10th Day

Finally, my last day of challenge. I don't think that I will quit cooking just because my challenge is over. Now that I learned few things, I would probably cook now and then. The reason this challenge was 'challenging' is not just because I never cooked before but also because I had to do it every day. Some of the days were more tiresome than others. I also had few days that I didn't have an appetite. Yet despite all those facts, I managed to proceed with the challenge.

Since this is the last day, I thought I should do something different. Of course, the basic thing that I will cook doesn't change but I thought that instead of trying something new, I could try again what I failed before. So I tried Kimchi Fried Rice again. However, to make it more challenging, I tried to make side-dishes as well.

The upper-left side one is scrambled eggs mixed with tomato. My mother used to make that for me. I didn't know the exact recipe but I could guess. It seemed simple and it was simple. Just had to stir-fry the eggs and sherry tomato together. I added ketchup when eating it.

The upper-right side is tofu with a sauce that I don't know. I didn't make it. My boyfriend did. He is better at cooking than me. He is the one who usually cooks if we eat at home. He brought it for dinner today as I told him that I'm going to make kimchi fried rice. He congratulated me for finishing my challenge but I was determined to keep going with the cooking, though not everyday.

We had a wonderful dinner. He did the dishes and went home a while ago.

I think the challenge I proceeded past 10 days was very meaningful and fun. Now I have to concentrate on my finals but I'm planning on starting a new challenge after the exams, though I haven't decided what to do yet.   

9th Day

I had a really busy day. I woke up late so I skipped the breakfast. Having class from 11 am to 6 pm, plus group meeting for a integrated project assignment at 6 to 9 pm, I didn't have anything to eat till night. I figured that I would need something light to eat for my empty stomach. So I chose  Ginger Chicken Jook (Rice Porridge) Recipe

http://www.chow.com/recipes/29184-ginger-chicken-jook-rice-porridge

(where I got the recipe)

Before starting to cook, I did have few pieces of bread because this porridge is really time-consuming. I didn't had to take care of the chicken because I bought already-sliced one at the market. Stirring for an hour was not easy; actually, I think it took longer than an hour. 

The result was not so successful. I think I put too much water, perhaps, but it was still eatable. At least I now learned how to make a porridge. 

8th Day

After my last successful meal yesterday, I regained my confidence. I invited few friends over including my boyfriend so I had to serve four dishes. In spite of final exams, I was eager to serve dinner; to show my improvement. Besides, I was the only one who had exams coming up among the four. My friend is same age as me but she graduated early and currently working. My boyfriend and the other one are older than me and they are also both working. Anyway, I invited them to have dinner and I'm writing this piece after the guests left.

Today I made Gyudon.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 cups steamed Japanese rice
• 1 lb thinly sliced beef loin, cut into 2 inch lengths
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 1/3 cup dashi soup
• 5 Tbsp soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp mirin
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp sake
• benishoga (pickled red ginger) for topping *optional

Preparation:

Put dashi, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sake in a large pan and bring to a boil on medium heat. Add onion slices and simmer for a few minutes or until softened. Add beef in the pan and simmer for a few minutes. Serve hot steamed rice into individual deep rice bowls. Put simmered beef on top of the rice. Top with some benishoga if you would like.

I was a little bit nervous at first because I wasn't sure if I could pull this off. However, at the end I was satisfied. I think today was my best accomplishment for this challenge. They all enjoyed the meal and my boyfriend even asked if I had more. Considering that they are very straightforward people, I think they weren't just being polite. If they thought it was no good, thy would have told me(they always do). With the guests, I didn't get the chance to take a picture. It is a pity because I really would like to keep the memory of today(how proud I was of myself).  

7th Day

Three days left of my challenge and I'm starting to get tired for following reasons: 1) doing a thing that I'm not used to; 2) busy studying for final exams; and 3) running out of ideas. Menus I chose before were things I wanted to try before I started this challenge. Now I don't know what to try. I'm looking at various recipes on the internet but they all seem difficult. I realized that it takes about twice for me to make a dish than it is written on the recipe. I'm also not well-equipped. For instance, my pen is small and I don't have enough spices. Yet still, I have to finish what I started.

Today's menu:

Korean Mixed Rice with Sashimi (Hwe Dub Bap)

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs sushi-grade fish, cut into 1/2 in. X 1 in. pieces 
• 1 head red leaf lettuce, chopped
• 1 small cucumber, sliced thinly
• 1 Asian pear, sliced thinly
• 1 small carrot, julienned
• 7 or 8 perilla leaves, sliced thinly
• 5 cups cooked rice
• 1 cup cho kochujang 
• thin slices of roasted seaweed, for garnish (optional)
• sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)

Preparation:

1. Divide rice into 4 bowls.
2. Arrange vegetables, raw fish, and sliced pear on top of rice.
3. If using garnish, dust with sesame seeds and/or sliced seaweed.
4. Serve with small bowl of cho kochujang on the side.

It took me longer to get all the ingredients while preparing actually took less than 15 minutes; I think it was less than 10. It was probably the easiest menu, except for the toast, that I tried for my challenge. All I had to do is get the ingredients and mix them in a bowl. I didn't make it exactly as the recipe indicates. I skipped few stuff such as garnish. I got the sushi from nearby sushi restaurant. This dish is one of my favorites but I never tried to make it at home. It was good. I think I would occasionally make it even after when my 10-days challenge ends. 

6th Day

Five days have already passed since I started this challenge. Although I tried to make something new every day, it feels like I will never get used to it. It was good because I felt sense of accomplishment after the cooking but each cooking required buying groceries, cooking, and cleaning up after; it was little bit tiresome, especially because of the fact that each time was like an experiment to me. It would be much easier to just know how to cook and more comfortable if I don't have to check each step while cooking. Nevertheless. I won't give up on my challenge. 

Today, I'm going to try something more time-consuming: 

 

Korean Seaweed Soup (Miyuk gook) 

Expected Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 oz dried seaweed 
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 3 cups soup stock*
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

1. Rehydrate seaweed by placing in a large bowl and covering with water for 30 minutes.
   
2. Drain seaweed, squeeze out excess water, and cut into 2-inch pieces.
   
3. In soup pot over medium heat, sauté seaweed in sesame oil for 2 minutes.
   
4. Add garlic and soy sauce and sauté for another 2 minutes.
   
5. Pour stock into pot and turn heat to high.
   
6. When soup begins to boil, turn down to simmer and cook for 20 minutes or until the soup looks milky.

The result was great!! This soup is served on Birthday in Korea, traditionally. Therefore, I'm satisfied that I learned how to make it; it will be useful. From now on, I can make it for my parent's birthdays. 

5th Day

Fortunately, the presentation I prepared went great and I finished other assignments early today which means i have time for my '10-Day Challenge'.

Korean Pan-Fried Fish (Saeng Sun Jun) Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 lb white fish fillets, rinsed and patted dry
• 3 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 3 Tbsp flour
• 2 eggs

Expected Total Time: 15 minutes

Preparation:

1. Salt fish on all sides.
   
2. Beat eggs with any remaining salt in a bowl.
   
3. Put flour in a bowl next to egg next to stove.
   
4. Heat up lightly greased pan over medium heat.
   
5. Dip each fish piece into flour to coat, dip into egg mixture, and place in frying pan.
   
6. Fry fish for 2-3 minutes and then flip over to finish for another 1-2 minutes, or until the batter becomes a light yellow. Try not to overcook, as the fish will become dry.

First problem I had was with the fish itself. It had too much water. I bought the frozen ones at the market but as I defrost it on the microwave, it was wet. I wasn't sure if it was okay to proceed but I figured that it won't be a problem unless it was too watery. Hence, I went on. 

The result was okay except some were too salty and some were bland. I think when I salted them, I failed to do it evenly. I guess, I was too hasty. Next time I do it, I will take more time and be thorough.   

4th Day

I didn't have time for cooking today,or any house chores because I had to prepare for a presentation for tomorrow. Hence, for dinner I had a bread with Nutella(chocolate jam) which took me 5 minutes to prepare.















I could have just ordered a pizza or have frozen food run on microwave. However, I did decide to eat food that requires cooking(though today's menu isn't actually 'cooking', it does require cleaning dishes); so I ate the first one with Nutella, and with the second one I made a toast with butter.  

The thing I learned today is that doing things that one usually didn't is hard because one has to adjust his or her daily schedule. In other words, since the activity isn't on one's usual routine, one has to fit it in to his or her original schedule. It is hard to do a new thing without effecting the things one used to do. Yet despite the difficulty, I will keep challenging myself. I hope that tomorrow I will manage to spare some time for cooking. Good luck to me!! 

3rd Day

After trying cooking for the first time, I gained some confidence. Although it wasn't so good, it felt like I could do better next time. I think that some things should be done to realize that it is not so hard as it seems; for it was cooking. Yet I still have long way to go.

Today I feel like I'll go for a steak. I already bought it yesterday with the sauce they sell for steaks.

It wasn't that hard. They sold the mushrooms with the sauce so I cooked it with the steak. All I had to do is to be careful not to burn it. I had no difficulty with that because I liked it medium-rare. Of course, with my skills, I couldn't expect to cook it perfectly but I could hope that it will be delicious.

After I was done with the steak, I made some scramble eggs(also googled). I took out some kimchi left from yesterday and pickles.(There is no way I'm going to make kimchi myself. I don't have the skill or knowledge, nor do I have the intention to learn it.)

Anyway, I opened one of the wines I have(I like cheap wines, sometimes my father gives me more expensive ones as a present), and it was delicious.

This is how it looked: 

2nd Day

As the final exam approaches, the time I can use for other than studying is reducing. However, one must still eat. Besides, I don't have a skill enough to pull off cooking that is time-consuming. Therefore, I checked few cooking recipes on Google, looking for a menu that can be followed by a beginner such as myself.
The menu I chose was Kimchi Bokumbap(Kimchi Fried Rice).

Ingredients:

• 1 cup kimchi, drained and chopped
• 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced beef, spam, pork, bacon, or ham
• 3 cups cooked rice
• Salt 
• 1 Fried egg 

When I went to E-Mart yesterday. I didn't think I would be making that so I don't have all those ingredients ready.  Hence, I went to the market which is nearby since I didn't have time to go to E-Mart again. Fortunately, I could find all the things I need for Kimchi Bokumbap at that market.

Expected Total Time: 20 minutes

According to the recipe, it will take 5 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook. 

Preparation:

1. If using bacon, saute briefly on an ungreased large pan and omit oil from next step. With any other meat or a vegetarian version, start with step 2.
2. Saute kimchi and onion in a lightly greased large pan over medium heat for a few minutes.
3. When vegetables begin to look transparent, add ½ Tbsp of butter, garlic, and soy sauce and saute for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Add meat or pork and continue to saute until meat is cooked.
    
5. Turn heat off but keep pan on burner.
6. Add rice and rest of butter, mixing to combine.
7. Salt to taste and top with fried egg to serve.

I started to get confused from the first step. It says 'omit oil from nest step'- does it mean that step 2 goes first? With  little bit of confusion I started to saute vegetables and kimchi on a pen . The pen I have is small so I couldn't do it all at once. I put thinly sliced beef, spam, pork, bacon, and ham in order; I realized later that it was 'or', not 'and'(I had to choose one of the meats, not use all of them). 

In short, I 'did' make it but I'm not sure if I can call it 'successful'. Vegetables were burned, too much meat, and the rice was cold at the time I was done with the fried egg(which had too much salt). In addition to that, it took me about 30 minutes to prepare while it should have taken 15 according to the recipe.

Nevertheless, I ate it. I think I can do better next time.  

1st Day

I've been doing a challenge of my own for past few days- cooking. I never really tried to cook in my life. I had many excuses such as: no time, no skill, and no interest. However, while wondering what kind of challenge I should choose, I noticed that may be I'm just afraid of trying something new. Of course, I will fail at my first try but what will I lose from it, except ruining some groceries I bought. So I just thought that I will give it a shot!!

The first thing I did on my first day of 10-Day Challenge is 'shopping'.

To be honest, I never considered buying groceries as something a person needs an energy and knowledge for. My mother used to ask me to go buy some milk or something when we were out of stock. It was easy. All I had to do is go and come back with the thing I was asked to buy. Yet, the reason I had no trouble of doing that was the fact that I was 'told' to buy a specific thing. When I went to E-MART to buy things for my first challenge, I realized that I had no idea what I needed for cooking. I really started the whole 'cooking challenge' without a plan. I simply thought that I will buy food, go back home, and start cooking. It was only when I got to the store that I realized that I needed recipe. With my zero-knowledge of cooking, standing there was like being in the midst of foreigners whose language I don't understand.

As a result, I failed to buy any cooking materials because I didn't even have decided what to try.  Thus, instead I bought some usually stuff like noodles, juice, can food, and etc.(things that one doesn't need to actually 'cook') Although I have failed, I will try again next time, tomorrow. On my second attempt, I will be more prepared and I will have a plan made; no more mistakes, I hope.