Things To Do - Food

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Hungry? If you’re open to something a little different, pull up a chair to taste many of the non-traditional flavors you’ll find in Spring Lake.

Yes, we’ve got Southern fried chicken and two sides, but you’ll also find fresh thick fish cooked to perfection… hot spicy chicken and beef with noodles …rice better than G’ma ever made… smorgasbords of fresh salads to go with your steak – oh, the list goes on!

You see, our “locals” are people who have lived all over the world. Our restaurants and grocery stores cater to their taste buds.

Should you want to experiment in your own kitchen, take these recipes and wander through grocery store aisles. Go ahead, ask for help – and don’t forget the fortune cookies!

Kimche – pronounced KIM-chee (Korea)
            A cabbage side dish

2 Chinese cabbages
1 ½ cup of red pepper paste
1 cup of wilting salt
2 T. of fish sauce
½ t. of ginger and garlic
1 T. of flour and water boiled
½ t. sugar
First, you cut the cabbages and clean them. Then you wilt the cabbages for half a day with a cup of salt and a lot of water so you can make the cabbage soft.

Next, you wash the cabbage again and let drain for 15-20 minutes. Then, you put one tablespoon of flour and one cup of water in a pan together for 5 minutes. Then mix 2 tablespoons of fish sauce with the flour juice you just made and the cup and a half of the red pepper paste.

After it cools off, put the half a teaspoon of garlic and ginger in the flour sauce and mix it. Finally, you put it on the cabbage and taste it once in a while. If it doesn’t taste good, add a teaspoon of sugar. Then, you’re done. If you want it to taste good, let it sit in a jar for about a week. – Sara Madland

Pul-Ko-Ki – pronounced pul-KO-ki – (Korea)
            Barbecued beef

2 lbs of beef
2 cups of sugar
½ cup of sesame oil
1 handful of sesame seeds
a few sprinkles of MSG
a handful of salt
3 cups of soy sauce

First, take the meat out of the package and cut some of the fat off the beef. Just put all the ingredients together at once. To cook, you need to decide where to cook it – grill, stove or oven. Cook until the meat turns brown. – Sunshine Richardson

Pancit “Luglug” – pronounced PAN-sit (Philippines)
            A stir-fried noodle dish

½ kilo dried rice noodles (bijon) soak this in cold water ten minutes, then drain
½ cup shelled shrimp
½ cup lard
½ cup finely sliced green onions
4 T. flour in ½ cup cold water for thickening the sauce
2 quarts boiling water or meat stock
½ cup finely flaked smoked fish (Tinapa) and pick small bones off
½ cup powdered crisp crackers (sicharon)
½ cup sliced, boiled pork
½ cup soy bean cake (Tokua) cut into small cubes
1 minced garlic head
½ cup Chinese celery (kinchay) sliced into half inch bits
2 cups shrimp juice
salt and pepper to taste
¼ “achuete” water
2 hard boiled eggs sliced lengthwise
12 calamansi

Fry garlic until brown. Drain. Set aside. Fry pork in the same lard until brown. Add the tokua and the shrimp. Then add ½ cup shrimp juice, cover and boil. Add the kinchay and garlic with salt and pepper. Set this pork shrimp mixture aside.

Soak the achuete in water. Squeeze out the color. Add this to the rest of the shrimp juice and put the mixture into a saucepan. Add the flour water mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper. This is the red sauce for the pancit which is called “palabok.” – Al Mercado