Yeon-gn Jorim is one of my favourite side dishes, and my mom cooks this really well. There are a couple of various ways of cooking lotus and I like the one has a softish chewy texture and sweetish salty taste. Yeah, I know, you have no idea what I am talking about. Though if you have ever tried some of this side dish, you understand, right?

Preparation itself is a piece of cake, but it can be a bit of a time consuming process for a single side dish. Mine turned out to be the one that has a sweetish salty taste, but the texture was crunchy. It tasted good (if you prefer a crunchy texture you will love it). Though since I prefer chewy texture I might add extra corn syrup next time, because I think the chewy texture comes from corn syrup, and to get a softish texture, I might need to simmer it a bit longer but I’m not really sure how long it would take me.

Ingredients for 4 people

(Expected Prep time – 3 minutes, Cooking time – 25 minutes)

• Lotus – 370 g
• Water – 4 cups
• Apple vinegar – 1 tbsp

Sauce (mix these well in a bowl)

• Soy sauce – 5 tbsp
• Refined rice wine – 4 tbsp
• Water – 6 tbsp
• Dark brown sugar – 2 tbsp

Final sauce

• Corn starch – 1 tbsp
• Parched sesame – 2 tsp
• Sesame oil – 2 tsp

Prep

1. Rinse the lotus in water and scrub off the dirt with a cloth.
2. Peel the skin with a peeler.
3. Rinse it once more.
4. Thin slice it .

Cooking

1. Put the water and vinegar in a pot and add the lotus. Boil it for 20 minutes.
2. Drain the water and run cold water on lotus.
3. Put the lotus in a pot and add the sauce. Simmer it on medium heat until the 2/3 of the sauce disappears.
4. Add the final sauce in the pot, cook it on strong heat for short time.
5. Serve it on a dish.

Other food boiled in soy sauce

Soy sauce Boiled Tofu (Dubu Ganjang Jorim in Korean)

Braised Baby Potatoes 1 (Algamja Jorim in Korean)

Boiled Beef and Quail’s Eggs in Soy sauce (Sogogi Jangjorim in Korean)

I am into these green bean sprouts lately. They give a flavourful taste to soup and a savory taste to side dishes. I don’t make many side dishes (I prefer one dish meals that don’t require any side dishes, because it is simple and quick, and I don’t need to wash many plates later on ), but I thought I should try some side dish recipes to show you, since I haven’t made one for a while. So I tried making seasoned green bean sprouts and the more I eat them, the more I like them.

Their flavour comes out with a good balance of salt, garlic and sesame oil. They have a mild taste and chewing their fiber is another pleasure (They give a bit of a soft yet crunchy feeling).

Ingredients for 4 people

(Prep time – 2 minutes, Cooking time – 10 minutes)

• Green bean sprouts 250 g
• Salt – ½ tsp
• Sesame oil – 1 tsp
• Minced garlic – 1/8 tsp
• Finely chopped green onion – 2 tsp
• Parched sesame – 1/8 tsp

Steps

1. Rinse the green bean sprouts in cold water, discard the bad beans.
2. Boil some water in a pot. (I used 3 cups of water)
3. Add the green bean sprouts when the water starts to boil.
4. Par boil them for 2 minutes.
5. Drain the water. Cool down the sprouts. (if you lift them with tongs or chopsticks frequently, it cools down faster.)
6. Add the salt on top (sprinkle it all over the place) and leave it like that for 3 minutes.
7. Squeeze the green bean sprouts with your hands. (discard the water if it comes out)
8. Add the rest of the seasoning sauce, and mix them well.
9. Serve them on a dish.

Side story about “Sukju Namul” (Green bean sprouts)

Writing about Korean food certainly makes me study. While I was translating sukju namul into English, which was about a month ago, I found that they are called green bean sprouts in English. Green bean sprouts? Are they made of green beans? I didn’t realize that they are made of green beans (apparently I was ignorant about Korean food and its history before I started this blog), because they disguised their name into sukju all this time. Green bean is Nokdu in Korean, then how come Koreans call green bean sprouts Sukju namul instead of Nokdu namul?

Well, apparently, there is a popular traditional theory and most Koreans seem to believe, that is the true. There was a scholar called Shin Suk-ju in 1462, and he betrayed his king when there was a coup (There was a young king called ‘Danjong’, and his uncle ‘Sejo’ tried to take over the throne.) When the coup happened he was asked to help his king, but he refused to do so. Apparently green bean sprouts go off very easily, so their easily changing characteristic is similar to Shin Suk-ju’s mind. That is why Green bean sprouts are named Sukju namul instead of Nokdu namul.

Apparently green bean sprouts are more nutritious than bean sprouts and have 80 times more nutrients than green beans themself.

Related Posts

Spicy Noodles with Green Bean Sprouts (Sukju Ramyun in Korean)

Thinly Sliced Radish Kimchi

Boiled Beef and Quail’s Eggs in Soy sauce (Sogogi Jangjorim in Korean)