15 Minute Meals Challenge!

"Please Take Care of My Refrigerator"

Oh my goodness, so the day before yesterday, I finally returned from my 2 week long trip to Korea. It was a bittersweet arrival since my joy for returning home was mixed with sadness at the fact of leaving my grandparents. As many of my good friends know, I go to Korea every summer in order to pay visit to my relatives and stay over at my grandparents' house. As usual, when I get back from Korea, I always come back with a) loads of presents, b) flawless skin (there's something in the air about Korea that fixes my breakouts), and c) atleast 5 more pounds cause the food is amazing there. I will definitely be making a post sometime soon about some of the food I ate in Korea, and how I spent my days exploring Seoul and Incheon. Speaking of food, in this post, I'm going to be talking about 15 minute meals for all you people need something to eat, fast. While in Korea, one of the shows I watched on TV when I had time was "Please Take Care of My Refrigerator", a cooking variety program where celebrities bring in their fridges (literally) and chefs have  a cooking competition using only the ingredients available in the fridge and/or pantry staples (i.e. oils, flour) to cook a meal in fifteen minutes based on what kind of food the celebrity feels like eating. Sometimes the fridge only holds a couple beer cans and instant noodles, and the chefs actually conjure something out of it. Sounds pretty challenging, no? Even so, these chefs kill it on the show and make some amazing dishes. It is so cool to see what kind of concoctions the chefs can come up with in such a short time span. For me, it usually takes me at least an hour for me to make a meal I am satisfied with. I mean, boiling water itself takes atleast 10 minutes for me. So, I don't know how they do it, but the chefs manage to make some delicious looking food with a minimal amount of food in an even more minimal amount of time. Amazed and challenged, I decided to try out this for myself. However, knowing 15 minutes is far too short of time for me unless I was planning on making something simple like an omelette, I decided to give myself 30 minutes to prepare lunch for my mom and I today. The menu?

Gyeranmari - Rolled Omelette Dish

Sautéed Green Beans

Rice

Kimchi

PC: A Korean Girl Eats

PC: Kirbie's Cravings

A very simple yet definitely satisfying meal. Now, Kimchi is a staple in nearly every Korean house, and was already made when I decided to put it on the menu. So, I shall count it as a pantry staple and move along. On another note, the rice was prepared earlier in the morning, but with a rice cooker, cooking rice takes at most 25 minutes so I believe that passes. Therefore, I technically only had to cook two dishes but let me tell ya, they took up all 30 minutes. So, for Gyeranmari, I learned from my grandma so I don't use a recipe but if you would like to learn. Please check out the recipe from Maangchi. Unlike Maangchi, I usually don't put sugar or onion, and instead insert a slice of cheddar cheese in the folds when rolling. However, the filling can nearly be anything; some other common roll fill ins include sesame leaves, seaweed, spam, and carrots. For the Sautéed Green Beans, I used the recipe from Food Network. My mom and I first tried this dish at a famous Dim Sum place called Din Tai Fung. Simple yet savory, this dish was an instant favorite and we order it every time we go there. However, in order to save money and give it a shot at home, I looked up several recipes in order to recreate this amazing dish. Most recipes suggest using oyster sauce but unfortunately, we didn't have that option at home so the Food Network recipe was perfect for us to use. Plus, according to the recipe, it would take 20 minutes to finish preparing and cooking.

When timing the process of preparing and cooking the gyeranmari, it only took 8 minutes. I first  heated the pan, whipped the eggs, put in a pinch of salt and pepper, poured it into the pan, and when it was firmer, I started rolling it up. At the last fold, I inserted a slice of cheese which melted beautifully by the time I sliced them up and put them on the plate. I wasn't surprised at how quickly that dish was done because it is something I prepare often. On the other hand, the Sautéed Green Beans took a whopping 30 minutes. I first started boiling salted water, and meanwhile washed the green beans, garlic, and ginger. This probably took me about four minutes. Then I chopped them all into small pieces. I boiled the green beans for three minutes until they were bright green, and then drained them in a colander. What messed things up was that my water was not "ice cold". Since I didn't have ice, I improvised with frozen strawberries which made a mess of things cause the strawberries defrosted immediately in the room temperature water. But atleast it was colder than before. When preparing this dish, make sure to prepare ice cold water before you start! I think that is what keeps the green beans nice and crunchy. While the green beans were boiling, I had stirred in the chopped garlic, ginger, and homemade red chile pepper that my mom specially infused with "Mae-sil" Extract (an Asian plum) into the sesame oil covered wok. (We did not have shallots in our fridge) When the garlics got nice and crisp, I threw in the green beans and stirred until the beans looked as though they were well-coated and caramelized. After, I poured in some soy sauce. Different from the recipe, I also added in a pinch of sugar for a sweet and tangy approach. Once the green beans looked crispy, I neatly arranged them in a bowl. Although I believe the dish is supposed to be served hot, I have noticed that my mom and I like it cold so I put it in the fridge with the remaining minutes. When the timer was over, I took it out of the bowl and served it with the rest of the dishes. 

The result? Nailed it! While it didn't taste like the green beans from Din Tai Fung, it sure came close. The green bean was still a little too warm and soft for my preference, but it was still noticeably crunchy, and carried this wonderful sweet and spicy flavor that I was aiming for. The garlic was especially good since it carried so many different flavors after being sautéed for so long in the wok. My mom loved it, but then again, she's my mom. We finished the entire bowl of beans quickly; my while my younger brother didn't touch the beans, he especially like the gyeranmari. The meal was a simple success, and we all finished the meal feeling satisfied. It definitely wasn't as quick or as amazing as the chef's on the show, but I'm glad to see that I don't need to have the best of best ingredients or hours to spend to create a delicious meal. Next time, I'll definitely try to hit the 15 minute mark!