daeji bulgogi

First and foremost, a big thank you goes out to Harriet-Lane Ngo for making me the blog logo. A simple and neat mortar and whisk in lieu of the pestle - just what I wanted. I know you're busy with animation work at SCAD and I'm truly grateful that you took the time to design this for me. Thanks again Harriet!

Lately, I've been craving foods that bring back childhood memories - Korean dishes to be exact. Although it's been 14 years since I've moved away from my native homeland, I can still remember why I fell in love with every single dish. Many of these foods contain offal and strong, pungent flavors that people would never dare to eat but to me, they're absolute treasures. These include the following but are not limited to:

• Korean blood sausage
• Steamed liver and lung
• Open-fire roasted sweet potatoes and chestnuts
  
• Hotteok, bungeoppang (taiyaki)
  
• Jajangmyeon
• Pork feet and the star of today's post: daeji bulgogi

Unlike the sweet, beef bulgogi you may be used to, daeji (pork) bulgogi is in a spicy marinade. My grandma is amazing at making this stuff - and pretty much every other traditional Korean dish - and I still remember her cooking when I used to go visit her on the weekends. If pharmacy school decides to stop adding on unscheduled break projects, I want to go visit them before it's time. I want to be with my grandparents and just talk to them, listen to everything they have to say and carry on the tradition of Korean cooking.

This version is my mom's recipe which is most likely from my grandma. A traditional recipe I still question whether or not I should adapt. On the web, you'll probably find a lot of daeji bulgogi recipes that use pork belly. My family version uses thinly sliced pork neck. It's fatty, chewy and absolutely delicious giving the pork belly version a run for its money. Don't e-mail me or ask me if you can adapt it with pork loin or tenderloin. The answer is no and it'll always be no. This is one tradition that should never be changed.

Daeji Bulgogi
Originally by Mom, Serves 2 - 4

Ingredients:
- 1lb pork neck. sliced thinly
- 2 to 3 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 5 tablespoons of gochujang (Korean chili paste)
- 3 tablespoons of white sugar
- 2 tablespoons of honey powder
- 3 cloves of garlic, pureed
- 1 small onion, pureed
- 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
- 1 tablespoon sake
- 2 tablespoons of sesame oil

1) Roughly chop the garlic and onion. Puree in a food processor until pureed. If you don't have a food processor, you can try grating them instead.
2) Combine the soy sauce, gochujang, sugar, honey powder, sake and the grated ginger together. Whisk until combined and the sugar dissolves. Set aside.
3) Add the pureed vegetables to the marinade mix and combine until mixed.
4) Mix the sliced pork neck with the marinade until well distributed and finish by drizzling over the sesame oil, mixing once more.
5) Marinade overnight or for 24 hours.
6) Cook the daeji bulgogi in a nonstick frying pan until the meat's well done. I like adding in sliced onions and green onions while cooking to give the dish more texture and flavors. Top off with toasted sesame seeds or drizzle sesame oil over before serving.
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Question of the day:
What food(s) evokes the greatest childhood memory for you? Is it your grandma's biscuits? Fried chicken? Pho? Sugar cookies? Mac & cheese? Roasted chicken?