Chinese Pepper Steak (Stir-fried Beef with Peppers)

DEAL WITH THE SCIENCE: Girls do throw like girls

When my tennis coach told me I throw like a girl, I was livid. I generally don't like being told that I'm weak or feeble...maybe it's my height complex (?). But true to my coach's statement, my overarm throwing really needs working on. In fact, a professor at the University of North Texas conducted a throwing experiment, where results showed that nearly every boy by age 15 throws better than the best girl (NOooOO).

BUT WHY?
The article says that the rotating motion of a girls versus boys motion is particularly significant. The power in an overhand throw (like a golf swing, tennis serve or baseball swing) comes from the separate turning of hips and shoulders. Apparently, us women tend to rotate our hips and shoulders together...true in my case -gulp-. This one-whole rotating motion may have even evolved since we were cavemen, when women had to throw rocks or weapons while holding a baby (ah ha ha).

Anyhoo, after practicing snapping my shoulders around and whipping the ball, my right arm feels like it's about to fall out of the socket. Who knows, maybe I'll become the next Serena Williams...

Pepper Beef Stir Fry

Stir-fry: Beef and Garlic Chives

I think I can honestly say that garlic chive bulb is my favorite vegetable. I know... how can I be so resolute when there are 23097583 types of veggies? Well, you're going to have to try this recipe before you judge me! I made this dish with noodles. But it's brilliant without the noodles too. Just omit that and use only 1/2 of the sesame oil, oyster sauce and soy sauce. 


I'll keep my life update short since my factoid is freaking long. But a group of friends and I just finished warrior dash in MD. Pictures of that race to come! Lots of fun with great friends :)


Factoid: Love of Pork is Genetic
We've been learning about our sense of taste in our neurology class and did you know that it is the only sense out of the five that is linked to emotion? All the info from smelling stuff passes through the amygdala (area of the brain associated with emotion) before any other higher processing. There we can sort out whether we perceive that smell as good or bad. Now, research conducted at Duke University Medical Center, Monell Chemical Senses Center and three Norwegian institutions show that your love of pork, bacon strips and Wendy's baconator may just as well be in your blood.


Each person as a variation of genes of odorant receptors. That's the stuff that detects certains smells. So, while some people like the smell of swimming pool (I know it's weird, but I do), others prefer the smell of gasoline. We have a receptor for androstenone, which is a steroid related to testosterone, present in the saliva of boars. The research group conducted an experiment where groups of people with different levels of this particular odor receptor gene to take a whiff and chomp on certain pork products and rate them. 


Based on testers' reports, those with a gene insensitive to androstenone preferred the taste and smell of pork more than testers with a more sensitive type of the gene. They found pork products disgusting. So if you hate bacon, blame it on your parents!


I don't blame you if you didn't read this essay. It's a lot of words and it's only Monday :D


Beef and Garlic Chives with Rice Noodles

Garlicky spicy fragrance ~

Ingredients
Marinade
2 cloves garlic minced
1.5 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tsp soy sauce + 2 tsp honey (or just 3 tsp Youndoo)
2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp sesame oil
0.5 lb Beef sliced thinly (Eye of round, flank, ribeye whatever you like)

Stir Fry
1 clove garlic minced
1 small knob of ginger minced
Bunch of Garlic chive bulbs 2 inch long
5 large white mushrooms
250g Rice noodles (I used pho noodles, but you can use Shanghai wheat noodles etc...)
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1-1.5 tbsp dark soy sauce

Slice your beef thinly into long strips like you'd see in stir-fry.
Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Add beef, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 mins.

While that's marinating, prepare your stir fry ingredients. Refer to the picture on the left on how much chive bulbs I used. I would say when all chopped up into 5cm sticks, it could be about 2-3 cups.

Mince your garlic and ginger. Slice your mushrooms thinly. Of course you can use other vegetables like red peppers. That would be tasty and add some color to the dish.

Prepare your noodles like it says on the packet but with less time because you'll be cooking it when you stir fry it. So if it tells you to boil it for 3 mins, maybe reduce that to 2 mins. I used pho noodles (banh pho) that you can get in any asian supermarket. Or white wheat noodles. After you drain the noodles. Add 2 tsp of sesame oil so they don't stick together.

Heat up your frying pan with some oil. Fry the ginger and garlic for a minute until fragrant. Stir fry the marinated beef for about 2 minutes (slightly pink but not all the way cooked). Add the chives and mushrooms. Stir that for another 1 min.







Add the noodles, stir and then add the 2 tbsp oyster sauce and 1.5 soy sauce. Of course you can adjust how much soy sauce you want to add. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes until your noodles are glossy brown and hot.

Serves 2!

Perilla Leaf wrapped Beef Jeon - 깻잎 고기전

No!! It's raining again. Stupid DC weather. Bubs and I are supposed to go on the embassy world tour, mostly to eat free food experience different cultures through food. Hopefully, DC doesn't make walking outside a pain the the butt.


Sometimes it pays to listen in class. Today, we had a Gastrointestinal pathophysiology lecture and our professor actually mentioned something interesting. Usually this is never isn't the case... But did you know....


Factoid: You swallow 15 ml of air into your stomach with EACH swallow
The average person swallows more than 2000 times a day. If you don't belch, you'd bloat up like a hot air balloon! For babies you have to burp them or they get fussy, fart everywhere and get explosive diarrhea (haha). Then we all grow up and properly develop our abdominal muscles, so they contract and expel gastric air out into the esophagus (food pipe). The rumbling burping sound is then caused by the vibration of the upper esophageal sphincter as gas passes through it. 


Also, did you know in some cows that fail to burp, it can be extremely dangerous? There is such a high pressure buildup of gases in their stomach, they need to insert a rubber hose down their pipe to expel it. In some severe cases, punching their sides open!


I say let it rip. And in the words of Shrek... "Better out than in!"


It's approaching Mother's day and maybe this year I'll remember to thank my mum for doing everything for me (oops). I was just reminded of all the times she made these Gogi Jeon (meat patties) for me for lunch, picnic or for snacking. These are sooo good dipped in ketchup.


Perilla and Beef Jeon - 깻잎 고기전

Ingredients
1/2 cup carrots
1/2 onion
2 stalks spring onion
2 tsp ginger minced
1.5 tbsp garlic minced
2 tsp serrano chilies minced

1lb ground beef
1 tbsp ground pepper
1 tbsp soysauce or Yundoo
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt
2 tsp korean chili powder

2 eggs
1/4 cup flour
20 perilla leaves

Chop up finely all the veggies in the first list. Mince up your ginger and garlic.

In a large bowl, put your ground beef and all the seasoning in to it (2nd list of ingredients). Add in all your chopped veggies too. Using your hands or a wooden spoon, mix everything really well.

Wash your perilla leaves and dry them with a paper towel or wait until it's dry.

Place the 1/4cup of flour in a shallow dish and scramble the eggs in another dish.

Flour both side of the leaf and flatten a ball of the meat within the leaf. The flour helps the meat stick to the inside of the leaf.

Fold the leaf in half and dip it in the egg. The flour also helps the egg stick onto the outside of the leaf.

When you're making a batch, you can flour and stuff all the leaves first and then dip it in the egg one at a time when you're about to fry them.

Turn the heat to medium low and put a good amount of oil in the pan. When the oil is heated, you can add you egg dipped perilla meat jeons.

Each side takes a while because you want to make sure the meat is fully cooked inside. Maybe around 8 mins each side. It really depends on how thick the meat patty is inside.

We also made mini meat jeons made the same way except no leaves. Just make small medallions 1 inch in diameter, roll it in the flour, dip into the egg and fry it up.











Serve it with some ketchup! Trust me, it's really good.