Today two of my coworkers and I went to Seoul Garden for some Korean food. This place is a true hidden treasure, kind of tucked away off State St. across from the Damons in a little business park. But it was so tasty! I love food that is priced very decent (by Ann Arbor standards) that also tastes good, is different, and most important…satisfying!
The overall ambiance of the place is very warm and cultural. When you walk in, you instantly smell a sweet soy sauce that makes your entire stomach growl a million times more. It’s a pretty big place and some of their tables have built-in hot plates so your food can keep warm – genius! The staff was the best part. They are the sweetest, most helpful and polite people ever, which always makes for a more enjoyable experience.
I knew instantly I wanted the bibimbap (or bibimbab as they spell it on their menu). If you don’t know what that is, it’s basically a bowl with carrots, mushrooms, bean sprouts, thin noodles, and a fried egg on top. Of course, you have your choice of meat and it’s traditionally served with beef or pork. I got the vegetarian, which came with fried tofu. Oh my goodness! It was so tasty. In addition to your meal, your server will bring out a plethora of sides to complement your meal as well as miso soup and rice. The sides are put in the middle of your table to be enjoyed family style – and boy did we!
If you’ve never had Korean food, it’s really good! I think the bibimbap is a simple, delicious and traditional dish to order if it’s your first time having Korean food. But if you’re really not up for it, they also have a full sushi and sashimi menu. And speaking of food, here’s what we had:
The sides we were served first (with miso soup and also a side or rice for each diner). Clockwise from the top left: Kim chi (fermented cabbage – believe me, it’s good though), a mashed potato that was savory and sweet (delicious), seaweed, swet and sour pork, and some kind of root vegetable with bell peppers. It was all good mix of sweet and sour and salty.
Vegetarian bibimbap! As you can see, it’s a pretty decent-sized portion
Wreckage. All this food and we each paid between $9-10. Not bad at all!
Preheat your oven to 325º so it’s waiting for you when you’re ready. Never wait for it. You’re better than that.
Start by coarsely chopping the walnuts. I used more than 1 cup because I like walnuts. Use how much you want. You can take it out all together if you want…but I don’t know why you’d do that unless you’re allergic. Set them aside when done chopping. You’ll need them at the end.
In a large mixing bowl, add the flour. You can sift it if you want, but that’s too fancy for my liking.
Add the sugar to the flour. I used more than 1 cup by accident (whoops), but it just made the bread sweet. Nothing wrong with that if you ask me! Add the baking powder, baking soda and salt and then stir to combine the dry ingredients.
Zest your orange. I used four midnight oranges because they are sweet and delicious. I think if you just used Valencia or Navel, you’d be fine, but they looked ugly and gross in the grocery store, so they were overlooked (sorry, guys). I think midnight oranges are the way to go. I ended up zesting 4 of them. It really intensified the flavor. By the way, if you don’t own a 
The trick to this recipe is using the juice of the oranges instead of store-bought orange juice. Amazing flavor and makes good use of your zested oranges. I don’t own a juicer, except for REB. He’s a doll and an excellent helper.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and set aside. You can use the stove, but I’m lazy and used the microwave. Works just as well.
In a smaller, separate bowl, beat 1 egg. Add the zest, orange juice, melted butter and the hot water. I’m not lying when I say hot. You want it to be hot and add it quickly and then stir so you don’t scramble your egg.
Add the wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and stir until blended. Don’t overwork it or your dough will become tough. Warning: it will be VERY sticky.
Add the walnuts and fold in gently.
Add the cranberries. I used fresh (found in the produce section of your grocery store). You could use frozen, but I like fresh ingredients. I ended up using a heaping cup because I had added more than enough sugar. I wanted the tartness of the cranberries to offset the sweetness. Best choice I made.
Same as the walnuts, fold the cranberries in gently so you don’t make the dough too tough.
Pour the dough-batter-mixture into a greased loaf pan (9 x 5 x 3) and put in the oven in the middle rack. Bake for 1 hour. I ended up baking it for 45 minutes and then reducing the heat and letting it continue to bake for 15 minutes. This was because after 45 minutes, it was really brown and looked done, but the inside was still gooey – ick! Your bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Ta-da! If you can resist, wait 10 minutes to let it cool…
…but I didn’t, and cut it up right away.
Chop the walnuts. You can just roughly chop them.
I think ordinarily, you’d only use 5 cloves. However, I love garlic, so I use 6 :-)
Take the roasted red peppers out of the jar and shake them a bit over the sink, so they aren’t sooo wet
Cut the peppers into thin strips. Ta-da! There are the first ingredients all ready to go.
Over medium-high heat, make a few turns of olive oil and let it warm a bit
Add the garlic and walnuts. Stir and let them cook about 3-5 minutes until you can smell the walnuts and they’re slightly brown. Watch it carefully so the garlic does not burn!
Add the roasted red peppers and stir
Take the spinach out of the bag (or wash thoroughly if fresh) and roughly chop into big pieces. Add them to the skillet
Cover to help the spinach wilt quickly
When the water is boiling, add your salt and put the gnocchi in! Be careful to not let the hot water splatter on you! The gnocchi will only take about 2-4 minutes to cook. They will float to the top when they are finished.
Remove the lid and stir the contents of the skillet
When the gnocchi floats to the top of the water, take a slotted spoon and transfer the dumplings from the boiling water to the skillet. If you don’t have a slotted spoon, drain the gnocchi into a colander, but save about 1/4 cup of the pasta water.
Once all the gnocchi is added, stir all the contents together in the skillet. You may need to add some of the pasta water (one ladle) to the skillet to help cook down the spinach and help thicken the olive oil sauce. At this point, you can also add some freshly ground pepper and the juice from half the lemon
Right before serving, grate some fresh Parmesan and stir into yummy gooeyness
Spoon into a bowl, add a little more Parmesan at the end, and enjoy!
