March 2015 – Blanca Valencia

Dinner for Charity Auction at the Shangri La

Last December I donated a Spanish cooking class or dinner to the Winter Charity Gala auction organized by the American Chamber of Commerce- Northeast China Chapter, the Shangri-La in Dalian and the International Club of Dalian. My dinner was bundled with a two night stay in the presidential suite. The night of the auction two good friends Karen and Martyn Brown bid for the dinner at the presidential suite and won! The money from the auction was donated to Dalian Little Dolphin Recovery Centre, Rixing Social Welfare Institution and Dalian Bai Nan Vocational School.

We finally organized the dinner and it took place on March 14th with 12 guests in attendance. The guests were Korean, Japanese, Irish, British, Indian and Chinese. We had to cater for such a varied palate that we decided to give small nods to all the guests cuisines. Karen, who is an interior designer and a great cook helped me get everything organized. She also did amazing floral arrangements to decorate the suite. The Shangri La chefs and Food and Service manager also chipped in by making some items and sourcing hard to find ingredients from Beijing and of course getting the suite ready. On the night the Shangri La also provided us with wonderful waiters and a great bartender that set up an amazing art deco mobile bar in the foyer of the Presidential Suite. The Kimchi bloody Mary was a big hit except with the Japanese husband of our Korean friend Lyn, who is still in shock at how much kimchi Koreans eat! Our lovely Chinese friend Annie made oolong tea for us.

In the end this was the menu:

Cockatils: Elderflower gin & tonic, Kimchi bloody mary, Umeshu soda

Tapas

Pimenton Marcona Almonds

Quince and Manchego

Preserved lemon marinated olives

Jamon Iberico

Ajo Blanco with raisins and sherry vinegar

Gildas (olives, anchovies, piparra peppers)

Mains

Octopus with paprika and polen

Korean Bulgogi tacos

Fish pie with romesco and alioli

Togarashi fries with Curry Mayo

Goat Cheese stuffed piquillo peppers

Dessert

Flan

Caramelized oranges with olive oil

Strawberry Pavlova

Chocolate and sea salt toast with olive oil

Chinese Oolong Tea

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset — The guests with hostess Karen Brown

Thriving in a Chinese Kitchen (March 2015)

When Chinese food fatigue kicks in, I strongly urge you to seek the thrills of Korean food. From the indescribable kimchi to the playful banchan (tapas-like side dishes) and meat barbecue, it won’t leave you indifferent.

China’s neighbor has a wonderfully distinct food that is still fairly new and unknown in Western mainstream circles especially in Europe. In Dalian, home to tens of thousands of Koreans buying the ingredients is a breeze. You can easily explore the myriad of restaurants and get a grasp of the flavors and textures.

We cannot discuss Korean food without discussing kimchi, the pickled cabbage relish (also other vegetables) with dried chilies that graces the tables of Koreans. I will admit that it is an acquired taste but one that will bring health and flavor like no other food. Packed with probiotics and vitamins it is also good for lowering cholesterol and best of all it is very low calorie. Kimjang, the tradition of making kimchi at home is still alive in Korea and kimchi refrigerators (where the kimchi is stored during the winter to replicate the burying of kimchi earthenware pots) fairly common.

Other Korean dishes to try are bibimbap, bulgogi, gimbap, cold buckwheat noodles in a broth and seafood pancakes.

One of my favorite Korean every day dishes is Soondubu, a tofu “hotpot” with clams or beef. The dish is named after the soft tofu it is made with. If you have not tried this I have to persuade you try it at the Harbor Plaza Korean BBQ restaurant and then to try this easy recipe at home.

Easy Soondubu

Serves 2

1 tbsp. of vegetable oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp. of Gochujang (Korean Chile paste*)
2 cups of beef stock
2 ounces of rib eye thinly sliced
8 ounces of clams
1 uncurdled tofu or packet of silken tofu, broken up
½ cup of kimchi, chopped
2 tsp. of salt
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 green onions, sliced
2 eggs
2 tbsp. sesame oil

Put the clams in salt water. Rinse. Put a little oil in a pot, add the garlic fry for a little, without letting it get colored and add the gochujang.

Add the stock and let it simmer for a minute. Add the beef, then the tofu and kimchi and clams.

Cook for a couple of minutes until beef is cooked through.

Season with salt and soy sauce. Add sliced green onion and cook for a minute and then add the eggs and cook to your liking (normally it is added raw just before serving). Serve the soup drizzled with a little sesame oil. Serve with rice on the side.

*there are different types of sauce from hot to mild.