copenhagen kitchen

we are now with cat

2012-03-03T11:19:00.000+01:00

my husband and i finally got two kitties! the striped one is seven of nine and the black one is uhura. i am so in love with them, even though their little claws are constantly marking their territory (me and husband included..) and their shenanigans wake us and they kick litter around like they hate it... but the thing that probably stresses me out the most about them is, you guessed it, their food.

i've owned two cats before, but that was back in california where my parents did most of the important stuff for them. though i gave them their hated baths and brushed them and fed them, it was my parents that bought the cat shampoo and food and hair cuts. now that it's me who is purchasing, i did a bit of research and at first i wanted my cats to have a raw food diet. i've come to realize that doing it in copenhagen is insane. there is no way i could afford to keep up with a diet like that! but when you think about it, cats should be eating wet food, chasing down their prey a bit, getting nutrients from bones, liver, etc. i feed them a 50-50 mix of hill's food for kittens and sterilized young cats, as recommended by the cat shelter we bought our kittens from. though it is a bit more expensive than whiskas or whatever is in the supermarket, i feel good knowing that they aren't ingesting crap made mostly of vegetable protein and e-numbers. and it is way more affordable than buying fresh meat and bone meal for them.

occasionally i give them some meat chopped into little pieces, but only if we are going to have it for dinner. i have also treated them to cod roe and sardines, which they are crazy about. if they smell a chicken roasting or some stock being simmered, they think it's treat time and the meowing symphony takes off. i really hope they are getting all the nutrients they need.. and i cringe to think of how i'll be if/when i have a kid. i'll be drawing up charts and sorting food based on most efficient nutritional intake. i'll have to quit my job to keep up with all the research... hmm, maybe it's best that crazy people like me don't have children. ^^;

so what do you feed your cats?

auntie alice's galbi jim

2012-02-16T12:04:00.004+01:00

last christmas my aunt alice made a wonderful beef dish in a slow cooker. the meat was very tender and packed with flavour! in korea, meat is rarely eaten the way it is in america; usually it is presented as a side dish instead of the centerpiece of the meal. this dish is so flavourful that you only need a little bit with rice... and you really must eat it with rice so you can soak up all the lovely sauce! (:

aunt alice's galbi jim
serves 12 as a side, 8 as a main

2.3 kg chuck roast or brisket
900 g steamed small yellow potatoes (optional)
handful of shiitake mushrooms (optional)
2 medium-sized yellow onions, cut in half
1 small or medium-sized korean radish, peeled and cut into big chunks
5 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 cup broccoli or brussels sprouts, cut into bite-sized pieces
10 garlic cloves, peeled
2 peeled slices of ginger, about 3 cm each
1 cup soy sauce (regular, not light)
1 cup granulated sugar or palm sugar
1/8 or 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
pinch of salt

wash the meat, trim off the fat, and cut it into big chunks. heat a nonstick frying pan on medium-high heat and sear the meat chunks for about 30 seconds on each side, then put them in the slow cooker with 5 garlic pieces and the ginger pieces. cook the seared meat on the low setting for about 4-6 hours until the meat is cooked. the meat should be intact and the broth should not be a reddish color.

on the same nonstick frying pan on medium-high heat, lightly cook the radish, carrots, yellow onions with 5 garlic pieces and add pinch of salt. do not fully cook the vegetables.

drain all but 2 cups of the meat broth from the slow cooker, reserving the rest for use in another recipe. add cooked vegetables, broccoli or brussel sprouts and add the rest of the ingredients. if using dried shiitake mushrooms then add them now, but if they are fresh then add them a few minutes before serving. cook on high for about 2-3 hours or you can cook on the low setting for a few more hours, depending on when you are serving. (:

more bali

2012-02-08T20:54:00.000+01:00

ever since i got a few epic cookbooks on my last visit to the states, i've been itching to make another balinese feast! i invited two friends over the see the new flat; the perfect excuse to cook up a storm.. as if i need an excuse. eating this food makes me feel like i am somewhere warm, even though the weather is pretty crummy outside. clockwise from the top is masi kuning (yellow rice), be siap base kalas (chicken in spicy coconut milk, serosop (braised banana flower and jackfruit), urab bali (bali-style mixed vegetables), and in the center is berkedel jagung (corn fritters) and fried tempe.

be siap base kalas / chicken in spicy coconut milk
adapted from the bali cookbook by lonny gerungan
serves 4

1 chicken, about 1.3 kg
1 lemongrass stalk
3 tbsp vegetable oil
spice paste
3 salam leaves (if you don't have them, leave it out)
400 ml thick coconut milk*
1 tbps melted palm sugar (corn syrup is an acceptable substitute)
salt to taste

separate the legs and breasts of the chicken and cut the carcass in half. trim the lemongrass, bruise the stalk, and tie the leaves together in a knot. heat the oil in a wok and fry the spice paste for about 3 minutes. add the lemongrass, salam leaves, and chicken pieces, and then stir-fry for about 2 minutes. add the coconut milk, melted palm sugar, and season with salt. simmer the chicken for about 35 minutes, until the juices run clear. serve the chicken in the sauce with rice.

*if you want to take this dish to another level, you can make the thick coconut milk yourself. grate the flesh of a coconut, mix with a cup of lukewarm water and soak for 15 minutes. squeeze and knead the soaked coconut in the water. strain, pressing out all the liquid through a fine strainer set above another bowl.

---

spice paste for chicken
9 candlenuts
½ tsp white peppercorns
½ tsp black peppercorns
5 shallots, peeled and finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
5 bird's eye chilies, sliced
5-cm piece of fresh galangal, sliced into coins
3-cm piece of fresh turmeric, peeled and finely chopped

use a mortar and pestle to pound the candlenuts and peppercorns into a fine paste. you may be tempted to use a food processor, but the taste and texture is definitely different. add the shallots, garlic, chilies, and turmeric, and pound again to a paste. add the galangal and bruise it a bit, leave it in larger pieces so you don't accidentally bite into one...

masi kuning / yellow rice
adapted from the bali cookbook by lonny gerungan
serves 4/6

500 g white rice (i used jasmine)
1 lemongrass stalk
1-cm piece of fresh turmeric, peeled and grated
100 ml thick coconut milk*(see above)
3 salam leaves
1 tsp salt

trim the lemongrass, bruise the stalk, and tie the leaves together in a knot. put the rice in a pan, add the coconut milk and enough warm water to cover by 2 cm. add the lemongrass, turmeric, salam leaves, and salt. bring to a boil and cook uncovered for 8 minutes. stir the rice with a wooden spoon, bring down to a simmer, and cook until the water has evaporated. transfer the half-cooked rice to a steamer, ensuring it rests above the water. i put the rice in a fine-mesh strainer in a pot with water at the bottom. cover and steam until tender, about 15 minutes. you may have to add more water to the bottom after a few minutes if it all evaporates.

it was a pretty risky setup, as i'd only made the long bean and sprout salad and the yellow rice before. everything was good except the occasional bite of supremely bitter galangal, which my indonesian friend suggested leaving in larger pieces, and *gasp* under-cooked chicken. i was really embarrassed about the latter, especially since i wasn't the one who got that piece. though i have come a long way with cooking, i haven't really been practicing on animal proteins so much. luckily at least one of my friends was brave enough to come to dinner at my place again.. well, you win some and you lose some. ^^;

vegan carnitas

2012-01-09T19:58:00.001+01:00

after we got back to denmark, i was in the mood for some wholesome food to balance out all the sushi and meat we'd been eating in california. good thing i had a vegan dinner planned in advance with some friends! even though i had scheduled it the day after our arrival, i never felt stressed during the prep; the dinner came together so easily! i soaked the beans before i went to bed and threw them in the slow cooker in the morning. i added bay leaves, a handful of peeled garlic cloves, a small onion cut into quarters, cumin and coriander seeds. when i got home from work, it was finished! i made the rice and coarsely chopped some cabbage and carrots while the 'carnitas' cooked.

jackfruit carnitas
adapted from clean green simple
serves 2 hungry people as taco filling

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 can young green jackfruit (around 550g)
1 medium red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 chipotle chile, minced
1 tsp of adobo sauce from the can of chipotles
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder (or more, depending how spicy you like it)
1/8 tsp cayenne powder (ditto)
1 tsp mexican oregano
1 tbsp liquid smoke
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 cup vegetable stock
juice of half a lime
pinch of cinnamon
salt and pepper

heat the oil in a pan. add the onions and jackfruit and saute until the onions soften. add the garlic and stir it for about 30 seconds. turn off the heat and dump the jackfruit mix into the slow-cooker. add the rest of the ingredients and cook on high for an hour. mash it up a bit or pull the pieces apart with forks about halfway through. if you like it a bit saucy, it's ready! if you prefer the ends crunchy, dump the contents back into the pan (hope you didn't wash it already) and saute until most of the sauce has dried up. serve on corn tortillas warmed in the oven and enjoy!

sugar and gluten were omitted from the jackfruit, as i had to take my guests' dietary considerations into account. everyone seemed to enjoy their tacos, with the green and red salsas and 7 bottles of hot sauce i laid out... muahaha! this dinner was totally worth lugging that big bag of corn tortillas in my carry-on luggage! omg, my bag was so heavy with goodies... it's a miracle i was able to get both pieces of luggage up the steps into our apartment! of course i was too stubborn to ask my husband's help this time, as he always complains that i am stuffing too many things into the kitchen.

~~request~~ plea to green grocers in denmark: stock decent corn tortillas! or even masa harina! PLEASE. ;_;

christmas in california

2012-01-08T13:04:00.003+01:00

every other year, the dane and i fly to america to spend christmas with my family instead of his. this year was our second time spending the holidays in california. it's always a strange feeling with the sun nearly constantly shining and the temperature sitting around a balmy 21°C/70°F. but the gaudy decorations are still all over the shops and the crappy songs are playing 24/7 on the radio. we don't celebrate christmas in the traditional way with caroling or the roast goose/duck/ham/turkey. meat actually plays a fairly small part in the korean diet compared to americans. but this was definitely not a traditional korean meal either.

galbijim! in a slow cooker! the dane told me that though the meat looked dry, it was very tender and delicious. my aunt alice made this. hopefully she'll give me the recipe soon so i can post it >here<. (;

soba salad! light and fresh, perfect for a sunny day like... christmas eve?!

my aunt silvia's delicious fish. top salmon with a mixture of mayo, pepper, and fish eggs. in the oven and there you go! if you add salt, i'd only use very little since the fish eggs are pretty salty. everyone went nuts over this, especially us 'kids.'

a nice assortment of veg. my grandma grew the leaves on the top left, dried them, and stir-fried them with garlic and soy sauce. she said it is kind of like collard greens. then we have some spicy water spinach(?) and pickled radish and carrot.

sorry, this ddeokbukki was not made in the slow cooker. it was only used to keep the dish warm after it was stir-fried. it was very moreish with rice sticks, fish cakes, bell peppers, and some little bits of meat.

my mom's japchae! she topped it with some egg strips this time. i don't know why, but every time i make it, it doesn't taste nearly as good as hers or my grandma's. (;

epic rice is epic. chestnuts and beans come together in this rice cooker to make a great cold-weather dish that really sticks to your bones. too bad there was none of that cold weather around.

poor copper... my aunt's dog was kicking up quite a ruckus seeing all these people and smelling all the good food, but not being let into the living room. we did let him out into the backyard after this pathetic pose and later they took him on a walk.

here is my wonderful christmas lunch plate! i know, it looks full... but it is mostly vegetables, grains, fish, and a little bit of meat. also, i didn't get seconds. i wasn't able to get any decent photos of the acorn jelly salad or the chicken wrap in their serving trays, but you can see them here. delicious!!

while we were eating outside in the lovely weather, we spotted an uninvited guest! a bird of prey swooped down in the backyard and caught what i think was a mouse. it landed in a tree and started digging in with the rest of us. what kind of bird is that?

and then the desserts came out... madeleines with plump blackberries and powdered sugar. these were so good that i ended up eating two. i tried not to think about how much butter went into them, even though it was my aunt alice herself who gave me the recipe, along with two madeleine pans.

this chocolate trifle was probably my favourite, although it was probably the least labor-intensive out of all three desserts. there is just something about the combination of pudding, cake, whipped cream, and crunchy toffee that is so comforting.

the irish cream cheesecake was good, though i could only manage a sliver of it. it was thankfully not as rich as the typical new york cheesecake. my aunt alice, the queen of sweets in our family, made all the desserts! though my mom is a great cook, her baking is nothing to rave about... sorry, mom!

so that is how we spend christmas eve in the kim family, or as my dad calls it, the kim dynasty. it will be another 2 years before we spend the holidays like this again, but i'm looking forward to celebrating a traditional danish jul with the dane's family again next year. maybe i can even bring a dish of my own to add a little korean to the table, hah! hopefully there will be some snow on the ground then, and it will feel like a real christmas. ^^

vegan mac and 'cheese'

2011-12-18T12:22:00.001+01:00

this loosely-written recipe is perfect for fall weather! just add as much of everything as you like. it's nowhere near as unhealthy as the real thing, especially if you use whole wheat pasta like i do. but it does have that strange neon orange glow that reminds you of the stuff in the box with the powdered cheese. (;

vegan macaroni and 'cheese'

10-15 leaves of sage
100g of vegan butter or palmin (coconut oil)
1 medium-sized butternut squash
a portion of elbow macaroni or other pasta of your choice

chop the sage and mix it with vegan butter or palmin. set aside.

heat the oven to 200°C. cut the butternut squash in half and scoop out the seeds, saving them for later. set the squash halves cut side down in a baking pan and roast until a fork and pierce the skin easily, about 45 minutes. take halves out of the oven and when they're cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh out and purée.

cook your pasta in salted water according to the instructions on the package. drain all the water except a deciliter or so.

put some of the sage butter in a pan over medium-high heat and add about 3 deciliters of squash purée (though it depends on how much pasta you are using). when the butter melts, add your cooked pasta and some of the cooking water; just enough to make the consistency to your liking. salt and pepper to taste. you can also add nutritional yeast or black salt to make it more cheesy.

you will most likely have some sage butter and squash leftover, it's good on potatoes too if you get sick of this recipe. (:

the vegan side of hong kong

2011-12-15T21:38:00.000+01:00

i was really happy to see my friend R again, and even got to stay at her flat in the city. that last time i saw her was almost precisely a year ago, only in london. i hope we meet up again next october! since my friend is mostly-vegetarian-sometimes-pescatarian, i was curious to see how she was faring in the land of chicken stock and pork filling. i was surprised to find that she was doing pretty well!

harvester is a vegetarian buffet joint close to R's flat. it just looks like a regular cafe with no eye-catching decor, aside from the smattering of health foods for sale that are sparsely displayed on some shelves. but the buffet is amazing! it is a little on the pricey side when compared to the local fare, but i think the extra money is worth it. you pay for the buffet by weight and then you can take as much soup or congee as you'd like. the offerings for that day were: fake pork in tofu, fake fishcake, fried asparagus, broccoli with fake chicken, and a stir-fry with fake squid. the consistency of the chicken and squid were almost too convincing, the chicken even had 'skin' and 'goosebumps.' well, i guess they would be chickenbumps.

harvester
shop a-b, yardley commercial building
3 connaught road west (sheung wan)
hong kong
tlf. 2542-4788

we had another epic lunch at life cafe, a hip vegetarian cafe that serves alcohol and filling meals along with coffee and cakes. english seemed to be the language of choice here, with all the expats that were milling about. R ordered the quesadilla in the lovely pink tortilla. i had the tempe burger, which was absolutely perfect! the tempe was cooked just enough so that i couldn't taste the fermented mushiness and the red onion relish gave a nice tang. the only thing i would have added was a bit more ketchup, but hey, i'm american. i needs my ketchups. and the service was so good already that i didn't want to bother them more. guess i've been living in copenhagen too long. (;

life cafe
10 shelley street (Soho)
hong kong
tlf. 2810 9777

sadly, that was about all the vegetarian food we ate in the two weeks i spent there, aside from the 3 times we cooked at her flat. kitchens are usually not so big in those hong kong high-rises, so people tend to eat out more. kind of nice, but also kind of sad. i really missed cooking while i was there!

hong kong

2011-11-13T18:41:00.000+01:00

first of all, let me warn my vegan and vegetarian readers that this is not a veg-friendly post; that's coming later! the purpose of my trip was to visit with friends and also to attend a friend's wedding dinner in china. funny that the three of us met in the first module of our danish language course! i was in hong kong for about 2 weeks and it was pretty much nonstop eating and shopping with a tiny bit of sightseeing thrown in for good measure. let's just get the dim sum out of the way first. P:

i've eaten a lot of dim sum in my lifetime; both in california and denmark and also once in singapore airport. now that i finally had the chance to try it in hong kong and china, i can say that the places i've been to in orange county are more authentic than the two decent dim sum places in copenhagen. but there were a few differences that stood out. in hong kong, the dumpling wrappers were rolled very thin and the radish cakes had big chunks of radish and shrimp (instead of a consistent texture). also, it seemed generally less oily than copenhagen and more than california. i had the honor of watching a woman in a noodle shop rolling her own dumpling wrappers and eventually wrapping some. i saw it with my own eyes and still don't get it. the fluffy buns were slightly sweeter than i'm used to, with the lightest feel! i need to learn how to make char siu bao like that! o_o

pickles to start
i would dare to say that one of the best meals i had there was at a private kitchen. i love the idea and wish i could do something like that in denmark... but there's that whole problem with me having only a work visa for echocardiography and my lack of enthusiasm for becoming a permanent resident... anyway, sìchuān cuisine da píng huō served us 12 courses of plate after plate of amazing food. not pictured are 2 bowls of palate-cleansing soup that the low light was not kind to. corkage is very reasonable so we brought a bottle of white and later ordered another one from the menu. i wish i could remember the names, as they went surprisingly well with such strong food.

glass noodles with peanuts and chilies

chicken with peanuts

braised beef cheeks(?)
in the background of this photo you can see some vegetarian dishes that they made especially for my friend. how thoughtful! (:

pork sticky rice with sweet potatoes

pork(?) dumplings

mabo tofu
okay, now i really like spice but this dish was just insane. from the very first bite, the schezuan peppercorns did their job numbing my mouth... and then the chilies kicked in. we all ate a little bowlful but i stubbornly took a second helping. hey, it tasted good! this dish haunted several of us for a long time... i didn't feel completely right until after we got back from china a few days later; my stomach was really complaining! this was probably one of the spiciest dishes i've ever eaten. ><

to finish, we had a not-too-sweet tofu pudding. it helped take a bit of the edge off of the mabo tofu and was a nice close to the seemingly never-ending meal. then the wife and husband team who own the restaurant came out to thank us for coming and she sang opera! i was blown away.

it's quite intimate since the room is only suitable for about 40 diners and only 2 seatings. and you can really tell that they pay attention to every detail of the food... and the price? well, a bit expensive more expensive than traditional chinese restaurants in the area but absolutely worth it. there are a handful of other private kitchen in hong kong. i can definitely recommend the experience!

sìchuān cuisine da píng huō
49 hollywood road (central)
hong kong
entrance on graham street!

gapshida!

2011-11-02T16:00:00.000+01:00

recently a series of fortunate (at least for me!) events brought me face to face with my food hero, maangchi! for some reason, i had no idea that she was planning to come to denmark in october for her global cooking show. in september, she contacted me to ask if i was still living in copenhagen and that she was looking forward to meeting me. of course i told her i was elated! but a few days later, the organizer for the copenhagen meetup could no longer participate and maangchi asked me if i could do it.

o_o

only my husband knows the sheer joy i was feeling when she asked me.

at first we had planned to meet at my apartment if there was less than 10 attendees or at a restaurant if there were more. eventually, the headcount grew to over 50... woah! kafa-x, the soup kitchen i volunteer at, graciously allowed us to use the building for the meet up event. because there were too many people to cook for, maangchi decided to make it a potluck, which was easier for us and also gave a good variety of great food. even still, we did a lot of work shopping around at chinatown market and torvehallerne and prepping the food afterwards. yes, there is a cooking video that will appear at some point, as i was able to find a cameraman (pictured above). he's a friend of mine who is hopefully now inspired to cook some korean food at home. (:

there was so much food! the table was totally packed with plates and bowls. maangchi and i made beef and radish soup and also a spicy pork stir fry. for my friend the cameraman, we made a vegan version with mushrooms instead of pork. among other things, people brought pickled tomatoes, broccoli soup, pumpkin soup, stir-fried chinese greens, frikadeller, kimchi (duh), kimbab, potato cakes, red cabbage salad, carrot salad, butternut squash and pear salad, and some lovely desserts. two guys even brought about 10 bottles of soju, wow! i don't even want to think about how much that cost here in copenhagen. D:

these three girls were a big surprise; they came all the way from sweden to meet maangchi! one of them even made some really good korean fried chicken. i was so impressed... i will definitely invite them to the next kimchi-making class. (:

the next day, maangchi invited me to her hotel room to have lunch. turns out that she had a little picnic stashed away in her luggage! with the little travel rice cooker, seaplant sheets, kimchi, dried anchovies, spicy dipping sauce, tiny shrimps, tiny dried fish, and squid, it was one of the best meals i've had in copenhagen in a long time. we wrapped everything up in the seaplant sheets and made a long kimbap roll. after lunch, i took maangchi for a classic tour of copenhagen. of course we had to see the little mermaid first, as she's advertised in every denmark travel brochure. then we walked by the old fortification of kastellet, the palace of the danish royal family, nyhavn, the pedestrian street, and then city hall. phew, that was a lot of walking! sorry, i didn't take any photos... i just wanted to relax and hang out with maangchi, haha! she posted some fun photos already.

by the time we got to city hall we had only eaten some ice cream in coffee (yes, you read that right!) and tea since lunch, so we decided to eat dinner at my favourite chinese place. that's right, we went to magasasa! we ordered some very spicy fish in a LOT of chili oil and the spicy crab, both off the sichuan menu. obviously we ate it with rice! it was so good after our long walk in the chilly weather and a great meal to see me off to hong kong. (:

the next day i didn't have time to see maangchi again as she had another engagement and i was busy packing for my own trip. at that point it hit me how privileged i was to have her all to myself for a whole day, haha! the more we talked, the more i realized we are the same 'species.' we'll probably meet again someday. after copenhagen, she continued her cooking adventure in australia, new zealand, singapore, indonesia, malaysia, and the philippines! safe trip, maangchi! ^^

sort of balinese dinner

2011-10-07T13:01:00.000+02:00

when my friends asked about my trip to bali, i told them it was 50/50. good because of the great food and beautiful scenery. bad because everyone was trying to make a buck off me and my family, some people even borderline harassing us, and also i got sick. but i guess the food left a bigger impression on me than i thought! i love balinese food and the hellish spiciness. when i took a cooking class at the villa, the chef and i made the fish in banana leaf so spicy that i was the only one eating it (with sambal!) after my family members each took a single bite.

lately i have been craving indonesian food like mad! it may or may not have anything to do with the fact that my husband and i have temporarily moved to a flat which is much closer to the asian markets by the central station. now that the shops are almost neighbors to us, i feel like making only asian food all the time! but of course i know my husband, so there is always a loaf of rye bread lying around the kitchen for when he doesn't want to eat 'weird' food. :P

yesterday i had friends over for dinner and made bali-style beef rendang, accompanied by coconut rice, bali-style salad, and sambal. though the ingredients list and amount of work may look daunting, the taste of the finished dish is definitely worth it. of course this is copenhagen, not ubud; so some of the ingredients weren't available to me. for the salad, i swapped out lesser galangal for fingerroot and the coconut was just regular dessicated coconut that i toasted in a dry pan. honestly, it was still very good! however the rendang disappointed me a little since it was not dry, as the authentic stuff should be... actually it looks like dog food! whatever, i love a good sauce and this sauce was incredible! all in all, it should have cooked for much longer to get drier and browner. but there are plenty of leftovers to cook longer. (:

sambel tomat (spicy tomato sauce)
adapted from chef rai nuriana at furama villas
yield: about 500g

75 mL vegetable oil
100 g shallots, peeled and sliced (the small ones you get at the asian market)
50 g garlic, peeled and sliced
60 g bird's eye chilies, sliced (obviously use less, seeded, or bigger chilies if you can't take the heat)
25 g palm sugar chopped
1 tbsp belacan (roasted shrimp paste)
300 g tomatoes, chopped
quarter of a kaffir lime*
salt and pepper

heat the oil in a heavy saucepan over moderate high heat. add shallot and garlic and saute until golden. add chili peppers and saute until softened. then add shrimp paste and brown sugar and saute until the sugar browns a bit. add tomatoes and saute until soft. remove from heat and cool down. coarsely grind the cooled mixture using a mortar or blender. heat the mixture again and add kaffir lime, salt, and pepper to taste before serving.

*unfortunately i could not find fresh kaffir limes in copenhagen so i used a regular lime. not the same taste at all, but i did what i could. i highly recommend you use kaffir limes instead of regular limes if it's available. ):

beef spice paste
adapted from chef rai nuriana at furama villas

3 shallots, peeled and chopped (the smalls ones you get at the asian market)
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
30 g galangal, peeled and chopped
6 bird's eye chilies, chopped (obviously use less, seeded, or bigger chilies if you can't take the heat)
15 candlenuts, chopped
3 tsp coriander seed
3 tbsp black peppercorns
30 g palm sugar, chopped
150 mL vegetable oil
6 salam leaves
3 star anise
1½ tsp belacan

grind all the ingredients coarsely in a food processor EXCEPT oil and salam leaves. heat the oil in a heavy saucepan or wok, then add the ground mixture along with the salam leaves and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. set aside and cool before using.

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rendang daging (braised beef in coconut milk)
adapted from chef rai nuriana at furama villas
yield: serves 6 people as a main

beef spice paste (recipe listed above)
6 tbsp vegetable oil
1.2-1.5 kg free-range beef
6 stalks lemongrass, bruised
6 salam leaves
6 kaffir lime leaves
3 cups water
1½ cup coconut milk
salt and pepper
fried shallots to garnish (or eat straight out of the bowl!)

heat the oil in a heavy stockpot. add the spice paste and fry over low heat for 2 minutes. add the beef, lemongrass, salam leaves, kaffir lime leaves, and water. bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer for about 30-40 minutes. add the coconut milk and bring it back up to a boil. reduce to a simmer again and cook until the meat is tender and the sauce thickens, about 1-2 hours (but don't be afraid to cook it for longer as long as there is a little liquid in the bottom of the pot). season to taste with salt and pepper and garnish with fried shallots. serve with steamed rice and sambal.

if you're making this the same day you will be serving it, be sure to make a little extra, as it tastes infinitely better the next day! P:

american foodstuffs in copenhagen

2011-09-28T21:50:00.003+02:00

i know i've already written a short guide to the city but i've been meeting a lot of homesick americans both online and in person lately and they all seem to be looking for similar things. i feel like i can help you guys out here! are you looking for:

beans
supermarket doesn't carry the sort of beans you're looking for? take a walk down nørrebrogade, where i recommend the best indian shop in town, dhadra, and grocers located between runddel and nørrebro station. you should also look around the reventlowsgade side of the central station, where i recommend afghan and kabul market. they have beans both dried and canned. yes, black beans too. (:

'exotic' fruit and veg
aubergine (thai, japanese, chinese, pea), banana leaf, banana peppers, bitter melon, bok choy, cassava, chipotles (only canned), fresh curry leaves, daikon radish, galangal, jackfruit (young is fresh in slices or canned, ripe is only canned), lemongrass, long bean, lotus root and leaf, mangosteen, okra, pandan leaf, sweet potato, tamarind, fresh turmeric, wolfberries. i have seen them all at one point or another in various green grocers, especially those by the central station. doesn't hurt to ask the shopkeeper if you can't find what you're looking for, they are usually quite nice people.

soy milk
it can get pretty expensive buying soy milk since it's always organic here! my favourite brand comes from aldi. it has no added sugar, getting its natural sweetness from fermented rice. not only is it the best-tasting, it's also the cheapest at 9,99kr per liter. however, because of the sweetness this may not be a milk substitute that you'd want to mix into your savoury dishes; i only use it for baking, tea and cereal.

peanut butter
in a pinch, you can find it at abigail's or any of the bigger supermarkets for 30+kr. but i suggest you keep an eye on the weekly circulars. usually i pick up 350g jars of organic peanut butter for 12-15kr when they're on sale at netto or rema1000. i know i get gawked at when i'm rolling up to the cash register with 5 jars of them, but don't ever try to separate me from my peanut butter if you value your limbs.

condensed soups
i know those of you who are searching for these are most likely going to use them in casseroles or as the base for another soup... right?! you're not going to just eat it plain! anyway, it's not in my place to judge... sometimes they go on sale (see above for shop circulars) but you can almost always find them at abigail's, along with betty crocker cake mixes and ciders.

canned pumpkin puree
though i highly recommend you roast and puree your own pumpkins, it's quite an undertaking and maybe you don't have time/room for it. i've heard larger superbest stores has an american section where you can find pumpkin puree but if you can't find it there, try abigail's.

mayonnaise
looking for a specific brand of mayo? miracle whip and best foods/hellmans can be found in superbrugsen, kvickly, and metro. the latter is a card-only warehouse sort of like costco or sam's club back in the states. you must be a business owner to get a card or grab a friend who has one. they also have a good selection of hard-to-find liquor (like palatable tequila) and they also have an in-store fishmonger and butcher. but again, try making your own at home; it's so much better!

booze
missing american beers? øl bar in nørrebro is a fan of serving up microbrews from across the pond. you could also try your luck at den tatoverede enke, but if you can't find a specific american brew, there's plenty of other amazing beers to choose from in that bar. for drinking at home, check out my favourite kihoskh. if you're longing for budweiser, stop reading my blog NOW. ):

cuts of meat
if you look in any supermarket here, there is normally a smaller variety of cuts (unless there's an in-store butcher) available than you may be used to in the states. but there are plenty of butchers around town that can help you out there. my favourite is the guldberg butcher, who only sells local, free-range meat and organic chickens. the chart above should also help you visually identify the parts you want. (:

dips
looking for a tub of sour cream and some onion and garlic powder to concoct your own dip for chips or veg? sour cream doesn't exist here but crème fraiche tastes almost the same, just a bit less sour. garlic powder i've been able to find in little bags at green grocers in nørrebro and vesterbro. onion powder has been spotted at superbrugsen.

coffee
copenhagen has both good beans and bad. you can find fairtrade coffee in almost any supermarket and you can get direct trade coffee freshly brewed at estate or coffee collective. but if you're looking for a seattle style dark roast, the only option i've been able to find is the lonely starbucks in the airport.

sodas
gotta get your root beer or cream soda fix? these flavours aren't very popular with the locals, but you can find them if you look. occasionally they go on sale (see circulars) or you might be able to find them in middle eastern or indian green grocers. dr. pepper has also been found at kihoskh, the best damn kiosk i've ever been to.

if you have looked and looked and simply cannot find what you're looking for, why not take a trip to malmø? you can either take a car over the toll bridge or get there faster by train. going by bus takes an hour but it's very cheap, especially if you take a day trip (dagstur) and even cheaper if you are 29 and under or 60 and over. groceries there will be a bit cheaper and swedish supermarkets ica and coop generally have more variety than their danish counterparts. still can't find it? try their bigger stores, ica maxi and coop extra. vegans and vegetarians, don't miss a trip to astrid och aporna; it has pretty much everything your widdle heart desires.

for other things, here are some websites that ship to denmark.

food from home - british and american food. chocolate chips!
iherb - vitamins, gluten-free baking goods, nut butters

this is just a food blog; for other tips on denmark, check out this page.

if there's something you're searching for or already found, feel free to write me in the comments and i can add it to the list or start a hunt for it. (:

peanut butter

2011-09-14T22:05:00.000+02:00

today i spotted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the lunch table at work. on white bread. in denmark, any bread that is white is usually labeled with the all-encompassing word, 'franskbrød' which directly translates to 'french bread.' this was not french bread (authentic or otherwise), but snow white sandwich bread with empty calories. immediately i asked the owner "are you american?" in danish. she said yes, and it turns out she is from virginia and training at our hospital for one semester. we talked for a few minutes while a couple of our coworkers watched in silent surprise. normally i don't talk that much and she doesn't speak danish so it must have been a shock to the other nurses to see us chatting so comfortably.

in typical american style, i absolutely love peanut butter! in desserts, in sauces, on slices of apple for a quick breakfast. but even though i like it so much, i understand how weird it seems to other cultures. i remember on my last day of work at another hospital in denmark, my boss brought a jar of peanut butter just for me to our breakfast table. all the nurses wanted to be good sports and try a bite. the reactions were similarly disgusted; a couple of them spit their peanut buttered toast out into a napkin as politely as they could. oh well, at least i got to take the rest of it home with me, hehe! before i left, one of the nurses asked me "so... what's it made of? is there butter in it?"

last week i made gado gado for the first time. it's basically vegetables, maybe tofu or egg, rice, and sauce. just like bibimbap, the name means to mix! only the sauce for gado gado is mostly peanut butter. it was incredible! the taste was very familiar... i'm pretty sure i had it a couple times at the villas my family and i stayed at in bali. i feel like i could eat that sauce with anything... on noodles, in sandwiches, over pancakes...! (:

i served gado gado with the lovely coconut rice from ottolenghi's cookbook, plenty. can you tell i love this book? the aroma from the rice drove me crazy; it was so delicious. the taste is very subtle but it still came through the peanut sauce. whenever i smell rice cooking, i think of my mom. when i was still living with my parents, my mom would almost always start dinner right after she got home from work. even though she has a demanding job as a nurse, she still put us over herself. now that i've moved away and my little brother is going out at all hours, my parents told me they go out to restaurants much more often and my mom cooks less. though it's pretty inexpensive to eat out in orange county, it makes me sad to hear my mom doesn't cook as much anymore!

mom, i miss you! i can't wait to eat your cooking again, even if it's just rice and some week-old banchan you made. ^^

torvehallerne

2011-09-05T10:55:00.003+02:00

FINALLY. copenhagen has its own market hall; something that appears in almost every other major city in the world. århus has bazar vest, but the capital city has been missing one for ages. ever since i first saw that eyesore of a construction site on the way to nørreport station, i've been dreaming of the day it would open.

i managed to put it off for 2 days after opening before giving in to my anxiousness and braving the market. the first thing that i noticed was how ugly the exteriors looked. glass all around, turning the halls into humid greenhouses that would not be pleasant in the summer. tacky drawings of fruits and vegetables, the likes of which one might see on a coffee mug from a discount store. and it was so crowded that i couldn't really enjoy it for long.

however, the little i did see of the market drew mixed feelings from me. on the one hand, hall 1 was everything i had anticipated; fresh clear-eyed fish, lovely runny cheeses, spices, takeaways, biodynamic vegetables. the smells and sights took me back to the farmers markets of california, the fish market in venice, borough market in london. to be honest, it was hard to believe i was still in copenhagen.

hall 2 was mainly just stalls that already had established their brick-and-mortar shops somewhere else in the city. agnes cupcakes, for instance, has a location in the city center which is infamous for selling out of cupcakes quickly. coffee collective's shop in nørrebro doesn't offer much seating but you have a shot at a couple benches here at the market. while i can understand the reasoning behind this hall, it doesn't really interest me and is not what i think of when i hear the phrase "food market."

as a young market it has so much potential. the prices of raw ingredients like produce and meat were fair and hopefully this place will inspire copenhageners and tourists alike that food doesn't have to be just fuel. i'll definitely be back many times (once the crowds die down) to visit the fishmongers, the spice man, and now i know where to get a duck confit sandwich in copenhagen.

torvehallerne
frederiksborggade 21
1360 københavn k
tlf. 70 10 60 70

tahu goreng

2011-09-01T23:57:00.000+02:00

if you found this page, you must have noticed that i changed the name of my blog. annoyingly, the old atherosclerosis URLs don't redirect back here... but then again, that would be a pretty hefty task to accomplish. and it's not like that many links lead back here... anyway, one thing that spurred the shift was that my husband and i just bought a flat together! the kitchen we have how is extremely small by american standards and even a little on the wee side for danes. our new kitchen will still not be as big as one in a typical american home, but it's almost twice the size of our current hole-in-the-wall. i can't wait to teach myself more about cooking and food photography in a bigger flat that will be all ours... at least for a couple years. ^^

nowadays i find myself paying attention to detail and noticing things that i normally wouldn't have. i'm sure it has something to do with the time i've been putting into drawing again. i've always been afraid of frying in anything more than a half-inch of oil, but today i made tahu goreng, or fried tofu. you can find the recipe at køkken69 and see how much better it looks on her blog. i almost left out the small detail of frying the tofu, as weird as it sounds. on the package it stated that it had already been fried. but i'm glad i convinced myself to do it, because the texture was so great against the crunchy bean sprouts and the peanut sauce. obviously the original recipe's sauce looks much finer but i actually enjoyed the crumbly bits of peanut and random bite of garlic. i ate it with brown rice noodles which soaked up the sauce nicely. and yes, i used dark soy sauce. i finally caved and bought a bottle each of light and dark after a year of only using 3 types; regular old kikkoman, gluten-free. and kecap manis. there's a detail that never should have been left out. seriously, it's worth it to have an array of soy sauces. o_o

hunan eggplant

2011-08-11T13:06:00.002+02:00

every time my friends and i go to our favourite local chinese restaurant, magasasa, one of us almost always orders the pork and aubergine plate. the texture is incredibly velvety from the veg and there's a nice chew from the pork belly. sweet, salty, spicy. i know it's not good for me but i love to soak up all the chili oil that the aubergine is swimming in with white rice. at home i eat brown rice so i can allow myself to indulge once in a while! today is a very rainy day and i've got a sore throat and runny nose, so i wanted something really spicy to clear it all up. i tried my hand at making the beloved dish but with a vegan twist.

hunan eggplant with quorn
adapted from this recipe at appetite for china

2 dried wood ear mushrooms (if in small pieces, a handful)
2 medium sized eggplants
70mL vegetable oil
85g quorn
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 small red chilies, minced (optional)
1 tbsp chili bean sauce
2 tbsp palm sugar, chopped in small pieces
60mL vegetable stock
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
salt to taste
3 scallion stalks, thinly sliced

pour boiling water over the wood ear mushrooms and let them soak for about 10 minutes. if not already in small pieces, cut up in strips.

cut the eggplant into quarters along the length and slice them a little over 1 cm thick. heat the oil in a wok over high heat until just beginning to smoke. add the eggplants and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes, stirring often, until the outsides turn golden brown. remove the eggplant with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on paper towels.

turn the heat down to medium and add the quorn, garlic, chilies and mushrooms and stir-fry for a minute. add the chili bean sauce and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. add palm sugar and return the eggplant to the wok. pour in the vegetable stock, soy sauce and sesame oil. simmer for a few minutes while the flavors penetrate the eggplants. don't be afraid to be generous with the salt because there is no bacon in this dish. serve hot over rice.

the verdict? hmmm, not exactly like what we order from magasasa. way less oil and even tastes healthier. of course quorn and wood ear mushrooms can't take the place of the wonder that is pork belly, but the bite of the mushrooms was very satisfying and of course i love the texture of eggplant. the spiciness cleared up my nose almost immediately! to veganize this dish, you can replace quorn with textured soy protein that's been soaked in vegetable stock. next time i will maybe add a few generous glugs of chili oil.

please excuse my meat

2011-08-07T13:58:00.000+02:00

up until now i've been posting a bit more about meat since i have pretty much just learned how to cook it. but recently i finished reading eating animals. now i'm a bit wary of consuming meat and cheese. of course the day i finished the book i had some idealistic thoughts of maybe turning vegetarian. but all those kind ideas fell apart (as many people predicted!) within just two days. it happened when i was over at a friend's place for lunch and she served a (free-range) chicken salad. mind you, it wasn't the only thing available to eat and there was even a vegetarian there who ate well. but i really love chicken! i felt extremely guilty for the following days but then i decided it's okay to eat meat as long as one does it responsibly. so no more buying meat or cheese unless it's free-range or something like it. less animal suffering (but still killing) and less harm to the earth (but still damaging). less is better than nothing, i guess. ):

right, enough with this silliness and onto the food!

there were two days out of this crappy, rainy week where the sun was shining and it was perfect grilling weather. luckily, my friends had the same idea and as i was cooking up my bbq-friendly food on the stove, i invited to their picnic. what you see above is jackfruit carnitas! although it may seem kind of strange, taste it before you knock it. the flesh of the jackfruit would have looked even more like shredded pork if i took out the seeds and pods encasing them. but when it comes to canned green jackfruit, you can eat the seeds and all. sadly we had no corn tortillas to put them in, so we ate them with rice and grilled vegetables. this is definitely a recipe i'm going to make again. the only thing i added was a bit of chopped chipotles and the adobo sauce in the can. unfortunately there wasn't enough left for my husband to try but i think he would have enjoyed the meaty texture.

last night, however, i made some mexican-ish bean mixture out of green mung beans. hey, i was in a hurry to make dinner and i wasn't about to soak some pinto beans right as my stomach started to grumble. and good luck finding canned pinto beans in denmark... anyway i boiled them with a bay leaf until soft, drained them, and added them to some minced garlic, cumin powder, and chopped chipotles that were frying in a pan. i think it tasted great and the silky texture of the mung beans was exactly what i was looking for to go in my whole wheat tortilla. i quickly chopped myself a salsa and wilted some spinach. my husband looked interested but didn't bite until later in the evening when all the ingredients were put away. "can i try a bit of that?" whenever i hear him say that, i get so happy! (i blame my korean roots for making me into a wife who yearns to please her man. =_=) i chucked together a burrito for him and he liked it so much that he made two quesadillas after that.

home-cooked vegetarian food - 1
pizza/falafel/sandwich takeaway - 0

rødgrød med fløde

2011-08-05T13:51:00.000+02:00

if you've ever tried learning danish, which i'm assuming is a very small number of you living outside of tiny denmark, you've probably been laughed at or teased in some way. one of the phrases that danes love using to make fun of your poor language skills is "rødgrød med fløde." it literally means "red porridge with cream." though it sounds like a throat disease, this dish is actually very refreshing and simple to make. this summer has really been asking for it with muggy rains and those few blazing hot days with sun. it's great to be able to pull something light and refreshing out of the fridge and it's even relatively healthy! well, if you don't use that much cream... or sugar... ^^;

a friend of mine had gone berry-picking with two of his friends that were visiting from canada and they had a lot leftover. i let one of them borrow my extra bike for the trip up to the farm and in exchange i got a tin full of delicious little strawberries. after my husband and i ate all we could, there was still half the tin left and it was going bad from being knocked about on the bike trip. luckily the next day i received some freshly-picked redcurrants from another friend of mine, as mentioned in my previous post. in exchange for that, i gave him half a loaf of my homemade rugbrød. he and his girlfriend really liked it and we're planning to do another trade later. trading rules. i hope my friends and i can organize the big foodswap i'm been picturing in my head someday. fresh fruit, herbs, kimchi, pickles, fresh-baked breads, pies- woo, i can see it now! anyway, my husband suggested i make his mother's (extremely detailed) recipe for rødgrød med fløde to deal with the berry surplus.

min svigermor's rødgrød med fløde

1kg bær (jordbær, ribs, solbær og hindbær) + eventuelt ekstra 200g hindbær
2 dl vand
300g sukker
1-2 spsk kartoffelmel
fløde og evt. mælk

bærrene skylles, ordnes (hvis der også bruges ribs, skal stilken ikke med (brug f.eks. en gaffel til at få ribsene skilt fra stilken) (jeg ville nok foretrække jordbær og hindbær. hvis der bruges solbær, skal man klippe stilk og den brune blomst af hver eneste solbær).

bærrene kommes i en gryde med vand og sukker. lad bærrene trække (altså stå i gryden med vand og sukker ) i et par timer. gryden sættes derefter over svag varme. kog bærrene op og fjern eventuel skum med en spiseske. lad bærrene koge 4-5 minutter.

tag gryden af varmen og rør eventuelt de ekstra hindbær i grøden. hindbærrene skal forblive så hele som muligt. (hvis du har hindbær i gryden i forvejen, så behøver du ikke putte de ekstra 200 gr hindbær i., da hindbær er ret dyre)

grøden kan jævnes let med et par skefulde kartoffelmel rørt op i koldt vand (bliver sådan en mælkehvid jævning). hvis du jævner med kartoffelmel, skal det ske, når grøden er lige under kogepunktet. (altså tages gryden med bærrene af komfuret, når de har kogt 4-5 minutter, hvorefter jævningen lige røres rundt i en kop umiddelbart før brug (ellers falder kartoffelmelet til bunden i koppen) og derefter hældes jævningen på grøden i en tynd stråle samtidig med, at der røres kraftigt i grøden (ellers klumper grøden). samtidig holder man lige øje med, om grøden har den konsistens, man ønsker. for meget kartoffelmelsjævning gør grøden tyk, og for lidt jævning, så bliver den måske for tynd.

grøden drysses med et tyndt lag sukker for ikke at trække skind, når den køles.

server rødgrøden med kold fløde + evt. lidt sukker, hvis man vil ha’ den sødere + evt. lidt mælk i stedet for ene fløde.

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my mother-in-law's red berry porridge with cream

1kg berries (strawberry, redcurrant, blackcurrant and raspberry) + optionally 200g raspberries extra
2 dl water
300g sugar
1-2 tbsp potato flour
cream and optionally milk

rinse and stem the berries. if also using currants, they can be separated by running a fork through the stems. (mom: i would probably prefer strawberries and raspberries) if using blackcurrants, cut the stem and the brown flower off each berry.

put the berries in a pot with the water and sugar. let them soak there for a few hours. then put the pot over low heat. boil the berries and remove any foam with a spoon. let it boil for 4-5 minutes.

take the pot off the heat and stir in any extra raspberries. they should stay as whole as possible. (mom: if you already had raspberries in the pot, don't add the extra 200g when they are quite expensive.)

note from me: i cooked the redcurrants separately and then strained them before adding to the other berries because the seeds are a bit too big for my liking. but if you don't care or you're lazy, feel free to cook them all together. :P

the porridge can be thickened slightly with a couple tablespoons of potato flour mixed with cold water (will become a milky-white slurry). you should add the slurry when the porridge is just below boiling (for instance, take the pot off the stove after cooking the berry mixture for 4-5 minutes, then pour the slurry in a thin stream while stirring vigorously (or else it'll clump up). at the same time, keep an eye on the porridge to get the consistency you want. too much potato flour will make it too thick and not enough will make it too thin.

sprinkle a thin layer of sugar over the porridge so it doesn't form a skin as it cools.

serve the porridge with cold cream and optionally a little more sugar if you like it sweeter and maybe a little milk instead of some of the cream.

chicken and eggs

2011-07-19T21:34:00.002+02:00

to the vegan readers; look away! sorry, but this summer i have been eating meat more than my usual habit of twice a month. i blame it on the smell of the grill! P:

i am in love with this lemon pulihora. it's a great rice dish with yellow mung beans and lots of lovely spices. in fact, i made the tandoori chicken masala just to go with the rice. i'm ashamed to say that i made the chicken using a seasoning from a box that a friend of mine gave me. but at least it was made in india and therefore semi-authentic! D:

chicken appeared on the menu again this month in the form of pulled chicken. i've been missing the taste of pulled pork but i don't have a slow cooker and it's too hot now to have the oven on for 4 hours. so this recipe really came through for me. it was great in sandwiches for the next couple days. (:

pictured above is supposed to be spareribs and potatoes. apparently the package of meat labeled 'spareribs' in denmark is actually closer to a thick cut of pork belly.. so this was unintentionally a really rich dish and i could only eat one rib at a meal. but normally with REAL spareribs it's so good that i can't stop until it's gone. here's my mom's recipe; sorry it's so vague, but a lot of korean mom recipes are like that...

mom's baby back ribs

rack of ribs
5-6 cloves garlic, chopped
1-inch piece of ginger, chopped
a handful of coffee beans
2-3 cups water
1/2 cup beer or white wine
2 tbsp doenjang (korean soybean paste)
3 bay leaves
some ground pepper
1 tbsp salt
3 tbsp sugar

barbecue sauce of your choice, kc masterpiece or sweet baby rays for me!

put all the ingredients except ribs and sauce in a pot and bring to a boil. add the pork ribs and boil for about 40 minutes until tender. drain and brush the boiled ribs with barbecue sauce. heat oven to 325 F/160 C and cook for 15-20 min. you could also grill them for about 10 minutes. coat with more sauce before serving, if you like.

finally, one of my friends gave me the gift of fresh farm eggs. he volunteers there but he's vegan so he won't enjoy all of the 'fruits' of his harvest. along with the eggs, i also got honey and some redcurrants. he does eat redcurrants but there were so many that there was no way he and his girlfriend could eat them before they went bad. one of these eggs is a duck egg. what do you make with duck eggs?

hola egg rolls!

2011-06-28T18:02:00.004+02:00

What happens when you have leftovers but from two different ethnic cuisines? In my case I had some left over carnitas from the other night, egg roll wrappers, and some cabbage ... and ohh yah bbq sauce. If I had some kimchi that would probably be a good addition to them or maybe some pickled cucumbers or radishes as a side dish. Radishes being more traditional towards mexican food, cucumbers ... well thats just because their just really good. Cilantro too, but if you don't have anything lying around keeping it simple and easy is best. Egg roll wrappers are great to have around in the refrigerator because they are so versatile. You can throw in your favorite meat, vegetable and make a yummy treat for yourself in minutes. Not only that but you can also fry the wrappers up themselves and use them for salads, burgers, sandwiches, the possibilities are endless. O man, I think I'm starting to sound like a food show host. Anyways if anyone has any other ideas post them up and if you don't have any egg roll wrappers lying around maybe you can share your ideas here and I'll cook and post them up next time ... happy cooking

not-so-sankt hans aften

2011-06-25T14:49:00.006+02:00

on june 23rd, denmark celebrates sankt hans aften; which is also known as midsummer or summer solstice. normally danes will flock to a big bonfire by a body of water to drink beer and eat sausages with snøbrød (bread cooked on a stick over a fire). the fire is supposed to symbolize burning a witch, as it's not nice to burn effigies anymore. but this year i wanted to avoid the crowds, especially after distortion; which has caused me to swear off beer for a while due to the stench of it mixed with urine for the entire week following the festival. luckily, my friend arranged a little grill party in her backyard which was pleasantly quiet and, well, undanish.

for this occasion, i chose to make one of the recipes that i learned in bali. the plan was to take a ghetto cooking class which would hopefully be taught by a mom (or even better, a grandma!) in her home with several other participants. but i didn't do enough research and my parents ended up treating me to a cooking class with the executive chef at the villa we stayed at in ubud. but a word of warning before you embark on this recipe: it's fairly labor-intensive! i got to my friend's apartment and was chopping, pureeing, cooking, and folding banana leaves from 5pm to nearly 7!! definitely not something you should take to a dinner party, no matter how casual it is. i felt sorry for my friends watching me fold each banana leaf while their tummies grumbled... ;_;

seafood spice paste
adapted from chef rai nuriana at furama villas
yield: about 1 kg

400 g green chilies, seeded and sliced
3 small green birds eye chilies, seeded
225 g shallots, peeled and sliced
1 head of garlic, peeled
100 g ginger, peeled and sliced (are you seeing a pattern here?)
175 g fresh turmeric, peeled and sliced
125 g candlenuts
2 tbsp toasted belacan
2 tbsp crushed coriander seeds
200 g tomatoes, sliced
2 tbsp tamarind pulp
150 ml vegetable oil
250 ml water
2 lemongrass stalks, bruised
3 salam leaves (if you can't find them, just leave it out)
salt to taste

puree all the ingredients in a food processor or mortar except lemongrass, salam leaves, salt, and water. pour the paste into a heavy saucepan along with the remaining ingredients and simmer over medium heat for 1 hour or until the water has mostly evaporated and the paste is golden. let the paste cool completely before using it. you can save it for later by freezing it in an ice cube tray and afterwards putting the cubes into a freezer bag.

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pesan be pasih (grilled fish in banana leaf)
adapted from chef rai nuriana at furama villas
yield: serves 2 as a main, 4-6 as an appetizer

300 g fish filets, chopped into big bite-sized pieces
125 g seafood spice paste
1 medium-sized tomato, cut into thin wedges
salt and pepper to taste
4 salam leaves
8 sprigs lemon basil
banana leaf, cut into 4 squares about 15 cm
bamboo skewers (or chives/spring onions/something to tie the parcels)

season the fish with salt and pepper and add the seafood paste. place one salam leaf on the center of the banana leaf, top with a fourth of the marinated fish (but if it looks like too much, cut back a bit), 2 tomato slices, and 2 sprigs of lemon basil. fold one third of the banana leaf over the filling and roll up tightly, securing with a bamboo skewer. (alternatively, you can also use spring onions or some long greens to tie them like i did. just make sure the greens are wet so they don't burn, letting the parcel fall apart.) repeat until you've filled all 4 banana leaves. cover the parcels and let them marinate in a cool place for 30 minutes.

you can steam them for 7 minutes, grill them for 9 minutes, or bake them for 9 minutes at 180°C. just watch out that they don't get burned or overcooked or else they'll be dry as hell. serve with rice!

i think they turned out pretty well, despite my frazzled preparation and lack of salam leaves. i think they were enjoyed by my friends as well - there were no leftovers as i unfortunately underestimated the amount that the recipe would yield. luckily there were plenty of other delights to shove into our mouths; the host made many sticks of delicious chicken satay using a recipe from rasa malaysia accompanied by a fiery chili peanut sauce that i resorted to simply spooning over my rice. the only danish thing about our dinner was a few sausages on the grill... which we didn't mind, seeing as those weenies were seriously outnumbered. a latecomer brought her own marinated pork belly and cutlets to grill; after two pieces they just pushed me over the edge, i was so full! but there's always room for dessert, which was a strawberry coconut cake. and sangria. lots of sangria.

...uh, happy sankt hans aften! hope we do it this way again next year. ^^

a korean hostess

2011-06-15T00:07:00.003+02:00

last week, i hosted a dinner party with a theme of korean food. usually when i invite people over for a meal, there is a relaxed and relatively... ghetto atmosphere in our flat. people have sat on the floor, some of the bowls are mismatched, and there is only the main meal served family-style followed by a dessert. well, at least this time people weren't sitting on the floor! with such a small apartment, there is only so much i can do when it comes to feeding a group of more than 4 people. but it was great fun! appetizer, main, and dessert were served in a timely manner and i can feel my cooking confidence growing by the day. i foresee many more dinners to be hosted by me. (:

pictured above is a simple pan-fried tofu dish which i topped with garlic, scallions, soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar. a wave of homesickness overcame me as i was preparing the meal; when my mom would cook at home, my brother and i got to taste-test everything. of course it was all perfect and i had nothing to add, but i'd keep sneaking by to 'test' another piece and another and another. especially when my mom makes fishcakes! as i asked my husband to taste-test a couple pieces of the fishcakes, i missed my mom so much! by the way, maangchi posted the fishcake recipe on the day after my dinner! what a cool coincidence. ^^

there was a vegetarian in attendance so i made sure there was enough for her to eat. my mom can tell you that acorn jelly has always been one of my favourite foods; way before i was even aware of veganism or gluten intolerance. but this dish is perfect for both of those since all it contains is the starch of the acorn and water. even though i love it, i am always pleasantly surprised when non-koreans enjoy acorn jelly, as the consistency and concept are so strange. it was served with the same sauce as the tofu, which i now regret (lazy me!), but they taste so good together. at least no one complained. (;

the other dishes served were soy sauce eggs with daikon and jalapenos, water kimchi (more on this later), classic napa cabbage kimchi, a salad, and galbi. i think the dinner went well even though i decided to serve quinoa at the last minute, which was a struggle to eat with chopsticks. stupidly, i did not check on the brown rice that i'd set in the cooker; it turned on and back off again for some reason. so obviously the rice never got cooked... but it works again now and thank goodness for that! i hope my mom is still reading my blog and will be proud of my hosting skillz, though they'll never come close to hers. but maybe after 30 more years of dinner parties, i can be half the hostess she is!

chicken!

2011-05-10T20:41:00.004+02:00

i'm not vegan. i'm not even vegetarian. but when it's not there, i never miss meat... except fish and chicken. and don't give me that crap that i would still be considered a "vegetarian." those people do not eat chicken. they also do not eat fish. stop putting that on your menu and labeling it as a "vegetarian dish." sorry about that rant, i'm sure i've mentioned it before but i keep seeing it! if i am annoyed by that, imagine how the vegetarians feel. fix it. *huff* anyway! /:',

roast chicken could easily be my last meal. i'm not sure what exactly makes me drool when i think of it, but i am almost always in the mood for a plate of it! recently, a friend of mine was ordering a bunch of chickens from hopballe; a mill which keeps free-range, GMO-free, almost CO2 neutral chickens here in denmark. i asked that she place an order for me so we could save on shipping, but my friend ended up giving it to me as a belated wedding gift. i wanted to treat this wonderful present as respectfully as possible; so rather than chopping it up and turning it into a burning thai curry or korean fried chicken, i decided on a subtle, simple roast.

i served it to my husband with this white wine. why have i been avoiding chardonnays for so long? this wine was fantastic with the chicken! not too dry and the mild sweetness cut through the salty skin and somewhat oily bits. this would be a great wine for bbqs as well, i imagine. as for the bird, the skin came out wonderfully crispy and the meat was incredibly moist. i should have used a flakier salt, though; it seemed a bit uneven. next time!

even the second and third days, the meat was still very moist. surprisingly i only ended up making one chicken sandwich, instead opting to use most of the leftovers in a vietnamese-style salad based on this recipe. i switched out the onions and mint for bell peppers and danish cucumber. the salad was very refreshing for the warm spring days that are finally hitting copenhagen. i almost want to roast another chicken right now, just to make this salad! this is definitely not the last time i'm getting one of these hopballe chickens. thanks, L! (:

bali! part 2

2011-05-04T12:06:00.003+02:00

the place where i had the second most memorable meal with my family in bali is certainly no secret. the dirty duck diner has popped up quite a few times on travel guides for the area, but for some reason the concept didn't really appeal to me. i was happy to eat at warungs, tucked away cafes, things i hadn't read about on blogs or guides. but i'm glad we decided to eat here, even though i was feeling extremely unwell from getting soaked in the rain at tanah lot and having the runs all week. it's easy to see that business has been good there! the restaurant may look medium-sized from the front, but it stretches way back with little lantern-lit ponds and private huts that are open but are a good distance away from neighboring diners.

we started with a baby octopus salad and fried red snapper. the fish was perfectly cooked, and the tender potatoes surprised me since i hadn't seen them in any indonesian dish prior to this. apparently they are grown locally in bali. the octopus salad was good too, but the fact that the avocados were under-ripe bothered me a bit. if they're not in season, please don't put them in the dish; it's not necessary. i was actually denied avocado drinks at all the cafes because although it was on the menu, they didn't have the fruit in stock.

the pork ribs came with rice, shallot with lemongrass or sambal matah, spicy tomato sauce or sambal tomat, and a salad. the ribs themselves were good but a bit dry, so not as delicious as the ones my mom makes. of course we ordered the duck as well, which came with more of those lovely potatoes. it was very good and though it was half of a duck, there wasn't enough! unfortunately it was also a little dry... i assume because of the volume of customers, food is cooked beforehand and left in a warmer; that would explain how the dishes came out so quick! my family and i weren't ravenous, so these 4 dishes (and only once rice!) was fine for us.

despite our indecision and long conversations, we never felt rushed in any restaurant or cafe in bali! a stark contrast to denmark, where i sometimes feel like i'm a burden on the waiter/waitress for asking for a glass of tap water with my meal. this place was no different, as no one came over to disturb us unless we looked like we needed assistance. the bill for the less-than-awesome food and one large bintang beer came out to around $40USD, pretty damn expensive for bali standards. still, to spend a nice evening with my family in a relaxed, beautiful restaurant was definitely worth coming to the dirty duck diner for. sometimes you just get tired of seeing roaches and lizards running around the kitchen where your food is coming from. :P

bali! part 1

2011-05-03T12:34:00.007+02:00

i can't believe i forgot to write about bali!

the purpose of my visit to indonesia was mainly visiting my younger brother who is working at alila. i hadn't seen him in over a year and a half, so a meet-up was in order! the icing on the cake was that my parents were also flying to bali from california so this was this first family vacation we'd had in ages. simply put, the food was amazing; i didn't have one bad dish. however, i did get the runs starting from the second day (probably from contaminated ice cubes) so that did slow me down a bit. stupidly, i didn't tell my family until almost the last day, thinking that i didn't want to ruin our vacation. in hindsight, i could have become seriously ill in the heat and i was constantly in danger of getting dehydrated. haha, anyway.. D:

suckling pig, or babi guling from a warung. can you count how many pieces of fat there are?
somewhat ironically, the most memorable meals i had with my family there were (relatively) the most expensive. all the food and grocery was extremely cheap to me, coming straight from copenhagen, while it was probably just okay to my parents. having lived in jimbaran for 2 months at this point, my brother was already used to the prices and would exclaim "expensive!" to most any entree that was priced over 25,000IDR, which is about $2.30USD. don't get me wrong, the warungs (small local restaurants) all served up amazing food for very little money, though most of them left a lot to be desired in the hygiene department.

in seminyak, we went to potato head. this restaurant/club/bar that my brother led us to is something of a secret, or at least it was when we got there. a hip place like this can't stay under wraps for long. sitting there watching the sunset with my family, i felt like i could have been at some new beachfront cafe in newport beach back in california. except the water looked way cleaner.

we weren't all that hungry so we all opted for cocktails and cheese; don't worry, we had a driver. i'm really glad we decided on that because it was beyond my expectations. i always assumed that asian places would not be able to put together a decent cheese plate, but boy was i wrong! i really regret not taking something to write with, because i can't remember any of the names. it was a reasonable 85,000IDR. the cocktails were equally delicious, also not too strong or too weak.

before the sun set, people of all ages were getting in and out of the pool. kids, people my parents' age, people my age. my brother and i agreed that we loved the vibe of the place with kids playing on the lawn while their parents were making eyes at each other at the bar. though potato head is extremely hip, there is no pretentiousness when you can hear children laughing.

california wedding reception

2011-05-02T10:46:00.004+02:00

my husband and i have just returned from california. as usual, we ate well and met up with good friends. but the focal point of the visit was our wedding reception. there was a bit of confusion over it since we have been married since july and we already held a reception in copenhagen in august. but my mom is a stellar hostess and would not let an opportunity like this go. ^^

my brother arranged for some of his friends to be bartenders, servers, and dishwashers. on the drink menu was homemade watermelon lemonade, homemade tamarind soda, conventional sodas, canned iced tea, canned iced coffee, corona, asahi, o.b. beer, and wines. my mom planned everything; orchestrating the order and pick-up of all the catered food, sending out the invites (to our family and her friends), and renting the tables and chairs. okay... so it was more like her party. though i had planned to wear the same sundress i wore at my wedding, i ended up wearing a slightly more casual black dress. my mom on the other hand, wore a traditional korean dress called hanbok. some of my friends commented that it looked like my mom had recently married instead of me! she was definitely the star of the show. but i had fun too. ^^

(photo taken by a family friend and edited by me)
the food my mom ordered was mostly korean. i felt kind of sorry for my husband that there was no 'western' food to represent him. there wasn't any korean food at the reception that his parents held for us, but the food was good and there was an impressive cheese plate, so not a peep of complaint came from me! the buffet consisted of: korean fried chicken, jeon (pancakes) made from squash or fish, fern bracken and two other stir fried veggies i couldn't recognize, kimchi, galbi fresh off the grill, acorn jelly, some sushi, and of course rice. i was kind of miffed that my mom bought sushi from a korean place; as any foodie from orange county will tell you, this is something one should avoid. it seemed like the other guests enjoyed it, since it disappeared even before i could think of trying it. my grandma brought her homemade water kimchi and her infamous japchae! she even set aside some japchae with no meat in it since i had a few vegetarian friends coming. so sweet!

i thought i was going to pig out on all the good food but there was hardly time for that while my extended family and my parents' friends were popping by to be greeted at different times and i wanted to catch up with all my friends. by the time i got to the buffet table, this giant plate of mook (acorn jelly) was almost empty! i quickly grabbed a plate and took the last couple pieces. i think my dad caught me and gave me a disapproving look... but hey! i LOVE mook and my husband and i were supposed to be the guests of honor. so i think i deserved it. (;

the cakes were done by cafe blanc, a small japanese-owned pâtisserie. it's been over a year since i was there last and i had discussed the possibility of a wedding cake with the baker. i looked through the sample book and there were always real cakes on display. that kind older gentleman was replaced by a younger baker this time around and there was no cake book; not even any full-sized cakes in the display case! he ended up showing me 2 cake photos on his iphone... i was feeling a little nervous about it in the few days it took for me to go pick them up. i had no back-up plan and the baker's attitude seemed so disinterested. but, lo and behold, all the cakes came out beautifully and as my husband told me, i worried for nothing. there was cheese soufflé (pictured above), strawberry shortcake, chocolate shortcake, chocolate gateau, and miroir (chocolate mousse and raspberry sauce coated in ganache). my mom was initially worried that i was wasting my money on 5 cakes and said that the korean guests would not eat much cake, preferring the rice cakes. but the cakes were only 8 or 9 inches in diameter and there were 80 people expected... you do the math. people love cake. :P

..there was in fact not even enough cake! some people (who wanted a slice) didn't get one. the gateau vanished before i could photograph it but i did manage to get a shot of the middle of the miroir cake. i was happy i got a slice of that one; it's my favourite. all in all, i think the party went very well and i was overjoyed to see two of the friends i met in copenhagen that had moved to san diego and managed to make the trip up. one of my friends even came from ohio! two of my husband's friends also came from los angeles, which was even better. it was a very international party on our side! the other side of the backyard was, well, over 90% korean. yawn! i'm so thankful that my mom put all this work into the reception even though it was a bit stressful for all of us leading up to the day... i had a lot of fun and got to see all my friends. and i even got to eat for a few minutes! ^^;

eating on singapore airlines

2011-04-10T18:12:00.005+02:00

while looking for flights to bali, i managed to get a reasonably priced ticket through singapore airlines. i was really excited because i've heard it's one of the last remaining airlines that treat you more like a human being and less like cattle. the service did impress me on all legs of the flight; especially the child care performed by the beautiful stewardesses (who all seem to fill the prerequisite of being able to wear the same size 4 uniform) while mothers took a bathroom break. but of course, you know what this blog is about. (;

i pre-ordered vegetarian meals all the way because i was curious to see how this airline handled this dietary requirement. i'm glad this was the first meal because it really disappointed me. the squash and spinach of this 'asian' vegetarian meal were just steamed and didn't have any seasoning, maybe not even salt. it tasted way too plain and boring. same story with the 'salad' at the top left. there wasn't any dressing. luckily i wasn't very hungry so i just picked at it a bit. i did end up eating the bread roll with laughing cow cheese, haha.

the next asian veg meal was leagues better. rice with beans and mushrooms, fake meat with chinese cabbage and green beans, oyster mushrooms and steamed peppers. it was very good chinese-style food. they served the exact same meal to me on the way back to copenhagen the following week, but i can't really complain. despite my sweet tooth, i only had a bite of the cake. nothing wrong with the texture, but i am not crazy about red bean on cakes with airy frosting. it adds a weird weight to it. i was too full to eat the bread roll. the stewards kept coming by and asking if we wanted wine with dinner/lunch and when i declined, he asked, "are you sure? we have chardonnay, riesling, and pinot noir." what a contrast to airlines like united! :P

this was the asian vegetarian breakfast on the plane from singapore to bali. it was only about 2 hours long, but they fed us anyway; how nice! as you can see, it's very different compared to the typical western concept of breakfast. it was mung bean noodles stir-fried with all sorts of nice vegetables. i really liked it and it was very filling. so i didn't eat the bread roll or the yogurt. it seemed like as soon as we took off, the stewardesses served us and as soon as we ate, the plane was already landing!

on the way back from bali to singapore, my indian vegetarian meal was m.i.a. and i was served last. i don't know whether it was an error made by the staff or perhaps someone stole my meal (i'm guilty of doing the same on a flight to the states... >_>) as half the flight was indian and eating vegetarian meals. must have been hell for the stewards and stewardesses to handle all those special requests! they were extremely apologetic about the mistake and offered to give me a vegetarian cup noodle, which i almost accepted. anyway when the food finally got to me, it was SO good. definitely my favourite meal out of all of them. i think it was some sort of lentil curry with rice and some creamy sauce with vegetables. the only thing i would have added is a couple more chilies; there was only one measly slice. of course i was too stuffed to eat the roll in the end. ^^;

the last meal was an asian veg breakfast of rice with mushrooms, what i believe was fake chicken, and a sweet nut of some kind. the shiitake mushrooms were so flavourful! this dish comes in at a close second. might have won first place if the rice wasn't so dry and cold. or maybe it's supposed to be served that way? i did eat the yogurt this time because my stomach was feeling bad from something i ate/drank in bali. turned out that it was nothing special with lots of e-numbers and sugar.

in between meals, the stewardesses came by with baskets of fruit, nuts, and sandwiches. i took an apple which was very fresh and juicy; possibly pink lady? i'm not sure, it was dark. they also offered vegetarian sandwiches but i never got hungry enough to try one. i almost always get a bad case of bloat in the air and so i don't get much of an appetite. plus it seems like airlines constantly feed you. the stewardesses continuously came by with trays of water and juice, which i really appreciated. it's important to drink plenty of water and avoid coffee, tea and alcohol on flights to avoid jet lag, dehydration, and reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis. i did have one glass of wine and one cup of tea on the way home, though... ^^;

thanks very much for a lovely flight, singapore airlines! i hope to see you again soon. (:

accident and anticipation

2011-03-06T11:29:00.005+01:00

at the end of the month i'll be traveling to bali to visit my little brother, who is working there. i haven't seen him in over a year and my parents will meet us there, so i am obviously looking forward to this trip. and the food isn't making me any less excited; i fell in love with indonesian food the very first time i tried it. imagine my delight when an indonesian friend invited me over one night to experiment with a recipe for pepes tahu, or steamed tofu in banana leaves. i think our parcels came out beautifully! we ate it with plain white rice and my new favourite rice condiment; sambal badjak. i hope to eat many more meals like this in bali; can anyone recommend an authentic cooking class there? P:

some good news: a friend of mine recently gave birth to a baby boy! i visited her in the hospital and promised to make her some seaweed soup so she could regain a bit of the recently lost nutrients. so a few weeks later, i came by with all the ingredients and we had dinner together. in return, she gave me some corn tortillas that her parents had brought from mexico the previous week. i was ecstatic! one of the cuisines i miss most here is definitely mexican. i used the lovely tortillas to make galbi tacos. the meat was accompanied by pickled carrots, cherry tomatoes, refried beans, cabbage, and gochujang. the dane ate two of the korean tacos and approved. but i think it would have been better with some kimchi... it reminded me about my trip to california in april; i'm so relieved to have the tickets booked, it's been too long since i was in the states last!

the bad news: if you're squeamish, you may not want to read the next paragraph.

unfortunately i got into a cycling accident 2 nights ago, so i will probably show up in bali to greet my family somewhat scarred. i was riding out to meet some friends at the pub on a friday night and some guy was snaking all over the bike lane. his friend rang his bike bell (to signal that someone wanted to pass), he moved out of the way, but when i tried to overtake him, he swerved back into me. i don't remember much of the fall except skidding forever on my face and something landing on my ankle. a nice guy (not the one that hit me...) helped me up and reminded me to exchange numbers with the other guy, even giving me his own number in case i needed a witness. i was keeping my cool until he said, "i think a bit of your tooth is missing."

i realized now how vain i am and yet i was totally taking my teeth for granted. i wouldn't say they are perfect (not exactly pearly white) but i wore braces for about 5 years and a retainer at night for several years after that. when i got home and saw that i had a chipped tooth, i cried and cried. the dane came home from work immediately to tend to me and of course gave me the old "well it could have been a lot worse. glad you're okay." i yelled at him then, being cranky from scrubbing asphalt out of my chin and picking a fragment of my own tooth out of my upper lip (good heavens!)... but he is so right. i escaped a bad cycling accident with just some scrapes and bruises (that will go away eventually), a chipped tooth (which can be fixed easily and hopefully the other guy will pay for it...), a fat lip, a tiny bit off my chin bone, and a twisted ankle. i could easily have broken my leg or disfigured my face for life. i suppose i can embrace the fact that this happened for a reason. i was taking big bites, using stairs, having an unscarred face, and just walking like a normal person completely for granted. hopefully things can soon go back to the way they were, before i take off to indonesia. but until the swelling in my lips goes down and i get my tooth fixed, it'll be soft food for a while. =_=

nimb

2011-02-17T10:36:00.004+01:00

this was my first time participating in copenhagen dining week, which is a part of the winter edition of copenhagen cooking. this program shows off the better side of danish cuisine, or at least what's on offer in most danish restaurants (i'll give you a hint; it starts with F and rhymes with "wrench"). i booked a ticket within the first few hours they were put on sale and luckily i nabbed one to nimb; one of the best restaurants in town, or at least one of them that doesn't have a michelin star. i deliberately chose a day that wasn't february 14, mainly because i hate valentine's day. (;

the starter was sugar salted salmon with vinaigrette of rapeseed oil and celery, horseradish, dill, pickled onions and cauliflower. it was delicious, but the surprise was that there was only the two slices of fish. i would have gladly given up one slice for some roasted vegetables or mash. though it was a buttery and complex salmon, i was getting pretty tired of it after the first piece and and halfway through the second piece it became a struggle. the little brown bits are toasted crumbs of rye bread, i think. they were good but almost too hard. it felt a bit like chewing pebbles. maybe i just have sensitive teeth. x:

the main was cooked in an open kitchen, where all of us diners could see and smell the action. grilled, smoked chicken from gråsten (hopefully not this graasten) with celeriac, jerusalem artichokes, brown butter and chives. the chicken was incredibly moist with a lovely smoke flavour. i'm weak in the knees for smoked food! i was happy to see the mash and the veg, but the ratio of meat to other stuff was still out of whack. the chicken piece was HUGE. american-sized, even! i couldn't finish it, even though it was delicious. i'm not very good at eating meals where a big hunk of meat is the star, but i guess the danes can dig it. the veg was cooked perfectly and that mash, oh that mash...

my favourite part is almost always dessert! white chocolate parfait with tarragon mousse, frozen and dried lingonberries, and licorice. no criticism for this one; it was so perfect. the frozen berries crunched in your mouth like popped rice. the tarragon was a bit strange to see on the menu but it added a nice colour balance to the plate and went surprisingly well with the other flavours. finally, the licorice came through just at the end as a mild aftertaste. creamy, sour, sweet; big and bold flavours. i used to be a big snob about only eating dark chocolate, but now i have moments where i actually crave white and milk chocolate. i could have eaten a whole bowl of this! P:

it was such a great evening at nimb. the special price for the week only made things better: 200 DKK ($36 USD) per person for 3 courses. never thought i'd say it, but that was a steal (for copenhagen standards)! i hope our next gourmet experience in denmark will be at noma. (:

korean food for non-koreans

2011-01-30T17:55:00.002+01:00

i've made bibimbap twice this week. it is easy to make but it takes a bit of time to chop all the veggies and stir fry them separately. on monday i chose this dish for a vegan potluck, as it's easy as hell to veganize. basically all you have to do is leave out the meat. to make it gluten-free, just use a wheat-free soy sauce for stir-frying the vegetables. pretty much anyone can enjoy it, unless they don't like garlic or sesame oil! the next time it appeared on the menu was a friday night dinner with friends. i like to serve it with a choice of gochujang or soy sauce with spring onions, sesame oil, and a pinch of sugar. smiles all around. (:

another dish that many non-koreans enjoy is korean fried chicken! it's probably the best example of successful korean fusion. my husband really liked it, saying that the meat was so moist and delicious; but it may just have been the sesame seeds that won him over. that man loves his sesame seeds, especially the black ones! this was the first time i tried making it; i meant to try it long ago but i am deathly afraid of frying things! good thing i got over it, as i'm definitely planning on making this again!

the open-faced sandwich

2011-01-22T13:22:00.005+01:00

though i've been living in denmark for over 2 years now, i have not tried one of the most well-known danish delicacies; smørrebrød, literally translated as 'buttered bread.' another thing i haven't tried is a hot dog from a wiener wagon, but that will take some time (if it happens at all).

one morning, the dane got it into his head that we should go out for smørrebrød for lunch. i was super hungry by that point so i agreed to it with a little hesitation. for breakfast i can eat almost anything, but meat-heavy dishes give me a bad start to the day. he decided on aamanns, a restaurant in the city that is well-known for putting a modern twist on classic open-faced sandwiches. the lunch menu isn't very big but everything is beautifully presented and there is a good meat-to-green ratio. the dane went with the daily special; roast beef with kale and tiny cubes of fried potatoes and horseradish cream, pork rillette with brussels sprouts and pomegranate arils, and soft-boiled egg with fried fat.

my selection of 3 types of fish was slightly lighter and just as pretty. you're supposed to butter the bread and delicately build the fish and other ingredients on top. well, that didn't really happen. but it was very delicious! much more inspiring and fresh than i ever imagined traditional danish cuisine to be. the first part of the platter i went for was the smoked salmon with apples, preserves, dill, and little bits of toasted rye bread. the other two were sadly types of fish that i couldn't remember but they tasted equally good. a white fish with savoy cabbage and a pan-fried fish with house-made tartar sauce. i usually hate tartar sauce but this one can decorate my fried fish any day. it was a little expensive for what it was, but it's a good experience that's worth at least one trip. (:

aamanns
øster farimagsgade 10
2100 københavn ø

a sanctuary

2011-01-21T12:47:00.005+01:00

i've never been to china, so i can't talk about authenticity. but i've been to many a chinese restaurant recommended by chinese acquaintances in california and this is up to that standard. it is where i have had many a delicious family-style dinner with friends and soon-to-be friends. i've given and received many hugs inside and in front of this restaurant and we continue to arrange meet ups here (sometimes twice a week!). nothing on the menu has let me down, honestly. so imagine my surprise when i realized that i have never written about magasasa before!

if any danes stumble upon this bog, they will probably be thinking, "chinese food? not too crazy about it. it's so oily and everything is fried." well, maybe at the chinese restaurants YOU go to. in general, the tolerance to spice and, er, exotic textures is pretty low in this country. i admit that there is a certain grease factor to most of the dishes we order here, but i never get an MSG headache or feel sick after eating at magasasa (as i have experienced at another chinese place... but that's a story for another post).

melt-in-your-mouth aubergine and pork belly. one of my favourite parts of a meal is eating the rice that has soaked up all the sauces and flavours; and this was certainly no exception! the shrimp was spicy and the grilled peppers were great as usual. as soon as the rice pot on our table is empty, it is wordlessly snatched up and replaced with a steamy batch. service isn't all smiles and small talk, but it is very efficient. i accept this in asian restaurants, it happens everywhere.

there is a bit of a routine when we converge on this restaurant. someone always orders the grilled peppers. there is always a bag of asian groceries sitting under the table that someone has bought on the way. someone is asking what is not spicy. we all rant about being a stranger in a strange land... and of course we talk about other things too, right? when i am eating here with my friends, i feel like i am somewhere else; a sort of place between places. not china, not america, and certainly not denmark.

magasasa
istedgade 4
1650 københavn v

good service

2011-01-15T12:35:00.004+01:00

in denmark, the minimum wage is a little over 100kr ($18 USD). while that is of course great for employees and the standard of living, it can make eating out a nightmare. sometimes servers think there is no reason to smile at customers or improve on service because they don't rely on tips; in fact tipping is uncommon in denmark. i have experienced my fair share of rude waiters and that extra 20 minutes of waiting for my food/drink/bill. but i won't say that this country is made up of bad restaurants with horrible service. on the contrary, last night was a shining example for me! a friend of mine invited me to a vegan dinner arranged by vegetar kontakt, a danish site for vegetarians and vegans.

seeing the seventeen of us seated around the table, i was expecting the worst. asian restaurants are not always known for their hospitality (i.e. korean servers ignoring non-korean guests) but this place went above and beyond to accommodate. lá lúa made a special vegan menu just for us and even made it all gluten-free for my friend, who has a sensitivity to it. i have never seen such service in denmark or at any vietnamese eatery i've been to! the food (and extra rice, yay!) kept coming and pitchers of water were left for us so no one went hungry or thirsty. and yet our server still came by once in a while to check on us and see how we liked it. they even let us take home doggy bags, which is pretty much unheard of in denmark!

the spring rolls and summer rolls were both wrapped in rice paper and served with sauces NOT containing fish sauce or wheat soy sauce. our server was happy to explain the ingredients to our meal when we asked again and again, just to make sure. the mango salad and the house-made tofu were a dream. they even brought in a special kind of dried tofu (badly pictured above) just for us. while i have to admit that not all of the dishes were the authentic vietnamese cuisine (stir-fried vegetables in soy sauce?) i remember from westminster and garden grove in california, it was all really good. the only one that really stood out like a sore thumb on our table was tofu in tomato sauce. but like i said, still good. and who knows, maybe it is super authentic; i've never been to vietnam so i can't really talk. at one point i realized that some my fellow diners were saying how spicy the stir-fried dried tofu was. i had barely noticed... but then again, it was a group of danes with a couple foreigners thrown in. the spice tolerance level here is pretty minimal, but that's understandable. i'm sure the restaurant can make much spicier and/or more authentic food; which is why i plan to go back soon! (:

lá lúa
frederikssundsvej 32
2400 københavn nv
38 19 63 63

UPDATE d. 23. januar:
i was just reminded today that we each paid 15kr for tap water served in a pitcher. that is the only bad thing i can say about the evening, though. no restaurant should charge for tap water!

spice addiction

2010-12-04T21:14:00.003+01:00

sometimes i feel an imbalance. not sure if it's hormonal, psychological, or what have you. most of the time this problem can be solved with spice! it's also my number one hangover cure. but i'm not always in the mood for something so hot that i won't be able to taste anything for the rest of the day. sometimes just a mild kick can do the trick. that's why i love to have these pickled habanero onions sitting in the fridge; ready to crown the top of a sandwich or a salad. the strong taste of the onion is mellower and the pepper gives a nice kick.

unfortunately my habanero plant isn't looking too good these days; i constantly have to brush aphids off of it since my ladybug vanished. i refuse to spray my organic plant with anything, does anyone have a natural home remedy to get rid of these buggers? one day it was looking so bad that i just cut off the 3 remaining ripe habaneros, for fear that the aphids would get to them before i could. this salsa recipe was perfect for it. i thought it was the perfect mix of spicy, salty, sweet, and sour. unfortunately none of my other friends would touch it after the first bite. maybe too spicy for most? P:

though the plant is still in a sad state, i'm feeling better now that a little seedling has appeared. i think i'll move it to another pot soon, but the aphids will probably follow it there. how did they even manage to get in the flat, on the third floor? hmph. for now i'll have to settle with brushing them off by hand. /:

strong salads

2010-12-01T12:16:00.006+01:00

with the snow and the stress comes more eating. at least for me. i wish i could channel my frustration through painting again but it seems i haven't been inspired since i moved to denmark. surprise! anyway, salads usually make one feel more svelte or at least virtuous. much better to feel those things than despair. the salad pictured above is celeriac and apple. i left out the mayo, buttermilk, and tarragon and swapped the shallots for my habanero-pickled onions (more on that later). sweet, salty, sour, spicy. the tiny bit of toasted seeds gives so much flavour! i wonder why i've been letting them stink up my kitchen tins after one failed chicken tikka masala attempt. so let's see if i can't put them to good use.

i just bought the ottolenghi book 'plenty' as an early christmas gift to myself. some cookbooks are wonderful to look at but are doomed to sit on the coffee table forever. am i really going to get a smoker for just these 2 recipes? roast for 8 hours?! what's asafoetida? however, this is one of the most beautiful and useful cookbooks i've seen! and i have to admit, i have been getting a bit tired of the usual dishes i've been making out of my monday night finds. usually a broccoli or cauliflower, a pineapple, leeks... they get roasted, soup'd, or mixed into fried rice. that's where this early christmas gift comes in. the salad you see above is green bean salad with mustard seeds and tarragon... minus green beans and tarragon. and several other things. yes, i know. i'm lame. but i'll be damned if i'm going to go out in the snow just to buy some tarragon!

____ salad with mustard seeds and ____
adapted from 'plenty' by yotam ottolenghi
serves 4

400g mixed greens
250g green peas (fresh or frozen)
2 tsp coriander seeds, roughly crushed with pestle and mortar
1 tsp mustard seeds
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp nigella seeds
1/2 small red onion, chopped (or habanero-pickled onions...)
1 mild fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
grated zest of one lemon
coarse sea salt

bring a pot of cold water to boil and blanch the peas for 20 seconds. drain, dry, and set aside in a large mixing bowl. put the coriander seeds, mustard seeds, and oil in a small saucepan and heat up. when the seeds begin to pop, pour the contents of the pan over the peas. toss together, then add the nigella seeds, onion, chilli, garlic, and lemon zest. mix well and season with salt to taste. serve over mixed greens.

thanks and two-hundred

2010-11-27T23:39:00.004+01:00

yep, that's our mailbox. my husband took that photo. i sat inside the apartment all weekend, going out only to get the laundry. but it's not just the weather that's zapping my will to go out.

all this time my blog has been about food (and moving), with the occasional whine about missing california, but i think now it will take a slightly different turn. seeing as i'm being wrung through the system myself, i can't shut up about it. despite the fact that i am married to a danish man, work at a public hospital part-time, volunteer at a soup kitchen once a week, and speak danish at a conversational level, i am under threat of deportation. all this started because i turned in a form late. then it just snowballed. the problem right now is that i'm supposed to have a full-time job if i want to live here under a work permit (though i couldn't find it stated in the rules anywhere). ever since i was notified of the 'problem' with my work permit renewal, i haven't been allowed to work. yes, folks; it's been a month a half of me waiting by the phone and not bringing home any of the proverbial bacon. my boss is trying to work out a deal with immigration services though i don't know if there's any hope in that. if it doesn't go through, i'll have to go back to california and apply for residency based on marriage, which is looking equally, if not more insane. but this is my 200th post so i'm gonna end it on a happy note.

on thursday night i invited all my friends to the soup kitchen; not for a 20kr dinner but for a vegan-vegetarian and mostly gluten-free thanksgiving meal that would be cooked by us... for us. it snowed all day so some people bailed out due to sickness or just desire to stay at home under the covers. but with the eight of us it was so cozy and so nice. despite the fact that there was only one american present aside from me, i think it was a great celebration. good food with good friends. the lithuanian made the most amazing bean and bread salad, which we dubbed 'stuffing,' and the canadian presented his delicious homemade tofurkey and gravy. before eating, we all took a moment to say what we were thankful for, serious or not. most of us stated that we were thankful for the delicious food and company. this holiday didn't concentrate on discovery (or should i say theft) of land or killing of a bird. it was all in the name! unfortunately i was so stressed out about it that i forgot the camera (so you'll have to excuse the crappy phone photo) and potatoes! what is a vegetarian's thanksgiving without roasted potatoes, seriously? in any case, here's what i made:

pumpkin pie with a nut crust
miso-glazed aubergine (without miso for those with a gluten sensitivity)
salad of roasted broccoli, chickpeas, and bell pepper
brown rice served with my homemade kimchi and also roasted seaweed sheets

i have no idea why i was so stressed since i love cooking, and especially for friends. i guess it comes with the holiday. i always remember my mom each year looking so frazzled juggling the bird and stuffing and everything else! also it was my first time baking pumpkin pie from scratch, and seeing as how my last vegan, gluten-free baking attempt turned out far less than perfect, i can understand my anxiety. anyway it was a great night without meat or alcohol. it's nice to have one of those nights, especially in denmark. (:

what i am thankful for is my dear husband, all my friends and of course family who have supported me through this tough time in a strange land. the soup kitchen and countless afternoons in cafes for keeping me busy. my asian stinginess so that i could support myself in this time of 'unemployment.' my health. my bike. and last but not least, not having to deal with a kilo of dry-as-hell turkey leftovers for the next week! i ate the remaining vegetables quickly, one of the meals being thai-style pumpkin soup with somen noodles. VERY good. hope you had a good thanksgiving, fellow americans. and for the rest of you, count your blessings at least once in a while if you don't already. ^^

the immigrants are taking your cake and juice

2010-11-17T12:33:00.002+01:00

if you read danish news (if you don't, i don't blame you), you'll know that something smells good at the post office. according to a political party here called dansk folkeparti (danish people's party), public hospitals and doctors' offices had to take the complimentary cake and 'juice' out of their waiting rooms because of immigrants. now, df has never been bosom buddies with the immigrant population, but this is a new low. they're blaming large foreign families for taking advantage of the free food and 'juice' in waiting rooms. i put the quotes because, more often than not, what's served is some sort of concentrate that loosely resembles juice (or at least it did at some point). as for cake, in the time i've worked at hillerød and frederiksberg hospital, i have never seen cake laid out for visitors. to say nothing of all the hospitals i've visited for job applications in the copenhagen area! fruit, yes. coffee and 'juice,' yes. but never any sweets to clog your arteries in the waiting room. the public hospital doesn't want to make MORE work for itself. private hospitals, however, i'm not so sure about. :P

a hospital director, named ib steen mikkelsen, was a little confused by the announcement: "everyone who has worked in the healthcare system knows that immigrants have more visitors than ethnic danish patients. but that doesn't need to be a negative thing; it just means that they get more visits, which is of course nice for the patient." as a sort of protest to dansk folkeparti, a couple facebook groups were made but the ideas were the same: send a citronmåne to df. a citronmåne is a lemony spongecake that you can find packaged in almost any supermarket. and now these cakes along with a couple hundred others are flooding this nationalistic political party's office. many of the packages came with sarcastic notes like "i have just heard about your terrible crisis and hereby send the closest thing to a cake i could find. take care of it, you never know when a muslim will come by and steal it with their long, black fingers!" i got a good laugh out of it. (:

though i support this sort of sweet, frosted protest, the cake pictured at the top has definitely not gone to dansk folkeparti. pia kjærsgaard will have to come by our apartment herself and have a little chat with me if she would like to try my preserved ginger drizzle cake. i made it, along with some tea sandwiches, for two friends of mine who are going back to england. i thought teatime would be nice, even though they are heading for the land of tea. i made it using ingredients from my friend R, and this is the first time i've even seen preserved ginger, black treacle, or golden syrup! the cake was fantastically moist and very gingery. and the top crust was just barely hardened, so that there was a slight satisfying crunch when we cut into it. a wonderful cake!

so for any dansk folkeparti members or supporters out there; if you want to eat my cakes, cookies, brownies, etc., you'll have to ask nicely and sit with me and my other non-danish friends. otherwise i hope you like packaged citronmåner. (;

the folkekøkken to rule them all

2010-11-10T13:39:00.002+01:00

this past sunday, i was lucky enough to participate in the monthly cake orgy at ungdomshuset. though it seems like an outrageous idea that could never work, it's been going on for a while now and is met with only positivity. what is it? you pay 20kr ($3.72 USD as of today) and then eat all the cake and drink all the coffee/tea you can. best of all, everything is vegan! (:

the clientele was nicely varied; some punks, some old folks, some middle-aged middle-class people, some babies, and us. there was even a handful of really sweet dogs wandering around the dining room and begging for scraps! i wanted to take one of them home with me so badly! ahem, anyway... the cakes were served a little past 2pm and they kept coming! some of the pickings were pecan cake, raisin cake, coconut cake, chocolate cake, chocolate-coffee cupcake, carrot (i think) cupcake, chocolate-raisin cookies, and an old school danish 'applecake (which isn't a cake at all, more like a pudding... but that's a story for another day).'

there were even vegan, gluten-free cupcakes. sweetened with agave and decorated with apples. it was really nice, the texture wasn't weird or grainy at all. the first (and probably last) vegan, gluten-free cake i'd attempted to bake was steamrolled by these cupcakes. i'd say this was the real apple cake. (;

warning: although vegan is healthier, you should definitely not come here if you're on any sort of diet. sugar is sugar, no matter how you look at it. and these cakes are so good, you'll find it hard to stop!

after we had eaten our fill, the empty platters went away and the kitchen staff started bringing out bowls of pastas and salads! for an additional donation, we could eat a late lunch/early dinner after the cakes. needless to say, i was really impressed with all the offerings. but instead of gorging ourselves, we opted to take a tour of the place. there had been a huge dub step party the night before, so the 2 concert halls were in dire need of repair. the bands who use the practice rooms have to pay very little in rent; however, they do also have to clean up after parties. but i'm sure the bands were hungover so they would clean up later in the evening. looks like everyone had a lot of fun! though ungdomshuset may have a history of violence, that is certainly not what they're about. i'm glad that there is such a place that exists in copenhagen. and hopefully i'll have time to join in their soup kitchen on thursday nights. ^^

vegan cake orgy!!
first sunday of the month @ 2pm
cost: 20kr

ungdomshuset
dortheavej 61
2400 kbh nv

vegan, one day a week

2010-11-04T14:31:00.003+01:00

once the temperature started dipping under 10°C, i found myself craving some homey comfort foods. one of my aunts used to bring a killer green bean casserole to fall/winter get-togethers; this recipe fit the bill perfectly. it's not as easy as my aunt's green beans smothered in cream-of-mushroom soup from a can, but tastes just as good. and the stuff on top? one thing in danish cuisine (besides rugbrød) that i can stand by: FRIED ONIONS. mmMM! P:

another time i tried to recreate this amazing miso-glazed aubergine (that's 'eggplant' to any americans reading...) that i shared with my friend R at tomoe in london. my first try turned out "meh." having only one half of the vegetable left, i decided to use a recipe instead of jamming on nothing more than a feeling. this one turned out beautifully; i licked the peel clean! there's no reason this glaze can't work on other vegetables, so i'm sure i'll be seeing it again soon.

i eat vegan meals a couple times a week but i thought in lieu of my new tuesday night arrangement, i'd go vegan the whole day. breakfast will be fruit of some sort, dinner is obviously taken care of at kafa-x, so there is really only lunch to worry about. it's also a good way to take care of the vegetables that i so often... er... come across on late nights here in copenhagen. the kimchi fried rice you see above was actually a wednesday lunch, using up found bean sprouts and leftover brown rice and lentils from the soup kitchen the night before. just add homemade vegan kimchi and voila!

tuesdays are my favourite

2010-11-03T21:29:00.004+01:00

about a month ago i began working at a soup kitchen here in nørrebro called kafa-x. every tuesday, i go over there around 4pm and chill out while waiting for the others to arrive. usually it is about 4-8 of us feeding at least 50 people (we haven't taken to doing headcounts yet, but i guess it might be a good idea at some point). around 4:30 we split up and go to two green grocers nearby; they will give us whatever fruit and veg that's about to get binned. occasionally what they give us is too rotten or mouldy to work with, but for the most part it's some very decent stuff that only needs a good peeling or picking at.

once we gather the donated roughage, we pretty much just stand there and figure out what we'll make for dinner. everything served is vegan and and gluten free, except the two huge bags of bread that the local organic bakery donates to us. usually we make brown rice and a dhal or a big soup with lentils as a main since it cooks quickly and fill you up. since we get mostly vegetables, we'll also have a salad of some sort. this week we got a LOT of tomatoes so one of the girls decided to make a delicious roasted tomato sauce. the way we work together is something i really like; the first day i walked in there, i was asked to start making the lentil soup. none of the other volunteers met me before, and yet i was trusted with the main dish! all of us volunteers are equal, no leaders, all ideas valid. the more culinary backgrounds, the better!

at around 7, dinner is served. but i suggest you get there earlier if you'd like someplace to sit. it's a tiny, cozy 'cafe' and sometimes it gets so full that patrons have to eat outside. with a healthy meal like that for 20kr, it's easy to see why so many show up. a couple of the regulars did some advance planning the past two times and soaked beans overnight. last week it was made into chili sin carne and this week was refried beans. one of the girls cooked and then mashed the beans with a healthy amount of chili pepper plus tomatoes and stuck it all in the oven to get a nice crust. that was honestly my favourite part of the meal. along with lentils and rice we also had the tomato sauce, beans, cabbage salad, and fruit salad. not pictured is my effort of the 'poor man's pesto' with parsely and toasted sunflower seeds, but i wasn't very happy how it turned out. the handblender is a bit weak so the consistency stayed pretty grassy... /:

yesterday i think our closest green grocer threw in some fresh herbs just for the hell of it. there was nothing wrong with most of them. fresh sage, what a treat! we weren't able to use it all so i got to take a bag home along with some bread and a croissant for my husband. whatever perishables that are left after dinner are up for grabs to volunteers and diners alike. there is always so much bread left, i never buy it anymore. (:

with a cheap meal like this, you can't expect to be served. we hand you a plate of rice and the main, and you can choose how much you want of everything else. sadly we do sometimes run out before everyone gets a plate. the thing is that you gotta wash your own dish and listen to whatever activist, anti-facist, feminist crap we want to say. that's all. and of course, if you want to come help cook at 4, your meal is free.

kafa-x
korsgade 19, basement
every tuesday at 7pm
dinner costs 20kr, tea/coffee are free

folkekøkken

2010-10-28T11:29:00.003+02:00

i've known about folkekøkkener, which directly translates to "the people's kitchens," in nørrebro for a while. but some... thing has made me keep my distance up until last month. it's really a beautiful idea. in a city where you're lucky to find a decent falafel for less than 30kr, you can have a mostly vegan buffet at your fingertips for 20-25kr (depending which kitchen you visit). the closest one to our apartment is folkets hus, which means "the people's house." they have a sunday brunch at noon about every other sunday.

i was surprised to see that the, er, clientele was mostly young hipsters. in my mind, soup kitchens are for the poor. but then again, the high living cost in copenhagen can make students pretty poor. but i at least hope that word is getting around in shelters that there is access to healthy food for a few dollars. now... to the food!!

this plate was 25kr. as of today, that is about $4.62 usd. though it may seem expensive to my friends across the pond, it's extremely cheap for that amount of food in denmark. what you see is bread with jam (cheese optional), pasta salad, tabbouleh, roasted root vegetables, green lentil spread, hummus, guacamole, and a vegetarian (not vegan) lasagne. once everyone has eaten, you're free to take some bread home with you. assuming folkets hus is doing the same thing as the soup kitchen i work at, the bread has been donated by a local organic bakery.

if you'd like to eat here, keep an eye on the calendar. they provide brunch about every other sunday. come at 9am to help cook and get a free meal or pay 25kr to eat at noon. though if you'd like a proper seat and not eat standing, i suggest you come at 12 sharp. (:

folkets hus
stengade 50
2200 kbh n

catch-up with korean cooking

2010-10-24T21:08:00.005+02:00

despite the lack of posts on the subject, i am still cooking korean food. or at least some things that could be considered that. this kimchi fried rice turned out really well, despite some strange ingredients. red bell pepper, kidney beans, and pineapple. PINEAPPLE. well, haven't you ever had pineapple fried rice before? i'm not a big fan of this fruit on pizza, but i can't deny how well it goes together with kimchi to make a sweet-spicy-salty-sour combination. try it at home, kids.

i'm proud to say that a few weeks ago i finally made galbi! for me it was something of a little feat, as i am far from well-versed in cooking meat. and without a grill, flesh almost always turns to something inedible in my hands. i remember once my mother asked for help with a thanksgiving turkey. having never dealt with meat before (and being 9 years old) i wasn't sure how to go about prepping the frozen bird. i tried soaking it in hot water to speed up the defrost before she got home. but upon hearing her shouts and cries, i figured it probably wasn't the right thing to do. yet the people i fed this galbi to kept eating more and more.

galbi: korean-style marinated meat
my mom's recipe!

800-1000g pork or beef (just about any cut will do)
100 ml soy sauce
4 tbsp brown sugar or honey
6 cloves of garlic
1 medium-sized onion
4 tbsp sake, beer, wine, or 7-up
pinch of black pepper
about a thumb's worth of fresh ginger
one small pear (asian pear preferred, but any will work)
2 tsbp sesame oil

slice the meat thinly. if you're having a hard time doing this, try freezing the meat for an hour or two before slicing. throw everything else into a food processor or blender. if the cut of meat you're using is not one of the tender bits, add half a kiwi to the sauce. pour the marinade over the meat and keep it in the fridge. after 24 hours, i highly recommend that you grill it but pan-frying works too. suggestions: eat with rice wrapped in lettuce, chopped up in bibimbap, or in a burrito! rice completes it. be thankful for your mother and enjoy.

this soybean soup was made with a hand-blender a few months ago, before i was united with my beautiful blender. it seems like winter has skipped over fall here in denmark and i'm so happy i have the blender to help me make all the soups i'm craving nowadays. but i prefer to eat soybean soup slightly chilled, so i'll just wait until spring rolls around before i make this again. right now i feel like having some dwenjang chigae. (:

cooking for others

2010-10-22T10:36:00.002+02:00

this photo is from my friend's birthday last week. two of her friends flew in from england to surprise her! best gift that i can imagine. but the birthday girl didn't kick back and relax on her big day; she prepared a sumptuous spread of muffins, scones with whipped cream and jam, cornish pasties, AND a chocolate-chocolate chip cake. it was such a decadent and fun party (involving an insane bollywood film and avoiding boring 'grown-up' business conversations) that i was almost able to forget about the problems i am going through in denmark right now. for a night, at least. (:

right now i have a lot of free time (certainly not by choice) so i'm trying to use those hours in a positive way. i've found that cooking is fairly therapeutic for me, but i'm just one girl who can only eat so much. the birthday party was a good excuse to remake abby's infamous cheesecake. seeing the little chewing-smile on people's faces when they're eating something you made is almost like a little high. my husband, the supportive sweetheart he is, has a lot of work to do these days. so unfortunately that means not that many meals together with me. eating alone is a sad and dangerous thing, so i'm glad to have found a friend that lives just down the street from us. that means frequent chats over cups of tea/coffee, late night outings, and spur-of-the-moment meals together. i love it!

without the warm meals and warmer friends, i probably would have given up living in this cold country a long time ago. obviously i'm thankful for my friends but also thanks to everyone who wrote the recipes (and videos) that taught me how to cook. (:

more on the v-word

2010-10-14T09:12:00.005+02:00

one of my friends (who also happens to be my neighbor) is vegetarian. a couple weeks ago she took me to feed some chickens and rabbits at a park between our apartment complexes. of course most people think rabbits are adorable, but i also thought the chickens were pretty cute too. watching them run around and make their little hen noises was pretty entertaining. sadly, one of my meat vices is roast chicken; i just enjoy the flavour and texture. but after seeing them up close, i haven't had a craving since. i think everyone who enjoys eating meat should be forced to come face to face with their food and skin/gut/etc. it themselves. no more of these anonymous slabs of meat sitting in the cooler of the supermarket. another friend of mine does eat meat, as long as she can't see the head. guilt, perhaps?

another obstacle to vegans, to my knowledge, is baked goods. how does one make the same decadent cake sans eggs and real butter? despite a rich history of baking, denmark is definitely the wrong place to look for the answer. london, however, has ms cupcake. this ferrero rocher-style cupcake came from the tea room of spitalfields market. it was divine, moist, and unbelievably vegan.

sweetcheeks is another bakery stand tucked away in the vintage area of spitalfields market, looking cute and surprising people with vegan AND gluten-free options. i tried a chocolate-chili cookie, which was perhaps a little too crumbly, but the deep chocolate flavour and the powerful kick of chili (even for me!) afterwards was impressive. WAKE UP, DENMARK. this kind of baking is possible!

though a raw sunfood burger may sound disgusting, inspiral knows what they're doing. the burger contains nuts, herbs, and vegetables, and comes topped with sun-dried tomatoes. i got to choose 3 salads to go along with it; here you can see zucchini, rocket, and cauliflower. it was delicious! it was also gluten-free, low-GI, and without sugar. i ended up coming back to this cafe in camden again for a rice milk latte and a vegan brownie. inspiral also offers low-GI and vegan ice cream. good thing this place doesn't exist in copenhagen, or else i would get even chubbier than i already am!

well, it was a lovely trip to london. coming back to danish supermarkets and cafes was just a little depressing. when are danish food companies and restaurants going to realize that there is life after dairy/wheat/meat?

chanterelles

2010-10-13T10:14:00.003+02:00

the perfect autumn colour and taste. the first time i tried chanterelle mushrooms was in sweden 2 years ago. i saw them at hötorget in stockholm and took a bag back to my hostel. all i did was eat them on toast after a quick saute in butter. incredible flavour and texture! sometimes a simple preparation is best, and this is definitely one of those times. still, i felt like this heavenly shroom deserved to crown more than just toast. has it really been 2 years since i've eaten chanterelles? ):

chanterelle risotto
adapted from epicurious

6 1/2 tbsp margarine or olive oil, divided
600g fresh wild mushrooms
1 1/2 liter (about) warm vegetable broth
1/2 of a small leek, finely chopped
300ml arborio rice
6 tbsp dry white wine

melt 2 tbsp of margarine in a pan over medium heat. add some mushrooms (without crowding the pan) and saute until tender, adding salt and pepper to taste. set aside. add the rest of the mushrooms in about 3 more batches, adding salt & pepper and another tablespoon of margarine with each new batch. melt the remaining margarine in the pan and add the leeks with a pinch of salt. saute until tender, and add the rice. stir for about 4 minutes and add the white wine. stir around until the liquid is mostly absorbed. start adding in the veg broth around 200 milliliters at a time, stirring well. add more broth only when most of the liquid in the pan has been absorbed; you should be able to part the rice with your spoon/spatula and not see any liquid running into the valley you've created. keep stirring and adding broth for about 10 minutes, then add the mushrooms. continue stirring and adding broth for about 10 more minutes. turn off the heat and add a dollop of margarine or flavoured oil if you like. you can also add parmesan at this point but why deveganize it? (:

serve with a bold white wine (maybe even the one you used in the risotto) or maybe just cheap, ice-cold beer. (;

tebirkes

2010-09-28T13:45:00.005+02:00

these are two of the better-looking tebirkes in a batch i made one morning for breakfast. i know my husband really likes them (and also was aware that he was hungover) but to my surprise, he didn't seem overjoyed to see them. i'm pretty sure it didn't have to do with the fact that most of the rolls tipped over in the oven and didn't look bakery-perfect. of course my husband was impressed but stated that he was not in the mood for the poppyseed rolls. he did end up eating one out of principle though, and said it was good. but when he saw that i cut mine in half and spread olive tapenade and mozzarella inside, he was shocked.

"you can't do that, tebirkes are meant to be eaten alone."

does anyone else think it's terribly ironic that denmark houses the best restaurant in the world, which is famous for innovation, but almost every dane is a sandwich nazi? i have been living here over 2 years but i still get taken aback when someone says you can't do that regarding what i have on my plate. apparently the 250 possible combinations of ingredients that one can arrange atop rye bread is set in stone. but i've never been one to obey food laws, so i ate my rogue sandwich. and it was good.

tebirkes
adapted from maduniverset
yields 8 rolls

1.5 dl soyamilk
25 g fresh yeast
1 egg
1 tbsp sugar
0.5 tsp salt
5 dl all-purpose flour
60g margarine

milk or egg for brushing
poppy seeds

mix the yeast into room temperature milk. add the egg, sugar, salt, flour, and mix thoroughly. cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes. punch the dough down and roll it out to roughly 25x40 cm. thinly slice the margarine and spread it over half the dough. fold the un-buttered half over. roll out the dough again and fold it in thirds. repeat twice. roll out the dough to about 30x70 cm and fold in thirds, lengthwise. cut slices about 5cm thick. let rise for about 15 min. brush with egg and sprinkle some poppy seeds over each roll before baking at 200C for 15 minutes.

enjoy these rolls with whatever you like!

oh, and if anyone knows a proper substitute that could replace egg here, please let me know so i can make them vegan!

more good sushi in denmark

2010-09-23T12:12:00.002+02:00

good news, copenhageners! i have experienced more good sushi in denmark! of course there is my tried-and-true favourite, bento... but a little variety never hurt anyone. what you see above is the start of the chef's choice menu at damindra. wakame salad with crumbled cauliflower and edamame served on an airy chip, garnished with edible flowers. it was very well-marinated without the overly salty, vinegary taste that you can get from most seaweed salads.

their miso soup had much more activity than i am used to! wisps of egg, arame seaweed, and a surprising discovery of enoki mushrooms! i love them but they do not pop up often on danish menus, unfortunately. of course the soup also had the standard wakame seaweed and tofu. it was a little heavier than any miso soup i've had before, but it didn't take away from the taste at all.

the chef's choice of 'sizzling sashimi' turned out to be yellowtail, tuna, scallop, sweet shrimp, and salmon. at first i was a little put off that the slices were sitting in some sort of oily soy sauce mixture. but after eating the first piece, the refreshing taste of citrus and ponzu came out through the oil. all the pieces fell apart on the tongue and took me back to some of my favourite places in california. i especially enjoyed the delicate scallops; so creamy and sweet! i'm glad i had this whole plate to myself. ^^

the nigiri plate was quite small for the two of us to share. but it was a wise choice on the chef's side to select the best pieces and have us choose anything else later on. the wonderful scallop reappeared here, lightly grilled with flying fish roe. the barely-seared tuna was served with a jalapeno salsa; it didn't taste too spicy but was a very fresh flavour. the lobster was served as gunkan with spring onions and chives. i feel pretty dumb to say this but i don't really understand what the big deal with lobster is... not to say that i didn't enjoy it! it was very tender and sort of sweet, but it's a taste that i think can be achieved with crab.

alright, so here goes my one complaint. this roll looked sort of strange, but promising. salmon wrapped in nori and fried tempura-style, topped with salmon roe. but when took my first bite, there was a terrible surprise hidden away; the bottom of each segment was slathered in cream cheese! it was not a happenin' combo. my plea to all sushi restaurants: PLEASE DO NOT BRING CREAM CHEESE INTO YOUR RESTAURANT. the next roll (not pictured) was a much safer choice of tempura shrimp. though i love traditional sushi, sometimes i am just in the mood for a crunchy roll. (:

after the rolls, our menu was finished and we were free to order a la carte. my husband chose single orders of tuna, salmon, and yellowtail (underneath which i was delighted to see what i think was a shiso leaf) and we both ordered eel and sea urchin. i was shocked to see uni on the menu so i was looking forward to tasting it all night. another surprise was when we ordered the eel; our server asked us if we meant freshwater or sea eel! i have never seen anago in denmark so of course i was up for trying it.

the verdict? VERY GOOD! (:

the anago could have been a little bit warmer but the taste of the grill was certainly coming through and the unusual serving style was nice (though a bit complicated to eat). the uni... it was great. the only change i would make is to take out the leaf; the strong, almost minty taste and chewy texture took away from the delicate sea urchin. it was not exactly melting in my mouth but hey, i have to lower my sushi standards for denmark, you know. (;

damindra
holbergsgade 26
1057 københavn k
tlf. 33 12 33 75

golden mushroom soup

2010-09-19T00:54:00.003+02:00

this is one of the treasures inside the box of leftovers from from my recently relocated friend, R. mushrooms that were hand-picked and dried by her boyfriend. how does one give such a gift away? i'm certainly not complaining. these are quite expensive anywhere, and denmark is no exception. mushrooms are also one of my favourite foods. pretty ironic then, that they've been stored in a pickle jar. i hate dill pickles. (;

the temperatures here have suddenly decided to take a nose dive so i'm craving foods that have a bit more substance. and now that this crazy summer is over, i can finally turn on the oven to start baking bread again. and bread goes pretty damn well with soup.

golden mushroom soup has been one of my comfort foods for as long as i can remember. but the fact that it is not available here is probably better for my body, seeing how much sodium it contains. i never really thought of what went into that soup, but it tastes so good. thick and salty and slightly sweet. the only problem was that there were never enough unsettlingly soft mushrooms floating in that soup. what i ended up making was not exactly the taste that i remember, but it is quite close and very tasty. i think if i tweak it a bit more, i can get even closer. hmm, i think my husband's problem-solving personality is rubbing off on me.

golden mushroom soup
adapted from mushroom appreciation

400g mushrooms, chopped
a small handful dried mushrooms, soaked overnight
200ml of mushroom soaking water
2 tbsp olive oil
500ml vegetable stock
100ml soy milk
4 tbsp white wine
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, chopped (using canned tomatoes won't hurt)
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste

heat the oil in a pot over medium heat and saute the onions until they're getting a little brown. add mushrooms, paprika, white wine, tomatoes, and cook for about 5 minutes. add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. then add the stock, mushroom soaking water, and soy sauce. close the lid and let simmer for 10 minutes. add the soy milk and remove from heat. blend the soup with an immersion blender to a consistency of your liking. finish with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

moving around the world

2010-09-14T13:22:00.005+02:00

these past few weeks have been full of good times and good food with amazing friends. but all those picnics and dinner parties didn't happen without breaking my heart a little bit. one of our friends, R, is moving to hong kong with her boyfriend and we don't know if/when they're coming back to denmark. gradually, she's been cleaning out her pantry and fridge with each wonderful salad, bruchetta, and dessert. we've had quite a few great meals together and were able to reach out to each other while struggling to integrate, get jobs, and just get into the groove in this foreign land.

last week i showed R what tamales were, after i made them with our mutual friend from mexico. it is a pretty strange concept to wrap your head around if you've never had them. they turned out to be a great success despite the different ingredients (imagine hunting down pork fat in 5 different supermarkets) in denmark and the fact that none of us had attempted it before. obviously it was mostly thanks to our mothers; hers for the tried-and-tested recipe and mine for bringing corn husks and chilies from california. we even made some with beans instead of pork so R, a vegetarian, could eat them. learning about new foods is always fun.

R and i both had something to learn from our spanish friend, who made us tortilla de patatas and then showed us a very simple but delicious snack; catalan tomato bread! i never would have thought of it myself. rub a garlic half on toasted bread, rub a tomato half on said bread, drizzle olive oil, sprinkle salt. it's like the garlic bread you get in restaurants, only better. i'm definitely going to be making this at home in the future.

this girl has taught me so much about food and vegetarian cooking. my tofu skills were no match for her fresh salads and inventive dips. so you can imagine how i felt when she gave me a big box full of 'leftovers' which was full of wonderful ingredients, some very personal, some i have never even heard of before. it really hit home at that point; the fact that we would no longer be a phone call away from meeting up with each other somewhere in the city. luckily i didn't cry then, or even on her last night in copenhagen. as we sat drinking white wine and eating chocolate ice cream (seemingly undoing all the healthy meals we had together) on the floor of her very empty kitchen, i tried to take comfort in knowing that the world is pretty small these days. we'll definitely meet again. (:

squash and seaweed soba

2010-09-12T13:54:00.004+02:00

one of the purchases i made at the grøntsagsfestival was an organic danish squash. the humble squash is totally overlooked in most restaurants here! i really like the texture and mild flavour. my mom and grandmas sometimes make it into a little pancake by dredging it through egg and flour and then frying it. my approach is a little more healthy.

squash and seaweed soba

2 bundles soba (japanese buckwheat) noodles
1 squash, sliced
1 small handful of dried wakame seaweed
2 tbsp gochujang (korean hot pepper paste)
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
sesame oil and seeds to garnish

saute the squash in a pan with vegetable oil until tender and then take off the heat. cook the soba and seaweed in gently boiling water until the noodles are al dente. drain, reserving a few tablespoons of the cooking water, and rinse the noodles in cold water. mix the remaining ingredients (except the garnish) together in a small bowl. add the soba, seaweed, and a little cooking water to the squash in the pan, along with the sauce. mix well and add a drizzle of sesame oil and sprinkle some sesame seeds before serving.

it's healthy, fast, vegan, and (depending on what kind of soba noodles you buy) gluten-free. enjoy!

celebrating vegetables

2010-09-04T14:28:00.004+02:00

it's hard to believe that for a few days vegetables were the center of attention in the capital city of the infamous pork-loving country. i was honoured to be a guest of grøntsagsfestival (vegetable festival) as a part of the madblogger's symposium, and was pleasantly surprised by many of the sights. it took place at the edge of vesterbro, a borough of copenhagen in which i never would have thought to look for a market. the first thing that caught me off guard was one of the cooks.

camilla plum was standing behind the counter and filling little sample cups with her chili marmalade, which she loudly dared everyone to try. it was pretty weird to me that a cook who had several tv shows and cookbooks was here making our brunch. but i guess the few danish celebrities that exist don't let it get to their head. i'm a big fan of ms. plum's but i didn't want to bother her with my starstruck danglish babble. i just gaped and of course took her up on her offer.

from the counter we got fresh scrambled eggs with onions and tomato, virgin bloody marys, the chili marmalade, and a sample of finely chopped cauliflower with lemon. the buffet table had roasted root vegetables, breads, gooey and hard danish cheeses, an iceberg salad with blue cheese and figs, and fresh vegetables. for some reason i choose to try some strangely coloured carrots; i think it's safe to say i don't hate carrots any more. they were sweet, tender, and crisp - not at all the woody and tasteless sticks i remembered from lunches past. everything on our plates was so delicious but those damn carrots are what i remember most.

i wonder if anyone missed the meat. (:

after brunch, i tried to look around a bit at the lovely organic danish produce for sale at shockingly reasonable prices. but of course denmark being denmark, it started to threaten rain. i headed inside oksnehallen to play it safe and realized there was a little food convention going on inside! i really thought that the market and vegetable brunch was all there was! and free entrance was also a gift from the madblogger symposium. there were free samples, some larger samples that required payment, and demonstrations. i don't think the samples above were free but i'm not sure i had the energy to try one anyway... from left to right: something with rosemary, pineapple and roquefort, bacon and tomato, fois gras and raspberry, goat cheese and thyme.

i tasted wine, juice, chocolates, cheeses... but that wasn't why i was so happy. it was so refreshing to see demonstrations on how to clean/cook wild game and trying to educate kids on bread and sushi. teaching young and old alike how the food on our plates comes to be. it was a very well-arranged event and i'm glad i got to see it for myself. i wish at least the market would come around more than one weekend out of the year; this is all good stuff! another step in the right direction.

a lemongrass plant, chocolates, and a huge basket of danish mushrooms almost came home with me. many products were tempting me to buy them that day, but i only got away with an organic danish squash, a small box of organic danish purple potatoes, rhubarb-strawberry juice, and a habanero chili plant from camilla plum herself. her presence must have clouded my judgement because it was only after i got home that i realized i have no idea what to do with habaneros. suggestions?

anyway, big thanks to rasmus and marie for setting this series of events in motion. i feel so privileged to have taken part and now i have hope for the future of danish food. (:

it's good to be a blogger

2010-08-31T10:54:00.004+02:00

this past weekend i was privileged enough to become the last person on the list for the danish foodblogger symposium. i've been to a couple conventions in my life but this one didn't involve college kids dressed up as storm troopers or the sale of risque comics. the big surprise was seeing so many attendees! i have only seen a handful of food blogs in danish so where have all these ladies (and several guys) been hiding?

after a few speakers we started with (get this) danish white wine. here jennie is demonstrating how to aerate it; shake the glass with your hand over the top. from what i gathered, the grapes are grown in lillø, denmark and taken to germany to be turned into wine since winemaker anders selmer does not yet have the means to do it himself. for now. but after tasting four of these wines and knowing the danes' pride in their land and own products, i can see this taking off. do i need to spell it out? these wines are GOOD.

lunch came immediately after the wine tasting. i quietly thanked god for that, since i was feeling the buzz from about 3 sips x 4 glasses of wine at 11am. a legefrokost (play lunch) was given to each of us and the chef, mads nybro, instructed us how to eat it via skype. i love playful/surprising dishes and this was no exception! this can looks exactly like the ones that house the poorman's lunch of mackerel in tomato sauce. we heated the cans in a tub of hot water and after 15 minutes we opened them to realize that they contained a really deep, flavorful broth with one big, fat noodle. while we waited for the soup, we ate salad with rygeost (smoked cheese) foam and breadrolls with foie gras from the tube. oh, those scandinavians and their tubes. it was really good. so good that i'm adding a new tag to my blog, MEAT. sorry to any vegans that have taken the time to read my blog. ;_;

there was a marzipan mix covered in white chocolate to finish. marzipan has not yet become my best friend but this was a fine dessert. at the bottom of the bag, we found vanilla popcorn dust to cleanse our palates before the chocolate tasting. this was a very thoughtful and well-presented lunch which was just the right size.

i was in heaven. these chocolates were unbelievably good; dark yet creamy, sweet and bitter and one was even a little sour. the only time i can remember tastes like this was with valrhona and scharffen berger. so it's no surprise that chocolate man mikkel friis-holm has worked with the latter for years. the beans are grown in the usual faraway lands and turned into chocolate in germany. hopefully mikkel can also soon find the means to produce his wonderful chocolate here in denmark.

after the fooding came more speakers. claus meyer and charlotte mithril gave a great introduction of the new idea: new nordic everyday food. even though there were workshops afterward on how to get more readers and write better recipes/posts, i was most inspired by claus and charlotte's presentation. here are the roughly translated principles and ingredients that will shape new nordic everyday food:

danish fruits; apples, pears, plums, quince, cherries
more berries; blackcurrant, raspberries, redcurrant, strawberries but also the wild berries.
danish vegetables in general; leafy vegetables, beets, and squash.
more cabbage year-round; (pointy?) cabbage, summer cabbage, (palm?) cabbage, kale, etc.
root vegetables; jerusalem artichokes, parsnips, celery root, and carrots.
legumes; more protein from plants, split peas, broad beans, etc.
more herbs and spices in food
potatoes
plants and mushrooms from the wild landscape; ground-elder (wtf?), stinging nettle, wild garlic.
whole grains; especially oats, rye, and barley.
nuts; hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.
fish and shellfish; abundant species and bottom-feeders
seaweed
meat of higher quality, but less of it; animals that graze.
wild game; deer, ducks and pheasants.
organic; at least 75% - grains, vegetables, and dairy products.

after the meeting i felt... honestly quite ashamed of my blog. i have decided to put more effort into writing, not be afraid to take photos of my food (even when my husband is telling me how embarrassed he is), and, above all, be adventurous! after all, what is the point of doing something like this if you don't put your back into it? so now this blog has reached a turning point. it will no longer be all whining about having moved to denmark and missing food and friends in bountiful california (well, maybe once in a while), but now i will set the spotlight on ny nordisk hverdags mad. all of the points i can whole-heartedly agree with, so why not make it the focus of my little blog in this little country? i will try to learn new things everyday and step outside of my comfort zone. hmm... should i change the name of my blog now? ^^;

a proper chicken sandwich

2010-08-27T09:21:00.004+02:00

my first day at work was a blur. it ended early, which was lucky, because my boss had just signed my work contract that morning and the immigration office closes at noon on mondays. and the rules state that i can't submit my work permit papers any later than the first day of work. yikes! i made it a half hour before closing to take my number. 199. now serving 132. o_o

[photo of nasty-ass burger not included. i like to keep this blog work-safe.]

now, i rarely eat junk food, at least the stuff that isn't homemade... but i realized i was really hungry! it was 11:30 and i hadn't had anything besides a cup of coffee. maybe some of you can run on that kind of fuel, where i get incredibly cranky if i'm not fed properly; my husband knows that better than anyone. there was an 'italian' takeakway around the corner and i ordered a chicken burger. when i came back and opened the container, my appetite nearly flew out the window. the patty was a dark brown fried disc with mayonnaise peeking out from between both top and bottom slices of bread. i hate mayo!! why i didn't think to ask about it was beyond me. but i was still hungry and they were already locking the doors to the office to deal remaining with the number-holders. i was left with no option but to face this disgusting beast.

so the next day i made a revenge sandwich. chicken breast covered in dijon mustard and then dredged in panko breadcrumbs, parmesan, and s&p. baked at 175ºC for 40 minutes in a bit of olive oil. some nice crusty bread schmeared with sambal oelek plus tomatoes and lettuce and you got yourself a respectable sandwich with not a drop of mayo to be found! by the way, if you have any respect for chicken, don't get a chicken burger from that place by the immigration office. =_=

my favourite colour!

2010-08-21T19:19:00.003+02:00

i bought some nice danish sweetcorn and other nice grilling vegetables for our wedding reception, hoping the clouds would part and the sun would shine. too bad hoping for the best never got anyone anywhere... it rained almost the whole evening! so only a fraction of the corn was used that night; roasted in a very humid kitchen and chopped for a bean salad. corn didn't turn out to be the simple star of the show as i had hoped, but its day came eventually.

my chinese friend served corn soup as an appetizer one night and i was floored. soup isn't really something that i expect to taste so good, especially with such a humble ingredient as a base. when i asked her for the recipe i was a little surprised to see the seasonings were the usual suspects of garlic, onion, oregano, thyme, and lemon juice. maybe i was expecting some ancient chinese secret? me being arrogant and crazy and all, i wanted to try to asian it up a bit. that's right, i just verbed 'asian.' that's how crazy i am.

i boiled the corn lightly, no more than 9 minutes, before blanching them in cold water. after cutting off all the kernels, i threw the empty ears back into the pot to make stock. we're not wasting food. (:

---

corn stock

3-4 ears of corn, kernels already removed
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
5cm knob of ginger
6 cloves
2 star anise
1 tbsp peppercorns
pinch of salt

quarter the onion and coarsely chop the garlic. skin the ginger with a spoon and cut it into nice, thin slices. throw everything into a pot, add enough water to cover the corn in one layer and bring to a boil. simmer for 15 minutes. strain when cool enough to handle.

---

kinda chinese corn soup

corn stock
kernels from 3-4 ears of corn
1 tbsp oil for the pan
1 medium onion
2 clove garlic
2 tbsp soy sauce
sesame seeds
sesame oil

dice the onions and fry them in oil over medium heat until they soften. add the corn and saute for a minute or so. mince the garlic and add that in, frying it only for about half a minute. you don't want to taste burnt garlic (or do you?). add the stock, soy sauce, and salt if needed. simmer for 10 minutes and bust out the immersion blender. puree the hell out of the soup (with caution!) or leave it a bit chunky like me. serve with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and sesame oil, maybe some black pepper too.

if you've got a lovely standing blender like i have recently acquired (thanks, girls!), it would be a good idea to wait until the soup is reasonably cool before pouring it in. unless you like the potential of cracked glass and hot soup all over your kitchen. as for the end result, it was not quite as good as my friend's original... next time i better just stick to the recipe. /:

new toys pt. 2

2010-08-20T15:22:00.007+02:00

along with the two stone pots, my parents also brought me something else that evokes memories of california. shaved ice with sweet red bean, fresh fruit, and sometimes even ice cream hiding in the middle! a popular treat in korea, hawaii, china, and probably every other country heavily populated with asians. unfortunately by the time i received it summer was already on the downhill. we've had lots of warm, rainy days that made me feel more like a soup and a shower than anything else. however, weather has never stopped me from frozen treats in the past...

it's made by setting an ice form (in this case, short cylinder) inside and hand-cranking it over a thick razor. it's not much effort and makes a nice, lowfat sweet treat for all you ladies on a diet out there. unless of course you drown it in those funny flavourings. my parents brought me watermelon, guava, and the ever-puzzling 'blue vanilla,' all of which contain a strange list of ingredients after water and sugar. i'm more into the simple topping of red bean, fruit, and maybe a bit of condensed milk.

but if you don't like what hawaiian sweet offers, it's too easy to make your own shaved ice syrups. the other night i had a really refreshing granita during a dinner with several courses. sadly it was the most memorable part of the meal and yet served in the smallest portion. the ginger and star anise cleaned my palate and the apple was even more refreshing. i think my version comes pretty close.

---

apple and ginger syrup
about 500ml

500ml water
250g sugar
2 apples
8cm knob of ginger
3 star anise

cut the apples and ginger into small pieces (i used a mandoline to create more surface area). throw everything into a pot and bring to a boil. add more sugar if you have a ferocious sweet tooth, but remember that it's a syrup! simmer for 5 minutes and take it off the heat. wait until cooled before straining the syrup, squeezing out every last drop.

---
serve over granita/shaved ice or just add sparkling water for a soda a little more on the natural side.

madbloggersymposium

2010-08-18T12:52:00.003+02:00

i love living in denmark, i love my friends (all but a handful are not danes), and yet i feel like a cube stuck in a hole meant for a sphere. but food brings people together, right?? so this food blogger symposium should be AWESOME. not to mention free. and perhaps best of all, jennie and zarah maria will be among the attendees. maybe they can finally teach me to take a good photo and write something worth reading. ^^

the reception

2010-08-15T21:55:00.006+02:00

although i planned almost nothing for our actual wedding, i had high hopes for our reception. the plan was for a grill party in the yard; i was ready to wow these danes with the power of korean bbq, hah! unfortunately the danish summer had a mood swing and the forecast didn't look good. luckily it was okay to hold the reception at the collective we used to live in, so we got to have a 'hyggeligt' evening indoors. and boy, did it pour that night!

some people thought it was strange that we arranged it 3 weeks later but if it took place on our wedding night, i probably would have had a meltdown. it didn't seem like a lot of work at first but, well, those that know me are aware of my passion for making things from scratch. i made the fondant for the owl and the pussycat a few days in advance, just in case i screwed it up. the cakes were baked the night before the reception and i assembled them at the dining table of the collective... with several early bird guests watching me set layers together and frost it. no pressure!! the finished cake looks awful with bits of crumbs all over but hey, it tasted really good. and was vegan from cake to frosting! except the fondant figures, which contained gelatin... which, now that i think about it, seems quite unnecessary. i feel pretty stupid about adding that now, but i think only 2 people ate parts of the figurines and none of them were my vegan guests. (:

the morning/afternoon of the reception, i made a bean and corn salad, a potato salad with feta, and managed to squeeze in a quick jog while rising 4 loaves of bread before baking. those are more like my everyday food so not really worth mentioning. however, some of my guests were sweet enough to bring some food too! my american friend brought a really great avocado and tomato salad that tasted like a mash away from becoming an awesome guacamole. my english friend brought a wonderful caramelized onion and anchovy pizza and also a smoked mackerel spread that everyone was raving about. my spanish friend brought crackers, cream cheese, smoked salmon, and gorgonzola. ohhhh, i was in foodie heaven. ^^

we were not expecting gifts from our friends, but how could we refuse? isn't that one of the reasons people get married; to get new stuff? the first was a cool book called aktivistens kokebok (the activist's cookbook) from a youth house kitchen in norway. it has a lot of delicious-looking vegan and vegetarian recipes; luckily i can read norwegian. (;
the gift that made me a bit emotional was a huge retro-looking kitchenaid blender in my favourite colour; yellow! i can foresee this blender getting a lot of use in the near future, as i've been suffering from toothpain for a week and i'm due at the dentist tomorrow. the gift was from several of the girls that i originally met in danish class, including my american friend is going back to california (represent!) in a couple days. we shared many fantastic meals together and it will be a while before we meet again. i was so moved by the thoughtfulness of the gift and the dread of not being able to hang out with that friend anymore. not to mention my english friend is moving to hong kong in 2 months. why does it have to be the girls i spent the most time with? oh well, life gets in the way of friendships sometimes. ):

new toys pt. 1

2010-08-06T10:59:00.004+02:00

while my parents were visiting, i sadly did not get to cook that much! we went out to eat and had takeaway food mostly. my plan was to make a kimchi pizza at our apartment, but my mom took over the kitchen. though i didn't need much convincing; even if it's the instant kind, i can not turn down jjajangmyun! it's a black bean noodle dish... ahh, nevermind. it sounds gross any way you spell it. anyway it was really good and made me miss the great chinese-korean takeaway place back in california. the next night she ended up making budae chigae; a soldier's kimchi stew with crap meats like hot dogs and my worst enemy, spam. luckily it is not easy to find that mystery meat here so i just tolerated the hot dogs. and it was gooooood. i missed my mom's cooking so much. ;_;

i never felt too sad when i was leaving them but now that they have left me, i feel like something is missing. siiiigh. well, they did leave me two gifts (among many) that will help partially fill that space. one of them is this awesome stone pot!! can you believe they brought this from america?! it weighs a ton! i am eternally grateful for this gift from my grandma, because now i can make toasted rice! it makes a really comforting soup which i ate 3 mornings in a row after my parents' departure. it sounds lame but somehow i feel complete after eating a simple meal like that.

oh, and it makes regular rice too. in the photo above you can see peppery rice with some toasted black sesame seeds. of course it's finished with sesame oil, which makes everything smell amazing. ^^

good old danish food

2010-08-02T19:31:00.002+02:00

my ~~fiance~~ husband has been talking about this seaside restaurant for as long as i've been living in denmark. because of its somewhat out-of-the-way location on the island of odense, i've never had the chance to visit until now. he himself had eaten there several times before with bandmates on their way to concerts in jylland; a very welcome stopover when they were packed into a bus or car. he knows i am not a huge fan of traditional danish food, seeing as it's usually heavy on the meat, dairy, or salt. but he kept on talking the talk.

eventually i found myself there on the way to his parents' house. i was a little nervous since my own parents were along for the ride, and i don't think they've even tried rugbrød before. but i gotta tell ya, i think they were as impressed as i was. what you see is pickled herring in tomato sauce, flounder with shrimp, fishball, roast beef, and 2 french cheeses. all the smørrebrød toppings were put together perfectly with their sauces, flavours matched perfectly and nothing was too salty. i'm also glad that the lunch special was 3 types of fish and only one meat. of course, my parents passed on the snaps.

maybe it was the hype, maybe it was the danish butter. either way, my parents really enjoyed this take on traditional danish food. and i might have liked it just a little bit as well.

restaurant fænøsund
teglgårdsvej 100
5500 middelfart
tlf. 64 41 28 38

mawwige...

2010-07-29T18:19:00.007+02:00

see my wooden ring? i'd like to say that i haven't posted in a while because of the stress of planning our wedding, but i really have no excuse. between then and now, i've been cooking up a storm and going to dinners and all the normal things... i've just been too lazy to edit/photograph the actual food. hmm... let me retract that first statement; i am glad that we didn't stress out!

honestly, there was very little work and money put into our big day but it turned out perfectly! my dress cost around $100 and i'm definitely not planning to let it rot, unworn, in my closet. i made the bouquet from flowers in our garden, wrapping it in packaging that the rings were delivered in. and of course we took the bus to city hall! the most costly part was easily my parents' flight tickets; it was their first time in scandinavia and i'm so happy they could be a part of the wedding here in copenhagen. my man's parents drove down from århus and met us at city hall. the official 'read us our rights' in about 2 minutes so we got the formal stuff out of the way quicker than i thought.

following a raging photoshoot from friends and tourists alike on the front steps, my man's parents took us to the quiet garden behind city hall and presented kransekage and some bubbly. we got to chat a bit with our friends and mooooore photos. afterwards, we took a few of our friends on a very touristy boat tour of the copenhagen canals! it was a lot of fun and i was so happy to share this unique moment with friends and family. after all, it's not about the glitz and glam and how much you spent on the wedding... right? (;

the night ended on a very high note with dinner at our favourite japanese restaurant in denmark; bento! it was me, my new husband, and our folks. we had arranged earlier to have a selection of different dishes, but they just kept coming with more and more! our table was absolutely inundated with food. everything was so good... in addition to our own bento boxes we had kabayaki eel, agedashi tofu, gyoza, breaded pork cutlet, and chicken karaage-style. when the server announced that sushi was coming, we sadly groaned and had to ask for a reduced selection...

but there's always room for dessert! although i tried my best, it was unfortunately the first time in years that i couldn't finish my sweets... i was so sad! the cupcake was especially delicious. the service there was so wonderful, moreso than usual! the chef came out to congratulate us and his mother even took some photos of us with her own cameraphone. i even got my own bouquet from them; it was an extra sweet touch.

like i said, everything turned out the way i wanted. and i even got to wear my dress the whole day; on the bus to city hall, on the boat tour, at the restaurant... and i was never afraid to get it dirty. so that was my penny-pinching, tree-hugging wedding. ^^

copycat

2010-07-11T23:51:00.007+02:00

i finally caved in to the trends and tried my hand at quinoa. it's easily digestible, gluten-free, full of protein... why didn't i try it before? well, for one thing it is pretty expensive here in denmark. not sure why i even bought it last week since it wasn't on sale. but it was just what i needed for a quick summer picnic in 30°C weather. cooks quickly on the stove and makes a great, cold salad. these days i am just too lazy to cook with recipes (apart from bread and sweets) so i just jammed on this one.

mish-mash quinoa salad
serves 2

ingredients
1 dl uncooked quinoa
2 stalks celery, including leaves
half a red onion
2 tsbp sun-dried tomatoes
3 tbsp raisins
2 tsp vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil

after rinsing the quinoa well, cook with 2 dl water for 15 minutes. while you're waiting, finely chop the celery and onion. the quinoa is done when the little tails start appearing and detaching from the grains. fluff the stuff and add in all your goodies. add salt and pepper to taste, and a little lemon wouldn't hurt. serve outdoors, preferably barefoot.

fresh tomatoes would have been much better, but sadly i didn't have any on hand. the sun-dried ones added a nice saltiness though. there's always next time. as you may have read on a billion foodblogs before, this grain acts like a quick-cooking brown rice. nutty and filling, there are endless possibilities for salads, risottos, porridges... i can't wait to use it again! maybe even in my next veggie burgers. (:

on the regular side of things, a staple i've been keeping in the fridge nowadays is marinated mushrooms. they're great for a spur-of-the-moment picnic and don't require cooking. olive oil, vinegar, a bit of herbs, as much garlic as you like, no solid recipe here. great in salads, on bread... sometimes right out of the jar in the middle of the night... (;

rice drink

2010-07-04T09:59:00.003+02:00

i have always loved sikhye; a sweet, slightly fermented drink with rice on the bottom. when i first moved to denmark, i brought a package of barley malt powder with the intention of making it here. 2 years later... haha, i finally made it! it's not as good as the one in the korean restaurants but i like it a lot. obviously i made it with the help of maangchi.

however, like many of my korean food creations, it's hard for me to find someone to share it. the dane is still putting an effort into choking down my experiments, bless his widdle heart. this one in particular turned out very well but it's hard to get a dane to try something called "fermented rice drink." after a week went by and there was still that pitcher sitting in the fridge, i did what any frugal korean mom (wait, isn't that redundant?) would probably do and made it into popsicles.

mmmm...

the v-word

2010-06-20T23:18:00.005+02:00

it sucks being a vegan in denmark.

well, at least i'm assuming. two of my (unsurprisingly non-danish) friends are vegans and i can't imagine how they don't go nuts living in a country that is famous for its pork and dairy products. the meat section in a supermarket here is usually larger than the fruit/veg sections combined; it seems like it's almost next to grains in their food pyramid. sorry for the poor image quality, but that photo above was taken by my cellphone in stockholm. do i spy (with my tiny eyes) two types of kimchi? and multiple varieties of non-dairy milk? denmark... you have a long way to go.

what with all the barbecues at summer parties, or at least attempts at them despite lack of sunshine, there is usually several kinds of you-know-what sitting on the grill. i often think of my vegan friends getting their daily nutrition at these parties from just beer. and some potatoes, if they're lucky.

sometimes i eat vegan for a day, just because i'm bored or even too lazy to make something. the photo up there is a vegan stuffing i made from leftover homemade (duh) bread and rescued celery. who says you gotta wait 'til thanksgiving? anyway the branching-off from traditional cooking and especially baking methods genuinely interests me and i can certainly stand by the ethics standpoint of being vegan. but i can't bring myself to give up cheese and fish forever. sorry, guys. ):

world cup food

2010-06-20T10:48:00.004+02:00

who knew something so simple as leeks could become such a show-stopping part of the meal? i almost couldn't concentrate on the game, i was spending so much time slurping them up. the only thing keeping it from being vegan was the mayo in the dijonnaise. i didn't have anything else, unfortunately. anyway it was so fast and so good. now i know what to do with my leftover leeks and will never curse the pack of three again. (:

of course there has been the typical spread of burgers, hot dogs, chips, dips, and nuts to go with the endless amount of carlsberg that has been flowing through the city. but in my circle of friends, i've been blessed with delicious vegetarian options as well. my english girlfriend is a whiz with beetroot and made some wonderful beetcakes with yoghurt dressing last night. unfortunately no photo to show. i feel kind of rude taking pictures of food that my friends have made. what do you think?

i've contributed kimchi pizza, mung bean pancakes, hummus with roasted garlic, and marinated mushrooms (all but the pizza are vegan). these dishes are not so special to me, but if i can make someone feel like i did when i tasted my friend's beetcakes, well, i'll keep on bringing them out. one man's everyday food is another man's exotic dish? something like that. we've been having quite a few dinners together but not so many outdoors as we had hoped. this summer is suffering from a severe case of suckage. hopefully the sun will decide to show its face by the end of june and we can do some GRILLIN. let's make some picnic dates! (:

better birthday

2010-06-13T09:59:00.004+02:00

why is it taking me so long to post when i already have the photos edited and ready to upload? it's not like i am busy or anything... i have work and school but there is plenty of free time in between. no excuse; i feel uninspired. but pretty good!

last year i spent almost my entire birthday cooking japchae, baking a 3-layer cake and a pie, only to find out that most of the people i invited didn't show up. several of my boyfriend's (very sweet) friends were in attendance, but i had no friends of my own at that time. to add insult to injury, i cleaned everything up on my own the next morning before my flight to norway. it was not what i was hoping for at all. ):

this year i celebrated my birthday in the shared yard of our apartment complex. i was crossing my fingers for good weather since a) it's denmark and b) it had been overcast/raining in the days leading up to the party. but it was mostly sunny with good food and even better friends. another plus was that i did minimal preparation; the vegan cupcakes were made the day before and the dough for the bread was sitting in the fridge, as always. on the morning of the party i just mixed up some buttercream for the cupcakes, baked the refrigerated bread dough, and cut some veggies to dip.

i was really surprised when three of my neighbors walked into the yard and presented me with a pair of big balloon bouquets. they had seen my birthday notice and thought it was a kid's party, haha. i'd never met them before so i thought it was extremely sweet of them. my friends brought two(!) chocolate cakes, candy, pasta salad, beetroot hummus, chips, fruit, and obviously beer. seems like no party in denmark is complete without beer. is that sad, or is it just me?

another sad thing was the paper plates and plastic utensils. though they did grant me a LOT less clean-up afterwards, of course i feel bad about the waste. anyone know where i can find some more environmentally-friendly, single-use plates and utensils here in denmark? if i was at my parents' house, i might have used a couple leaves from their grapevine on top of a flat piece of wood. maybe that would look too pretentious though. anyway, help! though it's a rainy june, i have hopes for a warm summer and many meals eaten outdoors in good company. (:

thanks to everyone who made my year was awesome as it was. there's been some hurdles and growing-up, but i think 24 was one of the best years of my life. ^^

san sebastian

2010-05-27T22:12:00.006+02:00

it's been a while since my last post! now how many times have i written that. i've been busy... work, school, worrying about finding a new job, trying to get out of my uninspired cooking cycle. so i went on a short vacation. 1 night in madrid, 3 nights in san sebastian, and 1 last night in madrid. those layovers in the capital city of spain turned out to be some good nights with well-deserved partying... but the highlights of my trip definitely took place in basque country.

something as simple as a bar snack became an otherworldly experience for me. the local drink of choice, txakoli, was a refreshing (almost carbonated, the way bartenders pour it from so high!) white wine that helped me cope with the heat. but apparently you don't go to a bar in san sebastian solely to drink; you go there to be social. and as i'm sure everyone knows, food brings people together.

the pintxos (or tapas) at this mom-and-pop type pub tasted like a few more zeros should have been tacked onto the price. luckily my couchsurfing host led the way for lunch this time. the specialty of goiz-bargi is cooked-to-order skewered shrimp with a salsa-ish sauce. it tasted complex, light and fresh at the same time. but if you end up at this bar, i beg you not to limit yourself to the shellfish. just about everything on the table looked mouth-watering, and the items i ended up choosing were just that.

even the humblest cold pintxo that was offered at their table was a hundred times better than any sad excuse for 'tapas' that i have eaten before. the way the food was served so unpretentiously just impressed me even more. it was as if i was in a diner, ordering a plain old grilled cheese sandwich from a washed-out waitress. only it was like the best tuna-chili-bellpepper-sardine sandwich ever.

i followed my host to the next bar with a different vibe. astelena was still as packed as the first, but it looked a bit more like an actual bar for the boys than a restaurant. we stood at the counter since claiming a table or barrel top would have been mission impossible (or at least mission 'wait for a table instead of silencing the stomach growls') but i think i like the counter best. orders are placed there anyway so there's no reason to waste precious foodtime walking back and forth. (;

out of the specials on the blackboard i went with beef cheek. it was melt-in-your-mouth tender and the flavour was intense. along with the brown sauce on top there was some flavoured olive oil and a tiny pineapple slice. i am not a big meat-eater but WOW. at this moment, i realized i can never become vegetarian. well, at least not when i am in basque country.

one of the only regrets during my stay was not ordering the frogs legs. like the other raw items on display, they are cooked to order. unfortunately(?) i had already eaten a fish+bread pintxo and a croqueta de bacalo (a fried orgy of white fish, potatoes, and probably cheese or cream) in addition to the beef cheek. my stomach was full and it was time for a siesta. which i urge you to take seriously in spain! i can count the number of times i've ever been sunburnt on one hand, and san sebastian granted me another finger. at one point i was walking along the beach in the afternoon when i suddenly felt dizzy and nauseous. luckily i found some shade before i had the opportunity to pass out from heatstroke. so remember: SIESTA.

my favourite discovery in this beach city is easily txubillo. when i read the menu outside and saw "japanese-basque bar" of course my first reaction was wariness of bad fusion food. boy, was i ever wrong. thank goodness my host was living in the area or else i never would have wandered into this place. here i ordered the first thing on the blackboard with a word i could recognize: ajo. it means garlic! those who are close to me are well-aware of my love of garlic; and they probably tolerate it since they remain close to me. :P

bacalao gratinado con crema de ajo is a white fish that's baked in garlic cream. there were some vegetables hidden underneath but i honestly didn't notice their flavour as i ate this dish. my mouth was in garlic heaven, or rather it was inside my mouth. though it was creamy, the fish didn't sit heavy in my stomach at all. in fact, i washed it down easily with another class of txakoli. (;

a japanese woman was enjoying a platter of beautiful sushi next to me. though i'm sure it was as perfect as the cooked offerings, come on... i didn't come to this city to eat sushi. when i come back to san sebastian, this is the first place i want to revisit for lunch! the other menu offerings were very tempting, but i was full after one dish since we had already been to another bar. it's the local style to have a couple pintxos/drinks at one bar and move on.

on my last day in san sebastian, i was alone. i wandered the old part of the city with the rest of the tourists. eventually i found myself at goiz-bargi again. mom and pop smiled when they recognized me and let me get a few eurocents off my bill when i didn't have correct change. on the lookout for the next bite, i noticed almost every fourth or fifth bar i passed had a sticker that read michelin star recommended. that meant almost nothing to me here since the food in every bar or restaurant was such good quality. i wonder if it means anything to the locals? this simple-looking pintxo was from a place with such a sticker; bar martinez. sadly, i left after eating two more pintxos; right as the bartenders starting bringing out some very interesting dishes. i'm sure those tasted slightly more complex than the already stunning food i had eaten... but i had a very full stomach and a flight to catch.

my host was a sweetheart and a cool guy to hang out with, but of course he has a life of his own and i couldn't tag along all the time. san sebastian was a little lonely for me then. although all the people that attempted to talk to me were very polite and friendly, most of them seemingly spoke every major language except english. if i spoke spanish i'm sure that i would have made a few friends there. maybe next time. and there WILL be a next time. this city changed my feelings on food for good.

carrot tops

2010-04-30T00:05:00.002+02:00

my vendetta against carrots is over, but i am still no fan of them. however, when i found some bunches with the greens still on, i couldn't help but take two. once i got home i realized i have no idea what to do with the tops. it would be a damn shame if i just picked the carrots for the lovely tops that would just end up back in the bin. those greens sat in the crisper all night but they were in my thoughts up until i fell asleep. probably in my dreams as well. YES, i do sometimes dream about food. you can stop laughing now. :P

after a good washing, i ate a few leaves raw. tasted a bit like carrot and parsley but not as strong. so i took the easy way out and made it into a soup. sauteed some onions in butter (no garlic, as the dane is still avoiding it. so sad!!), added the greens, and then some vegetable stock. then came some diced carrots and potatoes and sun-dried tomatoes and leftover rice. immersion blender. i know i am getting a bit lazy in the kitchen lately but it's just so instinctive to make soup! and also a good way to get all my vegetable servings for the day. the soup was an awful colour so no photo. but it tasted really good, probably because of the butter and marmite. i had a tiny bit left in the jar that i've had for over 2 years now but i just swished some stock in there and poured it into the soup. added a really nice oomph of flavour. (:

conclusion: do NOT toss those tops! there are some good-looking ideas here but i haven't tried any of the recipes. and of course, save that little bit of marmite or off-wine (or what have you) to add to soups. ^^

dumpster diving

2010-04-25T13:25:00.003+02:00

i found this spidskål (some kinda pointy cabbage? help me out there) in a bin, along with a massive amount of potatoes, some carrots, and 2 yellow peppers. the peppers got roasted first, then everything was thrown into a pot, boiled, pureed into oblivion, and hit with a generous handful of chili flakes. how's that for veggie torture?

the result was a hearty soup for a rainy spring day. i topped it off with a bit of yogurt but i guess it wasn't really necessary to un-veganize it. bottom line is; it was good and so cheap. all i paid for was the onions, chili, and garlic. it's not that i'm poor (yet). it is simply amazing the amount and quality of foodstuffs that danish supermarkets throw out. but now i am taking advantage of it. (;

vegan dinner

2010-04-25T09:57:00.003+02:00

i'm longing for summer when dinner parties can be held with some natural light left. these photos are pretty bad but the dinner was nice. it starred two of my friends here in copenhagen, a vegan-vegetarian couple. though i'm not vegan myself, i always find it exciting to work with new methods of cooking.

we had black bean burgers but i don't really have a recipe for them. it's onions, tomato paste, salt, panko..? something like that. seasoned until it tasted edible. that's a nice thing about making burgers without meat; you can taste it before cooking and not get sick. my friends made some awesome garlic mushrooms; two things i love, smashed together! i was so happy about those. and yes, that is kimchi you see on the other half of my bun. (;

for dessert, banana cake! i found some passion fruits last week, just sitting there in the bin. how could i not take them? but the vegan icing i make for the cake looked awful, like someone had desecrated it when i wasn't looking. but it was me! oh well, it tasted good anyway. note to self, don't put rice flour in icing.

overall, i think it was a success. so when are YOU coming over for dinner? (;

kiin kiin

2010-04-05T12:30:00.004+02:00

oyster served on a nørrebro paving stone. fresh, sweet, salty! sadly this is the only picture i got during the meal at michelin-starred kiin kiin. the dane hid the camera from me while i took a bathroom break; he was getting embarrassed at my asian tourist-like snapping. but i couldn't really complain since the lighting was less-than-optimal and i didn't want to use flash. oh, and who can argue when he took us there to celebrate us reserving our wedding date. july 24, people! (;

hard to believe this restaurant is right around the corner from our apartment in the 'ghetto' known as nørrebro. trust me, there are a lot of places in copenhagen i would rather not end up in at 2am but most danes consider our hood to be dangerous. the meal was well worth the 2000kr+ (and we didn't even get the accompanying wine menu!) with the flawless service, delicious plates, and perfect presentation. the first course is served downstairs in the lounge. plate after plate of amuse bouche! dumplings, soya-roasted cashews, fried lotus root, fishcakes, scallop tartar, more... after these alone, i was almost full. @_@

they escorted us upstairs where they first presented us with a surprise course, the dane chose lobster and i chose what you see in the photo above. after that it seemed like a blur of tastes and smells. i don't really remember the dishes very well. hey, part of the reason why i write in this journal is to help my own memory! i do remember the soup and the duck with bok choy to be almost uncomfortably salty... both dishes were very good but i was wishing for something like rice or noodles to neutralize it. anyway, onto my favourite course; DESSERT. :D

...and there were three! the first was a spin off of københavner stang, a popular ice-pop with vanilla ice cream encased in citrusy popsicle. only this one was passionfruit ice cream inside a white chocolate shell. oooohhhh. the next was a sort of apple cake with crumbs, cream, and of course a baked apple. oh, and it was doused in rum and lit on fire. that was just a little awesome. finally we were served a little scoop of cream in a big plate with a hole in the center. our sweet, swede waitress poured liquid nitrogen into the bigger plate underneath and our cream turned into, well, ice cream. some of the smoke got onto the tablecloth and my hand, felt pretty cool (badum-chh).

i was reeling from all this sensory overload; all i wanted to do was go home and curl up in bed. but as expected, the dane wanted a cup of coffee. apparently that comes with 5-6 amazing chocolates. those who know me will know how my eyes lit up when they presented the sweets. my favourite was a green grape simply coated in white chocolate. ^^

all i can say is WOW. if you've got the dough (or at least a reason to celebrate, like us), i can definitely recommend this restaurant. hopefully if we go another time, there will be enough daylight to snap some photos!

kiin kiin
guldbergsgade 21
2200 københavn n
+45 35 35 75 55

copenhagen on the cheap

2010-04-01T20:31:00.011+02:00

after being asked a handful of times about what to do in denmark, where you can buy soju, and how to get around, i decided to put together a little guide... mina-style! (:

first of all, you need a CPR card (equivalent to a US social security card) to get work, a bank account, etc. so if you don't have that special number, don't even bother asking for a job. no one is willing to pay you under the table with the risk of a fine. secondly, don't expect to be able to use your credit card anywhere unless it has a special chip in it. you'll have to get cash at an automat. lastly, always be prepared for rain! no matter how bright and sunny it is one minute, it could be a downpour the next. ):

getting around:
rejseplanen is a good website to use when you need to use public transport to get somewhere on time. it even alerts you to traffic changes; for example if one station is down, the website will give you an alternate route. findvej is just your basic map.
during the spring and summer, citybikes are put out all over copenhagen. you put in 20kr and when you return the bike, you get the money back. but do not ride these bike outside the city or else you'll get a fine. and take note of the photo in the citybike link! they have a very specific look. don't just pick up any old bike and ride off with it; it belongs to someone! :P

eating:
i've been laughed at for doing this, but because of it i can go out and enjoy myself on the weekends! there are regular catalogs put out for grocery stores and i check them almost every week. it saves quite a bit of money when you compare prices instead of just going into superbrugsen and just buying all your groceries there. check minreklame and see the foodstuffs all the way at the bottom. of course the other catalogs can be useful as well. ^^
green grocers can be a good way to save on produce, spices, and of course more exotic ingredients. they are easily spotted by their wares being displayed outside the shop. there are a lot of good middle eastern grocers in nørrebro and you'll find several asian shops close to the central station facing istedgade. but be friendly and beware; they can rip you off just as well as irma. (;

drinking:
most importantly, it is perfectly okay to drink from the tap. no bottled water needed!
my favourite watering holes are in my neighborhood, but obviously there are some nice places in the rest of copenhagen too. lades kælder is relatively grungy compared to the rest of the upscale nightlife in centrum, but the concerts are intimate and the beers are well-priced! if you can spend a bit more cash, i definitely suggest den tatoverede enke for a great selection of belgian beers. of course christiania is full of great places to hang out with a drink, especially in the summertime.
nørrebro: all you have to do is walk down two specific streets to find a bunch of nice bars. blågårdsgade has props, kate's joint, and of course blågårds apotek. fælledvej boasts gefahrlich and rayeula. further up nørrebrogade you can find drone, which can be a nice bar or a crazy dance party. and a little hidden away is underwood ink, a classy bookbar with good vibes and a great cheese plate.
if you're b.y.o.b then don't forget to recycle your bottles. there's a reason why you have to pay an extra 1kr even though your coke only costs 7kr. inside supermarkets there is usually a machine where you can return your bottles and cans that have this mark. after you have put in all your recyclables, click giv dit bidrag to donate your money to unicef or click pantknappen to keep your money to yourself (you selfish pig!). a receipt will print out and you take it to the cashier. it counts towards any groceries you're buying at the time or you can just get cash.

bonus:
everything is expensive in copenhagen! even a dress at h&m will cost more than the same dress in stockolm. so flea markets are always a good thing. they are plentiful in summertime but you can always find one somewhere.
check out concerts to buy tickets beforehand and maybe you can save a few kroner at the door. soundvenue is a good site to check out who's playing all over denmark.

anything to add? (:

lasagne!

2010-03-17T22:20:00.003+01:00

i finally managed to make an edible lasagne (much to the dane's delight). before i knew how to cook, i attempted all sorts of 'low-cal' approaches to classic italian dishes and ended up with nightmare dishes. zucchini-crust pizza, spaghetti squash with 'meatballs', lasagne with no decent source of carbohydrates within... yes, i did have one of those miserable stages in life... of course i was slim, but i was sad. so very sad. now i'm chubby but at least i experience the joy of good food every day. ^^

the best part about the lasagne was undoubtedly the ricotta filling. i MADE cheese. it blew my mind! big ups to david lebovitz for the recipe. this method was a lot cheaper than buying ricotta in the supermarket. it was even easy, there was no reason for me to watch the pot on the stove the way i did. the cheese turned out so perfect! the only hard part was scrubbing the pot afterward... /:

overall i think it was a really nice lasagne despite all the chopping and waiting that it took. however, the broccoli felt pretty out of place here. i enjoy this vegetable very much but it was just a strange texture with the rest of the dish and it also smelled bad after a day in the fridge. you know, that old broccoli smell... red, white, and green lasagne is no problem... i'll just pick a different green next time, perhaps spinach or kale.

who's got the cutest new lunchbox?

2010-03-14T22:27:00.002+01:00

okay, it is not exactly new... i picked it up for a few kroner at a second-hand shop that just opened close to our apartment. man it just looks so adorable! the vintage artwork really inspired me to make some smørrebrød for lunch at work tomorrow. at the same time it seems quite boring since, everyday, more than half of my coworkers have rugbrød for lunch. don't get me wrong, i love that sour bread. but every day?! hmm, maybe i just have to get more creative with my toppings. so here's hoping for a more interesting madpakke.

thank god for leftovers!

2010-03-14T16:45:00.000+01:00

dinner? bibimbap.

breakfast? kimchi bokkumbap. (:

"thai" spicy

2010-03-13T13:26:00.004+01:00

my favourite hangover brunchmate and i paid another visit to thai kalasin to celebrate her return from a trip home in indonesia. of course we had the usual spicy fried fish but i always like to get something new on the menu as well. this time i chose the glass noodle salad. i can't resist a seafood salad, especially when it's got some heat! when the waitress asked how hot we wanted it, we just smiled mischievously. (or at least i did.) so she said "ok, i make it THAI spicy."

BOY was it. there must have been at least 2 little chilies in it. my mouth and stomach were burning pleasantly for the rest of the afternoon. and of course it was delicious. (:

chili smoothie

2010-02-21T13:00:00.003+01:00

yes, i have been eating. but whatever i've made this week is either not really interesting or i didn't have enough time to take a photo. i invited some friends from my danish class over for dinner on friday and i made korean dumpling soup and the vegetable pancake. however it was a big rush to finish everything so... yeah. and then we had cheese with my home-baked bread. and then i had cheese and my bread again on saturday night. i live a charmed life (sometimes), what can i say.

but one morning last weekend i wasn't feeling all that great so i thought back on this great smoothie i had at this cafe called det vide hus. the carrot cake wasn't all that great there, but that's a story for another post. the smoothie was made of blueberries and some other berries but also... chili?! it was cool and refreshing but then the aftertaste was a sweet, mild burn. of course, me being a spice freak, i loved it. the one i made at home wasn't quite the same but still pretty good. more experiments will follow, and i do want my chili plant to feel loved.

round

2010-02-07T20:18:00.003+01:00

this week was a lot of... round food. unfortunately that's not the only round thing that's been spotted chez mina. but hey, it's winter; i need a layer of insulating fat! or at least that's what i'm telling myself to keep from caring about it. so far it's working. ^^

fiskefrikadeller! another one of those great danish cold lunch foods. basically a slightly flattened fishcake. there is something similar in korean cuisine that is usually seen in soup. sadly, this was store-bought because i was lazy. but still; yum!

mushrooms, red onions, and feta on some sort of flatbread that i drunkenly bought one night at a green grocer. i think it's lavash? anyway it was delicious!

and although i do love when the dane makes me bacony, creamy, mushroomy pasta on a snowy night, sometimes i feel like i need something that is not so full-fat or time-consuming. simple salads like raw beetroot and feta, for example. i am really digging that cheese lately. seemingly perfect on anything! and it's normally sold in squares instead of rounds. (;

vegan sushi

2010-01-30T14:57:00.003+01:00

though i have eaten a lot of sushi over the years, i could never call myself a sushi connoisseur. there are so many choices that i have not been offered and probably won't ever be; at least not outside of japan. and we're not just talking about fish here. most people instantly think of fish when the word "sushi" comes up, but it is really all about the rice. but it certainly proves a challenge to prepare other ingredients that are as wonderful in taste, texture, and presentation as fish. especially in denmark, which may not offer all the 'exotic' vegetables that one may find in america or asia. which is part of the reason why i wanted to do a vegan sushi night for my vegetarian friend.

it is cheaper, better for the environment, and good for you to eat vegan sushi instead of the usual. but hey, who am i kidding? fish is amazing and is the biggest reason i am not a vegetarian. yes, i am a bad person. sorry, vegans. ):

that being said, this night was a lot of fun. my vegetarian friend likes to eat sushi once in a while but it is almost always rolls. not that i have anything against rolls (i believe they have their time and place...) but i wanted her to have a choice between maki and nigiri for once. also i think the latter looks much more beautiful. i have never attempted anything like this before, even though the dane and i have cut sashimi a dozen times at home. a lot of time and consideration had to be taken in preparing this menu but i think it just may have worked out. ^^

cucumber and daikon marinated in rice vinegar, steamed leek with sesame seeds, roasted red pepper, roasted beetroot, miso-marinated fried tofu with a garlic chip, roasted mushrooms, and of course avocado. the beetroot must have been my least favourite; mainly because of its crunchiness. i don't know about you, but i like eating softer things as nigiri. the winner in my mind was the mushrooms, but that's pretty biased since i am a mushroom fiend. after roasting, they were meaty and a little chewy, but not in a once-living-flesh kind of way. i'll definitely be making those mushrooms again. (:

leftovers? well i threw the veg into a flatbread and had myself a wrap for breakfast the next morning. with a generous swipe of chili paste in there, it hit the spot. P:

'spaghetti' from hell

2010-01-28T19:57:00.004+01:00

a bit late, but i ate this for breakfast after the mexican dinner and beer and tequila and champagne... ugh. usually the morning after a night out, i like to have something really spicy to settle my stomach. x:

i wasn't really in the mood to make anything from scratch so i took this kimchi chigae out of the freezer and tossed it into a pot with some frozen noodles. it was already pretty substantial with black beans, a little brown rice, and tofu. but hey, it's all good stuff and definitely beats a typical greasy hangover cure. totally hit the spot! and it was spicy enough to make my nose run and my lips numb until lunchtime. (:

missing

2010-01-24T12:55:00.007+01:00

the thing i miss most about california is not so much the low prices, nor the great variety of food, or even the mostly sunny weather. well, the weather part hasn't been looking too great these days. what i want here in denmark is my friends and family. the personal interaction is still happening, but nowhere near the level that i had with my loved ones back home. even my coworkers felt closer in california. here, there always seems to be some sort of barrier between me and most danes. maybe it has to do with cautiousness of cultures or just the fact that i am a relatively new person. but there are a few people here that make me feel a little more at home.

...and one of them happens to be a great cook! she graciously invited me and two other ex-classmates over to her apartment for dinner. and what a feast it was! i am not sure how she managed to make such a tender shredded pork dish with what is available here in denmark, even with her slew of ingredients brought from mexico and the states.

i dare to say the best part of the meal was fresh corn tortillas, made on her mother's old tortilla press. they were so delicious that i could have eaten them alone. but the other offerings were so good that i couldn't resist. ^^

rice, refried beans, salsa, chicken and bell peppers for fajita, potatoes... oh, what a night! it was nothing short of an honor to be eating such great food with awesome people. i wasn't expecting the night to go on for late, but we lost track of time and i ended up at home around 2am. yikes! sorry if i overstayed my welcome, claudia, but thanks for it! and of course thanks for being someone familiar to me in a (still) new place. (:

dumpling leftovers bento

2010-01-18T22:29:00.002+01:00

if you've ever bought hot dog materials in an american supermarket, you might have noticed that buns and wieners always come in uneven numbers. well, not to say even versus odd, but you get something like 8 buns and 10 wieners. but it's been a very long while since i've even eaten a single hot dog so maybe things have changed for the better. anyway my point was that homemade dumplings are much like that. i've never seen just the right amount of filling made for the perfect number of wrappers. if you have extra wrappers, you can simply freeze them. but what do you do with leftover filling...?

freeze it?
hmm, might be too moist to become filling again. though i might try it sometime.

toss it?
do you think i'm made of money?!

...make it into a patty to put into your work lunch?
bingo.

to make a vegan filling like mine (tofu + shiitake + spring onions + mung bean sprouts) stick together as a patty, you'll either need bread crumbs, flour, or else you gotta un-vegan it. in my laziness, i just added an egg. it went well with my salad and i still felt somewhat virtuous. but maybe next time i'll just dunk it in panko and fry the hell out of it. (;

mandu, take 2

2010-01-18T00:08:00.005+01:00

again i took kimchi to work with no ill after-effects. there was also rice, seasoned mung bean sprouts, and some toasted seaweed. the only thing i'm afraid of is when i have to get close to my patients. maybe they can smell my ferment-y breath but are too polite (typical danes) to say so. better start taking a toothbrush to work. x:

i spent sunday afternoon biking to the asian shop through a bit of lazily falling snow and then making dumplings. cycling through snow is great; your body warms up well while you take in the scenery. there were little kids playing ice hockey on the lakes and i saw a lot of people skating in the middle. as for the dumplings, i learned my lesson from last time and took the easy way out by paying 20kr for a package of dumpling wrappers. of course it was much easier and faster. the filling was basically the same; tofu, spring onion, shiitake, and bean sprouts. i can't wait to steam/fry some and take it in my work lunch!

on new years day i spent a good hour or so meditatively folding dumplings with my aunts and even the dane tried his hand at it. i was so proud of him! (:

danish doshirak

2010-01-17T10:03:00.001+01:00

i finally made a somewhat normal 'danish' lunch this week, though maybe it is just a scandinavian dish. little shrimp, egg, and rye bread. it's one of the fastest meals i can make and not terribly unhealthy. the more i use this bento box, the more surprised at how much food fits into it! at first i was afraid it was too small but it really is just the right size. maybe after looking at it i feel satisfied and fuller somehow. :P

simple green curry

2010-01-12T20:41:00.003+01:00

i've made it plenty of times before but today i decided to pack it in my lunch. i'll reheat it outside of the bento box, along with the rice. the mae ploy green curry is just awesome; all you have to do is fry it in some vegetable oil, add coconut milk, and then vegetables. the best thing about the curry paste is that it's only herbs and vegetables with no preservatives. and no, i'm not being paid to say that. (;

it's got kale, organic broccoli and a handful of frozen carrots, bell peppers, and corn. it also has two little chilies from our chili plant at home. strong stuff! P:

badass

2010-01-12T20:10:00.003+01:00

who took kimchi and doenjang in her worklunch today? that's right, MINA did. and i do know that microwaving frozen rice in a plastic bag will leak toxins... but find me a better way to make near-perfect rice at work! thanks to my mom for the tip. comes out right every time. (:

doenjang is great for mixing into rice to give it a bit of flair. and no one in the breakroom said anything about the rancid kimchi smell. with a bit of blanched kale, i think this was a pretty healthy lunch. not that there's anything unhealthy or gross about the food served in our hospital's kantine, but i just prefer to save money and (lunch)time by bringing my own.

keepin' it real

2010-01-11T04:57:00.003+01:00

well, it isn't beautiful or cute. but i did make my first proper bento, or to use the korean term, doshirak (도시락). same lunch box, different languages.

i rinsed some herring fillets and took off the skin. then i dredged them in a mix of flour, oatmeal, s&p, and fried them in a bit of vegetable oil. the oats add a nice crispiness and more fiber. underneath the fillets is plain ol' whole wheat pasta and some vegetables. the bottom tier has a salad which i'll probably just salt and pepper at lunchtime.

to be honest i am a little anxious about taking a funny little lunch box like this to my danish workplace. the contents of this one would be familiar to them but maybe they will see riceballs and dumplings as weird among their very predictable madpakke of cheese/meat rye bread + carrot + cucumber/tomato. the only reason i am thinking about it is because once i took a packet of miso and a cube of tofu to make into soup for lunch; they looked at me like i was squeezing poo on top of some plastic toy. when i tried to explain the concept of the ingredients to them, they looked pretty strangely at me for eating soybeans two ways in the same soup.

whatever. it's MY lunch! (:

baggage and bento

2010-01-09T18:02:00.003+01:00

after enjoying constant temperatures above 15°C in california (in december!) it's almost refreshing to come back to a snowy winter in denmark. however, the cold will still take a bit of getting used to. especially since the nice coat i just bought in america is in my suitcase, which is still swimming around somewhere in heathrow. at least i hope so.

also in that suitcase are some new ingredients that i bought to help kick off my new bento lunches. by the way, the bento boxes are in the suitcase too. ):

so the first 'bento' is pretty boring. kale which was first blanched and then stir-fried in some soy and sesame oil with plain brown rice. YAWN. well, it's healthy anyway. hopefully my luggage will arrive tomorrow so i can make my lunch on monday a bit more creative.

jul i californien

2009-12-25T19:51:00.002+01:00

though the weather could fool anyone, it's the end of december and we are celebrating christmas in sunny california! it's the first year that the dane has spent the holiday away from his family but he seems to be enjoying himself. yesterday evening was dinner at my aunt's with my mom's side of the family. somehow my mom got a turkey for free from the hospital she works at. later i found out that there was also a produce box available instead, but she's never been one to turn down meat... anyway she has certainly mastered the preparation of this giant bird because it was moist and flavourful; even impressing the dane, who is used to lovely duck for christmas dinner.

however, the dish i was most looking forward to was my grandma's homemade kimchi! she buries it in a clay pot in her backyard, very old school. :D

along with that she brought her infamous japchae. the one i made for my birthday doesn't even come close. must be all the love she puts into it. (:

and some other homemade korean fare... not pictured are: salmon fillet topped with fish eggs (i think flying fish) and mayo, sweet potatoes cooked in rice, radish kimchi, romaine lettuce and cucumbers to dip in red pepper paste, bulgogi, and gravy with cranberry sauce for the turkey. whew!

not to say that i didn't enjoy last christmas, which was my first time spending the holiday away from home... but it's definitely great to see the family again and taste all the wonderful comfort food they cooked. and it helps that there are a lot more vegetable options than just potatoes and cabbage. ^^

beginning bento!

2009-12-23T18:16:00.004+01:00

my parents asked me if i've been cooking anything interesting in denmark up until my visit. unfortunately the answer was no; all i was doing was cleaning out the fridge. my lunchbox at work was devoid of any creativity! but even though i want to make something healthy and easy on the eyes, there isn't much seasonal stuff available in denmark during the winter time. it's a lot of potatoes and carrots and cabbage... but there's also kale and pumpkin and some other nice things. inspired by this bento lunch at a local sushi joint in fountain valley, i'm determined to put a little more effort into my lunches once i get back home.

to motivate myself, i bought a cheap little bento box. i think it was around $3. hopefully i will have some interesting lunches to show off later. ^^

the food

2009-12-23T07:41:00.004+01:00

although i'm in california now, i figured i should not forget to write about the last dinner out in denmark. it's a restaurant right across from empire bio and just a few skips away from our apartment. there is a glass wall in front of the kitchen so you can see the chefs working from outside the joint.

i ordered pan-fried scallops with steamed leeks. it came with a mayonnaise-y sauce and seaweed salad. those who know me will remember that mayo is my sworn enemy, but i have to admit that it paired very well with the dish. a perfect entree! however, the lovely bread rolls that came with our meal were a little unpredictable. the first one i ate was a little bland and the second one was incredibly salty. so eat it at your own risk. (:

the food
guldbergsgade 29
2200 københavn
tlf. 40448510

the art of juggling julefrokosts

2009-12-12T14:21:00.003+01:00

...is something i am far from mastering. traditionally it starts with different types of herring on rye bread, which are then chased down by schnapps. next is a buffet that is mostly meat, potatoes, and red cabbage or beetroot. after that is chocolates, risalamande, and a boatload of drinks. although julefrokost translates directly to "christmas lunch" it is generally in late november and a dinner that people are expected to get very drunk at. that was my work julefrokost in a nutshell.

luckily, the christmas lunch at the old collective had much more vegetable options and much more hygge with my former roommates. in addition to the generous spread, we brought wines and a giant beer from belgium! everything was delicious: there was a pasta salad (which was more of the former than the latter), beetroot with carrots, rice and lentils, duck, lamb, liver pate, and my homemade rye bread. but the star was my fiance's homemade curried herring!

i watched him mix everything together but it tasted like it was somehow more than the sum of its parts. gotta give props to my man. (;

last was a great julefrokost with friends from my danish class. the girl from mexico brought salsa and hummus, the other girl from california brought a giant loaf of awesome bread with sunflower seeds and raisins, and the guy from argentina brought a great malbec and cheese. the english girl hosting the dinner went insane and cooked all sorts of nice things; roasted root vegetables, soup (which we sadly never got around to), chutney for the cheese, a rhubarb crumble, and more bread. i just brought bibimbap. unfortunately i didn't take any food photos... i guess i was just having such a good time with my friends that i just forgot. (:

unfortunately now that i've survived 3 julefrokosts, i am quite the tub of lard. good thing california has good jogging weather. @_@;

vegetarian pho

2009-12-12T13:56:00.003+01:00

i tried making vegetarian pho the other day with soba noodles. this version of a southern california lunchtime favourite was tolerable, but nowhere near the intended taste. hot soup was nice on a cold, rainy day... but wished i had eaten something else. ):

oh well, i'll have the real thing in my hot little hands in just a few days! the dane and i will be in california for the holidays and i intend to take every opportunity to eat cheap asian food. :D

chunky or creamy?

2009-11-26T21:46:00.002+01:00

no, i'm not talking about peanut butter. because everyone knows crunchy is better than creamy. (;

tomato soup! that's the subject. last week it was rain, rain, rain. surprise! so i was really craving a soup or stew of some sort. canned tomatoes, garlic, onion, herbs... those are all cheap things i have in the kitchen. my only splurge was a red bell pepper, which i roasted with a head of garlic and chopped them roughly before adding to the pot. of course the dane couldn't stand on vegetables alone for dinner, so i baked a chunk of artisan bread in a loaf pan. the results would have been better had i not turned my back on the oven for 3 minutes. the broil function don't mess around, sistah. however it was thankfully still edible.

though i really liked the rustic soup, sometimes i'm in the mood for a creamy, decadent soup. but for some reason we haven't bought a blender for the new apartment yet.

...until now!! today i was feeling totally lost for dinner so i just gave in and bought a braun standing blender on the way home from work. so that's how mina had hummus with cucumbers and carrots for thanksgiving dinner. the end. (:

to kale or not to kale

2009-11-16T22:01:00.003+01:00

sadly, it was kind of a struggle for me to eat this. i guess the 'wasabi sesame drizzle sauce' is what makes all the difference. also, the texture was a bit too tough for me. i ate all the shiitake mushrooms greedily and pushed the greens around on my plate until i guilted myself into finishing it. i bought a bag of organic danish kale on a whim but it had to be taken care of. but it looked pretty!

however, the success did come eventually. leftovers plus more leftovers apparently equals awesome! only slightly daunted by the rest of the kale sitting in the bag, i took the water saved from soaking the shiitakes and dumped them in a pot with some water and crushed garlic. once it was boiling, i added the unthawed dumplings from the back of the freezer. when i assumed the dumplings were un-iced i laid kale on top and covered the pot so they could steam. i added soy sauce and a bit of sesame oil after the kale was a little tenderized.

too bad i don't have a recipe down because it smelled and tasted so much of the kitchen of my childhood. even the dumplings were pretty good despite the terrible wrapping job i did. this soup made me miss my mom and grandmothers' cooking so much! i can't wait to visit california in december. (:

2009-11-16T21:57:00.003+01:00

finally! i went to thai kalasin again with the same friend and of course i had to order the fish since she didn't. it is SO delicious and pretty damn spicy. also; it's not on the menu. the prices are pretty reasonable by copenhagen standards so if you ever find yourself there, order the fried fish in red curry. (;

so-so salmon

2009-11-16T21:49:00.003+01:00

i made this recipe with some fresh salmon filets that i got from nørreport fiskehus a few days earlier with the intention to make sushi. unfortunately i put in the peas too early and too little salt for it to be too interesting. yes, i did use carrots instead of parsnips but i'm sure that didn't make much difference. lemon only made it slightly better. and i am always a bit disturbed by the white gunk that oozes out of salmon whenever i cook it. anyway, should have pan-fried it.

the vegetables were good, anyhow. and it's good practice for me to actually cook fish once in a while.

stuffed hokkaido pumpkin

2009-11-08T23:32:00.003+01:00

the main reason i bought this pumpkin was probably for visual appeal; what else could have been on my mind when this tiny, unfamiliar produce found its way into my shopping basket? it sat around the apartment on a cake stand for almost a month before i realized i could make a very familiar food with it. i'm not sure if it is a traditional korean food but i see (acorn?) squash stuffed with rice in the korean markets all the time. it's cheap and very healthy. you could probably just add uncooked rice with the same amount of water you'd use in a rice cooker, but i cheated and stuffed this orange vessel with already-cooked purple rice (brown rice cooked with black beans) from the freezer. before that, i coated the insides with vegetable oil and soy sauce. put the top back on so it can steam inside and after about 50 minutes at 200°C, it could be easily pierced by a fork and i guess that gives the green light.

before eating, i added a bit of sesame oil. it was so good! this is the kind of food that makes me think of home. the only problem was that it needed some salt and pepper. i assumed that the soy sauce would lend enough saltiness but it needed a pinch or two more. this is definitely going to be made again. (:

hey, i did not buy a $4 organic pumpkin just to toss the seeds. they got roasted and will be my snack on the train tomorrow.

second month on my own

2009-11-08T22:17:00.003+01:00

unfortunately there haven't been too many gastronomic feats in my kitchen recently. i blame lack of time with work and school, and of course my own laziness. and when i have a tub of tofu sitting in the fridge and a jar of peanut butter at the ready, there isn't too much much of an urge to cook. most of the drive lately seems to come from trying to use up ingredients before they go off. i just hate hate hate to waste food! both for the 'big picture' and also for my small wallet. /:

this shepherds pie was conceived solely to take care of some potatoes and parsley roots that my roommates had brought for our dinner gathering. though it wasn't really much more than the sum of its parts, it was still pretty good. after i got tired of this mash, it became soup with a couple more cloves of garlic and a handful of herbs. which was what it should have began as since it tasted so much better. ):

to end on a lighter (and less healthy) note, here are some cookies! two types;
world peace a.k.a. korova and plain ol'slice-and-bake. i made them for a friend's birthday since i'm lame and i couldn't think of anything to buy for him. both were light (at least in the hand... maybe not so much in the stomach) and crisp. i'm more a fan of fudgy cookies but these vanished in no time. (:

the world peace cookies had a slight edge on the plain ones. i guess the chocolate chips and a dash of sea salt won the extra points! i remember when i was younger, i hated getting a bite of salt in my sweets. that was around the same time that i claimed i was allergic to onions, egg, and crab. good thing my taste buds eventually woke up!

dinner at our place

2009-10-25T12:18:00.004+01:00

last night me and my fiance were lucky enough to have two of our former roommates over for dinner. it was the very definition of the danish word hygge that they all say is so hard to describe. but why use words when one can just present the feeling? each of us brought a dish and we had a fun time trying to maneuver around each other in the tiny kitchen. i made a risotto which, despite the lack of truffles that the recipe recommended, was a big hit. i'll definitely make this again.

our vegetarian roommate made a really great pasta with creme fraiche, portobellos, celery, and some chili pepper. i really have to get the recipe from her; the combination of creamy and spicy gets me every time! the other roommate brought a ridiculous lamb which his father raised. well, he brought the leg of it at least. rubbed with fresh rosemary, salt, lots of pepper, plugged with garlic, and roasted for almsot 3 hours. i'm not a big meat-eater but it was bliss!

bottles of wine piled up and the beers and ice cream came out. what a great night in great company. i wish we could do this every weekend. (:

taste of home

2009-10-25T12:06:00.003+01:00

though it looks pretty lame, this comfort food totally hit the spot. i've been coughing disgustingly for almost 2 weeks now but it doesn't stop me from having fun on the weekends. the morning after i was so happy that i was able to eat this for breakfast. our rice cooker always leaves a layer of hard, crispy rice at the bottom which is very unpleasant to have among the properly cooked grains. finally i decided to save that ugly layer like my mom does and toasted it in a pan. when boiling water is poured over it, somehow it's a little bit more than just the sum of its parts. perfect to eat with something super spicy; like the kaktugi i made last week. match it up with a cup of green tea and you're on the road to recovery. (:

leave it up to a korean to use up every last bit of food and cut down on waste.

to your health

2009-10-21T15:32:00.004+02:00

there are many joys in having my own flat. privacy, power, and (most importantly) doing what i want in the kitchen, when i want! i can roast vegetables at 8am without having to worry about waking anyone except my fiance, who can sleep through my clanging of pots and pans. i can spend all afternoon making kimchi without hearing anyone complain about the unfamiliar stench. i can eat wasa crackers spread thickly with peanut butter at midnight without anyone raising an eyebrow and wondering aloud why americans are crazy about peanut butter. of course this does come with a downside...

i am getting fat. the combination of my week-long crazy coughing (goodbye afternoon jogs!) and newfound kitchen freedom, i'm now the proud owner of some mo' pudge. too bad i can't handle the typical danish lunch of fiber-packed rugbrød and a few carrots for lunch. though i do love it on occasion, it just gets boring after a few days. bittman's list of salads has been helping me a lot but greens for lunch every day needs something to give it some flair. that's where dressing comes in to save those of us who are not madly in love with the taste of plain rucola 5 days a week. today i found a nice recipe that will keep me busy for a while. soy, ginger, and garlic are good friends of mine so it's no surprise that this dressing appealed to me.

p.s. i've finally decided; to hell with my patients and coworkers! i will eat garlic for lunch if i feel like it! (: