Happy Friday!
We’re back with another dinner recipe. This week is more stew-themed, and I’m showing you how to stretch two dinners into four. I also did some ingredient prep at the beginning of the week to make cooking a bit easier. Let’s start off with the ingredient prep!
Ingredient Prep
First up: Cucumber Kimchi.
This cucumber kimchi might look spicy, but I promise it’s not. It’s more of a funky, sour cucumber kimchi than a spicy one.
Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
4 cups water
¼ cup salt, divided
8 Persian cucumbers
5 garlic cloves, minced
½ white onion, diced
1 stalk green onion
¼ cup Korean ground chili
1 tsp sugar
Directions:
Cut the cucumbers into quarters, then in half lengthwise. Score them with shallow cuts (check the photo below).
In a large pot, mix 4 cups of water with ¼ cup salt to make a brine. Stir until salt dissolves.
Soak the cucumbers for 30 minutes—don’t go longer or they’ll get too salty.
In a separate bowl, combine green onion, diced onion, Korean ground chili, 1 Tbsp salt, and 1 tsp sugar. Wear gloves! (That chili will sting if you have any cuts.)
Mix the cucumbers into the seasoning mixture, making sure to work it into the crevices.
Dissolve 1 tsp sugar into â…“ cup water.
Divide cucumbers into two jars, then pour the sugar water over the top.
Let sit in the fridge for at least 1 day before opening. They’ll be good for the rest of the week.
I served this cucumber kimchi as a veggie side dish with all the dinners this week. Super refreshing.
Next: Onions.
I chopped 5 yellow onions and split them into two containers. All the recipes this week use onions, and chopping them in one go saved time each night.
One container has 3 onions (for the curry).
The second container has 2 onions—split that when you make the chili and fry the onions for the Japadogs.
Totally optional, but this step really made cooking easier.
Then: Karaage Marinade.
If you’re making fish karaage, cook it the same day—it gets too salty if it sits overnight. Chicken karaage is better the next day, though, so let that one marinate overnight.
Karaage Marinade Recipe:
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp ginger, minced
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp sake
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp mirin
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix it all up and marinate your chicken or fish pieces. Cover and refrigerate.
And finally: Hot Dog Buns!
This one’s for paid subscribers—I'm finally releasing my milk bread recipes! This version focuses on the hot dog buns. Later this month, I’ll show how to shape the dough into sandwich loaves and hamburger buns too.
Link to the recipe here
Grocery List
This week’s grocery total: About $115.
Most of the pantry staples I already had at home.
Dinners This Week:
1. Gochujang Chili
Find the recipe here
This chili is rich, smoky, and just the right amount of heat. It’s slow-simmered with a meat trifecta—beef roast, ground beef, and bacon. Korean gochujang and a porter beer give it depth. Serve it over rice with sour cream, cheddar cheese, and cilantro.
2. Japadogs
Find the recipe here
A riff on the viral Japadog Terimayo from Vancouver. It’s a grilled hot dog glazed with Japanese BBQ sauce, tucked into a buttery toasted bun, drizzled with Kewpie mayo, topped with crispy homemade fried onions and shredded nori.
I served this with chili fries using leftover gochujang chili and store-bought frozen fries. Cucumber kimchi on the side.
3. Curry with Chicken Karaage
Find the recipe here
I made a big batch of Japanese curry so dinner would be easier the next night. This one’s topped with marinated, bite-sized chicken thighs. Japanese curry is usually served with steamed rice and a fried protein—this week you’ll see both chicken and fish versions.
4. Curry with Fish Karaage
Find the recipe here
This version uses marinated cod, coated in potato starch and fried till golden. The curry is made with tender beef, sweet onions, carrots, and potatoes, simmered with S&B golden curry roux.
Side note: If you want to make the hungry cat mold for the rice, I got the mold here.
And that’s everything I made this week!
I hope you like this one—I made it a bit easier by reusing ingredients and turning two main recipes into four meals. If you only try one, I’d say go for the Japadogs. They were my favorite this week.
I’ll see you Sunday, and for some of you, next Friday with the pastry box!
mwah!