Review: Trader Joes's Bibimbap

The lastest of several prepared Korean dishes introduced recently by Trader Joe's, a Monrovia, Calif.-based chain of grocery stores, is a frozen version of 비빔밥 bibimbap.

This is what it looks like before it's microwaved. The bright orange carrots are a promising sign. (Tammy Quackenbush photo)

This "mixed-up rice" dish — the meaning of the Korean name — already has created some Twitter and blog buzz over the past six weeks.

I stumbled on the following Twitter reviews of the meal:

Anna Pinkert, an intern at Boston radio station WBUR (@annapinkert), wrote,

TJ's bibimbap bowl should not be as tasty as it is.

Aurynyumi (@laurynyumi) wrote this after taking a bowl with her for lunch:

Eating trader joe's bibimbap for lunch.. It's good. :)

The ingredients include precooked white rice topped with bulgogi, cooked spinach, a whole scrambled egg, soybean sprouts and julienned carrots. The bowl also included a separate packet of a sweet and spicy chili sauce.

Observations

The spicy chili sauce had a good balance of spiciness and sweetness, leaning towards the sweet side. Yet it tasted more like Thai sweet chili sauce than the sweetened 고추장 gochujang (spicy red pepper paste) sauce commonly poured atop bibimbap.

Once the sauce reaches room temperature, it's easy to dispense. (Jeff Quackenbush photo)

The cooked spinach flavor was different from the marinated blanched spinach usually used in bibimbap.

The sesame oil flavor, one of the key flavor profiles of Korean food, also was lacking. It's listed among the ingredients but isn't as bold in the final product as is in the fresh-prepared version.

At first I thought the dish didn't have soybean sprouts, another common ingredient in bibimbap. The sprouts were listed on the package but weren't a separate item in the ceramic bowl-resembling plastic container. I finally found the sprouts "hidden" among the scrambled egg.

To improve the flavor, I stirred in a half teaspoon each of sesame oil and doenjang along with the spicy chili sauce provided in the packet. That little nudge improved the experience.

Another options comes from emiglio (@emiglio) who gives this advise

I've realized you can eat pretty well out of Trader Joes frozen section if you dice fresh onions/mushrooms/garlic into everything.

Conclusions

Trader Joe's frozen bibimbap bowl does not compare to what you would find in a restaurant or make at home. Despite that, the grocery chain's version has come close for those days when you don't have a long enough lunch break to visit your nearest bibimbap restaurant while you're at work.

Trader Joe's also released frozen kalbi and bulgogi dishes recently. I plan to scrutinize them soon.

Pet Peeve: Using plates as cutting boards

I was watching a cooking video on YouTube a while back. The cook was making Korean Curry with Chicken. She gave viewers some good tips during the course of the video, such as chopping all the vegetables in similar sizes so they cook at the same time. But she kept doing one thing that set my teeth on edge: she was using her plate as a cutting board for all the vegetables she was putting into the curry.

Respect your knives and they will work hard for you. (Jeff Quackenbush photo)

Do not, under any circumstances, use a glass or ceramic plate as a cutting board. I cringed every time she sliced her veggies on a glass plate in front of the camera. This will dull your nice knife a lot faster and if you make a habit of using a plate as a cutting board, you will ruin your chef's knife. There's also a danger of slippage which will increase the risk of cutting yourself. Please use either plastic cutting boards or a butcher block cutting board. I own both.

Color coded plastic cutting boards helps keep germs separated. Tammy Quackenbush photo

Plastic cutting boards (which sold in different colors so you can easily segregate the dairy, meat and veggies/fruit) are good if you're going to someone's home to help cook a meal or a church potluck. They're easy to clean, just thrown them in the dish washing machine when needed.

Yes, I love my butcher's block cutting board enough that it usually accompanies me for all my cooking videos. Jeff Quackenbush photo

My butcher block usually stays at home (unless I'm filming a video), and takes a little, gentle maintenance. It gets a good hand wash and rubdown with food safe mineral oil from time to time to keep it camera ready.

Recipe: Spice up your smoothie

Once you get a spice in your home, you have it forever. Women never throw out spices. The Egyptians were buried with their spices. I know which one I'm taking with me when I go. —Erma Bombeck

I also have a selection of spices and flavor enhancers in the rack. There are the basics such as salt, black pepper and garlic as well as more exotic fare such as the Indian blend garam marsala and sesame seeds. If I have to be buried with one spice out of my collection, it would be my current favorite, Chinese five-spice powder.

There's no standard definition of the Chinese five-spice blend. Some have more then five ingredients. Many include fennel, clove, cinnamon, star anise and ginger. Others add nutmeg, Szechuan peppercorns and licorice.

The blend is supposed to encompass all five basic tastes – bitter, salty, sour, sweet and savory (a.k.a. umami). Although the roots of this spice combination are not Korean, many of these spices also are key to the country's cuisine, thanks to long-standing cross-cultural exchanges betweens Koreans and Chinese over the past 2000 years or so.

Since Chinese five-spice powder is a combination of all five tastes, cooks and chefs are able to deftly blend it with beef, lamb, vegetables, grains and legumes. However, some foods are relatively spice-free: fruits and dairy products, particularly smoothies, a drink that combines fruit and dairy.

Smoothies started as an American mixture of fresh and frozen fruit, fruit juice and ice. Later variations of the drink incorporated yoghurt or soy milk, vitamin supplements and even wheat grass. Promoted as quick, healthful meal replacements, smoothies became synonymous with California's experimental yet fast-paced culture.

The beverage has gone international with smoothie bars located in most major cities around the world.

South Korea has two of America's most popular smoothie restaurants: Smoothie King, a Louisiana-based chain, has more than 40 locations in the country. Jamba Juice, a company based in Northern California, established a foothold in Korea at Incheon's airport and now has five locations in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, including one near Korea's Supreme Court building. Both chains offer concoctions and supplements in Korea not found in their American counterparts.

Korea also has home-grown smoothie chains, such as Fresh King. Smoothies are a good fit with Korea's food=well-being meme and its fast-paced "ppali-ppali" (빨리-빨리) culture.

Koreafornian smoothies

Inspired by Spice Sherpa, I embarked on a smoothie spice mission.

Smoothies are made to be embellished. You don’t need an overwhelming dousing of spices, just a little pinch here and there. —from Spice Sherpa's "3 Ways to Have Spices for Breakfast: 1 indulgence, 1 blend, and 1 surprise"

I tested the theory with a Peanut Butter Moo'd smoothie from a Jamba Juice counter in a nearby grocery store. I spiked the chocolate, banana and peanut butter combo with about two teaspoons of Chinese five-spice.

Customization can make a corporate smoothie recipe your own. (Tammy Quackenbush photo)

It took some effort to stir the powder into the 16-ounce cup using the flimsy supplied plastic straw they gave me. The small amount provided just enough flavor without overwhelming the primary smoothie ingredients.

Peanut butter, vanilla and strawberries are commonly paired with chocolate. Spicy chili, such as Mexican chocolate, is also becoming popular. [See a related post on innovative chocolate pairings, "Review: Jade Chocolate's confections promote free flavor love."]

Here are a few other Koreafornian-style ideas for flavor enhancements to take along on your next trip to the smoothie counter or to make your own at home:

• Cinnamon, allspice and vanilla for chocolate smoothies.
• Powder pinches of cayenne and baker's chocolate for a Mexican-style chocolate smoothie (spicy and bittersweet).
• Black pepper and a teaspoon or two of balsamic vinegar for strawberry smoothies.
• Peppermint for chocolate smoothies.
• Garam masala for tropical fruit– or coconut milk–based smoothies.
• Lime juice and cilantro for orange juice–based smoothies or iced fruit drinks.

Is kimchi good for your brain as well as your intestines?

According to professor Mark Lyte of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, probiotics promote not only health of the small and large intestines but also the well-being of the mind.

Lyte said research so far indicates that certain probiotics — notably, Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria — produce neurochemicals that encourage mental well-being.

Scientists have known for a long time that there's a profound connection between the gastrointestinal tract and the brain. The connection is so profound that some experts refer to the gut as a "second brain."

Since lactobacilli are commonly found in kimchi, is it fair to call kimchi "brain food" yet?

 More on this study: Food for thought? Probiotics could promote well being, suggests researcher

Scribe Winery hosts Korean fusion cuisine event in Sonoma wine country

Look at the "legs" on this Scribe Winery Pinot/Cab custom blend. (Tammy Quackenbush photo)

My guest article for WineKorea  (edited and written by Joshua Hall) posted today—technically tomorrow thanks to the international date line. I attended Scribe Winery's July 10th wine and food pairing event featuring "New Californian" Korean catered by San Francisco's Namu Restaurant.

You have to check out my post there for the "who, what, when, where, why and how" of the event but I will tease you here with a couple photos from the event to whet your thirst and appetite. 

Namu Chef Denis Lee (center right) and Scribe winemaker Andrew Mariani (center left) relax and enjoy some live music at the end of the meal. (Tammy Quackenbush photo)

Secret Recipe Club: Ochazuke with Caramelized Shallots and Fried Egg

This post was my first assignment from the The Secret Recipe Club, which is organized by Amanda of Amanda's Cookin'. Every month, she assigns each club member a blog from which to replicate an interesting recipe then write about the experience. More than 70 food and recipe blogs currently participate.

My rendition of Dr. Abramson's Ochazuke With Caramelized Shallots and Fried Egg. (Tammy Quackenbush photo)

My assigned blog this month is Healthy Green Kitchen, written by Winnie Abramson, ND. She's a "naturopathic doctor turned recipe developer, food writer and photographer." Her blog includes nutritional advice, kitchen tips, natural remedies and organic gardening know-how.

The recipe I chose to replicate, tinker with and try not to ruin is Ochazuke With Caramelized Shallots and Fried Egg.

One particular ingredient drew me in: 2 tablespoons of dried wakame seaweed. She recommends re-hydrating it for a few minutes in 1 cup of very hot green tea, preferably sencha, hojicha or genmaicha. 

That brought to mind a post I wrote in January 2011 about the quality of the water used in food can make or break its flavor. The late Julia Child understood this when she complained that the tap water in Santa Barbara, Calif., "turns my Chinese tea into mud."

Abramson was careful and deliberate in her green tea recommendation, but we don't often ponder what kind of water to use in our recipes with the same deliberateness. 

Geography profoundly affects water quality and guarantees that my version of this recipe will not taste exactly like the original, even if I make no other changes to the recipe.

Ochazuke With Carmelized Shallots and Fried Egg

Ingredients

1–1¹/₂ cups cooked short-grain brown rice (I had basmati rice in the house.)
2 tablespoons dried wakame seaweed, re-hydrated for a few minutes in 1 cup of very hot green tea
1–2 tablespoons organic coconut oil or olive oil
2 shallots, peeled and chopped
2–4 eggs, preferably organic and free-range
coarse sea salt (black lava salt is nice, if you can find it)

Directions

1. Divide the rice into two bowls. Pour the green tea (along with the re-hydrated wakame) over the brown rice. Allow to steep while you prepare the shallots and the eggs.
2. Heat oil in a cast-iron skillet. Add the shallots and saute for three to four minutes, stirring frequently until soft and brown. Move the shallots over to the edge of the pan. Add a little more oil to the pan, if it seems too dry.
3. Crack the eggs into the pan and cook for three to four minutes, until the whites are solid. For over-easy eggs, flip and cook for another minute or two on the other side.
4. Top the rice, green tea and seaweed with the cooked eggs and the shallots. Sprinkle with a little sea salt before serving.

How to promote kimchi in America without inviting Americans

The South Korean consulate in San Francisco found a creative way of celebrating U.S. Independence Day this year by inviting the wives of other foreign diplomats to their home to learn kimchi-making. The San Francisco Consular Corps helped put on the party.

The stated aim of this kimchi diplomacy, according to Consul Jeong-Gwan Lee and his wife, Jongran Park, was to help Americans become more familiar with Korean food and culture.

"China and Japan [are] two countries so well-known to the U.S., but compared to that, Korea is less known to the people in the United States," Consul Lee told KGO-TV.

I find it difficult to understand how a party, to which the wives of foreign diplomats were the guests of honor, is supposed to help Americans understand the merits of the Korean/American Free Trade Agreement (KOR-US FTA) — languishing in the Senate for a final vote — and encourage Hallyu (the "Korean wave") in the U.S.

A better tactic would be to invite San Francisco Bay Area kimchi-conscious chefs to present cooking demonstrations. Health-conscious residents in the region are learning to appreciate Korea's fermented foods.