Korean Inspired Leek Salad

I got these awesome Korean Leeks from my local Asian Market.

Korean Leeks

Last time I picked these leeks up I made whole wheat Korean Leek & zucchini pancakes that came out really well but this time I thought I’d make something different. It turns out that this salad came out FORKING Delicious. I’m beginning to think anything with gochujang can turn anything delicious. This salad is light, slightly sweet and not too spicy with a tasty mild veggie  garlic onion flavor.

I googled Korean Leek recipe and came across something called Seasoned Ramps (Dalae) Recipe by Naomi Imatome-Yun who is a Korean Food Expert. I sort of followed her recipe as a guild but didn’t have all the ingredients and made very slight changes for my taste. I am also assuming that kochujang and gochujang are the same because she used kochujang (a Korean Pepper paste made with rice flour) and I used gochujang that also is described as the same.  I also dropped the addition of salt, pinenuts and substituted Korean shredded red pepper for Korean Kochukaru pepper that I didn’t have. I also winged the proportions since it started out way different.

Other changes that I made were cutting the Korean Leeks in small bite size pieces instead of one inch cuts.

Ingredients

1 Korean Leek (mine made around 4 cups)

2 Tablespoons gochujang

2 Tablespoons sesame oil

2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar

3 Tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

1 apple sliced up

big pinch Korean shredded red pepper

Directions

Clean and smash the bulb end of Korean leek to release flavor.

Cut into bite size pieces and soak in a water filled bowl to release any dirt that remains.

In another bowl mix up the gochujang, sesame oil, rice wine and vinegar. Set to side.

Toast your sesame seeds in either a pan, the oven or just microwave toast them 30 seconds at a time till done. (they take about 1 1/2 minutes this way)

Now pull out your leeks to drain. Throw out the water and put leeks back in bowl. Slice up your apple and add that bowl

to your dressing bowl and mix. Lastly mix in your toasted sesame seeds and enjoy.

Korean Inspired Leek Salad

I also found this salad is delicious with cooked chicken. Just heat up your chicken in this salad with a little chicken broth or water and it’s just delicious.

It’s GOOD and that’s The Forking Truth

White fungus is from the mushroom family and is sold dried.

You have to soak the fungus in water.

I soaked the fungus in water changing the water at least a half dozen times for a few hours and rubbed it like I was giving it a shampoo to make sure it was forking clean.

The fungus had an aroma or funk that I didn’t care for so then I soaked it over night in a mixture of rice wine vinegar, water and kosher salt.

I then got the fungus ready for cooking and gave them a trim of the hard base they have.

I rinsed off the liquid and put the fungus to boil in a solution of 2 cups of sugar and 6 cups of water and let the fungus boil two minutes. I thought the fungus is now edible and would taste good in a stir fry but I wanted to do something different.

I took the fungus out with a slotted spoon and then placed them on a silicon mat and then in a 225 degree F oven.

After about 90 minutes most of the fungus quickly became hard and crunchy and tasted similar to frosted corn flakes cereal. They became shattering crisp.

All I did was sprinkle the fungus with sweetened cocoa and some cinnamon.

The fungus would be great on top of a dessert or chocolate for a light as air crunch on top of something.

There’s fungus is among us.

It’s GOOD and that’s The Forking Truth

Spicy Gangnam Style Potato Salad

This is a Korean Inspired Potato Salad. This salad differs from most potato salads in many ways. First of all to get a more intense potato flavor…… I boiled the potatoes with a teaspoon of baking soda. It intensifies the potato flavor but it also breaks down the surface of the potatoes making them very soft. That is what I wanted for this style of potato salad because a Korean style Potato salad is suppose to be creamy from the potatoes in addition to the mayonnaise. It comes out almost like a mashed potato salad but with big chunks of potatoes. I flavored the salad with Korean Gochujang that’s savory, spicy and pungent, added some fruit and topped the salad with crumbled egg yolk. I’ve been told this salad is forking delicious so if your into these kind of flavors you should enjoy it. The salad is spicy but not too spicy.

Ingredients Makes about 8 servings

2 lbs Potatoes pealed (you want the potatoes cut some but not much because you will slightly over cook them and they will break when you mix. You want the pieces big like limes or big apricots)

2 extra large eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1/4 cup celery chopped small

1/2 cup apple chopped small

1/4 cup scallion whites

1/4 cup scallion greens

1 cup low fat mayonnaise (I reserve full fat mayo for deviled eggs and egg salad)

2 teaspoons gochujang

1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1 Tablespoon honey

BIG pinch shredded Korean red pepper

Directions

Add very cold water a little more than 1/2 way up to your medium size sauce pan. Add your potatoes, salt, baking soda and eggs to your pan.

Place on heat source and bring to boil and then reduce to a simmer. Everything will be done in 15-20 minutes.

While your potatoes are cooking you can mix up your dressing and quickly chop the produce you need for this recipe. For the dressing in a small bowl add your mayo, gochujang, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, honey. Mix till combined well and set to the side.

When done set in a colander to drain and peal your eggs. Cut the eggs in half and set the yolks to the side (you use them at the end) and break the whites down somewhat small and add them to the potatoes. Add your celery, apple, scallion white ends.

Now top the potato mixture with the dressing and fold gently. Top with green ends of scallions. and top the scallions with egg yolks and you just push threw the colander or crumble well. For an optional touch it’s fun to add some spicy Korean Shredded pepper to the top of the potato salad.

Spicy Gangnam Style Potato Salad

Spicy Gangnam Style Potato Salad

It’s Forking Good! and That’s The Forking Truth