eat this now: korea kimchee

korea kimchee is by far the best jarred kimchee you can buy, at least in cincinnati. the only place around here that i know of that sells it is jungle jim's. the best part is that not only do they do the standard pickled cabbage but they do all kinds of other things (my other favorite is the cucumbers). it is super spicy and delicious. the flavors are bold and authentic and far better than anything else available locally (especially that nasty fabulous ferments crap... bleah).

crappy cell phone pic so you know what it looks like

i really want to make my own pickled things. i am too lazy to learn how to do canning so i am going to try to do fridge pickles like sierra does on forkheartknife. i am absolutely obsessed with pickled green beans so i have to do that. i also want to try making pickled garlic.

does anybody know how to make kimchee? is it hard? this might be one of those things that i am better off just buying.

eat this now: galbi jhim at riverside korean

drop whatever you are doing, run to riverside korean, and order the galbi jhim. i am not kidding you, this is seriously one of the most amazing meals available in the cincinnati area (sorry vegetarians).

just try to resist me

here is the description from the menu: "Steamed tender short ribs with vegetables and pine nuts in a sizzling pot." maybe it does not sound that exciting (it didn't to me, since i didn't order it) but it is over the top delicious. so delicious that i kept tasting more and more until my friends hid their bowls from me. it is rich, deeply flavored, salty-sweet, and full of umami. indescribably good. but i don't have to try to describe it because by now you are on your way to riverside to experience it for yourself.

suzie wong's on madison

yum, suzie wong's is so good! i have to admit, i was skeptical about a "pan asian" restaurant run by the former owner of shanghai mama's (yes, i still hate that place and i have eaten there several more times since the last time i bitched about it so please no admonitions to give it another try. everything is bland and tastes like soy sauce and makes me sad. ok shanghai mama's rant over).

anyway, suzie wong's is excellent. i went with erin last week and since it is currently byob and prices are good ($2-12 for appetizers, $8-16 for entrees) we felt that we could splurge and get a feast. we had the following items:

• cambodian beef carpaccio: beef filet with fresh herb marinade, lime, extra virgin olive oil, and garnished with fresh basil and chili peppers. amazing! my favorite thing we had all night.
• thai green lip mussels: sauteed mussels in a tangy thai seafood broth. sooo good. the broth tasted like tom yum soup. we were eating it with spoons.
• malaysian chicken in a clay pot: chicken breast, sweet onion, green and red pepper, seasonal vegetables sauteed in a malaysian yellow curry and served in a country clay pot. awesome. so delicious. the curry was complex and savory and rich. erin said it reminded her of japanese curry, and she just got back from a trip to japan so i believe her.
• korean jap chae noodles: glass noodles sauteed with sesame oil, korean chili paste, and kimchi. eh. the only one i was not crazy about. not bad, just kind of bland. our waiter had to bring me some chili sauce to spice it up and it still wasn't that great. i've had much better at riverside and korea house. however, not bad. just not exciting.
• chinese broccoli in oyster sauce. wonderful. of course, i am a chinese broccoli freak so maybe not everyone would love this as much as i did. it was perfectly prepared, crunchy and delicate at the same time. yum.

the service on the whole was very good. there was one waitress we weren't really crazy about (she kind of got off on the wrong foot with us when we asked for recommendations from the fascinating menu and she told us to get egg rolls and calamari... boring... and she seemed to keep having conflicts with other staff). but everyone else definitely made up for it. they checked in with us regularly and really seemed to care whether we liked the food, and always made sure we had a fresh beer open.

the space is pretty similar to what it looked like when seny was in there... very red with christmas lights around, and a few asian touches now. it looks nice, and parking is easy. sorry i don't have any photos but it's pretty dark in there and i didn't want to use the flash.

i would definitely try to get there soon, not because it's going to close (i don't think it is) but because the current byob situation makes it such a good deal. we heard that they have applied for a liquor license so i am sure it is coming soon.

overall this place is awesome and an excellent addition to the neighborhood. they also deliver to a pretty wide area so if you are not in the mood to leave your house, you can maybe still enjoy their delicious food.

izen

alert, dedicated readers! next week is super awesome meal week here at GIMB. i have two very exciting dinners lined up and i can't wait to tell you all about them (assuming they are as good as i am pretty sure they will be). and what better way to lead up to a week of amazing dining than by writing about a really shitty meal?

avani is going to kill me because we stopped into izen randomly ("hey look, it's a new restaurant!") for a quick early dinner today and i didn't have my camera so i made her stomp around in the snow with her iphone to get me the perfect picture of the exterior of the restaurant... and now i am posting this without her photos. (note: avani sent me the photos so i felt guilty and added them later.)

here is my reason (avani will forgive me): izen is so bad that i do not want you to see the semi-appetizing pictures of the front window and the food and think to yourself, "oh, those pictures look nice. it can't be that bad. i'll give it a shot." do not give it a shot. please, i beg you. spend your money somewhere else.

it looks appetizing...

i really wanted to like izen. it's a cute little takeout sushi place that has popped up in what seems to be a little cluster of them on mcmillan just south of UC. it's brightly colored and serves sushi, korean food, and... frozen yogurt. ok, i know, that should have been my first warning sign.

my second warning sign should have been that the sushi is premade. the guy behind the counter, who was very nice and friendly and answered all my questions, told us that it is made 3 times a day, i guess in answer to the skeptical look on my face. i inspected the sushi. it looked weird. it was shaped funny and had strange colors in it. it looked about as good as the sushi i made for the first time a few months ago (which did not look very good).

warning sign #3: the sushi selection included a "steak and cheese roll." ok. i am sorry. not to be a sushi nazi, but STEAK AND CHEESE?!?! look. i am all for culinary creativity. i do not turn my nose up at fusion food. furthermore, i am not a food snob. i can equally appreciate a really good steak and a french fry dipped in a frostee. but god or nature or the flying spaghetti monster or whatever just did not intend for humans to eat certain things, and a steak and cheese sushi roll is one of them. the menu calls it "the best of both worlds." i don't know which worlds those are but it's definitely not any world i have been to. (note: i did not actually eat the sushi so for all i know it was really good... take my criticism with a grain of salt.)

the premade sushi selection

after being thoroughly frightened by the sushi selection, avani and i decided to go with a hot option. there were three choices: bibimbap, beef gyu don, and "cheese fried rice." can we say warning sign #4. oh wait, i forgot a hidden corner of the menu: omurice. sounds intriguing? maybe, until you realize that your flavor options for this cryptic dish include "cheese burger" and "italian sausage." yes readers, that would be warning sign #5.

by this point, we should have run screaming, but the guy behind the counter was really nice and appeared to be the owner and living the american dream of opening up his own restaurant after graduating from UC with his degree in violin performance. and he was actually korean, so i thought maybe he would be good at making korean food. while we were in the middle of ordering (me: gyu don, avani: bibimbap), a drunkish sororityish girl who had been sitting at a table by the window came stumbling up to the counter, cut in front of us, and began moaning something unintelligible about needing some frozen yogurt.

i don't know what college kids are on these days but i think you would have to be under the influence of some combination of controlled substances to order more food in this place after you had already eaten a meal there. and in case you're still counting, that was warning sign #6.

(aside: i know i seem to really be relishing this, but the truth is that i hate writing bad things about restaurants. sometimes i am lucky and the places just die a natural death before i have to talk trash about them on this blog, ahem seny ahem. but really i do feel bad writing this. not bad enough to stop though. i consider it a public service.)

after a few minutes of wandering the oddly sparsely furnished restaurant (there were like 3 tables and very few chairs, and lots of empty space), our food was ready. we noticed that there was this weird combination of styrofoam containers and actual plates and silverware. we also noticed that the portions seemed tiny.

gyu don

we sipped the miso soup, which comes with all the hot items. i was hungry. "well it's ok," i said. "are you kidding me?" said avani. "it tastes like nothing. it just isn't miso-y. it tastes like hot water." of course, she was right. we switched to our food. my gyu don was... odd. the flavor was pretty good but it was big hunks of beef, not shredded. also, it was really oily and the rice was drowning in sauce.

avani's bibimbap was just straight up bland. the beef tasted like nothing. the vegetables tasted like nothing. even the sauce could do little to revive the meal. on top of that, she ate like 3 bites and then was left with nothing but rice. i was eating as fast as i could to try to get through my meal before she started scavenging. but then i got to this huge chunk of fat and gristle and i let her have the rest of mine.

bibimbap

here is the worst part: we paid $20.13 total for this meal. and we did not even order drinks. just some rice, a little watered down miso soup, and a few crappy bites of bland food. we could have eaten like kings at cilantro (or king wok, or thai express, or chicago gyro, or chipotle...) for half that.

"i can't wait to go home and eat some leftover pizza," said avani. i was mad because i wasn't going home just then and had to wait until 10 pm to eat again.

"here is what we have learned from this meal," i said as we left. "never try anything new."

sunny deli

lunchtime at the office...

eric: ok, let's go.
rickell: wait, where are we going?
liz: sunny deli. it's in the UDF building. or is it the UDS building?
eric: isn't it UBS?
liz: oh, maybe.
rickell: where is that?
liz: i'm not really sure. i have the address... oh shit, i forgot the address. it's on 7th street somewhere. we'll have to look it up on eric's iphone.
eric: we can't, i forgot my phone at home today.
liz: oh yeah, that reminds me, can one of you guys lend me money? i left my wallet at home. ooh, i think we're here!
rickell: what is this place and why are we getting on an elevator?
eric: what floor?
liz: 10, i think.
rickell: the 10th floor? how did you hear about this place?
liz: i read about it on the blogs.
eric: you and the blogs.
liz: you know, you guys are lucky to know me. think of all the food you wouldn't have eaten if it weren't for me.
rickell: oh yeah. that's what i think every morning when i wake up. i am so lucky to know liz.
eric: oh me too. it's my first thought.
liz: whatever, you guys are jerks. look, here's the menu, what are you guys getting?
eric: bibimbap. no beef.
liz: i thought you were eating meat now.
eric: i am but i am not sure what beef will do to my stomach. what are you getting?
liz: bibimbap too.
rickell: what is this thing you guys are getting?
liz: bibimbap. it's rice and meat and veggies. yummy. spicy. they only have it on wednesdays.
rickell: only wednesdays? what is this place?
liz: i don't know, they're korean but they have a deli. look, here's a picture.
rickell: ooh, that looks good, i want that.
liz: hi, i think we all want bibimbap. one with no beef.
girl behind the counter: no beef?
eric: no wait, i want beef, i changed my mind. do them all with beef.
girl: beef?
liz: this is the first time he's had beef in 15 years, can you believe that?
girl: beef or no beef?
eric: yeah. beef. sorry.
owner: here you go.
liz: yum, thanks! how long have you been here?
owner: 5 years.
liz: really? how long have you been doing bibimbap?
owner: since november.
liz: oh ok, so we haven't been missing out for that long. i was worried.
owner: haha, no. we just started.
eric: mmm... this is good.
rickell: this is damn good. what is this stuff in this little container?
eric: kimchee. pickled cabbage.
liz: it's fermented.
rickell: that's nasty.
liz: this is sooo good. we have to come back.
eric: mmm... beef...

(sounds of eating)

bibimbap

ever since i read this article in the nytimes a while back, i have been dying to try making bibimbap in my rice cooker. if you're having deja vu, that's because i already posted about that damn article. sorry... i'm a little obsessed.

i love korean food but i have always failed miserably when i've tried to make it at home. well actually i've only ever tried to make beef bulgogi but that came out nasty. i think it was the sauce i used (from a jar) combined with my totally failed attempt to use my iron skillet as a hot stone. so i always figured bibimbap was far beyond my abilites as a home cook.

not so, readers! i made rice cooker bibimbap with much success tonight, which is particularly miraculous since i did not even have like half of the required ingredients. i started from this recipe from the nytimes, but i way improvised and i also had to make some adjustments based on my rice cooker's heating capabilities. here is my recipe:

liz's hell yeah you can make this at home rice cooker bibimbap

1/2 lb. dark green leafy vegetable (i used frozen "rape leaf" aka broccoli rabe but you could also do spinach, collard greens, chinese broccoli, kale, mustard greens, etc., fresh or frozen. the possibilities are endless!)
1/2 lb. trader joe's frozen grilled chicken strips (or any other protein that seems exciting and/or easy)
2 cups of rice
4 T. kimchee, chopped
2 eggs
peanut oil (or whatever cooking oil you like)
roasted sesame oil
seasoned rice vinegar (note: if you only have unseasoned, just add a little sugar and salt to yours and there you go)
hoisin sauce
sriracha sauce
chili garlic sauce
rice seasoning (nori strips/sesame seeds/seasonings/etc.)
salt

my kitchen staples... proof that i have a secret inner asian

put the rice and 2 1/2 cups water in the rice cooker and shut the lid. push the cook button.

while the rice is cooking, stir fry the greens in a little peanut oil. cook them until they are wilty and pretty dry. let them cool a little and then add in 1 T. each of sesame oil and rice vinegar and a little salt. add more of any ingredient until it tastes good to you.

microwave the frozen chicken strips for 2 minutes. let them cool and then chop them into small chunks.

time to make the sauce! i didn't have any kochujang (the chili and fermented soybean paste that is mixed into bibimbap when it is served to you in restaurants) so i made up my own sauce with some things i had on hand. my thought process: "hmm... fermented soybeans + spiciness+ sweetness." i thought some type of spicy hoisin mix seemed like a good approximation.

the sauce i made up is all of the following ingredients mixed together (all measurements are very approximate): 3 T. hoisin sauce, 1 T. chili garlic sauce, 1 T. sriracha, and a splash of rice vinegar. this actually came out remarkably tasty and surprisingly similar to kochujang. yay sauce experiments!

once the rice is done cooking, mix in the kimchee. after mixing, smooth the rice so it is flat and drizzle 2 T. of sesame oil over it. crack the eggs on top. close the lid again. turn the rice cooker on cook again and leave it for about 20 min.*

open the lid again and put in the leafy greens and the protein next to the eggs. put the lid back on and cook for another 10 min. open the lid again. by this point the egg white should be white and the yolk should still be runny. hopefully you have some crispy toasted rice on the bottom. if not, you can keep cooking for a while. depending on your rice cooker, you might want to use warm instead of cook.

this is what it looks like after you mix everything... sorry i forgot to take a picture earlier

whenever you feel you are ready, mix up everything with the sauce. you can cook a little longer if you want or not, depending on how dry you want it and whether you want to try for a little more crunchy rice. when you are ready to serve, top with the rice seasoning. i also had some homemade pickles (cucumber slices + seasoned rice vinegar) on the side, which made a nice contrast because they were tangy and cold and crunchy. amazingly, this really came out tasting like actual bibimbap!

*you probably want to check on your eggs before 20 minutes are up. the nytimes article said you only need 5 minutes of cooking and a little more warming once you add the eggs to get them cooked properly. my rice cooker took 25+ minutes of cooking (with me opening the lid a bunch of times). you are going to have to experiment with times based on the capabilities of your rice cooker.

the finished product. happy mouth time!

what is really awesome about this recipe is that is so forgiving. you can substitute like crazy and the bibimbap will accomodate you. you can use more or less (MUCH more or less) of any ingredient and the bibimbap will smile and make it work. you can cook it quickly or leave it in the rice cooker forever and the bibimbap will be your friend either way. rice cooker bibimbap, i love you!

asiana korean restaurant

i am at some kind of a big turning point in my life right now. well maybe it is not that serious but i have been really getting my shit together as though i am preparing for some kind of change, and i'm not just talking about going from summer to fall. i do not know exactly what is going on... i think my subconscious is sorting shit out and this is manifesting itself externally somehow without me really understanding it. in the past two weeks, i have:

• made butter (a goal i have had for a year and a half)
• cleaned my entire house from top to bottom (including washing dishes which had been in my sink since september, vacuuming under couches and my bed, cleaning windows, mopping out closets, and all kinds of things i have not done since i moved in, if ever)
• cleaned out my car
• gone through my wardrobe and collected 2 garbage bags full of clothes to donate
• made appointments for teeth cleaning (i have not been to the dentist in almost 3 years... i know that's totally gross), an eye exam (i have not gotten new glasses in over 4 years), and a haircut (it's going on month 3)
• bought an ipod after living for 2 years without one
• blogged constantly rather than just once every week or two
  

all of these things which i have been procrastinating on for years in most cases have suddenly started feeling really urgent and i can no longer put them off. i am also starting a project with avani which will be unveiled in the next few months.

another thing i have been wanting to do is get involved with some kind of volunteer project. i always used to do a lot of volunteer work before i moved to cincinnati and then for some reason i just never got into it here. so tonight avani and i decided to head up to west chester for a wine tasting and info session at wine c.a.r.t. which was organized by give back cincinnati. we liked wine c.a.r.t. and would definitely go back if it was not so far. we also liked give back cincinnati and we are going to do some of their volunteer events.

while we were up there we decided to have dinner. avani had tried mesh before, and i didn't want to spend that much money, so i did some googling and came up with asiana korean restaurant (not to be confused with asiana, the thai place in oakley). i love korean food, it is one of my all time favorites, so i knew this was our place. avani took some convincing because as she put it, "i don't want to eat rice. i have had enough carbs for the day." my stomach would not take no for an answer so eventually i got her to agree.

asiana's extensive ban chan selection (all very tasty)

ok, asiana is awesome. first of all it is really reasonably priced. the appetizers are expensive but that is it. they have both chinese and korean food and it is all really tasty and fresh and authentic. i was one of only two white people there, which i always think is a good sign. the service was great. our server barely spoke english (another good sign) but she was really nice.

we started with a big selection of ban chan (the random salads and pickled vegetables that you always get with korean food). all of them were really yummy. my favorites were the cucumbers in chili garlic sauce, the kimchi, and the tofu. but seriously they were all really good.

me attacking the ban chan

avani got a bowl of hot and sour soup to start. ok. read carefully. this was by far the best hot and sour soup i have had in cincinnati. let me say that again in bold. asiana serves the absolute best hot and sour soup in the entire cincinnati area. i am not kidding you. i had actually given up on finding good hot and sour in this city. but this soup is amazing. i have not had such good hot and sour soup since ollie's noodle shop (which serves the best in new york, in my opinion). asiana's is wonderful. if you like hot and sour soup, you must go eat it right now. get in the car. go. go. go!

avani with the amazing hot and sour soup

as for the rest of the food, it was delicious. i got the dolsot bibimbap and avani had the beef bulgogi. both were very yummy, fresh, and flavorful versions of those korean food all-stars. i do not think it was better than riverside, but it was definitely as good as. it was way better than sung korean bistro. also, the menu was really extensive and had a number of things i had never heard of and wanted to try.

chopstick lickin' good bibimbap

if you are looking for yummy korean food in the west chester area, asiana is definitely your spot. ikea is right nearby so maybe stop by if you are up there to shop for super cheap scandinavian home furnishings (but if you are like me, you will probably also want to stuff yourself with $1.99 swedish meatballs). as with korea house, i do not think i will be making a special trip up there for korean food since both of those places are on par with riverside in my opinion, and riverside is much more conveniently located. but i just might make the hike for that hot and sour soup...

sung korean bistro

in a nutshell: sung korean bistro was pretty good but it was both more expensive and less delicious/flavorful/spicy/interesting (aka more bland) than either riverside korean or korea house. so go to one of those instead unless you are craving a more loungey atmosphere (dark woods, red lights, candles, etc.) and slightly more exciting drink options (but not much more exciting... there's no fun martini menu or anything like that).

bonus negative point: annoying cheesy white boy waiter assuming we knew nothing about korean food and then proving that he himself knew nothing about korean food.

bonus positive point: finally an asian food option downtown that does not make me want to kill myself.

riverside korean

i had gotten so many good recommendations about riverside korean that i had been dying to go there for months. finally i got the chance with beth a couple nights ago.

riverside korean is this tiny little place in covington that serves some awesome korean food. the menu is very lengthy but beth and i both had a serious craving for some dolsot bibimbap so we were boring and just got that.

i forgot to take a picture of our food before we mixed it so here is a random pic i took in NY last weekend when i was dreaming of korean food just in case you don't know what it looks like

of course, it comes with all those delicious little pickled vegetables so we did get some variety with our rice and veggies. the best was this spinach with a spicy sesame garlic sauce... oh my god. i wanted more and more.

beth with our food. i told her she had to be in this pic to prove that i'm not some nut case making up friends for my blog readers. so there, skeptics!

i remembered later that eric had raved about this spicy tofu dish and i had wanted to order it and totally forgot. i was also really tempted by the jab chae noodles so i will definitely be back to try those.

we got the corn tea to drink with our meal and it was really good. i mean what you see is what you get, corn tea, but just try it, it really goes with the food as beth said.

service was fine and unmemorable. the atmosphere is really cute and tiny. you can sit at a booth or at one of these little community tables:

we kind of wanted to sit here but they were reserved for private parties

the prices were really reasonable and there was no wait (i guess since we went during the week). so overall really good and pretty much your only option unless you want to drive your ass out to mason for some korea house (which is awesome and you should definitely go there).

ok, i think i am finally caught up on these damn posts! thank the lord.