Beh-choo Gook - (Napa Soup) - (배추국)

Your shopping list for the day:

• Green napa (I have NO idea what it's really called in English~ the next time I'm at the K-market I'll take a note of it).
• White napa
• Kongnamool
• 2 cups green onions
• 1/4 (or less) lb. of beef - NOTE: If you have galbi meat with the bones on hand, use that with 1 more tb of red pepper powder. It tastes better and it will make it kind of like a ooh-guh-ji galbi gook....you can throw in some shrimp jut right before eating and it's so refreshing! ;)
  
• 1 tb sesame oil
• 1 tb minced garlic
• 3 tb gook ganjang
• 1/2 tb red pepper powder
• 7 cups water
• 1 tb red pepper paste
• 3 tb dwen-jang

Start off by washing all your vegetables VERY thoroughly.



After the vegetables are washed, cut them up into bite size pieces.



I had some white napa cabbage left over from the shabu-shabu earlier in the week, so I added some of that as well.



Bring a pot of water to a strong boil and add all your napa. Let it boil for a while and then remove it from the heat....



And give it a good rinsing.



Drain the blood from some meat (let's just say about 1/4 lb.).



Get your other ingredients ready....



Then add: 1tb sesame oil, 1tb minced garlic, 3 tb gook ganjang, and the meat. Mix it around until the meat is all cooked.



Then throw in 1/2 tb of red pepper powder and keep mixing.



Add about 7 cups of water, 1 tb of red pepper paste, and 3 tb of dwen-jang and bring to a strong boil.



When the water is boiling, add the napa and close the lid until the napa boils.



Add some kongnamool and close the lid yet again for about 5-10 minutes.



Finally throw in some green onions (about 2 cups in this case) and let it boil for at least 30 minutes on medium-low heat.



After about 30 minutes, you're finally done and ready to serve!



This is my little Munchkin's portion tonight. I just took a scissor and cut up all the veggies into smaller pieces. I'm not sure if I've mentioned on this blog before, but Munchkin eats EVERYTHING and ANYTHING that I give him. I'm such a lucky mom~ =P

Tofu w/Seasoning Sauce - (두부 무침)

Start off by purchasing firm tofu.



I start off by cutting it into thirds, then cutting it into 1/4 inch slices.



Lightly oil (I use regular Olive Oil) a pan and fry all the tofus until golden brown. Some people will sprinkle salt at this point, but I'm sure I've mentioned before but I try to avoid salt and MSG whenever possible...



While the tofu is frying, get your seasonings in order. I LOVE these bottles that they sell at Cost Plus World Market. It makes cooking such a breeze! I used to keep my gook ganjang in one of them too, but I realized that gook ganjang tends to get bad quickly (I would see mold floating around), so now I keep my gook ganjang in the fridge....problem solved.



Mix together: 4 tb gook ganjang, 3 tb soy sauce, 1/2 tb minced garlic, 1 tb sesame oil, 1 tb sesame seeds, 2 handfuls of green onions (or more), 2 tb red pepper powder.



Arrange the tofu in tupperware (or a plate).



And distribute the mixture evenly on top.



You can start another layer and continue....



I plated some for the MR's breakfast this morning. It's a light and healthy breakfast side dish~~ You can store the rest in the fridge for 2-3 days. Enjoy!

Spinach Moochim - Version 1.0 - (시금치무침)

This is probably one of the easiest Korean side dish out there, but I figured there might be people who might still not know how to make it. First start off by filling a medium sized pot with water and bringing it to a strong boil.



While the water is boiling, start off with one bunch of spinach, make sure to cut off the tips and wash it thoroughly.



In a small bowl mix together the following: 1/2 tb sesame oil, 1/2 tb gook ganjang, 1/2 tsp minced garlic, 1/2 tb sesame seed, and a handful of green onions.



When the water is boiling STRONG, throw in the clean spinach and just flip it around for a little bit. The spinach will cook immediately (less than a minute) so stay close and just mix it around.



Immediately remove from the heat and rinse in cold water.



Grab a cheese cloth (or a heavy duty paper towel) and squeeze out all the excess liquid. I divided it into thirds at this point to get as much of the moisture out as possible.



Finally, just mix it with the ingredients above...



And you're ready to serve~

I also make this using soy bean paste and tofu...I will post that up next time.

Yook Gae Jang - 육개장

Note: You can add the egg directly into the soup. I live with a man who absolutely detests eggs, so I tend to always make any eggs "on the side".

I made Yook Gae Jang today. I bought all the ingredients earlier in the week, but didn't have time until today to make it. Here's a grocery list of what you need:

• Beef flank steak (anywhere from 1.25-2 lbs. of it)
• Bean sprouts
• 2 bunches of green onions
• Oyster mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms or Korean portobello mushrooms (whatever you can find)
• 4 tb of red pepper powder
• 4 tb of red pepper paste
  
• 2 tb of sesame oil
  
• 3 tb of sesame seeds
• 4 tb of gook ganjang
• 4 tb of minced garlic
• 1 tsp of black pepper
• 10 cups beef broth
• 8 cups water

Optional

• 2 eggs / fried and sliced thinly
  
• dak myun
  

I've seen this meat sold at Ralphs also, so you can go there and buy it too. I'm sure you're sick of me writing this......but drain the blood by letting it sit in water.



Throw the meat into a pot with just enough water to cover it and let it boil. After a couple of minutes, turn off the heat, throw the water away, and wash the beef off. Give the pot a cleaning at this point also and refill with clean water. Once the water is boiling, throw in the beef again and cook it for ONE hour.



While the beef is boiling you can get your other ingredients ready.



I cut my green onions into thirds. I use the the green part whole, but I like to cut half the white part because it's kind of thick.



I then took 3/4 of the bean sprouts (you can use the whole bag, but I'm saving the bean sprouts for Saturday's beh-choo gook) and soaked it in water.



After the meat has cooked for an hour, turn off the heat and pick out the meat pieces. Reserve this broth!



Normally, I don't measure and just transfer the whole pot, but I know some people are Type A and need exact measurements. This is 10 cups of beef broth. If you have less, don't worry about it and just substitute with water. It's not a big deal.



Once the beef has cooled down (or you can run it under cold water to speed the process up) shred all the pieces by hand into edible sizes. If you have cooked it long enough, this is an easy process because the meat has softened up.



Then season the meat with the following:

• 4 tb of red pepper powder
• 4 tb of red pepper paste
• 2 tb of sesame oil
• 3 tb of sesame seeds
• 4 tb of gook ganjang
• 4 tb of minced garlic
• 1 tsp of black pepper

Toss it around a little.



And add it to the boiling beef broth. Just by looking at it, I knew I would need more water....



So I added 8 cups of water to the same bowl (to get all the seasonings) and added it to the soup. Total liquid is 18 cups so make sure to use a pot big enough.



While waiting for the meat to boil, you can ready your fern bracken and mushrooms. I always try and buy fresh fern bracken, but sometimes it's hard to find. You have to cut off about 2 inches off the bottom of it because it's really tough. In the end you only end up using about half of what you bought.



Once the beef starts boiling, add the green onions and bean sprouts and CLOSE THE LID. Let it come to a boil and leave it for about 10 minutes.



Then add the fern bracken and mushrooms and let all of it boil for up to ONE hour. You have to cook it for a long time in order to get the thick Yook Gae Jang broth...if you're in a hurry (like we were today) you can eat it after 30 minutes, but it doesn't taste as great. =)



While you're waiting for the soup to be done, you can soak your dak myun in water. I then boil it in a separate pot and just add as much as I want when I eat it. You can add it directly to the Yook Gae Jang, but then by day 2 it gets all yucky.



I fry my eggs and slice it thinly. Again, you can add raw egg directly to the soup and let it cook in there. But the MR doesn't really like eggs, so I always leave it on the side.



When the soup is done boiling, garnish with the egg and some green onions and you're ready to eat!



I always add my rice directly to it. Yook Gae Jang is a little time consuming, but I always make a HUGE batch and we just eat it for the next 3 days (making sure to boil it 2-3 times a day). The MR eats A LOT, so somehow we end up finishing it all. Enjoy~~~

Over the weekend I will add a Beh-choo Gook recipe! I'm not exactly sure who's visiting this site, but in the 7 days I have been up and running there have been 139 unique visitors! Who knew Korean food was this popular? Thanks, people! =)