Published May 29th, 2007
in Noodles and Vegetarian.
This bibim guksu is something I am very much enjoying making and eating lately. I made this 5 times last week already. Yes! it is that tasty and morish. I just can’t get sick of it. Besides, it doesn’t require any complicated preparation or cooking.
Its main taste comes from the sauce, which has a slightly spicy, sweet and sour taste, and the fragrance from the sesame oil is another pleasant experience.
Bibim guksu is a popular Korean summer dish, because the spicy and sour taste rejuvenates your lost appetite in drowsy hot humid summer days. For me, looking at this picture is good enough for now. How about you?
Ingredients for 2 people (Ready in 10-15 minutes)
Noodles
- 180 g organic soba noodles
Toppings
- 2 medium lettuce leaves, thin sliced
- 1/4 a leaf red cabbage, thin sliced
- 1/2 a small cucumber, julienned
- 1/3 a small carrot, julienned
- A few snow pea sprouts
- 2 tbsp thumb nail size Kimchi
Sauce (mix these in a bowl)
- 2 tbsp gochujang
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Korean sesame oil
- 1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
Method
- Boil the noodles in boiling water for about 3 minutes.
- Sieve the noodles and run the cold water thoroughly over the noodles to cool them down.
- Place the noodles in a bowl and add the toppings and sauce.
- Mix them well and dig in.
Cook’s Note
You can alter the toppings as you wish, like adding boiled egg or white radish pickle etc. Also if you want more spicy taste, you may add some Korean chili powder or minced garlic in the sauce and more vinegar for a sour taste. However, before you add anything into the original sauce, make sure you taste it first to ensure it tastes good.
The noodles I used for this recipe
HAKUBAKU organic soba (ingredients : wheat flour 69%, buckwheat flour 29%, salt 2 %, water), Price - about AU $2.30, available at Woolworth or Coles
The noodles are conveniently divided into 3 portions with white paper straps.
bibim guksu, Korean Food, Noodles, soba noodles, Vegetarian
Published May 2nd, 2007
in Seafood and Side Dishes (Banchan).
Have you had these slightly spicy, chewy and sweet stir fried dried squid strips (오징어채 볶음) before? Wow, it is a real long name in English isn’t it?
I remember when I was in primary school, I shared my lunch with other friends. The lunch box usually consisted of steamed rice, a couple of side dishes, and sometimes soup as well. Sharing your lunch box with friends mean sharing various side dishes with each other, so we can have more variety of food.
One day, I tasted these stir fried dried squid strips from one of my friend’s lunch box and it was so delicious. After school, I had to mention about this food to my mom and also asked if she can make some for my lunch box as well.
I don’t know what it is so special about this side dish but I am sure every kid loves it. I have to say it is very morish too.
(AU$4.10 - available at a Korean grocery shop )
By the way, plain dried squid strips are often served as a drinking snack, especially with some beer at a bar in Korea. However I prefer to have this as a side dish with rice. I love the sweet and spicy taste. Do you?
Ingredients (takes less than 15 minutes total)
Note : The ingredients are enough to make 5 to 7 single side dishes.
- 141 g dried squid strips
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
-Sauce (mix these in a bowl)
- 4 tsp Gochujang
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp red wine (or rice wine)
Methods
- Soak the dried squid strips in cold water for about 10 minutes.
- Drain the water and slightly squeeze the squid strips.
- Pre heat the wok for 10 seconds on high heat and add the vegetable oil.
- Turn the heat down to medium heat and add the sauce.
- When the sauce is heated, add the dried squid strips.
- Mix the sauce and the dried squid strips well.
- Simmer it for about 20 seconds (until the sauce nearly disappears).
- Serve it on a plate (you can sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds on top).
Dried Squid Strips, Korean Food, Ojingeochae Bokkeum, Seafood, Side Dishes (Banchan)
I don’t like receiving phone calls around meal time, especially when I am busy preparing food. It might sound strange but I believe the more attention the food gets, the tastier it gets. Unfortunately I was on the phone while the eggs were steaming in the pot. It was my sister from Korea, you know what happens then. The long chit chat and giggles.
Nevertheless, I couldn’t concentrate much on the conversation. My mind was with the steaming eggs. Hang up, sis! I need to check my babies. I returned to the kitchen. Da da~! I opened the lid and I saw real gems in pretty cups. I didn’t expect the eggs to rise yet they looked so adorable!
I think the eggs have a joker face. You never know what it is going to be until you serve it. Do you agree? I was so happy to see the well transformed eggs but slightly sad that I missed how they transformed. I hope you don’t miss this.
Ingredients (to serve 3 people)
- 6 large eggs (~70g each)
- 15cm by 15cm kombu (dried seaweed)
- 1 cup of warm water
- 2 tbsp anchovy sauce
- 1 stalk of finely chopped shallot (green part only)
- 1/3 of finely chopped medium size carrot
Prep
- Soak the kombu in warm water for 15 minutes.
- Beat the eggs and sieve them two times.
- Add the kombu water into the beaten eggs (discard the kombu).
- Add the anchovy sauce, shallots, and carrot.
- Mix them well.
- Pour the egg mixture into bowls (up to 80% of the bowl) and cover them with plastic wrap.
Method (It makes it easier if you have a big steamer)
- Boil the water in a steamer (high heat).
- When the water starts to boil, add the bowls.
- Lower the heat to medium to low, steam the bowls for about 15-20 minutes.
- Serve them.
The raised eggs sink slightly as time passes. Though they still look pretty. It was a perfect match with plain rice. Michael thinks it can be a good entree as well. However eating it on its own can be salty, so you might want to reduce the amount of anchovy sauce to 1 tbsp if you don’t like too much salt taste.
For a variation, you can add other kinds of vegetables or even some meat. I will do another post with those some other time. In the mean time, I also think plain steamed egg would be a good baby’s formula.
egg souffle, Eggs and Poultry, Gyeran Jjim, Korean Food, Side Dishes (Banchan), Simple Steamed Egg
