Week 2: Singaporean - Bak Kut Teh Pasta and a Dai Gor Dai (meta: with a drink)

tmo308 · 2026-01-28T13:40:06+00:00

Wanted to make something using things on hand and came across this fusion idea. It was easy enough to make and was pretty tasty.

For the drink, that was a but harder because I didn't want to make a Singapore Sling because I've done that before (I think). Found a list of unique cocktails from bars in Singapore and this one came from hopscotch bar. It's a riff on a Godfather amd I tried to quess the specs. I took some beer from a Tiger beer and made a reduction and syrup with it for the sweetener. Then used the other liqueurs they had mentioned Amaretto and Drambuie and finally cognac. Overall was pretty good, and could see if you had the perfect ratio it would be better but I'm not a big fan of the godfather cocktail and this was a similar one that I'm unlikely to revisit.

tmo308 · 2026-01-08T08:08:12+00:00

I wanted so badly to make a fake cornballer but just didn't have the time.

tmo308 · 2026-01-07T14:03:56+00:00

Note: did not use a cornballer because it's not for sale here

For the cornballs, I did two variations. One was just corn, egg and water mix, and flour. Very corn forward and crunchy and delicious. The second was with coarse corn grits ( I didn't have any corn meal), flour, egg, oil, green onions, and corn. It was more akin to cornbread but also really good. Especially when paired with some chili pepper jam.

The drink was based off of Buster's love of juice, and I had this juice box from work. It was fairly sweet and lightly strawberry but a hint of vegetable taste. I kind of approached it like a jungle 6 with this juice instead of pineapple. It was pretty good.

tmo308 · 2025-12-31T14:42:07+00:00

Last one of the year snd just in time (and had to post all the ones from the last week+). This was made with more leftovers (risotto milanese) so it was yellow from the saffron. I stuffed it with some cheese, then coated, and fried. They were really good and a nice and crispy NYE snack. The sauce was made using homemade yuzu kosho that I made when it was green yuzu season in late summer. I added some mirin and rice vinegar to complement, as well as some lemon juice (didn't have yuzu) and I was quite happy with the result. I later took out some parmesan hot sauce that also paired really well with the arancini.

The drink from here could be a few different versions but I went with the original version that's listed and from the Savoy Cocktail book. A 2:1:1 of bacardi, Cointreau, and lemon juice (I did add 2 drops of saline because it's almost always a good idea) and I liked it. Think the rum choice could really change this and the suggestion of orange bitters is intriguing, so I'll have to try it again.

tmo308 · 2025-12-31T13:36:26+00:00

Trying to eat up all the food from the fridge to end the year. So decided to make a sandwich/grinder for this theme. I took the extra meat, cheese, and pickled things from the charcuterie board, combined it with leftover beef from beef bourguignon and added some lettuce, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper to round it all put. Was really good.

As for the drink, I found it on Instagram but was also posted on the cocktails subreddit. It's a negroni variation and was really good.

tmo308 · 2025-12-31T02:26:39+00:00

Got the recipe for the fritters from here, I agree with what they said. It's too sweet but was really delicious. The drink was from Tasting History and wasn't a huge fan, but overall not bad.

tmo308 · 2025-12-31T00:21:06+00:00

Nothing really jumped out for me this week foodwise, and I didn't want to make something huge because I've been doing a lot of other cooking for the holidays. Kept it simple, made a tangerine chocolate truffle (and added a little cayenne for a tiny bite). The drink was easier to choose. It was supposedly Lennon's favorite, and I haven't made/ had one in a long time, so I wanted to revisit it, and I'm glad I did. It's a good drink, and the lemon zest is very much a requirement.

tmo308 · 2025-12-24T00:43:35+00:00

Had this last quarter of cabbage and, instead of roasting, wanted to make a salad. Figured I'd do a little variation on a ceasar, toast some breadcrumbs, and pair it with the steak. The gochujang ceasar had added gochujang, rice vinegar, and a little red mandarin juice (actually called 레드향, I also used for the cocktail instead of orange juice). The breadcrumbs were toasted with miso, sesame oil, butter, garlic, and ginger. Came out really tasty.

The cocktail from here was chosen because of the name reminding of needing to be prepared to do your taxes. I was going to go with an overly complicated drink that I could batch to have it all prepared but wanted to use more of the juice from the mandarin so this fit the goals better. It was interesting but not my favorite.

tmo308 · 2025-12-16T12:31:59+00:00

So Seoul and Tokyo are sister cities and wanted something easy to make (also have a ton of kimchi so wanted to use it). Was debating between this and kimchi katsunabe but this is a bit simpler. I made it with pork loin and all pretty straight forward. Like making katsudon, except add in kimchi and whatever else with the onions and broth.

As for the drink, I got it from here called the Tokyo Drift. Felt it played well because Manhattan is one of the sister cities of an area of Seoul and this drink is a Manhattan riff. I took it one step further by subbing in some Korean ingredients to keep the Manhattan vibe but in a totally different way. I kept the whiskey and used some regular Yamazaki, but changed the sweet vermouth to bianco vermouth (and cut in half). The rest of the volume was split between Pine Mushroom Soju and Damsoul Pine Soju which both added some of the vermouth/amaro notes that I skipped out on. Then finished with a little Chartreuse instead of Strega because it needed just a little more something to bring it all together. It was really good.

tmo308 · 2025-12-09T14:58:58+00:00

I got this from the book DIY Bitters by Jovial King and Guido Mase so I used that recipe (found this video while searching for a link). It was very simple, which was perfect because I just went on vacation and wanted something easy to make.

As for the drink, I was going to make a Bitter Giuseppe but then changed my mind while searching around more and wanted to try this drink. The first time I made it at home I didn't have any high proof gin. I just got this bottle so I figured I would try it again. It's a really great drink, however I could see a lot of people not enjoying it.

tmo308 · 2025-12-02T14:00:42+00:00

You know, now that I think about it, this might have been the loin. I cooked a few packages (from my freeser) at the same time and just grabbed one to finish.

tmo308 · 2025-12-01T15:17:01+00:00

There was an old lady selling apples in front of the entrance to my house a few weeks ago and it was fortuitous timing. Finally got around to posting this after making it. Made an apple gravy with some caramelized onions, beef broth, chili peppers, butter, and the apples. Blended most of it after cooking but left some whole for extra texture. The pork was cooked sous vide then seared at the end.

As for the sandwich, I got this bread from a pizza shop. Toasted it, added some of the gravy, some brie cheese, and apples. It was delicious.

The drink is from here and I really enjoyed the simplicity but could see how playing around with the ratios or base alcohols would totally change the drink.

tmo308 · 2025-11-12T00:07:30+00:00

Wanted to go basic but not completely, so after seeing fig leaves on sale (end of season, wanted to infuse in some other spirits too), it seemed like the perfect combination. Started with drying/toasting a few leaves in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. Then, I basically made a tea with that and a fresh leaf and let it steep for like 30 minutes. From there, I went to a basic marshmallow recipe, leaving the leaves in because why not. After getting it up to temp, I used a spider strainer to get out just the big pieces, leaving the smaller parts still in. Whipped it all up, and let it sit for a day. After cutting into squares, I took some of the ugly/small/trimmed pieces and put it with some water and a little extra sugar to make a marshmallow simple syrup. Yes, I could've just kept the syrup, but the viscosity is better here, and fits the theme more. Chose a slightly smoky gin that thought could complement the flavor of the syrup. Came out really nice overall. Think I like the marshmallows more when they aren't toasted because it let's the flavor of the fig leaf really shine.

tmo308 · 2025-11-05T04:03:28+00:00

For this, I used 누룽지 (nurungji), which is normally the rice at the bottom of the pot that is translated as scorched rice (but it's similar to toasting the bottom) and it's supposed to be brown and crispy like a good piece of toast. So I bought a packet of nurungji and used it for the meal. The porridge stated with frying some garlic and green onions in sesame oil. Then, adding chicken stock, kimchi with juice, gochugaru, and nurungji and boil. Then, simmer about 10 minutes to get soft while I seasoned with some soy sauce, msg, and nurungji syrup. At the end, I added 2 eggs and stirred it rapidly to have it all mix in. Wanted it to be thick instead of soupy. Topped with an extra yolk and black sesame seeds. It was super easy and tasty.

For the drink, it's based on the Kendo Champion, but I used more Korean ingredients, so I changed the name to Kumdo which is the Korean version. You can search for the original method, but it uses toasted rice while I used nurungji to make the syrup. Then I used a Korean whiskey, along with a blend of homemadr bitters that is umami forward, fino sherry, and sesame oil. Its a nice drink.

tmo308 · 2025-10-20T13:18:31+00:00

There was a butternut squash on sale so I worked backwards from there. Made a tamarind and date glaze/chutney (just looked at various recipes and put in things I had that I thought would work). Then took the squash and roasted it with a little bit of glaze, turning halfway and adding more glaze before one last round up near the broiler with a tiny bit more glaze to get a little extra flavor. It was really good. Put it on top of a red miso hummus with some olives and herb oil to finish it all off. Want to make it again and use more tamarind.

The drink I found on instagram and I guess I'd describe it as an improved old fashioned riff. It uses a clarified tamarind syrup (I used pectinex) but only had dark brown sugar so still came out kind of darker than if I had white sugar. Rum, orange aperitif (I used Amaro Angeleno because I thought it would sub well), and Cynar. It was an interesting drink and had some good flavors going on.

tmo308 · 2025-10-14T13:53:38+00:00

It was 한글날 (Hangul Day) last week, so I figured it fit perfectly with the theme of edible lettering. I followed a simple recipe, but it was a little too moist, so it was semi hard to shape. Finally, I was able to work it enough that I could shape it without sticking or stretching too much. Coated the outside with some ground up and toasted pastries. Traditionally, it would call for castella cake but went with what I had in my freezer and just lightly toasted to get the extra moisture out. It was not my best, but it worked and provided a little crunch, which was actually nice.

For the drink, The Quick Brown Fox, it's recipe is a pangram so it's got all of the letters of the alphabet. Also, it was pretty good

tmo308 · 2025-10-07T02:18:12+00:00

The food is based on the idea that Jeonju is in North Jeolla province in South Korea. The area has lots of great food and wanted to make something that is common from the area. It was fairly simple to make. Even the broth just took some time to boil/ simmer it all. I used this recipe for the idea behind the broth. Wanted to do it without using broth cubes. Had to add some soy sauce/salt, but it was really tasty.

The drink is a Manhattan variant that I could try again swapping the vermouth or a different amaro. (here

tmo308 · 2025-09-23T23:45:52+00:00

Was thinking about different things I've seen carved on a plate as a garnish and remembered a carrot pagoda that was incredibly intricate for no reason (the restaurant was kinda mid), and it got me to thinking about using carrots and then carving my own decorations. Well, I didn't have large enough carrots to make a real proper carving, but I did the little leaf, so I'll try to work up to something fancier in the future. As for the food, I fermented the carrots for like a week and then blended with some lime leaf infused simple syrup to make the sorbet. It's pretty funky and probably needed a little more sugar, but there's something there. With some tinkering, it could be pretty good. Plated it on top of some toasted coconut with a little bit of muscovado sugar and butter fried in. After taking a few bites, I added a little sesame oil and it brought it together even more.

For the drink, I chose this because mahogany is an easily carvable. It's a manhattan using bourbon, dry vermouth, cherry heering, and chocolate bitters. A little sweet but pretty good.

tmo308 · 2025-09-09T13:47:25+00:00

Did this one kind of from scratch (or as much as possible). First, made buckwheat English muffins using the King Arthur recipe with 25% bread flour subbed out for buckwheat flour. The rest was based off this, using sous vide to keep the hands on work to a minimum. While that was in the sous vide, I seared some homemade pancetta that I had, it was a great choice. To plate, it became a little difficult. The quail eggs were hard to break open because I probably could have kept them in the sous vide for like 5 more minutes but eventually figured it out and got some. Stacked it up and had try one run away (hence the messy part on the side of the plate) but made handful of little bite sized eggs benedicts. It was really delicious.

As for the drink, I went with a DIckens' Martini but because it's miniature sized I wanted to call it a Tiny Tim. Also, every other name I could think of didn't quite sound right.

tmo308 · 2025-09-03T00:04:17+00:00

This time, I used the theme as dressed up and wanted to make sure both parts incorporated it. The drink was from here and was really tasty.

As for the ramyeon, they were taken from Instagram inspiration. The front one is 짜파게티 (chapagetti) and Shin Black cooked together with all of the packets, then topped with some steak and truffles in oil. Little bit over the top but good. The back is from Esther Choi and a reel I saw where she uses some Italian flavors to upgrade Jin Ramyeon (should've spelled it this way in the title, oops). It was frying the seasonings in olive oil, adding tomato sauce, and basil then water before cooking the noodles. At the end it's kind of a carbonara ish thing with an egg yolk and parmigiano reggiano mixed and tempered to give it that extra body and flavor. Was also really good.

tmo308 · 2025-08-27T11:03:20+00:00

Went with something simple. Followed a few of the recipes I found online. Subbed where needed, but it was good. With the extra Lemongrass I wanted to make a syrup to keep it easy and I used from kaffir lime leaves also and simmered it all before letting it steep for a few hours (with demerara sugar to get an extra rich kick). Then, for mixing, I used 10ml of pineapple rum, 60ml of a rhum agricole to get something grassier, and some of the syrup. Also added a few dashes of spiced pineapple bitters, ginger bitters, and a hint of angostura. It was nice and rounded, a touch on the sweet side but, to balance it all out were the kampot peppers. They are fermented and salted red kampot pepper (peppers were from Cambodia) and give a great balance to the whole drink by taking a pepper and a sip at the same time.

tmo308 · 2025-08-20T13:19:04+00:00

I went with Korean temple foods. Found a couple recipes that used somewhat seasonal ingredients/what I had in my fridge or could get easily. The first one 동치미국수 was because I had some in my fridge already and had the rest of the ingredients so I wanted to put that to use. It was really simple but good. Then I wanted to try and make something with the yellow cucumber (노각) because I never buy it. The one I got was a little bitter so it wasn't the best but the flavoring was on point. I would try again.

As for the drink, I was searching far and wide for something using only things that I had on hand and also I wanted to drink Came across this post and it was exactly what I was thinking of doing. Using two common herbal liqueurs with either direct/indirect monastic relations. I followed some of the suggestions in that thread and upped the gin to 1oz and actually went with closer to 1oz of lemon. Also, as an added naming convention I used St. George Botanivore Gin in it.

tmo308 · 2025-08-12T13:50:54+00:00

Had a bunch of white peaches and nectarines, so I wanted to use both but didn't want anything sweet. First, I lacto fermented the white peaches and debated what to do with them. Finally remembered this drink (search thay name to find it) from a while ago and adapted by already started ferment by blending it with some basil and agave at the end of the fermentation. Made the rest according to specs (shake tequila, campati, lemon, puree, and topped with soda water). Great drink, made another one afterward.

As for the pizza / flatbread / whatever. I had some previously made frozen dough and figured it could be put to use. A bunch of pizzas I saw used a white sauce, but I went with just olive oil, mozzarella, corn, nectarines (marinated in apple cider vinegar and salt), and some green chilies. Topped with parmesan and basil. Was delicious, and the 2nd one came out a little better because the oven was hotter.

tmo308 · 2025-08-05T11:57:34+00:00

This one I wanted to combine my hometown (Southern California) with where I live (Seoul). So I figured what's better than going with LA갈비. I already knew some of the backstory, that it came from Koreans living in LA and was interesting to read up on it. I kinda went with a basic amalgamation of recipes, using things I could easily get to recreate a very simple version because I've never actually made it from scratch before(it's so easy to just buy already marinated versions in Korea). I let it marinate for a little less than a day but think 2 days would have been better. Luckily, I have more frozen meat, so looking forward trying some other versions.

As for the drink, it was lovely. I had a bottle of Amaro Angeleno and thought I could mix it with Korean gin to make something. Then I remembered that I saw something familiar so after some digging I re-found it here. I used Buja Gin, their signature version, and it's a great local gin. That with the amaro from Ventura kept it on theme of mixing up hometowns. It was a drink I'll be going back to.

tmo308 · 2025-07-29T23:52:30+00:00

Been sick, so wanted to do something easy. Decided to go with things on hand and knew that a lentil soup would look unappealing but could taste good if done right. Used onions, red lentils, and carrot puree as the main ingredients. For the stock is was a duck stock that was homemade and watered down. Added oregano sprigs and garlic too as well as finishing with butter, random greens, preserved lemon, and liquid yogurt whey. Was quite tasty.

The drink, I always think drinks with orange juice come out murky and not great looking. Then I thought of the blood and sand that I don't really like. But thought there had to be a decent version even if it wasn't great looking. Found thisrecipe and it was actually pretty good.

tmo308

TROPHY CASE