michaelkim.ca - MK blog

If you love organic coffee with a kick, good music and a casual vibe, check this place out. The bar is decked out in dark stained plywood with a white marble countertop. The back of the shop is covered with a black and yellow map grid of downtown Toronto. The lighting above the tables are home made and are really a smart idea to get some shades on a budget… single kitchen sink flipped upside down with a bulb sticking outta the drain. The menu is eclectic to say the least, and very unique. We sip on spicy white pepper espresso using fair trade beans and a hot apple as we listen to Cansei de Ser Sexy, Controller.Controller, and the latest Bloc Party.

“Nothing says COFFEE like crazy goats and rock ‘n roll” -Mercury Espresso Bar

Mercury Organic Espresso Bar
915 Queen Street East
647.435.4779

blog: mercuryorganic.blogspot.com
myspace: myspace.com/mercuryespressobar

Think of an izakaya, dim sum, lounge, bar all rolled into one. Trendy, but casual interior design, nice enough to bring a date, but also comfortable enough to treat your mom. Not totally asian and not the typical fusion fair, this Leslieville favorite caters mostly to the loyal neighborhood fanbase, but should slowly be recognized as a fave in Toronto. The meal started with a yummy complimentary mango martini. We ordered a plate of roasted pork ribs with baked cherry sauce and a side of yam/root veggies and also a $20 prix fixe consisting of freshly made dumplings, a curry based noodle main and a to-die-for signature dessert called the Kubo Flakey. Great meals with good prices.

Kubo Radio
894 Queen St. East, Toronto ON
416.406.5826

Here’s a first installment of many cooking posts to come. Karen’s office planned a potluck at work the next day. She decided to cook a popular Korean dish called Japchae. Karen is quite the chef and has a passion when it comes to food. She loves spending her free time buried in cook books and is glued to Food Network Television. Thats all good, cuz I love to eat! With her magic touch, she was able to whip up the Japchae in no time.

As per my previous post, my lovely Karen got me the Olympus E-500 for Christmas. I finally have some decent shots to showoff the food that she made here.

What is Japchae?

Japchae (also spelled jabchae or chapchae) is a Korean dish made from sweet potato flour cellophane noodles (called dang myeon), stir fried in sesame oil with sliced beef and various vegetables (typically thinly-sliced carrots, onion, spinach, and mushrooms), flavoured with soy sauce, and sweetened with sugar. It is usually served garnished with sesame seeds and slivers of chili.

More at Wikipedia

Recipe Ingredients (Yield: 4 Servings)

• 12 oz noodle (Dang Myun)

• 4 oz beef

• 5 shitake mushrooms or Chinese black mushrooms (substituted here with white mushrooms)

• 1 carrot

• 1 onion

• 1 egg (optional)

• 1/3 lbs spinach

• 5 tbs oil

• 1 tbs sesame seed oil

• 2 tbs soy sauce

• Salt & black pepper (pinch)

• Sesame seed (pinch)

• 1 tbs minced garlic

• 1 tbs chopped green onion

Cooking Directions

1. Soak mushrooms in water for 15 minutes. Cut off stems. Cut mushrooms into thin strips.

2. Cut beef into thin strips and marinate it with the mushrooms in a seasoning of: soy sauce, sugar, minced garlic, sesame seed oil, chopped green onions, and a pinch of ground pepper.

3. Cut carrots and onion into thin strips (julienne).

4. Cook spinach in boiling water for about two minutes. Cool spinach in running water. Squeeze the water out of the spinach. Season the spinach slightly with salt and sesame seed oil.

5. Batter and fry the egg in a pan with a pinch of salt. Once cooked and cooled, cut the egg into thin slices.

6. Cook the noodles in boiling water for about 2-4 minutes or until soft (You may want to cut the noodles in half before hand if they are too long). Rinse in cold water and drain.

7. Start cooking the beef and mushrooms with a bit of oil.

8. When beef is cooked add carrot, onion, spinach, and noodles and stir-fry.

9. When vegetables are cooked, add the sliced egg and use salt and soy sauce to season the dish to your taste.

10. Put it all in a dish and sprinkle some sesame seeds for the final touch.

11. Can be served hot or cold.

Recipe via trifood.com

Gaston recently left quiettouch to go back into the ranks of his former employer. It gave us another excuse to meet up regularly to drink and have a good time. The guys from work with the inclusion of Alejandro met up at Country Style Hungarian Restaurant on Bloor/Bathurst. What we got was a wooden platter piled high with a mountain of schnitzel, homemade bacon, sausage, burying a bed of roast potatoes. We got a side of beats and cabbagerolls to boot, and beer to wash it all down. Six grown men had a lot of trouble finishing this feast. We then moved the riot over to an Annexe fav, the Green Room where we had drinks laced with blue Curacao, followed by more beer. Elvin and Gaston recently bought some heavy duty cameras and was put to good use. Pictures here.