Cooking in Korea was a challenge. Sometimes in a really frustrating-I-can't-find-good-dairy-products! way, but sometimes in a really good way. Ways that stretched me to become a better, more creative cook.There was a type of mushrooms that was everywhere in the Korea street markets and grocery stores. How I wish I had taken a picture of them! They were in huge clusters with brown thickish, chewy stems and caps. Very, very meaty, similar to a portabella. And cheap!
And I have no idea what they are called, if the even have an English equivalent. I've looked all over the web trying to find these little fungi, but anytime I think I've found it, that particular type of 'shroom comes up as "suspect" or "poisonous". Well, we're still here. And while we suffered numerous stomach upsets over there, those episodes could almost always be blamed on food handling practices, not poisonous fungi.
Life goes on, though, right?
These mystery mushrooms were often sautéed with a soy mixture in the pan. So, so amazing and yummy! While living there, I would make an easy chicken and vegetable grill/broil using this idea of the mushrooms and soy mixture. I cooked it a lot. At least twice a month. Even our Korean friends liked it, so I usually fixed it for our fellowship time too. I haven't cooked it since our time there, but tonight I pulled it from the files and made it again, only this time without the amazing mystery mushrooms. Sigh. I also fixed a noodle recipe based on Rachael Ray's Sesame Noodles (I can't seem to find it online, but it's in one of her cookbooks). I didn't want to spend money on Tahini, so I substituted peanut butter (which I already had), and served it hot, not cold. We combined the noodles and chicken grill in a bowl, but you can do what you like.
One big thing to remember, this is a major easy, fancy-looking meal! Serve it to friends some night!
Chicken Grill
What you need
soy sauce or Tamari, if you like a stronger flavor
honey
ginger root
chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces (I used thighs this time and regretted it. I'm a big dark meat fan, but not in this recipe. Go for the white meat here.)
any sort of veggies (zucchini, red, yellow or green peppers, mushrooms)
I realize there are no measurements, just use what looks right and will cover all your chicken and veggies in a bowl. So, mix the soy, honey and ground ginger root well in a bowl. (Ok, ok. It will be about a 1/4-1/2 cup each of soy and honey with maybe 1/2 inch of root. That's for all you people out there who need measurements. ......Who am I kidding? I'm one of you! High-five!)
Moving on.........
Let your chicken and veggies marinate for awhile, anywhere from a few hours to overnight. Or, you can do what I did and forget about it for 24 hours. That works too, apparently.
I live in the freezing cold, below freezing, actually, so we don't grill in the winter. I use my broiler as an alternative as I did in Korea and New York. Pour your chicken mixture onto a foil-lined baking sheet, place under broiler (about the 2nd rack down from the top) and cook about 7 minutes. Check it, give it a stir and return to broiler till chicken and veggies are nice and tender, but with a few pieces starting to get that nice char.
I love the char.
Peanut Noodles
What you need
Peanut butter, about 2-3 Tbs.
Soy sauce, about 2-3 Tbs.
1 inch ground ginger root
2 tbs (maybe less) sesame oil (this is a very strong flavor, so go easy)
pinch of cayenne pepper, optional, if you're going to use it, use it! I couldn't taste a pinch.
2-3 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 # pasta, I used fettuccine, but angle hair would be nice too
1 carrot, shredded
4 green onions, sliced
peanuts, finely chopped, for garnish (I didn't have these, but they're good)
Cook pasta al dente. Mix together peanut butter, soy, ginger, sesame oil, pepper and garlic in a bowl till smooth. It looks weird at first, just keep whisking together. Drain pasta well. Place in large bowl, pour in peanut butter mixture and stir together. Add in carrots and onions, mix well. In bowls, top with extra green onions and peanuts.
As you can see, I added the chicken and veggies to the noodles. Yum!
Don't you just love my pretty Korean China (that sounds weird, for some reason). This was a present from our company right before we left. I'm always looking for ways to use it.
