nanoomi

Of all my blog posts, the one that gets a consistent flow of visits regardless of time and day is my rice cooker carrot cake from early 2010, soon after I started this blog.  I’m happy to learn that other people are also interested in making carrot cake in a rice cooker, but it also made me wonder if it’s time to revisit the recipe. Surely, there is always a better way, or at least a different way, of doing things.

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Some popular Korean dishes today have the aura of age due to their rustic, simple appearance but are actually quite new and innovative, compared with Korea’s long history. Humans have occupied the peninsula for more than 5,000 years, according to archaeological and historical research. But Korea’s earliest culinary roots have been established more by archaeology than history.

Written records of Korea’s culinary history are few and far between. Two of Korea’s earliest history books are the 삼국 사기 Samguk Sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms), completed in A.D. 1145 and the 삼국 유사 Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms), complied circa A.D. 1280.

Neither book is solely on Korean food, but they do offer small glimpses of culinary culture in their narratives on Korean history and myth from the 고조선 Gojoseon period (about 2333–108 B.C.) to the middle of the 고려국 Goryeodynasty (A.D. 918–1392).

Over such a long period of time, culinary trends are bound to come and go, influenced by periods of tumult and war as well as periods of peaceful co-existence and free trade with neighbors. Korea’s earliest cookbook found to date is 산가 요록Sanga Yorok, written in A.D. 1459 during the 조선국 Joseondynasty (A.D. 1382–1910). From that time forward, Koreans seemed to have been more dedicated to recording and preserving their culinary heritage.

It’s a good thing that modern food experts have traced the origins of the following five popular dishes, because they’re younger than they seem.

Kimchi jjigae with tuna, one of my happiest culinary memories from Chuncheon.  (TQ photo)

김치찌개 Kimchi jjigae

Kimchi stew, usually made with either pork or tuna mixed with 두부 dubu (tofu) appears so rustic and filling that it should be a very old recipe, but it likely was crafted four decades ago. Kim Su-jin, Director of Association for Research on Taste of Korea, told KBS World:

Since records about the dish are not found in ancient documents, it’s speculated that the stew originated from regular households in the 1970s, when housewives started making kimchi at home thanks to cheaper napa cabbage prices.

낙지볶음 Nakji-bokkeum

The hot and spicy stir-fried small octopus dish is probably the spiciest dish in Korea’s culinary repertoire. It has been traced back to the Mugyo-dong district of Seoul, when a restaurant served the new dish to customers in 1961.

닭볶음탕 Dakbokkeumtang aka dakdoritang

As tastes shifted from pheasant to chicken in the early 20th century, Koreans invented dishes putting chicken front and center. Because Korea was under Japanese occupation at the time, the term dakdoritang (dori is the Japanese word for chicken) became the standard name of the spicy braised chicken dish.

Gungjung tteokbokki, Korean royal cuisine at its finest (TQ photo)

떡볶이 Tteokbokki

This steamy, spicy hot dish is a stripped down, spiced up verson of 궁중떡볶이 gungjung tteokbokki was born in the aftermath of the Korean war and is now one of Korea’s most popular street foods.

Chuncheon dakkalbi, one of modern Korea’s most popular pub grub dishes (TQ photo)

춘천 닭갈비 Chuncheon dakgalbi

This local adaptation of a spicy marinaded chicken dish was developed in the 1970s as an inexpensive way to serve one of Chuncheon’s signature food products — chicken — to the lakeside mountain city’s large population of college students and military personnel. Chuncheon has three colleges — Kangwon National University, Hallym University and Chuncheon National University of Education — and had U.S. Army Camp Page until it closed in 2005.

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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