My Korean Kitchen

What Square Fish Cake Looks Like and is Made of

September 29, 2006 Category: Ingredient Descriptions

This is a fish cake I often use in a stir fry.
I bought this pack for about 1700 won. But fish cake prices range from 800 to 3000 won.

What it is made of and how it is made.

It is usually made of yellow corvenia (a type of fish) or squid. (Oily fish isn’t good to make fish cake.) The squashed fish flesh is kneaded with some salt, sugar, starch, and cooking wine then, steamed or fried.

fish cake fish cake 1 sheet

Fish Cake Soup (Eomuk-Guk in Korean)

Stir Fried Rice cake with Gochujang Sauce (Ddeokbokki in Korean)

Tags: eomuk, fish-cake, Ingredient Descriptions, Korean Food, Korean-cuisine, odeng

Fish Cake Stir Fry (Eomuk-Japchae in Korean)

September 29, 2006 Category: Side Dishes (Banchan)

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I had some fish cake left over after cooking Ddeokbokki the other day.
It is quite a common side dish in Korea but I haven’t cooked this way before. Though it turned out much better than I expected.

Ingredients for 2 people
(expected preparation time :7 minutes, cooking time :5 minutes)

Square fish cake 2 sheets
1/4 each of a red capsicum and a yellow capsicum
1/2 an onion
1/4 a carrot
1/5 a zucchini
Some olive oil

-Seasoning sauce (mix these together in a bowl):

Soy sauce -1 tbsp
Corn syrup -1 tbsp
Refined rice wine -1 tsp
1 small size squashed garlic
Sesame oil – 1 tsp

-Preparation

Thin slice all the vegetables.
Parboil the fish cake (for my husband, that means boil it very briefly). (To get rid of its oil :This is a new tip I learned yesterday.)
Thin slice the fish cake.

-Cooking

Pre heat the wok for about 20 seconds.
Put some olive oil into the wok.
Add all the vegetables (except capsicums)
Stir it for about 3 minutes.
Add capsicums and fish cake.
Stir it for about 2 minutes.
Add the seasoning sauce and stir it for about 1 minute.
Serve it on the plate.

Tips :
I add some rice next to this dish and add some tomato sauce (ketchup)
It turned out to be a good, quick, and simple meal.

Tags: eomuk, fish-cake, Korean Food, odeng, Rice, Side Dishes (Banchan), stir-fry

How to Become a Member at Outback Steak House as a Foreigner

September 28, 2006 Category: Tips for Living in Korea

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About 3 weeks ago, I went to Outback Steak House with my husband and some foreign friends. When I ordered, I asked for an individual bill for us. We got the bill after the meals and it was amazing how we all were full, yet our (me and my husband) bill was very different to other couples. That is because I was a member and the other foreigners weren’t. (By the way, it doesn’t cost any money to become a member.)

There are 2 main benefits if you are a member of Outback steak House in Korea.

You can get a Birthday coupon and with that you can get a free appetizer (with one meal minimum purchase). You can choose one amongst Bloomin’ Onion, Coogee Bay Calamari, and Rangeland rib lets
(You can get this birthday coupon once a year, but you can use it any time you want. They also send you some free coupons occasionally.)
If you are married, on your wedding anniversary you can get 2 glasses of free drinks (Pick from Soda, Beer, or Wine)

When I got home I visited the Outback Steak House website to find some information about membership for foreigners. Surprisingly they had an English web page, but it didn’t have any information about membership or any other Event promotions.

I finally found out how to become a member, as a foreigner, at the FAQ on the Korean web page, though I wondered how many foreigners can read that FAQ to become a member. So I am going to tell you how to become a member at Outback Steak House in Korea, so if you want, just do what I say now. (They ask for a lot of information, but that is common for all website registrations in Korea.)

*Send your information below to contactus@outback.co.kr then they will reply by e-mail. These are all supposedly required (especially 1-5, 9, and 10)

Your e-mail address (It will be your ID on the website. So you can’t change it later.)
Password (English and Numbers 6-8 letters)
Foreigner Registration Number
Name
Birth Date
Single or Married / If married wedding anniversary
Final Education
Occupation
Address and Post code
Phone number
Mobile phone number
Name of Local Outback Steak House you often go to
Number of times you have visited that shop
Subscribe to the News letter (Choose Yes or No)

Tags: korea, Outback, Outback-steak-house, Small-Tips-for-Living-in-Korea

Marinated Chicken Stir Fry with Gochujang sauce (Dakgalbi in Korean)

September 27, 2006 Category: Eggs and Poultry

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This is the my favourite meal in the world. My mom owned a Dak galbi restaurant for about 12 years. I think she is the best cook of this particular meal in the world. (I am not a big fan of flattering ) However I don’t really know what kind of sauce and how much of the sauce my mom uses for this meal. I am happy with my own recipe. I cooked it for last night’s dinner, and it was really good.

Ingredients for 2 people are

(Expected preparation time- 25 minutes, cooking time- 15 minutes)

-Meat and to get rid of smell chicken cutting

3 pieces chicken Breast
Refined rice wine 30 ml
Pepper 2 sprinkles

-Seasoning sauce (mix these well in a bowl.)

Gochujang 2 tbsp (heaped)
1 squashed garlic
Chili powder 1/4 tsp
Soy sauce 1 tsp
Cooking syrup (corn syrup) 2 tsp
Sugar 1 tsp

-Side Ingredients (These are standard vegetables. However if you want, you can use other vegetables too.)

1/2 an onion
1/2 a medium size sweet potato
1/2 a carrot
1/4 a cabbage
5 stalks of spring onions
5 sesame leaves
Some rice cake pieces (maybe 5 or 6)

-Optional vegetables

1/4 each of a yellow and red capsicum

Preparation for marinating chicken

Rinse the chicken in cold water.
Cut it into small pieces.
Put it into a bowl, then pour in the refined rice wine and sprinkle the pepper on top.
Soak for about 15 minutes.
Pour the seasoning sauce into the chicken bowl. Mix it well.

Preparation for side ingredients Sliced dakgalbi ingredients

Wash the vegetables, peel the skin off as needed.
Thin slice the cabbage, onion, carrot, capsicums, and sweet potato.
Slice the sesame leaves and spring onions.
Cut the rice cakes in half.

-Cooking-

1. Pre-heat the wok for about 20 seconds.
2. Put some olive oil in the wok.
3. Put all the vegetables into the wok. (Except capsicums)

4. Stir fry them for about 5 minutes on medium heat. (Until the sweet potato is about 2/3 cooked.)

5. When the sweet potato is 2/3 cooked, add the capsicums, rice cake, and marinated chicken.

6. Stir it well until 90% of the meat is cooked.

7. Put the lid on the wok to steam it on low heat for about 3 minutes. (If you don’t have the right size lid, just use any lid to cover it in the wok that’s what I did.)

8. Serve it on the plate.

What Rice Cake, for Cooking, Looks Like

Hot Wings

Spicy Chicken and Vegetable Stew

Tags: Eggs and Poultry

Squid pancakes (Ojingeo Buchimgae in Korean)

September 26, 2006 Category: Seafood

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buchimgae serving 2

Korean pancakes (Buchimgae in Korean) are very popular on a rainy day. There are a couple of theories about the reason, but I don’t really know why.

Anyhow my husband once said to me he wishes it could rain all the time. Simply because he thinks that I’m going to cook lots of buchimgae for him. He is a Buchimgae killer.

Ingredients for 2-3 people buchimgae ingredients before cut

-Vegetables

1/2 an onion
1/2 a carrot
1/2 a zucchini
Oyster mushrooms 50g (Matari Beosot in Korean, however you can use other available mushrooms.)
10 stalks of small spring onions
1 red chili
1 green chili

-Meat

Legs from 4 small squids (or 1 squid flesh)
1 sprinkle of pepper

-Flour mix

Flour 2 and a 1/2 cups
Water 2 and a 1/2 cups
Salt 1/2 tsp
1 egg

-Dipping Sauce (Add all the dipping sauce ingredients in a bowl. However, add the onion pieces just before you eat.)

Sugar 2 tsp
Soy Sauce 3 tsp
Water 3 tsp
Vinegar 3 tsp
Some onion pieces

-Preparation for Vegetables and Meat

Rinse all the vegetables, and peel the skin off as needed.
Thin finger length slice the carrot and zucchini.
Thin slice the onion.
Thin angle slice the red and green chillies.
Cut the spring onions into halves or thirds.
Cut the squid legs into half finger length, put it in a bowl and add the pepper on top.
Tear the mushrooms in half. (Or thin slice them. It depends on what kind of mushrooms you use.)

-Preparation for Flour Mix

Sieve the flour and the salt.
Add the water.
Mix it thoroughly so there are no lumps.
Add the egg (beaten) and mix it well again.
Mix the flour mix, vegetables, and squid together.

-Cooking

Pre heat the frying pan for about 10 seconds.
Put some oil into the pan. Make sure the oil is spread all the way through the pan. (I used vegetable oil this time. Because Buchimgae consumes a lot of oil. However don’t put too much oil in, otherwise the Buchimgae will go soggy)
Scoop out the final mix with a ladle, put it on the pan.
Cook it on medium to low heat. Otherwise it just burns and doesn’t cook properly.
Turn it over when the bottom side is nearly cooked. (If you turn it over too much, it will tear up. )
When both sides are cooked, serve it on the plate.

You can make about 6 pieces of squid pancakes with these ingredients. However 3 pieces were enough as a meal for me and my husband. By the way, if you don’t want to bother with making dipping sauce, you can use soy sauce only. However, this dipping sauce I introduced to you today really tastes nicer.

Related Posts

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Seasoned sesame leaves pancakes (Kkaenip Jang Ddeok in Korean)

Tags: Korean Pancakes, Seafood

A Practical Guide to Korean Food and Korean Fusion Food

What Square Fish Cake Looks Like and is Made of

Fish Cake Stir Fry (Eomuk-Japchae in Korean)

How to Become a Member at Outback Steak House as a Foreigner

Marinated Chicken Stir Fry with Gochujang sauce (Dakgalbi in Korean)

Squid pancakes (Ojingeo Buchimgae in Korean)