Making bread a la Jung SuWon, or, Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim style bread

A while ago I promised you that I would write more about bread, give recipes and so forth.  Since I like to keep my promises, here is a “how to” video for you.

In this short video (please do watch with sound on and use the high quality setting on Youtube if available) you’ll see the Jung SuWon way of making bread, using a not so ancient recipe by Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim.

 

 

Now you see why I enjoy making bread so much?

Jung SuWon breakfast - continued - Buchu Jan

Here is another one of my favorites.  It’s actually not just a breakfast food, but since it’s easy to make, nutritious, and similar to pancakes, I thought I would post it under breakfasts. 

Yes it is like a pancake, although infinitely more healthy and nutritious.  It contains a lot of vitamins, minerals and fiber, and keeps you going for hours. 

One word of caution:  there are many different recipes for this, and I am not saying mine is the one and only one, although I am prejudiced (this is my blog after all!) and I do think this is the best version.  I got this recipe from Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim, my Martial Arts teacher at Jung Suwon Academy, and it’s been proven time and again.  I will also mention how you can make this in many different ways.  But first things first.

In a blender, put in one egg, a handful cloves of garlic (you could use less), a couple of very hot peppers cut in chunks and enough water to fill to 3/4 of the blender container.  Blend until very fine, then put in a bowl, and add a little salt and pepper.  With a whisk, mix in either some flour, or some special buchu jan mix you can get at any Korean store.  I personally prefer the mix, the end result tends to be better.  Put in enough to make a thin pancake batter.  Now add some buchu. 

Where do you find Buchu and what is it?  It basically looks like thin wheat grass (and I have a feeling if you used that it would work just fine) and I have only seen it in Korean stores.  Ask for it there.  And while you are there, pick up some fresh sesame leaves.  Clean the buchu, and cut them in about 2 - 3 inch lengths.  Finely cut the sesame leaves and mix in as well.  There should be more vegetables than batter….

Heat some oil in a pan, and when very hot, add some of the mixture.  Spread it out with a couple of forks or spoons until very thin.  When you turn them over, flatten the pancake further with a spatula.  Cook until barely brown on both sides and repeat until batter is gone.

Server with the soy sauce you learned to make earlier in this blog (as used for tofu). 

I have a feeling you’ll be making this a lot!  So what if you cannot get buchu?  You can make this with old kim chi - squeeze it very very dry and cut up into thin strips and this is very delicious as well. 

The unofficial Jung SuWon Korean breakfast recipe

So from the comment to my last blog entry you can see that there is a demand for specific recipes.  I am not a native Korean cook, and I won’t make any claims about the authenticity of my recipes.  I am only going to tell you how I I have learned to make this from Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim.  She sometimes teaches about food and food preparation right at her school, Jung SuWon, or in more depth and detail, at the Self Discovery programs. 

For the freshly made rice - I use a rice cooker.  Simply go by the instructions that come with the cooker.  Get a cooker the size you need - if you have a big family, get a big pot.  If it’s just you, get the smallest one.  Fresh cooked rice is always a lot better!  Once you are familiar with the basics, try adding some brown rice and beans, barley, are some of the possibilities. 

For the radish soup, start with some soup meat.  First, slice the meat or cut into small pieces.  For each person, about 1/4  cup is plenty.  Boil it in some salted water, enough to cover the meat.  Boil only until the dirty foam comes up, then rinse.  For most recipes that involve meat, I treat the meat this way.  Grandmaster Kim explains that this pulls out all the pollutants, antibiotics and other things that aren’t good for you.

Put the meat in water, add coarsley chopped garlic, dried anchovies, and sliced Korean Radish.  These are the big, plump, white radishes.  Cook until radishes are tender, then add salt and pepper and a touch of Korean Soy sauce.  You can also add a spoon of finely chopped green onions for the final touch. 

As for the fried fish, I like to use the smaller King fish, available in Korean stores.  You can of course use other fish, but this and mackerel seems to be the more authentic ones.  Ask the store person to clean the fish for you - they usually do that free of charge.  At home, make 3 shallow incisions on the top of the fish, then coat it with flour seasoned with salt and pepper.  You can then fry the fish in a pan, on both sides, which will take about 15 - 25 minutes depending on the size of the fish. 

Or, you could put the fish on aluminum foil, and put some crushed garlic and soy sauce on the fish, close the foil and bake in a pre-heated oven at 375.  Again, the timing depends on the size of the fish. 

To serve and enjoy your Korean breakfast, you would put some kim chi (of course you picked up a jar when you purchased the fish, right? ) in a little bowl, then you take some rice in a bowl, and some soup, and arrange the fish nicely on a plate.  Eye appeal is important at the Korean table, and Grandmaster Kim also emphasizes that in order for your body to enjoy the meal, it should look nice and inviting. 

So go ahead and start your day with a delicious, light, yet satisfying meal!  And by the way, this tastes good any time of day, too!

Breakfast the Jung SuWon way

 

A couple of friends called me to remind me that while it’s nice getting so many dinner and a couple of dessert ideas from my blog, I haven’t said anything about breakfast or lunch yet.

Well, number one, I haven’t been blogging for that long, so give me a break please!  And for number two - my philosophy about breakfast is - its the first meal of the day, and whatever you happen to eat first you call it breakfast!  How did we ever come up with the rule that you should have cereal or some eggs in some form for breakfast!  As long as it’s nutritious and balanced, anything goes!

My mother, on the other hand, had different ideas.  When I grew up, I got my birthday cake in the morning!  Her idea was that if you have to “sin” in the food consumption department, it should be first thing in the morning so that you got all day to make up for it - eat healthy stuff, work out - in short, make up for the hunk of cake you just had.   Cake after dinner?  Dessert after dinner?  Never!  It just turns into fat instantly!

So, what should I tell you?  I asked Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim, of course, what an acceptable breakfast would be.  It turns out that I wasn’t too far off.  As long as the food is fresh, nutritious, and well balanced - go for it!  She recommended I try a Korean breakfast.

I remember a few years ago I was in Korea, and in the hotel they had three breakfast options:  Continental breakfast, American Style, and Korean.  Of course I ordered the Korean breakfast.  In came a tray, and the smell was overwhelmingly good and appetizing.  I received a small bowl of radish soup, very light and very good, a bowl of fresh steamed rice, cooked to perfection, sauteed fish, and of course, various kim chees.  (For those not knowing:  Kim chee is the Korean version of very spicy pickled cabbage.  Stay in tune, I’ll blog about that very soon!)

It was one of the best breakfasts I ever had.  Light, yet satifsying, and I didn’t feel hungry for several hours.  It’s something you’d want to have before going to Jung SuWon, especially before a testing, when you need good nutrition without being weighed down.

Jung SuWon warrior cry - I want chicken for dinner!

I love a simple, roasted, moist chicken.  The only thing is, who has the time to “babysit” a chicken while it’s in the oven?  Especially for dinner, when you are off at Jung SuWon training, working up an appetite.  And, what do you do to prevent this chicken from drying out? 

I asked Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim about this and here is her “secret.”  First, you put the chicken in a roasting pan.  Then, you cut up some very cold butter into 1/4 inch thick slices (works best actually if you cut the butter in slices, then freeze it, then use it).  Have some crushed garlic on hand, as well as some fresh sprigs of rosemary, salt and pepper.  With your hands, gently lift the skin away from the breast of the chicken, and put in the slices of butter, crushed garlic that you have mixed with salt and pepper, and some of the rosemary.  So in effect, you are putting all this UNDER the skin.  In addition, put a little of the salt, pepper and garlic paste on the outside of the chicken.  Pour some good white wine into the pan, about 2 inches high, add a couple handful mushrooms. Put some rosemary into the chicken cavity, along with some garlic.  Now cover it all up very tightly either with a lid or with aluminum foil, put in preheated oven, 350 degrees.  Since I usually get a couple large sized chickens for this, it takes about 2 hours to cook them. 

So you got plenty of time to come home after class, take off the lid or foil, and let the chicken brown and crispy, which will take about 15 - minutes.  You will enjoy a wonderfully moist and delicious chicken!  The butter, and the steam created through the wine, will ensure that the chicken doesn’t dry out. 

If you have a timer, you can set it before you leave, just in case you end up in a class where we sparr longer than we expect…….

To make it really easy on yourself, start the rice cooker before you go, and voila!  When you come home you got a nice dinner ready - add a salad and you’ll be all set. 

PS: should you have an leftovers - which is doubtful - they are most excellent in a chicken salad the next day!  Or add the leftover to the pasta salad in the recipe I posted earlier.

Jung SuWon Style Soup’s on!

Yes, this recipe is a bit involved, but just trust me, this is really worth the effort.  Actually, come to think about it, it’s not all that time consuming if you are managing that time well. 

This is one of my very treasured recipes, one that i received directly from Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim.  She told me this soup reminded her of Korea, when she grew up during the war time.  Back then, the soup was a lot more “bare basics” and didn’t have any meat or mushrooms or anything fancy.  The current version is old-style Korean with a new twist.  But most of all its just plain good. 

You start with a base of oxtail soup.  Here’s a quick primer if you are not familiar with that.  You get a package of oxtails, and put them in a pot with cold water, crushed garlic and kosher salt.   Bring to boiling, then let boil for about 15 minutes or until there is a lot of dark foam on top.  Drain the oxtails, rinse well, and wash out the pot.  Bring water to boiling again, add the oxtails, crushed garlic and Kosher salt.  Cover, and let boil on low heat at least an hour, but you can let it boil for several hours - the soup only gets better.  It’s best when it gets milky white.  The meat will get so tender it will fall off the bones. 

About half hour before you want to serve this soup, bring some water and salt to boiling in a seperate pot, and add a handful of chap chae noodles (glass noodles, made of sweet potatoes) per serving of soup you want to make.  Cook until still very al dente, then rinse with cold water and set aside.

Meanwhile, cut a handful green onions - the white part into 1 inch long chunks and put right in soup.  The rest, chop very fine and set aside.  For the suchebi = dumplings, you can either start from scratch - and any recipe for noodle dough you have will probably do fine.  I like to make noodle dough from 2 eggs mixed with salt and a little oil, about 2 Tsp per 2 eggs, and about 3/4 cups warm water.  Add enough flour and mix until the dough holds shape, then knead on floured board until no longer sticky.  Add flour as needed.  If you are not using the dough right away - which is actually better - you can let it rest at room temperature under a small porcellain bowl.  Just before serving, pull off very thin pieces of the dough and add to the soup.  You won’t have to cook it very long. 

If you are a bit queasy or, heaven forbid, intimidated, by this recipe so far, take heart.  You don’t have to make the dumplings from scratch.  Just get a box of suchebi mix from a Korean store.  This is what the box looks like:

With your hands/fingers, flatten one end of the wad of dough and pinch off (or cut off with scissors) flat, relatively thin, pieces of the dough and put into soup as you go along.  At this point, you can  also put in straw mushrooms if you like.  Season soup with salt, pepper, and red pepper. 

To serve, ideally, put a little broth into a Korean soup pot like the one above, add the glass noodles, add more broth and suchebi.  Top with the finely chopped green onions, cover, and serve piping hot.  Traditionally, and I do make it this way - you would bring the soup and contents to boiling in the soup pot directly on open fire, and then serve like this, while it’s still boiling inside the pot.  But you don’t have to do this.  It will taste great even if you don’t. 

This tastes incredible after a hard class at Jung SuWon, it will rejuvenate and strengthen you.  Especially on a dark and blustery fall or winter night.

Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim: simple is better…..

Sometimes it’s simplicity that hits the spot like nothing else.  I had an eye opening experience the other day.  I had prepared a bunch of hot dogs with all the trimmings, nice big kosher hot dogs, to keep things healthy, with lots of lettuce, veggies and stuff.

I had also made a very simple casserole, like I grew up with when we were really really poor.  I’ll give you the approximate recipe in a minute.  The amazing thing was, the casserole was gone almost immediately, and my family and guests raved about it.  I had a pile of hot dogs left over.  I was shocked.  I had thought no way was anyone going to eat the casserole and everyone would devour the hot dogs.  But to my utter surprise, there wasn’t so much as a single maccaroni left in that pan, not even one stuck in the corner. 

 

Whow!  See when I grew up we ate it out of necessity since the meat had to stretch for 4 people.  We couldn’t even have meatloaf because it would have required too much meat!  But those noodle casseroles were it! 

Anyhow, I was thinking about what Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim says about food preparation.  I know I might have quoted it already, but with this situation, it just stuck out….

“When you prepare your food, the energy you put into the process will affect the quality of the outcome.  Was your food prepared with love and care and the will to nourish?  Or was it prepared with feelings of anger and resentment, anxiety and hurry?  When you eat food prepared either way, it will have a nourishing quality that corresponds to the energy and intent of the preparer”. (The Silent Master, page 72)

So here is how I make maccaroni/ground beef casserole:

Cook the maccaroni, leaving them quite “al dente”.  You can use any shape noodles, if you want to be traditional use the elbow maccaroni you would use for salad. 

At the same time, boil some water with minced garlic and salt and boil out the ground beef, for about 2 - 3 minutes, until the meat isn’t pink inside anymore.  drain and rinse well

Chop a medium onion, and sautee in olive oil, add chopped garlic, the beef, and mushrooms if you like.  roast until brown, then add tomato sauce to this.  The plainer the sauce, the more traditional it is… smile.  I personally add a little fresh or dried marjoram to the sauce because that is how my mother used to make it, but you can leave that out.

Mix the noodles with the sauce and put into casserol pan.  I would keep the contents of the pan to about 2 - 3″ and not any higher.  Bake at 350 until a slight crust forms at the top, then, if you like, add a little grated cheese.  I personally never do, but some people crave it. 

Then, take out of oven, and step aside, so that you won’t get run over by the stampede that’s going to hit!

Gotta have desserts! Yeahh for desserts - the Jung SuWon way

Delicious, healthy Banana Bread

Last time we talked about pizza.  Well, I am from Austria (that’s my excuse anyhow) and I was born with a very sweet tooth.  It didn’t help matters that everyone in my family was an avid cook and even more avid baker.  To top it all off, my mother - in order to run a restaurant - took up classes and ended up a pastry chef! 

Nowadays, as I add years to my life (whoever gets old anymore!) I have to watch what I eat.  I love sweets, but I realize that health is more important, and keeping at a healthy weight most certainly is, too.  I also have a very close friend who has diabetes, and so I am always trying to adapt a tried and true recipe so she can have it as well.

Again I have to think about one of Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim’s trademark sayings, “Don’t treat your body like a trash can!  You put the best gas in your car, you have to put the best food into your body!”

Actually, she has given me some of the best advice ever on the topic of healthy weight management.  Everything in moderation and balance….something we learn a lot about in our Martial Arts classes at Jung SuWon as well. 

So, to satisfy all the sweet teeth out there, yet don’t provide empty and/or damaging calories, here is a recipe I came up with for what I think has got to be the best banana bread ever. Hey, it’s my blog, so I can claim it’s the best!  Because to me, it is! 

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour, total.  I use 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup raw wheat germ, 1/2 cup crushed flax seed, 1/2 cup Amaranth flour, and the rest white flour, mixed with a little bran.  You can leave out the Amaranth flour and use just more white flour instead, or if you want it less healthy, use less whole wheat flour - just as long as you end up with 4 cups total and not too much flax seeds since they have an overwhelming taste
• cinnamon, cloves, vanilla - if you so desire.  You could also add some lemon peel and a few squirts of lemon juice
• 2 tsp baking soda, or baking powder, I have used either one successfully
• 1 cup very soft butter (no substitutes here unless you get some very high quality margarine)
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar, or raw sugar
• 4 eggs, beaten  (if you want a lighter version of the bread, seperate the eggs and add the beaten whites at the end together with the flour, but this is certainly not necessary)
• 4 1/2 cups mashed up bananas
• 1 1/2 cups walnut pieces

• How to put it all together:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a loaf pan, or bundt pan. 
• mix all the different flours and dry ingredients together
• cream butter with sugar and egg (or just the egg yolks if you want to add the beaten egg whites later)
• Add mashed bananas
• add flour, a little at a time, and don’t overmix at this point.  More like, gently fold into it, don’t beat it any more.
• Put into pan(s) and bake, about an hour, depending on what size and shape of pan you use.  Don’t overbake!  You can also make little cupcakes or muffins from this, and your kids will love you for the lunch snack! 

Now, sit back, relax and reward yourself with your home made treat.  It’s good for you, and you are going to work it off in your next Jung SuWon class anyhow! 

 

Down home Jung SuWon style healthy pizza

Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim's special recipe: healthy warrior pizza/before cooking

I really really really love pizza.  I have been thinking about how to make it into something very healthy, and yet still very yummy.  I asked Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim about how I could make something so wonderfully great tasting and yet keep it consistent with healthy eating.  She gave me some wonderful tips and hints (by the way, she is a great cook in her own right) - and here is the outcome.  You won’t feel loaded down after eating it.  In fact you could up and go to a fired up Jung SuWon Class and you would be fine.

And yes, even the dough is home made, and it’s worth it’s effort.  I personally always make plenty of dough and freeze what I am not using, so I can make pizza whenever I want to.

For the dough:

• 2/3 parts whole wheat flour, 1 part white flour
• flax seed meal
• amaranth flour, if you can get it
• garbanzo beans, or pinto beans, cooked, and mashed to make it liquidy (or blended into liquid)
• fresh yeast cake if you can get, or 1 envelope regular dried yeast
• some olive oil
• dash of salt and pepper

proof the yeast (dissolve the yeast in some warm water, with a little flour and a dab of honey). Once this mixture is bubbly , add your bean liquid and add some water if you need more liquid.  Add the oil at this point.  Add enough flour to make a soft, but non-sticky dough.  Knead thoroughly, cover, and let rise.  This dough will rise slower than other doughs.  When doubled, punch down - at this point you can either freeze the dough, let it rise again, or roll it out into pizza shape. 

While the dough is rising, prepare the toppings.  Preheat the oven to about 400 degrees at this point.  Of course, you can put just about anything and everything on it as topping and chances are, it’ll come out tasting great.  I am just telling you what I put on the pizza that you are seeing on the picture in this blog, and the pizza was great and not a single crumb was left. 

• cut up big green olives into slivers
• prepare refried beans or use canned refried beans
• sautee some coarsely chopped garlic, enough to cover the pizza dough
• cut up some pastrami and/or corned beef into strips
• chop up some tomatoes and sautee them in olive oil, until all the liquid is gone.  You can add either basil and/or chopped parsley to this
• chop and sautee finely cut leeks
• grate a mixture of swiss cheese and gruyere cheese

Pre-bake the pizza dough until very light brown.  If it forms pockets during baking, make it come down by piercing it with a fork in the pockets. 

Let the pre-baked dough cool off briefly (but you don’t have to).  Cover with a thin layer of refried beans.  Sprinkle the sauteed garlic and leeks evenly over the pizza dough.  Neatly lay out the strips of meat (or use some pre-cooked ground beef) , sprinkle the olives, and spread out the tomatoes.  Cover with cheese and put in the oven. 

Be prepared for some awesome goodness in about 10 minutes!

Jung Su Won solution to dinner on a hot night

It’s been very hot here in California, and while I want to serve my loved ones good and healthy foods, cooking for long periods of time or otherwise creating heat anywhere in the house doesn’t excite me.

So, what’s a Jung SuWon Warrior to do?  Salads!  Some substantial salad, healthy, light, yet loaded with nutrition so your body can heal after a long hard, Jung SuWon Class.

I am sure everyone’s got their own version of pasta salad, and I don’t claim this one is the best.  But I do claim it’s the best I ever tasted, so go ahead and give it a try!

Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim’s special pasta salad:

• some cooked pasta - any shape you like, although I personally prefer the unusual ones, like bow ties or whatever strikes your fancy
• finely chopped green onions
• finely chopped dill pickles
• avocado, cut in chunks
• vine ripened, vine fresh tomatoes, cut up
• finely cut up cucumbers
• leftover pot roast, cut into small bite sized pieces
• handful green olives, cut up fine
• a few red radishes, shredded
• hard boiled eggs, cut up
• Balsamic vinegarette salad dressing
• extra balsamic vinegar

Mix all the ingredients together, and season with salt and pepper if needed.  Make sure there is enough salad dressing, as the pasta will soak up some of it.  Let it sit in the refrigerator until chilled and flavors have blended.  Add more vinegar, if you like, and a couple drops of the finest olive oil.  Sprinkle with chopped green onions if desired. 

Start out with this, see if you like it and then go wild with your own creativity!