Tag Archive: Korean Food

Spicy, Sweet and Vinegary Noodles (Bibim Guksu)

May 29, 2007 Category: Noodles, Vegetarian
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Bibim Guksu05292

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?

Bibim Guksu05291

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

  1. Boil the noodles in boiling water for about 3 minutes.
  2. Sieve the noodles and run the cold water thoroughly over the noodles to cool them down.
  3. Place the noodles in a bowl and add the toppings and sauce.
  4. 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

Bibim Guksu noodles 0529

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.

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Stir Fried Dried Squid Strips (Ojingeochae Bokkeum)

May 2, 2007 Category: Seafood, Side Dishes (Banchan)
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Stir Fried Dried Squid Strips (Ojingeochae Bokkeum)1

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.

Stir Fried Dried Squid Strips

(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

Stir Fried Dried Squid Strips (Ojingeochae Bokkeum)2

  1. Soak the dried squid strips in cold water for about 10 minutes.
  2. Drain the water and slightly squeeze the squid strips.
  3. Pre heat the wok for 10 seconds on high heat and add the vegetable oil.
  4. Turn the heat down to medium heat and add the sauce.
  5. When the sauce is heated, add the dried squid strips.
  6. Mix the sauce and the dried squid strips well.
  7. Simmer it for about 20 seconds (until the sauce nearly disappears).
  8. Serve it on a plate (you can sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds on top).

Stir Fried Dried Squid Strips (Ojingeochae Bokkeum)3

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Simple Steamed Eggs (Gyeran Jjim)

April 18, 2007 Category: Eggs and Poultry, Side Dishes (Banchan)
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Simple Steamed Eggs (Gyeran Jjim)4

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!

Simple Steamed Eggs (Gyeran Jjim)3

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.

Simple Steamed Eggs (Gyeran Jjim)1

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

  1. Soak the kombu in warm water for 15 minutes.
  2. Beat the eggs and sieve them two times.
  3. Add the kombu water into the beaten eggs (discard the kombu).
  4. Add the anchovy sauce, shallots, and carrot.
  5. Mix them well.
  6. Pour the egg mixture into bowls (up to 80% of the bowl) and cover them with plastic wrap.

Simple Steamed Eggs (Gyeran Jjim) steps

Method (It makes it easier if you have a big steamer)

  1. Boil the water in a steamer (high heat).
  2. When the water starts to boil, add the bowls.
  3. Lower the heat to medium to low, steam the bowls for about 15-20 minutes.
  4. Serve them.

Simple Steamed Eggs (Gyeran Jjim)2

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.

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Simmered Meat Patties in Teriyaki like sauce – Jangsanjeok

April 13, 2007 Category: Red Meat, Side Dishes (Banchan)
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Simmered Meat Patties in Teriyaki like sauce - Jangsanjeok1

What is Jangsanjeok (장산적)? As the title describes, it is broiled meat patties (these are called Seopsanjeok) that are simmered in teriyaki like sauce. Well, it may not look like traditional Korean food from the picture (Michael keeps saying that it looks like a rissole), but it is a Korean food. I gave it a slightly different look, which I want to call “fancy”, whether you want to agree or not. I also added extra ingredients for the sauce compared to the traditional methods that were served to the Kings of the Chosun dynasty.

You can serve Jangsangjeok as a side dish, as a main meal, as a filing for a burger or at a BBQ. It is quite convenient, in that unlike other kinds of side dishes it can be frozen, so you can preserve it for later.

Simmered Meat Patties in Teriyaki like sauce - Jangsanjeok2

Ingredients

For patties (enough to make 8-9 round patties, with a diameter of 9cm)

  • 440g beef mince
  • 440g pork mince
  • 190g tofu (squeeze it in a straining cloth to drain the water)
  • 6 tbsp finely chopped onion
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped shallots
  • 2 tbsp Korean sesame oil
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

For sauce (for 4 patties) – mix the following in a bowl

  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp red wine
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1/4 tsp ginger powder

Optional

  • 1/2 thin sliced onion
  • 1/2 stalk of chopped shallots (green part)

Prep

Simmered Meat Patties in Teriyaki like sauce - Jangsanjeok3

  1. Add all the patty ingredients in a big bowl then mix it well.
  2. Think how big you want to make the patty first (in my case, I aimed at medium size patties and got 8 of them) then knead the patty to the size you want.
  3. Leave the patties out that you are going to cook and seal the rest of the patties with plastic wrap and store them in the freezer.

Method

Simmered Meat Patties in Teriyaki like sauce - Jangsanjeok4

Part 1 (You will need a frying pan)

  1. Pre heat the frying pan on high heat.
  2. When it is heated enough, add some oil (I started using rice bran oil and it works great).
  3. Add the patties and cook both sides on high heat for a short while.
  4. Reduce the heat to medium to low and cook the inside of the patty.

Part 2 (You will need a sauce pan)

  1. Pre heat the sauce pan.
  2. Add the bowl of sauce and onion.
  3. Stir it a little bit then add the patties.
  4. Simmer them well.
  5. Serve them on the plate (if there is any sauce left, pour it out on top of the patties – it is tastier).

Some products I used for this recipe

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Related Posts

BBQ Grill Plate

Royal Rice Cake (Gungjung Ddeokbbokki in Korean)

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Feeding Hungry Travelers, Martina (at Incheon Airport)

April 8, 2007 Category: Restaurants (In Korea)
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Incheon Airport Restaurant - Martina2

(from the window)

It’s the day you need to be on board. As airport security gets tighter, you are advised to arrive at an airport at least 3 hours earlier nowadays. 3 hours! Man, how am I going to pass the time? If you are a frequent flier member of an airline then at least your membership can help you to ease your stress and hunger, but if you are not, you would wander around near the food court and think seriously about what you are going to eat that is good value.

I know if you are new to the place, it is not that easy to find a good place to eat. However it would help making a decision (not always though), if the restaurant got mentioned on TV or in the newspapers or won an award. Martina, where I stopped before boarding my flight to Australia, is in both cases. It is managed by Walkerhill hotel and is ranked as the best restaurant in Incheon airport in 2004. Not to mention, it was in newspapers several times as well. So here I gave it a try.

Michael ordered Kimchi bokkumbap (10, 000 won) and I ordered Bulgogi jjigae (13,000 won) and I have to say that they were the cheaper kinds of food from their menu.

Incheon Airport Restaurant - Martina3

Incheon Airport Restaurant - Martina1

Yet the food didn’t taste cheap. It was quite good. It better be. Although it is classed as a hotel restaurant, the combined price of 23,000 won (US $24) before service fees and taxes isn’t cheap to us.

The atmosphere was quite relaxing until the crowds of ajumas arrived. Yet after all, we were all travelers, so most people seemed to leave as soon as they finished their meal. One thing I didn’t like about the place was that we were seated very near the bar. It wasn’t a big bar, it was a quite small and short one. So you know what I am going to say. Yes, the cigarette smoke. We don’t like it very much, especially when we are about to have food. It made us very uncomfortable, but fortunately the smoking people didn’t stay very long. So if you go there, make sure to sit far from the bar.

My Bulgogi jjigae was quite hot. I nearly burned my tongue on the first spoon. It seemed slightly salty, but in general it was very nice. I got 4 side dishes (seasoned seaweed, stir fried mushrooms, soy sauce simmered radish, and Kimchi) compared to 2 side dishes (yellow pickled radish and Kimchi) for Michael (but he had soybean paste soup), yet I generously shared my side dishes with him. Though it was a shame that they served me only a small bowl of rice, because I couldn’t completely finish my jjigae without the rice. What a waste! I tend to like a restaurant better, if there are generous with the food. Be generous with rice, Martina!

Location and Info

  • Duty free area, 4th floor – near gate No. 11 (East side restaurant) or near gate No. 43 (West side restaurant), follow the sign “transit hotel.”
  • Open – 7:00~21:00
  • Menu – Korean food and Western style food (steak, pasta, and sandwiches)
  • Tel – (82) (0)32-743-3012
  • Service fee 10% of the value of the meal and VAT 10% will be charged on top of that separately.
  • Discount info – If you stay in the transit hotel, you can get 10% off the total price of the meal. Or if you have a “Leaders club membership card” (from SK telecom – the Korean mobile company) you will also get 10% off the total price.

Related Posts

Korean Buffet at Milky Way

Bulgogi Wrapped in Rice Paper

Stir fried Kimchi and Rice (Kimchi Bokkumbap in Korean)

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