Korean Food and Recipes
Hi Everyone! Today, I want to introduce you to one of my favorite foods that my sister-in-law makes: bok choy salad. I don’t know why I like it so much. Maybe it’s because of the ingredients: soy sauce, vinegar, green onion, sesame oil, or something else. It has an Asian flavor to it. My sister-in-law uses balsamic vinegar; however, for this recipe, I will use Sempio’s drinking black rice vinegar. The result was even better using the drinking vinegar. Try it someday.
Yield: 2 Quart
Living abroad sometimes gives you challenges in life – especially when it comes to cooking. If you get hungry for a certain food, but cannot get the right ingredients for it, substitutes will just have to make do. Today, I will introduce one of my substitutes. In Korea, people eat a steamed dried fish that has a special sauce topping during big holidays such as Lunar New Year (Seolnal) or Thanksgiving (Chuseok). The dish is rather simple, especially for a holiday food. When I say “dried fish,” you might imagine a dried fish filet or a bag of shredded dried fish. However, in this case, it is a whole dried fish minus the head and guts. I could not get that here so I tried to make that dish with frozen tilapia fillets, which are easily found in these parts of the world. I’m happy to share my successful experiment with you. I love the way it turned out, especially the texture of the fish and the delicious sauce on top. Try it someday. 🙂
Yield: 3 Pieces
Many people asked me what kind of food I feed our son. Thankfully, our son Bryson eats well. He seems to like both Korean and American food. Today, I will share one recipe that my son loves: Korean style baby meatballs. They are made by simply grinding all the ingredients together in a mixer and frying them. These can be good for a snack, appetizer, or main dish. They are very tender and delicious meatballs.
Yield: 1 Cup
When you have leftover cooked rice, what do you usually do with it? There are many creative ways of eating leftover rice. Today, I will show one very simple and delicious way to eat leftover rice – kimchi porridge. The soft texture of this porridge, with its savory kimchi flavor in a homemade broth, tastes great.
Yield: 2 Servings
Meatloaf is a delicious American food that I learnt how to make from my mother-in-law. Not only is it easy to make, it is also good to use as planned leftovers. You can use leftover meatloaf for hot meatloaf sandwiches with gravy or just eat it cold. You can also make big batch of meatloaf and freeze some for later. Some people add broth flavoring to make it taste better, so I wondered how Sempio’s Yondu would improve the flavor if I used it. It was a success. Try this simple and delicious meatloaf recipe someday. 🙂
Yield: 2 Loaves
Injeolmi (인절미) is a type of Korean rice cake. It is sticky rice cakes rolled in some kind of powder or crumbs. Depending on the powder or crumbs, the name for the rice cakes are different. Today I will make injeolmi rolled in mungbean crumbs, which we call “nokdu injeolmi.” Chewy rice cakes, covered with the sweet and nutty flavor of mung brean crumbs, tastes very delicious.
Yield: 40 Pieces
In Korea, we make a huge amount of kimchi at the end of the fall or beginning of the winter. It is part of the preparations for winter in Korean culture. So, it is a very common and important event for Korean families. Winter kimchi is stored and enjoyed during the winter, sometimes even until the next spring or summer. We call it “GimJang” (김장) in Korean. All the family, friends, relatives, and/or neighbors gather together and make kimchi together. At the end of a hard day laboring to make kimchi, they love to try their fresh kimchi with boiled pork. Not only is it tasty, but it is also a very happy moment to enjoy the delicious food with loved ones.
My parents have traveled from Korea to stay with us in America to help us with our new baby. My mom makes the best kimchi ever and I always hunger for her kimchi. A few days ago, my mom made a big batch of winter kimchi for me. So I cooked a pork dish called “suyuk” to eat with her kimchi. We enjoyed it very much. Fresh kimchi with tender pork tastes heavenly. hehe… I am very happy and excited to share this recipe with you. If you make new kimchi, please try this someday. Of course, you can eat the pork with old kimchi too.
Yield: 4 Servings
Today, I will make my all-time favorite kimchi: green onion kimchi. It is called “pakimchi” (파김치) in Korean. For this, you need a special kind of green onion called “jjokpa” (쪽파) in Korean. It is a very thin and soft type of green onion. I couldn’t find thin green onions in the United States for a long time, but then one day, the grocery store had some that were a little thinner than normal. Since I was craving green onion kimchi, I was very excited to use them in this recipe. The result is pretty good and I am enjoying my green onion kimchi almost every day recently. It is very tasty, but it gives you strong onion breath. Other than that, I highly recommend you try this kimchi someday. 😉
Yield: ½ Gallon
There are many types of water kimchi in Korea. Today, I will make one made with Napa cabbage and a Korea radish called “nabak kimchi (나박김치)” in Korean. This is so delicious and refreshing. This also does not have any fish sauce or seafood in it, so this can be a good kimchi for vegetarians too. Try it someday.
Yield: 1 Gallon
Today I will make a healthy and tasty porridge made with dried mung beans. It is called “nokdujuk” in Korean. This porridge is thought to be good for people who are sick, or for those who do not have much of an appetite. In Korea, mung beans are thought to reduce fever and cleanse your body of toxins. When my husband got sick recently, I made this for him and it helped his condition. Of course, you can eat this delicious porridge even if you are not sick. 🙂 The mild mung bean flavor, along with the rice, tastes great. Try it someday.
Yield: 4 Servings
