How to Make: Jajangmyeon/Jajiangmien/Jajangmyun Black Bean Sauce on Hand Pulled Noodles (자장면)(炸酱面) Koreanised Chinese Food

It's December already, so it's time for some hearty food to warm up from the cold.  Zha jiang mian/Jajangmyeon in Korean, is a traditional Chinese dish, composed of a sweet black bean sauces, meat and other delicious ingredients on top of chewy hand pulled wheat noodles.  It's really good, and sometimes it can be spicy too. But today, this recipe is the Korean version of this classic dish, which tastes completely different, but it is very delicious as well.  Originally, the Chinese version has a combination of fermented bean sauces like, sweet bean sauce, yellow soybean paste (similar to miso), and/or broad bean sauce.  The Korean version uses Jajang, a black bean sauce combined with caramel which gives it a charcoal like taste.  It's slightly sweet, and it's very interesting.  There is an instant ramen variety of this dish by Nongshim, ''Chapaghetti'' because this Chinese dish is so popular in Korea.  Usually it's ordered with Tangsooyuk or Sweet and Sour Pork, another popular Korean-Chinese Dish.  Make sure you get Korean style Black bean paste, it's completely different from the original Chinese one.  It's super easy and satisfying!

How to Make: Peking-Style Pork Chop/Strawberry Pork Chop (京都排骨)(Ging duo Pai gwat)/(Jing du Pai gu)/(Ching Du Pai Gu)

Today's recipe is authentic Chinese Peking Style Pork Chops- Jing duo Pai Gwat in Cantonese or Ching du Pai gu or rou pai in Mandarin (京都排骨).  In Western Canada (Vancouver, Calgary in particular), the most common variety is called Strawberry Pork Chop or spare ribs. Did it originate from Hong Kong?  I don't know :-(  It might sound unappetising, but it is very delicious!  You can't taste the strawberries at the end, but it helps make the sauce have a unique flavour.  I used boneless pork chops but you can use the one with bones too.  Usually the dish is made with Hoisin Sauce instead of Gochuchang (Korean Hot pepper paste), but I didn't have any.  I learned how to make this dish from experience and observing how the restaurants did it.  It's just like the restaurant! Try it out.

How to Make: Kinako Yoghurt/Yogourt/Yogurt/ Mousse Cake (きなこのヨーグルトムースケーキ)(酸奶慕斯蛋糕)(Asian Style Cake)

Happy Thanksgiving 2011!  Today I will share with you a very pretty cake! It is a Yoghurt Mousse Cake that is very common at Asian Bakeries.  It is not too sweet and very elegant.  The mousse is airy, creamy and delicious. Oishi!  I made mine with Kinako, which is roasted ground soy beans which sort of taste like peanut butter.  I thought the colour would be nice and complement the Thanksgiving spirit. Please try it with Matcha green tea powder, cocoa, orange, strawberry and other flavours.  They are delicious too!  This is relatively easy to make, if you follow the steps, and there are quite a few.  Be patient and you'll be greatly rewarded with this beautiful cake!

How to Make: Easy Cabbage Kimchi/Gimchee/Kimchee (김치) (沈菜)

Kimchi/Kimchee/Gimchee/Gimchi is a Korean side dish and most of the time, it's the first thing you think of when you hear about Korean food. It is served with almost every meal along with other side dishes. It is full of complexity and it is spicy, salty, crunchy and as time passes, sour. For this recipe, I learned this way of making Kimchi from my Korean host family when I was travelling a couple months back. She showed me how easy it was. One thing to watch out is that, make sure you use KOREAN chillies, not just any chili powder, it has to be KOREAN type. I've made it with the common hot pepper flakes,- it was beyond spicy, and the colour was not as bright too. You can get it (usually in big 500gm-1 kg bags) at Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese- almost any Asian market.

How to Make: Simple Char Siu Pork Buns (Cheating Version :P)(Nikuman (肉まん)/ Char Siu Bao (叉燒包)/ Jjinppang mandu 찐빵 만두 )

Bar-bq pork buns (Char Siu bao) is one of the most common Chinese food available.   It is sold very commonly in bakeries, dim sum/yum cha restaurants, supermarkets, almost anywhere.  It is also very common in Japan, Korea, Hawaii and Southeast Asia as snacks, however, as expected, the fillings do vary drastically.  Today, I will show you how to make my ''cheating'' version of it that has been handed down from my grandparents.  I have made them with different fillings, but this is by far my favourite.  It tastes just like Char siur bao, but you don't have to make or buy the Char siur.  Char siur is Barb-qued pork butt or shoulder that has been marinated with many different sauces overnight, and char-grilled. The cooking process is very long, smelly and tiring if you choose to make it.  But this recipe, I use ground pork belly, which will be very similar. No one will ever tell that you didn't use it! You will save many hours and a heck of a lot of energy making it this way.  The dough has been a very long adventure for me.  I started making these baos (buns) since I was a little kid, and I've been experimenting with the ratio, the flours, and all sorts of things. It is fluffy and very white. I am glad to share with a very special dough recipe with you today, so please enjoy this delicious bun!

How to Make: Jjapchae: Korean Stir Fried Sweet Potato Starch Glass Noodles 잡채(雜 菜)

Recently, I've been trying out some Korean food that my mother used to make for fun.  Here's the first one: Jjapchae. Jjapchae or Chapchae is a delicious noodle side-dish loaded with healthy vegetables and flavour.  The colours of this dish makes it so appetizing.  It is slightly sweet and salty with a strong sesame taste to it.  The toasted sesame oil is the real key to this dish.  It adds a unique flavour to the entire dish, so be sure you use it!  The best thing of all though, it is extremely easy to make and it is quite a fast dish to make. The noodles are made out of sweet potato starch and are labelled sometimes as ''Sweet Potato Starch Noodles,'' ''Oriental Noodles'' or just ''Starch Noodles.''  It shouldn't be very difficult to find them in an Asian Supermarket.  But if you can't find them, you can use rice noodles which are a bit thinner.  This dish is so versatile, you can just use whatever vegetables you have in the fridge.  This dish is wheat free! Enjoy this recipe!