nanoomi

Yeongeun Jorim – Home Style

Yeongeun (연근- lotus root) jorim (조림- reduced) is one of the basic, every day banchan (반찬 – side dish) found at home tables and restaurants.  It is a simple dish of sliced lotus roots boiled then reduced in soy sauce and corn syrup.  That’s also how a Korean mother will describe it to you, if you asked about a recipe of this dish.

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Here is my latest article for Yonhap News (연합뉴스), for which I got to spend an evening with chef Youngsun Lee and fun people who gathered to learn Korean food at the Institute of Culinary Education.  I appreciate the help from the school, chef Lee and the participants of the Korean Plate class.  I hope you enjoy reading this article as much as I enjoyed observing the Korean Plate class!

Also, for those who are interested, scroll down for my Korean translation of this article.

Making “haemul pajeon” seafood scallion pancakes

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My favorite food in Korea is the kimbap (김밥), although with the new romanization rules, it’s now written gimbap! It’s a snack and a meal that isn’t native to Korea. It was introduced by the Japanese during the occupation period as the futomaki. Gimbap is made from rice (bap/밥). The gim (seaweed/김) is used to roll the rice and other ingredients into a tight package and then is sliced into bite-sized pieces for consumption. The rice is typically lightly seasoned with a little salt and oil, giving it a slightly different flavor than if ordering rice with a meal. Typical ingredients also include fish cakes, imitation crab meat, egg, radish, ham, carrots, spinach, and cucumbers.

-= WEB SITES =-
The Travel Channel: http://youtube.com/qiranger
The Vlog Channel: http://youtube.com/theqirangervlog
Podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-qiranger-adventures/id451881376

Many Koreans call yangnyeom gejang a ’meal thief’ (밥도둑; bap do duk), a dish so delicious that the accompanying bowl of rice is gone in no time.  Admittedly, it is quite messy to eat – I wouldn’t recommend this for a first date – as you’ll soon have the red sauce covering your lips and fingers.  Yet, you won’t be able to stop reaching for another crab piece and licking off any remaining sauce from your fingers.

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On a barbecue blog I found a recipe for Korean Satay Sauce. It’s a dipping sauce combining marinade for the popular Korean grilled beef dish 갈비 kalbi, peanut butter and water.

Satay is a favorite marinated skewered meat dish of Southeast Asia, and it’s usually paired with a peanut sauce.
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[Ed. Note: If you're having trouble accessing the video, you might try EatYourKimchi's Vimeo upload here.]

So for the second time in as many months I have found myself trapped at the merciless hands of a Korean television network and forced to eat Octopus.

I am beginning to see a pattern here I don’t like.

Above is video from SBS morning programming showing various Nanoomi folks out and about in Seoul hunting down some of the local delicacies.

Rob and Simon hook into some street vendor action. I’m not sure which is worse – octopus or Soondae at the time of the morning they were filming. Rob then introduces Joe and I to 쭈구미, which for all intents and purposes is regular Bibimbab with some octopus thrown in for good measure. Chuck enough vegetables in and smother in Gochujang and you’re good to go. It helps too that the restaurant we visited does its eight legged treat quite well, and rather than being a chewy proposition the octopus is tender and quite tasty.

I think Joe and I did well to get the point across that visitors to Korea don’t want to have to go to expensive-white-tablecloth type restaurants and much prefer down to earth “real” Korean food in “real” Korean restaurants.

And in an interesting side note I was called a “Korean Food Blogger”. I will promptly add that one to my resume.

PS There may be some issues viewing the video given various copyright issues, it should work, but your mileage may vary.

Sujebi is one of the most popular, simple dishes all year round in Korea, especially on rainy days and cold days.  I consider it a cousin of kalguksu (칼국수; knife-cut noodles), but its quick dough of white flour and water is torn with hands and dropped right into boiling broth.  Basic sujebi broth is made with dried anchovies and dried kelp, which are also basic pantry items in Korea.  Add sliced onion, potato and aehobak (애호박; similar to zucchini, but lighter in color and sweeter in taste), and you have a simple bowl of sujebi.  From this basic bowl of sujebi to popular variations of kimchi sujebi and haemul (해물; seafood) sujebi, you can easily create your own sujebi by playing with dough (chewy or soft?  plumpy thick or wide-noodle thin?), ingredients or broth.

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Here’s the recipe that won me 2nd place and W1,000,000. I’m putting measurements here, but you really need to taste and adjust as you go.

Bulgogi Quesadillas with Smoky Gochujang Aioli and Korean Pear Salsa

Bulgogi

INGREDIENTS
600g Beef Chuck, thinly sliced (tell the Korean butcher you want it “bulgogi yong”)
1 Korean pear, peeled and cored
1 White Onion, chopped
1 TBS Fresh Ginger, minced
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Mirim (or Mirin, rice cooking wine)
1/4 cup or more Starch Syrup (Corn Syrup, Rice Syrup)
2 TBS Sesame Oil
1 White Onion, sliced thinly

• Puree the Korean pear, chopped onion  in a blender.
• Add the liquid ingredients and taste. It should be fairly sweet. When you think it’s sweet enough, add a little more starch syrup.
• Add the beef and mix thoroughly. Hands work best.
• Marinate for 45 minutes.
• Cook the beef and sliced onions on medium high until much of the liquid has evaporated.

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After making tofu and soy milk at home, my experiments to utilize an inordinate amount of soy pulp (비지; bi ji or okara) began.  In addition to biji jjigae (비지 찌개; stew made with soy pulp, kimchi and pork as main ingredients), I found a way to put soy pulp in mini zucchini cupcakes, where it adds a soft crunch and subtle nutty flavor.

This time, soy pulp finds its way into butter cookies.

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