Is fall/winter (they sorta just blend in SoCal don’t they?) finally hitting SoCal? About time, eh?
It has been hot for so long that I’m sort of welcoming this cold. SORT OF. I’ll always be a SoCal girl and that means my body can only tolerate so much cold.
On a side note, the MR has been out of the country for almost a month now leaving our house feeling a bit empty. It has been just Munchkin and I for the last 23 days and counting. Although it has been a bit trying at times, I’m relishing my one on one time with him. He is now an almost five-year-old and I’m thankful every day that I was able to be here for three birthday parties after my diagnosis (I was diagnosed the day before his 3rd birthday party).
I see Munchkin developing leaps and bounds every day. He talks SO much. SOOOOOOO much. He talks about anything and everything under the sun. “Can I ask you something?” is one of his favorite lines and you bet he will definitely ASK ME SOMETHING. He drives me to the brink of insanity, but will then turn around and do something so sweet and inspiring that I thank God for each and every day.
To be honest, since it’s only Munchkin and I – our consumption of Korean food has been almost nil. =P With the exception of kimchi, Munchkin and I rarely eat Korean food. We recently devoured the latest batch of my mom’s chong-gak-kimchi so I decided it was time to make some ggak ddoogi in it’s place. I opted for a quicker and milder version this time since I was pressed for time and feeling absolutely lazy.
Ingredients Needed:
- 5 LBS of daikon radish (moo)
- 1/4 CUP red pepper powder, 4 TB minced garlic, 1 TB salt, 3 TB honey powder, 2 TB rice wine, 1/2 TB ginger powder, 3 TB minced shrimp jut plus about 1 TB of the shrimp jut liquid.
I bought about 5 lbs. of moo (daikon radish) at the K-market and went to work on my kitchen floor. Yes, I did the kimchi squat. =P
I chopped up the moo into smaller pieces than normal.
Try and make it about 1CM-ish. It will get smaller once you salt it up.
Continue chopping it ALLLLLL up and dump it into a large bowl.
Dump about 1/4 cup of salt on top…
…mix it around and just let it sit. No need to add water.
Leave it for a few hours and when you come back, there will be all this liquid in the bowl.
Rinse all the moo pieces CLEAN.
Give it a nice bath a couple of times even.
And let it sit and drain out for about 10 minutes or so.
Then add all the following ingredients: 1/4 CUP red pepper powder, 4 TB minced garlic, 1 TB salt, 3 TB honey powder, 2 TB rice wine, 1/2 TB ginger powder, 3 TB minced shrimp jut plus about 1 TB of the shrimp jut liquid.
MIX, MIX, MIX! I used this red pepper powder for the first time today. I had brought it back with me earlier this year on our trip to Korea. It looks a lot spicier than the one I used prior which is why I adjusted my recipe. I actually used half a cup of red pepper powder, but I think 1/4 cup would have been plenty.
Transfer it over into a kimchi container…
And let it sit out in a cool area for 2-3 days. You’re all set!
I’m currently making beef soup with ox tails, do-gan-neeh (cow knee bone) and beef (eye of round?) It will be a sul-lung-tang of sorts. No recipe because it’s just boiling, boiling, boiling. We’re going on 10 hours so far and I plan on boiling for over 24 hours. =P
Hope you have all been doing well!
I freakin LOOOOOVE ggak ddoogi! And I am out. hmmmm. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious!
ReplyDeleteWow--I just found this blog, and I'm SO excited to try out a bunch of recipes! I'm not Korean, but I live in a university town with a big Korean population, and I made a lot of ajooma friends in grad school. After we graduated and had kids, I learned a lot about Korean cooking from them, and my son learned to love Korean food--even more than American food (whatever that is), I think!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm really loving your blog. The pictures are priceless--and I love that you even take photos of the ingredients before you begin. That is really helpful for people like me who are a little intimidated by the Korean grocery store, haha! I can sound out Korean letters, so that helps, but I'm never quite sure *which* soy sauce is the right one, for example.
I found your blog because I was looking for an oxtail soup recipe, having gotten some oxtails as a part of a cow share. I'm going to make some oxtail soup today (and tomorrow)!
I just had to chime in with some fan mail. It's cold here in Portland, OR and I DESPERATELY needed some oxtail soup, just like how Mom makes it. Not only do you have a great recipe for that, but authentic kimchi recipes, too?? This blog is awesome, I'm so excited to try all the recipes out! Keep up the good work :)
ReplyDeleteHi, I just came across to your blog. My name is Hyegyoung, a native southern Korean ajumma. I am a Korean food blogger as well. I read "about Me" of yours and agree with you on many Korean food recipes out there in the web. That's why I do tutorials on my blog in authentic Korean way.
ReplyDeleteI admire your strength fighting with cancer and do hope that you will win the battle. You are inspiring...