Zucchini are coming into season in California now, and I received a medium-sized one in my community-supported agriculture package last week.
I could have again made 호박전 hobak jeon (zucchini pancake), which is always tasty. Another option was 궁중 떡볶이gungjung tteokbokki, the royal ancestor of the spicy, warm 떡볶이tteokbokki (rice cake stew).
Yet hobak bokkeum is a simple dish and once you make it, you can either serve it on the spot in banchan form, or you can set it aside and put it into your bibimbap.
The zucchini I used here was a little fat for bibimbap but it work well as a typical American side dish.
Hobak bokkeum 호박볶음
1 medium zucchini (about 10–12 ounces) 1 tablespoon grapeseed, rice bran or high-heat oil (recommend: non-GMO) 2 teaspoons fish sauce 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 scallion, finely chopped 2 tablespoons water 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1 teaspoon sesame seeds (optional)
Directions
1. Slice zucchini thin.
2. Heat a pan with the grapeseed oil over medium high heat.
3. Mix the remaining ingredients in a small bowl, creating a sauce.
4. Add the zucchini to the skillet, and cook for one to two minutes.
5. Add the sauce and cook for one to two more minutes, stirring well until the zucchini is softened and turns translucent.
Adzuki are small red beans commonly used in Korean, Japanese and Chinese confections. Called 팥 pat in Korean, these beans have a natural sweetness uncommon in legumes. Added sugar or honey during boiling to make the bean paste accentuates the sweetness for use in a number of East Asian desserts.
Based on archaeological findings, Asians have been cooking adzuki beans since 4000 BC. That’s more than 6,000 years of culinary history. How I wish I had a cookbook from back then.
Black bean brownie recipes have been around for some time, especially here in California. Most versions are flourless, which is helpful for those on gluten-free or Celiac disease diets.
Every time I would talk to people about black bean brownies, I’d scratch my head at why anyone would use black beans when red beans seemed a more logical confection choice. In my culinary world, it’s just a given that the black beans had to go and red beans should take center stage.
Jeff couldn’t wait to take a bite out of them. Here’s the proof. (Photo by Jeff Quackenbush)
I found a Danish Æbelskiver pancake pan at William-Sonoma some time ago. I kept staring at the catalog, scratching my head trying to figure out why the pan and its baked contents looked so familiar. Then I realized I was looking at the perfect pul-bbang pan.
Pul-bbang (풀빵) is a Korean pancake dumpling, usually stuffed with sweetened red bean paste (팥 앙금, patanggeum). You could call them Korean doughnut holes, if you want. Korean street vendors can make 20 or more at at time. My little skillet is puny in comparison.
The Japanese have their own version of pul-bbang, called takoyaki. It is stuffed with boiled, chopped octopus. Takoyaki batter also is more savory — featuring bonito flakes — than either pul-bbang or Æbelskiver batter.
Æbelskiver is traditionally filled with spiced, sauteed apples. However, filling options are limited only by your imagination and the contents of your pantry, such as yujacha (유자차), Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread or peanut butter.
Pul-bbang is sold on the street in most major Korean cities. But they’re a bit more difficult to find than their more famous cousins, boong-uh-bbang (붕어빵),which are a red bean–stuffed bread shaped like a fish. Pul-bbang sell for 1,000 to 2,000 won per seven dumplings.
Pul-bbang
I made the pul-bbang batter from rice flour, which is typical of what one would find in Korea. Rice flour is gluten-free. The mix can be dairy-free if you use rice or almond milk. This recipe make approximately 20 pul-bbang.
1 cup Rice Flour 1/4 tsp Salt 2 Eggs, beaten 1 tsp Baking Powder 1 cup 2% Milk, or you can substitute rice milk or almond milk
The basic recipe for pouring pul-bbang is:
2 tablespoons batter 1/2 teaspoon filling (red bean paste or other filling you’d like)
1. Set the pan on medium heat. You don’t want the pan too hot, otherwise the first side will cook too quickly and the pul-bbang won’t have a nice, round shape. They’ll be round on one side and flat on the other.
2. Place approximately 1 tablespoon of batter into each well of the pan.
I used a two spoon technique to scrape and drop the red bean paste into the batter. (Photo by Jeff Quackenbush)
3. After you have filled all the wells with batter, immediately start placing the 1/2 teaspoon of the filling of your choice in the middle.
4. Add another tablespoon or so of batter to the top to cover the filling. Let the dumplings cook for a couple of minutes.
The rounded, wooden, Chinese style chopsticks work perfectly to flip the pul-bbang over. (Photo by Jeff Quackenbush)
5. Turn each dumpling over after you notice bubbles in the batter and slight pulling away on the edges. Toothpicks or wooden chopsticks are best for this task. Flip them “early,” so they are gold-colored on the underside, rather than golden brown.
6. Cook for a few minutes more on the other side. From there, you can flip them alternating until they are golden brown on both sides.
This is what the finished product looked like before my husband/photographer tasted a sample of the finished product. (Photo by Jeff Quackenbush)
Pul-bbang don’t taste as good cold, so make and eat them fresh.
I’ve been in search of a breakfast item lately, something healthy and light yet filling – in the stomach and in the brain. A bowl of cereal and some fruit are nice, but my brain recognizes them more as desserts than proper breakfasts.
Danhobak (단호박; known by its Japanese name kabocha in the U.S.) has always been one of my favorite ingredients, and it was one of the first topics I wrote about when I started my own blog. Although it’s categorized as a winter squash, I can easily find it year-round, and that’s how often I have it at home – year-round. Its bright orange-yellow color, which is also an indication of high level of beta-carotene, and natural sweetness make it a great main or supporting ingredient for any dish. Even the hard skin that comes with high dietary fiber content becomes soft and edible after cooking. Add more of other good stuff – brown rice flour, sweet rice flour and walnuts and bring everything together with some of the usual baking ingredients.
The texture of this rice muffin – right in between dense, chewy tteok (떡; rice cake) and soft muffin – is quite interesting. I mulled over to decide if it’s tteok or muffin with each bite (which led me to eat 3 in a row), but it’s so right in the middle I first named it Tteok Muffin. That’s not so creative but it speaks the reality of it. I’m still getting used to the texture, but one thing I like about it is that it is pretty filling in my mouth and in my stomach.
The recipe below makes about 12 small rice muffins.
Kabocha Rice Muffin
INGREDIENTS 1 Danhobak 2/3 cup Brown rice flour 2/3 cup Mochiko (찹쌀가루; chap ssal ga ru or sweet rice flour) 1 tsp. Baking powder 1/4 tsp. Salt 2 Eggs 2 Tbsp. Sugar 1/3 cup Oil (preferably light, like grape seed oil) 1/2 cup Milk 1/2 cup Walnuts, toasted and chopped
Microwave a rinsed danhobak for 5-7 minutes, or until a knife goes through with no resistance. Cut in half, then scoop out the seeds. Scoop out the flesh and reserve. I saved the flesh and the skin separately.
Sift together 2/3 C brown rice flour (I used the one from Wholefoods), 2/3 cup mochiko, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. salt and reserve.
Whisk 2 eggs and 2 Tbsp. sugar (this is about the minimum amount of sugar you can add. Feel free to add 1-2 Tbsp. more) until slightly foamy. Then add 1/3 cup oil (I used grape seed oil), 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 cup danhobak flesh from #1 and mix well. Add #2 and mix well. Fold in 1/2 cup of toasted, chopped walnuts. Optional: Top the muffins with small diced danhobak skin pieces for garnish.
Spoon the batter into cupcake molds (silicon molds or paper cups), and place them in a steamer. Put the lid on and steam for 30 minutes. When a toothpick inserted through the middle of a muffin comes out clean, it’s done.
You can freeze the leftover danhobak flesh and skin in a plastic bag for another time. You can also freeze the leftover muffins in a plastic bag and microwave it for 30 seconds to a minute right before eating. For those adventurous souls out there, I also baked the same batter in a mini cake mold at 350°F, and it feels just too wet even after passing the toothpick test.
Enjoy this delicious rice muffin with another breakfast favorite of mine, black bean smoothie!
