Korean Food festival @ Sheraton Bangalore

Korean cuisine has to be one of the healthiest cuisines in the world. An approach where food is considered as medicine, where medicine is administered only when food does not heal enough. Korean food borrows from Japanese and Chinese cuisines, more from the former, I feel. For the curious, Korean food has a refreshing flavour profile. No single dominant note, rather a judicious blend of several tastes and textures. This healthful cuisine employs ingredients such as fermented soya paste, red chilli paste, garlic, sesame oil, and the now-world-famous kimchi (fermented cabbage). Kimchi is the national dish of Korea and has more than a hundred varieties.
When invited to the preview of the Korean Food Festival currently running at Sheraton, Bangalore, I was curious to know what it holds for a vegetarian. This is what I experienced there.
The Chefs decided to do away with the familiar Korean barbeque. Instead, they showcased a whole gamut of unique dishes from the country.  The menu is cyclic for the duration of the festival, so you could go several times and still have different offerings on the menu.
We began the evening with dainty morsels of Gimbap. Gim – seaweed sheets, Bap – steamed rice. Gimbap is Korean sushi. It tastes different from Japanese sushi though, because sesame oil is used to flavour the rice. Other fillings include mushrooms, fresh carrot juliennes, greens, meats and seafood. While the menu for the evening featured exotic Korean Spicy Squid Soup and Kimchi Soup (both non-vegetarian), the visiting chefs under the expert guidance of the Executive Chef, Martin Kindleysides, took care of the vegetarians by rustling up a soothing warm soup for us too.

The visiting Chef from Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel, Mr. Link Chung, made us all a bowl of Bibimbap. Another gastronomic gift to the world from the Korean Cuisine, Bibimbap is a bowl of rice with fermented chilli paste, fermented soya paste, kimchi, sesame oil, fresh vegetables, oyster mushrooms and more.

We then went on to savour several other distinguishing dishes of this cuisine. Some of the unique dishes I sampled were -
Water kimchi – a winter kimchi made with fermented radishes, apples, rather like a tart-sweet vinegar, potent, cough inducing stuff. Worked well between slurps of the chilled Kong guk su which, by the way, is a bowl of boiled soy noodles topped with creamy soy broth, served chilled. Delicious!
Japchae - Sweet potato noodles stir fried with sesame oil and tossed with black fungus and fresh crunchy veggies. I could have gladly just had several bowls of this faintly sweet noodles, but then, I had the onerous job of tasting all that was on offer. So I pulled myself reluctantly away and moved on. This was my most preferred dish of the evening.
Kimchi fried rice – The vegetarian version of Kimchi fried rice tasted like Pad Thai meets Ellu Saadam/ Ellu Chitranna. good, but not out-of-the world.

Mandu – steamed dumplings. Could not sample them as they had meat fillings that day. The festival has a cyclic menu through the duration, so if you were to go, I am sure you would find vegan/vegetarian Mandu too.
We were served this hot balmy Korean Tea at the end of the dinner. Said to aid digestion, the tea was fragrant with cinnamon, and a whiff of cardamom!
Apparently, the Koreans do not have much of a sweet tooth. The desserts were very mildly sweet, if so. All save one, were rice-based. While the South Indian in me liked that, I could relish only the Songpyeon –a half moon shaped rice cake with a filling of fermented soya paste. Does this remind you of the Ganesh Chaturthi modaks?

It is noteworthy that barring the seafood and meat dishes, Korean food is vegan!  It is easy to alter the mostly carnivorous cuisine to vegan requirements.
I returned with a new appreciation for a relatively unknown cuisine in India. I am certain that Korean Food will entice Bangalore with its huge expat population as well as the adventurous well-travelled Indians who live here.
The Korean Food festival is on at Feast, Sheraton Bangalore Hotel, at Brigade Gateway. Visiting Chefs Link Chan Jae Chung and Shane Yun-Gi Hong, from Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel, have gone to great lengths to bring authentic Korean food to our city. If you needed more reasons apart from the cheerful ambience and the humungous spread at Feast, this food festival should help you make a decision to treat your self and family there!
Dates – 13th February to 25th February, 2015.
Frequency – Daily lunch and dinner.
Price – Lunch @ Rs. 1395+taxes and Dinner @ Rs. 1545 + taxes.

Plum and Elaneer Terrine

(Elaneer–Tender Coconut Water)

Ok, so it has been raining plums all over the country and beyond too! Wonder not at the surfeit of interest that all bloggers seem to have in plums. The reason is the contest announced jointly by KitchenAid India and the Indian Food Bloggers Meet. Here is my last attempt at all things ‘plummy’.

A simple, visually stunning dessert that has been born of the desire to create a new, uncomplicated, breath taking dish. Of marrying French sensibilities with Indian flavours. Of paying tribute to my home state, Kerala. What can capture the essence of Kerala better than it’s famous coconuts? The Elaneer or tender coconut water is an excellent base for this refreshing fruit terrine. Juicy plum bits suspended in a clear, delicately flavoured tender coconut jelly and shining like a jewel! Have a look at this.

This plum terrine, with it’s gorgeous appearance has to be the least sinful and most healthy of desserts. With zero fat and very minimal calories from added sugar, the terrine is a great option for dieters of every hue. Besides, it’s glamorous appearance will surely earn you plenty of applause at a potluck or from dinner guests. The best part is it takes very little time to assemble, but the final outcome belies that (We are not going to let our guests know that, are we?)

A few tips to keep in mind are to select tender coconut which is slightly sweeter. Retain the tender meat from inside the coconut too. Select ripe but firm plums that are just short of over ripe or squishy.

Without further ado, here goes..

Preparation time – 45 minutes+1 hour setting time, Cooking Time – 15 minutes, Serves - 6

Allergy Information

Does not contain egg, soya, wheat, dairy, nuts.

Ingredients

1. Firm ripe plums – 8-10
2. Tender coconut water – 2 cups (I got it from 2 tender coconuts)
3. Flesh from the tender coconuts, chopped
4. Agar agar – 2 gms
5. Fresh water – 1 cup +1/2 cup if needed
6. Sugar – 3 heaped tbsp (or less if the coconut water is sweet enough)
7. Pomegranate pearls – 1/4 cup (optional)
8. Flavourless vegetable oil like sunflower or canola oil – a few drops to grease

Method

1. Wash the plums, pat dry and stone the fruit by cutting from all four sides close to the seed, and then from top and bottom! Dice the pulp into an even small size taking care not to squish the flesh. Set aside.
2. Chop the agar agar into small pieces, soak in 1 cup water in a small sauce pan, bring to boil, stirring continuously for 4-5 minutes, until the strands dissolve through. Strain the liquid through a metal sieve into a clean bowl. Return the remaining strands to the same sauce pan, add 1/4 – 1/2 cup water, and boil again while stirring all the time. Strain again into the same bowl, discard any leftover agar agar bits.
3. Warm up the tender coconut water very gently for a minute, (do not boil). Remove from flame and add in a thin stream to the warm agar agar liquid, whisk well. Taste and add as much sugar as needed. Keep stirring until sugar has dissolved. Keep the agar agar sauce pan over flame. When sugar has dissolved, and the liquid looks clear and transparent, remove from flame.
4. Grease a 8” by 4” loaf tin or several small ramekins/bowls/katoris (about 5-6, each of 120 ml capacity).
5. Place the chopped plums in a single layer at the bottom of the prepared tin/bowls. Gently pour the tender coconut liquid over the fruit until the fruit pieces are drenched and submerged in the clear liquid. Tap sharply on the counter and rest on the counter for 15 minutes. (no need to refrigerate)
6. After 15 minutes, check if the top of the liquid layer has set. If yes, proceed to add the chopped coconut pieces, again in a single layer. If not set, wait for 5 minutes, check and then layer the coconut. Repeat the gentle pouring of the agar agar liquid over the coconut. If this liquid has begun setting, warm it up gently until clear liquid and then pour. Tap over counter again and leave to set for 15 minutes.
7. Once this layer too has set, scatter a few pomegranate pearls over if using. Else you could use up the rest of the diced plums too. Finish off by pouring the coconut water+agar agar liquid over the fruit. Tap the container sharply again (to avoid air pockets) and set in refrigerator for an hour.
8. To unmould, dip a knife in hot water, wipe and run carefully around the set terrine. Loosen the sides alone and invert onto serving plate. Cut into slices if set in loaf tin using a serrated knife. Serve chilled as is, or accompanied with whipped cream or ice cream.
9. Sit back and enjoy this absolutely guilt free dessert and bask in appreciative applause!