korean food

Jajangmyeon (Korean Black Bean Paste Noodle)

| Doyd

Have you ever tasted that interesting instant noodle sold in Asian markets called “Chapagetti?”  The first time I tried it, it was a bizarre experience for me.  But then, after realizing what it is made of, I wanted to know where they derived this instant noodle from.

The name Chapagetti as I’ve discovered it, is the combination of Chajang (black bean fried sauce) and Spaghetti.  A lot of kids like this and so does my precious one.  To them, it is like the asian version of the Italian Spaghetti.  So, since my daughter wanted to eat this, I needed to learn how to make the real one so we will not rely on buying instant versions of this at the market.  Jajangmyeon (자장면) as they call it in Korean is the recipe I was looking for.

Here’s how I made mine:

INGREDIENTS

  • Pork Belly cut into 1cm. cubes
  • 1 Large Onion
  • 1 Large Sweet Potato
  • 1 Small Korean Zucchini
  • 1 Small Korean Radish
  • Black Bean Paste
  • Sesame Oil
  • Cucumber (for garnish)
  • White wheat flour noodles (sutamyeon)

In a small saucepan, heat 1 tsp. of olive oil.  Saute 6-8 tbsp. of Black Bean paste for 1 minute.  Set aside.

Using a wok, stir fry the pork belly with a little bit of olive oil.  Let it  cook until medium crispy.  Set aside.

Cut the Radish, Onion, Sweet Potato and Zucchini into bite size cubes.   Using the same wok, saute the radish and sweet potato.   After a minute or two, add in the onions and zucchini and saute for another minute.  Add 3 cups of water into the wok.  Cover the wok with a lid and let it cook for 10-15 minutes on medium high heat.

Add the fried black bean paste and mix well.  While boiling, add some cornstarch (or potato starch) and water mixture to make the sauce a thick consistency.  Add in a little bit of sugar (1 tbsp.)   DO NOT add salt for the chunjang is already salty.  Serve the sauce over hot noodles and garnish with thinly sliced cucumber.

Note:  Cook the sutamyeon according to package instructions.  It will depend on what kind of noodles you get from your local market.  Do not overcook or else it will be too mushy.

By the way, when you serve this, please note that the sauce and the noodles are heavy on the stomach so take it easy when plating 🙂  ENJOY!!

Samgyetang (Korean/Chinese) Ginseng Chicken Soup

| Doyd

Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup)_4604902853_l

I’m sure most of you will like this recipe because it’s one of the easiest, nutritious and delicious soup of all time.

I consider this as one of our family’s comfort-soup aside from our classic Sinigang and Tinola.

This soup is made with Ginseng or other Traditional Vegetable Root Tea available in your Asian Market. It is believed by a lot of Asians to help cure and prevent ailments.

If and only “IF” your closest Asian Market do not have fresh or dehydrated ginseng, you can also use a couple of pure ginseng tea bags as a replacement.

Here’s how to make Korean/Chinese Ginseng Chicken Soup:

INGREDIENTS:

1 Whole medium size Chicken (or large cornish hen)

2 Stalks of Green Onion

1/4 cup of Garlic Cloves

1/3 cup of Glutinous Rice

7-10 pieces of Red Dates (Jujube)

Ginger

Ginseng (Fresh or Dehydrated)

5 pieces of Chestnuts

Cold Water

Salt and Pepper (optional)

Prepare all ingredients. Soak Glutinous Rice for 5 hours or overnight.

Wash your chicken and remove any excess fatty skin. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the soaked glutinous rice, some garlic, half of the dates and chestnuts and some ginseng. Don’t forget to crush the ginger and add it as well.

Close the opening of the chicken with toothpicks. If you don’t have toothpicks, you can keep it open but place the chicken in a big pot carefully. Put in the extra garlic, ginseng, dates and chestnuts with the whole chicken then pour water enough to cover all the ingredients.

Start to boil for 20 minutes with a foil on top of the pot to cover. When boiling, make sure to remove all the scum to keep the soup clean and clear. Add more water if necessary. When it boils back, cover again with foil then simmer the soup for another 40 minutes to an hour on medium to medium high heat (depending on the kind of pot you’re using).

Before serving, you may add some freshly ground pepper and sea salt and some minced green onion.

Enjoy each slurp of this nutritious soup and each bite of the ginseng, dates, chestnuts, and tender young chicken. I love to eat the garlic on this soup because it melts in your mouth 🙂

If you have questions, feel free to comment and I will be glad to help answer your question/s so you can make your own version of this recipe.

Thanks for reading!!!

Makes me hungry

| Doyd

I saw this picture in my mobile phone’s photo gallery. We had this two Sundays ago after getting fresh produce and meats from the market. Doesn’t it make you hungry too?

I’ll be cooking pasta tonight so I have to start shredding this photo from my craving thoughts!!! 😦

There’s always another market day and I will look forward to this with a glass to chilled wine.

Japchae Recipe (jabchae, chapch’ae, 잡채, 雜菜)

| Doyd

 

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Japchae Recipe“, posted with vodpod

 

I first tasted this as a side-dish at a local Korean restaurant here in Irvine. Then back in 2008 after downloading the podcasts at Maangchi’s website, I tried her version of Japchae and loved it!

My family loves noodles and we cannot live without it.  After eating all rice as our staple, we often crave for noodles for a change.

This recipe I am sharing is a recipe I got from the backside of a pack of my favorite Korean Vermicelli and I’d like to share it to you with a few of my personalized touch.

INGREDIENTS:

300 g. of Korean Vermicelli

1 medium Carrot

150 g. of Beef or Pork (you may adjust the amount)

1 medium Onion

5-8 pieces of Dried Shiitake Mushrooms

1 Egg (I use egg substitute)

1 bunch of Spinach (to me, the more the merrier!)

Olive Oil

Slice meat into bite sizes or strips and mix well with the meat seasoning (see below). Slice the re-hydrated mushrooms and season with soy sauce and sugar.  Wash and blanch spinach in boiling water, drain and squeeze the excess water.  Season with sesame oil and salt.

Slice the onion and the carrot into strips, stir fry with a pinch of salt.  Since I use an egg-substitute, just spread the mixture into a frying pan with oil on medium heat to make a thin flat egg crepe.  When done, fold and slice into thin long strips.  Stir fry the seasoned meat and mushroom separately on the frying pan.  Cook the dry vermicelli in boiling water for 6 minutes (or depending on the package instructions of the brand you are cooking).  Rinse in cold water and drain.  Boil 3 tbsp. of soy sauce, 1/4 cup water, 4 tbsp. of sugar (splenda), 1/2 tbsp. of sesame oil, 1/4 tsp. black pepper, 1/2 tsp. grounded roasted sesame seed on the deep frying pan and add the cooked vermicelli and stir well under low heat until it is shiny.

Mix all ingredients prepared separately.  Garnish with the strips of egg and some chopped green onions.

*** Meat Seasoning – 1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce, 1 Tsp. Sugar, 1 Tsp. minced Garlic, 1 Tsp. Sesame Oil, Black Pepper and Salt

Egg-coated Pollock Fish Nuggets

| Doyd

Pollock Nugget
Originally uploaded by doyd74

This is a very easy child-friendly dish. Again, this is a sure win for kids 🙂
Here’s how to make it:

INGREDIENTS:
Pollock fillet (I buy it from the Korean market at the frozen aisle)
2-3 Eggs (I use egg substitute)
2/3 cup all purpose Flour
1/2 cup of fresh milk
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix together the flour, milk, eggs, salt and pepper to create a batter.

Cut the pollock into bite-size pieces, dip into the batter and pan fry with a little olive oil until cooked, golden and crispy.

I add a tiny pinch of salt onto the nuggets before serving.

More vegetables please Mommy!!!! (Buchujeon)

| Doyd





Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “More vegetables please Mommy!!!!“, posted with vodpod

 

I can’t believe it myself but you’re reading it right. My title says “more vegetables please Mommy!” My daughter is an addict! She loves this recipe so much she can’t get enough and will even ask for more and not leave anything for her Dad. 

This is Maangchi’s Korean Vegetable Pancake recipe called Buchujeon in Korean. You can see her recipe at her website but as always, I give my version a personal touch. 

Here’s what I do: 

INGREDIENTS: 

Small Korean Zucchini (or italian zucchini) 

5-8 Stalks of Green Onions 

1 Korean Chili (I use this because it’s not hot/spicy – good for kid-friendly recipes) 

1 Egg 

 A piece of small Carrot 

3 Garlic cloves 

Fresh Oysters (optional: or shrimp and try scallops) 

Chop and julienne the carrots and zucchini. Add in the thinly chopped green onions and korean chili. In a separate bowl, mix in 1/2 cup flour, salt and 2/3 cup water or sometimes I use a store-bought korean vegetable pancake mix and follow the package instructions. 

Chopped vegetables should be around 3 cups. Mix the vegetables with the batter and mix it up with your hands to spread evenly.Chop 3-6 pieces of fresh oysters and set aside. 

In a big heated non-stick pan, put some olive oil and spread the vegetable pancake mixture. Put your heat to medium. Top the raw side of the cooking pancake with fresh oysters and one beaten egg. Wait about 5-8 minutes before flipping the pancake. 

After 8 minutes, flip the pancake and add more olive oil (if needed) to make it crunchy (a cooking tip from Maangchi). Press the pancake down with a spatula and check once in a while to see if it’s getting cooked the way you want it to be. 

My secret dipping sauce that really makes my daughter eat this pancake a lot is a mixture of 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 2 tablespoon of light soy sauce and a pack of splenda. You can use sugar if you want but I don’t have that in my pantry 🙂 

Use other vegetables if you want to explore it! I’ve tried, sweet potato with green onions, chives and red peppers, I even tried bean sprouts with oysters as suggested by my husband. 

Enjoy and let me know about your version!

Doyd’s Spicy Mackerel Stew

| Doyd

 

2 Medium size fresh Mackerel (cleaned and cut into 2-3 inch pieces, remove head)

1 Medium size Korean Radish cut into 2×1 inch cubes

1 whole medium Onion

3 stalks of Green Onion

2 Korean Hot Pepper

7-10 Dried Anchovies

2-3 cups of water (depending on how much sauce you want)

For the Spicy Sauce, mix the following into a bowl:

2 Tablespoons of  Red Pepper Paste

2 Tablespoons of Light soy sauce

2 Tablespoons of  Cooking Wine (I use Japanese cooking wine)

1 Tablespoon Red Pepper Powder (same one used to make kimchi)

2 Teaspoons of Sugar

5-7 cloves of minced Garlic

1/2 Teaspoon minced Ginger

In a ceramic pot, let the water boil with the dried anchovies and wait 5 minutes then remove the anchovies.  While the stock is boiling, add the radish.  On top of the radish, arrange the mackerel pieces.

Pour the sauce on top of the mackerel.  DO NOT MIX.  Let it boil until the soup is reduced.   Occasionally pour the stew’s broth over the fish and radish.

Add the onion, green onions and korean chili on top of the stew.  Continue to pour the broth of the stew on top of everything until the mackerel is well-cooked and the flavor has sipped into all the vegetables.

My husband and I love this dish a lot.  I do not cook mackerel before but now, I do.  I learned this recipe from a restaurant where I first tasted this stew.

Hope you all enjoy cooking your own version.  It’s really easy 🙂

Tasty, yummy and rich Spicy Mackerel Stew.