Mook Moochim – 묵무침

EDIT:  A reader informed me that I forgot to mention that I used red pepper powder.  Oops.  Yes, I did use red pepper powder and apparently forgot to write it down.  Sorry!  Recipe has been updated.

There are many ways to eat mook.  You can eat it straight, you can eat it with just sauce, you can eat mook bap, or you can make mook moochim!  I had a lot of fresh vegetables in my fridge and decided to pull them all out!  (I’m going to use the leftover vegetables for some gochu-jang samgyupsal bibimbap later this week!  Stay tuned!!!) 

Ingredients Needed:

• 1/4 CUP each of chopped perilla leaves, romaine lettuce, minari leaves, daikon sprouts, onions, carrots, cucumber and whatever else you have and/or like!
• sauce mixture: 2 TB red pepper powder, 3 TB gook ganjang, 1.5 TB soy sauce, 1 TB minced garlic, 1 TB sesame oil, 2 TB sesame seeds, 3 TB chopped green onions, 2 TB rice wine, and half tablespoon of vinegar

 

 
Clockwise from top left: minari leaves, romaine lettuce, daikon sprouts and perilla leaves. 

 
Thoroughly wash and drain about 1/4 CUP each of the veggies above.

   
Meanwhile, slice some cucumbers and onions (about 1/4 CUP each) and throw it into a bowl.

   
I didn’t have regular carrots, so I took some baby carrots and sliced those up as well.  Then start chopping up all the veggies from above and make a salad!

    
Make the sauce mixture:  2 TB red pepper powder, 3 TB gook ganjang, 1.5 TB soy sauce, 1 TB minced garlic, 1 TB sesame oil, 2 TB sesame seeds, 3 TB chopped green onions, 2 TB rice wine, and 1/2 TB vinegar.  I did NOT use all this sauce and actually have more than half of it left over.  I’m going to use the rest to just eat the mook with or to add to the mook bap.  You can store it for a few days, so no worries!

 
After about 5 hours or so in the fridge, the mook is ready to eaten.  Just plop it out like so and cut away.  I only used about half of this because I was serving it as a side dish.

Slice up your mook into bite-size pieces…

 

  
and add sauce to YOUR taste.  Note:  I made the mistake of trying to mix up everything together.  The mook is much too fragile to mix around, so I advise you to first mix the salad with the sauce thoroughly and then add the mook and just lightly give it a flip.

 

You’re now ready to serve!  Enjoy~~  Will be back with a mook bap recipe later this week as well.  Toodles!

Mook – (묵) - Part 1

I know I’ve been slacking off on the updating department again.  Once I heard the news that my scans were clear, I no longer needed this blog as much.  This blog takes up a lot of my time, so running a household, running a business and trying to update this regularly starts to become a little much sometimes.  I’m working from home today, so I finally had the opportunity to sit down and update.  I made mook yesterday and took pictures and wrote down as much as I could about the process.

Ingredients Needed:

• 1 CUP acorn starch + 3 CUPS water
• 3 CUPS boiling water

  
First grab a pack of Acorn Starch.

Put about a CUP of acorn starch into a bowl and add 3 CUPS of water.  MIX IT WELL! 


  
Meanwhile, bring another 3 CUPS of water to a boil.

  
Just as the water is about to boil, pour the acorn starch mixture through a sieve and bring up the heat.  KEEP MIXING!  It’s very important to keep the mixture moving.  You really can’t do much else but stand by the stove and mix, mix, mix!


   
After awhile, it will be thick and gravy like.  Lower the heat down to LOW and keep stirring away.  Little bubbles will start to pop, ignore and just keep STIRRING!

After about 20-25 minutes of stirring, add a pinch of salt, mix it around and finally turn off the heat!

Let it cool down a bit and transfer it into some containers.  I used two smaller ones because I’m going to use one for mook moochim and one for mook bap.

Once it has cooled down, place it into the refrigerator and chill overnight or until cold.  I will be back shortly with a *how-to* for mook moochim.

Chicken with Potatoes – DakDoriTang - (닭도리탕)

I’m about to have a heart attack watching this Lakers game.  I know true sports fanatics will say THIS is the way to play and that the excitement is what makes it real sports, but honestly I wish it could be a simple repeat of Game 6! 

Anyhow, I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that there are various ways to make the same dish.  There’s no right way and no wrong way.  Whatever tastes best to you, is the RIGHT way! 

While in Korea, I had the opportunity to visit one of my favorite eemos.  I dub her the eemo “who makes the *best* dakdoritang!”  I didn’t have the opportunity to actually WATCH her make it, but I did question her extensively on her method and made her tell me how she makes her dakdoritang taste so darn good.  I actually remembered her dakdoritang from the last time I ate it over eight years ago and when she asked me, “What do you want to eat?”  I replied without hesitation, “Your dakdoritang!!!”

Here’s what she told me…and no, she didn’t give me any *real* measurements.  =)

Note: my eemo also uses beef dashida, but I omitted that part!

Ingredients Needed:

• 1 Cornish Game Hen
• potatoes - (2 large ones, or a cup of baby potatoes)
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 carrot
• 2 small red peppers
• handful of garlic cloves
• sauce mixture: 1 TB minced garlic, 3 TB soy sauce, 8 TB water, 2 TB red pepper powder, 2 TB red pepper paste, 1 TB sesame oil, 2 TB rice wine, 1.5 TB honey (real honey!), 1/2 TB onion powder (optional)
• 2 TB ketchup

 
My eemo actually uses a whole chicken, but we’re a small family of three, so I know there’s no way we could eat all that chicken!  =P  Plus, I live with a man that doesn’t like chicken. 

 
First make sure your chicken is defrosted!  I leave mine in the fridge overnight and that usually does the trick.  If you have a really good pair of kitchen shears, you can cut this NOW or you can cut it after you boil it to make it easier.  I like cutting it up before boiling because I feel that this makes the chicken cook more evenly.

 

While you’re waiting for the water to boil, prep your veggies.  I chose to use 1/2 onion, 1/2 carrot, a handful of garlic cloves, 2 small red peppers and some baby potatoes I found lurking in the bottom drawer of the fridge.  Did I mention I haven’t been to the grocery store in a while?  =P



Once the water is boiling, dump your chicken in there and let it boil for a good 10-15 minutes.

 
While the chicken is boiling, make your sauce mixture: 1 TB minced garlic, 3 TB soy sauce, 8 TB water, 2 TB red pepper powder, 2 TB red pepper paste, 1 TB sesame oil, 2 TB rice wine, 1.5 TB honey (real honey!), 1/2 TB onion powder (optional)

  
After about 15 minutes wash your chicken under cool water.  Make sure to clean off all the gunk.

  
Transfer it to a clean bowl…

…and dump in the sauce mixture.  Use a large spoon (or a gloved hand like me) and just make sure to thoroughly coat the chicken.

Then dump the chicken into a pot and turn up the heat!  I suppose you can mix the chicken in the pot and save yourself a clean bowl.  =P  I was too busy trying to get this finished in time to watch the Lakers game that I wasn’t really thinking.

 
Anyhow, after the chicken starts boiling, turn DOWN the heat and throw in the carrots and potatoes.  You want the heat to be fairly LOW.  Just simmering.  And remember to mix, mix, mix!

 

 
After about 10 minutes, add the rest of the veggies and let it simmer for about another 5-10 minutes.

 

 
Make sure you come back and stir it around and up and down and mix everything up nice like so!

  
And when you’re almost done cooking (after about 20 minutes of simmering) – add 2 TB of KETCHUP!  Yup.  My eemo’s secret ingredient.  =P

 
Make sure to thoroughly mix it around yet again…

And you’re ready to serve!  Enjoy!!!  (Yes, I realize this is NOT the prettiest picture!)  Oh wells.  =/

Red Pepper Paste Tofu Soup - Gochujang Dooboo Jjigae - (고추장 두부 찌개)

I have *not* been cooking lately.  Whenever I get a scan, I’m pretty much a ball of nerves until I get the results.  Literally, life is on *hold* and I don’t breathe again until I hear the words, “All is clear and there is no evidence of disease.”  I know I shouldn’t let these stupid scans run my life like that and I’m hoping with more years under my belt, I will learn to control my emotions a little better around this time.  Anyhow, all is good!  So let’s get to the cooking…

Ingredients Needed:

• one pack of firm tofu
• 2 green peppers
• 1 slice of dashima
• few sprigs of soot-gat
• 1/4 onion
• soup base: 3 TB red pepper paste, 1/2 TB red pepper powder, 1/2 TB dwenjang, 1 TB gook ganjang, 1/2 TB minced garlic
• any other veggies you want to use, such as mushrooms, squash, and even potatoes…

As with any recipe – when in doubt, check out Korean Cooking 101

      
Bring 3 CUPS of water to a boil with a piece of dashima.  Let it boil for a good 5-10 minutes to get a nice thick dashima broth.

     
Then pluck out the dashima piece and slice it up like so.

     
Throw the piece back in and season the broth with 3 TB red pepper paste, 1/2 TB red pepper powder, 1/2 TB dwenjang, 1 TB gook ganjang, and 1/2 TB minced garlic.

 

     
Meanwhile wash your veggies…

 
Slice your tofu…

      
Throw in the onions and tofu first and continue to let boil.

 

Slice the green peppers up and throw it in there as well.

 

      
Finally top it off with the soot gat and let everything boil for about 5 minutes…

 

       
Give it a taste test and add more gook ganjang if needed!  You’re ready to serve.  Enjoy~~~

Hopefully I’ll be back sooner than later, but I’ve *really* gone back to work so I haven’t had much time in the kitchen lately.  =P