Korean Food and Recipes
Collard greens are not used in Korean cuisine. One day, I experimented with them for use in a Korean dish. I made a side dish by frying canned collard greens with some Korean seasonings. It was good, but I wanted to try fresh collard greens, especially since collard greens are supposed to be healthy. The result is this recipe. It is simple, yet very tasty. I am very satisfied with the result. Please try it someday. 🙂
Yield: 3 Cups
Bachelor radish kimchi is a very popular summer kimchi in Korea. You might wonder why the name is “bachelor kimchi.” In the old days, boys who did not marry had to wear a special haircut that was styled like the shape of this radish. So Koreans called this radish, “bachelor radish,” and the kimchi made with it is called “bachelor radish kimchi.” With well fermented bachelor kimchi, you can make different kinds of korean dishes. Of course, just eating the kimchi with rice also taste awesome.
Yield: 1½ Gallons
Napa Cabbage GeotJeolI (배추 겉절이) is a common and simple daily side dish in Korea. Instead of napa cabbage you can use lettuce, bok choy, or another leafy vegetable. In a few minutes, you can prepare a very delicious side dish by just mixing some ingredients with the cabbage. A secret for a good tasting dish is to use baby leaves (soft) that do not have much of a bitter or strong flavor. Baby leaves also have a nice soft texture. If you get a head of napa cabbage, use the thick outer leaves for napa cabbage soup, and use the soft inside leaves for this recipe. 🙂
Yield: 4 Servings
Whenever we order fried chicken in Korea, this pickled radish comes along with it. Usually the amount they give isn’t enough. So it is great to make extra picked radish at home, or if you make Korean fried chicken at home, you can make this picked radish too. It can’t be any easier or simpler than this. Try it someday. 🙂
Yield: 6 Cups
Sweet corn salad is a popular side dish that Western restaurants such as KFC and Pizza Hut serve in Korea. It might seem strange since this recipe is not served in the USA, but many Western restaurants change their menu according to local tastes. That means this recipe is a Korean styled dish, even though it was popularized by Western restaurants. The flavor is very good when eating greasy food. The onion and sweet pepper, in a sweet and sour sauce, helps to remove the oily taste from your mouth. It also can be good as an appetizer or side dish for other kinds of food. 🙂
Yield: 1½ Cups
Spicy salted seaweed stem bokkeum is another delicious way to eat seaweed stems. I’ve posted non-spicy seaweed stem bokkeum before. Once you make this, you can serve it for several weeks as a side dish. For this recipe, I used Sempio Youndoo for flavoring. If you don’t have Youndoo, you can add a little bit of salt and/or soy sauce depending on your tastes. The slightly spicy and garlicky flavor makes this seaweed stem dish very tasty. Try it someday. 🙂
Yield: 2 Cups
Today, I will introduce a winter kimchi that Koreans enjoy a lot. It is the radish water kimchi called Dongchimi. I think that this is one of the easiest types of kimchi that you can make. Simply cut up the ingredients and then mix them with salt and water. You don’t even need fish sauce or hot pepper powder, so it can be a perfect kimchi recipe for vegetarians or people who cannot eat spicy food. 🙂 Please try it this winter. Then, let’s get started.
Yield: 1 Gallon
Perilla kimchi (깻잎 김치) is another simple kimchi recipe. It does not need to soak in a brine like normal kimchi and it does not need very long to ferment. So even though it called kimchi, it is almost like a daily side dish. Perilla has a unique taste, and it is thought to be good for health. This kimchi tastes great both when it is fresh and fermented. If you love kimchi and want something different, why don’t you try this someday? 😉
Yield: 6½ Dozen Leaves
Seasoned filefish bokkeum is one of the most common side dishes that mothers like to keep it in the refrigerator and serve with each meal. It keeps for several weeks. As you might know, Koreans eat many different kinds of side dishes for each meal; so it is very convenient to have 4 or 5 different side dishes that you can keep and eat for some time, including kimchi. With the same sauce that I use in this recipe, you can use other dried fish such as dried anchovies or dried shrimp instead of filefish. The sauce is spicy and sweet which goes well with the salted and dried fish.
Yield: 2 Cups
Gyeranmli is a rolled up fried egg. This type is made with fish cakes, and it is called “gyeranmali (어묵 계란말이).” It is easy and delicious and can be used in a Korean lunch box. Someday, I will post more Korean lunch box dishes. 😉
Yield: 3 Servings
