Jessica's Dinner Party

by jessica yoon

tofu

Petite Patties Korean Style

One of my roommates is in dental school and for the past couple months she’s been busy preparing for the board exams.  We’ve been living together for two years now and have shared quite a few food memories.  We occasionally make dinners, go out for Restaurant Week, and even took a couple of cooking classes together!

  

When she asked me if I could pack her lunch on the day of her board exams I was happy to do it.  I kind of felt like a mom sending her kid off to take the SATs.  I couldn’t sleep the night before because I planned to cook in the morning so the food would be nice and fresh.  I was afraid I might not wake up in time, which is silly because I’m one of those people who don’t need an alarm to get up.  I kept on looking at my clock throughout the night and finally at 6 am (1 hour before I planned to wake up) I got out of bed and started cooking.

  

…

Read More

Browned Tofu In Spicy Soy Sauce

In general, I don’t cook Korean very often.  I have a tendency to be drawn towards rustic Italian dishes or interesting ingredients like quinoa and wheat berry.  These foods feel more exotic to me so many times I skip the Korean and cook up something I’ve never eaten before.  I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but I do think it’s a bit sad that I barely know how to cook what I call my comfort food.


To redeem myself a little bit, there is one Korean dish I know well and have almost mastered.  It is a browned tofu in a spicy soy sauce.  In Korean it’s called tubu chorim, 두부조림, which roughly translates to tofu boiled in sauce.  It’s very easy and fast.  It does require a couple of Asian condiments like soy sauce and sesame oil, but if you don’t have those in your pantry I highly encourage you to get them.  Soy sauce is well known, but sesame oil may not be.  It is a vegetable oil made from sesame seeds that is intensely fragrant and used in many Asian dishes.

 

 

…

Read More