Bonus Butter

My new book is part of The Harvard Common Press’s 50 Recipes series. I tried to sneak in 53 recipes thinking there’s no harm in giving people more than what they paid for. But I was busted. My editor caught me and made me do some cutting—when they say 50 Recipes, they mean 50 Recipes. It wasn’t easy deciding which three had to go. One recipe that ended up being sacrificed was the Black Garlic Butter, not because it’s somehow inferior to any of the others, but because black garlic is a bit hard to come by. The butter is in fact quite delicious, so I thought I’d offer it up here as a bonus recipe. (By the way, if you’re wondering why in the world anyone needs 50, let alone 53 recipes for flavored butters, here’s an explanation.)

Before I get to the recipe, I have to say how grateful I am for the warm reception Flavored Butters is getting in the media and blogosphere. I’ve been called a “butter goddess” and a “butter genius”, and it might just go to my head! (But more likely, it'll go to my butt!) But seriously, I have to thank The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for the shout-out, the Chicago Tribune for the great review (and the dozen or more other media outlets that picked up the story), The Kitchn for another fantastic review, and the Akron Beacon Journal for the mention in this article on herbs and gardening. I also want to show my appreciation to The Best Cookbooks List, Magnolia Days, and Fake Food Free for jumping on the butter bandwagon—the support means so much! And while this has nothing to do with Flavored Butters, I owe one more thank you to HuffPost Taste for including my Passion Fruit-Coconut Bars in their passion fruit recipe roundup.

And now to the Black Garlic Butter. Black garlic, which seems to have originated in Korea, is a product of fermentation.

The ink-colored cloves have a soft, gelatinous texture and a complex sweet and mellow garlic flavor with candy-like hints of molasses, caramel, smoke, and fruit. Roasted garlic fans would certainly love it. Blend black garlic with butter to use as a spread for crostini or as a sauce for seafood such as grilled or seared* scallops.

Black Garlic Butter
Printable Recipe

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
4 cloves black garlic
2 teaspoons soy sauce

Combine the butter, black garlic, and soy sauce in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Form into a log and refrigerate until firm before slicing and serving, or use another shaping method described in Flavored Butters.

Makes 8 servings.

*For everything you ever wanted to know about searing, plus dozens of fabulous searing recipes, check out my first book Seared to Perfection.

Dang Myun

Dang myun is the Korean noodle made of sweet potato starch. Dang myun’s a flavor chameleon, though it has no taste of its own, it takes on the flavor of whatever sauce it’s in. It turns a beautiful crystal clear once it’s cooked. And it has a wonderful texture, both chewy and slippery, it slides right down.

The closure of my very favorite Korean restaurant, which happens to be the same traumatic event that drove me to recreate their bibimbap, prompted my first experiments with dang myun. I had eaten their bulgogi, the familiar version served on a sizzle platter, countless times. But one day I ordered the bulgogi, and what arrived was entirely different, a saucy dish of tender beef stewed with plenty of onions and those clear, slippery noodles. It took some gentle prodding, the waitress insisted she didn’t know what the noodles were called in English, but she eventually divulged the Korean word. I went to the market directly and bought a bag.

Beef with Dang Myun
Printable Recipe

½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
Freshly ground black pepper
1 ¼ pounds thinly sliced boneless beef short ribs
8 ounces dang myun
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 yellow onion, julienned
4 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil

Combine the soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, and a generous pinch of pepper in a medium bowl. Add the beef and stir to coat. Marinate for about half an hour. Meanwhile, cook the dang myun in a large pot of boiling water for 6 to 7 minutes, or until tender. Drain, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking, and drain again.

Heat a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pot. Add the onion and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes, or until beginning to soften. Add the beef and green onions and cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the beef is just cooked through. Add the noodles and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they take on the color of the sauce and are heated through. Stir in the sesame seeds and sesame oil. Divide among individual noodle bowls and serve immediately.

Serves 4. When boiling dang myun noodles, don’t overcook them—keep in mind that they are still very chewy even when they are cooked through. Dang myun is available in Korean markets. Do not confuse dang myun with rice noodles or bean thread noodles.

Green Tea Donuts

A new Korean market just opened in town (H Mart, 13600 SW Pacific Highway, Tigard, Oregon, 503-620-6120). I love exploring ethnic markets, browsing aisles stocked with unusual ingredients and trying to decipher the foreign labels, so I drove out there immediately. I’ve been three times now, the bakery’s green tea donuts are that good.


They’re subtly flavored with tea and black sesame, and they have a wonderfully chewy texture, from rice flour, I’m sure.


Though these green tea donuts are worth the long drive, I want the recipe so that I can make them myself.

I’ve spent more time than I care to admit searching for the green tea donut recipe. I’ve conducted an exhaustive internet search, and I’ve skimmed through every Korean cookbook at the book store, twice. I’ve turned up nothing.

So the last time I headed out to the Korean market, I was determined to win over the bakers with my charm and leave with the recipe and a few donuts. Or so I thought. Due to a bit of a language barrier and a certain unwillingness to divulge information, the closest thing I got was the owner impatiently jabbing his finger into a small sign that read, “Green Tea Donuts $1.50”. I couldn’t even convince him to tell me the Korean name of his tasty green tea donuts.

At least I got my donuts. And they sure tasted good. I will keep up my search, the recipe cannot elude me forever…

Bibimbap

I am in a state of deep depression. My favorite Korean restaurant has closed for good. It’s been a couple of months since I learned the terrible news, and I still can’t quite come to terms with it. It was a humble, tiny place hidden away in the back of a Korean market.

They served home-style food loaded with spicy chiles. We liked everything on the menu, especially the bibimbap. Bibimbap, as fun to say as it is to eat, is a dish of sticky rice topped with a variety of colorful vegetables, egg, and seasoned meat. My absolute favorite was the dolsot bibimbap, which arrived to the table in a super-hot stone bowl and would continue to sizzle for many minutes. The heat of the bowl was so intense that it would crisp the bottom layer of rice and cook the runny yolk of the sunny-side-up egg. Many layers of clothing would be stripped off during the course of a meal. They served the bibimbap with an endless variety of side dishes, including kimchee, of course, and a bowl of mild broth.

Bibimbap withdrawal is a terrible thing, but it led to the creation of the following recipe.

Dolsot Bibimbap
Printable Recipe

¼ cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated ginger
¼ cup sliced green onions
1 ¼ pounds thinly sliced boneless beef short ribs, julienned
Freshly ground black pepper
3 cups sticky rice
Kosher salt
4 dried shiitake mushrooms
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
4 eggs
3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise, thinly sliced on a bias, and blanched
1 carrot, julienned and blanched
8 ounces mung bean sprouts, blanched
8 ounces spinach, bok choy, choy sum, or other similar leafy greens, coarsely chopped and blanched
½ cup shredded nori
Gochujang, for serving

Heat 4 Korean stone bowls in a 425ºF oven.

Combine the soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, and green onions in a medium bowl. Add the beef and stir to coat. Season to taste with pepper and marinate for about half an hour.

Combine the rice, 1 quart water, and a generous pinch of salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook without disturbing for 19 to 21 minutes, or until the rice is tender and all of the liquid has been absorbed.

Combine the shiitakes and ½ cup hot water in a small bowl and let soak for 10 to 12 minutes, or until rehydrated and pliable. Remove the shiitakes to a cutting board, trim off and discard the stems, and thinly slice the caps.

Heat a wok over high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the wok. Add half of the beef mixture and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes, or until just cooked through. Transfer to a plate. Cook the remaining beef in the same manner. Stir in the sesame seeds.

Cook the eggs sunny side up with the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil in a nonstick pan.

Carefully transfer the stone bowls from the oven to trivets. Using a heatproof brush, coat each bowl with 2 teaspoons of the sesame oil. Immediately divide the rice among the bowls. Arrange the zucchini, carrot, bean sprouts, greens, shiitakes, beef mixture, and eggs decoratively atop the rice. Drizzle with the remaining teaspoon of sesame oil, top with the nori, and serve immediately. Pass a small bowl of gochujang on the side.

Serves 4. Of course bibimbap can be served in regular rice bowls—although the rice won’t have the golden crunchy crust, it will still be tasty and delicious. (Do not coat regular rice bowls with sesame oil.) Any thinly sliced beef steak can be substituted for the short ribs. Gochujang is fermented sweet chile paste. Stone bowls with matching trivets, thinly sliced boneless beef short ribs, and gochujang are all available in Korean markets.


Add as much chile paste as you like, stir it all together, and dig in.