Apple Pork Bulgogi with Kale and Apple Salsa

Yes, folks.. this is Korean fusion. I never thought I would be posting a Korean fusion dish but I had to do it because it tasted soooo good. It all started because recently I saw an opportunity to enter a contest where we had to use apples to make a dish. Of course, the obvious thing to make was apple pie, apple turnovers, apple tart..etc. But I knew there are so many wonderful bakers out there that I most likely could not compete with most of them. So I wanted to use my knowledge of Korean flavors but had to make something where anyone could get a feel for how delicious it was. And I was surprised at myself of how this dish all worked out so beautifully together.

Now, if you can, it would be such an encouragement if you can all visit my instagram @kimchimari and like my submission. The contest is by KitchenAid and you can find other entries by looking for #KitchenAidContest. If I get picked to be one of the 4 finalist, I get to go to New York, get a cooking lesson with Chef Geoffrey Zakarian!!!!  Wow.. I can’t even imagine how cool that would be. It would be such a HUGE prize and a confirmation for me to be part of something like that after all these years of working on my blog. The contest ends tomorrow Sept 14th 5pm so if you can do it before then, I would be so grateful. And of course, if you have an inspiration, you can also enter, there’s still time!

In addition to pork bulgogi, I do have another submission that I did on twitter because you can do different entries per social media account. My submission for twitter @jjkimchimari is Apple Braised Pork Ribs with Apple Kimchi Slaw. I will post the recipe for that very soon.

Basically, there are 3 components to this dish – the spicy apple pork bulgogi, sauteed kale and apples. And finally, the apple salsa. You may want to serve it with a bowl of rice if you want some carbs but is quite a healthy, diet friendly meal on its own. This is a completely original recipe by me and I’m quite pleased with it. Let me know how you liked it.

Servings: 3-4                                Cooking Time: 1:20                           Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 2 lb pork (top loin center boneless extra thin cut or Korean pork bulgogi cut from neck/butt/shoulder)
• 1 medium onion, sliced

For marinade:

• 1 granny smith apple
• 2/3 or 1 thumb of ginger (about 1 Tbs grated)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 T honey
• 2 T Gochujang (Korean red pepper bean paste)
• 2 T cooking rice wine or mirin
• 1 T sesame oil
• 2~3 T sugar (to taste)
• 1~2 tsp Korean red chili powder ( gochukaroo)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 apple juice

Apple Pork Bulgogi with Kale and Apple Salsa

2015-09-12 02:11:51

Serves 3

Addition of apples make this pork bulgogi more delicate than the original marries wonderfully well with any cooked greens like kale or cabbage. Top it with my apple salsa and it's a combination that will keep your mouth happy till the last bite.

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Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

1 hr

Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

1 hr

Ingredients

1. 2 lb pork (top loin center boneless extra thin or Korean pork bulgogi cut from neck/butt/shoulder)
2. 1 medium onion, sliced

For the marinade

1. 1 granny smith apple
2. 2/3 or 1 thumb of ginger (about 1 Tbs grated)
3. 3 garlic cloves
4. 2 T soy sauce
5. 1 T honey
6. 2 T Gochujang (Korean red pepper bean paste)
7. 2 T cooking rice wine or mirin
8. 1 T sesame oil
9. 2~3 T sugar (to taste)
10. 1~2 tsp Korean red chili powder ( gochukaroo)
11. 1/4 tsp black pepper
12. 1/2 apple juice

For Sauteed Kale and Apple

1. 1 granny smith apple, sliced thin
2. 1 bunch kale, cut into strips
3. 1 tsp fresh ginger
4. 1-2 Tbs mirin
5. salt and pepper

For Apple Salsa

1. 1 honey crisp apple, diced
2. 1 tsp orange zest or lemon zest
3. 2 Tbs purple onion, chopped
4. 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
5. 1 Tbs white wine or mirin
6. 1 Tbs apple juice
7. 1 Tbs rice vingear or apple vinegar
8. 1 Tbs honey
9. 1 Tbs green onion, chopped
10. salt to taste

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth to make the marinade.
2. Marinate pork for about 15 min. or up to overnight.
3. Cut onion and apple into thin slices and kale into strips.
4. Make apple salsa by combining all the ingredients. Let it rest.
5. Heat frying pan with oil and ginger on high heat for 1 min or less.
6. When ginger starts to brown, add kale and apples and saute for about 2 min.
7. Add mirin. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for 1 more min or so until kale is tender.
8. Put Kale aside. In the same pan, add a little more oil.
9. Cook pork bulgogi and onions.
10. Turn pork over when it has browned.
11. Serve pork on a bed of onions, spread kale and apples around the bulgogi.
12. Top with the apple salsa and there you go!!

Notes

1. Amazingly good and quite simple to prepare. Serve with a bowl of rice and it will be just so perfect. Leftover pork bulgogi (cooked or uncooked) can be frozen for later. Add more gochujang or chili pepper powder for extra kick!

By JinJoo Lee

Kimchimari http://kimchimari.com/

Thank you!

The post Apple Pork Bulgogi with Kale and Apple Salsa appeared first on Kimchimari.

Braised Soy Pork Ribs with Apples

Another pork and apple recipe!!! This was my second submission for the apple challenge contest by KitchenAid.

Amazing, fall-of-the-bone tender baby back ribs braised in soy sauce and apples. What can be more happy than that?? This is another amazing recipe creation by moi for the KitchenAid’s contest. As far as I know this is totally my creation. The flavor profile certainly has Korean or Asian combination of soy sauce, ginger and rice wine.  A fabulous dish for the fall, so hearty and good that you have to try cooking some this weekend.

Pork ribs or pork chops brings me back to when I was in 5th or 6th grade. Because my sisters are all 10+ years older than I am and my brother +7 years,  they were either attending colleges or married, living in Korea or US during that time. Which meant I spent most of my 5-9th grade years in India by myself. But in the summertime, they often came and stayed with me and my parents in New Delhi. Because of the big age gap, my sisters always showered their little baby sister with lots of love including cooking some delicious foods. Oh, well, by now, you must know that I LOVE yummy food very very much!! Definitely, if you ask me – ‘The way to a sister’s heart is through her stomach.’ haha..it didn’t help much with my weight though..

And one of the most memorable food that my sisters cooked for me was this amazing, finger licking good,  pork chop/rib BBQ. I think we named it “Ketchup Deoji Kalbi”.. I recently asked my sisters how they made it and they could only tell me roughly that it was made with tomato sauce, honey, soy sauce, lots of onions and tomato ketchup.

 I just remember eating those ribs, so happy that it’s sooo insanely delicious but getting sad that my stomach was filling up too soon and thinking..oh how lucky am I to have such wonderful sisters who makes such tasty foods for me!

So hope you can show your love this weekend to your family or friends…

Now, let’s get cooking –

** Because this is a pretty straightforward cooking process, I will skip most post step-by-step pics for this recipe. But I promise I will do that again when I post Korean recipes with unfamiliar ingredients or cooking methods.**

Servings: 4-6 dinners     Inactive Time: 15 min Cook Time: 2 hrs 15 min              Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1 whole rack of baby back ribs (pork) – about 2- 3lbs (1~1.3 kg) or individual pork ribs
• 2 granny smith apple
• 1 onion
• 1 large or 2 small carrots
• 3/4 cup apple juice
• 1 thumb size ginger
• 6 Tbs dark soy sauce (jinkanjang)
• 4 Tbs rice wine or sake
• 2 Tbs sugar
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, 2 fresh sage leaves (optional)
• 2 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• black pepper

1. Heat oven to 325 °F (160°C).
2. Trim as much fat as possible from ribs and cut into individual ribs if it’s a whole rack.
3. Blend following in a blender to make apple soy ginger sauce/marinade:
   • 1 small granny smith apple (if using sweeter apple like fuji, use less sugar and add 1 Tbs of apple cider vinegar)
   • 1 small thumb size ginger
   • 1/4 cup apple juice
   • 2 Tbs soy sauce
   • 2 Tbs rice wine or sake
   • 2 Tbs sugar
   • salt and pepper
4. Marinate pork ribs in the sauce for about 15 min or more. Overnight in refrigerator also works!
5. Clean and peel carrots, onion and apple.
6. Cut carrot, onion and apple into chunks of similar size.
7. Remove ribs from marinade (remove any excess marinade from ribs and save remaining marinade). Heat 1 Tbs oil in a dutch oven over medium high heat and brown ribs on all sides.

   Pork ribs browning in dutch oven pan – notice the smoke..

   Browned and seared pork ribs

   Take ribs out of pot and set aside.

8. Add 1 more Tbs of oil, add onions, carrots and apples and season with salt and pepper. Stir often to make sure things don’t burn. Adjust heat if you find it’s starting to burn. This part is a bit tricky, you need the med high heat to nicely brown the ingredients but you don’t want to scorch it either. Cook until soft for about 5 min.
9. Deglaze pan by first adding 1/4 cup apple juice, making sure you scrape off all the good brown bits stuck at the bottom and side of pan. Once you feel that you have gotten most of the bits off, add rest of the braising liquid – 1/4 cup apple juice, 1 1/2 cups water, 4 Tbs soy sauce, 2 Tbs rice wine. Also add about 1/2 of the leftover marinade from the ribs, 1 Tbs red pepper flakes, rosemary and sage.

   Veggies and herbs for Apple Soy Braised pork ribs

10. Now add ribs back in the pot. Bring liquid to simmer and then it’s ready for the oven!

    Pork ribs, apples and veggies before going in oven for Apple soy braised pork ribs

11. Bake in oven, covered for 1 1/2 hr. Then uncover and bake for 30 min more to reduce the liquid.

    Apple Soy Braised Pork Ribs in Pot

    Enjoy!

    Apple Soy Braised Pork Ribs with Apple Kimchi Slaw

Serving Suggestions/Tips

• Serve with rice and some lighter vinegary, spicy fresh veggie side dish. I made Apple Kimchi Slaw (seen in pic) as a side and it was fantastic! Any kind of Kimchi should be awesome.
• Even though I removed as much fat as possible, there will be a lot of fat on top of the liquid. For easier fat removal, make it a day ahead (reduce cooking time by 10 min or so to allow reheating later without drying out) and cool it in the fridge to harden fat on top. Remove fat and reheat and serve.
• Great article on How to Braising Anything by Bon Apetit magazine.
  Apple Soy Braised Pork Ribs

  2015-09-17 15:28:22

  Serves 4

  Amazing, fall-of-the-bone tender baby back ribs braised in soy sauce and apples.

  Write a review

  Save Recipe

  Print

  Prep Time

  15 min

  Cook Time

  2 hr 15 min

  Total Time

  2 hr 30 min

  Prep Time

  15 min

  Cook Time

  2 hr 15 min

  Total Time

  2 hr 30 min

  Ingredients

  1. 1 whole rack of baby back ribs (pork) – about 2- 3lbs (1~1.3 kg) or individual pork ribs
  2. 2 granny smith apple
  3. 1 onion
  4. 1 large or 2 small carrots
  5. 3/4 cup apple juice
  6. 1 thumb size ginger
  7. 6 Tbs dark soy sauce (jinkanjang)
  8. 4 Tbs rice wine or sake
  9. 2 Tbs sugar
  10. 1 1/2 cup water
  11. 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, 2 fresh sage leaves (optional)
  12. 2 Tbs vegetable oil
  13. 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  14. black pepper

  Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 325 °F (160°C).
  2. Trim as much fat as possible from ribs and cut into individual ribs if it’s a whole rack.

  Blend the following in a blender to make the apple soy ginger sauce/marinade

  1. 1 small granny smith apple (if using sweeter apple like fuji, use less sugar and add 1 Tbs of apple cider vinegar)
  2. 1 small thumb size ginger
  3. 1/4 cup apple juice
  4. 2 Tbs soy sauce
  5. 2 Tbs rice wine or sake
  6. 2 Tbs sugar
  7. salt and pepper
  8. Marinate the pork ribs in the sauce for about 15 min or more
  9. Clean and peel carrots, onion and apple.
  10. Cut carrot, onion and apple into chunks of similar size.
  11. Remove ribs from marinade (remove any excess marinade from ribs and save remaining marinade). Heat 1 Tbs oil in a dutch oven over medium high heat and brown ribs on all sides.
  12. Take ribs out of pot and set aside.
  13. Add 1 more Tbs of oil, add onions, carrots and apples and season with salt and pepper. Stir often to make sure things don’t burn. Cook until soft for about 5 min.
  14. Deglaze pan by first adding 1/4 cup apple juice, making sure you scrape off all the good brown bits stuck at the bottom and side of pan. Add rest of braising liquid – 1/4 cup apple juice, 1 1/2 cups water, 4 Tbs soy sauce, 2 Tbs rice wine. Also add 1/2 of leftover marinade from ribs, 1 Tbs red pepper flakes, rosemary and sage.
  15. Add ribs back in the pot. Bring liquid to simmer.
  16. Bake in oven, covered for 1 1/2 hr. Bake uncovered for 30 min to reduce liquid.

  Notes

  1. Serve with rice and Kimchi or Apple Kimchi Slaw.
  2. To reduce fat, make a day ahead cool it in fridge to harden the fat on top and remove fat before serving.

  By JinJoo Lee

  Kimchimari http://kimchimari.com/

The post Apply Soy Sauce Braised Pork Ribs appeared first on Kimchimari.

One Korean food I really miss when I am away from Korea is Kanjang Gejang (간장게장) – wonderfully delicious Korean fresh crabs that are marinated in soy sauce. Last year, my sister and I drove almost 2 hours to a restaurant near Seosan (Western Sea of Korea) which was famous for good Kanjang Gejang only...

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The post Best Restaurants in Seoul – Day 2 – Kanjang Gejang appeared first on Kimchimari.

Because so many young people in Korea eat out all the time, the newest trend in restaurants is serving Jipbap (집밥) which literally means ‘home food’. Food that taste like mom’s cooking. No MSG, less salty and less sweet, the food doesn’t jump at you like most restaurant food does but the more you eat...

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The post Best restaurants in Itaewon, Seoul appeared first on Kimchimari.

OJingeo Bokkeum (Korean spicy squid stir fry)

Spicy Squid Stir Fry or Ojingeo Bokkeum (오징어볶음) is a dish that I have tried to make many times over the years but was never fully satisfied with the result. It’s not that difficult but I think it is because I was always comparing to a certain taste that was etched in my brain ever since college. 

‘JJ’ was the name of the cafe restaurant. Now, already, there is a very good reason why I would like the place. The cafe was in a small alley near the front area of Ewha Womans University. Many of my classmates visited the place often because the food was surprisingly good for the price and the owner ajeossi (아저씨) was the nicest man ever. We went there so often he gave us lots of freebies and also made sure we got a special bottle of bubbly peach champagne whenever someone was celebrating(?) their birthday.  So we all made sure that all of our friends celebrated their birthdays at JJ’s.

The menu included a typical Koreanized western menu of those days which included Beef cutlet, Pork cutlet, Hamburger steak and Omelet rice. But there was another unusual menu item that was actually my favorite. Ojingeo Deopbap Jungsik (오징어덮밥 정식) is basically ojingeo bokkeum served on top of rice. And it was served with a side of cabbage salad (shredded cabbage served with thousand island dressing) and pickled sweet and sour radish (단무지).

I just loved loved this dish. It was really SPICY though and since I can’t eat very spicy foods, I ended up drinking a LOT of water with the food. And I remembered how my lips was on fire!!! But it was soooo good, I simple couldn’t stop and kept eating. Now, you know me.. I’m always different.. everyone else did not have a problem at all with the spice level. My friends always teased me that I was such a weakling when it came to spicy foods…HEY!!! It’s not because I am weak!  It’s because I have a delicate palette!!! Hear that guys??!!! I’m sensitive and delicate! HAHAHA

Well, ever since I left Korea, I have been trying to recreate that spicy squid stir fry dish for all these years. Now, honestly, it’s been over 25 years so (oh, wow.. I feel old..) my memory is kind of fading but I am happy to report that I finally found a recipe that is similarly good and is simple to make. This recipe is based on Mr. Baek’s cooking show (백선생 집밥) but I have adjusted the seasoning to better suite my taste.

A little bit about SQUID

Tips about squid: You can use calamari instead of squid if squid is not easily available. You can probably buy fresh squid if you live in a coastal area but otherwise, they will probably come frozen. FYI, in case you were wondering, calamari and squid are actually different. Although some will say Calamari is more tender than squid and that calamari is better suited for stir frying, Koreans love to use squid because it is more meaty and has a more chewy texture. Frozen squids at Korean markets will usually have bodies that are about 8-10 in (20 – 25 cm) long. Anything bigger than 12 in (30 cm) may be too tough.

If you don’t want to bother with cleaning a whole squid or if whole squid is not available, you can use pre-cut squid or calamari but flavor will be better if you can purchase a whole squid. Note that calamari cooks faster than squid so you have to be even more speedy in your cooking!

Buying and Cleaning squid: The best kind of squid is the one with where the skin is completely intact. The fewer scars there are on the squid, the fresher the squid is going to be. I bought this one from our local Japanese market. Quite beautiful, I must say… I haven’t seen one this nice in a while. It’s OK if yours come already skinned but the skin holds a lot of the flavor so try to get one with skin on, if you can.

Whole squid in great condition

Nutrition of Squid: I found a great excerpt about nutrition of squid in Korea Foundation’s post on stir-fried squid rice. There’s also a recipe in the post that seems a bit unnecessarily complicated to me but anyway, here’s the quote:  “In addition, as compared to other fish and shellfish, squid contains two to three times more taurine, which helps to reduce cholesterol, and 25-60 times more than any kind of meat (327-854 milligrams per 100 grams). When squid is dried, the taurine appears on the surface as a white residue. Squid is low in fat but rich in fatty acids, such as EPA and DHA. It also contains a high content of selenium, which is indispensable for normal cellular function, and also helps to extract toxic elements and prevent the intake of cancerous agents.”

Well, it’s another good reason to keep the skin on!

Cut the body with scissors all the way to the end to split it open.

cutting squid open with scissors

Removing squid innards and bone – There should be a clear, flexible back bone that goes through the body. Remove the bone and also the innards attached to the body.

Separate the legs from the head which has the eyes and a mouth with a beak like black piece. 

How to cut squid into pieces – btw this is a bigger squid which came already skinned and gutted. 

Anyway, this is what you will end up with –

Squid cut into pieces for Korean spicy squid stir fry or Ojingeo Bokkeum

Korean Spicy Squid Stir Fry (Ojingeo Bokkeum) Recipe

Servings: 3-4                  Cooking Time: 25 min                     Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients

• 1 large or 2 small squid
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 carrot
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1/4 cabbage
• 3 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1 green or red pepper (optional)
• Seasoning
  • 1 Tbs + 1~2 tsp sugar
  • 1 Tbs chopped garlic
  • 1 tsp ginger powder
  • 1 Tbs gochujang
  • 3 Tbs gochukaru (Korean red chili powder) or 4 Tbs if you like things spicier
  • 4 Tbs soy sauce 
  • dash of black pepper
  • 4 – 5 Tbs water

** Tip** 

To make things go smoothly, prepare seasoning and ingredients before hand (mis en place!) and have them next to your stove before you start the stir fry. If you don’t want to bother, you can mix them all at once except the sugar but I think this is one time where it tastes better when it is added separately.

Ingredients for spicy squid stir fry : cabbage, onions, carrots, green onions and squid

1. Prepare a wok or a frying pan on medium high heat. Add 3 Tbs of oil.
2. Add chopped green onions and stir fry for about 2-3 min or until the green onions are nicely browned. 

   Green onions sauteeing in oil for spicy squid stir fry

3. Immediately add squid slices to the pan and stir fry for 1 min or squid pieces look slightly cooked.

   squid stir frying in pan with green onions

4. Add 1 Tbs + 1 to 2 tsp of sugar. Add more ore less sugar depending on whether you like things sweeter or not. Stir and cook until sugar is all dissolved. (20 seconds or less). We are not trying to fully cook the squid but just get it to absorb the sugar first. Because once the squid is salted, it shrinks up and sugar will mostly end up on the outside. This is a trick I learned from a cooking show by Mr. Baek in Korea and it really does increase the sweetness of the squid with the same amount of sugar.

   Korean spicy squid stir fry with sugar added

5. Add garlic, ginger powder, gochujang, gochugaru. Stir for few seconds to let the chili powder roast. Then add soy sauce and black pepper. Stir again.

   Korean spicy squid stir fry with chili powder

6. Add water and stir fry for 1 more minute and it should like like this:

   Korean spicy squid stir fry in pan (ojingeo bokkeum)

7. Add all the vegetables and cook for 7-8 more minutes or until all the vegetables are cooked. The amount of cabbage may seem a bit too much but it will reduce in volume quite significantly.

   Korean spicy squid stir fry with cabbages

   When it is fully cooked – (the color is lighter here due to lighting)

   Spicy squid stir fry or Ojingeo Bokkeum cooking in pan

8. Turn off heat. Finish with a dash of sesame oil and some more fresh green onions as garnish. Optionally, sprinkle sesame seeds.

Serving suggestion:

Serve on top of rice and you have Ojingeo Deopbap!! I served mine on multi-grain rice to make it more healthy. Serve with some side of cabbage salad with mayonnaise+ketchup dressing, sweet and sour pickles like daikon radish to help with the heat. Egg soup or oden soup will also be a great combination. Enjoy!

spicy squid stir fry with rice and side of cabbage salad

Closeup of Ojingeo Deopbap (Stir-fried squid on rice)

My 2 cents – Too much vegetables will water down the taste of the squid and also take longer to cook which means squid can be overcooked.

Spicy Squid Stir Fry (Ojingeo Bokkeum)

2016-02-26 07:41:42

Serves 4

A most popular Korean spicy squid stir fry or Ojingeo Bokkeum that is a great one dish meal when served with rice - which is then called Ojingeo Deopbap.

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Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

25 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

25 min

Ingredients

1. 1 large or 2 small squid
2. 1 yellow onion
3. 1 carrot
4. 3 green onions, chopped
5. 1/4 cabbage
6. 3 Tbs vegetable oil
7. 1 green or red pepper (optional)

Seasoning

1. 1 Tbs + 1~2 tsp sugar
2. 1 Tbs chopped garlic
3. 1 tsp ginger powder
4. 1 Tbs gochujang
5. 3 Tbs gochukaru (Korean red chili powder) or 4 Tbs if you like things spicier
6. 4 Tbs soy sauce
7. dash of black pepper
8. 4 – 5 Tbs water

Instructions

1. Prepare a wok or a frying pan on medium high heat. Add 3 Tbs of oil.
2. Add chopped green onions and stir fry for about 2-3 min or until the green onions are nicely browned.
3. Immediately add squid slices to the pan and stir fry for 1 min or squid pieces look slightly cooked.
4. Add 1 Tbs + 1 to 2 tsp of sugar. Add more ore less sugar depending on whether you like things sweeter or not. Stir and cook until sugar is all dissolved.
5. Add garlic, ginger powder, gochujang, gochugaru and then soy sauce. Also black pepper. Stir again.
6. Add water and stir fry for 1 more minute
7. Add all the vegetables and cook for 7-8 more minutes or until all the vegetables are cooked.
8. Turn off heat. Finish with a dash of sesame oil and some more fresh green onions as garnish. Optionally, sprinkle sesame seeds.

Notes

1. Serve on top of rice with some side of cabbage salad with mayonnaise+ketchup dressing, sweet and sour pickles like daikon radish to help with the heat. Egg soup or oden soup will also be a great combination.

By JinJoo Lee

Kimchimari http://kimchimari.com/

The post Spicy Squid Stir Fry (Ojingeo Bokkeum 오징어볶음) appeared first on Kimchimari.

Pork Bulgogi Spring Rolls with Chrysanthemum Tea

Pork Bulgogi Spring Rolls was an idea I had when I was trying to make healthy gluten-free lunches for my daughter. As I had mentioned before, both my daughter and I don’t do well if we keep eating foods with gluten. First the indigestion, then the bloating and then of course, having to visit the ladies room just too often, too many times…ugh…

I think in 2011, I wrote about how I made rice triangles (Joomukbap) for my daughter’s gluten free lunches. Besides Joomukbap, and simple spam Kimbap, couple of fresh spring rolls wrapped in rice wrapper was probably the most frequent lunchbox menu for my daughter. As you may know, Vietnamese fresh spring rolls usually contain pork and shrimp. Now, when I made spring rolls for my daughter’s lunch, I often used cooked chicken breasts. But that quickly became boring. So I started to experiment…

Leftover Bulgogi was a natural substitute and that was pretty good. But then I tried Pork Bulgogi one day and the Pork Bulgogi Spring Rolls was an absolute hit!! It totally made my day when I asked my daughter how the lunch was and she answered with such delight “Mom!! It was soooo good!!” I haven’t had to make her lunch for few years now and so I haven’t made these in a while. But recently I had a craving for these Pork Bulgogi Spring Rolls so I thought I would make it and share with you all too~

Have a fun and easy Spring Rolls Party!

I was once invited to a lunch party at a Korean mom’s home. She hosted a ‘Make your own Spring Roll’ lunch party. She had a huge plate at the center of the table – loaded with all different vegetables (carrots, bell peppers, bean sprouts, cucumbers), different proteins (chicken, tofu, shrimp) and thin noodles. Each of us made our own spring rolls with our favorite stuffing, wrapped them up and ate them. I think I ate so much that day I almost got sick!! haha… BTW, this is a great way to entertain without all the stress. Nothing has to be cooked last minute, you can prepare all the vegetables and protein ahead of time. You can plate them all pretty and then just enjoy the party without worrying that something is too cold, too hot, too over cooked…if you know what I mean.

Servings: 6 rolls        Time: Prep 20 min + Cook 10 min        Difficulty: Easy

** Cooking Time does NOT include time for pork bulgogi marinade. Allow extra 20 min for making pork bulgogi or make in advance.

Ingredients

• 4 oz (130 g) pork bulgogi (see recipe) – made with pork belly
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1/2 English cucumber or 2 Persian cucumbers, julienned
• 6 medium size cooked shrimp (thawed 31-40 count/lb cooked frozen shrimp)
• 2 cups bean sprouts
• 1 cup of mint leaves
• 1 cup thin rice or regular noodles or kelp noodles (optional)
• 6 sheets spring roll rice wrapper
• 1 bowl of warm water for rice wrapper
• vietnamese or thai sweet chili sauce

1. Marinate slices of pork belly or neck/shoulder/leg. See my pork bulgogi post for more details. I had some pork belly slices (samgyeopsal) leftover so I made bulgogi with it.
2. Thaw shrimp according to package instructions. Shrimp should be fully thawed by the time you finish preparing the vegetables below.
3. Peel and julienne carrot.
4. Slice avocado into 1/2 in thick slices.
5. Wash and julienne cucumber.
6. Rinse bean sprouts, mint leaves and drain.
7. If using noodles, cook according to package instructions. If using kelp noodles (천사채 cheonsache), just rinse. I did not have noodles so it is not included in the pictures.
8. Slice shrimp sideways so one shrimp becomes two thin slices.

   Slicing shrimp sideways

9. Cook pork samgyeopsal bulgogi in pan on medium high heat until browned on both sides.

   Pork belly bulgogi frying in pan

10. Arrange all ingredients on a plate. 

    Ingredients for Pork Bulgogi Spring Rolls

11. Boil water and cool or mix with cold water to make a warm bath for the rice wrapper. If the water is too hot, the wrapper will curl up.
12. Here is how you make the roll:
    1. Submerge rice wrapper in water for few seconds and take it out (while it is still kind of stiff) and put on your plate. I found this brown rice spring roll wrapper from Whole Foods and I think I like this better than the common white rice wrapper. It is more flavorful and also more healthy.

       Brown Rice Spring Roll Wrapper

       wet brown rice wrapper for spring rolls

    2. Choose your stuffing ingredients and layer them in the center of your wrapper.

       Pork bulgogi, carrots, shrimp, bean sprouts, cucumber, avocado and mint for spring roll

    3. Fold in each of the side.

       wrapping fresh spring roll

    4. Roll one edge in and continue rolling like rolling kimbap.
13. Serve with some chili sauce and some nice hot chrysanthemum tea.

    Pork Bulgogi Spring Rolls

I LOVE my Korean Chrysanthemum Tea (국화차 Guk hwa Cha) with Spring Rolls!

Commonly called Indian Chrysanthemum, this cute little Chrysanthemum flowers are dried and then made into tea. It is a tea popular in East Asia. In addition to the lovely aroma and flavor, in oriental herbal medicine, it has also long been known to be beneficial for your liver which then helps your eyes and clears the mind. The fragrance is not too flowery so it goes well with a lot of Asian foods so give it a try. BTW, I found some organic Chrysanthemum tea and added it to my store.

Chrysanthemum Tea (note the dried flowers floating left)

Korean Gukhwacha (국화차) – Chrysanthemums are in full bloom!

Well, that’s all folks!

Enjoy!!

JinJoo

Pork Bulgogi Spring Rolls

2016-03-24 06:44:20

Yields 6

Lovely fresh spring rolls with a Korean twist of pork bulgogi inside. Great gluten free lunch box idea and also great as appetizers.

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Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

30 min

Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

30 min

Ingredients

1. 4 oz (130 g) pork bulgogi (see recipe) – made with pork belly
2. 1 avocado, sliced
3. 1 carrot, julienned
4. 1/2 English cucumber or 2 Persian cucumbers, julienned
5. 6 medium size cooked shrimp (thawed 31-40 count/lb cooked frozen shrimp)
6. 2 cups bean sprouts
7. 1 cup of mint leaves
8. 1 cup thin rice or regular noodles or kelp noodles (optional)
9. 6 sheets spring roll rice wrapper
10. 1 bowl of warm water for rice wrapper
11. vietnamese or thai sweet chili sauce

Instructions

1. Marinate slices of pork belly or neck/shoulder/leg. See my pork bulgogi recipe for more details. I had some pork belly slices (samgyeopsal) leftover so I used that.
2. Thaw shrimp according to package instructions. Shrimp should be fully thawed by the time you finish preparing the vegetables below.
3. Peel and julienne carrot.
4. Slice avocado into 1/2 in thick slices.
5. Wash and julienne cucumber.
6. Rinse bean sprouts, mint leaves and drain.
7. If using noodles, cook according to package instructions. If using kelp noodles (천사채 cheonsache), just rinse. I did not have noodles so it is not included in the pictures.
8. Slice shrimp sideways so one shrimp becomes two thin slices.
9. Cook pork samgyeopsal bulgogi in pan on medium high heat until browned on both sides.
10. Arrange all ingredients on a plate.
11. Boil water and cool or mix with cold water to make a warm bath for the rice wrapper.
12. Wet spring roll rice wrapper and roll with all ingredients according to package directions.

Notes

1. Serve with some vietnamese or thai sweet chili sauce and some nice hot chrysanthemum tea.

By JinJoo Lee

Kimchimari http://kimchimari.com/

The post Easy Pork Bulgogi Spring Rolls appeared first on Kimchimari.

Korean Chicken Braised in Soy Ginger Lemon Sauce with onions served on rice

Korean Chicken Braised in Soy Ginger Sauce (Oven Dak 오븐닭)

Korean Chicken in Soy Ginger Lemon Sauce. You may say..hmm… Korean?? Yes, you guessed it. This is actually not what you call a classic Korean food. Originally, I started out making this Braised Korean Chicken dish with another recipe in mind – one that is called Oven Dak (오븐닭).  Which literally means “Oven Chicken”. Oven Dak (or Oven Chicken) was a special dish that was always served at a family friend (Dr. Ok Gill Kim)’s home when I was growing up. Read about Dr. Kim in my Radish Namul post.

If there is one thing that I wish Korean cooking or recipes used more of – it is the oven. Oven is such a wonderful thing. It may take a little longer to cook in the oven but once you have the right temperature, you can set it and forget it!! 

So, I’m always looking for more ways to cook Korean food (like my Baked Yakwa) using the oven. This Korean chicken or Oven Dak (maybe it’s more Asian Chicken?? )-which even has the word “oven” in its name-was something I always wanted to try. But it has been many years that our family had this Oven Korean Chicken and it took a while for me to gather the information from my sisters (specifically sister #2 because she spent the most time with Dr. Kim). 

If you are interested in Korean history in the 70’s and also want to know more about Dr. Kim, here are some quick stories to share –

Stories of Dr. Ok Gill Kim, 8th President of Ewha (1961-1979)

In short, I had the honor of meeting her several times during my teenage and college years. I even had the privilege of leading one of her Gosari Summer Camps (고사리 캠프) for kids as the main counselor and organizer when I was a sophomore in college. I had no experience with such things but she believed in me enough to just hand over a whole summer program at her private but very public residence in the Munkyeong Saejae (문경세재) mountains in Kyung Sang Buk Do (경상북도) province. If there was a wikipedia entry (she totally deserves one), I would just link it here but sadly there is none.

I say her ‘private but very public’ residence because the doors to her home and gardens were always open to anyone who wanted to visit, eat and sleep, as long as they needed it. Although she would gently buy firmly tell people to also leave whenever she felt it was time.

She was a true educator with unmeasurable love for her students. The late 70’s in Korea was a time when people were rising up against a regime that many thought were too oppressive. There was no freedom of press and people’s rights were not always fully respected. One time when hundreds of Ewha students were demonstrating and wanted to march out onto the streets outside of the university, she stood in front of the huge crowd, telling them to stop and said “If you are going to go out, you will have to step over my body first”. And the students stopped. At that time, there was a huge group of riot police waiting to overwhelm them with tear gas, often times arresting them, even physically hurting them in the process. So it was crucial that students stayed inside the campus.

On the other hand, she understood the frustrations of the students and encouraged them to protest peacefully within the campus where they could be protected. Another time when 4500 demonstrating students finally got outside of campus,  Dr. Kim stood at the front of the student crowd, in between the police and the students, trying to protect them. And after over 5 hours of non-stop demonstrations, she persuaded the students back into the campus and led the students and faculty in an all night vigil of prayer. All through the night, Dr. Kim and 200+ faculty and staff listened to all that the students had to say – praying and fasting together until the morning. Finally, around 5 am, Dr. Kim walked onto the podium and the entire group of 4000+ students rose up in a thunderous applause, expressing their gratitude and utmost respect for all that she had done for them. 

Back to our Korean Chicken…

Oven Dak was one of the standard dishes that was served to guests visiting Dr Kim’s home. The marinade for this Korean Oven Chicken recipe was made with nothing but ginger, soy sauce and oil, because for some reason, Dr. Kim did not like garlic. Can you imagine? A Korean – not liking garlic?? But she did NOT. And so, all food served at her house had no garlic and also no sugar since she had diabetes. Now, one would think her food was probably not that delicious but it was actually amazingly good.  Even her Kimchi was made without garlic if I remember correctly. Hmm…I gotta try that someday..

Anyway, so I started out with a simple marinade of ginger, soy sauce and oil. But then I went off and started to do my own thing and here is the result.  I guess we should call this Korean fusion or modern Korean food. All that matters is that it’s yummy and simple to make, right?

At dinner time, my daughter told me – “Mom, it’s surprisingly good!!”

Well, a happy kid makes a happy mom.

Braised Korean Chicken in Soy Ginger Lemon Sauce

Servings: 2-3                Cooking Time: 50 minutes   Inactive Time: 2 hr                  Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 2 lb bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or legs (6 pieces)
• marinade:
  • 3 Tbs soy sauce (Jin Ganjang)
  • 3 Tbs white wine
  • 1 Tbs mirin or cooking sake
  • 1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp fresh ginger, chopped
  • 1 tsp sugar (optional)
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 1 Tbs of chopped chives or young green onions
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• cooked rice or leftover rice warmed up

1. Mix soy sauce, wine, oil and ginger (add 1~2 tsp sugar or other sweeteners if you like sweet flavors).

   Ginger Soy sauce for Korean Chicken

2. Clean chicken thighs and legs. Remove excess fat and also poke a few times with your knife.

   Chicken Legs and Thighs for Korean Oven Chicken

3. Massage chicken with your hands in the soy ginger sauce and leave to marinate for 2 hours at room temperature.

   Soy Ginger marinated chicken for Braised Korean Chicken

   You can also marinate overnight or up to 2 days in the refrigerator. If it’s marinated overnight, be sure to leave chicken at room temp for 20 minutes before cooking – to remove the chill.

4. Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C). In a heavy (oven safe) pan or dutch oven large enough to hold all thighs/legs in a single layer, heat 2 Tbs EVOO over medium high heat. When oil is hot, sear chicken pieces, skin side down for 4-5 minutes or more until golden brown. Turn over and brown the other side for another 4 minutes until golden brown. Remove chicken and set aside.

   Browned Korean chicken in pan

5. With the pan still hot, add onion slices and lemon slices. I had some leftover purple onions so I mixed them in.

   Onions for Braised Korean Chicken in Soy Ginger Lemon Sauce

   Cook until onions have wilted and brown bits on bottom of pan have loosened. 5-7 minutes. Turn heat off.

6. Place chicken pieces, skin-side up on top of onion mixture. Pour juice of 1/2 lemon and 1 Tbs of sake or mirin.
7. Cover and transfer pan to oven and bake for 40 – 45 minutes.  And here is how it comes out!

   Braised Korean Chicken in Soy Ginger with onions and lemon

8. Serve onions, chicken on top of rice and sprinkle with chopped chives.

   Braised Korean Chicken in Soy Ginger Lemon Sauce served on Saffron rice

   I picked the chives from my garden so I decided to leave the root intact. 

Korean Chicken Braised in Soy Ginger Lemon Sauce

2016-05-25 21:14:12

Serves 2

Easy Korean chicken is a fusion recipe. Marinated in soy ginger sauce, seared golden brown, braised in oven with onions and lemon.

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Prep Time

2 hr 10 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

2 hr 50 min

Prep Time

2 hr 10 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

2 hr 50 min

Ingredients

1. 2 lb bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or legs (6 pieces)

marinade

1. 3 Tbs soy sauce (Jin Ganjang)
2. 3 Tbs white wine
3. 1 Tbs mirin or cooking sake
4. 1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
5. 1 tsp fresh ginger, chopped
6. 1 tsp sugar (optional)
7. 1 onion, sliced
8. 1 lemon, sliced
9. 1 Tbs of chopped chives or young green onions
10. juice of 1/2 lemon
11. 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
12. cooked rice or leftover rice warmed up

Instructions

1. Mix soy sauce, wine, oil and ginger (sugar if you like sweet flavors).
2. Clean chicken thighs and leg. Remove excess fat and also poke a few times with your knife.
3. Massage chicken with your hands in the soy ginger sauce and leave to marinate for 2 hours at room temperature.
4. Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C). In a heavy (oven safe) pan or dutch oven large enough to hold all thighs/legs in a single layer, heat 2 Tbs EVOO over medium high heat. When oil is hot, sear chicken pieces, skin side down for 4-5 minutes or more until golden brown. Turn over and brown the other side for another 4 minutes until golden brown. Remove chicken and set aside.
5. With the pan still hot, add onion slices and lemon slices.Cook until onions have wilted and brown bits on bottom of pan have loosened. 5-7 minutes. Turn heat off.
6. Place chicken pieces, skin-side up on top of onion mixture. Pour juice of 1/2 lemon and 1 Tbs of sake or mirin.
7. Transfer pan to oven and bake for 40 – 45 minutes.
8. Serve onions, chicken on top of rice and sprinkle with chopped chives.

Notes

1. You can also marinate overnight or up to 2 days in the refrigerator. If it’s marinated overnight, be sure to leave chicken at room temp for 20 minutes before cooking – to remove the chill.

Kimchimari http://kimchimari.com/

• I used meyer lemons because that’s what I have in my garden. Meyer lemons are less sour and sweeter than regular lemons. So if you can get some meyer lemons that will make it even better!
• The rice is actually some leftover saffron rice from my mother’s day dinner at a Persian restaurant. But you can use Korean rice or any other rice you have on hand. Serve with some salad or Korean cucumber salad and you should have a fabulous meal!!

            Enjoy! 

            JinJoo

The post Braised Korean Chicken in Soy Ginger Lemon Sauce (오븐닭 Oven Dak) appeared first on Kimchimari.

Yukgaejang (Korean spicy beef soup) served with rice

Yukgaejang or Yukgyejang (육개장) is a soup that I have made for over 20 years and the version I make at home is somewhat different from what I actually grew up with. The classic traditional Yukgaejang soup recipe consists of brisket meat, Gosari (Bracken Fiddleheads) in addition to lots of green onions, bean sprouts and eggs. And this recipe is what I grew up eating. I love Gosari in Yukgaejang and so in the beginning it was hard for me to even imagine it without Gosari. But cooking for my husband changed all that.

Right, my dear husband….the first time I made Yukgaejang for him, he made a comment that was something like

“Um.. Yeobo (여보)..you really don’t have to put Gosari in Yukgaejang. Isn’t it also a lot of work for you??”

Yes, of course, it IS more work for me because I have to rehydrate dried Gosari for hours, trim any tough ends, rinse, etc. But I thought he was just saying it to make my life easier so I kept adding Gosari in the Yukgaejang. Until… finally one day, he goes

“Yeobo, can you NOT put Gosari in my Yukgaejang..because you know..they say it’s not good for men.”

What?? OH!!!! And then I remembered hearing that Gosari is known among Koreans that it diminishes a man’s stamina. ☺️ As I mentioned before in my Gosari Namul post, there is no scientific evidence that this is the case except that when you eat a lot of uncooked bracken fiddleheads (gosari), you can get vitamin B deficiency. I think this came as a concern during war times in Korea because people were generally malnourished. But as long as you are eating healthy meals and you cook it, no need to be concerned at all. Bracken fiddleheads have lots of other nutritional benefits including a lot of fiber, so it’s a good thing.

Over the years, I have really grown accustomed to and developed a fond liking to our family’s simplified Yukgaejang recipe without Gosari. It is much simpler to make and I feel it is clean and pure tasting in it’s own way. Also, no special Korean ingredients are needed except Guk Ganjang! But if you love Gosari, by all means, just add to this recipe. I usually make a big batch and store any leftover soup in fridge for few days or freeze it for later. It is a great hearty soup for your whole family anytime. If you have kids or cannot eat spicy, you can make a separate pot without chili powder and it will be good that way too.

When we lived in Florida in the early 90’s, no grocery stores sold unseasoned, raw beef brisket. The only way you could get beef brisket was in packages that came brined for Corn Beef. My guess is that all beef brisket was used as packaged corn beef, much like how almost all pork belly are made into bacon?!  But times have changed and recently I was so pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful piece of brisket at our neighborhood grocery store!! I love it!!

Brisket for Yukgaejang – Korean spicy beef soup

And here is a pic of the brisket flipped over with the fat side up. Usually the fat is used as-is when using brisket for grilling but not for our soup.

Brisket or Yangjimeori for Yukgaejang

 So, I bought 2 lbs (900 grams) of brisket. Roughly this equates to Yangjimeori 양지머리 in Korean but to be more precise, Korean Yangjimeori cut equates to Flat Cut/Flat Half/First Cut of the brisket and NOT the whole brisket as in this picture. The brisket piece in the picture is just a partial cut of the whole brisket including both the point and flat cut. The Point Cut/Point Half/Second Cut of the brisket in Korea is what Chadolbaegi 차돌박이cuts come from. I digress a little bit here and will show you a pic of how Chadolbaegi cuts look like – 

Chadolbaegi (차돌박이/차돌배기) cut – Korean beef cut for grilling

The point cut of brisket is cut paper thin against the grain including the fat and this makes fabulous Chadolbaegi cuts for Korean BBQ. See my Know Your Beef Cut post if you need more info on Korean vs US beef cuts. Texas A&M Agriculture Dept. has a great article and more pics on different brisket cuts.

For the soup, I trimmed off the fat like so-

Fat trimmed brisket for Yukgaejang

OK! Let’s get cooking, shall we??

Now off to make some hearty, spicy and warming Yukgaejang!

Servings: 6 servings                     Time: 1 hour 30 minutes                      Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients

• 2 lb (900 g) beef brisket, fat trimmed
• 16 cups (1 gallon = 3.8 litre) water
• 3 bunches green onions
• 1 bag (12 oz) fresh mung bean sprouts
• 1 ~ 2 handful of reconstituted gosari (bracken fiddleheads) – optional and omitted in this recipe
• seasoning
  • 2 Tbs guk ganjang (Soy Sauce for Soups)
  • 2 Tbs Korean chili powder (Gochukaru) or more
  • 3 Tbs sesame oil
  • 2 tsp sesame seeds, crushed
  • 2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 4 tsp chopped garlic
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Rinse your fat trimmed brisket in water and then add to a stock pot big enough to hold 1 gallon of water plus room for boiling.

   Brisket in pot for Yukgaejang

2. Turn heat to medium high and bring to boil. Skim off any foam that comes to the top.
3. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 1 hour or until a fork goes in easily into the meat. Meat should be tender enough for you to tear off brisket by hand pretty easily. There will still be a little bit of resistance and that’s OK since we will be cooking the meat further.
4. In the mean time, clean green onions and cut them into thirds. If there are some green onions that are too thick (think about chewing on it), split the white part in half lengthwise first and then cut into pieces about the length of your palm.

   Green onions cut for yukgaejang

5. When done, the stock should be nice and cloudy like below. You can actually just stop here and eat the soup and meat like it is. See my post for Hearty Beef Soup (Gogiguk) on how to make the most delicious plain beef soup. Take out the brisket and let it cool.

   Korean beef brisket soup or stock for Yukgaejang

6. Once the meat is cool enough to handle, tear the meat into pieces, following the grain. You will have a pile of wonderfully chewy and flavorful brisket meat. Steal a few pieces into your mouth if you are hungry..

   Torn brisket for Yukgyejang

7. Season the torn brisket pieces with soy sauce, chili powder, sesame oil, sea salt, sugar, garlic, garlic powder, sesame seeds and black pepper.

   Brisket meat with seasoning added

   Mix well with hands (use a plastic glove). And add couple handfuls of green onions and mix again.

   Brisket meat for Yukgaejang seasoned

8. Add seasoned meat and green onions and rest of the green onions all back into the soup.

   Yukgaejang in pot ready to cook

9. Turn heat on to medium high and bring to boil. Cook for 10 minutes and then add bean sprouts (and gosari).

   Yukgaejang with bean sprouts added

10. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or more. After about 10 minutes of simmering, taste the soup and adjust seasoning. Add more salt or more chili powder to taste. Simmer remaining 10 minutes.

    Yukgaejang fully cooked in pot

    And there we have it!! Serve with some rice, kimchi and something not spicy like this tofu side dish that I have here. Yes, tofu side dish recipe is coming up soon!! FYI – the top left is made with tofu and broccoli, the smaller tofu dish is made with tofu and mugwort (ssukkat 쑥갓). They are both sooo good and healthy.

    Yukgaejang (Korean spicy beef soup) with rice with tofu side dish

Notes and Tips

• My Yukgaejang is on the less spicy side. Add more chili powder and more sesame oil to make that chili oil layer on top (as you will probably see in many restaurants). I personally don’t care much for that much oil layer on top but it’s totally up to you. Korean spicy beef soup is one of those soups that taste better the next day. But of course, you don’t want to cook so much that everything turns to mush and also reducing the broth too much.
• If you love eggs, add some whipped eggs to the soup (like egg drop soup) few minutes before serving and it adds extra richness.
• Substitute regular Jin Ganjang if you don’t have Guk Ganjang. There will be less umami flavor but still good enough!

Hope this soup becomes your go-to soup as much as it did for me and my family!

Enjoy!

XOXO,

JinJoo

Yukgaejang - Korean spicy beef soup

2016-06-06 23:52:05

Serves 6

Yukgaejang is a classic spicy Korean beef soup that is made from brisket meat, green onions, bean sprouts and gosari (bracken fiddleheads). It is soo good you can't stop at just one bowl. Serve with rice and you have a complete meal.

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

1 hr 20 min

Total Time

1 hr 30 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

1 hr 20 min

Total Time

1 hr 30 min

Ingredients

1. 2 lb (900 g) beef brisket, fat trimmed
2. 16 cups (1 gallon = 3.8 litre) water
3. 3 bunches green onions
4. 1 bag (12 oz) fresh mung bean sprouts
5. 1 ~ 2 handful of reconstituted gosari (bracken fiddleheads) – optional and omitted in this recipe
6. seasoning
7. 2 Tbs guk ganjang (Soy Sauce for Soups)
8. 2 Tbs Korean chili powder (Gochukaru) or more
9. 3 Tbs sesame oil
10. 2 tsp sesame seeds, crushed
11. 2 tsp sea salt
12. 1/2 tsp sugar
13. 4 tsp chopped garlic
14. 1 tsp garlic powder
15. 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Rinse your fat trimmed brisket in water and then add to a stock pot big enough to hold 1 gallon of water plus room for boiling.
2. Turn heat to medium high and bring to boil. Skim off any foam that comes to the top.
3. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 1 hour or until a fork goes in easily into the meat. Meat should be tender enough for you to tear off brisket by hand pretty easily. There will still be a little bit of resistance and that’s OK since we will be cooking the meat further.
4. In the mean time, clean green onions and cut them into thirds. If there are some green onions that are too thick (think about chewing on it), split the white part in half lengthwise first and then cut into pieces about the length of your palm.
5. When done, the stock should be nice and cloudy like below. You can actually just stop here and eat the soup and meat like it is. See my post for Hearty Beef Soup (Gogiguk) on how to make the most delicious plain beef soup. Take out the brisket and let it cool.
6. Once the meat is cool enough to handle, tear the meat into pieces, following the grain. You will have a pile of wonderfully chewy and flavorful brisket meat.
7. Season the torn brisket pieces with soy sauce, chili powder, sesame oil, sea salt, sugar, garlic, garlic powder, sesame seeds and black pepper.
8. Mix well with hands (use a plastic glove). And add couple handfuls of green onions and mix again.
9. Add seasoned meat and green onions and rest of the green onions all back into the soup.
10. Turn heat on to medium high and bring to boil. Cook for 10 minutes and then add bean sprouts (and gosari).
11. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or more. After about 10 minutes of simmering, taste the soup and adjust seasoning. Add more salt or more chili powder to taste. Simmer remaining 10 minutes.

Notes

1. Serve with some rice, kimchi and something not spicy like this tofu side dish.
2. My Yukgaejang(육개장) is on the less spicy side. Add more chili powder and also more sesame oil to make the chili oil layer on top that you will probably see in many restaurants. I personally don’t care much for that much oil layer on top but it's totally up to you. Korean spicy beef soup tastes better the next day. Store leftovers in fridge for few days or freeze for later.

By JinJoo Lee

Kimchimari http://kimchimari.com/

The post Yukgaejang – Korean Spicy Beef Soup appeared first on Kimchimari.

Jeju Island: Seongsan Sunrise Peak, Seogwipo City. Photo courtesy Jeju Special Self-Governing Province via Jeju Weekly

Jeju Island is probably my favorite place in all of Korea. It has everything – ocean, tropical weather, volcanic mountains, amazing food, pretty flowers and even horses that are native to the island (brought in hundreds of years ago). Flavors of Jeju Island include many things but I would have to say their ultra fresh seafood, amazing black pork and sweet mandarin oranges are some that they are best known for. My first visit to Jeju Island was when I was in high school and I just LOVED everything about the island and ESPECIALLY the beautiful open fields with HORSES ❤️… I LOVE horses (I used to ride when I was little) and I told my Dad back then –

“You know.. Dad??  If you can find a man who owns a horse farm here, I would definitely consider marrying him!” HAHAHA…shhh…good thing my husband doesn’t really read my blog…

Now, recently my fabulous sister #3 had the opportunity to visit Jeju Island and wrote me this great post about the best restaurants in Jeju.

If you want to know more about Jeju Island – this article by Jeju Weekly has some great photos along with good information.

Anyway, my sister #3 came through for me again. I am so grateful to her for these wonderful articles since I don’t live in Korea anymore… She has traveled all over the world as an interpreter and she is a true foodie so if she says something tastes good, you gotta believe it!! Thank you so much sis!!

Flavors of Jeju Island Day 1, By my sister JY

For several years, I’ve been going to Jeju Island every April to interpret at a conference called the Global Breast Cancer Conference (GBCC). The subject is a bit depressing, but I take on this job because of the venue.

Jeju is a big volcanic island situated off the southern coast of Korea, sort of like Hawaii, but more subdued. It is a beautiful island and was named a UNESCO Natural Heritage Site a few years ago. It used to be a default honeymoon destination before Koreans could afford to go abroad for their honeymoons.

After the first day, we – the four colleagues plus one husband – sought a well-deserved night out at a local restaurant called “Dongerami Shikdang (동그라미 식당).” (translation: Circle Restaurant) This husband is an advertisement producer, climber, gourmet, carpenter and an amateur chef. Go figure. Anyhow, he knows practically ALL the good eateries in the country, and he was our culinary guide during our stay.

The restaurant, located on an obscure back road, was a small place run by a family who also owns a pig farm. A bit cruel if you think about it. The place itself appeared a bit shabby and run-down, but it’s said to be famous among locals. It’s also super cheap, so I decided to dismiss the unsettling décor. I do have to make two comments.

Smiling pig picture at Jeju restaurant – Dongerami Shikdang

Note the image of the smiling pig giving a thumbs-up. Does the poor animal know what’s happening at this restaurant?

Paper talisman of pig at Jeju restaurant

Also note the paper talisman plastered above the entrance door mantle. These are shamanistic good luck charms that supposedly ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune. People pay a fortune to have one custom-written for their household or business. I’ve seen many of them, but never in the image of a pig.  

Jeju pork is famous for its taste. Basically, the pig is a different breed. It’s black in color and both the meat and fat are chewy in texture.

Jeju black pig

As you can see in the photo, it almost looks like a wild boar. The meat is darker than the usual pale pink of ordinary pork. Once you taste this black variety, you can never go back to ordinary pork. It’s sort of like Angus beef versus ordinary beef.

Usually, a grill is placed on top of a live coal fire. In this case, a cast iron pan was used instead. The meat is placed on top of the hot pan.

Korean Jeju pork belly and shoulder bbq

An important part of Korean barbecue is the deft cutting performance of servers. Although the appearance of large scissors at the table tends to shock foreigners, it is an indispensable part of the experience. Thus, I have attached a video complete with the sizzling sound effect.

There are four cuts of pork you can order. Pork belly (Samgyeopsal 삼겹살), Butt (Mok sal 목살), Neck (Hangjeong Sal 항정살), Boneless picnic (Apdari sal 앞다리살). For more detailed info and diagram on Korean vs US pork cuts, see JJ’s Know your pork cut!! post. We ordered all four. I liked the Apdari sal (boneless picnic) and samgyeopsal (pork belly). Actually they call it Ogyeopsal(5-layerd pork belly) rather than Samgyeopsal(3-layerd pork belly) here. This is because it is more ‘streaky’ than usual which also means there’s less fat.

Banchan for Korean pork bbq

The pork can be eaten wrapped in kimchi, wrapped in lettuce, or dipped in either peppered salt or salted anchovies.

Salt and salted anchovy sauce for Korean pork bbq

The salted anchovies were so old that it almost looked like soy sauce. It tasted wonderful with the grilled pork.

After we devoured six orders of pork with cold beer, the owner brought out a simmering pot of kimchi jjigae made of really, really sour kimchi. I think their kimchi was at least three years old which is then called Mugeunji (묵은지). But it was good. It also cleansed the mouth of any residual grease.

Although the price on the menu was modest, we had consumed a substantial amount of meat and booze. Fortunately, the husband decided to be chivalrous and picked up the bill. We all thanked him and returned to our hotel feeling very mellow, very happy, and very fat.

The post Flavors of Jeju Island – Day 1 appeared first on Kimchimari.

Korean Fried Chicken (Dakgangjeong) with Sweet Garlic Soy Glaze

Korean Fried Chicken glazed with Sweet Garlic Soy Sauce served with green onions

Korean Fried Chicken is HERE!!! YAY!!!  

I’m sure by now you probably have heard of this wonderful creation. And I think someone referred to Korean Fried Chicken as the other KFC! Hmm… I guess Korean Fried Chicken was destined to become famous – just like Colonel Sanders’ Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)!!! 

Right, so actually, “Korean Fried Chicken” refers to a whole set of Korean fried chicken dishes, not just one kind. And thus, they all have different names in Korean. Here are some of the most common fried chicken dishes you can find in just about everywhere in Korea.

Different types of Korean Fried Chicken

• Dakganjeong (닭강정) – the most traditional Korean fried chicken that is seasoned, dredged just with corn starch/potato starch, fried twice and then coated with sweet garlic soy sauce glaze. This is what I’m posting today.
• Tongdak (통닭) – Tongdak means ‘whole chicken’. Whole small young chicken is lightly coated and then fried as whole until crazy crispy. Then it’s cut into pieces and served with salt/pepper for dipping along with sweet sour radish cube pickles. Sometimes this is also cooked rotisserie style (jeongigui tongdak 전기구이 통닭). Jeongi (전기) means electric and Gui (구이) means grilled.
• Yangyeom Chicken(양념치킨) or Yangnyeom Tongdak (양념통닭) – a very recent addition (1982) to Korean cuisine but interestingly, this is probably what is best known outside of Korea as ‘Korean Fried Chicken’. Lightly coated in egg/corn starch batter, fried twice to crispness and then coated in very sweet (sometimes too sweet for my taste) gochujang tomato sauce. Topped with chopped peanuts. 

  Korean Fried Chicken (Yangnyeom Chicken) at Kangneung Market

  Note, at the bottom of the picture, this store calls it Danggangjeong which tells you the names are used interchangeably.

• Padak (파닭) – First, Pa (파) = green onion. This is Korean fried chicken served with lots of fresh green onion slivers. Fresh green onions go amazingly well with fried chicken. This is my daughter’s most favorite. 
• Chicken (치킨) – Huh?? Is this a dish?? Well, yes..this is pretty funny…but in Korea, ‘chicken’ (pronounced ‘chikeen’ by Koreans) refers to fried chicken and NOT any other kind of chicken. So if a Korean says ” 치킨 먹으러 가자 chickeen meogeureo gaja”, that implies “let’s go and eat some FRIED chicken!”. For any other chicken dishes, Koreans will use proper Korean names for it – samgyetang, dakdoritang, baeksuk, dakkalbi.. etc. But ONLY when it comes to fried chicken, it’s suddenly called by its English name.  I guess “fried chicken (후라이드 치킨 huride chikeen)” was just too long…lol… as Koreans love to shorten everything.

Now, if you asked me what makes a Korean Fried Chicken special or different?? I would answer that that they have two things that makes them special. One, they are almost always very crispy (fried twice to achieve this effect). Two, they have a very thin to almost no coating/batter allowing the skin to become very crispy which in turn results in a lighter and less fatty fried chicken. See this great NY Times article about Korean Share Their Secret for Chicken with a Crunch. 

Before we get into the recipe, I have to share about why I cannot avoid thinking about my dear daughter when it comes to Korean Fried Chicken. 

My daughter came to live with us for a few months in Seoul after she graduated college. And she just fell in love, I mean really in LOVE with Korean Fried Chicken. I think she might have said at one point that she wanted to marry Korean Fried Chicken if it was a person. HAHAHA.. Now, she loved it sooo much that she had fried chicken almost 2-3 times a week. And towards the end of our stay as we were scheduled to leave Korea, I kid you not, I think she ordered Korean Fried Chicken almost EVERYDAY!!! Yikes!!!! Good thing she is young!!

As our time to leave Korea was approaching, my daughter was almost in tears when she talked about her wonderful Korean Fried Chicken with green onions, saying how sad she was that she will not be able to order (and this is the other part she really loved, just picking up a phone and ordering chicken for delivery) her precious Korean Fried Chicken anymore…. I mean, really..talk about someone who loves food!!!?? I don’t think even I was that bad when I was a kid…hehehe

Anyway, about on my 3rd try, my Korean Fried Chicken (Dakgangjeong) recipe finally got my daughter’s seal of approval. And this is a gluten free version so it’s even more awesome. She liked it so much that she requested that I make this Korean Fried Chicken with Sweet Garlic Soy Glaze for her birthday dinner recently!  I was so very happy to make it for her….If you are a mom, you will understand the satisfaction and happiness you feel – there’s just nothing like seeing your family enjoy the food you cook.

Crispy Gluten Free Korean Fried Chicken with Sweet Garlic Soy Glaze (Dakgangjeong 닭강정)

Serves 3                                Cooking Time: 1 hr                   Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients

• 2 lb chicken wings or drummetts
• Seasoning for chicken
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 Tbs rice wine
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/8 tsp ginger powder
• Sweet Garlic Soy Glaze
  • 3 Tbs jin ganjang (Korean dark soy sauce) or gluten free Kikomman soy sauce
  • 2 Tbs sugar
  • 1 Tbs water
  • 2 Tbs rice wine or white wine
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp chopped ginger
  • 1 tsp red pepper seeds or red pepper flakes
  • 4 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
  • 3 dried red chilis (Japones chile, Oriental style chili peppers)
  • sesame seeds (optional)
• 1 1/2 cup corn starch
• Vegetable or Canola Oil for frying

1. Clean chicken wings by removing any excess fat. If using whole wings, cut at the joint so that you have 2 pieces. Also cut off the wing tip and discard. I made it easier for myself by buying just drummettes.

   Chiken Drummettes for Korean Fried Chicken

2. Put chicken wings in a bowl and season with salt, pepper, rice wine, ginger, garlic and onion powder. Massage the wings and leave for few minutes.

   Chiken Drummettes seasoned Korean Fried Chicken

3. Heat vegetable or canola oil in a fryer pot or any heavy bottom pot. Oil should be at least 2 inches deep in the pot. Heat oil on high heat for about 8 minutes or until it reaches 325°F (160°C). If you don’t have a thermometer, you can also check by dropping couple crystals of sea salt or kosher salt. It should make a loud popping noise as it reaches the bottom. If it does not, then it’s not hot enough. 

   Tramontina Deep Fryer pot for frying Korean Fried Chicken – my new favorite fryer

   **Personally, I don’t like electric fryers because they are hard to clean. I bought this Tramontina deep fryer pot recently and I really love it. The great thing is that you can use it as a regular pot if you need to because it has two lids. (No, this is not sponsored, but I just like it). I decided to fry it outside to avoid the smell taking over the house!

4. While oil is heating, make the glaze. Heat a small sauce pot or pan over medium high heat. Add 1 tsp of sesame oil and 1 tsp of vegetable oil and sauté dried red Japones chiles and garlic slivers until slightly brown and fragrant. About 30 seconds. 

   Garlic and Chilie in oil for Korean Fried Chicken

5. Add to garlic chili oil made in step 3, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, ginger, water and crushed red pepper flakes. Mix and bring to boil. Then simmer for about 3-4 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.

   Sweet Garlic Soy Sauce for Korean Fried Chicken

   We don’t need the sweet garlic soy sauce to be thick and syrupy because it will be mostly absorbed by the fried chicken. Set aside.

6. Dredge chicken wings in corn starch. An easy way to do this without getting corn starch all over your counter or your hands is to use a paper bag or plastic bag! Put corn starch in the bag and then add wings (5-6 pieces). Grab the top of bag with your hands and shake the bag (up and down).

   Coating chicken with corn starch in paper bag for Korean Fried Chicken

   AND VOILA!!

   chicken in paper bag coated with corn starch for Korean Fried Chicken

7. When the oil is hot enough, drop the wings in the fryer.

   Chicken in basket for frying

   Do not add too many pieces (just enough to take up one layer of space in the pot) because the temperature will drop too much. 

8. Fry wings for about 6-8 minutes or until light golden brown like so. DO NOT over brown since this is only our 1st fry.

   Korean Fried Chicken Wings after 1st fry

   Take wings out of oil and let oil drain away buy either using a basket or letting them cool for few minutes on paper towel. Repeat step 8 and fry rest of chicken wings. Let them cool for few minutes.

   IMPORTANT – Before frying the wings the 2nd time, have either a bowl or frying pan ready next to the fryer so that you can toss the chicken wings with the sweet garlic soy glaze right when wings come out from the fryer.

9. Fry wings a 2nd time again at 325°F (160°C) for about 2-3 minutes this time. Until it becomes nicely golden brown.

   Korean Fried Chicken fried in basket

10. After draining the oil from wings, immediately transfer the hot wings onto a bowl/pan, add glaze and toss. Use about 1 Tbs soy glaze for about 5 wings. Wings should absorb most of the sauce.

    Korean Fried Chicken glazed with sweet soy sauce

11. That’s it!! Serve when it’s hot!

JJ’s Tips

• Coating – for variation, mix potato starch or rice flour with corn starch. I actually tried all different combination and I did not find much of a difference in crispness. I actually liked corn starch the best in terms of flavor.
• Frying – it’s a pain to measure oil temperature as you fry. Just check once at the start but after that you need to learn how to do it by feel. If it browns too fast (less than 3-4 min) then it’s too hot. If it browns too slow (still pale after 4 min or so and also not bubbling enough) then oil is too cold, so raise the heat. It’s not a big disaster if the temp is not perfect. Just adjust as you go. If it browned too quickly in your 1st fry then use a little lower heat in your 2nd fry to cook chicken more thoroughly.

Serving

• Serve with green onion slivers, Korean pickled radish or pickles, and salad like cole slaw. And rice and kimchi
• If you don’t want the soy glaze, just season wings with a little more salt and then eat it plain without the glaze. This is really good too.
• For extra garlic flavor, fry some garlic separately and serve as garnish. Crispy garlic is always great!

Enjoy!!

XOXO,

JinJoo

Soy Glazed Korean Fried Chicken served with green onions (Dakgangjeong or Padak)

Korean Fried Chicken glazed with Sweet Garlic Spicy Soy Sauce

Korean Fried Chicken glazed with Sweet Garlic Soy Sauce (Dakgangjeong)

2016-07-23 18:16:31

Serves 3

Crispy Korean Fried Chicken wings glazed with sweet spicy garlic soy sauce. Gluten free corn starch coating makes an extra crispy chicken.

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Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

1 hr

Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

1 hr

Ingredients

1. 2 lb chicken wings or drummetts
2. 1 1/2 cup corn starch
3. Vegetable or Canola Oil for frying

Seasoning for chicken

1. 1/2 tsp sea salt
2. 1/4 tsp black pepper
3. 1 Tbs rice wine
4. 1/4 tsp garlic powder
5. 1/4 tsp onion powder
6. 1/8 tsp ginger powder

Sweet Garlic Soy Glaze

1. 3 Tbs jin ganjang (Korean dark soy sauce)
2. 2 Tbs sugar
3. 1 Tbs water
4. 2 Tbs rice wine or white wine
5. 1 tsp sesame oil
6. 1 tsp vegetable oil
7. 1 tsp chopped ginger
8. 1 tsp red pepper seeds or red pepper flakes
9. 4 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
10. 3 dried red chilis (Japones chile, Oriental style chili peppers)
11. sesame seeds (optional)

Instructions

1. Clean chicken wings by removing any excess fat. If using whole wings, cut at the joint so that you have 2 pieces. Also cut off the wing tip and discard.
2. Put chicken wings in a bowl and season with salt, pepper, rice wine, ginger, garlic and onion powder. Massage wings and leave for few minutes.
3. Heat vegetable or canola oil in a fryer pot or any heavy bottom pot. Oil should be at least 2 inches deep in the pot. Heat oil on high heat for about 8 minutes or until it reaches 325°F (160°C). If you don’t have a thermometer, you can also check by dropping couple crystals of sea salt or kosher salt. It should make a loud popping noise as it reaches the bottom.
4. While oil is heating, make the glaze. Heat a small sauce pot or pan over medium high heat. Add 1 tsp of sesame oil and 1 tsp of vegetable oil and sauté dried red Japones chiles and garlic slivers until slightly brown and fragrant. About 30 seconds.
5. Add to chili oil, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, ginger, water and crushed red pepper flakes. Mix and bring to boil. Then simmer for about 3-4 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.
6. Dredge chicken wings in corn starch.
7. When the oil is hot enough, drop the wings in the fryer. Do not add too many pieces (just enough to take up one layer of space in the pot) because the temperature will drop too much.
8. Fry wings for about 6-8 minutes or until light golden brown.
9. Take wings out of oil and let oil drain away buy either using a basket or letting them cool for few minutes on paper towel. Repeat above steps and fry rest of chicken wings. Let them cool for few minutes.
10. Before frying the wings the 2nd time, have either a bowl or frying pan ready next to the fryer so that you can toss the chicken wings with the sweet garlic soy glaze right when it comes out of the fryer.
11. Fry the wings a second time again at 325°F (160°C) for about 2-3 minutes this time. Until it becomes nicely golden brown.
12. After draining the oil from wings, immediately transfer the hot wings onto a bowl/pan, add glaze and toss. Use about 1 Tbs soy glaze for about 5 wings. Wings should absorb most of the sauce.
13. Serve when warm!

Notes

1. Serve with green onion slivers, Korean pickled radish or pickles, and salad like cole slaw. And rice and kimchi :)
2. Mix potato starch or rice flour with corn starch for different coating. I actually tried all different combinations and I did not find much of a difference in crispness. I actually liked corn starch the best in terms of flavor.

By JinJoo Lee

Kimchimari http://kimchimari.com/

The post Crispy Korean Fried Chicken with Sweet Garlic Soy Glaze appeared first on Kimchimari.

Jeju Island – Jungmun Daepo (http://www.winwallpapers.net/korea/)

I meant to post this Day 2 post earlier but things kinda got lost in the shuffle…..   Anyway, here is Day 2 of my sister’s visit to Jeju Island describing her visit to the best seafood restaurant in Jeju Island. Day 1 was Pork. Day 2 is Seafood! As you can imagine, Jeju island is famous for its fresh seafood.

If you missed my earlier post, read Flavors of Jeju Island – Day 1  if you want to know more about Jeju Island and Jeju pork. Ok, the following is brought to you by my sister #3, again. Thank you sis, I know you are a very busy woman and I really appreciate you taking pics and writing this wonderful piece about this Jeju Island restaurant.

Jeju Island Day 2: Seafood

Budu Hwe Jip restaurant Jeju Island

After the carnivorous feast the previous day, the natural choice was seafood. So the husband again took us to the “Budu Hoet Jip” 부두 횟집 (translation: raw fish house by the docks). There was an error with our reservation so we ended up waiting for about 30 minutes. I took advantage of this time to take photos of the fish tanks outside the restaurant.

Sea squirt seafood tank

The photos are those of live abalone, ocean eel, fish, and sea squirt. 

A popular fresh seafood that’s served raw at many sea side towns in Korea is a particular variety of octopus called Nakji (낙지 octopus vulgaris). It’s small in size and habitats tidal mudflats. So they’re not fished but plucked out of the mud during low tide. When eaten as a hoe (회 raw fish), it’s cut up while still alive, and we call this sannakji (산낙지)  which means “live octopus.” When served, the pieces still move on the plate. I think it’s a rather barbaric way of eating octopus, but there are sannakji fanatics who claim it’s a test of true gourmets.

Trianon wine in Jeju Island

One thing caught my eye. Two empty boxes of French wine sitting outside the joint. It’s certainly not on the menu. I guess the owner didn’t know how to spend all the money he was making.

After the long wait, we were finally seated at the outside table and ordered the set menu. There was nothing to choose. The menu is decided by the catch of the day. Customers just choose the total price of the meal – 150,000won, 200,000won, etc., depending on the number of diners.

They first brought out small plates of appetizers consisting of raw abalone, sea cucumber, octopus, squid, belt-fish, mackerel, etc. There were so many I had to take three separate photos.

Korean Hoe (sashimi) at Jeju Island

Korean Sashimi (Hoe) at Jeju Island

Koreans harvest and eat almost everything from the ocean. We are particularly fond of slimy and gooey things like squid and seaweed. One very popular slimy fellow is the monggae 멍게 (sea pineapple or sea squirt). Monggae looks like those rubber balls with spikes sold in pet stores.

Sea Squirt (멍게) – Source (www.breaknews.com)

But we only eat the soft inside. It is, yes, very slimy and also quite bitter. But the bitterness turns into something wonderful when combined with sweet and spicy gochujang. There was also gaebul(marine spoon worm) on the table, so I tasted it for the first time in my life. Gaebul has a muddy color and a taste that’s non-descript, but it was palatable when dipped in cho–gochujang. Cho-gochujang is chili bean paste mixed with vinegar and sugar. It’s similar to wasabi-soy sauce or cocktail sauce in principle, and makes anything from the ocean taste good.

Gaebul 개불 – Marine Spoon Worm

Of all the appetizers, my favorites were the raw abalone and sea cucumber. Thinly sliced, very hard to chew, but divine in flavor. The best thing about eating seafood near the ocean is that you’re getting the real thing. Most restaurants or markets in Seoul will sell farmed seafood. There’s a huge difference in flavor.

After a while, the big plate with a mound of sliced raw fish was finally served. Ordinarily, raw fish is served thinly sliced and spread flat on the plate, but not this one. I could hear an “Ahhh!!” sound at every table when this small hill of raw fish appeared. The fish was a type of dom 돔 (sea bream). There are about ten different varieties of doms in Jeju, but non-locals really can’t tell. All I can say is that it was super, super fresh. There’s a slight elasticity to raw fish when it’s this fresh. It’s completely different from the sashimi served in urban Japanese restaurants, which usually come from frozen blocks of fish.

Sea Bream Hoe (Sashimi) at Jeju Island

By this time, it was late and the ocean breeze had turned cold. So we were very happy when the last course was served: clear fish jjigae(stew) made from fish bone and head and served boiling on the table-top stove. It was the perfect ending to a glorious seaside feast. Fish head is an invaluable part of the fish and makes the best tasting broth. There should be a law prohibiting supermarkets from cutting the fish heads off.

Korean Fish Head Stew served at Korean Hoe Jip (Sashimi restaurant)

Anyhow I was so eager to warm my body that I forgot to take a photo until the fish soup was half gone. Sorry, Jinjoo. I’ll try to get a better photo next year. Ciao!

The post Flavors of Jeju Island – Day 2 : Seafood appeared first on Kimchimari.

Korean Fish and Shrimp Jeon (Saengsun Jeon, Saewoo Jeon)

Korean Fish and Shrimp Jeon are almost always served in a full course traditional Korean dinner, especially for special seasonal festive meals around Chuseok and New Year’s. When I first posted my recipe for Kkaetnip (깻잎전) and Wanja Jeon (완자전) aka Mini beef patties and stuffed perilla leaves back in 2011, I had planned to post about these two jeons not too long after. Well, I don’t know how but it become way LOOONG after..since it’s now 5 years after! Well, thank you all for your patience!

There are many different types of Jeon(전) in Korean cuisine and I wrote all about it in my previous Mini beef patties and stuffed perilla leaves post so look there for more info. Fish and Shrimp Jeon were both in the list of various Jeons that Koreans like to make. Fish Jeon is usually made with white meat fish, especially Cod and Pollock. Since Daegu (대구) = Cod in Korean, it is also called Daegu Jeon (대구전). When it is made with Pollock, it is called Dongtae Jeon (동태전). 

When I think of Shrimp Jeon or Saewoo Jeon (새우전), I think of my parents’ diplomatic dinners that they hosted for other foreign ambassadors while we were living in New Delhi, India. For any formal diplomatic dinners, we always served a full 5+ course meal. And for the 3rd course which was a fish course, Shrimp or actually Prawn Jeon (as Prawns were what was available in India) was almost always served. Because, in the late 70’s, markets in New Delhi had very limited seafood but prawns were almost always available and were delicious. 

BTW, people either think prawns and shrimps are the same thing but just different in size. That’s actually incorrect!! They are totally different species but because their flavor and texture are very similar, people use them interchangeably in their cooking. For more detailed info on Prawns vs Shrimps, read this Cook’s Illustrated article.

Now going back to my days of India…another great thing about shrimp jeon is that you can make them ahead of time and keep them warm in the oven and serve warm when needed. I think I mentioned in one of my earlier post but I guess my career in the kitchen started way early from when I was in 5th grade!

When my parents hosted important diplomatic dinner parties at our home, I basically hung in the kitchen all day, especially during dinner service time. Of course, the main reason was to eat any leftovers or anything else that broke or had ugly shapes – haha. And that’s also when I learned that the flavor of food changes so drastically depending on the temperature. Jeon that is cold is completely different from one that is piping hot, freshly off the pan.

The other reason was because my mom asked me to watch the kitchen during dinner service to make sure every dish gets served correctly in the right order, at the right temperature, with the correct sauces, ..etc. I have no doubt that if my older sisters were around, the duty would have fallen on them but because they were all away in college, I was practically an only child and so I got introduced early into the world of parties and cooking.

With two cooks (one Korean, one Indian) and 3-4 servers, you would think that they could manage it without me but that was just not the case. Mainly it was because our Korean ajuma cook did not speak English and the Indian staff did not speak Korean. Another is that everyone was so busy trying to do their own task, there was no ONE person overseeing the whole service procedure. For example, with the Shrimp Jeon, you have to make it ahead in time but have to be very careful that they don’t get too dry in the oven. However, at the same time, making sure they don’t become too soggy and served nice and warm. My mom was quite a perfectionist in this sense and if something went wrong with the service, oh, the poor staff people got an earful! And I did not like seeing my mom upset so this was my way of trying to make sure things went well without a hitch.

TIP!!  If you ever want to serve your Jeons for a party, you can make them ahead and keep them warm in the oven until service time but cover it (but not fully, leave the side open) so that they don’t dry up. Many Koreans serve Jeon at room temperature but they taste SO MUCH better when they are served  WARM. And even BETTER when it is eaten right after they are cooked.

What fish fillets do I use for Korean Fish or Saengsun Jeon?

Buy frozen cod or pollock fillets from your neighborhood Korean grocery store (it should say 동태전감  or 대구전감) or just buy cod fillets from your favorite grocery store. I bought mine from whole foods and they came in individual fillet packets that look like this.

Frozen Cod Fillet Packets for Korean Fish Jeon (Saengsun Jeon)

Korean Fish Jeon (생선전 Saengsun Jeon) and Shrimp Jeon (새우전 Saewoo Jeon) – Gluten Free

Servings: 4            Cooking Time:                   Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 10 pieces large shrimp/prawn (16/20 count)
• 1 lb cod fillets
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup Gluten Free flour or regular flour
• sea salt
• pepper
• oil for frying
• Chive Carrot Salad
  • 1/2 cup chives, cut 2-3 inch lengths
  • 1/3 cup carrots, julienned
• Dressing for Chive Carrot Salad
  • 1 tsp jin kanjang (For GF, try this GF soy sauce or Tamari soy sauce)
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp gochukaru (Korean chili powder)
  • 1/2 tsp sesame seeds

1. Defrost shrimp or fish if they are frozen.
2. Clean and cut carrots and chives.

   Chives and carrot julienned for chive carrot salad

3. Make dressing for chive carrot salad and set aside.
4. A good size shrimp for Saewoo Jeon is 16/20 count shrimp like below:

   Shrimp for Korean Shrimp Saewoo Jeon

   You don’t need the head and you can buy peeled shrimp if you’d like. Mine came with the peel on so I peeled the shells off except the tail.

5. Cut along the rounded back to butterfly each shrimp. Make sure you cut deep enough so that the shrimp is totally flat but not so deep that it’s in two separate pieces!

   Butterflying peeled shrimp for Saewoo Jeon

   Butterflying is easier if you actually hold the shrimp with one hand and with the other hand use the knife to carefully cut into the back. Details on how to butterfly shrimp if you need it.

6. Clean off any black/greyish veins which are basically the shrimp’s guts. It should look clean like this when all done.

   shrimp butterflied and cleaned

7. Once all shrimps are butterflied and cleaned, season each side with sea salt and black pepper. Set aside.

   shrimp butterflied and seasoned

8. Cut cod fillets into smaller pieces. It’s easiest when you cut at an angle like so –

   Cutting cod fillet for fish jeon

   I like to cut my fish pieces pretty thick (1/3 inch) but you can cut it thinner if you’d like.

9. Lay out cut cod fillet pieces and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Also, a trick that I use to make it even better is to drizzle sesame oil (1-2 drops on each piece).

   cod fillet seasoned with salt, pepper and sesame oil for jeon

10. Prepare flour in a dish. Prepare egg batter by lightly whipping eggs.
11. Heat up a frying pan on medium heat. Drizzle a generous amount of vegetable oil (2 Tbs or so).
12. Coat both sides of shrimp or fish with flour.

    coating shrimp with flour

13. Coat floured shrimp or fish with egg batter and put into pan. Jeon should quietly sizzle after it touches the pan.

    Korean fish jeon frying in oil

14. Cook jeon until each side is golden brown – about 2-3 minutes on each side. Making sure you add additional oil in between. Probably another 1 Tbs of oil after you turn them over and also when you start a new batch.

    shrimp jeon frying in pan

15. Toss chive and carrots with the dressing. Serve Fish and Shrimp Jeon with the chive and carrot salad on the side. Chive and Carrot Salad is a modern addition that adds freshness and a little punch of flavor from chives. Serve a side of Soy Vinegar dipping sauce (see Dipping Sauce) for more traditional flavors.

Here is how you can serve Seafood or Haemul Jeon and salad together. Salad is totally optional.

Saengsun (Fish) Jeon Saewoo (Shrimp) Jeon with Chive and Carrot Salad

Korean Jeon (Fish and Shrimp) with Chives

Well, there you go! 

ENJOY! ❤️

JinJoo

TIPS

• Leftovers can be refrigerated and later reheated in non-stick pan with no oil or little bit of oil in regular pan. 
• Can be eaten at room temperature so it can be a good lunch box banchan.
• Here’s a great everyday dinner menu that I cook often –  instead of making jeon a side dish (banchan), I make it the main dish. To be the main dish, make sure they are served WARM!!
  • Fish/shrimp/hobak jeon
  • Soup or Jjigae: gochujang hobak jjigae or doenjang jjigae or baechu doenjang guk
  • rice
  • kimchi or salad.

Pan-Fried Fish and Shrimp Jeon (Saengsun and Saewoo Jeon)

2016-08-17 19:13:38

Serves 4

Cod and Shrimp are coated in flour and egg and then pan-fried golden brown. Great side dish or even main dish to any Korean meal. Easy, Simple and Delish!

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Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

30 min

Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

10 min

Total Time

30 min

Ingredients

1. 10 pieces large shrimp/prawn (16/20 count), fresh or frozen
2. 1 lb cod fillets, fresh or frozen
3. 3 eggs
4. 1/2 cup Gluten Free flour or regular flour
5. sea salt
6. pepper
7. oil for frying

Chive Carrot Salad

1. 1/2 cup chives, cut 2-3 inch lengths
2. 1/3 cup carrots, julienned

Dressing for Chive Carrot Salad

1. 1 tsp jin kanjang (For GF, try this GF soy sauce or Tamari soy sauce)
2. 1 tsp lemon juice
3. 1 tsp rice vinegar
4. 1 tsp sugar
5. 1/2 tsp gochukaru (Korean chili powder)
6. 1/2 tsp sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Defrost shrimp or fish if they are frozen.
2. Clean and cut chives and julienne carrots.
3. Make dressing for chive carrot salad and set aside.
4. A good size shrimp for Saewoo Jeon is 16/20 count shrimps. You don’t need the head and you can buy peeled shrimp if you’d like. Peel off shells off shrimp except the tail.
5. Cut along the rounded back to butterfly each shrimp. Make sure you cut deep enough so that the shrimp is totally flat but not so deep that it’s in two separate pieces!
6. Butterflying is easier if you actually hold the shrimp with one hand and with the other hand use the knife to carefully cut into the back.
7. Clean off any black/greyish veins.
8. Once all shrimps are butterflied and cleaned, season each side with sea salt and black pepper. Set aside.
9. Cut cod fillets into smaller pieces. It’s easiest when you cut at a angle.
10. I like to cut my fish pieces pretty thick (1/3 inch) for my fish jeon but you can cut it thinner if you’d like.
11. Lay out cut cod fillet pieces and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Also to make the fish jeon taste even better, drizzle sesame oil (1-2 drops on each piece).
12. Prepare flour in a dish. Prepare egg batter in another shallow bowl (whip eggs lightly).
13. Heat up a frying pan on medium heat. Drizzle a generous amount of vegetable oil (2 Tbs or so).
14. When oil moves around freely, pan is ready.
15. Coat both sides of shrimp or fish with flour.
16. Coat shrimp or fish with egg and put into pan. Jeon should quietly sizzle after it touches the pan.
17. Cook jeon until each side is golden brown – about 2-3 minutes on each side.
18. Be sure to add additional oil as you cook Jeon. Probably about 1 Tbs or so after you turn the Jeon over.
19. Toss chive and carrots with the dressing. Serve Fish Jeon and Shrimp Jeon with the chive and carrot salad on the side.

Notes

1. Chive and Carrot Salad is a modern addition and is meant to be eaten together with the Jeon.
2. Also serve a side of Soy Vinegar dipping sauce (see my Dipping Sauce recipe) for more traditional flavors.
3. Refrigerate any leftovers and reheat in pan with no oil or with little oil.
4. Great lunch box banchan.

By JinJoo Lee

Kimchimari http://kimchimari.com/

The post Pan-Fried Fish and Shrimp Jeon (Saengsun and Saewoo Jeon) appeared first on Kimchimari.

[caption id="attachment_7928" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Miso Pork Belly with green onions and cabbage[/caption]

Miso Pork Belly! This is one of the recipes I was asked to develop for my recent recipe project and at first, I have to confess I was kind of lost. I have had Grilled Miso Salmon at restaurants and loved it it but I wasn't sure how miso would work on pork belly. But this miso pork belly marinade turned out so delicious that I decided I had to write a post on it - even though this is not a traditional Korean dish. BTW, don't worry, I am allowed to share the recipes with you. :)

Growing up, pork was one of my favorite meats. I loved boiled pork belly (삼겹살수육 Samgyeopsal Suyuk) with Naengmyeon, soy braised pork ribs (돼지갈비조림 Dweji Kalbi Jorim), pork bulgogi (돼지불고기 Dweji Bulgogi) and I also loved Tonkatsu. ❤️  😍

But after marrying my husband, eating pork at home was not at all easy because he is somewhat allergic to it. His reaction to pork is pretty interesting - his nose gets totally stuffy, eyes become red and itchy and he says his chest feels cold.. basically his body is not happy. Now, according to Korean traditional medicine, pork is a COLD food and my husband was diagnosed to having a COLD body so eating COLD foods kind of makes him sick.

The post Miso Pork Belly with Green Onions appeared first on Kimchimari.

[caption id="attachment_7943" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Korean Tacos with Kalbi, Napa Cabbage Slaw and Gochujang sauce[/caption]

Korean Tacos with Kalbi or Bulgogi have been around for some time now. These days, I even see them pretty often on TV, on programs like Eat St. and DDD. Usually, I am not a big fan of fusion food but every now and then I run into some really good combinations. While I was living in Korea, I visited Vatos Tacos in Itaewon and I instantly fell in love with Korean Mexican fusion. If you ever get to visit Bulgogi Taco and Kimchi french fries smothered with cheese, topped with kimchi are some of their great foods

So recently (well, actually not really.. it was last year 😜 ), I was inspired to try out some recipes for Korean Tacos for a party that I hosted at our home.

The post Korean Tacos with Kalbi and Napa Cabbage Slaw appeared first on Kimchimari.

[caption id="attachment_8477" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Spicy Alaska Pollock Stew (Dongtae Jjigae)[/caption]

Alaska Pollock Stew or Dongtae Jjigae is a very popular Korean fish stew that is made with frozen Alaska pollock. I have shared in my Bugeo Gui recipe about how Koreans use different words to describe Alaska pollock in different states - fresh, frozen, dried, semi-dried.. Alaskan pollock is such an important ingredient in Korean cuisine that there are unique names (6 in all!) for all the different ways the fish comes in. Dongtae 동태 (frozen), Bugeo 북어 (dried), and so on - see my post on Bugeo for more.

As you may have guessed, the 'dong' in Dongtae (동태 凍太) means 'frozen'. And I don't know why this phrase suddenly comes to my head but Koreans talk about someone's eyes looking like 'frozen pollock eyes' = '동태눈'...hahaha...

The post Alaska Pollock Stew with Gochujang – Dongtae Jjigae appeared first on Kimchimari.

[caption id="attachment_8651" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Spicy korean dried squid recipe (Ojingeochae Muchim 오징어채 무침)[/caption]

Korean Spicy Dried Squid Recipe or Ojingeochae Muchim (오징어채 무침) is one of the most popular banchan in Korean cuisine. Especially in dosiraks (Korean bento lunchbox). It is also my daughter's most favorite side dish. Recently, my good friend and best blog follower Judith asked me to post this spicy dried squid recipe. She told me that she wanted to make ojingeochae muchim but said if I was going to post a recipe soon, she was willing to WAIT even though she already bought the ojingeochae. Well, Judith, although a bit late, this is for you. Oh and this is also for my daughter for later, when she decides to make it. :)

The post Korean Spicy Dried Squid Recipe (Ojingeochae Muchim) appeared first on Kimchimari.

[caption id="attachment_9148" align="aligncenter" width="736"] Instant Pot Short Ribs - Korean Galbi Jjim[/caption]

Instant Pot Short Ribs (Galbi Jjim) recipe is here!! YAY!! Which means...YES - I got my Instant Pot!!!

Actually, I got it almost a month ago...😉 but I was so busy with travel and consulting for a new restaurant opening, the instant pot sat sadly on my counter all this time...in case you don't know what Instant Pot is - it is a slow cooker + pressure cooker + rice cooker all rolled into one. Go to Instant Pot site for more info and see this review.

[caption id="attachment_9134" align="alignleft" width="150"] Galbi Jjim (Korean Braised Short Ribs) plated[/caption]

After having tried 2 recipes in one day, I have a feeling Instant Pot and I are going to become very very good friends. 😍 Now, before we go on any further, for those of you who are NOT interested in an Instant Pot Short Ribs recipe, please know that you can always make Galbi Jjim using my traditional Galbi Jjim recipe so don't worry. However, I hope you will continue reading cause it may get you to start thinking about this new appliance called Instant Pot.

The post Instant Pot Short Ribs (Galbi Jjim) – Fast and Delicious! appeared first on Kimchimari.

[caption id="attachment_9238" align="aligncenter" width="714"] Chicken Bulgogi, Rice and Chrysanthemum Tea[/caption]

Chicken Bulgogi that is not spicy and juicy. Try this for your BBQ this Spring!

Chicken Bulgogi is often made with a spicy marinade which means gochujang is involved. The flavors are pretty similar to Pork Bulgogi. Recently, I was asked to develop a non-spicy version for a client and it came out so yummy and easy, I decided to share that with you here. For this recipe, you do NOT need any fresh ingredients except for the chicken. This Chicken Bulgogi marinade can totally be made from pantry items so it would be a great recipe to have for days when you are low on fresh grocery items like fresh garlic, onions, etc. 

Here I served with some rice and beautiful Chrysanthemum tea which is my most favorite to have with Korean food.

The post Easy Chicken Bulgogi (Dak Bulgogi) for BBQ appeared first on Kimchimari.

[caption id="attachment_9270" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Kalbi Korean Short Ribs Oven Grilled[/caption]

Kalbi or Galbi (Korean Short Ribs), however you want to spell it, is simply the best way to eat short ribs on the BBQ.

[caption id="attachment_5349" align="alignleft" width="240"] Korean BBQ party table with Kalbi, Radish Salad, Kimchi and Potato Salad[/caption]

I don't know why I never wrote a separate post just on Kalbi. I wrote a Summer BBQ Party post some time ago and shared a Kalbi recipe there but I just don't have a good explanation why I never posted a stand alone one. In addition to the fact that this post has my latest recipe for Kalbi that uses red wine instead of rice wine and onions instead of kiwi, I will also show you how to grill Kalbi in the oven using the broiler, in case you don't want to grill on a real BBQ.

Kalbi memories?? Haha.. Yes....Grilling Kalbi outside in our backyard or at our farm in Icheon...  was probably one of the happiest moments of my childhood. You know me, happiness is ALWAYS linked with food.. HAHAHA..

The post Kalbi – Easy Korean Short Ribs Blender Marinade for BBQ! appeared first on Kimchimari.

[caption id="attachment_9330" align="aligncenter" width="678"] Garlic Scape Stir Fry with Shrimp (Maneuljjong Bokkeum 마늘쫑 볶음)[/caption]

Garlic Scapes lightly stir fried with dried shrimp is just sooo good.

Garlic scapes or Maneuljjong 마늘쫑 is one of those vegetables that is still only available for a short period of time (May and June) in a year. I am old enough to remember the days when most vegetables and fruits were seasonal and the change of seasons brought excitement to me, dreaming about how fabulous strawberries would be or how wonderfully cooling a watermelon would be when they are in season. Now, everything is available all year around and I think life is less exciting just because of that.

The post Garlic Scapes Stir Fry with Dried Shrimp (Maneuljjong Saewoo Bokkeum) appeared first on Kimchimari.