It Just Takes a Little Seoul: Spicy Shrimp Salad Sammy with Kimchi Mayo, Avocado, and Radish Sprouts

Hello, everyone! Yes, I'm back in the Toy Kitchen. And no, I didn't get eaten by a lion in Africa but thanks so much for asking, especially those of you who e-mailed me to make sure. It has just been such a crazy busy couple of months what with launching the RGTK product line, making the RGTK product line, selling the RGTK product line, delivering the RGTK product line...well, you get the picture.

Me, shilling RGTK on ANC Shop Talk (my segment starts at 30:15)

My former life in the corporate world feels like two centuries instead of just two months ago. Now, instead of business casual and heels (no sleeveless tops or open-toed sandals, please) my new dress code consists mostly of yoga pants, colorful jammies and flip-flops. So, no, I don't actually get this dressed up to cook when I'm alone. 

My actual work duds. And it's not even Casual Friday.

I'm cooking nearly every day, and my place is packed with boxes, bottles and sacks of onions and garlic. Not only does this make entertaining a near impossibility, but these days, I jump at any chance to put on shoes, go to a restaurant and taste food that I haven't had to cook, bottle and slap an RGTK label on. I'm also desperately eager for any kind of conversation that doesn't include bottles, ingredients, delivery details and meowing.

Despite all the adjustments, though (Dear steady paycheck, I miss you most of all. xoxo J), I am having the time of my life. Yes, I've been known to occasionally succumb to moments of panic, maybe grab a cat or two, and tearfully tell them not to get eaten by squirrels when I have to throw them out on the streets (They're sissies). But when I'm not obsessing too much about the future, when I remember to live in the moment, then the moments are actually pretty damned awesome.

Ginger-Scallion Sauce

I'm not a fan of Hainanese chicken. Chicken skin that's any paler than a Jersey Shores cast member's gives me the heebie-jeebies.  My mom even browns the chicken in tinola (a Filipino boiled chicken soup) when she makes it for me. But what saves Hainanese chicken is that delicious ginger-scallion sauce, because I think I would eat my cats if you smeared some of that stuff on them.

What??? I kid, I kid!

This sauce is so good, I'll use my chopsticks to painstakingly scrape off every single pallid little goosebump off my chicken, just so I can drown each slice in ginger-scallion goodness.

So anyway, this sauce has now become immensely popular in the US, thanks to David Chang of Momofoku fame, whose Ginger-Scallion Noodles have become a signature dish at Noodle Bar, his more affordable restaurant.

Recently, I came across Francis Lam's adaptation of Chang's ginger-scallion sauce.  Lam's version heats the oil to sizzling and then pours it on the ginger and scallions, cooking the mixture and mellowing its bite. Liking the sound of sizzle, I decided to get going.