Introducing Kimbap Lab

January 9, 2017 sarah lee

It's been so long since I have updated all my readers with the new and exciting happenings! My chef partner Wonil Lee (Seoul) and I have been working hard to introduce our childhood favorite 'Kimbap' to all of you!

We are launching Kimbap Lab at the Williamsburg Whole Foods on February 1st, 2017! This has been a long time dream to do a collaboration with Whole Foods, and we now have this amazing opportunity to share this New York residents.

Thank you so much for all your love and support, please stop by and say hello:)

the backitchen

November 15, 2014 sarah lee

The Supper Club...

One week to prepare, 3 seatings, 6 courses...

Why a Korean gluten free supper club? We wanted to share our interpretation of Korean cuisine. The menu was created from our hearts, offering gluten free locally sourced ingredients. This all happened on a cold January evening. Folks from all over New York trekked out hungry+filled with excitement+was ready to dive into new flavors.

It just felt right...

We wanted to share our childhood food memories with everyone. Things may change over the years, but the food memory always remains. My personal favorite? The 'Quinoa bibim bap' with stir fried anchovy, butternut squash, watercress, red cabbage, quail egg, sesame oil, with a brush of red pepper paste. Our first supper club together was just sensational! So stay tuned for more exciting projects to come:)

Thanks again for all those who came out to support the event, and for those who rooted for us from afar! We could not have done this without you~

With gratitude,

Sarah & Chef Lee

The Backitchen is a food lifestyle + film blog about food journeys.

The pilot unravels traditional Korean fare at a supper club in Williamsburg, offering an all gluten-free menu! It premieres tonight at KAFFNY film festival, Wythe Hotel Cinema and online (click here for vimeo link).

www.thebackitchen.com site coming soon!

the back kitchen-brooklyn

December 26, 2013 sarah lee

For one night only...

Traditional Korean fare meets modern flavors and styling. A Gluten-Free Menu meets a Brooklyn Pop Up. Acclaimed Seoul Chef Wonil Lee meets Seoul in the City’s Sarah Lee.

This collaboration promises an innovative, beautiful, and flavorful dining experience. Don’t miss out on this truly unique interpretation of Korean cuisine!

Come with friends, bring your favorite bottle of wine or spirits, and grab a seat by purchasing tickets in advance! Tickets can be purchased via pay pal or credit card (see link below). Please inquire about dietary restrictions or general questions to sarah.lee25@gmail.com

An all gluten-free Korean menu:

'Pyogo Juk'

Shiitake mushroom cream porridge, topped with dates, perilla seeds, chili oil

'Gochori'

Korean salad made with fresh seasonal greens, tossed with perilla seed dressing, silk tofu, crispy rice bits

'Saewoo Nangchae'

Steamed shrimp tossed in creamy mustard, brown rice, ketnip (Korean sesame leaf) & coriander pesto

'Samhap'

Combination of three: bulgogi beef + two variations of tofu + washed kimchi; tofu cream infused with black sesame and garlic

'Bibim Bop'

Quinoa, stir fried dried anchovy, spinach, butternut squash, watercress, red cabbage, quail egg, red pepper paste

'Gokam mari & Dduk gochi'

Walnut wrapped in dried persimmon, fried rice cakes with yuzu glaze

Saturday, January 11th 2014

There will be 3 seatings, 20 seats/per seating.

Brunch-12:30-2:30pm ($25/person)-SOLD OUT!!!

Dinner 1st seating-5:30-7:30pm ($45/person)-SOLD OUT!!!

Dinner 2nd seating-8:30-11pm ($45/person)-SOLD OUT!!!

Location:

Nha Toi Restaurant in Williamsburg

160 Havemeyer St. (between 2nd and 3rd street)

Brooklyn, NY 11211

*street parking available, nearest metro is L train 'Bedford Ave stop' or J/M ‘Marcy Ave Stop'

Please click here to purchase tickets throughBrown Paper Tickets

the still life-hudson valley new york

December 6, 2013 sarah lee

Cows at Sprout Creek Farm-Poughkeepsie, NY

“Memory lives in the body. Just like taste does. Food is not simply about finding ingredients-it’s something that runs parallel to life, politics, gossip and histories…it’s something that we re-create every time we gather with our friends to grow and eat our foods. And we create new memories.”

-Aruna D’Souza

The quote above pretty much sums up my life vision…my everyday vision. Some of you may remember my previous posts about my farm experiences: Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Bean Table, salt farms in Korea, and visiting any farm for that matter. So today I'll be sharing about the Hudson River Valley.

going back to the roots-let's start again...

October 27, 2013 sarah lee

My sweet addiction: shaved milk+fresh house made red bean paste+house made rice cakes.

Okrumong 오루몽 was among some my favorites.

So I was thinking about writing a serious post on all of the places I went to during my 2 month stay in Korea. Oh what the heck, I just had to start this post off with a large image of my favorite Korean dessert-Red Bean Bingsoo (aka 'Pat bingsoo'). Growing up in a Korean home, you just knew that it was the best treat when your mom busts out the ice shaver that takes like 30 minutes to shave a cup of ice, pours milk and bean powder, throws some fruit and rice cakes, and of course the glorious red bean paste. Then when you have 2 younger brothers, forget it. Game over. You can barely get spoon of this down without a battle. I wasn't a huge fan of red bean paste during the early years, as I just couldn't figure out why it tasted the way it did. Definitely an acquired taste. Did you know that a persons taste buds changes every 7 years??? Is what a teacher friend told me once...which I can definitely relate to because I hated fish growing up, and now it's my first choice of protein. Random story. But true. Anyhow-I love how simplicity of this dish, and the key is to have shaved milk, house made red bean paste, and house made Korean rice cakes. Definitely tempting to make my own version of this in Brooklyn. Next summer that is :)

So my favorite part of this trip was the red bean bingsoo. There were some amazing things that I tried for the first time, or new discoveries. However, the *winner* was definitely this dessert. I think I ate it uh...every week? haha. This explains the extra kilos my body picked up along the way.

the untold story of south korea's salt farms

September 26, 2013 sarah lee

The most eye opening experience that I had recently was a 2-day road trip in South Korea's beautiful Jeollanam-do (절라남도) province towards the tail end of my trip this month. What I have learned, tasted, uncovered, and felt was truly an experience that stands alone.

Through this journey, I hope to be more truthful in my work and in what I share moving forward. This was the first time visiting Korea's salt farms, and what I have discovered was both beautiful and sad. What I'm about to share may come to a shock to most of you. Perhaps this story will encourage you to rethink about the salt we intake, especially if you reside in Korea. If it doesn't, I have no other comments. This story really, really hit home for me.

So it begins here…

Kim Mak-dong (김막동) has been farming salt for over 40 years in Hae-nam, Jeollanam-do province (해남 절라남도). What encouraged him to start clay farming was a visit from a Buddhist monk early on during his career, which recognized that his salt farm is located in very special grounds near the South Sea (which is bounded by the southwestern part of the Sea of Japan, and by the southeastern part of the Yellow Sea). Just to give you a brief description of how sea salt is formed: the sun evaporates the dilute seawater brine. In general, there are 3 main methods used to produce salt: solar, evaporation, & rock mining. For the evaporation process, it takes 7-10 consecutive sunny days to produce sea salt.

Most of the sea salt farms in Korea use black PVC tarps for the evaporation process. Why? Well, this material expedites the evaporation due to the color and material, in which this process is considered a modern way of farming salt. You can see this method used in many salt farms around the world. Today, there is literally just one clay salt farm left in all of South Korea (to my knowledge) that produces natural sea salt-Kim Mak-dong's clay salt farm 'Topanyum (토판염).'