My Korean Kitchen » Korean Food F.A.Q

Difference Between Bibim Naengmyun and Bibim Guksu

sue — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:47:30 +0000

If you started to wonder what is different between bibim naengmyun and bibim guksu when you read my bibim guksu post the other day, I wouldn’t be surprised. I wasn’t quite sure which one is more accurate as the title either.

Here is a beautiful picture of bibim naengmyun taken by Evil jungle prince and compare it with my bibim guksu picture. Have a close look. Can you tell what the difference is? Not including the toppings?

(Bibim Naengmyun)

(Bibim Guksu)

As far as I know, the main difference is “the noodles”. Naemyun noodles are usually made of buckwheat flour, sweet potato starch or potato starch. They are very resilient and relatively harder to cut with your teeth.

On the other hand, guksu noodles are usually made of wheat flour and sometimes something else added like the soba noodles I used for my bibim guksu (The noodles had 69% wheat flour and 29% buckwheat flour).

I prefer guksu noodles over naengmyun noodles because they are easier to chew, therefore less messy to eat and feels easy on my stomach. What about you?

Here is some information on naengmyun if you are interested.

(Mul naengmyun, photo from hankooki.com)

Types of Korean Naengmyun

Pyongyang naengmyun – Mul naengmyun, served in cold watery radish kimchi broth, the noodles are usually 70% buckwheat flour and 30% starch powder
Hamhung naengmyun – Bibim naengmyun, served in spicy seasoning without the broth, the noodles are usually 100% potato starch.
Busan style Milmyun – the noodles are are usually 70% wheat flour and 30% starch powder

(Type of Milmyun, photo from Gaya milmyun)

Buckwheat Noodles (Memil Guksu in Korean)

How to Make Perfect Korean Steamed Rice (Step. 3 : How to soak and cook the rice)

sue — Fri, 25 May 2007 10:07:10 +0000

After rinsing the rice properly, we need to soak the rice in water.
The reason is to make evenly cooked rice and to make each rice grain sticky and resilient (“gelatinization”). However if you soak it too long, it can become brittle and lose some nutrition. So we need to do it for the right amount of time. Then what is the right amount of time?

-V How long to soak the rice-

Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes in summer and 1-2 hours in winter minimum.

(The temperature is based on the Korean climate ; Seoul’s average daily high temperature – summer : 27℃, winter : 3℃)

Once the soaking is done, we can finally start boiling.
First we need to add an adequate amount of water to the rice. The adequate amount can vary depending on the the type of rice, condition of the rice and type of cooking method, but we usually need to add 1.5 times more water compared to the rice weight or 1.2 times more water compared to the rice volume.

(However, I always measure it manually. The so called “Knuckle method” – Add the water until it covers near my knuckles when my hand is flat on the rice. Does it sound logical to you? A lot of Koreans seem to use this method too. It’s not just me. )

The rice cooking process goes Boiling – Simmering – Thoroughly steaming. If you use an electric rice cooker like I do, we just put the rice and water into the cooker and press the button. However if you use the stove top method then there are a couple of things you need to be aware of.

-V How to cook Korean steamed rice on the stove-
:Recommended by a rice expert in the Rural Development Administration (Korean government)

Boil the rice for 5-10 minutes on high heat (The water gets absorbed into the rice and the rice expands).
Turn the heat down to medium and simmer it for 7-8 minutes (During this time we are accelerating the gelitinization process – making each rice grain sticky and resilient).
As the water gets absorbed into the rice or evaporates, reduce the heat to low gradually. Do not open the lid at this point. When the water has nearly disappeared, turn the heat off.
Let the rice sit (thoroughly steam) for 10-15 minutes with the lid on.
Then stir the rice around (top to bottom, side to side) lightly with the rice scoop (It is to evaporate extra moisture, even out the rice taste, and keep the good shape).

Now, theoretically, we should be able to make perfect Korean steamed rice. Fingers crossed for you all!

Comments

If you are interested in buying a Korean rice cooker, you can try Hmart online shop. They seem to sell the top brand Korean rice cooker “Cuckoo” and I am using one of their models. Or if you are interested in buying a Japanese brand like zojirushi you can try amazon

How to Make Perfect Korean Steamed Rice (Step.2 : How to rinse the rice)

sue — Wed, 23 May 2007 09:02:23 +0000

After buying good rice, now we can start making perfect Korean steamed rice.

The first step we need to do is to rinse the rice. Do you rinse your rice? I always do. The reason is to get rid of impurities such as dust, rice bran, and potential agricultural chemicals. There are some brands that are pre-rinsed before they are packed, but they are usually 20-30% more expensive. So we might rinse it ourself, shouldn’t we?

While you are reading the list below, check your habits if you are rinsing the rice right.

- V How to rinse the rice –

Run the cold tap water until it covers the rice. Swish the rice with your hands a couple of times and change the water quickly (To avoid rice bran odor getting into the rice).
Repeat the “step 1″ 3-5 times until the water clears out (However, you do not need to rinse it until the water is crystal clear. This only means you have lost more nutrition).
Soak the rice straight away after rinsing it (this is recommended), but for some reason, if there is going to be a time gap then it is better to sieve it and set it aside until you proceed to soak it. (Again it is to prevent the rice bran odor getting into the rice and the loss of nutrition). (I will cover “how to soak the rice” on the next post).

- V Things to remember -

Do not scrub the rice too hard (Otherwise it can lose its nutrition and it can possibly break the grains).
If some rice floats on the water, pick it out and throw it away (It has been eaten by rice weevil – bugs).

What were your results? Have you been doing it right?
I need to fix some of my habits like changing the water quickly to prevent the rice bran odor getting into the rice and throwing out the bug eaten rice. I always thought that throwing the rice is an unforgivable waste (trained by my mom ) and I had no idea that rice has an odor too. Did you?

How to Make Perfect Korean Steamed Rice (Step.1 : What is good rice?)

sue — Mon, 21 May 2007 10:07:46 +0000

If you understand Korean food culture or Asian food culture, you know how important rice is to our daily life. Ask yourself. How often do you cook rice? I cook it everyday. Yeah, it is a very critical part of my daily life. But more importantly how often do you make a success with it?

Obviously “putting rinsed rice into a pot or a rice cooker, add some water, and boil it” isn’t as simple as it sounds, or at least not to everyone. To tell you the truth, I am not a rice expert. I don’t make perfect steamed rice all the time either. However, I wouldn’t mind eating perfectly cooked rice all the time, wouldn’t you? So I decided to start a discussion about this topic, so we can experience better eating life.

Successfully cooked Korean rice (in other words delicious Korean rice) is sticky rice that shines and has a tasty fragrance. Can you image it? (If you can’t, sorry, my English isn’t as good as I want it to be). But you can’t really taste the rice before you buy it, can you? So here is a check list, recommended by the Rural Development Administration (part of the Korean Government),which might help us to choose some good rice.

-V check list -

Good rice grain has a white, clean, clear and shining look.
The grain shouldn’t have partial black (brown) or white parts in the middle.
The grain should be even in shape and shouldn’t have chips or half crushed parts.
The Rice package should have milled date on it (Most recently milled rice is the best. Because 2 weeks after milling, the grain starts to lose its moisture).

If the rice basically meet these requirements, it is more likely “head rice” (which means good quality rice). After finding out about these, I checked my rice package and I found a lot of chips and white or black parts on the grains. Also there wasn’t a milled date on it (but Korean rice does). I use Sunrice brand and as far as I know this company is very well known in Australia. Yes, I am quite disappointed about it. Michael suspects that it might possibly be more than one year old – there is no way to tell (I’ve never had more than 1 year old rice in my life).

Apparently Japan has one of the highest standards and yield on “head rice” whereas Australia and Korea don’t have as high standards or yield than Japan (but this depends on the brand). Have you checked your rice yet? Are you eating good quality rice?

What Kinds of Pear for Bulgogi?

sue — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 02:12:53 +0000

(William Pears – Sorry, I don’t think you are suitable for Korean cooking)

One of my readers asked me if I can specify the type of pear I use for making Bulgogi. Because my recipe just says “pear”. Well, since I could only get one type of pear in Korea (It might be different in other big cities, but at least that was my case) I didn’t understand your confusion. Sorry.

So this is the type of pear you can use for Korean cooking.

(Korean pear, picture from Food for thought)

Its skin is a bit rougher and thicker, so you don’t eat the skin. However the flesh part is marvelously juicy (but not as much as watermelon) and sweet and has a crunchy texture like an apple. They are fairly expensive even in Korea, so I didn’t buy them often (about US $2-3 per pear).

Koreans usually add pear when they marinate meat. Because it makes meat softer (Apparently the enzyme called calpain does this part). You can substitute pear with kiwi or pineapple as well, but I prefer using pear. Also, if you marinate the meat too long the meat can go too soft, so watch out.

I heard that Korean pears are available at the green groceries in the US, but since I don’t live there I can’t give you the detailed information about them. So if any of you see Korean pears where you live (in any countries), please let us know (for your Korean food companions).

By the way, if you are in the US, it seems like you can buy Korean pears on the internet as well. So here are the links.

From Kgrocer

From Koamart