Korean food in Japan

[helenjp]

Kris, I read in your bio that you like Korean food.

I find Korean food goes so well with Japanese meals that almost every dish I try becomes a regular on the family menu.

Best discovery so far: tofu/okara burgers that include ground sesame and sesame paste -- they actually taste GOOD!

We used to have a supermarket that sold coarse-ground chili and other Korean ingredients, but that closed down, and supermarkets around here sell fewer and fewer exotic ingredients as the economy continues to drag.

[torakris]

I do love Korean food! probably more then (gasp!) Japanese food, though I know a lot less about it.

Korean food is quite similar to Japanese (in the preparation styles and ingredients) that I often integrate Korean dishes into Japanese meals. My 5 year old already loves kimchi and can finally eat it straight, still have to wash it for the 7 year old!

I know what you mean about Korean ingredients slowly disappearing from the supermarket shelves, it is happening in my area too. About 5 years ago they were everywhere probably because of the spicy foods/chile pepper diet that was the fad at the time.

If you ever find yourself in the Kabukicho area go to Kankoku hiroba supermarket, the choices are incredible and the prices are great!

The variety in kimchis is astounding and some of the best stuff I have every had. I make trips out there a couple times a year, but they also have a homepage and you can order from there:

Kankoku Hiroba

What are some of your favorite Korean foods in Japan?

[helenjp]

Kankoku Hiroba...I will remember that!! Elder son was born in Kabukicho at a small Red Cross hospital there...maybe that's why he likes spicy food so much!

I was surprised to hear that ingredients are disappearing from supermarkets out your way too...I thought it was because we are on the east of town, which is definitely less wealthy than the west -- you can see the difference in what people on the trains are wearing as you travel from east to west!

I made some kimchi at home once or twice...it tasted really good, with oki-ami and squid etc., but it was VERY hot!

I like all kinds of namul, because bibinbap is surely THE healthiest all-in-one meal there is.

I have one excellent Korean cookbook which is very detailed, but the library and the internet are great sources for quick versions.

Most surprising discovery: mabiki daikon (the tiny daikon that are thinned out of the fields) pickled in a flour and water paste. That was a great pickle!

I also like hot somen with niku-miso -- it's a fast meal, the kids love it, and if I have niku-miso in the freezer, they can make it themselves...and it deals with that backlog of somen that sometimes results when temperatures drop very quickly in the autumn!

[helenjp]

Found it! Recipe for Korean tofu and ground meat patties...

200g ground beef (but I use pork)

1/2 block firm tofu (this would be around 200g)

Seasonings: 3 tab finely chopped onion (naga-negi), 1 tsp finely minced garlic, 1.5tsp cornstarch (katakuriko), 1 tab soy sauce, 0.25tsp salt, good grind of pepper, 1.5 tab sesame oil (the brown Asian kind), 1 tab ground sesame seeds

Soy/Vinegar Dip: 2 tab soy sauce, 1 tab rice vinegar or other mild vinegar, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp chopped pine nuts if desired.

Wrap tofu in gauze and squeeze out water, or wrap in kitchen paper and place under weights, or pop into a springloaded mini pickle press and leave until it is about half of its former self.

Crumble the tofu into a bowl, add the meat and the seasonings. Mix and knead thoroughly, and form into small patties (flattened ping pong ball size at most).

Heat a pan with a little sesame oil, and fry patties on both sides, making sure they are nicely browned.

Serve with a few sprigs of mint if desired and dip in the soy/vinegar dip to eat.

[torakris]

Helen,

that is almost identical to the one I make.

Somtimes I go all out and make them chijimi (pa'jon) style and dip them into flour and then into a beaten egg before frying.

My kids go crazy for these!

[helenjp]

Chijimi...

Yum! Yes! I like them made with seafood, but we have one son who dislikes shrimp, squid, scallops...etc.

Since I discovered this way of making tofu patties, I use it all the time -- the sesame gives it extra flavor and also keeps it juicier than the usual run of dry, crumbly tofu patties!

Regards

[torakris]

article about the boom of Korean foods in Japan:

http://metropolis.japantoday.com/biginjapa...ginjapaninc.htm

[torakris]

Just last week I was asking a Korean friend about the word chijimi, since I have come to realize it is only Jaapn that uses this word to describe the Korean "pancake".

She told me chijimi is North Korean in origin and chijimi (which means "nothing at all") was brought into Japan early last century and though the name has changed, specifically in South Korea, to 'jon or cheon (or however it is written in English) the name has remained the same in Japan sice those Koreans who originally came never returned to their homeland.

[helenjp]

Talking of chijimi, now is a good time (for me, anyway, since I live down the road from a shiitake farm, heh heh) to make shiitake chijimi...sort of a cheap variation of the kind served stuffed into half clamshells?

I have made it with chicken to accomodate family tastes, but it is normally finely chopped shrimp flavored with a little finely chopped onion (naganegi) and ground sesame, seasoned with salt and pepper, floured, egged, and fried, and served with soy/vinegar sauce with and extra whack of lemon juice and some chopped pinenuts.

Apart from things like shrimp and scallops, what I like best about Korean food is that they can take things which are essentially uninspiring, like beansprouts, and make great food out of them!

[torakris]

Yesterday I took a trip to Okubo with a good Korean friend. Okubu is just a 10 minute walk from Shinjuku station, but once you get there you feel as if you have left the country! Everywhere you look the signs are all printed in Korean, the Korean language can be heard all around you and every restaurant you walk past serves some Korean speciality. Carts are parked on the street selling Korean mochi, hotok and and other popular street foods, the supermarkets stock all the food items an ex-pat Korean would want including an incredible variety of Kimchi.

For dinner we went to one of my friend's favorite places a tiny hole in the wall with only 15 seats and run my two female cooks, this was really Korean home cooking at its best...

For more info check out this article:

http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyo/406...y/intdining.asp

[jrufusj]

Kristin:

I'm going to have to make my way to this neighborhood soon.

I took my son today to Showa Kinen Park out at Tachikawa. What a great park!!! We had an absolute ball. If anyone with preschool or elementery aged kids hasn't been there, you must go soon.

I realized, though, that one thing was sorely missing...deokbokki. I've been spoiled by Korea. Even though I love Japanese snack food, an amusement park or a zoo or a big play park just isn't right without deokbokki.

I just read the article you had linked to and have one comment...5,000 yen for budae jjigae?

There are two stories about the development of budae jjigae (budae in Korean means military unit). The first is that immediately post war, when the country was impoverished by the war, the stew was invented to use up leftover US military rations (such as hot dogs and other processed meats). The second story is that the stew was created near military bases to provide familiar low-end food to American troops and that it prospered initially because it was also cheap enough for Korean soldiers. The key point is that both of these stories play up the low-cost, frugal nature of the dish. The idea of paying 5,000 yen for four people to eat budae jjigae is just unimaginable.

I know all things are supposed to be expensive in Tokyo...and that Korean food is generally expensive here (especially yakiniku). But yakiniku is also expensive, special occasion food in Korea. Budae jjigae should not cost more than 500 (maybe 600) yen per person in Seoul (and all the banchan would be free there).

Longing for deokbokki and ready to start exploring Korean groceries in Tokyo,

Jim

[helenjp]

Just flying in to recommend this book called

Okonomi Chijimi

It has several different chijimi batters, plus lots of ideas for jon, and even some hints on ways to use up left-over jon. Nice dipping sauces too.

This is the book that broke through my "no more cookbooks" policy this year, and I'm totally unrepentant!

[Akiko]

Helen,

What is chijimi and what is jon?

[helenjp]

Working late, bit rushed at the moment, the quick answer is...

Chijimi....Scallion chijimi is the best known. Bang a few things on a hotplate and when softened, pour over a batter (made from flour and water, maybe buckwheat flour or mochi flour, sometimes seasoned with garlic or miso or kochujan). Fry flat, serve with chili miso dip or soy/vinegar

Jon...very lightly dredge some veges or fish with flour, dip in egg, bang on hotplate. Usually seved with soy/vinegar.

Hope somebody can give a more appetizing description...

[torakris]

Helen,

What is chijimi and what is jon?

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Chijimi is the word used in Japan fro the Korean pancake known throughout the rest of the world as pajeon/pajun/and a hundred other spellings.

Jeon (Pan-fried Food). Jeon refers to vegetables, seafood, or meat, dipped in egg

and flour and fried.

I was told that chijimi is the "old" word for the modern day pajeon and was brought into use in Japan by the Koreans that were brought over early last century and it stayed in use because the Koreans stayed in Japan thus never learning the "new" word.

[torakris]

I love chijimi/pajeon and make them quite a bit, some favorites being pork and nira (garlic chives), kimchi - alone or with pork/seafood, kabocha, and zucchini with beef.

I actually prefer chijimi to okonomiyaki....

[Jason Perlow]

My favorite variation of Pajun is with Korean green chiles and scallions... goes great with that shoyu dipping sauce.

I like Okonomiyaki as well... but they are more filling and more elaborate.

[melonpan]

I've never been satisfied with chijimi recipes in Japanese cooking magazines- never as crisp and mochi-mochi as they are from a restaurant. So this cookbook has been added to my wishlist.

hello.

i dont quite understand "crisp and mochi-mochi"... does this mean "crisp yet chewy"?

you can try adding some amount of mochiko to your jijimi ( <i>another</i> spelling? ) and/or jeon batter. this will make your food a bit chewier... id say for starters, you might just make the mochiko a tiny portion: if youre making batter with 1/2 cup of flour, add a tablespoon or two of mochiko. you can keep adding more if you really like the chewiness.

<center>nira jijimi

<img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041019buchu4.jpg"></center>

<center>image of squash jeon

<img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041108hobak6.jpg"></center>

happy cooking~!

[torakris]

I was commenting to a Korean friend of mine on a recipe I found for pajeon/chijimi that called for soy milk (instead of water) and she said she almost always made hers with regular milk (again instead of water). I had never seen recipes calling for milk before, I wonder if that would change the texture somewhat.

[torakris]

I always make mine with regular flour, but have seen recipes that call for mung bean powder, shiratamako and even katakuriko in addition to or instead of flour. Maybe I will experiment a bit more.

[torakris]

Just flying in to recommend this book called

Okonomi Chijimi

It has several different chijimi batters, plus lots of ideas for jon, and even some hints on ways to use up left-over jon. Nice dipping sauces too.

This is the book that broke through my "no more cookbooks" policy this year, and I'm totally unrepentant!

←

I picked up the book!

Last night I made one of their salads.

I know, I know, I buy a book on chijimi and I make a salad... but it was great! hakusai (Chinese cabbage) and mizuna with a sesame oil- sugar-rice vinegar-sesame seed-chile dressing. I wanted to try some of their chijimi recipes but everything calls for mochiko and I don't have any.

I did make a kimchi chijimi last night but with a very simple egg, cold water and regular flour batter.

[chefzadi]

I always make mine with regular flour, but have seen recipes that call for mung bean powder, shiratamako and even katakuriko in addition to or instead of flour. Maybe I will experiment a bit more.

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My wife likes to add rice flour to her batters. It gives a crispier crust. Her favorite part of buchingae is the lacey, super crispy perimeter. The rice flour also makes for a chewier interior.

Also, soy milk or cow's milk (or any other milk for that matter) is not traditional. I've never seen this. Although the first time I had kimchi buchingae, I told my in laws that it would taste really good with the addition of cheese and they gasped. But I recently found a Korean restaurant in Los Angeles that makes it with cheese and they call it kimchi pizza.

[torakris]

I always make mine with regular flour, but have seen recipes that call for mung bean powder, shiratamako and even katakuriko in addition to or instead of flour. Maybe I will experiment a bit more.

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Last night I made a seafood chijimi with nira and I made it with 70% shiratamako and 30% flour, it was incredible! I have never had it get so crispy before, I will never go back to just flour again!!

[AzianBrewer]

My friends ma greases her pan with butter when she make panjeon. Any of your here tasted kimchi panjeon??

[torakris]

My friends ma greases her pan with butter when she make panjeon.  Any of your here tasted kimchi panjeon??

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Kimchi ones are one of my favorites, but since I have small kids I rarely make them anymore. I usually end up instead making a spicy dipping sauce with kochujang in it.

speaking of dipping sauces what does everyone make theirs with?

butter, interesting....