Western Indulgence and Peanut Butter Pancakes

It has been a week a Western indulgence for me. Call it what you like, but I think of it as my unique way of experiencing the culture shock that is bound to hit all foreigners away from home after a months abroad. While homesickness and loneliness haven't made an appearance (and I say that in great hopes that they'll keep their distance), my cravings for the foods that shaped my American appetite have increased exponentially over the past week or two.

I managed to hold my ground for long enough, I figured. So, this week, I gave in to my wanton whims and traded in my chopsticks and healthy Asian fare for a true slice of the SAD (Standard American Diet, that is). My soy sauce and pepper paste didn't even make it out of the fridge this week.

... Beginning with an overdue lunch at Pizza Hut with new friend Elana, a Canadian gal teaching at a university in neighboring Unsan, where we systematically dismantled and digested a cheese-laden pineapple pan pizza (her half with Canadian bacon, of course)...
... Picking up speed with a mid-week plate of pan-fried potatoes, sliced super thin and lightly fried with a dousing of salt, pepper, and vinegar...
... Building to a steady roar yesterday with a late-night run to the mini-mart across the street for a box of chewy chocolate chip cookies...
... and celebrated with a grand finale tonight, an utterly decadent twist on the familiar weekend breakfast plate of down-home pancakes (which is my true motivation for confessing this embarrassing display of complete and utter calorie denial).

Somewhere between my mouth-watering recollections of lazy Sunday brunches at home and the availability of Korean kitchen staples, I managed to strike a delicate balance, and emerged from my mini-kitchen tonight with a plate of syrupy goodness that really deserves to be shared. And repeated.

And I've decided that this is perhaps a bit more of what cooking in Korea is about for me, after all -- not a tossing aside of my culinary heritage (which is more an eclectic mix of the world's cuisines than straight American cooking anyway), but as a workshop for me to experiment with the added dimensions of Eastern influences in my cooking repertoire.

I had soy milk in my fridge tonight, a tub of raw peanuts in my cabinet, not an egg or stick of butter to my name, and an intense urge to sink my fork into a pile of pancakes. Feeling adventurous, I started pulling random baking ingredients out of my cupboard -- a bag of vanilla-flavored powder, ground cinnamon, oil, flour, baking powder, some terribly dark and granular brown sugar, and the remnants of a jar of peanut butter that I had paid top dollar for at the local grocery store a few weeks ago (I confess, the absurdity of paying $5 for a small-ish jar of generic PB completely escaped me at the time). Maple syrup was out of the question, though I did have a bottle of Korean malt syrup which was sweet enough to do the trick.

I got to work measuring and mixing up a bubbly bowlful of brown-tinted batter, using a recipe for eggless pancakes (vegan-style) as my starting point. The taste of roasted peanuts had been my inspiration, so I decided to layer the cakes coming hot off the griddle with a thin layer of peanut butter, and top the whole lot with a dousing of syrup and a handful of crushed-up peanuts. It turned out to be an absolutely winning combination.

For the peanut lovers among you (and especially anyone staring blankly at their Korean kitchen cupboards wondering what to do with your IHOP cravings), give this a try:

Peanut Butter Pancakes (Serves 2)
1/4 cup raw peanuts, chopped (divided)
1 cup flour (spoon-sifted)
2 Tbsp sugar (I used dark brown, though any kind should do)
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla powder (sub with vanilla extract)
a sprinkle of salt
a dash or two of cinnamon
1 cup soy milk (you can probably sub with regular milk, though the soy adds a nice flavor)
2 tablespoons oil (nothing strong-flavored, EVOO and sesame are out)
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1/2 cup syrup (maple works, as does Korean malt syrup)
Dry-roast the chopped peanuts in a griddle over medium heat until lightly toasted. Set aside to cool.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla powder, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add milk, oil, and half of roasted peanuts; beat with a fork until smooth. Pour batter onto a hot, oiled griddle (in ~1/4-cup increments).
Flip quickly when bubbles break the surface, and the edges are a bit stiffened. Cook one minute longer, then transfer to a serving plate. Repeat with remaining batter.
As you stack the pancakes, smoothing a thin layer of peanut butter over each cake. When finished, spoon the remaining chopped peanuts over the pancake stack, and douse with syrup. Serve warm with a glass of soy milk. Enjoy!

A Bowlful of Green Gold

My energy has been severely lagging these past few days as my body has tried to recoil from the stress of a brutal mauling to the leg, various pokes, prods, incisions and injections, and unfamiliar medicines coursing through my system to ward off infection and pain. All of this, topped off with my full teaching schedule, has brought me at the point of complete exhaustion. The other day, I felt clammy and lightheaded, and was sure to have fainted if not for a 40-minute dinner break. So it was that Tahira, my coworker and the only other "foreigner" at EGA, offered to make me some seaweed soup.

Seaweed soup is a Korean cultural icon. Ask any pregnant or nursing mother about their pre- and post-baby diet, and seaweed soup will rise to superstar status. Harrison's wife, Terry, was the first to introduce me to this wonder food, as she was still consuming it daily when I arrived (just a couple of months after the birth of her third child). And curious about the health benefits she claimed it possessed, I did a little research of my own (thanks, Google!). As it turns out, she was right.

This soup, made from the dried leaves of seaweed, has been part of Korea's history for 5,000 years. Nursing moms rely on it to help stimulate health breastmilk production, and students usually drink up the night before the big exam, as it is believed to support brain function. Seaweed itself contains the broadest range of minerals found in any food, according to one source -- including potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and iodine. It is reputedly an excellent blood cleanser, and contains a host of vitamins (particularly B-vitamins which your body needs to produce energy). Seaweed soup is also touted for promoting fast tissue repair, preventing diabetes and heart attacks, and reducing cholesterol, arthritis, and acne.

All this, and it goes down quite smooth...

Later tonight, after enjoying some home-brewed medicine, compliments of Tahira, I found a recipe for making my own seaweed soup (Mi-Yeok Guk, in Korean). If the above health benefits sound appealing to you, you might just want to make your own batch as well:

Traditional Mi-Yeok Guk (Seaweed Soup)
30g dried seaweed for soup
60g flank or sirloin steak, sliced into thin strips
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp Asian sesame oil
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp instant beef stock powder (can replace with dashi)
1.5L water
1. Soak the seaweed strands in warm water till they have become soft and supple, then discard the soaking water and set aside the seaweed for now.
2. Heat a large pot over medium heat, then add the sliced steak, garlic and sesame oil and sauté till the meat has browned nicely. Add the soy sauce and seaweed and sauté for another minute to make sure that the meat and seaweed are taking on the flavour from the garlic and soy.
3. Add the water and stock powder to the pot and stir to make sure that the powder has dissolved, then bring to a vigorous boil. Boil for about 15 minutes, then put the lid on and reduce the heat to a simmer and leave for another 30 minutes, or till the seaweed is very soft and the liquid has turned slightly milky and thickened.

Note: Photos and recipe from Kitchen Wench