homesick at home

i miss my mom.
samgyeopsal


kimchi chigae


pan-fried tofu


braised mackerel with radish


japchae


doenjang chigae


tteokbokki

torvehallerne

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

not-so-sankt hans aften

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.

---

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. ^^

the open-faced sandwich

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

more good sushi in denmark

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

good old danish food

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

san sebastian

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.

"thai" spicy

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. (:

keepin' it real

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! (:

the art of juggling julefrokosts

...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. @_@;

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

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.

things i made this week

it's really nice having our own kitchen. (: