Semiserious Chefs

At the store recently I asked Nathan what kind of vegetable he would like to go with dinner and he picked out some nice looking zucchini. I know there are a lot of people who are not really fans of zucchini. In fact, I don’t often get it myself. I am simply not a ‘Spiralizor’ […]

Sigeumchi-namul 시금치나물, from sigeumchi for spinach and namul because it is a vegetable dish, is one of the most common banchan (Korean side dish), and also one of the easiest! Best of all it isn’t spicy, so everyone can enjoy it! It’s funny to me that even as a family that isn’t particularly fond of […]

“What is the Korean name for this dish?” you ask. Well that depends on what kind of bean sprouts you use. First and foremost this dish is a namul (나물) , referring to a steamed, stir-fried, or marinated vegetable dish. However, sukju-namul is the name for bean sprouts in general. Now soy bean sprouts are […]

Oi-muchim (오이무침): oi for cucumber and muchim for mixed or tossed, this quick Korean side dish is very common as a snack and of-course a banchan for any meal or special bapsang. (Sometimes it is also written as Oi Saengche (오이생채) from the Chinese influenced Korean writing for live vegetable since it is not ‘dead’/cooked.) […]

Many years ago our local grocery store started marking down the produce that was beginning to age. In a place where you will NEVER pay last than a dollar and usually easily more than 2 dollars a pound for anything other than potatoes and carrots, getting 3 or 4 pieces of fruit for a dollar […]

This is a spin off Tom Kha; Thai galangal soup with coconut. I would have named it Tom Kha Sauce, but it would have translated to galangal soup sauce, and that’s a little silly. And since I didn’t feel the need to include galangal in this recipe, (it isn’t exactly the easiest ingredient to come […]

I first came across this recipe when looking for Lord of The Ring’s related dishes. It was originally called Smaug’s Balls. I played around with it a little and renamed it a much more sophisticated Smaug’s Gems, but now that I’m sharing it with the entire world, I think maybe they need another new name… […]

“Grilled Salsa!?” you say ask. INDEED! I’d been playing around with all those wonderful chilies making Pozole Verde when I realized that grilling season was fast approaching. “I bet these would be really good paired with the smokiness of charcoal!” Oh was I ever right! I picked out the firmest tomatillos, and the brightest pablano, anaheim, and yellow […]

May I present a SemiSerious Poem: Pozole red, pozole green Pozole fat, pozole lean Some use the chilies, some use cumin Some prefer pork, now that we don’t use Human. Now don’t get confused that I mean one is better than the other; to say that the pozole rojo is fatty and ‘gross’ while pozole […]

Now, I am by no means a vegetarian, however I am a very happy ‘meat-on-the-side’ eater and love all manner of vegetarian proteins.  One of the most fascinating things about world cuisine is how many people, (a majority of the world population actually) eat little to no meat on a regular basis. This does not […]