Smashed at the Weekend #6
cook Korean, drink Belizean and Turkish, eat Mexican and order in British-American
Something to cook
BIBIMBAP (RICE & VEGETABLES WITH BEEF) by Seji Hong
With gochujang now available at Asda, Korean cooking has entered the British mainstream. But if you are tipping your toe into the cuisine for the first time, there’s no better guide than Seji Hong of London’s popular Bombom supper clubs and Bombom Market which sells Korean ingredients. The colourfully designed book is a joy to use with simple-to-follow recipes for Korean staples such as kimchi, bulgogi, Korean fried chicken and of course bibimbap.
‘Bibimbap is an iconic Korean rice dish and contains perfectly cooked rice as its foundation, topped with an array of toppings and flavours, including vegetables, protein, sweet and spicy gochujang sauce and aromatic sesame oil.’
SERVES 2
15 MINUTES to prepare
20 MINUTES to cook
INGREDIENTS
1 batch The Perfect Steamed Rice, warm (see page 48 in the book or cook 200g short grain rice using your preferred method)
150g (5½oz) spinach
150g (5½oz) bean sprouts
100g (3½oz) carrots, cut into strips
100g (3½oz) courgettes (zucchini), cut into strips
100g (3½oz) mushrooms, sliced
Neutral oil, for frying
80g (23/4oz) cucumber, sliced
Salt to taste
For the beef
100g (3½oz) beef, any cut, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
For the gochujang sauce
40g (1½oz) gochujang paste
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)
To serve
2 eggs, fried
Sesame oil
Toasted sesame seeds
1. Start by preparing your rice.
2. While your rice is cooking, blanch the spinach and bean sprouts in boiling water. Drain as soon as they’re wilted then plunge them into cold water. Squeeze out the excess water and season with salt.
3. One by one, stir-fry the carrots, courgettes (zucchini) and mushrooms in oil with a pinch of salt.
4. Marinate the beef with the soy sauce, sugar and black pepper, then stir-fry over high heat for 2–3 minutes.
5. Mix the ingredients for the gochujang sauce in a small bowl.
6. Scoop the warm rice into 2 bowls and add the prepared vegetables, including the cucumber, and beef. Top each bowl with a fried egg, a drizzle of gochujang sauce, a swirl of sesame oil and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. Bibim (mix) it and enjoy!
Extracted from Korean Made Easy by Seji Hong
£22, Kyle Books
Buy this book using the following affiliate line and help support Smashed: click here
Something to eat
Modern Mexican at El Bolillo, Hove
Move over Quality Chop House, there’s a new spud in town. The crushed and tripled fried pink fir potatoes, served with sour cream and lime salt at Hove’s new upscale Mexican-inspired restaurant El Bolillo are mind-blowingly crunchy and addictive. And they’re not even the best thing on the menu. Chef Greg Clarke worked for Michelin-starred chef luminaries including Daniel Clifford, Brett Graham, Tom Aikens and Martin Wishart before opening El Bolillo (Mexican slang for a westerner) with partner Matty Salvetti (who runs front of house) earlier this year.
We sat at the counter (tables in the intimate and very chic dining room appear to be reserved for parties of larger than two) where we watched the barman assemble our cocktails - a punchy Negroni Tinto made with Campari, Regal Rogue Bold Red, gin and plums and a surprisingly soupy yet delicious Aguachile Verde with tequila, jalapeños, Regal Rogue Wild Rose, chilli and lime.
In addition to those potatoes, we also shared some Graceburn feta churros with jalapeños and chipotle crema (a must order); smoked pork jowl with summer herbs and ancho pickled apple (a little forgettable); pork cheek with eel, xo, blood taco, blackened apple and mortia salsa (fantastic); grilled maitake with smoked garlic mole, chilli and black bean matcha crack (possibly the best thing we ate) and polpitos (octopus) with roasted peanut butter mole, orange and tagetes vinaigrette (wonderful). We drank a carafe (for some reason not listed as an option, so do ask if you are not in the mood for a whole bottle) of Cui Cui trebbiano, passerina and pecorino from some very nice stemware and generally had a lovely Saturday lunch.
Portions are small and we didn’t order enough food. To be fair to El Bolillo, they did warn us and encouraged us to order more. Next time, I would go all in on one of the tasting menus (£65 or £75) to get the fuller picture and a fuller stomach. El Bolillo isn’t cheap but it delivers a refined dining experience and flavour in spades and is an exciting new edition to the Brighton and Hove scene. Clark and Salvetti apparently already have a second Brighton project in the works which will be even more ambitious than El Bolillo so watch this space for further news.
El Bolillo, 60 Church Road, Hove, BN3 2FP. 07561692048; elbolillo.co.uk
Something to order in
The Beefy Boys DIY Kits
I first came across The Beefy Boys (Anthony ‘Murph’ Murphy, Daniel Mayo-Evans, Christian Williams and Lee Symonds) on the BBC TV show The Hidden World of Hospitality with Tom Kerridge. They seemed like a decent bunch of blokes with a real passion for food and a lot of energy and entrepreneurial spirit. With a combined background in nightclubs, gas engineering and pig farming, they were ideally experienced to open multiple burger restaurants and run a food truck inspired by American food shows like Man vs Food and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Of course they weren’t, but they’ve made a very good fist of it if Financial Times critic Tim Hayward is to be believed. He declared The Beefy Boys’ OG Boy, Oklahoma style, medium rare, with bacon, double up was ‘the best burger I can remember eating’.
If you don’t live in Hereford, Shrewsbury or Cheltenham where there are Beefy Boys restaurants, the good news is you can order one of their DIY boxes for delivery nationwide. I was offered the chance to try the Double DIY box with everything required to make two burgers plus some mac and cheese balls for deep frying.
The Boys remained tight-lipped about what goes into their burgers apart from ‘100% beef’, but in their book* they suggest cuts could include chuck, brisket, skirt, short rib, rib cap, oxtail and rib eye. The 6oz patty had a firm, dense texture when raw and to be honest I struggled to press it down enough in the pan which made cooking it to the correct internal temperature less than straightforward. Because the patty was quite thick, it took longer to cook through than I’d anticipated and over-coloured in the process, even though I’d moderated the heat and turned the patties regularly in the pan. Next time, I would opt for ‘Oklahoma Style’ where each burger is split into two 3oz patties which I imagine would be more manageable.
I found the semi-brioche buns a little on the firm side for a burger and when everything was assembled it was just too tall to take a proper bite out of, so knives and forks it was. On the plus side they did hold their shape nicely and didn’t disintegrate as burger buns so often do. The salt-based ‘secret seasoning’ mix added a nice savoury note and I used all of the included baconaise, chipotle mayo and mustardy ‘special sauce’ in the burgers which were all delicious. The mac and cheese balls were lovely and saucy (I deep fried them but I imagine they would work in an air fryer, although the cooking instructions didn’t cover that option) and even better dressed with the included chives, Parmesan and chipotle ketchup.
Was it the best burger I can remember eating? Maybe not, but it was certainly a proper mid-week treat that I’d order again.
Available for delivery nationwide from thebeefyboys.com
*affiliate link
Something to drink
Ruta Maya Belizean Rum
This recently launched range of white rum and flavoured rum liqueurs are just the thing for some simple, fun festive cocktails. Made by the long-established, family-owned Belizean distillery Travellers, Ruta Maya is, according to the press blurb ‘Inspired by Belize’s celebrated river challenge, which attracts athletes worldwide, Ruta Maya is crafted for explorers and adventurers seeking to take the road less travelled’. I imagine it would be quite easy to get lost on the road less travelled after a few shots of Ruta Maya. I mean, it’s a rowing race, why are you on the road at all?
Anyway, the range includes Rum Blanco (straight-up white rum), Rum Ouro (blended rum aged 3-5 years in Kentucky Bourbon casks), Coffee (infused with roasted Pacamara, Catuai and Bourbon coffee beans from Guatemala) and Cocolime (infused with Belizean coconut, lime infusion from the Belize Citrus factory and a natural sugar cane syrup made at the Travellers distillery). The Cocolime made a very nice coconut-inflected Mojito with fresh mint, lime and soda water (no additional sugar required. You can find the recipes and others here.
£29 (70cl) available from Master of Malt, Amazon UK, and Whiskey Exchange.
Somewhere to go (and something to win)
World Raki Week, London
From today until 8 December, World Raki Week will be marked by a series of events in London (and around the world). If you’re not familiar with it, raki is an Anatolian spirit distilled from grapes and aniseed with a history dating back to 2000 B.C. (think ouzo, pastis or sambuca). Purists drink it straight with ice and water that turns the drink milky (hence its nickname ‘lion’s milk’). It also makes great cocktails. And if you’re wondering what’s going on in the flyer above, it’s a reference to the prominent Turkish classical music singer, the late Müzeyyen Senar who used to circle a glass of raki around her head if she was having a good time on stage.
Events at The House of Yeni Raki, a pop-up bar at 58 Greek Street, London open daily from 12pm - 11pm from 29th November - 4th December include masterclasses, creative workshops, mezze, and music performances every day. The first 25 people to arrive during 6-7pm Rakı Hour will receive a free cocktail. Cocktails will include a specially-created mulled raki. There’s a Turkish Live Music Pub Night on 6th December at The Chelsea Gate in Fulham Road and a World Raki Week Closing Party on 7th December at Dükkan in Hoxton Street (@dukkan.london).
Full details at: worldrakiweek.com
Subscriber competition - win a Paket x Yeni Rakı Meze Box
Celebrate World Raki week with a Yeni Rakı Meze Box from Paket. The box feeds three to four people and includes 6 meze dishes paired with a bottle of Yeni Rakı 1937. To enter: if you are not a subscriber to Smashed already, click the button below and sign up to any of the subscription options including free, then click on the ‘Message Andy Lynes’ button before midday on Sunday 1 December and send me your name and email address, mentioning Yeni Raki. I will choose a winner at random and a representative of Yeni Raki will be in touch to arrange delivery of your prize. Good luck.
The Mexican place sounds delightful! I like the idea of the twist on the churros.