A Canadian Mosaic Dinner - A Korean Dish That Actually Works with Wine!

I was born and raised in Korea.  So, I can declare that this dish actually works with a wine.  As much as I like Korean foods, they are full of peppers, vinegar and pickled-flavours.  Kimchi with Bordeaux or Riesling? I don’t think so. The flavours often fight with wines.  So, it is rare to find a Korean dish that tangos with a wine.  Here is my recipe (serves about 4 people).

• About 1 pound of flank steak
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ½ cup of dices onion
• 1 green onion
• 3 table spoon of quality soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of sesame seed oil
• 3 to 4 table spoon of brown sugar
• Dash of black pepper
• 1 or 2 pinch of course grey salt
• 1 cayenne pepper (optional)

First, pour yourself a glass of wine. Cut the flank steak into about 3 by 6 inch sizes.  Set the meat in a non-metal container large enough to hold the meet in one to two layers.  Place the rest of ingredients in a mortar or an electric mixer or blender.   Blend for a few seconds until the mixture is roughly smooth.  Pour the mixture into a bowl. Dip your finger into a mixture (in the bowl and not in the blender/mixer - for safety) and taste.  It should be somewhat salty, sweet and hot with a whiff of sesame seed oil fragrance. Adjust salt & sugar, if necessary.

Mix the marinade well with the meat.  Marinate the meat for 2 to 3 days in a refrigerator. Turn over the meat a couple of times.  The flank steak needs long marinating because it helps to tenderize the toughness of the cut – although it is one of the most flavourful cuts.  Fire-up your BBQ. Meanwhile, place a plate in the oven at 150F to warm and to rest the meat after it has been cooked. BBQ the meat to no more than medium rare.  Place the cooked meat on the plate and into the oven.  Turn the oven off and let the meat rest for about 20 minutes.  Slice against the grain about ¼ inch.  

Good with plain short grain or jasmine rice. Even delicious with baguette or roasted potatoes.  Serve with a salad.  Or how about a pasta dish and some stirred-fried vegetables with the meat.  I am in Canada after all, blessed with riches of ethnic foods – no need to stick to a formula, hey. 

The dish goes well with Cuvee Granit from Domaine de la Pepiere of Marc Ollivier or Crus (Descombes, Foillard or Pacalet). The spicy, sour-cherry Le Telquel from Puzelat-Bonhomme is a fine accompaniment.

The leftover meat makes a wicked sandwich.  Just splash some mayo, hot mustard and instantly-pickled onions (sliced onion with some salt, sugar and vinegar – mix & soak for about 1 hour or overnight).

     

A Bistro Dish in Comfort of Your Kitchen

If you go to the Paris Bistro like Paul Bert, this dish (pictured below) is on the menu.  It is one of Bistro dishes that I like eating when I visit Paris but, somehow, I don’t remember to cook it at home.  So, when I was reading the blog , I immediately, of course, had to try the dish.  By the way, if you like French foods and wines, I strongly recommend the blog by Wendy Lyn – who is ex-pat from Deep South.  I coincidentally bumped into her at another great Paris bistro Les Pipos during my wine buying trip last autumn.

The dish is easy to make and very satisfying.  The richness of cream is cut by cognac.  As Wendy mentions, please spurge and buy a good quality cognac for this recipe.  Remember to reduce the cream sauce for a few minutes to get the right consistency.  Please remember to flambée the cognac away from your stove fan for safety.  Simply move the frying pan away from the element when igniting the cognac in the pan with a match. Pictured left is my version of the dish.

I buy my meat from Famous Foods, near where I live, because the grocer carries organic and hormone-free meats.  While you are there, you can also pick a bottle of cream from Avalon, which comes organic and in old-fashioned glass bottles.

The dish is very wine-friendly.  I usually drink Beaujolais from Georges Descombes, Christophe Pacalet or Jean Foillard.  Try enjoying the wine cool (1/2 hour in the fridge or 10 minutes in the bucket with ice + water will do).  The cool temperature really accentuates the freshness and perfume of artisanal Beaujolais.  In fact, when I visit the winegrowers, they serve their wines cool straight from the cellars. 

Georges Descombes - Vigneron's Care and Committment

Recently, I came across this video by Aurélia from Quebec.  I don’t believe you need to speak a word of French to understand in this case.

After receiving the reservation confirmation from Georges Descombes for his 7 cuvees (the crus of Brouilly, Chiroubles, Morgon and Régnié, plus the Vieillles Vignes cuvees), I could not sleep a wink.  I am so HAPPPPY!  The wines will be on our shores this spring in April/May. 

I distinctively remember my visit to Georges Descombes.  As I entered his dark-lit, icy cellar and sat down, he poured me a glass from the half-full bottle.  In unison, Mrs. Descombes and Georges genuinely offered: “It was opened yesterday. Please let me know if you would like me to open a new bottle”.  It was Brouilly Vieilles Vignes 2007.  I drew the glass towards me to taste.  Then, silence.  In that instant, something connected.  A mystically mysterious moment that is ephemeral and yet eternal.  It was as though this vigneron’s care and commitment, disguised as wine, were in that glass.  There was no need to open a new bottle.