#SGAHJUMMA 

Some of my close friends asked me how come i have so much free time and energy to cook ?

My reply to them was :

You think is i am so free and bo eng meh ?

Seriously , being a Financial adviser doesn’t mean i am very free and very nua. I have my fix working hours. I start my day at 930am and all the way till it ends at 10pm on some days. On good days, i will end about 6 or 7pm.

Thought my hubs is pretty health conscious and he eats alot and looking at the way he eat when we eat out, it looks super unhealthy. He can drink and finish the entire pot of steamboat soup. So i try to cook at home as much as possible. I am quite sensitive to MSG so too much msg can give me a very bad migraine for several days. Yes it is that serious.

So how did i manage to cook even though i end my day at 7pm on good days ?

Well , i made the sauce in advance. And i always have packets of pork , chicken , onions and garlic at home on standby. I try to avoid frozen meat but sometimes really bo bian…esp on weekdays where i don’t know what time my day will end. Only on weekends i will go to the supermarket or wet market to buy fresh meat to cook for the day.

I will sort them into many small plastic bags. 1 bag for 1 meal. So i do not need to thaw everything and just use how much i need.

So, how to make the sauce ? What sauce is it ?
Well , if you go to Korean restaurants often , you will see the dish Dak-bokk-eum-tang (닭볶음탕).  It is a spicy chicken stew dish (Chicken + potatoes + carr0ts).  Well , i pre-made the sauce and it can be cooked with anything ! Lean meat, chicken, baby octopus etc etc. The sauce is super easy to make.

If you were to order this from Korean restaurants , it will cost between SGD 45- SGD 65 depending on the size. But if you were to cook it at home , it will cost you less than SGD 10.

So how to make the sauce ?

1.  2 to 3 table spoons of Korean Red Chilli Paste

2. 1.5 table spoon of Korean Red Chilli Flakes

3. 1 table spoon of Korean soya sauce

4. 1 table spoon of minced garlic

Just mixed all the above in a bowl !

I made enough to fill up a small bottle so that when i get home , i just need to throw the meat and use a spoon to scoop sauce instead. My hub doesn’t know how to cook so it is easy for him also. Sometimes if i know i will be back home late the next day , i will season the sauce and the meat together and put them in a plastic bag. So my hubby can just throw it into the pot and let it stew… that’s it.

Dak-bokk-eum-tang (닭볶음탕)

Btw, this is not the final. I just added in the potatoes so still looks very soupy. The sauce will be slightly sticky after that.

This is super easy to cook. A Korean friend of mine who works at a Korean restaurant gave me the recipe. My MIL’s recipe too cheem and i cannot find some stuff in SG…so i shall stick to my friend’s.

How to cook Dak-bokk-eum-tang (닭볶음탕)

You need chopped chicken parts (i like wings and my hubs like drumsticks so i bought only these 2) , 1 green chilli, 2 potatoes chopped into pieces, 1 onion cut into slices, 1 carrot chopped into pieces and the sauce i mentioned above.

Heat the pan with oil.

Add the sauce (ingredients mentioned above) into the pan and let it sizzle.  If you are like me who doesn’t like too “meaty” taste, you can add a few ginger slices.

Once the sauce sizzles and heat up , add in the chicken parts and mix with the sauce together.

Once the chicken parts turned slightly golden brown , add a cup of water to boil.

You can choose to add boiling water or make your own Korean stock with kelps and anchovies. I prefer to add the korean stock ( kelps+anchovies) instead.

After the water boiled , add in onions and let it stew and boil for about 30 minutes.

After 30minutes , add in the potatoes and 1 chopped green chilli and stew it for the next 30-40 minutes.

Sprinkle roasted sesame seeds for dressing and ready to be served !