Kongnamul muchim

I have this vision of myself eating a huge bowl of bibimbap with rice mixed with gochujang (red pepper paste) and beansprouts hanging by my spoon. The dish is easy and don't require anything special.

Kongnamul muchim (Korean Seasoned Bean Sprouts)

12 oz. soybean sprouts
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sesame seeds
2 tsp sesame oil
1 scallion, chopped
1 tsp dried chilli flakes

1. Rinse the sprouts twice in cold water. Discard rotten sprouts and husks. Drain.
2. Heat a heavy-bottomed pot on medium-high heat. Add sprouts to the pot. Cover with a tight-fitting lid.
3. Immediately lower the heat. Do not open the lid while cooking, the sprouts will smell and taste fishy.
4. Heat 15-20 minutes.
5. Remove from heat. Add garlic, fish sauce, sesame seeds, sesame oil, scallion and dried chilli flakes. Mix well.
6. Serve warm or chilled.

Original recipe shared by chow divine.

Dak galbi

Dak galbi

500g whole chicken leg
2 tbsp soy sauce
10 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1/4 cup gochujang
1/3 cup gochugaru
1/2 cup water
1/4 of a small cabbage, cut into bite size pieces
1 medium onion, sliced
1 cup sweet potato, peeled and sliced into bite size pieces
1 small carrot, sliced
2 green chilli pepper, sliced
5 stalks spring onions, cut into 5 cm pieces

1. Rinse the chicken in cold water and cut into bite size pieces. Mix with one tbsp of soy sauce. Set aside.
2. Combine garlic, ginger, gochujang, gochugaru, 1 tbsp soy sauce and water in a bowl. Mix well.
3. Prepare a large, shallow and wide pan. Spread the cabbage on the bottom of the pan. Add the onion, green chilli pepper, carrot and sweet potato.
4. Put the marinated chicken on top of the vegetables and add the sauce on top.
5. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir with a wooden sauce to mix evenly.
6. Lower the heat to medium and cover. Cook for another 20 minutes until it's done. Stir occasionally. Serve.

Original recipe shared by Maangchi.

Bibimbap

I am very attached to bibimbap and samgyetang, and I need to eat them every once in a while. Typing this made me want to go and get a bowl of samgyetang. Usually I would just head out and buy them. But since I had gochujang, I figured I'd make the bibimbap myself.

Bibimbap

1 cup beansprouts
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks (I didn't put in)
1-1/2 cup spinach, cleaned
1 zucchini, sliced into thin strips
100g mushrooms, sliced
Green, yellow, and red bell peppers, cut into strips
Korean seasoned seaweed, shredded (I didn't put in)
Boiled gosari /Fern brakes (I didn't put in)
Cucumber, cut half lengthwise and sliced thinly crosswise (I didn't put in)
Cooked rice
Eggs, over easy
Sesame oil
Sesame seeds
3 cloves garlic, minced
Gochugaru/Korean chilli pepper flakes
Salt
Soy sauce

Gochujang sauce:
1/4 cup gochujang
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp honey
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
1 or 2 tsp water to thin out the sauce

1. Rinse the beansprouts three times and put them in a pot with a lid. Cook the for 15 minutes. Mix with 1 clove minced garlic, gochugaru, sesame oil and salt.
2. Put spinach in a pot of boiling water and stir for a minute. Then, rinse in cold water for a few times and squeeze to drain excess water. Season with 1 clove minced garlic, 1 tsp of soy sauce and sesame oil.
3. Sprinkle the zucchini strips with salt and leave them for a few minutes. Squeeze out excess liquid and saute them in a pan over high heat until they become translucent.
4. Cut the gosari into 5-7 cm long pieces and season with 1 tbsp soy sauce and sesame oil.
5. Boil the mushrooms until cooked and drain.
6. Sprinkle salt on the cucumber slices and set aside for a few minutes. Squeeze out excess liquid and mix with 1 clove minced garlic, sesame oil and sesame seeds.
7. Saute carrot, and bell peppers separately with dash of salt.
8. Gochujang sauce: Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Mix well.
9. Put rice into a bowl, add the assorted vegetables, seaweed, egg and gochujang sauce on top of the rice. Mix well before eating.

Original recipe shared by Maangchi, Sue, and Hyosun Ro.

Kimchi jeon

This is just something I made without really planning to. We always have kimchi in the refrigerator and I have some flour left from another dish, so kimchi jeon came to mind.

Kimchi jeon (Kimchi pancake)

1 cup cabbage kimchi
1/4 all purpose flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp onion, diced
Water
Vegetable oil for frying

1. Drain the kimchi, reserving the juice. Measure the juice and add water to make 1/4 cup of liquid. Chop the kimchi coarsely.
2. In a bowl, mix together all purpose flour, rice flour, salt and the liquid. Let stand for 10 minutes. Add in the chopped kimchi and onion.
3. Heat the skillet over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan with oil. For each pancake, add 1/4 of the mixture to the skillet and spread it out with the back of a spoon.
4. Cook for about 2 minutes until the bottom is crispy and golden. Flip over and cook until the other side is cooked. Remove from skillet and drain on towels.
5. Serve with dipping sauce. I use the same dipping sauce as hobak jeon's sauce.

Original recipe shared by Emily.

Hobak jeon

Hobak jeon or pan fried zucchini slices has been featured in the drama series over and over again. I am intrigued by them, especially in Glory of the family where Dan-ah made them so pretty.

Hobak jeon are easy to make and they taste good. No wonder they are popular.

Hobak jeon

1 green zucchini
1 large egg
1/3 cup flour
Salt
Vegetable oil

Dipping sauce:
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar

1. Cut zucchini into 1/4-inch slices and lay them in layers on a plate.

2. Lightly sprinkle the zucchini slices with salt. Don't over salt the slices as you will be dipping the jeon in soy sauce. Set aside for 5-7 minutes.
3. Put some flour in a shallow bowl. Whisk the egg in another bowl.

4. Coat the zucchini slices with flour on both sides and set aside.

5. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
6. Dip each flour-coated zucchini slices into the egg until fully coated and place in the pan.
7. When the edges start to brown, turn them over. Take them off the heat when they are cooked on both sides.
 

8. Dipping sauce: Mix the soy sauce and rice vinegar and serve with the jeon.

Original recipe shared by kimchimari.

Japchae

I learned to speak a little bit of Korean words, all the easy ones thanks to the drama series and songs. But then I doubt I can survive if I am stranded in Korea alone, unless I can somehow communicate with them using one-word and thousands of gestures. I need to learn more.

Korean food - now this, I can say I know a little bit more. Bibimbap, samgyetang, banchan, gamjatang, gochujang, ddeokbokki, sundubu jjigae, seolleongtang, juk, hoeddeok, bulgogi, kimchi, doenjang, naengmyeon, kalguksu, jajangmyeon, hwe, jeon, patbingsu, kimbap, bungeoppang, etc.

Japchae is made from sweet potato noodles (dangmyeon) stir fried with vegetables. It used to be part of Korean royal court cuisine, specifically invented in the early 17th century for a King. Source: Wikipedia.


Japchae

1/2 pound dried Korean sweet potato noodles
2 and a half tsp sesame oil, divided
1 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 large onion, sliced thinly
2 red chillies, sliced thinly
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
2 cloves garlic, minced finely
3 stalks green onions, cut into 1" lengths
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms (shiitake/wood ear), sliced thinly
1/2 lb spinach, washed well and drained
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

1. Fill a large pot with water and boil. Add the noodles and cook for 5 minutes. Immediately drain and rinse with cold water. Use kitchen shears to cut noodles into shorter pieces, about 6-7 inches in length. Set aside.
2. Blanch the spinach in boiling water. Rinse immediately under cold water. Squeeze the water from the leaves and form into a ball. Cut the ball into half. Combine the spinach, half the garlic, and 1/2 tsp of the sesame oil in a small bowl. Set aside to let the flavors soak in.
3. In a bowl, mix soy sauce and sugar together. Heat the cooking oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry onion, carrot and chillies until just softened, about 1 minute. Add the garlic, green onions and mushrooms, fry for 30 seconds. Then add the spinach, soy sauce, sugar and noodles. Fry for another 2-3 minutes until the noodles are cooked through. Turn off heat, toss with sesame seeds and the remaining sesame oil.

Original recipe by steamy kitchen

Remarks: You can also include strips of beef if you want. This recipe produce a huge amount of japchae.