A return to kale

I started this blog (so long ago!) with some posts on kale, which at the time was a recent discovery. Back then, I only cooked with it, meaning I always ate it cooked, either braised or sautéed or added to soups. I can say without a doubt that I had never tried it raw.

Then I moved to California. This was probably at the height of kale's popularity (or infamy?). I think everything people say about California is more or less true, especially the food - there is a lot of fresh, local produce, and everything is done to preserve that freshness. And so, for the first time, I had raw kale. Of course, this raw kale was massaged into submission with a Caesar dressing or with avocados and lemons - something to break up the rawness. The first 10 times, I thought it was so delicious, I would eat a huge bowl of salad for dinner. I started to get a little bored, so I would vary the flavors - an Asian-style dressing using sesame oil and rice vinegar. Or I would accessorize: large shavings of Parmesan and slices of apples, or persimmons and almonds. Then it was in smoothies, with apples and avocados and mangoes and pineapple. And then on popcorn! But after that, I just couldn't any more, with the raw kale. It was time for a break.

I'm back where I consider home now (WA), and kale is everywhere, as is a general "healthy" lifestyle. Even Panera has a raw kale salad. I'm back to kale now too, but this time cooked again. Since I've been home, I've made a raw kale salad with an Asian-style dressing that my mom really loved. She made a random comment one day, wondering if kale could be treated like spinach in sigumchi namul. Well, that comment planted a seed, and I went searching for the answer and found, yes it can, and it is even better made with kale.

Unlike spinach, kale is helped by a nice long bath (as am I). With spinach, I barely dunk it in hot water and immediately remove and rinse in ice cold water. With kale, I boil a pot of water, add salt, then dump the cleaned kale leaves (minus ribs) into the water, and turn off the heat. No need to tear the leaves either, because as the kale starts to cook, the leaves become easy to shred to the size of your liking, and they won't disintegrate. I think about 5-10 minutes is a decent amount of time - the longer the bath, the more tender the leaves. The nice thing about kale also is that the longer time doesn't necessarily make the kale mushy or overcooked.

Rinse in cold water and wring out as much water as possible. This is a good opportunity to rip the leaves up into smaller pieces too, and also to shake open the leaves so there is a lot of surface area for the marinade.

Toss with minced garlic (the first time I tried this, I used way too much garlic, but I also thought it was the most delicious result), a good drizzle of sesame oil, salt and pepper, and if you want, a splash of soy sauce. Decorate with some scallions and sesame seeds.

The result is a raw-esque kale salad of sorts, Korean-Americanized like myself. I made myself a very Americanized bibimbap with this kale namul, some gobo and a fried egg on top of some quinoa. My dad won't go near it, but my mom says it's her favorite kale dish I've made so far. And so I'm back to kale, finding new ways to enjoy it again.