된장찌개 and Crunchy 떡

Hello everyone!

I'm excited!, this is the 1st post of the year and the first post as a WKB!

As some of you know I LOVE Korean food and since it is now quite difficult to go out to a Korean Restaurant I decided to cook it at home. I just have to make a quick stop to Korea Town on my way home from work and I can get my ingredients, I know it's not the original but you've gotta do what you've gotta do, right?

Anyway, so last week I went to my 2 favorite stores at K-Town to get some Gochuanj paste, homemade Tofu And Bibimbap (hehe).

I 1st had 된장찌개 when I visited Seoul a year ago, it was made by Sanghyun Ahn he made this after a long day out...this was the perfect comfort food for a cold day, when I came back to Mexico I asked Sanghyun Ahn for the recipe and he was kind enough to give it to me, so here's the recipe, it's easy and quick to prepare, most of the ingredients are easy to find.

1 medium size potato/zucchini or a squash (Cut into small cubes)
1 medium size onion (choped)
2-3 cloves of garlic (choped)

1 green chili pepper
100/150 grams of Beef/Pork meat
1 green onion
100-150 grams of tofu (Cut into small cubes)
soy bean paste (doen jang)
** Gochuanj paste (chilli paste)
** Gochugaru (chilli flakes)
** 떡 or Ddeok (rice cakes)

** The original recipe does not call for this ingredients, I just happen to like a more spicy stew and I really like Ddeok (plus I had lots of Ddeok)

~In a medium pot add some Vegetables stock or Beef stuck (Like I did), Add the Onions,  Garlic, Potat, the zucchini, 1-2 Chillis and the meat. 

~When the potatos are cooked (soft), add the doejang paste and if you want it to be spicy it's time to add the Gocugaru and Gochuanj paste, finally add Tofu and sprinkle spring onions.

Once finished you can eat it with Kimchi and some steamed rice like we did!!!

Dessert time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The recipe of the Crunchy 떡 was found in a Korean Magazine, and decided to try it since I love sweet food plus is super easy to make. If you like Ddeok (rice cakes) you will absolutely love this as a snack.

Ingredients:
떡 (ddeok) - I bought a big package of Ddeok at my fav Korean Store, the package was only $50 pesos (about 4-5USD/Won) and it was a bit more than 1/2kgrs
Sugar
Cooking Oil
Water

Ddeok

In a small anti-adherent pan put oil in a medium heat, when hot add the Ddeok (cut into a bite size) and cook it until golden.
                                  
In a different pan add sugar and water until caramelized, add the rice cakes (ddeok) and add a little bit of the previously heated oil.

Mix all the ingredients in a medium heat until golden brown.

Be careful and don't eat them right away because they are super hot.
They are hot and crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside....... Enjoy!

Hope you like it as much as I did :)

-Gisela V.

Special thanks to Diana Verdin for taking such pretty pictures.