Wiki has removed his entry so there isn't much info out there in English except perhaps a small ode on Soompi but Yoo Young Jin is a man of many talents. Musician, performer, composer (producer in our modern American lexicon), and lyricist extraordinaire, this lanky haired professional has served up countless Korean hits for SM Entertainment and Avex Trax. He rocketed mega groups such as H.O.T., Shinhwa and S.E.S. to number 1 and proteged some of the best Korean vocalists - Fany, Boa and DBSK/TVXQ. Over time, his production has only gotten more sophisticated, penning songs for Super Junior and Shinee, and writing material for Kangta, not to mention his own solo albums.Pedigree aside, Yoo Young Jin, has a specific knack for creating the most bombastic of boyband club blockbusters like The SHINee World - Shinee. He often lays massively thick basslines beneath dark monotone verses, contrasts that with soaring romance, then playfully intersperses ethereal bridges and explosions in between (Don't Don - Super Junior). Unusually dynamic song structures (O-DBSK) appear as mini switchups, double bridges, and epic compositional changes that are de rigeur today in America's more progressive producers.
At his best, Young Jin adeptly transmogrifies his sources into narrative epics. Take a closer listen to more than 1o years worth of chart toppers and You Young Jin's Tracks jump out as a relatively distinguished pop with sophisticated stuff going on in a veritable sea of copyright infringement. Yes, a lot of those sounds were foraged from the American back catalog of House of Pain, rave massives, nu electro and Timberland/lake canoodling, and some of it is leaden cheese. Indelibly though, the fingerprint of Yoo Young Jin marks Korea's pop landscape. Hate it or love it, he has shaped our taste for the cream of Korea's pop culture. No one could have lived through any kind of asian scene in the 90's without fingerdancing to seminal H.O.T. I mean... who can forget the bouncy insouciance that was Candy? Meanwhile, he's rhyming "sorry sorry" with "shawty shawty" over dirty synth and hypnotic bubbles. Like, What?!
"Damen Show", in the lingo of Japanese cooking show Dotch, is where a piece of food is sliced down the middle to show the tender, juicy, crispy, textures of whatever has just been created by top notch chefs from the most expensive or exclusive ingredients in Japan. "Cross Section Show" it means, but the lusciousness of each culinary vivisection is essential to winning a game where contestants compete for a bite to eat. A little bit Iron Chef, with less haute innovation tips to glean, and a little bit marketing ploy, but more interesting than watching a regular commercial, Dotch is a cross section of Asian pop tastes and historical dishes.
During my stay in Hong Kong I visited Jimmy's Kitchen, a restaurant with a decor reminiscent of mobsters and Frank Sinatra. The most memorable however, was the madras chicken - a broiled thigh with powdery curry paste or rub, rather than a familiar sauced dish. I can't recreate it yet, but I'm trying.
Mos Def is back - that crawling drawl, the afro funk vocal doodles, a political torch blazing brightly - all that - totally integrated into a loose experimental Preservation driven, Madlib spirited sound. Production is funk refined and old school wonky without out ever getting too vintage. Tracks by Mr Flash from dance label Ed Banger and Chad Hugo of the Neptunes are current without trying overly hard to be too new crunk cool or electro bombastic like Method Man and Redman's recent Blackout II. Instead, The Ecstatic is a closely vibing but not copycatting cousin to Badu's New Amerykah.Hear Mos Def afresh on Casa Bey, the least verbally lazy since Black on Both Sides. His flow and singing throughout the album take on a jazz tinged arrangement that becomes more than the sum of the original parts. Lyrically sharp, the "freestyle" style compliments the musicality of the track and shifts percussively, tonally, a feature not usually found in straighter "rap" albums. While familiar stylistic tics dot the album, elements, like the verse to verse pause, are redefined through the revised structural context. It's no accident that Mos Def performs at a couple Jazz festivals towards the end of this year.
Both Slick Rick and Talib make distingushed and appropriate appearances, a flag for the notable sweet spot that The Ecstatic hits. But while it acknowledges the past, the album never gets mired in Hip Hop history. Rather, it delivers us the Mos Def we know and love, but different, better. Black on Both Sides was a perfect piece of work, perfectly coffee toned and caramelized, its sensibility tuned to a certain bboy register. The Ecstatic, pitched more ambitiously but just as listenable, reaches broadly and colors more vividly outside the lines. I am a very very glad fan.
Korean Potato Noodles and stir fry vegetable recipe from Cooking Korean food with Maangchi.
The recipe was fairly easy to follow, although I may stir fry the vegetables differently next time so as to use less oil. Instead of white mushrooms I used all fresh shitake. I also topped it with a Japanese Style egg omelet cut in strips, but this is in no way "authentic".
The total result was not bad but rather bland. The SO insists that's the way it's supposed to be since Japchae is part of a multi-course bbq with kimchi, but I will still probably add a bit more seasoning next time.
In any case, his Korean mom wants to teach me how to make her Japchae so I'm excited to see how she does it.
Here is a German Split Pea Soup from a loosely followed Saveur recipe containing onions and carrots. I boiled the smoky ham hock in homemade stock before adding the other ingredients and removed the entire ham hock before the peas went totally soft. The result is very very good but I simmered for much longer than the recipe instructed to get a smoother texture. No doubt a slow cooker would work just as well here.
After forgetting the reserved ham hock in the freezer for about a week, the resulting makeover was this "stew" of shredded ham, summer squash, fava beans and fresh herbs served with black wild rice.
Usually, the macaroni and cheese at our house is a pretty loose concoction. The pasta is often large macaroni but also shells and various rigati or penne - whatever Barilla is on sale typically. The meat is usually some kind of pork - ham, smoked pork chop (a tip from a chef friend) or very thick cut bacon. For vegetables, the SO likes broccoli but we also use peas.
Recently, I have been testing new cheese combos, and I've settled on a three or four cheese mix that might contain a smoked Gouda, a very sharp cheddar, a bit of hard parm, and some very smooth ricotta. All of these are by preference and depends on what flavors are good together when nibbling on samples at the market. The sauce base is always a basic bechamel with a little bit of dry mustard, white pepper, nutmeg, with bay or sweated minced shallots if I feel like it. Save some cheese for sprinkling in with the pasta and some for mixing with the breadcrumb topping. I find that panko mixed with a little olive oil works well with little fuss.
The below recipe is very inexact, but produces a creamy gooey mac with firmer noodles rather a custard texture. Feel free to change the feel as needed by removing ricotta and playing with the ratio of cheeses and bechamel, or cooking the pasta slightly more than al dente for softer bite.sauce:
3 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
1 pint warmed whole milk
at least 0.25 tsp nutmeg, 0.5 tsp dry mustard to taste
about 1.5-2 lb soft grating cheeses
0.5 lb of hard grating cheeses
0.5 -1 cup ricotta whipped very smooth. Choose a brand that isn't grainy.
salt and white pepper to taste
Make a basic bechamel, adding cheeses at the end. To regulate consistency if too thick, add a little warmed milk or pasta water.
Toss 1 lb cooked pasta of choice with meat and veg - probably around a 0.5 lb each- as well as some leftover cheese. Pour on the sauce and top with crumbs, cheese and a fine drizzle of olive oil. Avoid a curdled sauce by baking covered at 300-325 degrees till almost, just barely bubbling at the edges - about 25-30 minutes. Uncover and broil for a few minutes to lightly toast the top and serve immediately.
This recipe is again from David Thompson's Thai Food book and is posted on Google Books. The resulting beef in the recipe is tender but perhaps a bit salty for me, so I will probably lessen the salting time in the future. Otherwise the dish is fairly easy to make and quite tasty.
Some notes: The lemon grass needs to be very very finely sliced. They never really get tender so I will probably try mincing or tying the stalks for removal next time. The sauce darkens quickly at the end, making the sauce quite rich.
Un-methodically tested first choice dumpling brand. Purchased from Ranch 99 Market in Foster City but probably available elsewhere. Comparable quality Korean or Japanese dumplings are available but these are Chinese style pork dumplings. The dough is not too thick or thin for pan frying or boiling, and holds together decently when pried out of my saute pan. The filling is pretty tasty with a good juicy texture. None of that mysterious meat lumps or mealiness found in some other brands.Fairly fool proof cooking method, even in a pan without non-stick coating, but better done in at least a fry pan with sloping sides rather than a straight sided skillet... Grrr.
Generously oil hot pan. Drop in frozen dumplings to coat. Arrange in a circular pattern and fry till bottoms are slightly golden. Add water to about 1/4 height of dumplings and cover with lid. Steam just until the wrappers are translucent. Remove lid and fry till liquid is fully evaporated and bottoms are crispy. Slide the whole wheel out onto a plate.
Serve with preferred dipping combo of thinly sliced garlic, white or black vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chilli oil or scallions.
