Korean Home Cooking

[melonpan]

i keep mine in the fridge, but i dont think you have to...

[melonpan]

i mean i keep my kochujang in the fridge. my gochuggaru, i keep in a plastic tub in the freezer with a spoon inside next to my coffee tub which also has a spoon.

[melonpan]

hi all,

i wanted to mention that chef zadi, who loves korean food so much, got a nice mention in the new york times yesterday in the article about algerian sweets!

nice job!

[ChryZ]

I cooked Dwenjang Jjigae and took some pics in the process.

Dwenjang Jjigae is a tasty korean bean paste stew with meat and vegetables.

Being from Europe and having no korean roots, I'm not claiming authenticity.

I've read 3-5 recipes off the net and created my own version of the dish.

Comments, suggestions and feedback are most welcome.

Ingredients:

4 TBSP dwenjang paste (bean paste)

2 TBSP gochujang paste (chili paste)

1 TBSP honey

1 CUP dried shitake mushrooms

300 G frozen spinach (10.5 oz)

300 G minced meat (pork/beef) (10.5 oz)

6 X dried anchovies

3 X red chili

1 X zucchini

2 X white onion

1 X leek

5 X garlic clover

chop up the veggies:

brown the minced onion/meat:

remove the meat from the pot, now for the stock, fill the pot with 1 liter (4-5 cups)

water, add garlic, anchovies and shitake mushrooms, let boil for a couple of minutes

remove the spend anchovies and add the dwenjang/gochujang paste

give it a good stir and add the chopped veggies

when the veggies are done, then add the spinach ... it's almost done,

season to taste with honey, sake, salt and pepper

let simmer for a few more minutes, but don't over-cook the spinach

serve with a drizzle sesame oil, roasted sesame and some of the leeks' green

[torakris]

That looks incredible! It is just the kind of food I was thinking about when I started this thread.

A question about the anchovies, I don't believe I have seen those before here in Japan, I wonder if it would be ok to substitute niboshi?

[ChryZ]

That looks incredible! It is just the kind of food I was thinking about when I started this thread.

A question about the anchovies, I don't believe I have seen those before here in Japan, I wonder if it would be ok to substitute niboshi?

←

Yokatta! I was a bit worried, well I did cut a corner with the frozen spinach and the pic of the final dish turned out too dark. I prefer fresh spinach, but I had the frozen stuff in the freezer for ages ... and a stew is always good for "recycling". Hehe, talking of home cooking.

Regarding the anchovies, I'm not sure how strong the flavour of niboshi is. Anchovies are pretty strong and the stock for this dish should be pretty strong itself to stand a chance against the heavy flavour of the bean paste ... the whole dish is pretty pungent, but in a good and tasty way.

[angeljolie]

I love Korean food, but haven't tried making any dish yet. I particularly love Japchae (or Chapchae) and Kimchichigae (Kimchi soup). I'd probably the recipes you have here.

Edited September 4, 2006 by angeljolie (log)

[maryeats]

That looks incredible! It is just the kind of food I was thinking about when I started this thread.

A question about the anchovies, I don't believe I have seen those before here in Japan, I wonder if it would be ok to substitute niboshi?

←

That soup does look delicious! It is dark, but it looks savory! Yum.

[ZenKimchi]

That looks incredible! It is just the kind of food I was thinking about when I started this thread.

A question about the anchovies, I don't believe I have seen those before here in Japan, I wonder if it would be ok to substitute niboshi?

←

When we make Dwinjang Jjigae, we sometimes use the anchovies. We sometimes use dashi. The goal is to get a fishy broth.

It has become one of my most favorite sublime dishes in Korea. I call it the "stinky miso." The flavor depends on the Dwinjang you use. A few months ago, we discovered a restaurant that made a punch-you-in-the-stomach Dwinjang Jjigae. We raved about it so much that the owner gave us a bag of her own secret Dwinjang. We have been using it at home, and I still can't fully dissect what the owner did to make it taste so good. Eun Jeong thinks she mixed in some minced garlic and ground anchovies and let it sit a bit longer. A good Dwinjang Jjigae is supposed to smell and taste like a stinky cheese soup.

Which explains why Eun Jeong loves it when I make Welsh Rarebit.

Edited September 5, 2006 by ZenKimchi (log)

[Tae.Lee]

←

ha i just got the hot head flush mouth watering reaction just looking at this!

[SheenaGreena]

chryz, your dweng jang jigae looks like a delicious curry!!! I like that you put lots of veggies in it

I like to make mine with anchovies, cubed firm tofu, zuchini, whole cloves of garlic, all garnished with sliced green onions. Its best when you have chunky homemade dweng jang because the soy beans are whole and add a nice surprise.

Does anyone put meat in their dweng jang (other than anchovies for stock)?

One of my favorite home cooked meals is karl gook su (knife noodles) with lots of potatos and in the winter time I like to make oxtail stock/soup and just eat it with rice and fresh green onions, although making oxtail stock takes 2 days to make.

[jeanki]

I love Korean food, but haven't tried making any dish yet.  I particularly love Japchae (or Chapchae) and Kimchichigae (Kimchi soup).  I'd probably the recipes you have here.

←

I make a quick and easy version of kimchi jigae at home.

First I dice some pork loin and marinate it in soy sauce, sesame oil, and aji-mirin.

Then I crush some garlic or chop it finely. I saute the garlic in canola oil and then add the pork loin and saute until it just turns almost brown (about 4-5 minutes) and then add about a cup to two cups of kimchi (well-fermented/not newly bought), and saute the whole damn thing. (You can also add some chopped onion too.) Then I add a long dash of more aji-mirin, a dash of soy sauce and sesame oil and saute some more, about 3-5 minutes total. (I think sauteing the kimchee adds another level of richness to the overall taste.) Then I add about 2 cups of water. I let the soup come to a boil and then I simmer it for about 10-15 minutes. When it's almost done, I add a box worth of diced soft tofu and cook for about 2 minutes more. At the end I finish with some chopped scallions and black pepper.

It's not necessarily the most authentic way to make it (the pork I use is fairly lean, and the aji-mirin is my own secret ingredient), but it's good enough for my kimchi jigae cravings. Enjoy!

Edited September 8, 2006 by jeanki (log)

[torakris]

I love the combination of kimchi and mirin! I make a really good kimchi fried rice and my secret is a splash of mirin at the end. I also add it to my kimchi chigae and kimchi and pork stirfries.

Now that my 5 year old has learned to eat kimchi (he can eat it straight out of the jar now) I will be doing kimchi chigae a lot this winter.

[ChryZ]

I like to make mine with anchovies, cubed firm tofu, zuchini, whole cloves of garlic, all garnished with sliced green onions.  Its best when you have chunky homemade dweng jang because the soy beans are whole and add a nice surprise.

Does anyone put meat in their dweng jang (other than anchovies for stock)?

←

Yeah, it's also great with tofu. The version above was also actually the first time, that I've used leek instead of green onions. Leek and pork are a great combo, so I always wanted to try it in this dish.

Someone mentioned to me, that the meat shouldn't be fried before adding it to the stew. Is that true?

[ZenKimchi]

A question about the anchovies, I don't believe I have seen those before here in Japan, I wonder if it would be ok to substitute niboshi?

←

I was just in Fukuoka last week, and I saw dried anchovies at the fish market. They do exist in Japan, at least.

[Peter Green]

I have two favourite home meals. One is just kim chi jiggae (my transliteration is appalling, I know) which I wrote up on Dinner!

The other, which has become more difficult, is so gum gui.

the reason it's difficult is that our local butcher here can't shave the beef anymore, and I'm a klutz with a knife.

Take a good piece of rib eye, something with fat in it. Shave it thin. Then take your table top grill and put in some sesame oil.

Have ready some fresh spring onion seasoned with gochu garu (red pepper powder) and lots of rice. In little dishes, dole out some more sesame oil.

Lay the meat into the grill, and crack fresh pepper onto it (and some salt for me). cook it through, drop in the next meat, and eat what you've got by wrapping the meat around the spring onion, dipping on some more sesame oil, and scarfing down some rice.

Not only does it taste good, but it keeps the whole table working and talking.

[ChryZ]

I got some nice feedback at the cooking/dinner thread, so it's nothing but fair to share:

Dak Gochujang Bokum & Mandu

(chicken in hot chili sauce panfried with potstickers)

main ingredients:

1 X whole chicken breasts (2 halves)

1 X ginger (thumb-sized)

3 X garlic cloves (mushed)

3 X ice lettuce leaf (optional)

3 X green onions (sliced)

1 CUPS chicken stock

2 TBSP soy sauce

1 TBSP sugar

2 TBSP gochujang

2 TBSP chili flakes

2 TBSP roasted sesame

1 TBSP seasame oil (from roasted sesame)

sidedish ingredients:

5 X mandu (store bought)

1/2 CUP water

2 TBSP soy sauce

1 TBSP rice wine vinegar

1 TSP chopped green onion

slice the chicken and marinate with the sugar for at least 30 min

add gochujang, soy sauce, chili flakes and seasame oil,

then prep garlic, ginger and the chicken stock

heat pan and simmer chicken stock, grate ginger and garlic into it

add marinated chicken and let it bubble away on medium heat

evaporate nearly all the liquid, almost no need to stir

in the meantime grab some mandus from the freezer

place in small pan and crank up the heat to high, the frozen mandus will defrost a little

add some water to the heated pan, the liquid should start to steam right away

cover the pan and steam them, this will take only a few moments

when all the liquid evaporated, deglaze the pan with another small sip of water,

it will help to give the mandus some color and it will loose 'em up, no need to

cover this time

serve the chicken on a bed of ice lettuce topped with some roasted sesame

... and the potsticker with some soysauce+vinegar for dipping

It's especially tasty to fiddle some chicken into a lettuce leaf and to eat it as a mini wrapper.

Enjoy.

Feedback, constructive criticism or any other comments are all most welcome.

[Domestic Goddess]

Wow! I'm glad this thread got bumped up again. I'll be sharing some of my recipes (shared by my good korean friends). I have a mean recipe for crab dwenjjang jjige, seafood pa jeon and chapjae.

Edited October 13, 2006 by Domestic Goddess (log)

[ChryZ]

Wow! I'm glad this thread got bumped up again. I'll be sharing some of my recipes (shared by my good korean friends). I have a mean recipe for card dwenjjang jjige, seafood pa jeon and chapjae.

←

Looking forward to those!

[Domestic Goddess]

Chryz, here's the crab dwenjjang jjige:

2 medium crab, cleaned and cut in half

1/2 squash, cut in half, slice 1/2 inch thick

1/2 onion, sliced

1 medium potato, quartered, then slice 1/2 inch thick

2 green onions, chopped

2 chilies, sliced

10 oz tofu, cubed

4 tbsp dwen jang (Korean bean paste)

1 tbsp go choo jang (Korean chili paste)

1 tbsp go choo ga roo (Korean chili powder)

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tsp sesame oil

Thinly sliced rings of leeks

In a pot, add sesame oil, add minced garlic and potato, cook on a medium-high heat for 5 minutes.Add water, bring to a boil.

Mix dwen jang (Korean bean paste), go choo jang (Korean chili paste), go choo ga roo (Korean chili powder) and add to the pot.

Add pieces of crab and the rest of the vegetables. Cook for another 2-4 minutes. Add tofu at the last stage of cooking (just enough to heat it through). Garnish with the slices of leeks and serve.

Best served with freshly steamed rice.

Edited October 13, 2006 by Domestic Goddess (log)

[ChryZ]

Chryz, here's the crab dwenjjang jjige

←

Nice! Crab is a bit hard to get here, but your recipe might actually help me to improve my 된장찌개. It's always nice to have a point of reference so I google'd and naver'd for keywords like 게 된장 찌개. How should the crab version look like?

Any of those pics getting close to it?

[rooftop1000]

ChryZ

This chicken looks truly evil, must make it this week

tracey

Edited October 14, 2006 by rooftop1000 (log)

[ChryZ]

Haemul Pajeon

(korean seafood/scallion pancake with spicy dip)

I've had this dish as part of a menu at a korean restaurant. Since I liked it a lot,

I did some research on it. First I've googled for english recipes, then I've found

the korean hangul version of pajeon (파전) via wikipedia. I've used it to search

the korean search engine naver.com and found a lot of pics, funny pictorials

and even a streamed cooking show (slightly annoying!), that explained how to

cook the dish. Do I speak korean? No. I've just pieced the english infos

and korean visual clues together and cooked the dish:

main ingredients

1 X egg

1 X bunch of scallions

2 X red chili

1 CUP flour

1 CUP ice water

1/3 CUP squid (1/4 of a squid, small slices)

1/3 CUP baby shrimp

1/3 CUP scallop (two adductor muscles, small slices)

1 TSP salt

1 TBSP sesame oil (pressed from roasted seeds)

3 TBSP peanut oil

dip ingredients

2 TBSP soy sauce

1 TBSP rice wine vinegar

1 TSP chopped scallion

1 TSP roasted sesame

1 TSP chili flakes

1 TSP sugar

Regarding the seafood, it seems preferable to have one third clam-something,

one third shellfish-something and one third cephalopod-something,

but the dish might also work with just canned tuna

first prep everything, once the pan is hot then there is no going back,

clean the seafood, slice the squid, the scallops, the chilies and trim

the scallions to pan-size, mix the dip ingredients

final prep step ... the dough, use a bowl that will be able to accommodated the

scallions, crack/mix egg, add a sip of ice water, salt and sesame oil, mix well,

then add the flour

mix and add only as much water that the dough is able to coat the scallions,

if the dough is too runny then add another spoon of flour until it's right

heat a pan, oil generous, then whip the pan with a paper towel, it will create

a nice spread of oil pearls, wait for the oil to smoke

add the scallions and somewhat align them before the dough settles down

add the seafood and chili stripes, then spoon the rest of the remaining dough on top

pour a little oil around the pancake/pajeon, use two spatula, shove them under each

end and perform the first flip

check the color of the pajeon, if it's not burn then everything is right on track,

else adjust the heat a little or flip more often, use a spatula to peek underneath,

don't burn the seafood side

second flip, seafood-side up, heat is perfect

just keep frying and flipping

done when nicely browned, remove from pan

serve sliced to make it more chopstick/dip-able

잘먹겠습니다 (jal meokkesseumnida)

[SheenaGreena]

omg, that looks so delicious, chryz!!!!!!! Are you sure you're not korean?

I made pa jeon last night for an easy dinner. I took the easy way out though and used the premade mix and just threw in some scallions (cut on the bias). I love the seafood version with squid, clams, mussels, etc.

another fav version of pajeon is to throw in some old kimchi (juice included)

you should also try it with buckwheat flour. It provides a lovely colour and is a different way to make pajeon.

[SheenaGreena]

(jal meokkesseumnida)

that made me laugh (: