When I was a child, I sometimes went hiking with my mom and we picked up some dropped acorns in the hills. I didn’t hike to the very top but on the way back the basket of my bicycle was full of acorns. At that time I didn’t know how they could be eaten by us, humans, because I always thought that they are for squirrels.

In my memory, I don’t think I liked the seasoned acorn jelly that much because of its bitter taste, but now I love it, it is like an adult appreciates good food more than a child. It has a slightly bitter taste from the acorn jelly and a slightly sweet and salty taste from the sauce, which I love, and this recipe is like that.

Hoping you can get the acorn jelly where you live, here is how the recipe goes.

Ingredients (enough to serve 6-8 people as a side dish) : 5 minutes to serve

• Acorn jelly (도토리묵) – 420 g
• 2-3 lettuce leaves
• 1 green chili (non spicy)

Sauce (mix these in a bowl)

• Soy sauce – 6 tbsp
• Dark brown sugar – 1 tbsp
• Sesame oil – 1 tbsp
• Finely chopped spring onion – 2 tbsp
• Parched sesame seed – 1 tbsp
• Chili powder – 2 tsp
• Minced garlic – 2 tsp

Prep

1. Slice the acorn jelly (1 cm -1.5 cm thickness).
2. Take the seeds out from the chili and thin slice it.
3. Thin slice the lettuce (thickness doesn’t really matter, but mine was close to 1 cm).

Method A) - Better presentation

1. Put the sliced acorn jelly on the plate.
2. Add the sliced chili on top.
3. Decorate the plate with the lettuce.
4. Spread the sauce on the top.
5. Serve it on the table.

Method B) - My mom’s way (it may season the acorn jelly and lettuce better)

1. Put the lettuce, chili and acorn jelly in a mixing bowl.
2. Add the sauce and lightly mix it.
3. Serve it on the plate.

By the way, a pack of acorn jelly is more expensive than tofu (I thought it would be cheap). It was 3,000 won (US $3.20) for 420 g in Korea. I also bought a pack of acorn powder to make acorn jelly from scratch and it was 6,6oo won (US $6. 30). It was requested by one of my readers. I know I really need to make it soon but apparently it requires continuous stirring for nearly an hour without any break, so I gave up for then.

Don’t worry! beloved, I will definitely do it.

Related Posts

Soy sauce Boiled Tofu (Dubu Ganjang Jorim in Korean)

Tofu Kimchi (Dubu Kimchi in Korean)

Simmered Lotus in Soy sauce (Yeon-gn Jorim)

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)

Many Koreans seem to relate Tofu Kimchi with Soju a lot, which implies that it is popular as a drinking snack. But I made this meal as a side dish to have with some rice. At a restaurant they add some pork as well, but I didn’t have any available in the fridge. I will show you the tofu Kimchi with some meat some other time. However it still tasted really nice without any meat.

Ingredients for 2 people

(No prep required. Cooking time – 7 minutes)

• Tofu 210 g
• Sliced Kimchi – 1/2 cup (It doesn’t quite work well with freshly made Kimchi. Recommend to use at least 2-3 weeks old Kimchi)
• Sugar (I used dark brown sugar) – 1tsp
• Sesame oil – 1 tsp
• Parched sesame – 1 tsp
• Olive oil – 1 tbsp

Cooking

1. Pre heat the wok for about 10 seconds.
2. Add the olive oil.
3. Add the Kimchi and sugar, stir it well until it cooks.

4. Add the sesame oil and parched sesame. (Cooking the Kimchi is done here)
5. Boil the tofu in a pot for about 3 minutes.

6. Slice the tofu into medium size pieces.

7. Serve the tofu with the Kimchi.

How to eat : Put some Kimchi on top of the tofu, and eat them together (eating when the tofu is still warm is the best).

I think Tofu and Kimchi match each other well. Tofu is mild and Kimchi is spicy to some people. So the mild taste and spicy sour taste compromises well. Also some people don’t like tofu on its own because it has a unique tofu smell. However, in this meal, Kimchi that is seasoned with sesame oil overpowers the tofu smell. So it works really well together. Michael and I really liked both its smell and taste.

Related Posts

Soy sauce Boiled Tofu (Dubu Ganjang Jorim in Korean)

Spicy Mussel Stew (Honghap Jjim in Korean)

Tuna Pancakes (Chamchijeon in Korean)