Korean Cooking 101 - Ingredients

I was asked to do a run down of the most used Korean ingredients, so I thought I would oblige. There were a few items that I just realized that I didn't take a picture of, but I'll add them later when I get the chance. I'm sure you've noticed by now that the MOST important items (at least on this blog) are the following...



Gook Ganjang - If you can see on the bottom it says "Traditional Korean Soy Sauce (for soup)" and that's the best description of it. It's basically a light soy sauce that is used to flavor broth. You should most definitely buy a Korean brand because it is very different from other “light” soy sauces that might be out there.  I prefer the one on the right, though I buy the one on the left time to time to change things up a little.



Sesame oil - I just buy whatever is on sale.



Dwen jang - aka soy bean paste is used for a lot of different types of soups. I alternate brands all the time, but these are a couple that I remain loyal to.

Gochu jang - aka red pepper paste (on this blog) - aka hot bean paste is exactly that. It's paste made from red peppers and I prefer the one made by Haitai though this last time I bought the one on the right because it says it’s Made in Korea.  =P


 
This is what I refer to as “cooking wine” on my blog – I tend to buy whatever is on sale because to me, they all taste the same.

Corn Syrup



Soy Sauce



Red pepper oil



Fish Sauce - There are a lot of Korean brands of fish sauce, but personally I like using the Vietnamese Three Crabs brand.

Gga-nari fish sauce



Red pepper powder - My MIL brought us this from Korea.



Honey Powder



Dried Shrimp



Miyuk - dried seaweed (plant?) whatever.  I’m currently using the one on the right.  It says it’s for “babies” so all the seaweed is precut.  I like it because it saves me a step!



Shrimp Jut - Salted Shrimp


 
Honey Powder.

 

  
Korean Pancake Mix

 

   
Soft Tofu AKA SoonDooBoo – I prefer the ones inside the cups instead of the tubes because they tend to be less watery.  Soondooboo is already so watery so this helps.

 

   
Bean Sprouts AKA Kongnamool

    
Book-uh – Dried Pollack – This is the brand I’m currently using.  My MIL sent it from Korea, so I have no idea if they sell it here.

 

    
Ojinguh Che – Dried Cuttlefish

 

  
Salt – When I’m just *salting* stuff, I use regular Kosher salt.  But when it comes to cooking and using in the recipes, I will use sea salt.

 

     
Tofu – I always buy this one by Pulmuone.  I love that it has *two cups* and each cup is perfect for one jjigae.  The blue one is for jjigaes and the orange one is firmer and can be used to fry.

As of now, this is the basic run down of my cabinet. =P I'm sure I'm missing some things, but I will add them as I think of it. Hope this helps~