I often feel like cooking something very simple without taking much effort, yet want to pretend that I spent some good time on it. Do you ever feel the same way? Then this omelet rice might come in handy. In fact, I cooked it 4 times in the last week already.

Michael was very intrigued how I cover the rice with the eggs so well. Although dicing vegetables can be a little annoying and the most time consuming part of the process, it is quite simple to make. Would you like to pretend too?

Ingredients – 2 servings

• 1/2 (50 g) carrot
• 1/2 (80 g) onion
• 1/3 (40 g) red capsicum
• 80 g smoked ham
• 100 g crab stick
• 3 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 4 eggs
• A pinch of salt
• 2 cups steamed rice
• Some rice bran oil
• Some tomato sauce

Method

-Stir frying rice (You will need a wok)

1. Dice carrot, onion, red capsicums, ham and crab stick.
2. Mix the tomato sauce (3 tbsp) and worcestershire sauce in a bowl.
3. Pre heat the wok on high heat for 10 seconds and add some oil.
4. Add all diced ingredients and saute for 1 minute.
5. Reduce the heat to half.
6. Add the steamed rice and the mixed sauce. Mix them well for 30 seconds.
7. Stop the heat.

-Omelet

1. Beat two eggs in a bowl and add a pinch of salt.
2. Heat a frying pan and add some oil. Pour the egg in the frying pan.
3. Quickly spread the egg and make a thin, large, and round omelet.
4. Repeat step 1 to 4 for the rest of the eggs.

-Shaping (You will need two deep bowls and two plates)

1. When the omelets are made, place them in deep bowls.
2. Put the stir fried rice on top of each omelet.
3. Put the plate on top of the bowls. Turn them up side down and remove the bowl.

-Decoration

1. Make a cross cut on top of the omelets and add some tomato sauce on top.
2. Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Egg Omelet (Gyeranmari in Korean)
2. Simple Steamed Eggs (Gyeran Jjim)
3. King Oyster Mushrooms and Prawns on Rice

It’s Autumn here in Australia. But still in my mind April means spring, with lots of beautiful flower blossoms and also more fresh herbs to make Namul banchan (seasoned vegetables or herbal side dishes) or Ssam (wraps) – in Korea that is.

Are you familiar with Ssam? Ssam means any wrapped food in edible leaves or wet seaweed like kombu. If you had meat in lettuce at a Korean restaurant that is called Ssam as well.

One type of Ssam I love is Ssambap (쌈밥). Ssambap is wrapped rice in edible leaves or some leafy seaweed. It is known as a healthy diet meal, because lettuce (or cabbage) makes you feel satisfied sooner. However, the material that is contained in lettuce, called lactcarium, can make you sleepy after the meal, so we need to watch out for that.

There are also some Korean restaurants specializing in Ssambap. They have a menu called “Ssambap Jeongsik” (consider this as Ssambap combo) which includes various kinds of leaves with dipping sauce, several side dishes, soup or stew and Jeyuk bokkum (stir fried spicy pork). Man, my mouth starts to water thinking of these already.

(Homemade Jeyuk Bokkum – January 2007 )

The key point of making delicious Ssambap is making delicious Ssamjang, the dipping sauce. Every restaurant has their own secret recipe for this. Me? I don’t have a secret recipe, I am not a specialist at this. However I found a simple and interesting recipe from the free recipe book that came with a magazine.

The dipping sauce turned out sweet but also a bit spicy. But to be honest, it might go better as a Bibimbap sauce rather than as a dipping sauce. Yet give it a try! You never know how you might feel about it.

Ingredients

-Cabbage wraps (for 2 people)

• 600g steamed cabbage
• Steamed plain rice

-Ssamjang (enough to serve 6-8 people)

• 1 cup of Korean chili paste (Gochujang)
• 100g beef mince
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 4 tbsp grated Nashi pear (or Korean pear)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp honey

-Marinade sauce for beef mince (mix these well)

• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp minced green shallots
• little ground black pepper

Method

1. Marinade the beef mince with the marinade sauce, leave it for 5 minutes.
2. Pre heat the wok on high heat for 10-20 seconds then add 1 tbsp of sesame oil in the wok.
3. Add the marinade beef and stir it fast.
4. When the meat is nearly cooked add the pear and stir it.
5. Add the Gochujang and stir it occasionally for about 6-10 minutes on medium heat.
6. Add the sesame oil, sugar, and honey, then stir.
7. Turn the heat off.
8. Serve the Ssamjang (dipping sauce) with steamed cabbage and rice or you can make the roll then serve.

Note : When you serve the Ssamjang, you should scoop out an adequate amount for the size of the meal. You can store the rest of the sauce in a sealed container in the fridge. It should last for at least a month.

Related Post

Stir Fried Gochujang and Simple Bibimbap

Some recipes for Ssambap combo

-Side dishes

Thinly Sliced Radish Kimchi

Fish Cake Stir Fry (Eomuk-Japchae in Korean)

Simmered Lotus in Soy sauce (Yeon-gn Jorim)

Seasoned Green Bean Sprouts (Sukju Namul Muchim in Korean)

-Soup

Tofu Soybean Paste Stew (Dubu Doenjangjjigae in Korean)

Pork and Kimchi Stew (Dwaejigogi Kimchijjigae in Korean)

-Meat

Marinatied Pork Stir Fry with Gochujang sauce (Jeyuk-bokkeum)

Related posts:

1. Bulgogi Wrapped in Rice Paper
2. Stir Fried Gochujang and Simple Bibimbap
3. Marinatied Pork Stir Fry with Gochujang sauce (Jeyuk-bokkeum)

I cooked this meal with my rice cooker again, so there was hardly any work to do. But it was hard to take the rice and other ingredients out from the rice cooker, because I didn’t want to ruin its shape for taking the pictures. In the end, I ruined it a bit, though it didn’t seem to affect the taste.

It was really yummy and filling. I also felt really healthy. As far as I remember, it was the first time I had this meal in my life, as well as cooking this meal. I should cook this more often I think.

If I describe the taste I would say something like this. It kept the individual tastes yet had harmony somehow. It was sweet from the chestnuts and dates, a bit salty from the oysters, and a bit spicy from the sauce.

I am not very good at describing things, but I am working on it.

Ingredients for 2 people

(Expected preparation time – 15 minutes, Cooking time with rice cooker – 30 minutes)

• Rice for 2 people (uncooked – 1 and 1/3 cups was good for me)
• Shelled oysters 150g
• Radish 300g
• 1/6 a medium size carrot
• 2 shiitake mushrooms
• Shelled and peeled chestnuts 6
• Dried Chinese dates 4
• Water 1 and 1/3 cups
• Dried kelp

For sauce (mix them all together in a small bowl.)

• Finely chopped garlic chives (You can substitute with small spring onion.) – 2 tbsp
• 1/2 a red chili
• Soy sauce – 4 tbsp
• Chili powder – 1/2 tsp
• Sugar – 1/2 tsp
• Sesame oil – 1 tsp
• Crushed garlic 1/4 tsp

Preparation

1. Soak the oysters in salty water for 10 minutes.
2. Soak the dried kelp in the water (1 and 1/3 cups). We are going to use this water to cook the rice.
3. Cut the carrot into medium size cubes.
4. Long thin slice the radish.
5. Thin slice the Chinese dates (we are not using its seed by the way) and shiitake mushrooms.
6. Rinse the rice. (If you are going to boil the rice, soak it in water for about 30 minutes after rinsing it.)
7. Drain the salty water (from no.1). Dry the oysters in the air.
8. Take the kelp out (from no.2) and pour the water onto the rice (in the rice cooker).
9. Add the vegetables on top of the rice in the following order : Radish, Carrot, Shiitake mushrooms, Chestnuts, Chinese dates, Oysters

Cooking

1. Cook the rice and ingredients in the rice cooker.
2. When it is done, serve it on the plate or bowl. I found a bowl is easier to have the meal.
3. Add the sauce one spoonful at a time. Mix it with the rice.
4. Dig in.

Related Posts

Sprouts on Rice (Kongnamul bap in Korean)

Mushrooms on Rice

King Oyster Mushrooms and Prawns on Rice

Related posts:

1. Sprouts and Rice (Kongnamul bap in Korean)
2. Chinese Dates (Daechu in Korean)
3. Vegetables Wraped with Pickled Radish (Mussammari in Korean)

Though it is a cheap, healthy meal and simple to cook. Also very good if you are on diet, because it digests really fast.

There are various ways to cook this meal. However my rice cooker saved my labor again, because it has a special setting for this meal, but a normal rice cooker can make it fine too.

If you don’t have a rice cooker, you can make it in a sauce pan in which you usually boil rice. (The key point in this case is to soak the rice in water for about 30 minutes before you boil the rice, and to put less water than usual when you boil the rice, because when the sprouts cook, some water comes out of them.)

Ingredients for 4 people

-For main meal

• Rice for 3 people (I used 2 cups of white rice and 1 cup of brown rice – using the cup that came with the rice cooker; This cup is a special cup for rice only)
• 3 cups of water (using same rice cup)
• Sprouts 250g
• 3 shiitake mushrooms (This is optional)
• 1/4 a zucchini (Optional)
• Pork mince 200g (beef is good too.)

-For meat marinating and seasoning

• Pepper 2 sprinkles
• Rice wine – 1 tbsp
• 1 minced garlic
• Soy sauce – 1 tbsp

-For sauce (mix them well in a bowl. -To save some time, you can make this while the rice is cooking)

• Soy sauce – 4 tbsp
• Sesame oil -1tsp
• Chili powder – 1/4 tsp
• 1 stalk of thinly cut spring onion
• 1 minced garlic

Preparation

1. Rinse the sprouts and trim the bad beans and tails.
2. Thin slice the zucchini and mushrooms.
3. Soak the pork in cold water for 10 minutes. Marinate the pork with pepper and rice wine for 15 minutes.

Cooking

1. Pre heat the wok.
2. Add some olive oil and pan fry the garlic.
3. Add the pork and soy sauce, stir it until it cooks. Then drain the excess liquid (you don’t need to keep it).
4. Put the rinsed rice in a rice cooker. Add the water.
5. Add all the vegetables and meat on top of the rice.

6. Press the cook button.

7. When it is done, mix the rice and other ingredients well.

8.serve it the plate.

9. Add the sauce to the rice before you eat and mix it well. Then dig in.

I served it with some Kimchi and salt seasoned laver. It was really good. Also it was very filling for 4 people. I didn’t make a mistake when I wrote 3 cups of rice. Vegetables can make up for it. Trust me.

Related Post

Bean Sprout Soup (Kongnamul Guk in Korean)

Radish and Oysters on Rice (Gulbap in Korean)

Related posts:

1. Radish and Oysters on Rice (Gulbap in Korean)
2. Bean Sprout Soup (Kongnamul Guk in Korean)
3. Stir Fried Calamari Rings on Rice (Ojingeo Deopbap in Korean)

-Ingredients for 2 People are :

• 1 calamari (squid)
• 1/2 a medium onion
• 1/3 of a medium size carrot
• 1/3 stalk of a big spring onion
• A small amount of cabbage.
• Refined rice wine 15 ml
• 2 cups of cooked rice
• A little olive oil
• Seasoning Sauce :Gochujang 1 tbsp, Chili powder 1 tsp, Soy sauce 1 tbsp, Sugar 1tsp, 1 medium sized squashed garlic, Sesame oil 1 tsp (Mix these all together).

-Preparation

1. Clean the squid. Cut the squid in thin rings.
2. Put the squid into a bowl, and add the refined rice wine. Soak the squid for about 15 minutes in the fridge.
3. Cut some vegetables. Thin slice the onion and carrot.
4. Cut the spring onion in (short angled lengths) and the cabbage.

-Cooking

1. Pre heat the wok for about 20 seconds.
2. Put the olive oil into the wok. Add all the vegetables. Stir it for about 4 minutes (Until its 2/3 cooked)
3. Add the seasoning sauce into the wok and stir it.

4. Add the squid into the wok. Stir it thoroughly to mix with veggies and sauce.
5. Cook it for about 2 minutes.(until the calamari gets harder.)

6. Put some rice on the plate.
7. Add the stir fried meal on the rice.
8. Serve the dishes and enjoy the meal.

Related Posts

Yangpun Bibimbap

Related posts:

1. Korean Kimchi fried rice with squid and tuna
2. Stir fried Kimchi and Rice (Kimchi Bokkumbap in Korean)
3. Stir Fried Rice cake with Gochujang Sauce (Ddeokbokki in Korean)