Tag Archive: Korean-cuisine

Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal Gui)

January 24, 2007 Category: Red Meat
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Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal Gui) 1

I was having spicy seasoned pork the other day for dinner, but strangely I had a huge craving for Samgyeopsal BBQ (삼겹살 구이). What is this? Am I becoming like a hobbit? Do you have a similar experience like this? I was quite satisfied with the meal I was having, but some parts of my stomach obviously weren’t satisfied. So the next day, I bought some Samgyeopsal meat to meet the requirement of my tummy.

This time I just bought 800g of the meat for 4 people (last time I bought 1.4 kg) I wished I had bought more meat, but it is better to eat less than get sick later, right?

There aren’t many things you need to prepare to enjoy Samgyeopsal BBQ and below are what I prepared for our dinner.

What I baked with

You can bake pretty much anything you want. These are pictures of what I baked on the grill with Samgyeopsal. (Green chili, Sliced garlic, Enoki mushrooms, Kimchi)

Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal Gui) mushrooms

Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal Gui) kimchi

I personally think they are the must have items to enjoy Samgyeopsal BBQ properly. Especially, golden crispy baked mushrooms taste super ultra best. :)
Some restaurants serve tofu, bean sprouts, or onions to bake as well.

What I wrapped with

Some lettuce, Perilla leaves (known as sesame leaves, ggaennip), Thin sliced pickled white radish

Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal Gui) lettuces

Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal Gui) pickled radish

Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal Gui) wraped with lettuce

Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal Gui) wraped with radish

I haven’t made pickled white radish myself yet but I am going to make it in the future. In the meantime, it is available at the supermarket in Korea. Hopefully you can find them where you live too. :) Pickled white radish has a slightly sweet and sour taste. So it gives an extra flavour to the wrap when you eat them together.

What else I enjoyed with it

Seasoned garlic chives (부추 무침 – recipe will follow near the end of this post, though it wasn’t as good as I hoped. I need to develop it more), Ssamjang (dipping sauce for lettuce), Cucumber

Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal Gui) seasoned leek2

Seasoned garlic chives are a small companion for the meat. When you eat the meat, it gives a nice flavour, supposedly sweet and sour taste plus onion fragrance. Most Korean restaurants serve thinly sliced spring onions instead of the garlic chives, but I thought it is easier to deal with the garlic chives than thin slicing spring onions, since I don’t have the proper equipment.

What I did before I start baking

Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal Gui) rubbing

Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal Gui) 2

My sister thinks that it is important to spread some oil by rubbing one piece of pork on the grill before you add the rest of the meat. That way the meat doesn’t stick to the plate.

Seasoned Garlic Chives

Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal Gui) seasoned leek1- Ingredients for 4 servings

  • Garlic chives – one fistful
  • 1/2 a small onion

Sauce (mix these in a bowl)

  • Soy sauce – 1 tsp
  • Refined rice wine – 1 tsp
  • Anchovy sauce – 1/2 tsp
  • Dark brown sugar – 1/2 tsp
  • Chili powder – 1/2 tsp
  • Apple vinegar – 1/2 tsp
  • Sesame oil – 1/2 tsp
  • Minced garlic – 1/4 tsp
  • Parched sesame – 1/4 tsp

-Steps

    1. Rinse the garlic chives in cold water.
    2. Divide them into 3 portions and thin slice the onion.
    3. Put the garlic chives and onion into a big bowl.
    4. Just before you serve it add the sauce and mix them well. If you mix them too earlier the garlic chives go soggy.
    5. Serve it on the plate.

      As I said earlier, seasoned garlic chives wasn’t as good as I hoped. I think I had more garlic chives than the sauce, relatively, so I need to make more sauce next time to give it the proper taste.

      Related Posts

      Pork Belly (Samgyeopsal in Korean) Party

      BBQ Grill Plate

      Garlic Chives and Baked Garlic Salad

      Vegetables Wrapped with Pickled Radish (Mussammari in Korean)

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      Pork Belly (Samgyeopsal in Korean) Party

      January 5, 2007 Category: Food and Culture, Red Meat
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      Pork Belly (Samgyeopsal in Korean) Party on the magazine

      It’s been a very long time since I last had samgyeopsal. I think Koreans have to eat samgyeopsal on a regular basis – Otherwise people go crazy like me.

      According to a recent Korean news paper, Koreans consumed about 17 kg of pork per person in 2005, compared to beef – 6.6 kg and chicken – 7.4 kg, and more than 50 % of the pork was the samgyeopsal. To meet this consumption, Korea has imported massive amounts of samgyeopsal from 14 countries, the amount was about 85,000t for the last 11 months. Why are Koreans so crazy for samgyeopsal?

      Well, for me, it is delicious. That is all I can say. :D I especially like it when the meat is cooked in a golden crispy way.

      The reason I haven’t had it for a long time was, simply, I didn’t have a grill plate for it. I wasn’t going to buy it until I moved out from this house, because I didn’t want to increase our load, but my tolerance had nearly reached the limit. I decided to buy a grill pan finally, whether it will be a burden or not. (I will tell you about the grill plate in the next post.)

      This is the samgyeopsal we ate. (1.4 kg served 4 people – about US $22, I know it is a lot to eat, but we haven’t had this for nearly for 8 months, we were like some kind of hungry wolves. :) )

      Pork Belly (Samgyeopsal in Korean) Party pork

      It was s~o good, the meat was melting in my mouth. I totally loved having baked Kimchi with the meat. It is another level of delight. :D

      Pork Belly (Samgyeopsal in Korean) Party cooking

      Enjoying Samgyeopsal dos and don’t

      Do

      • Have some fresh vegetables with the meat. You can wrap the meat with some lettuce and Perilla leaves (Korean style sesame leaves – Ggaennip in Korean). It is healthier and also helps digestion.
      • Bake some garlic and spicy green chilies on the grill and add them when you wrap the meat. It really enhances the taste.
      • You can also bake some fermented Kimchi on the grill. Some restaurants serve you 1 year old fermented Kimchi. It is not as horrible as you may think, it totally rocks. Some experts say that it is the best part of having samgyeopsal.
      • Cook the meat on the strong heat for a short time. That way you don’t loose the meat juice (you don’t want it to go dry).

      Don’t

      • While the meat is cooking on the grill, don’t turn it over every so often. Apparently the more you do, the more it looses its flavour. Some experts say that only turning the meat once is best.
      • Don’t stretch out your hands to pick the meat from the opposite side. People get angry at you. (Every wolf is hungry here)
      • Don’t keep eating. You need to learn the beauty of cooperation by joining in turning the meat when it is cooked. You are a mean spirited person if you keep eating while the others work together to turn the meat.
      • Don’t eat the meat when it is burnt. It is bad for your health (The burnt part can cause cancer).

      I couldn’t keeping taking pictures after smelling it (and who would?), so I can’t give you a visual image of “dos and don’t”, yet I am going to hold another party soon, then I can show you more of the side dishes I made.

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      BBQ Grill Plate

      Pork Belly BBQ (Samgyeopsal Gui)

      Steamed Pork Wrapped in Leaves (Bossam in Korean)

      Steamed Pork Ribs (Dwaeji Galbi Jjim in Korean) – Natural Sauce Version

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      Stir fried Kimchi and Rice (Kimchi Bokkumbap in Korean)

      January 3, 2007 Category: Rice
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      Stir fried Kimchi and Rice (Kimchi Bokkumbap in Korean) on the magazine

      When I was making Kimchi Bokkumbap for lunch, my sister was helping me out. I said to her to cut neatly and put the ingredients neatly on a plate, because I need to take some pictures to post for the blog, and my sister was surprised because I haven’t posted recipes for Kimchi bokkumbap yet. I sort of did here, but it is more complicated because it has some extra ingredients and didn’t taste as good as this one, if I remember the taste right. (It was a very early post, so my cooking wasn’t as good as nowadays.)

      This recipe is really simple and quick to make, you can also appreciate the Kimchi taste more (this implies that it has a stong Kimchi taste). It works really well with bacon and enoki mushrooms too. It was the best Kimchi bokkumbap I ever had. ;)

      Ingredients for 3 big eaters or 4 medium eaters

      (Prep time – 5 minutes, Cooking time – 5 minutes )

      • 1 cup of Kimchi (at least 1 week fermented)Stir fried Kimchi and Rice (Kimchi Bokkumbap in Korean) ingredients
      • 3 ½ cups of steamed rice
      • 1 pack of enoki mushrooms
      • Bacon 150 g
      • Minced garlic – 1/2 tsp
      • Kimchi liquid – 4 tbsp (this is the sauce in the bottom of the kimchi container)
      • Sesame seed oil – 1 tbsp
      • Olive oil – 1 tbsp
      • 3-4 eggs for topping (by the number of people)
      • Some parched sesame seed (optional)

      Prep

      1. Cut the Kimchi and bacon into small pieces.
      2. Cut off the root of the enoki mushrooms and rinse them.
      3. Pan fry the eggs individually.

      Cooking

      Stir fried Kimchi and Rice (Kimchi Bokkumbap in Korean) cooking
      1. Pre heat the wok for 10 seconds and add the olive oil then spread it well.
      2. Add the garlic, stir it fast for 10 seconds.
      3. Add the bacon and stir it until half of it cooks.
      4. Add the Kimchi and stir it until 80% of it cooks.
      5. Add the mushrooms, stir it for a second then add the rice.
      6. Add the Kimchi liquid and mix all together throughly.
      7. Add the sesame oil and mix it throughly with other ingredients.
      8. Serve it on a plate (You can sprinkle some parched sesame seeds on top) add the egg on top.
      Stir fried Kimchi and Rice (Kimchi Bokkumbap in Korean) 1

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      Korean Kimchi fried rice with squid and tuna

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      Rice Cake and Instant Dumpling Soup (Ddeok Mandu Guk in Korean)

      January 2, 2007 Category: Rice, Soup and Stew
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      Rice Cake and Instant Dumpling Soup (Ddeok Mandu Guk in Korean) on the magazine

      Korea has two national holidays about New years day. One is called Shin jung (solar New years day) and the other one is called Gu jung (lunar New years day – Chinese New years day) Apparently more than 90% of people celebrate on lunar New years day and less than 10% of people celebrate on solar New years day.

      Ddeok Guk is the core meal of New Years day in Korea, but Koreans eat it on normal days as well. It means purity (from its white color), maturity (there is a saying that if you have Ddeok guk on New years day, you get one year older, its further meaning is I wish you become mature), wishing long life (rice cakes used for ddeok guk are very long) and rich (rice cakes’ shape looks like currency in the old days). Of course as a kid I wanted to grow up faster, so I ate too much Ddeok Guk and got sick instead.

      The Ddeok guk I made was enough for one meal without any rice. I added some instant dumplings, some Koreans prefer eating rice cake soup in this way and they use handmade dumplings. My recipe below is a simple version, the traditional version includes pheasant meat, but now it is rare, people use beef instead. Yet I didn’t even add beef here.

      Ingredients for 4 people

      Main

      Rice Cake and Instant Dumpling Soup (Ddeok Mandu Guk in Korean) ingredients

      Broth

      • Dried kelp (15×15 cm size)
      • 5 big dried anchovies
      • 8 cups of water
      • Minced garlic – 1 tsp
      • Salt – 1tsp

      Vegetables

      • 1/3 of a zucchini
      • 1/2 an onion
      • 1 stalk of big spring onion

      Toppings

      • 1 egg
      • 2 sheets of laver
      • Pepper (optional)

      Prep

      1. Soak the rice cake in cold water for about 20 minutes. (If it is dried)
      2. Thin slice the zucchini and onion.
      3. Diagonally slice the spring onion.
      4. Beat the egg, pan fry it, and thin slice it. (Normally you fry the egg white part and yolk part separately, but I cooked it together. It is up to you.)
      5. Thin shred laver with scissors.

      CookingRice Cake and Instant Dumpling Soup (Ddeok Mandu Guk in Korean) cooking

      1. Pour the water into the pot then add the kelp and anchovies.
      2. Simmer it on medium to low heat for about 15 minutes. (It looks light brownish)
      3. Take out the kelp and anchovies (I threw them away).
      4. Add the zucchini and onion. Boil it for 1 minute.
      5. Add the dumplings, rice cakes, salt, and garlic.
      6. Boil it until it cooks. (It takes 3-4 minutes) Add the spring onion 30 seconds before you serve the dish. (I forgot to add it, and you can adjust the taste with salt)
      7. Serve it in a bowl with the toppings on top (egg and laver). You can add pepper if you want. I always do, I love sprinkles of pepper .
      Rice Cake and Instant Dumpling Soup (Ddeok Mandu Guk in Korean)1

      Note

      Rice cakes for ddeok guk are called garaeddeok and they are the same rice cake for ddeokbokki (stir fried rice cake with gochujang) but just a bit thicker. You slice them diagonally then it looks like what I used. If you bought a lot of garaeddeok, you can keep them in the freezer.

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      Buckwheat Noodles (Memil Guksu in Korean)

      December 31, 2006 Category: Noodles
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      Buckwheat Noodles (Memil Guksu in Korean) on the magazine

      It is the end of the year already. Time flies. One of the best things that has happened in my life this year is starting this blog and making some good friends with people from all over the world. Are you getting ready to welcome the coming year?

      I wouldn’t usually eat these Buckwheat noodles in the middle of winter (Most Koreans eat these in summer), but it is Japanese culture to eat these noodles at dinner with family at the end of the year, which is today. (It has a meaning of wishing long and happy life, and the noodles are called toshikoshi-soba.) I wanted to bring back memories from my short adventure in Japan years ago, so I decided to make this noodle.

      Ingredients for 4 people (for 2 people, reduce all the ingredients in half)

      • Buckwheat Noodles 600 g

      Dashi

      • 1 ½ cups of water
      • 1/2 cup of liquid sauce from dried shaved bonito
      • 1 cup of refined rice wine

      A picture of the liquid sauce from dried shaved bonito.

      Buckwheat Noodles (Memil Guksu in Korean) liquid sauce

      Side additions

      • 2 sheets of laver (Thinly shred them with scissors)
      • 4 stalks of small green onion (Cut them into small pieces)
      • Grated white radish – 4 tbsp (Squeeze the water out from the radish)
      • Wasabi water (mix of wasabi 1 tsp + cold water 1/2 tsp)

      Cooking (you will need 2 pots)

      Buckwheat Noodles (Memil Guksu in Korean) cooking
      1. Boil the dashi for about 3 minutes, cool it down first then slightly freeze its surface.
      2. Boil the buckwheat noodles in boiled water for 4 minutes and rinse them in cold water.
      3. Serve the noodles on a plate with the dashi and side additions (I added some radish sprouts and laver as a topping but you don’t have to do the same.)
      Buckwheat Noodles (Memil Guksu in Korean) 1
      Buckwheat Noodles (Memil Guksu in Korean) 2

      How to eat

      Put the amount of the side additions you want into the dashi bowl and dip the noodles into the bowl and dig in. Enjoy!

      Caution

      It can make you really cold afterwards, so for people who live where it isn’t well insulated, I recommend not to eat them. :) Michael added that it is a very slurpy dish to eat so don’t eat them on a first date.

      This is a picture from a near by park where I live and it is for celebrating New year. It was freezing cold, but I wanted to share the picture of the last day of the lights. (It is a bit blurry though I couldn’t keep taking pictures, because of the freezing cold weather.)

      Happy new year

      I hope you have wonderful, happy and healthy New year.

      Happy New Year! 새해 복 많이 받으세요. (Korean)
      明けましておめでとうございます(Japanese) 新年快樂 (Chinese)

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