I still have the bao buns I had intended to use up when I cooked a Coca Cola pork. Oh well. I ended up eating the last of that pork for a rice bowl, first as bao and then in a bowl of Asian noodles with soy and sesame sauce. Both delicious. I kept 4th of July as simple as I could by inviting neighbors for lunch to just hot dogs and planned to eat hot dogs again for dinner but with potato salad and coleslaw. With soaring temperatures, I did not want to cook and just wanted to eat cold leftover sides. I bought chicken karaage from the Japanese grocery store and cracked open a bottle of iced black tea. I love love love cabbage slaw and will make even more to eat with leftover Korean grilled beef.
Over the weekend, I catered a friend's lunch this past weekend at Yerba Buena Island. with daikon radish pickles already done, I made the cucumber (oi muchim), bean sprouts (sukjunamul muchim), and eggplant (gaji namul) banchans. First I sliced the cucumbers, salted them and let the liquid drain for at least 15 minutes; rinsed the bean sprouts before blanching; cut the Japanese eggplant into 2-inch pieces before steaming.
My bamboo steamer is small and only has two trays in it....
....and so I steamed the 2 eggplants in batches.
My cucumbers were drained and were ready to toss in a marinade of sesame oil, green onion, garlic, sesame oil, Gochugaru, sugar, and sesame seeds--the stock ingredients I had on hand for just about every Korean viand.
I love the red flecks in the oi muchim.
The bean sprouts were easy peasy. After throwing in the bean sprouts into boiling water for a couple minutes, out they went into a bowl with garlic, fish sauce, salt, green onions, toasted sesame oil, and toasted sesame seeds and voila, sukjunamul muchim. After the eggplant were steamed, out they went into a bowl with garlic, green onions, soy sauce, fish sauce, Korean hot pepper flakes, gochuchan sauce, toasted sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds...I might have added a bit of seasoning sauce and more soy sauce. The gaji namul tasted glorious--Cecilia said they could convert her to vegetarianism though the fish sauce makes them otherwise.
And because I was transporting the whole Korean feast into small collapsible coolers, into Ziploc bags, including the bulgogi, the whole Korean feast went into my fridge overnight.
The views from Roseanne's rooftop entertaining space were magnificent. Here you can see Treasure Island.
One can also see Marin...
and Angel Island...and not pictured here but Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Cecilia said the zucchini I sliced into planks was so picturesque as well as the platters and dishes of bulgogi and grilled shrimp and banchan. I took my time with the Korean shrimp, melting a stick of butter with garlic and gochuchan and then steeping the shrimp into it for just 7 minutes. I hate rubbery shrimp.
The table looked great. I made Patrick make a platter of lettuce, so that the bulgogi could be made into wraps.
Both Cecilia and Roseanne sent pics of their leftover Korean meal that became their lunch the next day....
....whereas I took no leftovers home except for bulgogi and satisfied myself with gourmet white chocolate with pistachios, almonds and dried orange bits.
However, I do have packages of Trader Joe' bulgogi and Costco Korean short ribs in my fridge, which Patrick and I will be dining on this week.
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