Rice cake soup for Lunar New Year

19 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by Zoli in comfort food, gluten free, healthy, kids, Korean, peanut free, rice, rice noodles, soup, Vegetarian

Tags

dok guk, dokguk, gluten free, healthy, Korean, Korean soup, rice cake soup, vegetarian soup

This is a Korean Lunar New Year’s dish, which is today! Completely and totally by accident I have this recipe on the right day. I feel at one with the universe! Time to buy a lottery ticket. Probably not. But happy Korean Lunar New Year everyone.

This soup uses rice cake discs, not the tube shaped ones used for dokbokki, a spicy rice cake dish. You can find both kinds at a Korean market.

It seems like there is a lot of prep work to this soup but it is very simple and easy. It is usually made with an anchovy broth and cooked with meat in it so I have come up with this tasty vegetarian version. To bulk it up, throw in some mandu/wontons/dumplings at the end and simmer for a few minutes. Even better!

Ingredients
1 pound sliced rice cakes
7 cups vegetable broth (or water with 1 1/2 bouillon cubes)
1 large sheet of dried kelp (kombu)
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
3-6 green onions, sliced
porcini or portobello mushroom (optional)
2 eggs
1-2 tbsp soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 sheet of kim or nori (dried seaweed)
vegetable dumplings, mandu, wonton (optional)

1) Soak the rice cakes for 20-30 minutes
2) Prepare a rich vegetarian broth by boiling the dried kelp in the vegetable stock. Add in the minced garlic. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes (while rice cakes are soaking).
3) After 30 minutes, remove the kelp. Add soy sauce, sliced mushrooms, 1/2 the green onion and rice cakes. Simmer for about 10 minutes, or until rice cakes are soft and chewy. The soup will thicken slightly from the rice cakes.
4) Separate the egg yolks and egg whites into separate bowls. Whisk each bowl with a tiny pinch of salt.
5) Add in the remaining green onion, the sesame oil and the egg whites. (Add the vegetable dumplings if desired). Simmer another few minutes. The egg whites will thicken and curdle, similar to egg drop soup.
6) Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. The soup should be pretty much delicious.
7) For the egg yolk garnish, heat up a small, non-stick frying pan. Add a little oil with a paper towel (just a thin veneer of oil) and then pour in the egg yolk, swirling the pan around so that the egg yolk is a paper thin layer. Cook one side and flip to do the other. Then cut into thin strips. Here is a helpful video on making egg garnish. (I am lazy and do not pour the egg yolk through a sieve as this dude does).
8) Cut the nori or kim into thin strips too.
7) Serve with the egg and seaweed garnish.

Enjoy!

Squash, rosemary and parmesan lasagna

12 Friday Dec 2014

Posted by Zoli in cheese, italian, pasta, Sauces, Vegetarian

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

butternut squash, parmesan, parmigiano reggiano, rosemary, vegetarian lasagna

An oldie but goodie in our house. Ok, so my kids wouldn’t eat it, but that’s their problem, and not this lovely lasagna’s fault. I consider this a crowd pleaser—vegetarian and carnivore alike will adore. Flavors are complimentary. It is creamy, a little chewy at the corners from the nutty parmigiano and just a little bit sweet in a delectable way from the roasted butternut squash.

Ingredients
serves 4 hungry people
1 medium butternut squash, diced (about 5 cups of squash)
1 fresh sprig of rosemary
olive oil
fresh ground salt and pepper
3 cups milk
splash of cream
1-2 cloves garlic
about 2-3 tbs butter
about 3 tsp flour
block of parmigiano reggianno
(or mix of mature cheddar and mozzarella)
about 9 lasagna noodles (fresh is best)

1) Heat up the milk gently—do not boil—and add in the fresh rosemary sprig. Cover and turn off the heat. Allow to steep for 20-30 minutes to incorporate the rosemary flavor into the milk. Remove the sprig before using the milk.
2) Meanwhile, peel and dice the squash. Roast it in a tray with olive oil, salt and pepper for about 20 minutes until tender (not mushy).
3) Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed pot, crush the garlic clove and throw it in with the butter. Gently fry for a minute before whisking in the flour till it is the consistency of wet sand. Cook on low for a couple minutes to get the flour taste out and then add in the 3 cups of rosemary milk.
4) Whisk frequently as you heat up the milk so that the flour doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. It should thicken to a creamy bechamel. Season with plenty of salt and pepper and then add in the roasted squash. Set aside.
5) Grate plenty of parmesan or a mix of mature cheddar and mozzarella.
6) Using fresh lasagna noodles or the no-cook noodles, assemble the lasagna. Ladle a little sauce in the bottom of a large baking tray and lay down three pasta sheets side by side, not quite touching.
7) Ladle squash bechamel sauce over each noodle, then sprinkle with grated cheese. Repeat 2 more times so that you have a 3-layer lasagna. There should just be enough sauce for this. The top most layer will need a bit of extra cheese (a little mozzarella is good here) and a splash of cream.
8) Cover with tin foil and cook in the oven for about 20-25 min on 375F, then remove the tin foil and bake another 5-10 minutes till the top is golden brown.

Let rest for a few minutes before serving.