Cho Sun Ok (Chicago, Il) Review

If it weren't for growing up with Chinese food and feeling weirded out when I don't eat it, I would DEFINITELY live off of Korean food.  I love having burning hot soups, a variety of little dishes, and spicy food to complement loads and loads of rice.  My sister and I yelped and yelped and finally decided on going to Cho Sun Ok on Sunday.  We arrived at 7 and waited for about an hour until we got to our table.  They don't really have a seating system, so you're supposed to wait in the line until you get to the restaurant.  Be aware that if you're a 2 person party and a 6 person table opens up, people behind you might get to a table first...It's SUPER crowded but TOTALLY worth the wait.  SO DON'T GIVE UP!!!!  

As my dad says, the three stages of going to Cho Sun Ok:

1. Wait and wait, cold cold cold.  Just when you're about to give up...

2. TA-DA!  You're in the restaurant...looking at all the food you get REALLY hungry...

3. Which makes everything 10X better even though it's for sure the best Korean I've ever had (including the things I've eaten in Korea although I was sleep deprived on a mission trip getting up at 4 am and sleeping at 12 am...)

When we finally sat down, we ordered a seafood pancake, spicy soft tofu soup for my sis, and a cow intestine/blood soup for me.  

There wasn't much seafood, but it still tasted great!  It was slightly crunchy on the outside and had the toasted flavor in it.  There was also a sauce with it that tasted salty, sesame-y (which I know is not a word...but let's be creative with food!), and also a bit sour (like vinegar), it did also have a bit of sweetness for balance.  Definitely a good appetizer, remember not to fill up on it, though!

Next up, BAN CHAN!!!  Little pickled and marinated dishes of awesomeness.  These were by far the best I've had.  Things tasted fresh and each dish had distinct seasoning.  Sometimes I feel like the side dishes almost all taste the same at Korean restaurants.  SO GOOD.

This is my sister's soft tofu soup.  I had a sip, it was really tasty and flavorful.  Lots of seafood and a HUGE chunk of silky soft tofu in it.  Can't describe much more, though...

And here is my dish!  Aside from the beef, intestine slices, and blood, there were some bean sprouts and veggies.  The first taste...MAN!  I have never in my life tasted something so bloody and almost metallic-y (again, being creative ;) )!  But the next sip...AHHHHH, very tasty!  The soup was flavored with soy bean paste.  Now onto the meats...and innards...the blood was NOT what I expected.  

I really enjoy eating pig's blood and duck blood, which is typically on the very soft side.  Kind of like jello, but more firm and has more of a bit to it.  The texture was stronger and pretty firm (a little like pig liver), even seemed to be a little sandy towards the end.  I didn't not care for it THAT much, but still enjoyed it.  Although, I would've preferred less chunks of it, there were maybe 6 in the whole bowl!  The meat was AMAZING.  It was soft and fell off the bone.  And the intestines were also great, soft, a little chewy, and flavorful.  Definitely recommend it!

Prices are reasonable and affordable, I would say about $10-$12 per person.  They also have korean BBQ, which of course, I went back for 2 days later.  And I also tried the kimchi soup, as well.  Which tasted amazing like all the other things I've tried, really spicy and sour!   So far this is my favorite restaurant in Chicago!

4200 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60618

Red Bean Pastries

These little pastries do not have the traditional chinese red bean pastry wrappers made of lard. They are made of easy ingredients, but turn out to be flaky and wonderful.  The red bean paste in these are basically shelled and cooked red beans that are mashed and sweetened.  However, the ingredients are definitely not the healthiest combo, making them quite the addicting treat.  So if you would like, just go ahead and enjoy the pictures.  And if you dare, go ahead and check out the recipe!  Also, I did not have a hard copy of the recipe, so I used my three year old memory-they turned out great though!  

Complete!

Check out that flaky crust and yummy filling!

                                                                   Pretty, pretty pastry!

Ingredients

1. 4 C flour

2. 2 sticks of butter

3. 8 oz. bar of cream cheese

4. 1 tsp salt

5. 1 can or bag of fine red bean paste (The difference is the one that is not fine is made of red bean with the shell)

6. 1 egg

What to do

1. Beat the butter and cream cheese together on medium speed until combined

2. Slowly incorporate flour and salt into the butter and cream cheese until it forms a ball of dough

3. Cut off a chunk of dough and roll into a 1 inch diameter ball

4. Flatten it out with a rolling pin into a 4 inch round

5. Put in some red bean filling

6. Fold it in half and press the edges together.  You can do this two ways:  1) Make them dumpling style and then fold in the edges (I'll make another blog post about how to shape dumplings. and 2) Press  them with a fork, like a hand pie

7. Brush with beaten egg

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes

9. EAT UP YUM.

BONUS PICTURE OF MY STUFFED SHEEP JOEY PLANKING AROUND A FRIDGE FIND MEAL.  THANKS FOR READING!  

Cookie Baking Tips and Tricks

I love both cooking and baking, but baking is my favorite if I really, really, really had to pick one.  These are just some tips and tricks I've come about from experience, eating, and reading way too many cookbooks for my own good (Yes...it is my favorite book genre).  Baking is a science, if something goes a little wrong, a lot can go wrong.  For cooking, you can chop up and mix anything together and the extra teaspoon of olive oil, or running out of black pepper doesn't really matter...but for baking, it really does.  The first time I ever made cookies with my lovely sister, we put 3/4 c of baking soda in our cookies instead of teaspoon...okay that's a really exaggerated example, but that's sort of the gist of it.  So here's some tricks that I use when I bake cookies:

MEASURING:

-Flour: Don't dig with the measuring cup you're using!  Spoon the flour into the measuring cup, and then level it off with the flat side of a knife.  (To ensure there are no holes left out, you could use the knife to make criss cross motions against the cup)

-Brown sugar:  Pack that sugar!  Not loosely put it in, but pack it!  since I prefer to wash as little things as I need to when I cook, I usually just put the cup in the entire bag of sugar and press in with my hand from the outside.  then simply level it off with the flat side of the knife.

TEMPERATURE:

-Eggs:  Room temperature.  Leave them out for a couple of hours.  Or if you forget (aka 80% of the time for me), I'll just hold them in my hands as I watch a TV show (Yes, I'm a strange one)

-Butter:  Not too cold.  I like it a little colder than room temperature for cookies.  

MIXING:

-Depending on the recipe, but when asked to beat the butter and sugar together, if not specified, make sure to beat it on medium for a minute or two until the sugar is blended into the butter so the consistency almost feels the same.

Alright, that's pretty much all I have to say about cookies.  Following these points, I have found, make soft, chewy cookies with crispy edges.  YUM.  Especially when they're warm and right out the oven...

If you are looking for tips and tricks on how to just eat one cookie and not 10 at once...I have no answer to that...please let me know or comment if you do...that would be fantastic!

I hope you found this somewhat helpful.  Please keep in mind that it would also depend on the recipes!

Here's a picture of a glorious platter of cookies I made a couple of days ago.  Butter was a little too warm, but they turned out nicely regardless!

Also, as you may see in the picture, another tip otherwise known as common sense (but apparently I didn't follow...) is to make sure you mix all the chocolate chips EVENLY throughout the batter.  Or else you get some cookies that have way too many chocolate chips (no one's going to complain...but just saying...) and a sugar cookie in the end. :)

  

Bean Sprout, Seaweed, and Carrot Salad

This dish can really be a salad or side dish.  It is very flavorful.   Depending on what I have in my fridge, sometimes I'll swap out the bean sprouts with cucumbers.

Here's what you need (DISCLAIMER!!! I don't measure things out when I cook...so this is merely a guess :p  I usually just taste test as I go):

1/2 lb Bean sprouts (I cooked it for about 2 minutes)
3 Carrots; shredded
1/3C Seaweed (I used dried seaweed; cooked and drained)
2 cloves of Garlic; chopped to tiny, tiny bits
1/2

T Honey (Omit if you don't want the calories; also sugar works as well!)
3 T Vinegar (rice vinegar, but I used black vinegar since that's all I had...)
1-1/2 T soy sauce
Salt
Pepper



Mix, mix, mix and you have a lovely salad! Look at all those pretty colors!

I hope you enjoy :)

Healthy Tuna Salad

So you might be wondering why my Blog's name includes the word "fusion"?  Well, I spent a majority of my childhood in Taiwan.  Many of the things I cook tend to have an Asian influence in it, like this one.  I came across this recipe because I wanted something quick and easy to make, that was also healthy.  Instead of creamy mayonnaise, this tuna salad uses fresh and flavorful ingredients!  Here's what you need:

1 can of tuna (in water)
2 eggs
salt
pepper
green onion

Aside from these staples, here are some other things you could add to it, depending on what's in your fridge:

corn
celery
jalepeno
carrots
peas

Basically all you have to do is cook the eggs, drain the tuna, chop everything into tiny bits, and mix, taste, and enjoy!

(I added corn and jalepeno to this one!)

This tuna salad might not be the typical spreadable kind.  I like to be careful about not overcooking my eggs because it could turn out quite dry if the egg yolk is overcooked.  By mashing the egg yolk when mixing, it makes this tuna salad a little more spreadable.  Otherwise, it also works perfectly as a side dish or in lettuce wraps!

Grocery Haul 6/14/14

Today I went to the Farmer's Market with friends.  I had a fluffy and buttery brioche with Nutella and hazelnuts rolled in it cinnamon roll style.  But that's not the point of this post.  The point is...I got a GIANT ZUCCHINI!!!  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that if you look closely enough, produce that is in season can actually be decently priced at the Farmer's Market.  And in this case, insanely priced!

This is the zucchini laid next to my arm and the best part is that it was 50 CENTS!  I can't wait to eat it!

After work I also went grocery shopping for the week.  I knew I still had chicken I bought a couple of weeks ago (99 cents a pound!), so I didn't buy anymore meat.  This is what I bought:

All this minus the zucchini was $20!  The dark chocolate almond milk is definitely always a splurge for me, but I really couldn't resist!  Who can resist chocolate?  Oh, and the little plastic tub behind the ginger is some wild flower honey from a local co-op, very, very yummy!

Welcome!

Welcome to Daisy's Fridge Find Fusions!  I'm Daisy-an absolute food fanatic!  I love baking, cooking, grocery shopping, watching cooking shows, reading recipes...you name it!  If it's about food, I'm all ears...and mouth! :p.  As I began cooking, I realized there is constantly the need for a reality check of what I want to make in a cookbook and what's ACTUALLY in my fridge.  I mean, come on, who really wants to get that giant jar of a spice that you know you will probably only use that one time for the rest of your life?  While I was living with my business-woman-who-has-food-in-her-home-but-is-so-busy-so-ends-up-with-grocery-store-sushi-for-dinner sister, I literally had to rummage through her fridge and cabinet trying to use up things that were about to expire and came up with some great new dishes.  This will be my platform to share my stories of how to cook with limited ingredients.  I will be posting thoughts on changing recipes and how to maximize the use of all ingredients.  In addition to that, I will also take you on food adventures, share my experiences of shopping on a budget (Discounts at grocery store is a game for me...), and anything else related to food!  Thank you for stopping by :).