Life is Beautiful

Motherhood, Sewing, Family

SamGaeTang Recipe

~ Etc.

I decided I’ll post more Asian cooking recipes since we eat Asian food(mostly Korean) about 80% of the time for dinner. I don’t think anyone will complain about that. 🙂 Sorry for all you people out there, but Korean food really is the best food in the world. Okay, Thai food and Chinese and sushi comes very close. 🙂 Even Jay the China Irish man admits Korean food is better than Chinese, GASP~!!! Haha but there are some amazing Chinese dishes out there too, I gotta admit.

So don’t be afraid to try these recipes! I’ve always told people that cooking/baking isn’t hard at all, if you know how to read then you’re a cook! You just need a good recipe to be a good cook. Simple as that. And of course it requires some time, especially when it comes to Korean food. Every dish is really made with TenderLoveCare which I think is wonderful. My mom cooked every single night and I do too and it’s one of the greatest ways to show the family your love. I do apologize for not the most precise measurements of the ingredients since I cook from my head and make it up as I go and not by a recipe.

This is Jay’s top 5 favorite Korean food. 😉
SamGaeTang
1 Whole chicken
7-10 Garlic cloves
10 Dried dates*
2-3 Dried ginseng*
Salt & pepper to taste
1 C. green onions
*dried dates and dried ginseng can be bought at Asian markets. FYI: the dried ginsengs are quiet expensive, my mom brings me some from Korea and it’s about $100 a small bag. That’s why this is considered a gourmet food, a little pricey but very healthy and nutritious. If you don’t want to use ginseng, then just make it without, it’ll still taste good. 🙂
Fill a big pot with water and bring it to a boil. Put in a whole chicken, the water should be covering the entire chicken and some more. Throw in garlic, dates and ginseng. Bring it to a boil. Then turn the heat to medium heat and cover with a little opening in one corner. It should be boiling gently. Let it boil for 3 hrs. The meat should be very soft and it should be falling of the bones by touch. Poke at the meat with a fork and get all the meat out and throw the bones away. Don’t worry about getting all the small bones out.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve it with sweet white rice or white rice and top it with chopped green onions.

Thai Chicken

~ Etc.

Two super easy, super simple reciples. But oh so devine!



Thai Chicken
Chicken drumsticks
Vegetable oil
Sweet chili sauce
Coat the pan with vegetable oil. Lay the drumsticks on the pan, pour the chili sauce over the drumsticks and bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Pour a little more chili sauce on the chicken right before serving.
Asparagus
Asparagus
Oilive oil
Salt & pepper
Spread the asparagus on the pan. Pour olive oil over it and mix until the asparagus is coated evenly with the oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste and bake at 375 degrees for 20 mins.


Adi ate THREE drumsticks. THREE! I ate two! And she refused to let us cut up the chicken and was so adamant on holding the whole thing herself. Do you think she liked the Thai Chicken? I wasn’t quiet sure. 😉

Authentic Chicken & Shrimp Pad Thai

~ Etc.

Tonight was the first time I made pad thai 100% from scratch and it turned out delicious! 🙂

(2-3 servings OR 1 serving for Jay)

1 chicken breast
1 – 1 1/2 c. shrimp
1/2 pkg. Thai rice noodles
1 c. chopped cilanto
1-1 1/3 c. bean sprouts
2 T. vegetable oil
3 T. peanuts
2 T. minced garlic
2 T. tamarind
2 1/2 T. sugar
4 t. fish sauce
1 T. soy sauce
1/2 t. dried ground chili pepper
1/2 lime
1 egg

Soak the dry noodles in medium hot water while preparing the other ingredients, for 10 minutes. Cut up cilantro. Set aside a few for a garnish. Rinse the bean sprouts and save half for serving fresh.

Boil the chicken with garlic powder, salt and pepper and cut into cubes. Cook the shrimp in a frying pan with vegetable oil, minced garlic, and salt. Set aside.

Use a wok. If you do not have a wok, any big pot will do. Heat it up on high heat and pour oil in the wok. Fry the peanuts until toasted and remove them from the wok and then chop the peanuts. Add garlic and stir until brown. The noodles should be flexible but not expanded at this point. Drain the noodles and add to the wok. Stir quickly to keep things from sticking. Add tamarind, sugar, fish sauce, chili pepper and cilantro. Stir. The heat should remain high. Make room for the egg by pushing all noodles to the side of the wok. Crack the egg onto the wok and scramble it until it is almost all cooked. Fold the egg into the noodles. Add shrimp and stir. Add bean sprouts, parsley. Stir a few more times. The noodles should be soft and very tangled.

Pour onto the serving plate and sprinkle with peanuts. Make it pretty with a wedge of lime on the side and raw cilantro and raw bean sprouts on top.