Seaweed Salad (Miyeok muchim)
The dried sea plant miyeok (called wakame in Japan) is papery, dry, and black in the bag, but it turns deep green and soft when soaked in water. This salad, which is sweet-and-sour, juicy, and garlicky, is a good appetizer choice if you want to add a Korean dish to a Western-style meal. If you […]
Scallion Salad (Pajeori)
Enjoy this crisp, simple salad, which has just a hint of heat, with Bulgogi, Grilled Pork Belly, or L.A.–Style Beef Short Ribs. Serves 2 or 3 INGREDIENTS 7 scallions 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 teaspoon sugar or honey 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar 1 tablespoon Korean hot pepper flakes (gochu-garu) 1 tablespoon toasted sesame […]
Green Chili Peppers Seasoned with Soybean Paste (Putgochu doenjang muchim)
Whenever my grandmother made fermented soybean paste, she buried a bunch of green chili peppers in the paste in her earthenware crock. After a few months of fermentation, she dug the peppers out and served them as a side dish. They were pickled and super-salty, delicious in small quantities with rice. It was one of […]
Hot Ginger Milk Flavored with Cloves Shai Zanjabeel ma’ Haleeb
In the Arabian Gulf countries this tea is often served as a remedy for colds and sore throats. My first experience with this slightly spicy hot milk was in Oman, in Muscat, where a sprinkling of dried thyme was added as garnish by my host who claimed this to be the best way to drink […]
Aniseed Tea Shai Yansoon
Aniseed Tea is one of the more popular hot beverages served throughout the Arab Gulf countries. This slightly sweet tea with a subtle hint of licorice is a beverage of choice after enjoying a heavy meal. In fact, for centuries, a hot drink of aniseed and water has been used to relieve stomach discomfort and […]
Pomegranate Juice Spritzer Sharab Rumman
Pomegranates originated in Persia and are among the oldest fruits in the world. Some scholars even suggest that it was a pomegranate instead of an apple in the Garden of Eden with which Eve tempted Adam. Sharab Rumman appears in almost every medieval Arabic culinary text attesting to its popularity for more than 1,000 years. […]
Cinnamon Tea Shai Qirfah
While brewing in its pot, this tea’s wonderful and unexpected aroma is enticing. A favored spice among Middle Eastern Arabs and used, mostly, in making desserts, cinnamon is used to make this delicious tea in Kuwait and in most of the other countries along the Arabian Gulf. Makes four 8-oz (250-ml) servings PREP TIME: 5 […]
Lemon Tea Shai bil Laymoon
This is a typical lemon-flavored hot tea that I first had in Kuwait, quite by accident. After a tiring day of traveling, and the weather being somewhat unexpectedly cool, I felt like a hot cup of tea was in order. Suggesting this to my Kuwaiti host, I was surprised with his response that he never […]
Saudi Style Chai Shai bil Haal wa Qirfa
Many of the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula, where cardamom is used extensively, believe that this spice makes a marvelous mouth freshener. For neutralizing the smell of garlic and to freshen the breath, a few cardamom pods are slowly chewed, allowing the flavor to linger in the mouth. At times, a pod is combined with […]