Healthy Bibimbap using Quinoa

If I'd have to choose one type of food I really struggled not having whilst on my clean eating diet, it will have to be Korean food.

Being a K-food addict, I crave Korean food every single day! Even though I was in Malaysia, I could easily say no to the local food but if anyone were to offer me K-food, I'd be like "GIMMMMEEEEE!" My Mum thinks I am no longer a Chinese. =| #truestory #notkidding #mymumthinksiamcrazy

After being on the diet for several weeks at the start, I was so sick of eating the same mundane food, so I came up with this recipe for a healthier version of bibimbap (비빔밥) to satisfy my K-cravings and at the same time, meet my dietary requirements with a little bit of flexibility.

This is the real stuff. I had this Jeonju traditional bibimbap in GoGung whilst in Seoul. SO GOOD!

Bibimbap is a popular traditional Korean dish consisting of a large bowl of rice, topped with a variety of individually prepared vegetables (the usual suspects being carrots, cucumber/zucchini, bean shoots, spinach and mushrooms) and meat, then served with an egg (sometimes raw) and spicy chilli paste in a sizzling hot stone bowl known as dolsot.

I believe there are different types of bibimbap as the bibimbap that this lovely ahjumma was serving at the Gwangjang market in Seoul is completely different.

The bibimbap at Gwangjang market uses mostly fresh vegetables instead, and they mix the white short grain rice with barley as well. It was so delicious, and the sauce makes it even more oomph!

Until I can head back to Seoul to enjoy this delicious bowl of freshly made bibimbap, I will have to make do with my own for now.

As you can see, I substituted rice with quinoa, added lean minced beef, and used a variety of vegetables. I also used as minimal oil as possible when pan-frying the vegetables, but this is up to your discretion.

Although it can be rather arduous having to individually prepare the ingredients but it is so worth it. I guess the Koreans would have it much easier considering that they'd usually have the vegetables as side dishes already.

I had so much fun creating this dish and plating it all up. I love how colourful it looks and it made me very happy to be able to break free from the routine for once.

This recipe serves only one person as I was clean eating alone (yeap, alllll byyyyy myselfffff) and my parents weren't keen. My mum did steal a bite and gave me the thumbs up. The next time I made it, she said to me "Can you please make an extra portion for me too?" ;)

Not trying to blow my own trumpet here, but it was pretty good hehe. So yes, feel free to double or triple the recipe as you see fit, depending on the number of people you're serving it to.

Here's the recipe for those of you who loves bibimbap as much as I do, but want to keep the dish as low carb as possible. :)

Quinoa Bibimbap
Recipe by The Bakeanista - serves only one

Ingredients

• 100g cooked quinoa
• 150g lean beef mince 
• 100g bean shoots or soybean sprout
• 150g baby spinach leaves
• 3 shittake mushrooms
• 1 carrot, julienned thinly
• 1 zucchini or cucumber, julienned thinly
• 1 egg
• 2 spring onion/scallions, chopped
• gochujang
• vegetable oil
• sesame oil
• soy sauce
• roasted sesame seeds
• one whole garlic, minced

Method

1. Make bibimbap sauce by mixing together 1/2 tbsp gochujang sauce, 1/2 tsp sesame seeds, 1/2 tsp sesame oil and 1 tsp minced garlic then set aside.
2. Prepare 100g of cooked quinoa and place in the center of a big bowl.
3. Marinade minced beef with1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil and 2-3 tsp of minced garlic then set aside for 20 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.
4. Slice the cucumber thinly, and mix generously with 1/2 tbsp of salt. Set aside for a couple of minutes.
5. Boil bean shoots for 15-20 minutes in a cup of water, added with 1 tsp of salt. Drain water, then toss with 2 tsp of chopped scallions, 1 tsp of minced garlic, 1 tsp of sesame seeds, 1/2 tsp of salt and a light drizzle of sesame oil approximately 1/2 tbsp. Display on one corner of the bowl.
6. Blanch spinach in another pot of boiling water for 30 seconds or until wilted. Rinse in cold water to stop the cooking, then squeeze lightly. Toss with 1/2 tsp minced garlic, 1/2 tsp of sesame seeds, 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of sesame oil. Display on bowl, next to bean shoots for contrasting colour.
7. If using dried shittake mushroom, ensure to soak it in hot water, then squeeze out excess water. If you're using fresh ones, you can simply rinse them then proceed to slice the mushroom. Saute in a little vegetable oil with 1/2 tsp salt for 2-3 minutes. Plate it up in the bowl, next to the spinach.
8. Thinly slice the carrots, then saute in very minimal oil. Add 1/2 tsp salt and let cook for 2-3 minutes. Plate it up next to mushrooms.
9. Now it's time to come back to our cucumber. Squeeze out excess water then saute in 1 tsp of sesame oil. Toss with 1/2 tsp minced garlic and 1/2 tsp of sesame seeds then plate up on remaining space on bowl.
10. The meat would have been well marinated by now. Heat up enough vegetable oil in wok and cook meat in medium to high heat for 5 minutes or until thoroughly cooked through. Arrange on the bowl; this should take up the remaining space left on the bowl.
11. Lastly, prepare your egg. I like my egg done sunny side up with bibimbap as I find the gooey yolk adds an additional dimension to the taste, but you may opt to cook it to your personal preference. Place on top of rice.
12. Drizzle lightly with sesame oil then serve with bibimbap sauce.

This is the finished look of my homemade healthy bibimbap, complete with a golden sunny side up.

And finally of course, once you're done plating everything up, mix all the ingredients together and dig in! It was so delicious and tasted pretty authentic, if I dare say so myself.

You won't be able to tell that no rice was used in this dish. It tasted quite the same for me hehe. Now to hunt for a dolsot so I can complete the authenticity of this dish!

Happy cooking and I hope you'll enjoy this dish as much as I did! :)

Dare 1 on Little Londales Street

Every time we walked past, Dare 1 was always packed. On some nights, you may find a queue snaking out the door, which means if you've not made a booking, chances are you wouldn't be able to secure a table.

My SIL and I have both been eyeing the dessert - watermelon with milky shaved ice - that gets everyone going WOW! when walking past. I mean it looks impressive and sure does make you go "Let's try that!"

So I put us down for a table one Friday evening and we all arrived respectively after work. We arrived 15 minutes ahead of time at 6.15pm and were told "Sorry we cannot seat you until 6.30pm," and they shut the door in our face, and strolled back in.

It wasn't even packed yet during that hour, so why not? There were a lot of empty tables, surely you can put us down at one of the empty tables for four? I don't understand!

Service was atrocious, and it did not get any better throughout the night. Plates were placed down relentlessly, none of the waitstaff smiled at us, in fact they all wore a straight face.

Each time we rang the buzzer for some assistance, someone would appear giving us the "what else do you want" kind of face. It was like they didn't want to be there.

We felt a little bit better after we were served with a complimentary corn cheese - a snack we all really love. The melted cheese was blow-torched to perfection and tasted fantastic, we thought great, never mind the service, we were in for a treat!

The eomukguk (fish cake soup) wasn't bad, but neither was it impressive. It was just mediocre, and as I often make eomukguk at home using the traditional recipe (boiled kombu and radish broth) I felt like it was crazily overpriced.

Things started going downhill from hereon, as the egg roll with cheese was really really bland. All I could taste was mayo and tomato sauce. Joomak's version wins hands down!

As for the spicy fried chicken with melted cheese... Man, it does looks good when it arrived at our table, all of us were going "oooh, yummy!" But one bite was all it took to change our minds.

It wasn't great, the batter was soggy, the sauce was bland, and the chicken pieces were so small we felt like we were all eating just the batter alone.

And onto dessert, the finale which we were looking forward to - watermelon with milky shaved ice. This was the main reason why we were enticed by Dare 1 and whilst it was refreshing (duh! watermelon!), it did not taste great nor impressive to say the least.

It really is just watermelon, scooped into balls, topped with shaved ice and drizzled with milk. And for $20, that's a killer!

I really don't mean to bring restaurants down, but this place is definitely a big no-no for us all. At the end of the dinner, all four of us vowed never to return again.

The place was set up well with good ambience and Kpop rocking in the background; it'd be perfect for dinner dates or catch up meals with friends, but the food was unfortunately just not up to par.

At least not for us.

Oh, we were let down so terribly bad, we walked out the door saying "Should we go to Gami to make it up to ourselves?"

Darac Grill & Bar - Revisited

Annyeonghaseyo! :)

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I'm a big BIG fan of Korean food. The Boyfriend and I have K-food at least once a week. Sometimes twice a week.

I even have a growing lot of Korean ingredients in my pantry as I have started cooking my own K-food at home too.

I often send pictures of my homecooked lunch/dinner to my mum (often Korean or Japanese dishes) and she said to me the other day, "Are you Chinese or Korean?" Oops!

Anyways! Today I am sharing about my recent craze for budaejjigae, also known to many as Korean army stew at the busy Darac.

I blogged about Darac before, where I shared about how I didn't enjoy the cheesy buldak but seeing how this place has been so highly raved about, I decided to give them a second chance.

They're really popular for their army stew so I thought okay, that's what I will have. And boy, am I glad I did! I've since gone back four times for the stew. ;)

The stew comes in either medium size for 2-3 people ($29) or large size for a bigger group ($38). I like to add ramen ($4) to throw in at the end. *slurpppps*

The spicy stew is really quite spicy, and it sent my tummy on a roller coaster the following morning. So having learnt my lesson, I now order the non-spicy one and request extra chilli paste so I can adjust the level of spiciness to my liking.

The budaejjigae is really perfect for upcoming, cold autumn or winter nights. I'm going to try the cheesy kimchi stew next, as I love my cheese in every dish! ;)

On days when I'm filling like I want to load up on carbs, I'd opt for their pork or beef bibimbap which I also really enjoy!

With lots and lots of gochujang and sweet sauce hehe! Give it a good mix, and voila! Such a simple dish, but so so delicious.

Another favourite dish that I often order at Darac is the Korean Hamburg Steak - tteokgalbi. I'm drooling as I type this.

The meat patties are juicy, succulent, and so full of flavour! I reckon Darac does one of the best tteokgalbi's in town, my other fav place being Mahn Doo.

I live so close to Darac, I'm there every now and again whenever I'm craving either one of the three dishes above.

Whilst my first experience was a let down, I'm so glad I gave Darac a second chance. I will continue to return to Darac, I just won't order the cheesy buldak haha. :P

If you know of any other places that does good army stew, bibimbap or tteokgalbi, please do let me know! I always love trying new K-restaurants. :)

Have a great week ahead, everyone!

Mahn Doo, one of my fav Korean restaurants in Melbourne CBD

Truth be told, I am rather hesitant about writing this blog post. Why, you ask? Because I absolutely love Mahn Doo, and I don't want to share this secret gem with everyone else. *shifty eyes*

I appreciate that not many people are aware of Mahn Doo yet as I can easily get a table, even on a Friday evening.

I like that I don't have to queue, wait for long, or even call to make a table booking. I often say to my friends, "I booked out the whole restaurant to have dinner with you!"

At the same time though, I really really enjoyed all my experiences at Mahn Doo and I do hope to see them succeed. Of course, I also hope that others get to enjoy their amazing Korean food too.

I'm not sure if my blog post will be able to change much of that, but I think Mahn Doo at least deserves my raving post, so here goes! :)

Mahn Doo is sister restaurant to popular Joomak and Hwaro, located at the corner of Latrobe and Queen Street.

I first discovered Mahn Doo at the end of 2014, and have since returned 5 times. I must really LOVE the food for me to visit the same restaurant 6 times in 3 months. Mahn Doo never lets me down. I've brought few groups of friends there, and like me, they all love it.

Mahn Doo or usually spelt as man-du (만두) are Korean dumplings. So when a restaurant names itself after a dish, you just have to order it.

At Mahn Doo, you can have it two ways - fried (군만두) or steamed (찐만두). They offer three different fillings - beef, pork, or kimchi pork. I've tried them all, but my favs are the beef and kimchi pork.

Steamed Kimchi & Pork Mahn Doo ($5)

The steamed mandu's have soft, silky skin which aren't too thick; just the way I like it. I love how it's so beautifully presented too. They even come with the best dipping sauce.

I like to have the kimchi pork dumplings steamed, and the beef ones fried. The Boyfriend, on the other hand, is a bigger fan of the pan-fried dumplings (whatever filling it may be).

Pan-fried Beef Mahn Doo ($6)

But I can see why, they're delicious - crisp to perfection on the outside but each bite is tender, with a burst of tasty fillings! And hey, not greasy at all which I really appreciate.

As its name suggest, Mahn Doo do serve the best Korean dumplings I've had in Melbourne, and so so reasonably priced too! For 8 pieces per serving, the fried ones are $6 and steamed ones $5.

Korean Traditional Seafood Pancake ($17)

The haemul pajeon is another good snack to share. Guess what I like most about pajeon? The crispy edges! So yum, and I love how they come served with the most delicious dipping sauce. I really need to find out how the sauce is made!

Korean traditional minced beef BBQ ($24)

Oh, I'm salivating as I write this but the tteokgalbi at Mahn Doo is one of the best I've had! I used to only enjoy the ones from Darac, but this has also won my heart.

The meat patties were so tender and full of flavour, but what's unique about Mahn Doo's version is that they have mushroom and tofu sandwiched in between, Really really yummeh!!

Pan-fried Spicy Pork Bulgogi with Vegetables ($22)

Yeap, the spicy pork bulgogi did taste just as good as it looks. It was sweet and had a good kick of spiciness to balance it all up.

This is one of my favourite Korean main dish, and not a lot of places do them well. This however, was perfect!

I can't seem to stop raving about Mahn Doo, can I? They should hire me as their ambasssador. :P

Grilled Fish - I'm guessing mackerel? ($18/$19)

I'm sorry I can't remember what fish we ended up choosing (it's either mackerel, rainbow or atka) but all I can say is that I was surprised even a simple grilled fish could taste so delicious. My friend and I were like "Wah actually very yummy hor!"

I also absolutely love their unlimited ban chan (side dishes) of kimchi, Korean potato salad and soft silky tofu.

I know, it's embarrassing because they don't charge for refills, but they're so delicious, we just gotta be shameless and ask. If we go in a group, we ask for refills at least 3-4 times, at least.

Deep-fried Whole Chicken served with honey mustard, salt & pepper ($30)

Of course, The Boyfriend being the KFC lover that he is, insisted that we tried Mahn Doo's version. I'm glad he did though, because it was SO GOOD! I liked that they use a thin batter which was fried to a crisp, yet the meat was kept juicy and tender.

Sweet & Spicy Fried Chicken ($18)

Because the fried chicken was so delicious, we thought we'd try their dakgangjeong $18, which is essentially crispy fried boneless chicken in sweet and spicy sauce.

I'm not too big a fan of boneless chicken but oh that sauce, if only I can pair it with the original fried chicken, rather than the boneless fried chicken.

Spicy Kimchi & Pork Traditional Soup $20

We also really enjoyed the soondubu jjigae (soft silky tofu stew) with kimchi and pork ($15). I've had this three times in 6 visits.

If you're all in for something spicy, I highly recommend the spicy kimchi and pork traditional soup (as pictured) instead as I found it much nicer! Yes, this is coming from someone who doesn't tolerate spiciness very well.

I'm looking forward to try their galbi-tang (beef ribs stew). We wanted to top up our order once after inhaling the first round of food, but was told there was a 20 minutes wait for the galbi-tang so we ordered something else instead. Can't wait to try!

Grilling marinated thinly sliced beef with mushrooms ($40)

It was my first time having beef bulgogi jeongol and I thought geez, that's a huge portion!

Little did we know that beneath all that beef and variety of mushrooms, lies a little dome which was part of the bronze grilling pan. It was delicious though, and I kept helping myself to the broth.

If you know me well, I'm not too big on alcoholic drinks, but I do enjoy my makgeolli's! Like Joomak, Mahn Doo also offers flavoured rice wines. I've only tried the peach rice wine thus far, but I am hoping to try the other flavours next time.

All in all, amazing and absolutely taste food and drinks! I haven't had a dish or meal at Mahn Doo that has let me know yet. I cannot recommend this place enough!

Even the interior is set up really beautifully, it looks very posh and fancy, don't you think? I feel like the decor gives off the impression like "Oh, this place must be expensive!" But it's not, in fact the prices are very reasonable.

As for service, it has been really fantastic; all the waitstaff were extremely friendly and always very welcoming on all my visits. I also appreciate that they have a little 'CALL' button on every table so there's no need to wave or signal to attract the waiter's attention.

Pair all of that with the perfect ambience with jazz music playing in the background, it's the perfect place for a date or even to hang out with friends for a few drinks and good food.

Mahn Doo far exceeded my expectations, and I simply cannot fault this place. Do give it a try, and you can thank me later! ;)

Frying Colours - The Korean Eating Place in Kensington

I love that there are more and more Korean restaurants opening up here in Melbourne. I reckon every suburb should have at least one good K-restaurant, at minimal.

I've heard so much about the "Korean Eating Place" in Kensington - Frying Colours for a while now, but haven't had the chance as yet. So, when an opportunity came up for me to head down West to catch up with my ex-colleagues at Frying Colours, I jumped at it!

I loved the fit out of the place, it was very industrial-like and I liked the idea of having an open kitchen up the front with the menu display sitting right atop.

We decided to start with some quick bites and sides such as wasabi-slaw as per recommended by the wait staff, whilst the 3 of us indecisively peruse the menu.

I was thrilled to find kimchi and pork homemade dumplings on the menu. I last had it in Korea and loved it.

And may I say, FC also make really good ones. The owner, Min, mentioned that they make their dumplings fresh every morning.

The dumpling skin was SO silky smooth, and the filling so very tasty. I wished I didn't have to share. I wanted the whole plate to myself!

Amidst all the chatter that was going on, we did manage to finally decide on what to have. The two of them weren't big sharers, and wanted a dish to themselves so we did that.

Mr. D loves his spice. He adds chilli pepper flakes to everything. So of course he could not go past the Super Spicy Cheesy Chicken Sizzle.

And as its name suggest, it was indeed a plate of sizzling goodness - nothing quite beats the combination of spicy, cheesy, and tasty.

I had the flame-grilled beef scotch fillet which I thought was nothing to shout about. Whilst I appreciate how tender and juicy the meat was, I felt it lacked the "oomph" in flavour.

The meat had a nice subtle smoky flavour from the char-grill, but I guess I was wanting more. I was craving K-food so much that I wanted a burst of flavours in my mouth, and this unfortunately did not deliver that for me. But of course, this is my issue.

The flame-grilled pork belly that Miss S had on the other hand, was AMAZING! The pork was chargrilled to perfection and each bite was packed with flavour. I was having food envy!

And because I wasn't quite satisfied, I suggested that we share a plate of fried chicken. They both agreed, with a condition that they'd go for it only if we have it with spicy sauce and I thought heck, why not!

It wasn't as spicy as I thought it'd turn out to be. In fact I felt it was more like sweet chilli than spicy. But I think I would have preferred the original version.

All in all, a pleasant experience at Frying Colours. Ambience was fantastic, service was friendly and although there are some room for improvements, the food was overall pretty good.

So yes of course, I'd return again... but mainly for the dumplings. Actually, just GIVE ME THOSE DUMPRINGS PLEASE! One whole BIG plate would be amazeballs. :P

A New Favourite - Table by S! ♥

I found a new modern Korean restaurant which I absolutely ADORE and as much as I'd like to keep Table by S a secret to myself, I figured sharing is caring. Plus, good things are meant to be shared anyways.

And I want the world to know how amazing/fantabulous/brilliant (...you get the drift) Table by S is, simply because they deserve it.

From the moment we (when I say we, I meant The Boyfriend, The Brudder, The SIL and I) arrived, we were welcomed so warmly by Corrine, the loveliest waitstaff ever.

Corrine was so bubbly, helpful and engaging, she made us feel very very welcomed! Needless to say, service was top notch the entire night. If I ever open a restaurant of my own, she'd be the first person I'd poach. That's how amazing she is!

Table by S takes on an industrial-like design, and was set up very beautifully. I loved the cool, funky touches on the decoration around the restaurant, like for instance this piece of 3D art.

Even the serving wares caught my attention! Our ban chan (sides) were served in these cute little ramekins. That pink with polka dots ramekin is so cute I want to steal it home lol! (No, I didn't.)

The menu at Table by S is fairly complex - it is broken down to Korean tapas, danpum (like soups/noodles/rice dishes), mains to share and stone grill BBQ, but there are a lot of options.

There was no need to fret though, because Corrine did a fab job with explaining the menu and putting forward recommendations that works for everyone at the table.

It was so hard to decide what to have, I wanted to try everything! Although we eventually managed to narrow down our options, I think we still did over-order... just slightly... but everything was so good, it was way worth it!

They also have an extensive drinks menu with a range of craft beers and wines, so we got some mocktails whilst perusing the menu.

I went for the Virgin Ja Mong Kojito (virgin mojito mocktail) which was oh-so-refreshing and thirst quenching.

김치 아란치니 - sauteed kimchi, cheddar, mozzarella, vegetable, rice balls

The first tapas that we had was these beautiful fried kimchi aranchini balls. Crispy on the outside, soft and cheesy on the inside. I loved the addition of kimchi - it was amazeballs!

호박 지짐이 - sweet potato zucchini pancake, and salad

The sweet potato and zucchini pancake arrived with roasted pumpkin and fresh green salad. I've never had pajeon (Korean savoury pancake) with these ingredients before and boy, it was very tasty. The only thing missing is the soy dipping sauce - it'd be a great little addition.

치킨 - buttermilk marinated chicken pieces (half)

And of course, there's always fried chicken when The Boyfriend is around haha! Buttermilk marinated deep fried chicken in garlic soy sauce, served with wedges in this beautiful gigantic spoon.

The chicken pieces were fried to a crisp perfection, without too thick of a batter. What I loved most about the KFC is that it wasn't too greasy and the garlic soy flavour was just right.

And then it was time for our stone grill barbecue! I appreciate that they serve the dishes, one after another, to ensure that we ate it straight away whilst it's still warm.

미소 삼겹살 - miso pork

We started with the pork belly marinated in white miso. Whilst the meat was cooking, I just sat there, very impatiently, just staring at the meat because it smelt so so good!

AND OMG, IT WAS SO TASTY!! The meat was so well-marinated, you don't need any dipping sauce. It was remarkable!!

I also appreciate that there was a fair amount of meat to go around the table. We thought the portion was comparatively generous considering the price of $27.90.

The Boyfriend and I were at a different K-BBQ last weekend, and we paid $30 for two miserable piece of meat which did not even taste good. But I shall not name and shame. I'll just have to go back to Table by S whenever I crave K-BBQ.

And finally, the stone-grilled aged wagyu scotch fillet which was out of the world delicious! The meat was cooked to perfection at medium, at your table, with a blow-torch over stone grill.

Sorry all I have are action shots. No "after shot" pictures because let's just say it was too incredible that all I wanted to do was eat. I was too busy devouring it all!

Wagyu Scotch Fillet 250g with house pickles & dipping sauces

Every bite was heavenly! The meat was so succulent, tender and juicy plus the good marbling evenly distributed on the meat... oh dear me, melt-in-your-mouth goodness! THE BEST I'VE HAD, I kid you not.

I also loved that they put up a little "fire show" for us at the table too. I was like a little kid, very amused by it all - the beef, the fire, everything. I kept going, "OMG SO GOOD!" over and over again.

I'm sure everyone else was not annoyed at me repeating myself, because it was true. It was so good and we were all so satisfied.

After such a great meal, we simply had to try the dessert platter even though we were all bloated. And like everything else that we had that night, the dessert platter also did not disappoint.

The platter consisted of a moist dark chocolate cake with cranberries, vanilla ice cream with rice puffs and almond praline, and lastly, fried chocolate dumplings. For $7.90 a platter, that's a pretty good deal hey!

Yes, I even took a picture of the bill. 

Like I said, I loved all the little touches here and there. Even the bill was delivered in such a cute manner. That screwdriver was such a great fitting to the shop's industrial design and decor.

You can tell how much effort and thoughts the owners put into this business, and I would love to see them flourish and succeed. If I ever get to meet the owners, I'd thank them for such a great execution.

What can I say? Table by S is perfect and flawless - from the food, to the service, down to the ambience. Everything was soooooo good! I can't remember the last time I felt THIS satisfied. I give them 10/10.

I cannot recommend Table by S enough! I've never had food with flavours that Table by S offers and I really love the fusion twist that they take on my ultimate favourite K-food.

At the end of the night, I rubbed my food baby gleefully as I walked out the door and I was already planning my next trip back!

Just trust me and make your way down as soon as you can, because I'm sure they're going to get really busy in no time.