Stir-Fried Pork Belly with Kimchi

Thinking of recipe names or rather, cool recipe names, isn’t my forte. But here’s another of my recipe that is extremely easy to follow! All you need is just a few ingredients, seasoning, and about 20-25 minutes to spare (excluding the marinade).

What you’ll need:
– A slab of pork belly, 1 kg
– Gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)
– Gochugaru (Korean red pepper powder)
– Kimchi (Get the ripened ones if possible!)
– Salt
– Pepper
– Onions, sliced
– Garlic, finely chopped
– Sesame Oil
– Carrots and cucumbers, julienned

To marinate:

1. Slice the pork belly into bite-sized pieces and place them in a large bowl.
2. Add salt, pepper, gochujang, gochugaru, garlic, and sesame oil. Mix well!
3. Put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

To cook:

1. Heat up a large pan with a slightly deep base and add 2 – 3 tbsp of oil.
2. Fry the meat until both sides are seared nicely.
3. Add the onions and fry until it softens. When that is done, add the kimchi and fry for about 5 – 10 minutes more.
4. You can add either water or stock. Stock is very much preferred as it adds even more flavour to it!
5. Let it bubble away for 15 – 20 minutes.
6. Serve it immediately with a bowl of rice, some julienned carrots and cucumbers on the top.
7. Happy days.

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The Gogi – Korean BBQ @ Alexandra Central Mall

Gogi (고기) means “meat” in Korean and that was what took centre stage at The Gogi, a Korean BBQ restaurant on the third floor of Alexandra Central Mall, a relatively new mall that sits right next to IKEA Alexandra. It’s difficult to miss as it stands out with its uniquely curved design!

When you’re at the entrance of the restaurant, you’ll notice that the interior has striking similarities to those in Korea. Suction vents stretching down from the ceiling to the BBQ grill, small round tables with round seats that have removable tops which allows the storage of belongings, and of course the friendly “안녕하세요” (Annyeonghasaeyo) from the staff!

We were shown to our table by the friendly lady boss, who promptly laid down 5 menus for us. Within minutes, the banchan (반찬), or side dishes, came. Mung bean sprouts with lettuce, fishcakes, kimchi, pickled radish, and a marinated cold tofu. The variety was quite limited, but they were indeed very enjoyable.

The grill is a combination of charcoal and a gas burner – the gas burner starts the fire which in turn lights up the charcoal till it’s red-hot and ready for the grill plate.

The grill consists of 4 wells, two short ones for garlic, and the longer ones for beaten egg.

For Korean BBQ, you have a choice of 6 sets (A – E) or the a la carte menu. We chose Set D (S$119) which consisted of Sirloin, Prime Ribs, Marinated Beef, Seasoned Pork, and a choice of either Kimchi Jjigae OR Doenjang Jjigae. For the Kimchi Jjigae we added ramen for an additional cost of approximately $5. It was a warm, hearty, and spicy dish – satisfaction in a pot.

Kimchi Jjigae with and added side of ramen in it.

How can anyone forget Kimchi Pancake? This restaurant serves one that is thick but still retains its crispy exterior. Did I mention it is Kimchi Pancake with Pork? Truly delectable and flavoursome. The dipping sauce had vinegar in it but it was not intrusive, well-balanced with soy sauce and the aroma of sesame oil.

Prime Beef Ribs

Premium Sirloin

If you’re done with furniture shopping at IKEA, or hungry after a couple of hours at Queensway Shopping Centre, head over to The Gogi at Alexandra Central Mall for an overdose of meat and a few drinks!

Address:
321 Alexandra Road, #03-01,
Alexandra Central, Singapore 159971

Nearest MRT:
Queenstown MRT Station (EW19)
Redhill MRT Station (EW18)

The mall is next to IKEA Alexandra and diagonally opposite Anchorpoint.

Opening Hours:
Mondays – Saturdays: 11:30AM – 3PM, 5:30PM – 10:00PM
Sundays: 5:30 – 10:00PM

Chibing Korean Restaurant

I must say I’m pretty happy with my workplace as it has good food around the area. Chibing Korean Restaurant offers a wide variety of dishes, from appetizers, to chimaek sets, stews, pancakes, all the way to bingsu! It does sound like a perfect 3 course dinner. Chibing is ideal for big groups as their portions are pretty sizeable and can feed at least 4 people per portion (e.g. the stir fried chicken set we had). Top up with some side dishes and bingsu and you’ll be filled up by the end of your meal. You can head there for a light lunch (if you don’t want to head back to office with food coma to come), or dinner, where you can enjoy the full ‘3-course’ meal.

Their Spicy Stir-Fried Chicken comes adorned with lots of vegetables, so you will not feel guilty. Cabbages, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, and spring onions are lined up side by side with the chicken right in the centre. The pot is heated up to a point where the staff will help you with the frying of the dish. When everything is mixed well, you can start eating.

Spicy Stir-Fried Chicken

YES you can add rice when you have cleared most of the chicken dish and YES you can definitely request for cheese to be added. Mix everything together and you’ve got a well seasoned rice with gooey bits of cheese hiding inside.

Thick Slices of Pork Belly

Chibing does not only have a la carte dishes to offer, but they have their Unlimited BBQ promotion which is about S$20++ for adults and S$10++ for children. For that price you will get unlimited pork belly (pretty thick slices as well), free flow of side dishes, soy bean paste stew (Doenjang-jjigae), rice, and steamed egg. A downside of this promotion is that you have to pay an extra $2 for lettuce and $3 for oyster mushrooms.

Garlic, Pork Belly, Kimchi

​But I’m sure K-BBQ lovers go there for mainly their meat, and Kimchi is already a free-flow side of vegetables so I don’t think it will be an issue! The lady boss also taught as to place the kimchi towards the end of the grill, where the fat from the pork belly will accumulate and cook the kimchi, giving it added flavour. 3 of us shared 11 strips of pork belly and by the end of the meal we were thoroughly satisfied.

Address:
1 Vista Exchange Green, # 01-43/K4,
The Star Vista Mall, Singapore 138617

Nearest MRT:
Buona Vista MRT Station (EW21/CC22)

Opening Hours:
Mondays – Saturdays: 11:30AM – 10:00PM
Sundays: 11:00AM – 10:00PM

90 minutes for lunch? Let’s go!

What do you do if you only had 90 minutes for lunch? You’ve got to sit down quickly and clean out the food! (Nah, just kidding. Please don’t eat too fast, and chew it well before you swallow it.)

Enough talk and let’s go straight to the food.

If you love Korean spicy rice cakes (tteokbokki) and hotpots, why not combine them into one? Dookki Restaurant is the place to go! Situated at the basement of Suntec City, it is a few units away from Ya Kun so you’ll not miss it!

Dookki restaurant is quite popular so you have to be prepared to wait for your table. Most importantly, make sure EVERYONE from your group is there and ready to enter the restaurant. Rest assured, the staff is really efficient in making sure you have a table and are seated comfortably.

Once you’re seated at your table, and when the waiters/waitresses have taught you how to handle the hotpot, off you go to the buffet section! They have 8 varieties of rice cakes, and they come in different shapes, lengths and sizes! My personal favourite? The sweet potato rice cake. Keep your eyes peeled for a purple rice cake!

When you’re done choosing the rice cakes, get yourself some sausages, seafood, spam, and vegetables (this is to make you feel less guilty when you’re gobbling down all the processed meat). Please take the mung bean sprouts as they go really well with the sauce and adds a crunchy texture to the dish.

Of course, what’s tteokbokki without its sauce? Concoct your spicy sauce with the 5 recipes displayed at the sauce corner. OR, if you’re into spicy foods like me, go all out (add more of the flame sauce).

Just behind the sauce corner are dishes of fried food. These are all meant to be put into the pot when the sauce is done so don’t forget it! My favourite would be the fried ‘kimbap’. Instead of ‘bap’ or rice, they wrap noodles with seaweed, dip it in batter and deep-fry it. An absolute joy.

Once your sauce is ready, add the stock along with the sauce and this is what you should get, as shown above. Let it bubble before adding all your ingredients in. Give it a good mix and you should get what I got below. The sauce will definitely thicken so it is up to you to pour in a little bit more stock if you find it too thick for you. Oh, before I forget, they serve “eomuk”, or commonly known as fishcakes on skewers! These are pretty reminiscent of Korean dramas – how they savour every single stick and wipe it clean.

Lastly, top up approximately $10 for a cheese ring if you’re an absolute cheese fan. I was impressed at first but I realized the ring was not attached to a heat source, thus the cheese hardened when it cooled down. So the trick is to eat it all up (i.e. wrap it in rice cakes or anything) before it hardens! It is totally fine if you skip this order. At $18.80++ per person, I don’t see why you shouldn’t go for this buffet!

 

Address:
3 Temasek Boulevard, #B1-107,
Singapore 038984

Nearest MRT:
City Hall Station (NS25/EW13)
Promenade Station (CC4/DT15)

Opening hours:
Mon – Fri
11.30AM – 10.30PM

주막 Joomak

A couple of my classmates and I were looking for good Korean food around Upper Bukit Timah Road and after looking online, we came across a nice little restaurant. Situated on the 4th floor of Beauty World Centre, tucked into a corner, is Joo Mak Restaurant.

I shall go straight into the food.

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As there were only the three of us, we opted for a set, which had pork belly, beef rib-eye and seasoned pork collar. Under this “BBQ Combo Series”, you are entitled to ONE additional side from this list: Kimchi Soup, Bean Paste Soup, Silken Tofu Soup, or Steamed Egg. We also had an extra order of jajangmyun just in case.

Just like in many Korean restaurants, the “banchan ( 반찬)” is served first. The hotplate came next, followed by the meat which was then arranged neatly and cooked to perfection by the staff. Beef ribeye was amazing – it might not be that clear in the photos but it had decent marbling which helped to keep the meat moist and tender. Pork belly and seasoned pork collar were pretty good – pork belly as porky as ever with a lovely layer of fat, the latter was seasoned well and tender too. Starting with a bit of lettuce, adding ssamjang, chilli, garlic, kimchi, and finally the pork belly, you have created a harmony of flavours (not to mention healthy too!).

We thought about going for some fried chicken but we were way too full for more. But I will definitely head back to Joo Mak again!

Nearest MRT:
Beauty World (Downtown Line)

Address:
144 Upper Bukit Timah Road
Beauty World Centre, #04-01
Singapore

Opening Hours:
Mon – Sun, 12 – 3PM, 6 – 10PM