Eric Kim Recipes

GOCHUGARU SALMON WITH CRISPY RICE

Steps:

• Season the salmon on all sides with salt and pepper. Heat a large cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and sear the salmon fillets skin side down until the skin is browned and crispy, 2 to 5 minutes. The salmon's orange flesh will begin to turn pale coral as the heat slowly creeps up the sides of the fish; you want that coral color to come up about two-thirds of the way at this point for a nice medium-rare. Carefully flip the salmon and cook the second side until the flesh feels firm, another 1 to 2 minutes. When you press it, it should not feel wobbly. Transfer the salmon to a plate skin side down and keep the pan with the rendered fat over the heat.
• Add the rice to the fat in the pan and spread in an even layer, packing it down as if making a rice pancake. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the bottom is lightly browned and toasted, about 5 minutes. You should hear it crackle. Flip the rice like a pancake, using a spatula if needed. You may not be able to flip it all in one piece, but that's OK. Cook until lightly toasted on the second side, another 1 to 2 minutes. Go longer if you want crispier rice, but the trifecta of crispy-chewy-soft tastes wonderful.
• While the rice is cooking, stir together the gochugaru, maple syrup, rice vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. When the rice is done, divide it evenly among the plates. In the now empty pan, add the gochugaru mixture and cook, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat until it bubbles up and reduces significantly, 15 seconds to 1 minute. It should look pretty sticky. Turn off the heat and add the cold butter, stirring with a wooden spoon or tongs until fully melted and incorporated into the gochugaru mixture. Pour this glaze over the salmon and serve with cucumbers or pickles if you'd like.

BACON AND ONION PASTA

Steps:

• Take the bacon out of its packaging with the slices still stuck together and place on a cutting board. Cut the bacon, still stacked, crosswise into ½-inch slices to create little bacon pieces, also known as lardons. Add to a large rimmed sheet pan. Halve and thinly slice the onions. Add to the sheet pan as well. Drizzle the olive oil over the bacon and onions, season with salt and pepper, and toss until evenly coated.
• Place the sheet pan in a cold oven and then heat the oven to 450 degrees. Roast until the bacon has rendered much of its fat but is still pink and the onions are slightly charred in spots but not too dark, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Smash the garlic cloves with the side of your knife and thinly slice them. When the bacon and onions have had their 20 to 25 minutes, remove the sheet pan from the oven and stir in the garlic, red-pepper flakes, herbes de Provence and vermouth. Place the pan back in the oven and continue cooking until the vermouth is almost evaporated, and the bacon and onions look jammy and caramelized but not burnt, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Cook the pasta according to package instructions. (Don't overcook it, as angel hair can go from bouncy to soggy in seconds). Reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.
• Carefully transfer everything from the pan to the pot with the cooked pasta. Add the parsley and Parmesan to the pasta, and toss until evenly combined, adding some of the reserved cooking liquid if the sauce needs thinning out. Taste, adding more salt and pepper as needed, and serve immediately.

GYERAN BAP (EGG RICE)

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula, until the melted butter starts to darken in color from yellow to light brown, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.
• Crack in the eggs and drizzle the soy sauce and sesame oil on top, cooking until the whites puff up slightly around the edges of the pan and the translucent parts around the yolks start to turn opaque, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Watch that the soy sauce doesn't burn, removing the pan from the heat if necessary.
• Scoop the rice into a medium bowl and top with the fried eggs, including all of the buttery soy sauce drippings from the pan. Crush the seaweed directly over the eggs, piling it high. This will seem like a lot of seaweed, but it will wilt as you mix everything together with a spoon, which you should do to disperse the ingredients before eating.