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BEEF BULGOGI MANDU/KOREAN BEEF DUMPLINGS
In 2021 I want you to make 1 resolution to at least try new foods that I present. It will be the year of challenge for your taste buds and I can guarantee that you'll be glad you did. Most of us order Chinese Take out and sometimes we end up ordering the same thing, so if you venture and order dumplings, most of the time what is offered are either pan fried or boiled dumplings with a soy dipping sauce and the meat used is usually ground pork. Some places offer ground beef. Believe it or not the only difference with these dumplings may be thicker or light wrappers or how they are folded or is dough actually made fresh and they do it by hand. Today, with labor cost so high, most are bought frozen and on rare occasions does an establishment make them by hand. Korea recently has entered the prepackaged food market. Costco is slowly adding alot of Korean products and one of them is Korean Beef Dumplings Mandu. They are packed frozen and the dumplings are a nice size. Add a dash of oil in a non tick pan and on low to medium heat, just turn over each side when golden brown. (No water needed or cover). They come out pan fried, and its truly ground beef, believe it or not. Of course the dipping sauce is made my adding soy sauce, sugar, white vinegar and water. Cut 1 stalk of scallion thinly and add a dash of oil or sesame oil. Mix and taste to your liking. It's delicious. There was another brand called Ling Ling but their dumplings were chicken and vegetable and the quality has gone down dramatically. So far, the Korean Beef Bulgogi Mandu is living up to their quality reputation. I have also purchased Korean Wonton made with chicken and cilantro. Can't wait to make them. Stay tuned. On Chef Woo Can Scale of 1-5, these dumplings are off the chart, 10+. Try a bag, you'll be glad you did! Promise!!! Chef Woo Can at www.chefwoocan.com #koreanbeefbulgogidumplingsmandu. #costcokoreanbulgogidumplings, #chefwoocanreviewofcostcobeefkoreanmandudumplings CHEF WOO CAN'S COMMITTMENT IN 2021
As we get ready to Celebrate New Year's with our families making some appetizers, creating a new delicious dinner menu or just order take out, just keep those that cannot celebrate this year in our hearts. It's been a tough year and everyone has had to readjust their life to some degree whether we like it or not. Small business has been hurt, large corporations have been affected by maximizing profits by cutting back on quality ingredients. Chef Woo Can is committed to let you know if the produvts out there are giving the bet quality and value for the money. Because of my passion for cooking, I always try to offer to myself and my daughter an assortment of new dishes both prepackaged as well as fresh ingredients. She doesn't know hw lucky she is between you and me! I will evaluate food products and give you my honest opinion of what I think. Those that know me won't be surprised when I call an establishment our for poor service, or poor food or any multinational food chain. When food is poor and I'll know it, I will let you my viewers know. I want you in 2021 to eat as healthy as possible. You may disagree with my reviews but TRUST my judgement. We can agree to disagree which is a rare commodity these days but when it comes to food, I have no reason to mislead anyone. On that note I recently went to Costco, I love them. I was looking for appetizers for tonight. I didn't feel like going all out with a homemade dinner so on this special occasion I'm choosing prepackaged items. My view has always been, "Everything in Moderation" is ok. KIrkland brand of Costco makes this tempura shrimp, the 30 shrimp is individually placed separately, the coating is no different from you might get in a Japanese restaurant, comes with packets of dipping sauce, just bake and I have to say, its perfect, crispy and you actually get a shrimp inside. Kirkland brand does a great job and the price is very reasonable. On a Chef Woo Can Scale of 1-5, these tempura shrimp is 10+. Highly recommend them. Chef Woo Can at www.chefwoocan.com #tempurashrimp, #Costco, #kirklandtempurashrimp, #delicioustempurashrimpcostco PROGRESSO'S NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER
There are days when I would like a break from cooking especially after the dinner hour just relaxing watching a good movie. Nothing beats a nice bowl warm bowl of soup. Ramen noodles are great but sometimes you just want to change it up a little. My daughter was a little under the weather and I bought a whole bunch o Progresso canned soup. Campbell's soup hasn't changed in decades so I already am familiar with their flavors. I choose an assortment of Progresso's flavors, Chicken and dumpling, chicken noodle, chickfarina, and New England clam chowder. Now, I love New England clam chowder but I think Progresso missed the mark. It's suppose to be New England clam chowder not creamy potato soup with no flavor. There is a ton of potatoes in the clam chowder. and a creamy soup with no taste! I know times are bad for the food industry and profits are taking a beating but if Progresso wants to make their mark with the American consumer I would suggest that focus on flvor and ingredients. How's this for suggestion, more clams than potatoes, the creamy soup should have some butter and maybe a little clam broth to make it taste somewhat like clam chowder. Some pepper, maybe some thyme or even a bay leaf. but definitely some salt. Needless to say I choose Progresso in the past over Campbell's because they offered so much more than Campbell's but after this New England Clam Chowder I guess I'll be making my own soup. I'm so disappointed. On a scale of 1-5 with 5 being excellent, Progresso New England Clam Chowder gets a -5! Yes a NEGATIVE 5!!!!! By Chef Woo Can at www.chefwoocan.com #Progressonewenglandclamchowderterrible, #shameonprogressosoup COSTCO BEEF BULGOGI MANDU
Most of us have tried and fallen in love with dumplings. Whether they be steamed or pan fried, dumplings are available all over the world with different names but there's just something about dumplings. That irresistable filling in a small morsel covered in a wrap or dough. The food manufacturers have heard our quest to get the best dumplings! How unfortunate they are. They are more concerned with maximizing profit than providing a high quality dumpling until I saw these Korean dumplings at Costco. They are located in the frozen food section (prepackaged frozen foods). These dumplings are All beef. I was pretty excited to try a package. I got home and these dumplings were huge compared to others. I choose to pan fry these guys. Add a little oil and medium heat and just rotate as each side is slightly browned. No water added just turn turn dumplings until all sides are browned. I prepared the dipping sauce. Soy sauce, white vinegar and sugar and water. Equal portions for everything. Sugar is to your liking. If you have a scallion, cut up and add. I have to say the dumplings were delicious, all meat and the dipping sauce just brought out the flavor. Just perfect. www.chefwoocan.com #beefbulgogimandu, #koreanbeefdumplings, #beefdumpling, #panfriedbeefkoreandumpling, #costcokoreanbeefdumpling COSTCO FLANK STEAK
Where's the beef? Today beef is so expensive. Selections at the beef counter are stocked with round cuts that are sliced thinly. You'll have to tenderize them or slow cook them for stews. Most all tough cuts of beef must be tenderized or slow cooked. Selections of beef that have no marbling may be tough and listed as "select cut" Marbling is thin lines of fat in the meat which adds tenderness and flavor but the irony is you pay for the marbling. What are we to do? Well, at Costco they carry flank steak. They sell 2 full length flank steak in a packet for $30.00. 2 Flank steak will feed on average 7 people American style. Marinated and grilled is the best. For Asian cooking, I take 1 flank steak and cut around 3 1/2 strips along the muscle line and then cut in half and vacuum seal them. Around 10-12 pieces representing a portion or 1 order. No need to tenderize. but mportant to marinate. Cut the flank steak strip already been cut and line up the strip with muscle lines horizontally and with a sharp knife, cut perpendicular slice thin strips uniformly. Add a dash of soy sauce, a little white wine, garlic powder and 1 teaspoon of corn starch. Mix thoroughly and set aside for about 20 minutes. Then cook with vegetables, broccoli. The flank steak must be well done cook. Yep but in reality it will be very tender, so trat yourself. Consider www.chefwoocan.com virtual cooking class to see how its done. You may see a dish on the calendar but can be changed to accommodate your request. #Costcoflanksteak, #flanksteak, #tendercutflanksteak, COSTCO BULK FRESH CLAMS
I had to try these clams. They came from certified waters. As we all know seafood is wildly getting expensive and profit margins are very slim, so retailers are pumping up the price. However, at Costco the price was reasonable. I paid $3.99 lb for 5 1/4 lbs for $20.79. If your a clam lover and love clams on the half shell, linguini with white clam sauce with a couple of fresh clams or clams with black bean sauce or the popular clams casino, Costco is the place!!!!! Go my package of clams home and checked for any open clams (bad; throw them away). Did a couple of clams on the 1/2 shell and they were truly firm, with flavor of the se in the liquid with a little cocktail sauce lemon and horseradish, heavenly, mouthwatering. They were the very small littl necks but more between little neck and top neck clams from a size standpoint. I would say that within maybe 2 days you can use the clams. Enjoy them while their fresh, simply delicious and while your at it, sign up for a virtual class at www.chefwoocan.com to lesrn how to make clams with black beans sauce or clams with white clam sauce and even clams casino with bacon, peppers and onions with a nice bread crumbs and wine. www.chefwoocan.com. The calendar may have a dish but it can be changed to accomodate your request. #costcoclams, #linguinewithwhiteclamsauce, #clamscasino, #clamsonthehalfshell, #clamswithblackbeansauce COSTCO FROZEN SHRIMP
Chef Woo Can loves to cook and purchase ingredients with value. I focus my attention on the frozen food section and I noticed frozen shrimp in bulk. Now for those that shop for shrimp occasionally, every bag of shrimp will have a number. Since the weight of shrimp varies, there will be a range of numbers like "16-20" or "13-15." These numbers represent the # of shrimp that makes up 1 pound. So, when you see "16-20", tht says there are about 16 to 20 shrimp that make up a pound. The smaller the number the larger the shrimp. Forget about those little signs in the seafood section that says "extra large" or "jumbo." By doing this you think your getting extra large but in reality maybe "medium" The numbering size label is required. The bulk of shrimp that I saw was size 13-15 meaning 13 to 15 shrimp to make up a pound. Buying it in bulk at 4 lbs for about $ 37.00 is a steal! Breaking it down that comes to around .61 cents each. So imagine in the good ole days when we went to a fine dining and ordered a jumbo shrimp cocktail and probably paid $15 for about 4 to 6 shrimp. So keep that in mind. Stock up. Now, when your making shrimp cocktail or any other dish, did you know that there is additional flavor in the shrimp shell? Don't discard the shell, save it and freeze and make a shrimp broth, add some soy sauce, and sugar to taste and you medium simmer and viola you have a shrimp broth great for your next ramen noodles. BY the way, when you make any shrimp dish, do not overcook the shrimp. We're so used to eating overcooked shrimp which is chewy and rubbery. You want tender #costcofrozenshrimp, #shrimp, #jumboshrimp, Costco's Stuff Salmon Platter
I got a membership at Costco and was pretty excited considering I was a BJ's Wholesale member for awhile.. Nothing compares to Costco. At first visit the place is huge and most importantly wel lit. It was a pleasure walking around. Having a place well lighted makes all the difference in the world. It provides a feeling of brightness which sends positive vibes to our demeanor and when we feel that way the experience is enjoyable. There's so much to see that one visit won't cover the entire territory. If you enjoy salmon, you gotta try Costco's Stuffed Salmon. I came across this in the refrigerated section. You get 4 humongous salmon filets stuffed with a seasoned bread stuffing and some imitation crabmeat. Baked it in the toaster oven and it was delicious beyond belief. Not only tasty and fresh it was a great value for the money. So right now I really can't be a restaurant critic right now due to Covid-19, so I choose to review the products at Costco. This will be the 1st of many reviews of products sold by Costco. #costcostuffedsalmon, #delicioussalmon, #salmon |
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