Korean Kalbi, Spicy Potatoes, plus Make Ahead Tips

This month on the Culinary Artists Spark team, our lovely hostess Thinronna asked, "Looking for ideas for cooking for 1 or 2...or 3".

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She wanted to know tips on how to get dinner on the table for 1 or 2 people.

I've only really been cooking for about 7 years. In 2003 when my life needed a reboot, I decided I was going to learn how to cook for myself. I was single and living alone. I learned how to make 1-2 serving size meals.

One of the things I learned to do was chop all my veggies ahead of time (which I discussed in "The Sunday Sous Chef")

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The other thing I learned to do was to prep my meats ahead of time. That means marinades. My mom is Korean, so I grew up with Korean marinaded meats like kalbi, bulgogi and spicy pork (I don't know the Korean name for it).

Marinades were invented a long time ago because they helped to delay bacteria growth on meats. With no refrigeration, the high salt content in things like soy sauce helped preserve it for a day or two.

These days, marinades are used because they are darn tasty. Turns out they are darn handy for making single or double portions as well.

I bought a 2.5lb flank steak from Costco over the weekend. That's a huge cut of meat for just two people. I cut it into 1/2 lb chunks each, then prep it into various pieces. When 1/2lb meat is cooked, it makes 2 serving size portions at about 3-5 oz each. A proper serving size for meat.

At the top: Cut into strips and put in a container for a kalbi marinade.
Left: Whole piece for carne asada marinade.
Middle Left: Strips for stir fry.
Middle Right: Large chunks for stew or soups.
Right: Small cubes for steak fried rice.



The carne asada marinade is added to a freezer bag with the meat.



I'm freezing the stew/soup meat and stir fry strips also.




Kalbi marinade was made and put in the fridge.



A couple of days later, I'm ready to make it for dinner.

Fried in my wok. You don't have to use a wok, a normal fry pan works just fine! To really do it justice, I recommend grilling it.



Served with Korean spicy potatoes and whole romaine lettuce leaves for wraps.



Made 2 dinner plates, plus 1 lunch leftover. All done in about 20 minutes.

This is my lunch today.


Kalbi recipe:
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Spicy potato recipe:
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