Feeding Umi » Korean

Lunch Post 4 – WooriJip

umi — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 16:00:41 +0000

Woorijip
12 W 32nd St
New York, NY 10001

In the beginning, the ONLY savior around this place was K-Town. Although the prices aren’t sky high, the lines are long and there are LOTS of people. In times like this, a Korean Buffet take out place is great. This place has a reputation for their foods to be like home cooked meals. THey have hot buffets, noodle bar in the back, and prepackaged hot and cold foods. You can have some soju/sake/beer (not that I do for lunch) or any variety of drinks. The price is decent, $6.50 a pound for the buffet. You can get a decent meal here for under $10.

My coworker likes to get the hot foods, such as bulgogi beef stir fries and sweet sour chickens, etc… However, my favorite thing about this place is that they have such a large vegetable options (not to be confused with vegetarian – unfortunately I don’t think most Asian things are vegetarian friendly). I get their cooked baby bok choys, kimchees, spicy bean sprouts, as well as items like, vegetable and seafood pancakes (yum), spicy mabo tofu, and fried tofu. In the picture on the left, I got some edamame, some mackerel, pancake, kimchee, vegetable rolls dipped in sauce, and vegetarian maki roll. I also sometimes pick up their spicy soup. I haven’t had a chance to try their noodle bar in the back, but they have items like udon, kimchee stew, etc…

I like to tell myself this is healthy, but I usually go a little overboard in these types of places. Definitely one of my “go-to” lunch places here!

The Perfect Autumn Remedy

umi — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 22:25:28 +0000

In New York, autumn is fully starting to blossom with it’s cloudy skies and windy weather. Everyone out in the street is breaking out their coats, scarves, and boots, and we’re all waiting for the color of the leaves to turn brown. It’s beginning and all I’ve been craving all week is soup soup and more soup. The best thing about working near Korea-Town is the food choices there.

Kunjip
9 West 32nd Street
New York, 10001

This place does solid Korean food. They have such a big assortment, like a lot of Korean places, like Bibimbop, Chigae, Japchae, Mandoo, Guk Mandoo Duk, etc… I love coming here for the soups, though. Lately, Hoyeon’s been ordering this spicy soup filled with udon, rice cakes, vegetables, meat, intestines, and tripe. It is savory, spicy, and delicious. Everything a meal should be when it starts to get colder.

The Banchan is plentiful and varied. If you’re in the middle of eating and they have a new small plate, they will bring it. As a result, this place is extremely filling and very satisfying. In the winter, they have this puffed up savory warm egg that I’m looking forward to having again. Otherwise, their potatoes are delicious, as is the root vegetables they bring out.

Otherwise, everything I have had from here has been solid, including their spicy Japchae, Oxtail Soup, Duk Bok Gi, and Bibimbops, although I have never tried their barbeque. If you come during off work hours, they have Hite, which is always my favorite, as well as OB beers. I just came here yesterday, but I’m craving it again tonight. Sigh. Too bad there aren’t any Korean places in my part of Brooklyn.

Umi Nom

umi — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:56:30 +0000

What is that you see? Yes, that restaurant’s name is Umi Nom. As in, Umi Nom (nom nom nom nom mmmm munch…). Genevieve tipped me off to the place by emailing me the NY Times $25 and under article featuring none other than my namesake. Of course, we had to try it. So off we went on the mythical (and often none-existent) “G” train. You know we mean business if we brave the G train. It’s the short little train that even the times when it comes, you end up running towards the front, because you forget that it isn’t a “full” train.

Umi Nom
433 Dekalb Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205

For most of you, this means that you need to get on the “G” train (most probably from Metropolitan/Lorimer) and get off at Classon Avenue. For us, this meant taking the L, going to prospect park, hanging out at Gen’s, then heading back out to Atlantic Ave, getting out of the subway, and going to the G train. (Otherwise, we would have go back into Manhattan to go back into Brooklyn, which is the craziest annoying aspect of traveling in Brooklyn in NYC. All trains head towards Manhattan.)

Ridiculous. I mean, you know I had to preface this entry with the “G” train rants. However, everyone take heart! THIS PLACE IS WORTH IT! I present to you, a delicious thai fusion place that is BYOB (we got a six-pack of hoegardens)

We started with a complimentary amuse bouche of fried cream crab dumplings. It was warm, light, and crispy, and gave us hope for rest of the meal. I should write about the last time I tried a NY Times $25 and under, where I was severely offended and disappointed.

We were rewarded for our trek, since this place was amazing. I liked everything we got, although some dishes more than others. We started with a cured beef dish, which resembled beef jerky. It was tough and smokey, but when you chewed it exuded flavor. Yes, I would recommend it. Next up, we shared a grilled sardine, that was done really lovely! One of my favorites from the night. It was topped with julienned daikon in a papaya salad-esque Thai/Vietnamese dressing. Surprisingly, this restaurant didn’t glaze their food with too many flavors, they let the ingredients stand for themselves. The fish was grilled with salt and subtle flavors with a side of pickled salad.

The real surprise was the rice I ordered. The boys went for a traditional “sticky rice.” I wanted garlic rice, since anything with garlic in it is a WIN for me. AND IT WAS AMAZING. They must have roasted the garlic, creamed it, and mixed it with the cooked rice. It was delicious and INFUSED with garlic. THIS wasn’t a subtle flavored and I LOVED it! For 2-3 dollars, the portion was SO generous. It was amazing. Get it. Order the garlic rice, NOT the sticky rice. (Which was executed fine. You know, fluffy and comforting… but rather normal and plain. I eat sticky rice at home regularly, so it’s not a treat for me. Oftentimes I prefer unsticky rice… coconut rice… jasmine rice, which is exotic for me, and pilafs.)

We also ordered prawns, which was large and cooked excellently. The plate came with 3 and there was 4 of us. I feel like dishes like that are objectionable and I would like to see the restaurant go the extra mile and tell us that this is the case, or in our case where it wouldnt make sense to order an extra plate… throw an extra shrimp in. The texture was great and the head is always flavorful. However, it doesn’t beat the prawns from Pok Pok, which is flavorful (and perfect), and these babies were cooked well but rather bland. They were cooked in a hearty broth, but I think prawns do well with something a little stronger.

Next, we got chinese sausage, which presentation wise left more to be desired. However, it worked for the dish and surprisingly this was spicy, sweet, and delicious. This was Chris and Ryan’s favorite dish. The dip offered in this dish was great with the prawns, too.

We were dying to try their fried chicken, which came topped with jalapenos, curiously. Ryan has a high standard for wings and/or chicken, but this was a different animal all together from other chicken I have tried. The chicken was DRY. Or rather, it was a dry fried chicken, the breading being something similar to what my mother uses, which is not oily, but gives you a nice crunch. Inside, the chicken was incredibly juicy. But, for fried chicken, which is wet with glaze, the dryness was different. It also had a good amount of heat and although it wasn’t my favorite thing I had that night, it was damn good. I can’t even say that “it doesn’t bear Pok Pok’s wings,” because it was just different. It’s not trying to be a glazed wing like every other Asian fusion. The execution is really well done that I wonder how they did it. Dry fried chicken itself isn’t quite my thing, but this was delicious. Anticipating us not wanting to share too much, we got two separate plates for four of us, which we polished off.

Genevieve and I ordered this molten chocolate cake. Decadent and amazing with thick cream and warmed cherries on the side. You know, there is no need to go on about it. Just go. Definitely get the sausage, garlic rice, fish, and everything else that follows should taste delicious. GET THE CHOCOLATE CHERRY CAKE.

At the end of the day, ALL this (we got like 2 side orders of sticky rice) cost around $80 and filled us up. (This doesn’t include alcohol. This place is a BTOB and we picked up a six pack of Hoegaardens to drink. Always a plus in my book.) There were 4 of us, so that’s around $20 a person. Not bad, huh? TRULY $25 a person. Good call NY TIMES!

At the end, we were being silly and I paid with my credit card, wondering if they would notice that my name is “Umi.” I don’t think they did before Ryan couldn’t hold it in any longer and shouted, “HER NAME IS UMI!!!!!!!!!” He was very giddy. The server, who was a sweetheart all evening looked unimpressed. He just sort of nodded. Then we showed him my credit card and he went on his way … charging it. It was anticlimactic, I will admit. I think they should give me a Umi Nom t shirt. They are lucky that this blog isn’t called Umi Nom Nom nom nom! CAUSE THEN I WOULD TOTALLY HAVE STOLEN THEIR URL!

First foray with the Momofuku cookbook

umi — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:12:57 +0000

One of Ryan’s Christmas presents was a Momofuku cookbook (WSJ Review) given to him (or should I say us, ;) heh) by his sister Tracy. It’s an awesome punch of a book filled with the history of how his ramen shop went from being a little failing place to the entry way of the Momofuku empire. I still haven’t finished it, but it’s more than a cookbook. It’s a biographical accompaniment with tons of stories and tangents about David Chang, his restaurants, and growing up Korean American.

I don’t know if I am a David Chang fan, per se, but there is no question that he is a controversial figure in the cooking scene. I hate drawing lines, like, “I dislike the fact that he cusses so much,” or “I think he is over-rated, and I am going to avoid super-exposed ‘it’ celebrity chefs.” No, I wanted to go to Momofuku Ko, and I finally got to taste the $175 3 hour lunch course. I am still dying to try to Ssam Bar Pork Butt, the family style dish for $200, which is only available for reservations for 6 or more people. I tried Momofuku Noodle bar 3 years ago and, frankly, I disliked the ramen. The ramen is salty, not porky enough, and not greasy enough with the “umami” of “koku.” It’s all about the “Koku,” with me and ramen. Don’t try to do a pork ramen without doing it Tonkotsu style. Bitch, please… I’m from Kyushuu. Still, Hitachino beer and the pork belly buns at Noodle Bar almost made up for it all. I thought, he doesn’t know ramen, but it still didn’t keep me from wanting to try the Ko. To add insult to injury, THE GUY FUCKING HATES CUPCAKES! WHAT IS UP WITH THAT? How can you wage a war against something so deliciously perfect? We obviously CANNOT be BFFs. Sorry, David. So, I will admit, though, that on the other hand I really admired his fresh outlook. He also reminded me of what my father was trying to do, as a chef, with his cooking. He also kind of reminds me of the way my dad looked, and not because all Asian people look the same. ; ) (Ok, I might as well admit it right here, I might have a bit of a Daddy Complex with David Chang – except he is decades still younger than my dad.) Hrm. Ok, this is where I will stop being creepy. Sorry David!

That all being said… I loved this book. It’s a cookbook and autobiographical hybrid, that’s fresh, sincere, and filled with momofuku recipes. Seriously. I mean, put aside the fact of whether you can do it as well as the restaurant types… you like his ramen broth? (uh…) You can make it with this book. You want to make his signature frozen foie gras dish from Ko? YOU CAN WITH THIS BOOK! For reals:

You need a scale for this recipe, but I’m thinking that if you’re going to shell out the cash for a lobe of foie gras, that isn’t a problem–and you definitely don’t want to fuck it up.

But, seriously, I really have no idea why anyone would try to make a torchon of foie gras at home. I could write a million words about doing it–Thomas Keller’s got a longer recipe than we do in his French laundry cookbook–but cleaning foie gras is ineffable. Track down a torchon from a specialty foods shop, freeze it, and then go to town. But for those who won’t be deterred by common sense, here’s our recipe…

There are many accessible recipes. Then, there are things like the above, where I appreciate his frankness. It’s ballsy to put the recipe of all his signature dishes in this book. I suppose if you are known enough, it’s pretty hard to see a shaved frozen foie gras with riesling gelee and not think, David F-ing Chang. I mean, if another restaurant “steals,” the recipe, well… it’s obviously lame.

So, getting back to the recipe at hand, Ryan and I decided to make Spicy Pork Sausage & Rice Cakes, Roasted Rice Cakes (Dok Boki), and (poached) Cherry Tomato Salad w/ Soft Tofu & Shiso. Ryan was in charge of the first dish, while I concentrated on the second (vegetarian dish) and the last dish.

I will feature what I did for the Dok Boki and Cherry Tomato Salad.

“Korean Red Dragon Sauce”

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 ssamjang
2 tablespoons soysauce
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar (which I didn’t have, so I used cider vinegar)
1 teaspoon sesame oil

This makes way TOO much sauce for the dok boki alone. However, this can be kept and added to other things. After using the above recipe, I would honestly cut the sugar to 1/3 of a cup or less. This is just my preference.

Bring the water and sugar to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the ssamjang, making sure it is dissolved. Then add the rest of the ingredients to taste.

1/4 cup mirin
I can vegetable broth reduced to 1/4 cup (leave boiling)
1/2 cup Korean Dragon Sauce
1/4 cup slow roasted onions (until very tender)
2 tablespoon grapeseed oil
1 package rice sticks
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/2 cup sliced scallions

Combine mirin and vegetable broth in saucepan large enough to accomodate the rice cakes. On high heat, wait 2-3 minutes until thickened. Add the red dragon sauce and turn the heat down to medium, and reduce the sauce to a glossy consistency, 6 to 7 minutes. Stir in the slow roasted onions.

“In a cast-iron skillet,” heat pan under medium high heat until hot. Add the oil to the pan, and right before it smokes, add the rice cakes. Once they sizzle, you can drop the heat down to a medium. Sear the rice cakes on each side for a few minutes until lightly golden.

Bring the sauce back to a boil and mix the rice cakes in. Evenly coat and serve with sesame seeds and scallions on top.

Cherry Tomato Salad

1-2 packages of cherry tomatos OR a bag of mixed cherry tomatos (I believe the more colorful the better – it would be beautiful)
1/4 sherry vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
olive oil (the recipe calls for 1/2 cup grapeseed oil)
salt and freshly ground pepper
silken tofu
shiso leaves (I couldn’t find it in Portland, so I used Taiwanese Basil instead… it was really interesting)

So, after Sarah’s party, I was all about the cooked tomatoes. When I found this recipe, I was excited about poaching tomatoes! Seperate around 15-20% of the tomatoes for use later. The rest, draw a small “X” at the end of the tomato. This is going to make peeling the tomato after poaching, easy. Just lightly break the skin of the tomato with the “X” with a paring knife. Boil some water with salt, and poach the tomatoes in there for 20-30 seconds. Drain the tomatoes and run some cold water over them, and peel. Cut the poached and raw cherry tomatoes in half.

I diced the tofu, after slightly draining and patting dry. The recipe itself calls to mold the tofu… uh eh. The idea of this dish is the serve the tomatoes with (with two types of texture and flavors) in a soy vinegarette over tofu, where the tofu takes on the precise qualities of a mozzarella. I was skeptical of the tofu mozzarella transubstantiation, and was looking to get mozzarella for this recipe instead. In the end, I went with the tofu and was surprised at the creamy texture it showed. I am usually accustomed to the silky slippery nature of tofu.

Mix the rest of the ingredients to taste. I think I added a bit more vinegar and sesame oil in the end, but do it to your liking. Drizzle some olive oil on top and pour tomatoes on top of the tofu generously with a matching generous glaze of the vinegarette. The variation of the cooked and uncooked tomatoes is great.

It was a little labor intensive, but the results were well worth it. Sprinkle some shiso on top, and you’re done. This accompanies hot dishes well… which characterizes Ryan’s dish perfectly. It asked for nearly 2 cups of dried red chile peppers, among other spicy ingredients. I think he toned it down a notch, but it still burned hot and strong. LOOK AT HOW MANY CHILE PEPPERS I GOT IN MY PLATE! I really liked the heartiness of the ground pork, but Ryan seemed to think that pork belly would go nicer.

Also, on a more general note, he thinks the cookbook isn’t descriptive enough to follow. I didn’t find this to be the case, yet. Still, this book is awfully chatty with tons of tangents. I kind of like it. I think he needs strict instructions, and instead the methods seem like an oral dictation, and not scientifically noted.

Baden Baden, Take 2

umi — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:11:43 +0000

We went back to Baden Baden. When we find a good chicken place, we can’t stay away. This time, though, we got the LARGE Baden Baden roast chicken with a pitcher of Blue Moon beer. We have to say that the chicken was freakin’ huge. We got another large meal out of it, later. The fries were amazing, although the best part was the roasted garlic that accompanied the chicken. There were cloves of soft creamy flash fried garlic. It was the best. The chicken itself had the best crispy skin, although the white meat was a little dry. However, it was a good time with a small dip of hot sauce.

We couldn’t possibly eat it all there, so we took it home. We couldn’t even eat half of the thing. Seriously. It’s a pretty intense experience.

Baden Baden

umi — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:01:39 +0000

Baden Baden
28 W 32nd St
(between 5th Ave & Broadway)

New York, NY 10001

So, Ryan and I were walking around 34th street. We both a FAIL night of night being able to score what we wanted from Herald Square. For me, the jewelry craft store was closed. : ( We were hungry and planning on going to K-Town’s Kunjip, our usual haunt when Ryan claimed he wanted chicken strips. Not wings, per se, but chicken strips. After several yelping sprees on my iphone, we became enchanted with the idea of finding this hidden Korean pub with awesome chicken. You know, because, c’mon… this girl is always down for some fried chicken.

This place is right on 32nd street on top of another restaurant. You go into building number 28 and go up stairs. Then, you’ll find a place that looks like an Irish pub playing Korean house music. No joke. There, you will find wings that aren’t cheap… but reach close to absolute perfection. IT IS HOT. Like, we ate one wing, nice, two wings, whoa, three wings… and we had to take a break. Apparently they have a beer pitcher special with a half chicken… which we stayed away from this time. We just wanted a beer and a half each (we split a third pint), and a nice plate of fried wings.

The beer selection here leaves much to be desired, although they have a collection of sake and soju, and soju cocktails. The beers they had were Sam Adams, Bud, you know… but they did have Blue Moon, so we were happy! Come here for the chicken. It’s delicious.

Korean Noodles

umi — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:42:56 +0000

The other day, Ryan and I bought some Korean noodles in Korea town with very interesting directions. The package itself was very extensive with two different packets (one red spicy sauce) and a packet of radishes. We intuitively figured it out and it turned out delicious. In mine, I added some shredded turkey, egg, and romaine lettuce.

The key was pre-boiling the water and “twirl noodles for 10 seconds.” Ryan was very strict with that and counted to ten. He confiscated the noodles from me even before I finished pulling them apart from each other.

Very spicy, very easy, and a definite nice change from the usual Hiyashi Chuuka.

A “Happy Together”

umi — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:03:13 +0000

Last night I went to Snackies in Williamsburg, a Korean tapas joint that has awesome snacks. (As the name suggests) They have huge carafes of sake and delicious fried dumplings and Bun Sandwiches (I recommend the roast pork). I also tried, for the first time, the kimchee hotdog that ended up being really nice. Of course the kimchee would be a good substitute for relish and other goodies.

The highlight of the evening was a drink I got called “Happy Together.” It had soju, melon-soda, and it was sweet, tart, and delicious. However, the kicker was the glass it came in! A porcelain woman with a straw through. I wanted to just put it in my handbag discretely, but stealing is bad. : T

The great stuff here is the crab meat fried wontons with cheese and the sandwiches, Shiao Bing. I also enjoy the juicy buns, although the dumplings came broken. They were delicious, although lacking in the “juice.”

The vegans and vegetarians of the group got the fried rice and that was a hit too!