Korean Home Cooking

[torakris]

A while ago a Korean friend of mine taught me a wonderful dish call dakgalbi. This very simple dish of chicken (are other meats used?) and vegetables has quickly become a staple in my house.

It couldn't be any easier to prepare, kochujang marinated chicken is layered in a pan with various vegetables. The heat is turned on and a lid placed on top, the dish is stir a couple of times during the 20 or so minutes of cooking.

The most recent version I made had chicken thighs, cabbage, onions, Japanese sweet potato and green beans with bean sprouts and green onions added at the end.

before cooking

ready to eat

not the prettiest dish to look at in my pictures but it sure tastes good!

[torakris]

Probably my absolute favorite is bibimbap

but this wonderful dish already has a cook-off as well as several threads:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...301&hl=bibimbap

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=53508

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=41245

[hzrt8w]

[...]It couldn't be any easier to prepare, kochujang marinated chicken is layered in a pan with various vegetables.

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Kris: Is this "kochujang" some kind of ready-made sauce? Can it be made with more basic sauces? Is that the name of the sauce?

[touaregsand]

Hi hzrt8w

Kochujang is one of the mother sauces of Korean cooking. The other two are dwenjang and kanjang When homemade there is a process/method that produces all three from a base. Korean kanjang is also called Chosun kanjang. It's different from commercial soy sauce. My mother has a bottle of Chosun kanjang from a batch she made when we first immigrated to America. It's about 30 years old!

There is a shortcut method to making kochujang at home from Japanese miso paste. It produces a pretty tasty product, but it does not have the complexity and depth of flavor of homemade kochujang.

You can buy premade kochujang, it's readily available in Korean stores or online. For bibimbap I thin it down with a little rice wine vinegar and add a bit of sugar. If you thin the sauce down more, that's basically the sauce you get at Korean seafood restaurants.

Hi Kris

Other meats are not used for dakgalbi because dak means chicken and galbi means ribs. I recall restuarants that specialize in dalgalbi became trendy maybe 15 years ago in Seoul. The vegetables and chicken are cooked at the table in a large round pan. I suppose you could use pork belly, since traditionally there is a spice kochujang marinade for pork. Beef would not taste good at all IMO and there is no such thing as a traditional kochujang marinade for beef.

Edited October 16, 2005 by touaregsand (log)

[hzrt8w]

[...] My mother has a bottle of Chosun kanjang from a batch she made when we first immigrated to America. It's about 30 years old!

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Thank you, touaregsand. Wow! 30 years is a long time!

I observed that Korean word "jang" kept appearing repeatedly. I venture to guess that it means "sauce". It sounds very close to Mandarin Chinese "jiang" which means sauce. When I get to taste some of these "jang", I may be able to compare them to Chinese sauces.

I have never tried making Korean food. But after seeing so many beautiful photos on Korean cooking, I gotta try out some of these! I need to find out where my local Korean stores are first...

[Seitch]

Hi hzrt8w

Kochujang is one of the mother sauces of Korean cooking. The other two are dwenjang and kanjang When homemade there is a process/method that produces all three from a base. Korean kanjang is also called Chosun kanjang. It's different from commercial soy sauce. My mother has a bottle of Chosun kanjang from a batch she made when we first immigrated to America. It's about 30 years old!

There is a shortcut method to making kochujang at home from Japanese miso paste. It produces a pretty tasty product, but it does not have the complexity and depth of flavor of homemade kochujang.

You can buy premade kochujang, it's readily available in Korean stores or online. For bibimbap I thin it down with a little rice wine vinegar and add a bit of sugar. If you thin the sauce down more, that's basically the sauce you get at Korean seafood restaurants.

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Hi Touaregsand,

Would you happend to have recipes for homemade kochujang, dwenjang and kanjang? Thanks.

-S

[Soup]

Great to have Korean discussed again, yeah!!!

Do any of you make your own kochujang, dwenjang and kanjang? Much respect to anyone who does. I would love to see how these are made. Even of my parents generation, I don't know a single person that make these at home anymore.

I do have very fond memories of my grandmother making fermented soybean blocks for making dwenjang kanjang. The process to my understanding is similar to cheese making but I will be the first to admit I don't know that much about the process.

As for the "mother sauce"/kochujang. I use it all the time. I made some pork belly (thinly sliced) using a sauce made with kochujang, soy sauce, garlic, blk pepper, ginger, sugar and seseme oil. Marinate for a couple of hours and grill until edge become a bit burned and crisp. I use a wire mesh on top of my gas grill so it doesn't fall through. My kids eat this stuff up.

CY, great website. Have been on it a few times.

[viaChgo]

I don't make a lot of Korean food at home, but the one dish that I make with any regularity id kimchi chigae. For those not familiar with kimchi chigae, it's a soup/stew consisting primarily of pork & kimchi. I like to use pork belly & add onions, tofu & bean sprouts to mine.

I've also added some tomato to my kimhi chigae as well. I was reading Rocco DiSpirito's cookbook & noticed he had a couple of dishes that used kimchi & was in conjuntion with a form of tomato. I though it wasn't bad.

[torakris]

If anyone is unfamiliar with the kochujang in stores here is a picture of the one I have

[torakris]

I have really been on a Korean kick recently...

two days ago I made mandu (dumplings), the filling is ground pork, kimchi, tofu, green onions and a little sesame oil and sesame seeds as well as black pepper.

My husband and two oldest kids helped make them, this picture is of the best ones...

[torakris]

Other meats are not used for dakgalbi because dak means chicken and galbi means ribs.

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Thank you!

I knew that kalbi meant ribs but I always assumed it was just beef since those were the ones I was more familiar with. I didn't know that dak meant chicken but that helps a lot with my menu reading now!

So can kalbi refer to any kind of bone?

[hzrt8w]

two days ago I made mandu (dumplings), the filling is ground pork, kimchi, tofu, green onions and a little sesame oil and sesame seeds as well as black pepper.

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What is the white sheet underneath the mandu? Is it a sheet of cloth? Looks like steam can permeate through it. Is it customary in Korean steaming to have a sheet of cloth underneath? (It's so interesting because I have not seen it done this way in Chinese dumpling cooking.)

[torakris]

two days ago I made mandu (dumplings), the filling is ground pork, kimchi, tofu, green onions and a little sesame oil and sesame seeds as well as black pepper.

←

What is the white sheet underneath the mandu? Is it a sheet of cloth? Looks like steam can permeate through it. Is it customary in Korean steaming to have a sheet of cloth underneath? (It's so interesting because I have not seen it done this way in Chinese dumpling cooking.)

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Actually it is a sheet of wax paper...

I have never used this before but I ate mandu at my Korean friend's house last week and this was how she steamed them. It was really easy you then just pick up the sheet and move the whole thing to a plate. I didn't notice any differences in the taste or texture from the way I usually steam so I think I may use this method from now on. I have no idea if this is how all Koreans do it though...

[Ben Hong]

After seeing this thread of Kris' and what touaregsand has put out on these pages, all I can say is I got to get a life and start cooking Korean. Fantastic, Ladies.

[sanrensho]

Can some of the Korean members recommend a few good Web sites with English recipes? There are quite a few out there, but I would love to find out which ones come recommended for authenticity.

Torakris, do you have any favorites in Japanese?

TIA

[Marco_Polo]

two days ago I made mandu (dumplings), the filling is ground pork, kimchi, tofu, green onions and a little sesame oil and sesame seeds as well as black pepper...

Bravo, Kristin, beautiful mandu (and a beautiful pic of them, too)! I could almost taste them. When I used to return home from college, my grandmother would make mandu for me to eat, served always in a rich chicken broth (manduguk). But I liked them even better leftover, that is, first poached in broth then simply pan-fried lightly (the little dumplings just need to go brown a little) and served with cho jang (vinegar dipping sauce). I could eat a hundred!

As for homecooked Korean favourites, apart from the obvious (bulgogi of course, which I have enjoyed at least once a week throughout my life and see no reason why this will ever stop), two very simple homecooked dishes to me represent the soul of Korean home cooking, at least as I grew up eating it.

Tubu tchigae is a simple hot pot of tofu made with strips of pork, zucchini and lots of fresh chilies, flavoured with kochujang (of course!). While we usually had kimchi and various panchan at hand for meals, I don't these days. So this one-pot meal, together with a big pot of proper sticky Korean rice, is simply a delicious desert island meal in itself that gives the greatest comfort and satisfaction! I'm imagining eating it right now, seated on a stool at my mother's butcher block kitchen counter in Cambridge, MA (how I miss that kitchen!). I eat with a long handled metal Korean spoon - taking a spoon of piping hot, steaming rice, dipping it into the chili-tinted broth, then a mouthful of still-firm tofu, a bite of pork, a crunch of chili...

Another iconic homecooked Korean food that it is equally simple is changjorim - soy-braised Korean 'hot meat'. In fact, I made a pot a couple of nights ago with a beautiful piece of top rib on the bone. I usually choose shin of beef, however, for this tough but economical cut has just the right amount of gelatinous, connective tissue to result in a tasty, fiery hot jelly. To make, simply place the meat (I cook it in one piece) in a big cast iron pot, add soy sauce (Kikkoman of course, no other will do), water, a few slices of ginger and garlic, some sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds, and a handful of whole fresh red chilies, as many as you dare. I like our Korean 'hot meat' really hot! Slowly braise for upwards of hours until the meat is falling apart. De-fat, shred the meat into the soy-and-chili cooking liquid, place in the fridge and allow to go cold and set to a jelly. Serve, again with the de rigueur pot of piping hot, slightly sticky steamed white rice together with kimchi or simply a crispy cucumber salad (thinly sliced and salted cukes in vinegar and sugar). The meat should be very hot from the chilies and is eaten almost more as a condiment to flavour the bland but delicious rice - and the contrast between the fridge-cold 'hot meat' and the piping hot steamed rice is, well, the spice of life!

Marc

Edited October 18, 2005 by Marco_Polo (log)

[chefzadi]

Can some of the Korean members recommend a few good Web sites with English recipes? There are quite a few out there, but I would love to find out which ones come recommended for authenticity.

Torakris, do you have any favorites in Japanese?

TIA

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here

Watch it grow.

[Tae.Lee]

my favourite would probably be oxtail [kkori] jjim, oxtail fried [? not sure how jjim translates] in a pot with onions, garlic, soy sauce, chilli, and i'm not sure what else, till all the liquid is reduced and the meat has a nice sticky glaze..

my mum does it with chicken and kalbi, but the oxtail one is the best, so fatty and tender..

other than that my other favourites would be my grandmother's bindaeteok [mung bean pancakes], and my mum's bibim gooksu [spicy mixed noodles]..

but probably my all time favourite is my mum's cucumber kimchi..

small cucumbers sliced through the middle but not through the top and stuffed with kimchi mixture of julienened radish and chives, spring onions...

great in summer..

Edited October 19, 2005 by Tae.Lee (log)

[touaregsand]

jim/chim means braised.

fatty meat is a good thing, especially slow cooked.

[torakris]

chapchae

I normally make this with beef but it was just way too expensive yeasterday so I used pork. Beef is better....

I also picked up a block of katsuo (this is the Japanese, in English it is bonito), I dressed it with a kochujang based sauce and mixed it with some daikon sprouts. Not sure how tradional it is but it sure was good!

[melonpan]

I also picked up a block of katsuo (this is the Japanese, in English it is bonito), I dressed it with a kochujang based sauce and mixed it with some daikon sprouts. Not sure how tradional it is but it sure was good!

hwe deop bap without the bap! i have had hwe deop bap with daikon sprouts. excellent!

[melonpan]

hwe deop bap without the bap!  i have had hwe deop bap with daikon sprouts.  excellent!

and i have felt that hwe salad is a great idea. a cousin of bibim naengmyeon...

to the sprouts and hwe add some sliced pears or watermelon, YUMS

[torakris]

hwe deop bap without the bap!  i have had hwe deop bap with daikon sprouts.  excellent!

and i have felt that hwe salad is a great idea. a cousin of bibim naengmyeon...

to the sprouts and hwe add some sliced pears or watermelon, YUMS

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pears! that would have been a wonderful addition.

I know bap is rice and hwe refers to the raw fish/meats but what does deop mean?

[melonpan]

I know bap is rice and hwe refers to the raw fish/meats but what does deop mean?

"deopda" means "to cover". hwe deop bap means rice covered with raw fish. deopbap has the same meaning as donburi.

it is as broad a category as donburi ryori. anything you can imagine goes, including spaghetti sauce deopbap (!) and...

<a href="http://lady.kyunghyang.com/9910/home_b.htm">bulgogi deopbap</a>, <a href="http://kdaq.empas.com/imgs/knsi.tsp/63711/4319/%EC%82%AC%EC%A7%84%20008.jpg">chamchi hwe deopbap</a> (tuna), <a href="http://blog.hoho.net/blog.php?page=5&bloger_id=dicaphoto&r_idx=&dg_idx=&d_idx=">mapa dubu deopbap</a>, <a href="http://cauart.com/namool/photo9/f0251_5.jpg">ojingeo deopbap</a> (squid), <a href="http://www.simbata.co.kr/ko/single_view.php?filename=481029&PHPSESSID=ee1156ceb31bc5462946e22a49cc21b9">tangsuyuk doepbap</a> (sweet and sour pork), <a href="http://www.simbata.co.kr/ko/single_view.php?filename=im_fi04f4732&PHPSESSID=ee1156ceb31bc5462946e22a49cc21b9">beoseot deopbap</a> (mushrooms), <a href="http://www.simbata.co.kr/ko/single_view.php?filename=im_fi04f4731&PHPSESSID=ee1156ceb31bc5462946e22a49cc21b9">songi deopbap</a> (pine mushroom, matsutake), <a href="http://www.simbata.co.kr/ko/single_view.php?filename=im_me17304f4884&PHPSESSID=ee1156ceb31bc5462946e22a49cc21b9">soondae deopbap</a> (blood sausage), <a href="http://www.simbata.co.kr/ko/single_view.php?filename=im_ma7803111f5061&PHPSESSID=ee1156ceb31bc5462946e22a49cc21b9">karae deopbap</a> (curry), <a href="http://blog.dt.co.kr/usr/r/k/rka96/12/1201014(3).jpg">kimchi deopbap</a>, and some probably more familiar to you including <a href="http://iloveegg.or.kr/02_cooking/02sub_proposal_view.asp?seq=149&gotopage=6">samsaek deopbap</a> (sanshoku or soboro don), and <a href="http://pds.egloos.com/pds/1/200410/12/36/b0018336_2134223.jpg">saewoo twigim deopbap</a> (tempura don).

Edited October 21, 2005 by melonpan (log)

[melonpan]

hwe deop bap usually uses a kojujang based sauce. you were spot on. usually a mixture of mostly gochujang, some vinegar and some sugar and sesame seed oil.

its to your own taste and as you might imagine, there are about a billion recipes...