Check it Out

http://korean-cuisine.blogspot.com/p/recipes-by-pictures.html

I’m still going to continue retooling this blog so it might go offline again in the future, but don’t fret.  I will bring it back eventually.  Hopefully new recipes are on the horizon.

P.S.  Yes, I’m still alive.  Just in case you were wondering.

P.P.S.  Did you realize I have over 150 recipes up on this site?  I sure didn’t!  I might just have enough recipes for a cookbook…

Cow Parts

MOOOOOOO.  That’s me being a cow.

Hello all!  I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving break – yes I realize I’m a bit late.  Anyhow, I thought I would do a short little blog on cow parts.  I made beef tang no less than four times already this winter so I thought I would share some of the different parts of cow you can buy at the butcher shop so you can see what it looks like.

 

Knee caps.  If you go to Jinju Gomtang, they have a great do-ga-ni tang - though I confess that I haven’t been there in a very long time since I’m not out and about in K-town like I was in my twenties.  =P  They give you kitchen shears and a big plate of knee caps with soft tendons falling off the bones.  I loved eating all the tendons and dipping into their soy sauce/wasabi mix.  Squeamish?  Don’t be.  Give it a try and you might become a fan!

 

This is where the marrow is.  Even if you don’t use other parts, I suggest adding some beef marrow to any gook or tang you make.

 

Ox tails are always a favorite in tangs.  I always separate my meat after boiling for a while and store it for easier access.

 

Beef brisket.  After boiling for a few hours, I will take this out of the soup and let it cool down.  Then you just take a sharp kitchen knife and slice the meat into thin strips.

 

Beef Feet.  This is definitely not for the weak of heart, but I guarantee your gook will be much more milky and flavorful if you add some feet.  Try it.  I promise you won’t regret it.

 

I normally use all the ox tails and then use about half of everything else.  Let it drain in water and then boil and throw out the water.

 

You can store the remaining cow parts for another time.

 

Remember, boil and throw it out once!

 

Then wash and clean all your bits and pieces and add water and boil, boil, boil.  You can see the more in-depth how-to over HERE and HERE.

Hope everyone has a great holiday!  We will be heading over to the Motherland again to spend Christmas and New Year’s in Seoul.  And yes, food pictures from the homeland will be coming up again so get ready to salivate. 

And can someone please tell North Korea to tone it down a little while we’re over there?  Thanks.

Food Index

 

Al Tang – Fish Egg Soup – 알탕	Anchovy Bokeum - Stir Fry Anchovy - 멸치 볶음
Andong Jjim Dak – 안동 찜닭	Baby Mushrooms
Baked Ziti	Beh-Choo Gook – Napa Soup - 배추국
Beef Bones 101	Beef Round Cakes – 동그란땡
Beef with Broccoli	Dol Sot Bibimbap - 돌솥 비빔밥

Will continue to add to the list as I have time…

Time Saving Tricks for Korean Cooking

Cooking dinner while having an active toddler who is currently going through his mind-numbing terrible two's means that you HAVE to make some shortcuts.

Here are some time-saving tricks that I've learned over the years...



I buy peeled garlic cloves in BULK and mince them ALL up in my food processor. I store them in plastic bags and spread it out thinly. Then I store them in my freezer and I can break off pieces when I need it. Often I'll break off big pieces and keep it stored in a separate plastic container in my fridge for easy access. I think I had close to 10 plastic bags of garlic last month and I've used most of them up. Minced garlic is used a lot in Korean cooking, so stock up!



Meats~ As soon as I bring home my meat products from the market, I saran wrap single size portions of them. Whether it's pork for kimchi jji-gae or beef for gooks they all get saran wrapped for easy use. Whenever I need them, I pop it into the microwave and blast it for 15 seconds on EACH SIDE. This defrosts it perfectly for immediate use.



Red pepper powder - Red pepper powder gets stale after a while so it's best to keep the bag stored in your freezer for maximum freshness. Then I store a good amount in those TWIST-LOCK containers and keep it in my refrigerator door for easy access. I had a BIG accident once where it dropped out of normal tupperware and the lid fell off and made a mess on my kitchen floor. Red pepper all over your kitchen floor is not fun.



I also keep a small amount on my spice rack for even EASIER access. It's all about speed when you have a toddler vying for your attention.



Green onions (scallions) - I wash and chop 2 bunches each week and keep it in an airtight container in my fridge. You can even freeze it, but I tend to use it all in the week anyhow, so it's fine in the fridge. Plus, my freezer space is VERY limited.



One of my commenters made me remember that I also peel and saran wrap my ginger (I used to put a bunch in ziploc bags but quickly realized that they got freezer burn). I saw this on Rachel Ray once and it's AWESOME! You can keep the ginger forever and when you need it, all you have to do it grate off however much you need.



I'm sure you have all seen these little tea bags filled with dashima and anchovies on my blog numerous times by now. I fill up a BUNCH of them whenever I have time and then store them all in ziploc bags in my freezer. I make sure to clean out the anchovies beforehand, but this last time my wonderful MIL brought me TWO big ziploc bags of anchovies that SHE personally cleaned out herself! So I probably don't have to worry about cleaning anchovies for the next year. =)

 

I would not be able to do anything without this mandolin!  It is my sanity saver.  =P  I had to do without one of these in Korea and my time in the kitchen was doubled!  

 

Anyhow, that's all I could think of this morning. I'll update this list as I go...

Are there any time saving tips that you use at your home? I would LOVE to know!

Korean Grocery List

What do you normally buy at the K-market?

Here's a rundown of what I usually always pick up each week...

• Moo (daikon radish)
• kong namool (bean sprouts)
• 1 bunch of spinach (actually I'll pick this up at Ralphs because they have it precut already and it saves an extra step)
  
• tofu (normally I get 2 packs)
• Korean peppers
• Korean squash
• potatoes
• onions
  
• green onions (which I chop all at once and store in a container to use for the week)
  
• 1 Asian pear (sometimes more if I feel like eating one)
• Sang chu (red leaf lettuce)
• 1 pack of udon (if I'm out)
• 1 frozen Octopus package (if I'm out because you can keep it in the freezer forever)
• 1 steamed hairtail (also because it can be stored in the freezer forever)
• sam gyup sal (pork belly - I bring it home and saran wrap 3-4 pieces each to make it easier for defrosting when I make kimchi jjigae)
• shitake and enoki mushrooms
• sometimes oyster mushrooms
• beef - I rotate buying boolgogi, galbi, chi-mat sal (for gooks), and any other type of meat I need
• chicken drummettes - for some reason only the K-market sells ONLY the drum part of the chicken wing, so I always grab a package and leave it in our freezer
• dak myun (which can be stored forever also)
• mi yuk (if I don't already have it)
• ginger (if I already don't have some stored in the freezer)
  

I usually already have at home...

• dwen jang (soy bean paste)
• red pepper paste
• red pepper powder
• soy sauce
• minced garlic (I mince up a HUGE amount and freeze them in ziploc bags)
• gook ganjang
• fish sauce
• sugar
• salt
• pepper
• rice wine
• corn syrup
  

If you have all of the items mentioned above, there's a LOT of things you can make. If I cook at least 4 -5 times in a week, I can use up whatever I bought that week. But USUALLY I cook 2 or 3 times a week, which means a lot of the vegetables end up in the trash (much to the dismay of the MR). Depending on whether I buy meat or not my weekly Korean grocery bill is anywhere from $60-120. Then I have to go to Ralphs to buy American products too. *sigh* It seems we work to eat. =P

PS. The MR is my #1 fan! HI, HONEY!!!! This is quite exciting for me because he hardly ever read my other blog. =)

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~