Friday, January 11, 2013

What Is Korean Food Famous For

When was the last time you ate an entire meal that filled you up without damaging your heart with salt and fat or loading you up with empty carbohydrates? If you are honest about it, you will probably have to admit that it has been a long time.

Korean food is flavorful, colorful, and meaty, but it also nourishes the body like few other cuisines. Eating Korean barbeque in Korean restaurant in NYC can be a real eye-opener because you wrap each morsel of meat in antioxidant-rich leaves and spiced up with tiny slices of garlic. On the side you always get probiotic Kimchi, rich in lactic acid, and usually hot green chili peppers full of vitamin C. The best side dish might be "myul-chi" which is a kind of small anchovy dried out. It is full of calcium, protein, omega fish oil — and it tastes sweet and salty. It's like eating beef jerky that is actually good for you.


One more word about kimchi: This stuff is amazingly good for you, and Koreans make more than 20 kinds of kimchi. It is well known as "World's Healthiest Foods." It's not just the cabbage. Koreans seem to be able to ferment just about anything. A word of advice on kimchi if you are not accustomed to it: It is exotic and strange at first, but by the second time you eat it, you will not want to live without it. In fact, most Korean people say that they can't live without kimchi — and they are only half-joking.

One big difference you will notice between Korean food and Western food is the dessert. Typically, you will be given a cup of cold and refreshing cinnamon tea, along with a plate of fruit. This cleans the palate, but it is also full of nutritious goodness because of the fruit. The heaviest dessert you will ever get in a Korean restaurant is "pat-bing-su" — a kind of crushed ice with red beans and sugary stuff in it. The sugar is not good for you, but at least it does not clog your arteries like cheesecake.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

How To Make Delicious Sashimi Easily At Home

What is Sashimi? In short, sashimi is raw fish that is sliced thinly. Although, other seafood such as squid or abalone can be used as well to make sashimi. Learning how to make sashimi is as simple as having good knife skills and buying sushi grade fish.

Basically, sashimi is raw seafood and is typically made from salt water fish. It is thought that fresh water fish seem to carry an added danger of containing too many ill causing parasites. Some of the most popular fish for making sashimi are Yellowfin Tuna, Bigeye Tuna, Salmon, Yellowtail or Hamachi, Snapper, and Halibut. Sashimi is usually eaten as an appetizer and is served with a dipping sauce. The most common dipping sauce seems to be Wasabi and soy sauce.


Garnishes such as Ginger, Shiso leaf, and Daikon are typically used with this Japanese dish to add color as well as different textures. Although, you can use whatever you want to garnish this dish. Some ideas are carrots, cucumbers, sprouts, green onions, edible flowers, lemons, limes, and radishes.

Some people prefer to buy sushi grade fish or sashimi grade fish for their sashimi. Sushi grade fish tends to be very fresh and has a more desirable texture - usually a fattier piece of fish as well. There does seem to be some controversy over whether or not this type of fish has to be frozen for a certain period of time. Some claim that it kills certain parasites, but frozen fish does not necessarily have a better texture than fresh.


How to Make Sashimi

Cutting against the grain is how to make sashimi more tender.

Whether its the flesh of a fish or animal, the flesh contains fibers which flow in a distinct pattern or direction.

When you slice against this pattern or direction, you will get broken pieces of fiber instead of longer pieces of intact fiber.

This makes it easier for your teeth to cut through and break down the fibers of the fish you are chewing.