to the mushroom sauce, there is also Tzaziki sauce.

I made another bento today...:). I guess, it's really good that I bought a bento box, because it really has motivated me to make some bento. But I don't think that I would have the time to make bento every day, because it's quite time consuming, especially because I absolutely still have no bento accessories. I used a cookie cutter to make the cucumber flowers and a metal decorating tip to make the holes for the piggies' snouts. The eyes I had to cut out myself because I don't have any nori punchers... I really need to do some bento-accessories shopping to make my life easier...;).

The box at the back is filled with 'Crunchy pork balls' with Japanese-style dipping sauce, tamagoyaki with green onions, cucumber flowers, cherry tomatoes and orange slices. The front box is filled with 3 piggy-onigiri, lettuce, orange slices, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, banana, tamagoyaki, kiwi and sliced carrots.

Crunchy Pork Balls

Ingredients (adaped from Maangchi's Yangnyeom Tongdak)

• 1 kilogram pork fillet, cut into cubes
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 2 tbs oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup potato starch powder (I used tapioca flour)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup glutinous flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg
• Oil for frying the pork
• Chopped green onions for garnish

Japanese Style Dipping Sauce
I was wondering what kind of sauce would go together well with the crunchy pork balls, and I thought about Tempura dipping sauce. I added some chopped green onions, minced ginger and toasted sesame seed to add some extra crunch and aroma.

• 200 ml dashi stock (I used dashi instant powder to make this)
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon mirin
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon chopped green onions
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

You can also use Tonkatsu sauce or mayonnaise. They would go perfectly well together with the crunchy pork balls...!

A few days ago I bought 4 small packets of Shirataki noodles. I had never tried them in my life but I had a pretty a good idea of what it might taste, since it's made from konjac plant/konyakku and I love konyakku jelly. At the moment I am trying to reduce my carbohydrate and sugar intakes (which is very hard because I love my STARCHY rice and noodles...!!), I thought I should really give these so-called 'miracle noodles' - no calories, no sodium, and almost 0 carbs, a try.

I have to say I was not disappointed. The noodles taste like cellophane noodles but thicker, quite similar to Korean Daang Myun noodles which are usually used to make Japchae, but slightly chewier. I thought chewy noodles would taste better spicy, that's why I used Chinese hot bean sauce and Szechuan crispy chilli in oil (look at the picture below) to stir-fry the noodles.

Szechuan Crispy Chilli in Oil.
When you go to your local Asian grocery store, watch out for glass jars with a picture of this man - he makes very very tasty sauces...! Just absolutely gorgeous!

Shirataki noodles have a rather unpleasant smell, rather fishy I would say, that's why before you stir-fry the noodles, make sure you rinse and pat them dry.

Ingredients - serves 2

• 400 g Shirataki noodles
• 300 g ground pork
• 2 tbs oil
  
• 1 tbs minced garlic
• 1 tbs fish sauce
  
• 1 tbs hot bean sauce
• 1 tbs Szechuan crispy chilli in oil
• 1 tbs oyster sauce
• 1/ 2 cup chopped green onions
• 1 cup bean sprouts
  
• 1/2 tsp white pepper

Instructions

• Heat 2 tbs oil in a wok.
• Add the minced garlic and ground pork. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes until the ground pork is slightly brown.
  
• Add fish sauce, hot bean sauce, crispy chili and oyster sauce. Simmer for 3 minutes.
• Quickly add the noodles and stir until well combined.
  
• Toss in the bean sprouts, green onions and add a dash of pepper. Stir fry for another 1 minute.
• Serve!
  

For people who have to take care of their carb-intake, make sure that you check the labels and ingredients for ready-made sauces. They usually have sugar and thus some hidden carbs - so don't use too much!

I am a fan of schnitzel, be it chicken, pork or veal. In Germany, you can get schnitzel in almost any restaurant you go to. The most popular ones here are Wiener Schnitzel (the good ol' Viennese Schnitzel traditionally made from veal and served with lemon slice), Zigeuner Schnitzel (which means gypsy-stlye schnitzel, usually served with slightly spicy sauce with paprika and onions) and Jäger Schnitzel (or 'Hunter schnitzel' dished up with creamy mushroom sauce).

Last week I made pork schnitzel with salad. Making schnitzel is actually quite easy, because you don't need many ingredients: just meat cutlets, eggs, flour and bread crumbs and you're ready to fry the schnitzel.

Ingredients (serves 2 - 4)

• 4 pork cutlets, pounded to 0.5 cm thickness
  
• 2 eggs, beaten
  
• 1 tbs oyster sauce (optional)
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• Oil for frying

Instructions

1. Set the eggs, flour and bread crumbs in three different shallow bowls.
2. Add oyster sauce, salt and pepper to the egg bowl and mix well.
3. One at a time, dredge the cutlet in the flour, then dip in the egg mixture and coat with the bread crumbs.
   
4. Repeat step 3 one more time (optional).
5. Deep-fry the cutlets until golden brown.
6. Serve with salad.

By the way, adding oyster sauce doesn't make the schnitzel taste 'asian' in any way. The sauce adds good flavour to the schnitzel which is usually rather bland. And if you want a healthier version, you can pan-fry the schnitzel instead of deep-frying it.

Another piggy-themed food :)! I was inspired to make piggy-shaped pork steamed buns after I saw Kristy's cute mantou buns a few days ago. The recipe itself is adapted from Maangchi's savoury Jjinppang mandu, because I am not into mantou buns with sweet filling. I thought these sweeties would look rather festive to celebrate my 100th post - after 1 year and 1 month of blogging, post no.100 is not very impressive I know, but hey, juggling between work and blogging is not that easy, so I feel a little bit proud ;).

Ingredients (adapted from Maangchi's site)

Dough

• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp yeast
• 2 tbs oil
• 3 cups flour

Filling

• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped carrot
• 1 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 2 cups mushrooms
• 400 g pork
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tbs oyster sauce
  
• 1 tbs minced garlic
• 1 tbs sesame oil

What to do

• Check the video from Maangchi below.
  

The little sweeties before they're steamed. I used red food-colouring for the ears and snouts.

How brutal...! Sorry little piggies, but I cannot resist taking a closer look at what goodies you have inside ;)

Three little piggies ready to be gobbled down by the bad, hungry she-wolf...;).

Dan Dan Mian is a classic Szechuan dish with spicy, slightly sweet and sour meat sauce and (usually) wheat-based noodles. The sauce is very aromatic because of the use of ground Szechuan peppercorns, toasted sesame seeds and flavoursome Szechuan hot bean-sauce.

I was inspired to make this dish after I browsed my Chinese Rice and Noodles cookbook from Wei-Chuan cooking school, which is full of beautiful and tasty pictures and easy-to-follow recipes. But I of course added more ingredients here and there, it's just not me if I didn't do so ;).

I ground some toasted sesame seeds to give the noodles some nutty flavour. Some people even use peanut butter. I didn't have chili oil available, so I made my own chili paste by mixing some sesame oil with paprika powder.

Dan Dan Mian Serves 2
400 g Udon	460
200 g ground pork	411
70 g mushrooms (optional)	15
1 tbs sesame oil	105?
1 clove garlic, minced	4
1 tbs ground ginger	19
2 tbs Szechuan hot bean-sauce (or to taste)	50?
1 tsp paprika powder (mixed with 2 tbs sesame oil)	230?
2 tbs soy sauce	20
2 tbs Shao Xing wine	25 ?
1 tbs Chinkiang vinegar	?
½ tbs sugar	16
1 tsp Szechuan peppercorns (toasted & ground)	?
1 tsp sesame seeds (toasted & ground)	51
50 g cucumber, julienned	8
½ cup green onions, julienned	14
TOTAL	1428 calories
	714 calories per serving

What to do:

• Heat 1 tbs oil in a wok over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add garlic, ginger, ground Szechuan peppercorns and ground sesame seeds. Sauté until fragrant.
  
• Add the pork and mushrooms. Cook and stir until the pork is slightly brown.
• Add Shao Xing wine, paprika+sesame oil mixture, Szechuan hot bean sauce, Chinkiang vinegar, soy sauce and sugar. Simmer for 3 minutes. set aside.
  
• Place the (cooked) udon noodles in a bowl and pour some of the meat sauce onto them.
• Garnish with sliced cucumbers, green onions and chopped chili peppers.
  

Mix everything together! Add chili oil to your noodles if you want, or even toasted peanuts. The Dan Dan Mian tasted fabulous! Give it a try!

By the way, if you've read my previous post, you know that I was a contestant for Battle Sandwich hosted by DoggyBloggy. Unfortunately I didn't win, I guess this time the God of Luck simply didn't shine upon me ;)! However, I would like to thank all my dear readers who have supported me with their kind comments! If you want, you can check out all the creative creations from the other contestants here.

Another German dish that I like is Schweinebraten or German roast pork. I don't eat this dish very often, and to be true I had also never made Schweinebraten myself till today. It turned out it's not very hard at all to make.

I looked up the recipe from Die echte deutsche Küche (The real German Cooking) cooking book given by my mother-in-law, but I added a few more ingredients to my liking.

Ingredients

• 600 gr pork shoulder
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 tsp paprika powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tbs chicken stock powder
  
• Salt and pepper
  
• 1.5 cup white wine (or beer)
  
• 1 tbs plum mousse (optional)

What to do

• Rub the pork all over with paprika powder, chicken stock powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and plum mousse.
• Place the onion slices at the bottom of the roasting pan.
  
• Add 1.5 cup white wine.
• Place the pork on top of the onion slices.
• Cover pan with foil and roast the pork for 1.5 hours.
• The gravy: Remove the roasted pork after 1 hour. Strain the pan juices from the roasting pan. Add stock, pepper, sugar and white wine to taste. I used Saucenbinder to thicken the gravy - Saucenbinder is like flour, so if you don't have it, just mix a bit of flour with water then pour it in the gravy.
  

Slice the roast pork and serve with anything that you like, e.g. potato dumplings, green beans, Sauerkraut, etc. You can also eat Schweinebraten slices with bread or rolls for breakfast. Very yummy!

Mapo Tofu is a popular dish from Szechuan, China. Szechuan is a province well known for its spicy and fragrant dishes, and mapo tofu certainly reflects these two celebrated attributes.

This dish normally calls for silken tofu, but as my husband doesn't really like silken tofu - he thinks it's too slippery to eat, I used a block of firm tofu instead. It still tasted great! I used duck fat collected from my previous duck roasting session to stir fry the garlic and ginger - this gave an extra aromatic kick. If if you don't have duck fat, pork fat or normal cooking oil is fine.

Ingredients

• 200 gr tofu
• 200 gr ground pork/beef
• 2 tbs duck fat or cooking oil
• 2 tbs chilli oil
• 1 tbs chilli powder (or more if you like it extra fiery)
  
• 1 tbs minced garlic
• 1 tbs minced ginger
• 2 tbs chilli-bean paste
• 2 tbs cooking wine
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tbs fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
  
• 1 tsp Szechuan peppercorn powder
• 1 tbs corn flour (mixed with 1 tbs water)
• chopped green onions

What to do

• Heat 2 tbs of duck fat. Add the minced garlic, ginger and ground pork. Stir fry until fragrant. Add cooking wine, soy sauce and fish sauce.
  
• Then add tofu, chilli oil, chilli bean paste, chilli powder and sugar.
• When it boils, add in the corn flour mixture to thicken to sauce.
• Garnish with chopped green onions and Szechuan peppercorn powder.

You cannot really see the sauce, because it all goes down to the bottom of the pot ;-).

Update - Spaghetti with Mapo Tofu

My husband suggested to use the mapo tofu from yesterday as a topping for spaghetti. I thought it could be a change from the oh-so-normal spaghetti bolognese, so I decided to try his idea... It was fantastic - I never thought that such an unusual combination could taste so good! After I boiled the spaghetti, I oiled it slightly with duck fat and then added some chopped spring onions before I topped the noodles with the mapo tofu.

Today's is the 3rd of October, a public holiday in here, since it's the German Reunification Day. I doubt that this day means a lot to most Germans nowadays, however this day is a quite special day for me because the 3rd of October was the day when I first got to know my husband. It's been ages ago....! We started as friends and a few years later we started going out. The fact that now we're husband and wife is actually quite weird and funny in a way. Well, however, just to celebrate this day, which also coincides with the German reunification day, I decided to have something German - a quite typical German breakfast : Brötchen (rolls) with an assortment of Schinken (hams) and Wurst ( sausages). There are of course many types of hams and sausages in Germany and I would love to show them all, unfortunately we're only a household of two so it's quite impossible and absurd to buy too many sorts of sausages and hams - they would have gone bad before we've had the chance to eat them.

I used to think it weird and boring, just eating plain rolls with sausages or hams. But I think it's really a matter of getting used to it. After some time I grew to love this kind of breakfast - although I do like variation. If it's just a roll with one type of ham or sausage, then I would still find it not that very appetising.

Left: rote Wurst (red sausage), Frühstuckschinken (breakfast smoked ham) and Gyros Schinkenbraten (cooked ham, Gyros flavour).
Right: Slices of cooked egg, rote Wurst and Leberwurst

One of my favourite toppings for my rolls is called Leberwurst - it's a liver paté mixed with different types of herbs. You can see it pictured on the right handside, next to the salami-looking sausage.

That's it for now... For lunch I intend to make "four-flavour dumplings". Well, let's hope that it's going to be a success, so that I can also blog about it ;-)!

Making katsudon is very similar to making chicken/pork katsu. The only difference is you have to add the egg+sweet sauce toppings on top of the deep fried pork cutlet, and the rice is directly served under the pork and egg combo.

Ingredients (for 1 serving)

• Chicken/pork katsu

Sauce

• 50 ml water
• 1/2 tsp dashi
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tbs mirin
• 1 tsp sugar
  
• 1/2 onion, sliced
  
• 1 egg
  
• Spring onions and chived for garnish
  

Add the deep fried pork cutlet on top of a bowl of hot piping rice.

Add the egg+sweet sauce combo on top of the pork cutlet.

Katsudon is ready to be served. Garnish with slices of spring onions and chives.