Eat the World- Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps

One of my favorite of all foodie events in Des Moines is happening this coming weekend- the World Food Festival. If you aren't from Des Moines and you think you might like to visit the city, THIS is the weekend to do so. The World Food Festival is an annual event held downtown, this year in Western Gateway Park, and it's an awesome opportunity to try some foods you might normally not have an opportunity to try. The festival was usually an event for Nephew and Aunt time with my nephew Jeremy but he has moved to Texas so I'll have to find a new partner to taste test the wonderful foods on offer.

"Eat the World" is a theme I have come to really embrace over the last few years, challenging myself to learn techniques and flavors from all over the world. What a fun and delicious way to experiment. Many of the European cooking styles aren't too different from what I'm used to cooking here at home, but when it comes to Asian foods it's a whole new world. A trip to the Asian grocery store can leave you so confused about flavors and spices and sauces and..........everything. If you're like me, and love Chinese food, you try to replicate some of those dishes at home and they're just not the same. That umami component is just not there unless you have the right combination of flavors. But how do you get that? A good Asian cookbook is a start, and so is hooking up with a great Asian cook. Get in there, learn about the ingredients, experiment with fish sauce and oyster sauce and strange looking vegetables. Buy a wok. Buy a really good santoku knife. Be fearless! It's only food and if you don't like it you never have to eat it again, right?

I added several dashes to get the heat level up there.

The recipe we are making today is a bit of a stretch. In all honesty this is absolutely NOT authentic Korean food. It's Korean influenced. The flavors of bulgogi are there, with some modern and healthier twists- like eating the meat from rolled up lettuce leaves- no carbs, no fat, almost no calories in those lettuce leaves. My version features a healthy dose of mushrooms to add protein but no fat, and quite honestly, if you prefer a meat-free recipe, leave it out altogether and use a ton of mushrooms. You'd probably need about 3 pounds of mushrooms for the same yield. Using mushrooms also means your dinner is vegan as well, and if you have gluten or soy problems- just switch to liquid aminos instead of soy sauce. It's so versatile. 

Speaking of versatile, halfway through my cooking, I realized I did not have enough Sriracha so quickly subbed sweet chili sauce. It was a great substitute but had less heat, so a few dashes of Jason's Fire Infusions Spontaneous Combustion sauce did the trick. Just the right heat!

The beef rolls are beautiful rolled up in the lettuce leaves but you can bring more eye appeal by adding some tiny julienned red bell pepper or shredded carrot to sneak some vitamins into your kiddos. Not into rolling your food up in a leaf? That's ok too. Prepare a batch of rice and serve as Korean Beef Bowls. Sticky rice is the best for this use. Let's get cooking!

Easy Korean Style Lettuce Wraps

2 lbs lean ground beef
8 oz package mushrooms

1/2 cup soy sauce

3 tb brown sugar, packed

1-2 tablespoons Sriracha or sweet chili sauce

6 cloves garlic, grated

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon sesame seeds 
hot sauce to taste, if desired

sesame oil
cooking oil

small bunch scallions, sliced, white and green parts

1 head Bibb or butter lettuce, separated into leaves

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until golden and fragrant. WATCH CLOSELY! They will go from pale to burned in seconds. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Dice the mushrooms into 1/4 inch dice. In the same skillet, heat a couple tablespoons cooking oil. Add the mushrooms and half of the sliced scallions and cook over medium high heat, stirring often until the mushrooms are golden browned and all liquid has evaporated. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

In the same skillet, add a couple teaspoons sesame oil. Crumble in the ground beef and cook, breaking up any large chunks, until cooked through. Drain off any fat. Stir in the soy sauce, brown sugar, Sriracha, garlic, ginger, the mushrooms, and half the sesame seeds. Cook for about 3-4 minutes to reduce the sauce slightly.

Serve the beef mixture in the lettuce leaves, adding rice if desired. Sprinkle with additional sesame seeds and sliced scallions. 

Leftovers make tasty Korean Beef Rice Bowls for lunch
the next day. Delicious!

The wraps make a great low carb entree when you skip the rice and you can use any ground meat you like- chicken or turkey are really delicious in this recipe and so is lean pork! It's a fun Asian twist on the same old "taco night" meal and even if it isn't truly authentic Korean food, it's pretty darn tasty.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Kimchi- discovering love and dumplings

Food television is a bad influence. Seriously. I'm wracking my brain trying to find a place to purchase sea beans in the middle of an Iowa winter. Hunting down mushrooms that just don't ever show their faces in rural grocery stores. Starting a batch of sauerkraut in my back bedroom when I don't really care for the stuff in the first place, followed up with a batch of kimchi that, quite honestly, I am not sure I'll like either! Making homemade kimchi and watching shows on Food Network have inspired me to find delicious ways to try these new foods and watching a show the other night one of the hosts was visiting a restaurant in L.A. and having "Vegetarian Mandoo" which featured kimchi so I got to thinking.....why not? The rest of the ingredients they used were all easy to locate, even for me here in the country so naturally.......

It's not hard to make a vegetarian dish very substantial when you add hearty vegetables like mushrooms and yams. Mushrooms especially take on a very meaty texture on their own and I just don't miss the actual meat in the food at all. So these "mandoo" (their creative spelling) swapped the meat for mushrooms and I needed to research some recipes and find something comparable. That didn't exactly pan out. The dumplings are actually "mandu" and finding a no-meat recipe left me with a ton of tofu versions. On the show they had no tofu in there- they didn't list the ingredients but we did get to see the chef cooking it- no tofu was used- rather she used diced yams with enoki mushrooms, a sliced green of some kind (slivered green onion maybe), and piled on the round wrapper along with some chopped kimchi; brushed with egg wash; pan fried and served over yam puree drizzled with a sesame vinaigrette dressing.

So let's get going with my Mandu Science Project. You will need-

• 1 package mushrooms (any kind is fine)
• small bunch scallions
• 2 fresh yams 
• 1 cup kimchi, chopped
• 1 package round wonton wrappers
• 1 egg
• oil for frying

Make the dipping sauce/dressing and set aside.

Peel the yams. Cut into small dice; steam or cook in a small amount of water until tender. Set aside 3/4 cup diced yams. Puree remaining yams, season with salt and pepper and set aside for now.

Chop enough mushrooms to make 1 cup. Cut the scallions into 2-3 inch lengths and julienne finely. Reserve a couple tablespoons for garnish. Beat the egg and set aside.

Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a skillet. Saute the mushrooms until softened. Add the scallions and cook for a minute or two. Remove from heat and toss with reserved yam and kimchi.

Spoon some of the filling on the wrappers; brush the edges with egg and seal.

Heat a little more oil in the skillet and fry the dumplings on each side until golden brown and heated through. Remove and allow to drain on paper towel while making the rest.

To serve, spread a smear of the yam puree on appetizer plates. Top each plate with four dumplings; drizzle with dressing; sprinkle with reserved scallion and serve.

Plum Sesame Dipping Sauce

• 1/4 cup plum sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seed
• 1-2 drops sesame oil (optional)

Combine in small jar; shake to combine. Chill.

I used my own recipe for the plum sauce, which you can get HERE, but any commercial plum sauce will also work.

These were soooooo good!!! It was easy to fry them in my cute IKEA wok-like pan without using a ton of oil,and keep them warm in the oven while I finished. The sweet potato puree on the bottom was nice but next time I'd play with adding some ginger to it. The dipping sauce was good, and quick to throw together. These would be a great appetizer at a party too. 

Now about that kimchi- I am just so angry at myself for not trying it sooner! It was delicious and totally made this dish. I love love love love the stuff! Since it has been holding in the fridge for a couple weeks it has really developed nicely and the heat is fairly intense. It gave the mandu the perfect level of heat that balanced so well with the sweet sauce, creamy puree and crunchy wonton wrapper. I think from now on there will be a nice spoonful of kimchi added to many dishes around here, Asian or otherwise!