Category

Pasta and Noodles

Pasta and NoodlesTraditional Korean Recipes

Rabokki

Rabokki Is My Most Popular Recipe.

Hands down, Rabboki is the most popular recipe I’ve ever shared on my Instagram. I dunno—something about the spicy chewy rice cakes combined with ramen noodles make people go crazy for this dish! Someone once told me that they were at a Korean grocery store when they spotted a woman who looked a little lost. She went up to her and asked if she could help her find something, and the woman held up her phone and said, “Where can I find this?” It was a picture of my tteokbokki dish!!

I know what you’re thinking: “I thought we were making rabokki. What’s tteokbokki?”

rabokki

Tteokbokki + Ramen = Rabokki.

Tteokbokki is a popular Korean streetfood, made out of chewy rice cakes (naturally gluten free) and a fiery red sauce. The word “tteok” means “rice cakes” and “bokki” refers to “bokkeum,” which means “stir fried.” “Rabokki” is what happens when you mix tteokbokki with ramen noodles. So, if you like tteokbokki (which most people do) and you like ramen noodles (I mean…who doesn’t like ramen noodles?), you will LOVE Rabokki.

This Dish Is SPICY!!

Be prepared, however, for some heat. This dish is not for the faint of heart. There are entire TV shows in Korea devoted to seeing how people react to the spiciest tteokbokki in Korea. How does it get so spicy, you ask? Gochugaru, which is Korean pepper powder or Korean chili flakes. Gochugaru (literally translated “chili powder”) is derived from Korean chilis. How does gochugaru relate to the popular “gochujang”? Gochujang, which translates into “chili sauce” is also derived from the same Korean chili; however, it’s “saucified,” if you will, by adding sweeteners, brown rice flour or wheat, and fermented bean paste (doenjang). Both gochujang and gochugaru will play a role in this recipe.

What do the rice cakes taste like? Some people liken them to gluten free gnocchi, only chewier. There is a definite bite to tteokbokki, not just because of the heat. Adding ramen noodles simply add another component to have fun digging around for in the pan. Before going vegan, one of my favorite Korean bars used to make rabokki with rice cakes, ramen noodles, tempura sweet potatoes, and deep fried dumplings! The idea is, you can pretty much add whatever you like to this dish, as long as you make enough sauce to coat it all in glorious fiery heat.

rabokki

A Few Tips To Make The BEST Rabokki EVER.

  • If you can, look for the fresh made tteok in the Korean grocery store. They are usually delivered fresh that morning, so if you get there before the afternoon, there should be plenty left for you. Just ASK!
  • If you can only find frozen ones (that’s all right!), pop.em in the microwave for about a minute, until they are just starting to soften.
  • Marinate ricecakes in a little sesame oil to get them nice and soft.
  • Use dried shitake mushrooms in lieu of fresh ones—they pack way more favor and you just need to add a cup of filtered water to reconstitute them. Then, you can save the water and use it as a broth!

Check it out on YouTube

Other recipes to try

Rabokki

“Rabokki”is what happens when you mix tteokbokki with ramen noodles. So, if you like tteokbokki (which most people do) and you like ramen noodles(I mean…who doesn’t like ramen noodles?), you will LOVE Rabokki.
Print Recipe
4

Ingredients
  

  • 8-10 ounces tube shaped rice cakes frozen, but fresh is better
  • 2-3 Tablespoons sesame oil
  • 1/4 red onion sliced
  • 1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms dried
  • 1 carrot thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup broccoli
  • 3-4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 Korean squash, chopped can sub zucchini
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 Tablespoon Korean chili flakes "gochugaru"
  • 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons gochujang
  • 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1-2 cups water or mushroom dashi
  • 1 green onion sliced

Instructions
 

  • Marinate rice cakes in 1 tbsp of sesame oil, a pinch of salt, and pepper.
  • Marinate mushrooms with 1 tsp of sesame oil, 1 tsp of soy sauce, and a pinch of salt.
  • Make sauce in advance by mixing together 1 tbsp gochugaru, 2 tbsp gochujang, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and 1 tbsp maple syrup.
  • Add 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil over medium high heat in a non-stickpan.
  • Add onions and mushrooms and cook until they start to brown.  Add garlic.
  • Add all remaining veggies and cook until they just start to get soft. Season with salt.
  • Add rice cakes and sauce. Stir together until all veggies and rice cakes are evenly coated with sauce. Add 1 cup of mushroom broth (or water). Cook on low heat until sauce becomes thick and rice cakes are soft.
  • While rice cakes are cooking, cook ramen noodles according to packageinstructions—al dente (i.e., don’t cook them all the way). Add almost cooked rice noodles to rice cakes and incorporate into sauce. Garnish with sliced green onions. Enjoy!
Sign Up For a FREE Copy of Our E-Book! Sign Up Here!

0 comment
7 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Gluten FreeMainsPasta and Noodles

Six Ingredient Simple Onion Pasta (Gluten Free)

Simple, delicious and ready to go in minutes? That’s how this simple onion pasta rolls!

This Simple Onion Pasta recipe is the perfect meal for after a long day of work, when the carbs and brain cells have been depleted from your body [basically every day for me]. One of the reasons I love this recipe is that it demonstrates how deliciously simple some of the best recipes can be. This recipe requires so few ingredients (just 6!!) and takes only 20 minutes to make, but ends up tasting like you’ve been cooking all day long.

The secret to this dish are the onions. Ok, I guess since this is “Onion Pasta,” it’s not really a secret. But, hear me out. I use two kinds of onions for this dish—both white and red—in order to maximize flavor. I guess the REAL star to this ingredient is patience. I know, what a boring ingredient, but it’s so true. This is one of those recipes that will taste so much better if you just let the onions sit in their own juices and get caramelized with their own sugars. The more you agitate them, the less likely you will achieve that glorious flavor.

onion pasta in pot

Many people like to use a thickening agent to thicken their pasta sauces. But, not me. I like to use pasta water to do that job. You’ll find that pasta water can create light broths when poured over some toasted garlic, and do all the thickening you need without using ingredients like corn starch, cashews, or butter. Plus, it’s the way the Italians do it! Once you get used to adding pasta water to your favorite pasta dishes, you will never go back, trust me.

I’ve made this dish so often, only because it requires so little effort for the amount of deliciousness involved. So, the next time you have a couple of onions in your house and you don’t know what to do with them, give this Simple Onion Pasta a try. You will NOT be disappointed!

Six Ingredient Simple Onion Pasta (Gluten Free)

5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe
3

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 red onion julienned
  • 1/2 white onion julienned
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 box Gluten free spaghetti
  • parsley for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Begin cooking pasta according to instructions on box.
  • In a large pan over medium high heat, add extra virgin olive oil.
  • When oil is hot, add onions. Allow them to cook with relatively little agitation for about 3 minutes. Then add garlic and salt.
  • Continue cooking garlic and onions, not stirring minimally, until onions begin to brown (an additional 4-5 minutes). Add more salt.
  • When onions are fairly brown, take 1 ladleful or ¼ cup of the water from your cooking pasta (“pasta water”) and add to cooking onions. Reduce heat. When the sauce has reduced completely, add an additional ¼ cup of pasta water.
  • Add cooked pasta to the onions and incorporate into the onions. Add additional pasta water as necessary if pasta is too dry.
  • Garnish with a little more olive oil and fresh parsley.
Sign Up For a FREE Copy of Our E-Book! Sign Up Here!
2 comments
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
MainsPasta and Noodles

Mushroom Gochujang Pasta

This Mushroom Gochujang Pasta, like many things, was an borne out of a need. And that need was to not waste all the mushrooms I had. You know the drill—you see something on Pinterest full of mushrooms and you KNOW that you can do it, so you go all out at the grocery store (when that was a thing…) and buy every variety of mushrooms known to man, because you are SO going to do that Pinterest mushroom recipe thing.

But then, life—i.e., the kids’ soulless fetish for Mac ‘N Cheese—gets in the way and your mushroom dreams look a little grim. Well, here’s your chance to redeem yourself!! Actually, this was really more about my own redemption, guys, not gonna lie.

But, you are the happy beneficiaries of my funghi soul searching! So, don’t let this be that pinterest post that dies on the vine—whip out those shrooms and try this amazing Mushroom Gochujang Pasta!

Mushroom Gochujang Pasta

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 10-15 each mushrooms sliced
  • 3/4 medium white onione sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons gochujang
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/2 Tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 Tablespoon hummus
  • 1 Tablespoon extra virgin
  • 1 cup mushroom broth can sub any broth or water
  • 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas
  • 1 box pasta cooked according to directions on box
  • 1 cup pasta water

Instructions
 

  • Make sauce by mixing together gochujang, soy sauce, maple syrup, and hummus. Set aside.
  • Add extra virgin olive oil to pan over medium high heat. When oil starts to shimmer, add mushrooms to pan. Do not mess with them for about 1 minute. Give them a stir with a wooden spoon or tongs and then let them sit for another 1 minute without bothering them.
  • Next add onions and garlic. Similarly allow them to sit with the mushrooms without messing with them for about a minute. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Add sauce mixture to cooked veggies, along with broth/water. Bring to a quick boil and then reduce to a simmer. Add cooked chickpeas.
  • When pasta is ready, add to pan with sauce and veggies, along with a little pasta water (2 tbsp at a time) if sauce is too dry.
Sign Up For a FREE Copy of Our E-Book! Sign Up Here!
0 comment
4 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
FoodPasta and Noodles

Simple Pasta

Simple pasta recipes are among my favorite. Not only are they easy to make, they require fewer ingredients, which means I can usually pull it off even when my groceries are beginning to dwindle.

Not only that, I find that simple pasta dishes allow the ingredients to do all the talking—thin slivers of garlic that toast into golden nuggets in the sizzling oil, cherry tomatoes that burst into a sweet broth, and bright punches of basil to round the dish off.

I love this pasta dish so much, I actually included it as part of the rehearsal dinner for my wedding in Rome. I was cautioned by my husband’s Roman cousins that this “dish is for children!” and not fancy enough for the affair, but believe it or not, it was the undisputed HIT of the party. My father—a pasta-holic—actually had thirds. I’m confident that this simple pasta recipe will become a staple in your kitchen and your family will be grateful for it! So give it a try!

Other Pasta Dishes To Try

Simple Pasta

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 1 box spaghettti
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced
  • 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic mined or sliced
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 turns white wine
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 5-6 leaves basil
  • 1 Tablespoon capers

Instructions
 

  • Begin boiling water with a healthy pinch of salt for pasta.
  • In the meantime, over medium high heat, add olive oil in a large pan. Add garlic and cook until edges just start to brown (don’t wait too long; else it will burn and your life will be ruined, ruined I say).
  • Add tomatoes, capers, oregano, salt, and pepper.
  • After tomatoes have cooked for a minute, add white wine (I added two turns of the pan).
  • Let it all come to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer while your pasta cooks.
  • Once your pasta is al dente (save your pasta water!), add to the pan of sauce and incorporate.
  • Add more salt as needed. If it starts to get dry, add a ladle of pasta water, one scoop at a time until you achieve a creamy consistency. Sprinkle with torn bits of basil and serve.
Sign Up For a FREE Copy of Our E-Book! Sign Up Here!
0 comment
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
MainsPasta and Noodles

Mushroom Pasta

Mushroom Pasta

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 10-12 cremini mushrooms sliced
  • 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 onion diced
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 2-3 sprigs thyme
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
  • 2-3 Tablespoon baba ghanoush
  • 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 cup mushroom both or pasta water
  • 4 leaves lacintao kale cut into ribbons

Instructions
 

  • Begin cooking your preferred pasta according to instructions on packaging. The sauce will take ~7 minutes to prepare, so plan accordingly.
  • In a large pan, add extra virgin olive oil and when it is hot, add mushrooms. Cook for ~2-3 mins, then add garlic and onions, together with salt & pepper and thyme leaves (not the sprigs themselves!).
  • After about 1-2 mins, deglaze the pan with soy sauce and balsamic vinegar and reduce heat to a simmer.
  • Add baba ghanoush and nutritional yeast and once dissolved, add mushroom broth or pasta water (i.e., the water your pasta is cooking in). This should start to thicken to about half its original volume pretty quickly, so keep an eye on it.
  • Once pasta is cooked, add to pan with sauce, together with kale, and incorporate. Add additional pasta water if pasta gets too dry. Add extra black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil before serving.
Sign Up For a FREE Copy of Our E-Book! Sign Up Here!
2 comments
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Gluten FreePasta and NoodlesSauces

My Korean Vegan Red Sauce.

In summer time, the tomatoes are as fat and sumptuous as the days are long and sultry.  There is thus little excuse to use tomatoes out of a can or box.  I don’t care if you paid $100 to have them shipped from some small village in Modena, Italy. Fresh, local tomatoes–when in season–always beat out the fancy schmancy stuff they seal into jars.  This easy, peasy vegan recipe for my red sauce with a spot of Korean spice will make you the goddess of your kitchen.  A couple jars of this in your fridge, and you’ll be whipping up all sorts of dishes (pasta, stews, soups, sauces) in minutes.

Spaghetti happens to be one of my favorite foods of all time.  I honestly believe that I could actually be competitive in a spaghetti eating contest.  It’s one of those foods that never leaves me feeling full.  We use Jovial gluten free pasta in the KV Kitchen, and we love the stuff.  It’s made entirely out of brown rice and to us, it tastes better than regular pasta.

One of the things I like about this sauce is that it’s not watery and flat like the stuff you find in the grocery store.  The tomatoes retain some of their texture even after you blend them (especially if you use an immersion blender), and the carrots also give the sauce both a depth and brightness that makes you happy as you slurp your noodles.  The texture also helps with the “sticky” factor–as in, the sauce doesn’t just slide off your noodles.  The sauce cleaves to even the smoothest spaghetti, ensuring that each forkful is as delicious and satisfying as Nonna’s.

My Korean Vegan Red Sauce.

...for when you want everyone to know you make your sauce from scratch...
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
6

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 red onion diced
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 cup carrots chopped
  • 2 tbsp gochujang*
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 cup white wine can substitute vegetable stock
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 6-7 ripe tomatoes chopped

Instructions
 

  • Add olive oil to large sauce pot over medium high heat. Once oil begins to shimmer, add red onions and cook until they become translucent and soft. Next add garlic, carrots, Italian seasoning, pepper and salt.
  • When veggies begin to brown (and the bottom of the pot begins to brown), add gochujang and stir until all veggies are evenly coated. Then, deglaze the pan with the balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup of the white wine. Scrape up all the brown bits and cook over low heat until the liquid reduces.
  • Add tomatoes and remaining white wine. Season with salt and black pepper. Bring to boil and then reduce heat to allow the tomatoes to simmer for at least 45 minutes.
  • Once the tomatoes have broken down from cooking, remove from heat. Add contents of pot to a blender or blend with immersion blender to desired consistency. Season to taste with more salt and pepper. Add sauce to cooked pasta of choice, together with some fresh basil.
Sign Up For a FREE Copy of Our E-Book! Sign Up Here!

0 comment
5 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Pasta and NoodlesSoups, Stews, and Side Dishes

No Fuss Un-Fuck-Up-Able Fuh.

Cooking Time: 145 minutes
Recipe Difficulty: Easy
Servings Amount: 4

Ingredients
  • 2 sheets dashima (dried kelp)*
  • 1 1/2 cup shitake mushrooms
  • 1/2 large onion
  • 1 knob fresh ginger
  • 1/2 tsp coriander
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp cloves
  • 1 tsp black peppercorn
  • 2 whole pods star anise
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/8 cup GF soy sauce
  • 2 tsp mirin
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp gochujang sauce**
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar
  • 4 servings rice noodles***
  • 1 bunch fresh basil and cilantro
  • 1/2 cup bean sprouts or mung beans
  • 1 green onion (sliced)
  1.  This is an optional step but before making the stock, char your onions, ginger and mushrooms to procure that delicious smokey flavor.  You can do this on the grill or on your stovetop.  I got this idea from the brilliant Chef Kenji over at Serious Eats.
  2. In a large stockpot with 6 cups of water, add dashima, onions, mushrooms, ginger, all spices, star anise, soy sauce, mirin, and balsamic vinegar.  Stir and bring to a boil and then let simmer for 1-2 hours.
  3. Prepare spicy sauce by mixing together gochujang sauce, mustard and rice wine vinegar.  If you like your sauce a little runny (so you can drizzle it), add 1 tsp of water.
  4. Soak your rice noodles in boiling water for 1 minute.  Remove and place in serving bowl.  Pour stock over noodles and serve with sauce and plate of herbs, bean sprouts and green onions.
  5. Try not to slurp too loudly.

*You can get dashima here.
**You can get vegan gluten free gochujang sauce here.
***You can get gluten free rice noodles here.

0 comment
2 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Pasta and Noodles

Kimchi Mac & Cheese. That’s Right–I Said Kimchi.

So, Instagram is one of my “go-to” sources for inspiration.  [You should totally follow me on IG btw in case you aren’t!!]  You know–when you have one of those days where you’re at work and you’re like, “wait what should I cook tonight??” and you spend literally 4 hours debating the pros and cons of the litany of recipes you have in your head and just feel totally insipidly uninspired??  Yeah.  That happens to me like every other day.  So, I head over to Instagram and scroll through my feed until I see something that gongs the proverbial “light bulb.”

Last week, it was Mac & Cheese.

Wait, what?  Mac & Cheese?  How is that possible for the dairy free contingency?

It’s more than impossible.  I think it’s BETTER.  You get all the ooey gooey cheesiness of the traditional M&C, but none of the guilt.  No butter, no milk.

Now…how to give it that extra “somethin’ somethin'”….?

KIMCHI.

You see, the key to a good vegan cheese sauce is that umami flavor.  What the fuck is “umami”?

People taste umami through receptors specific to glutamate. Glutamate is widely present in savory foods, such as meat broths and fermented products, and commonly added to some foods in the form of monosodium glutamate (MSG). Since umami has its own receptors rather than arising out of a combination of the traditionally recognized taste receptors, scientists now consider umami to be a distinct taste.

—Wikipedia.

Umami is incorporated through things like nutritional yeast, onions, garlic, garlic powder, but the real seal for a vegan cheese sauce is a pickling solution.

Did someone say “pickle”?

Koreans pickle better than anyone.

So, that is how the Kimchi cheese sauce was derived (riffing off of Master Kenji’s cheese sauce).  And what better way to celebrate its creation than to mix it with a shit ton of pasta?  

And then add more kimchi on top?  

With more cheese on top???

Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Recipe Difficulty: Easy
Servings Amount: 2

Recipe Lead: Keep your pants on and pour yourself a tall glass of water.

Ingredients

Kimchi Cheese Sauce

  • 5 tbsp vegetable shortening (or oil)
  • 1 small onion (chopped)
  • 1/2 russet potato (thinly sliced)
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1/2 jalapeno (sliced)
  • 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
  • 1 tbsp gochujang
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp Korean chili powder (or paprika)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 cup cashews (soaked in water for 4 hours to overnight)
  • 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 cup almond milk
  • 1 tsp lactic acid (or lemon juice)
  • 1 tsp pickled jalapeno juice
  • 2 tsp kimchi juice

Pasta

  • 1 box brown rice pasta

Toppings

  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  • 1/2 tbsp + 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1/2 tsp agave
  • 1/2 tbsp gochujang
  • 1/2 cup kimchi (ripened)
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
  1. In a small pot, melt vegetable shortening and add onions and garlic.  Cook until softened.  Then add potatoes, jalapeño, chipotle, gochujang and seasoning.  Stir until potatoes start to soften and all vegetables are evenly coated.
  2. Deglaze the bottom of the pot with water and bring to boil.  Cook until potatoes are tender.
  3. Empty contents of pot into high powered blender.  Add remaining ingredients and blend on high for a few minutes, until creamy and smooth.
  4. Cook pasta until al dente.  Reserve ~1/4 cup of pasta water before draining.  In the same pot that you cooked the pasta with, add pasta and cheese sauce, as well as a little pasta water in case sauce gets too dry.  Scoop pasta into oven safe container (I used two cast iron pans).
  5. For breadcrumb topping, mix breadcrumbs, salt, and 1/2 tbsp sesame oil until breadcrumbs are nicely coated.  Sprinkle over the top of the pasta.
  6. Place in 450° oven until breadcrumbs are golden brown (15-20 minutes).
  7. In the meantime, heat up 1 tbsp of sesame oil in a small skillet.  Add kimchi, gochujang, and agave and saute until kimchi is caramelized.
  8. Add caramelized kimchi to baked pasta.  Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
0 comment
2 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Newer Posts
Older Posts