grover

I think Super H is where I saw it!

I think a Super H trip would be nice....are we talking Fairfax or the new one closer to you?

Guys! I would like to tell you this: You can simply make panko without going WF or Asian market. Just put a couple of slice of bread into a food processor and push the pulse button. When this home-made panko is fried, the moisture is evaporated fast and it gives you light and crispy texture.

Has anyone used the Miso paste that has Dashi already in it?

That works for me Thanks to you two, I love Korean food. Jajangmyun has been on my list of things to try for quite a while...

There are some Chinese style Korean restaurants in VA but I would always choose Choong Hwa Won as the #1 place. The only flaw is that they don't serve hand-made noodle. I can't compare this place with Da Rae Won because I haven't been there. Escoffier and I have eaten at Choong Hwa Won for more than 8 years. I saw the owner had been changed a couple of times but the food taste didn't change much and the business goes very well.

Jajang Myun is most Korean baby boomer's soul food. Whenever family gathered and mom was too busy to cook, we ordered Jajang Myun and Sweet and Sour Pork. Then, within 30 mins, I could hear the doorbell was ringing. This is not only my family story but also every baby boomer's and this story still goes on. Therefore, being able to serve good Jajang Myun and Sweet and Sour pork dishes is very critical for the Chinese style Korean restaurants.

Jajang Myun is easily found in the Chinese Restaurant menu but the taste is somewhat different from the Korean one. Chinese one has stronger taste (saltier and thicker sauce) and very greasy. Jajang Myun is brought by Shandong people (Shandong peninsular is located in the east coast of China and is closest from Korea) into Korea around late 19th century. The Shandong Jajang sauce is sweeter than one from Beijing and it was modified for Korean people later. That's why Korean Jajang Myun is sweeter than Chinese one. If someone who tasted this noodle from A&J, then it would be easy to find the difference.

Dean, You are correct. It is called Kaktugi but it is Korean radish not daikon radish. Daikon radish is too soft for kaktugi. I am glad that you enjoyed the experience. Jajang Myun is one of my soul food. The hand-made Jajang Myun noodle is very rare to taste because not many chef has the skills. Not in VA but 1 or 2 places in MD. Chung-Hwa Won has very good Jajang Myun as Don said but they don't use hand-made noodle. China Express in DC has also hand-made noodle but it is not beaten so the texture is different. I went to the place Antonio mentioned because I heard that they served the hand-made noodle but the chef moved to another place, I don't know where. A&J serve Jajang Myun, too but the sauce tasted slightly different and it is too greasy to me. Yang-Jang-Pee is known as expensive and high class food in Korea because it uses all the best ingredients. I haven't had a chance to enjoy it. For 8 people or family gathering, I suggest ordering 2 pan-fried dumplings as an appetizer, 4 Jajang Myun (4 bowls of Jajang Myun and 4 empty bowls for sharing) and sweet and sour pork(make sure no ketchup in the sauce) / Kung pao shrimp as Entree. It will make them full.

Sounds like a great time, Grover. Any revelations from the class? Did any particular knife type turn out to be much more or much less useful than you expected? What was the most difficult common material or skill?

When Joe let us to choose a knife, I grabbed a French one first because I have a small hand. The French chef knife has narrow blade with a flat belly so it is smaller and lighter than the German one. However, in order to keep doing piston movement, it gave a burden on my wrist. I changed into the German one. It is heaviest one but more convenient to do piston movement because it has a bigger belly. Later, I tried Shun. It is the lightest one among all and has a medium belly so it is good for me doing the piston movement, too. I would use Shun for vegetable and German one for meat. The most difficult skill for me was moving my left fingers following the blade movement. I usually put my left thumb side by side with other fingers from my bad habit so I almost cut my thumb nail a couple of times. Another difficult skill was paring. I need more practice to remove the pith without cutting flesh of the fruit. Do you remember that Iron Chef Sakai was paring an apple using his chef knife? Of course I can't do like him but at least I would like to pare a fruit with its own shape.

I attended the knife skills class at La Cuisine yesterday. It was a 3 hour class (10:00 AM - 1:00 PM) taught by Joe Raffa (chef at Oyamel) and was worth every penny. The tuition was $50 with free 6 knife sharpening coupon and 15% off coupon. The students were 5 including me so Joe was able to point out and fix each student's mistake. He brought egg plants, onions, carrots, scallions, peppers and lettuces for dicing, doing julien and chopping with chef knife. Oranges were brought for paring knife skill. 3 different styles of knives were provided such as German, French and Japanese (Shun) and he gave us enough explanation about pros and cons of those knives. I realize that knowing knife skills was very important for my safety and time saving.

For 3 hours, I didn't even look at my watch and we had fun. I am not promoting the class at La Cuisine (it was so good, though) but I am telling you that it is important to learn how to use knife correctly (wherever you take a course) if you enjoy cooking.

Anyone know somewhere within easy walking distance of 50th and Broadway that won't break the bank. Adventurous crew so no cuisine is off limits. When I say "won't break the bank" I don't mean like a sandwich shop. We will be dressed for a show so we would still like a little atmosphere.

How about Algonquin Hotel? It's 7 blocks away from you. They have a decent pre-theatre menu($38 per person). Check out the website.

Don't worry. I don't think that your miso went bad. It just got dried. That's all. Maybe that's why your miso got saltier that it was because the moisture was evaporated. Miso has a way longer history than a refrigerator. Asian people used to keep the miso jar/urn in their backyard where sunlight doesn't reach. Maintaining constant temperature is a key to preserve the quality.

The white miso I have is seriously salty (or MSG-y, I guess it is). Like to the point where it's hard to use any significant quantity of it. For example, I followed Michel Richard's proportions for miso stock and the result was incredibly salty. Same with some sauces I tried to use this miso in. Does this mean I bought a low quality brand? If so, can someone recommend a better one? As I understood it, white miso is supposed to be the least salty grade of miso? Is that right?

Hmmm... as I mentioned above, the saltiness is similar among all miso (of course there is a minor difference) through my experience. So far, I had no problem with the saltiness when I buy it. I mean any brand. The reason why Michel Richards is using white miso is probably white miso has the mildest flavor among all miso. May I ask where did you buy it and how long have you kept it?

The knife skills class at La Cuisine in Old Town Alexandria, VA (click here) is going to happen on Jan 28th, Sunday. It will be taught by Joe Raffa. I enrolled it and would like to know if any other DR member is coming.

2. a friend is taking me to a favorite lunch spot for a belated birthday celebration. Can I resist overeating rich foods?

Get a doggie Bag and drink a cup of green tea after the meal.

I don't know. I will ask them later about it.

What I didn't like is the entree part. Three of them are the same type of cooking, which is grilled and marinated.

Maybe marinating ingredients would be different from each other but it would be the same grilling. As you can see from their menu, they have dak-jeem (chicken simmered in spicy flavored sauce). This is a different style of cooking and marinating with exactly the same price. Another thing in the appetizers, they have goo-jul-mari (crepes rolled with a mix of vegetables, egg, meat, and a thin mustard sauce) at $6.95.

Currently Woo Lae Oak in Tysons corner is serving this for $9. It is not served anywhere else. This is a restaurant version of Korean court food. This is served in an octagonal box in authentic way. Click here for the image. For their convenience, I assume, they make this as a form of roll and serve. I think it would be a great chance for us to learn a different part of Korean cuisine.

Rachel, I am glad to hear that!

I just called Danny the general manager at Mandu, found out that the price is $20 without beverage, tax and tip.

They provide a party menu for a party more than 15 people.

Appetizer:

• Three kinds of mandu (shrimp, beef/pork and vegetable) - steamed/pan-fried
  Individual size pa-jun - scallion pancake
  

Entree:

• Japchae - stir fried clear noodles w/ vegetables and beef
  Bulgogi - grilled marinated strip loin served with rice and mixed vegetables
  Dak gui - grilled marinated sliced chicken breast
  Yache gui - grilled marinated mixed vegetables
  

Dessert:

• Fresh Fruit Bowl
  

Frankly speaking, I don't like the menu. I will find out later if I can change some of them.

Not that I am an expert, but as I understand it the shaved bonito and seaweed (kombu) are used to make a broth called dashi. Then they are strained out, perhaps to be reused, perhaps to be discarded, depending on preference. If reused the dashi may be described as "more delicate" or "weak," depending on how you look at it. We just discard.

You are correct about dashi. However, shaved bonito is also added often with a teaspoonful amount. The seaweed I mentioned is called wakame which grows in the middle level in the sea. Kombu grows in the deepest level. That's why kombu is the thickest among all the seaweed. Anyway, wakame pieces is added to miso soup many times.

Stronger in the same way, that sort of nutty-fishy-salty way? No added complexities? Is ginger a complementary aromatic? Galangal? Lemon grass? Curry Leaf? Shallot? Garlic? (yes)

Oy.. wikipedia explained about this... Click here.

As I experienced, red miso is more pungent than others and has earthy flavor. Think about cheese such as mild brie and strong blue cheese.

I tried all of them but saltiness is similar each other. When the color gets darker, the taste gets more earthier, nuttier and fishier(?).

(It's a bit difficult for me to explain because I am not a native speaker. haha)

Basically, the darker the color is, the stronger the taste gets. The same thing applys to sashimi. When you eat sashimi, start eating from light color fish to dark color one, even though pickled ginger wash your mouth....

Another thing, Jake, I saw a recipe using miso in Michel Richards new cookbook 'Happy in the Kitchen'. Find his onion soup recipe in the book if you like to use miso with a fusion style.

I know nothing about miso. The types of miso and their flavor profiles, how they perform in various liquids, what non-dissolved in liquids they can be used for.

OK, so far the participants are:

19th - StephenB (1)

20th - Ferment Everything, Dean Gold +1, DanielK, cucas87, Eating Out +1 (?) (5 and 2 maybe)

Both - Dame Edna, Barbara, Politburo, Purplesachi, alan7147, vinist, Scott Johnston, Escoffier and Grover (9)

By the way, just to let you know, the food at Mandu is not as spicy as the food in Annandale Korean restaurants.

For more information, please refer the Mandu thread.

I would suggest drinking green tea 1-2 times a day. It contains catechin and vitamins and helps lower cholestrol. Also it prevents fat absorption. If you don't like the taste, add a tea spoonful of powdered green tea to yogurt.

I just called them up. Danny wasn't there but got a positive answer. Mrs. Lee can handle 20 people at once.

I am going to call Danny tomorrow and talk about further details if I can work with them (having tasting menu for us).

3 hours later....

I got a phone call from Jason the manager at Mandu. He would like to provide family style menu for us and the price would be $20 without beverage/alcohol drinks. How nice is that!

I gave him the number of participants (tentatively 15-20) and they have no problem with it.

19th - StephenB (1)

20th - Ferment Everything, Dean Gold +1 and Eating Out +1 (???) (3 and 2 maybe)

Both - Dame Edna, Barbara, DanielK, Politburo, Purplesachi, alan7147, vinist, Scott Johnston, Escoffier and Grover (10)

So far, I'm counting 9 Yes and 2 Maybe for Monday the 19th, and 12 Yes for Tuesday the 20th.

Grover, have you talked to Danny at Mandu? How big can we get before it becomes a challenge for them?

I went there on Monday but I didn't talk about $20 Tuesday dinner yet. They can hold 15-20 people first floor and 40 (?) people second floor, so I think the space is enough for us if I reserve the tables early.

Actually I am thinking about this place for another $20 Tuesday Dinner in March.

Ashley, I would like to know if you are also allergic to soy bean. Then I can give you a correct list of what you can eat from Mandu's menu. If you are allergic to soy sauce only Escoffier's answer is correct and I can add more for you as follows:

All appetizers except San Juk without soy dipping sauce

All salads

No noodle and noodle soup dishes (I will ask the chef to confirm, though)

Entrees (bibimbop, dolsot bibimbop, kimchi chige, kimchi bokumbop and yook ge jang)