our first article for the huffington post kitchen daily

Mary Kate and I are very excited to announce that will be writing a weekly column for the Huffington Post Kitchen Daily. If you want to try something different this year for your Thanksgiving feast, check out our first article about cooking Chinese for Thanksgiving. We included a recipe for Peking duck and also tips on how to decorate the table and throw an amazing dinner paty. Check out the article HERE.

kimchi omelet from steamy kitchen

My favorite Japanese restaurant, Go Japanese Restaurant, on St. Marks Place in the East Village closed a few months ago for no apparent reason. Nate and I have been going there for 7+ years for sushi, Japanese hot pot, and its addicting fried green tea ice cream. On Monday night we were in the neighborhood lamenting and decided to check out the Japanese restaurant across the street, Taishu Izakaya Kenka. You know, the one with the cotton candy machine at the door when you walk out. We asked our waitress if she knew what happened to Go across the street. She said she’d heard rumors that the owner ran off with unpaid bills and the last of the company’s money. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but the reason it closed certainly wasn’t because the place was not popular. There was almost always a wait to be seated. The food at Taishu Izakaya Kenka was delicious and its super-sized mugs of Sapporo beer were only $5 each (need I say more?). Nate had bonito sashimi which we’d never tried before and I ordered a Japanese barbecue grilled beef dish that I can’t pronounce (yakiniku). It had that same sweet kick that great teriyaki sauce and a lot of Korean dishes have that I love.
 
This got me researching the ingredients of these dishes and I noticed a common theme: an ingredient called Mirin. It’s a Japanese sweet cooking rice wine with a taste similar to sake used in a lot of Japanese dishes (and notably Korean bulgogi marinades). I found a quick and easy recipe on Steamy Kitchen’s website for kimchi omelets using Mirin and decided to try it out. The omelet reminded me of Korean pancakes, but with 10 minutes prep and cooking time.
 
After tasting this delicious kimchi omelet, Steamy Kitchen was right to call the Mirin in it the “secret ingredient.” The kimchi adds the spice and the salt but the Mirin adds sweet and a savory flavor.
 

Kimchi Omelet Recipe

From Steamy Kitchen
Servings: serves 2 Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 5 minutes
 
Kimchi Omelet Recipe - simple 10 minute recipe for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
If the kimchi is a little to spicy for your taste, try patting the kimchi with paper towel to wipe off some of the chili flakes.
 
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 teaspoon sweet rice wine (mirin) - I prefer Mitsukan brand
1 teaspoon cooking oil
1/4 zucchini, sliced very thinly in half-moons
1/2 stalk green onion, green part only, cut into 1 1/2" lengths
2 tablespoons chopped kimchi, plus more for serving
salt and pepper to taste
 
Directions:

1. In a bowl, beat the eggs together with the mirin.
2. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with the cooking oil. Add the zucchini, green onion and the chopped kimchi and saute for 2 minutes.
3. Pour in the egg mixture, season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat to medium and cover skillet. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the egg is nearly set. Fold omelet in half and cook until done. Serve with additional kimchi on the side.

 

we have a winner of the chinglish tickets!

Thanks to everyone who entered our contest to win two tickets to see the new broadway play Chinglish. We drew names last night and we have a winner. Congratulations to Brian from Queens, New York! You will be recieving an email shortly with instructions to pick up your tickets at the boxoffice.

watch a book trailer for our new book

Here's a book trailer for our new book Feeding the Dragon: A Culinary Travelogue through China with Recipes. We talk about what it was like to write th book and also show video and photos of our travels in China.

win 2 free tickets to chinglish on broadway

We're so excited about the hilarious new bilingual Broadway play Chinglish that we are giving away 2 free tickets this week! Read our review here.

To enter to win, simply post a comment on this post telling us your favorite Chinese dish and why you love it. The lucky winner will be selected at 8pm on Monday, November 7 at random. The tickets can be redeemed for any performance until November 18. Looking forward to hearing your responses! Make sure that you leave a valid email address when you add your comment so that we can let you know you've won (the email addresses are hidden from the public).