Galbijjim, (braised short ribs)

Published : 2013-01-18 19:12
Updated : 2013-01-18 19:12

Galbijjim (Korean Bapsang)

Galbijjim is typically served on traditional holidays and special occasions. In contrast to the braising method typical of Western cooking, Koreans do not sear the ribs before braising them. The ribs are first parboiled in water with aromatic vegetables and then braised in a sweet and savory braising liquid. Parboiling is a technique used to remove excess fat and blood from the ribs. I boil the ribs in a small amount of water and use the resulting stock in the braising liquid. Chestnuts, dates, pine nuts and gingko nuts are customary garnishes that make this dish look very elegant, but the ribs will still be delicious without them. These succulent ribs, in a rich sauce, will be perfect for any of your special occasions! Then again, why wait for a special occasion to make this tasty comfort food?

3-4 servings
Ingredients:
● 1.5 kilograms meaty beef short ribs

● 1/2 small onion

● 3-4 thin ginger slices

● 5 plump garlic cloves

● 3 white parts of scallions

Braising liquid:
● 1/2 cup soy sauce

● 3 tablespoons sugar (2 for less sweet ribs)

● 2 tablespoons honey

● 1/4 cup rice wine

● 2 tablespoons of sesame oil

● 1/2 Korean pear, grated (about 1/2 cup)

● 1/2 small onion grated

● 1 tablespoon minced garlic

● 1 teaspoon grated (or juiced) ginger

● 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Vegetables:

● 300 grams (10 ounces) Korean radish, cut into large chunks

● 3-4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and quartered

● 2 carrots, cut into large chunks

Optional garnish:
● 6-8 peeled fresh chestnuts

● 6-8 dried Korean dates/jujube

● 10-12 gingko nuts (or 1 tablespoon pine nuts)

Trim off any excess fat. Rinse the ribs, and let them sit in cold water for about 30 minutes to draw out excess blood. Drain. In a large pot, bring 4 cups of water to the boil. Add the ribs and the next 4 ingredients (onion, ginger, garlic and scallions). Bring it to a gentle boil, uncovered. Skim off the scum on the top. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 30 minutes.

Remove the ribs, reserving the stock. Strain the stock and skim off the fat. (Refrigerating the stock will help the fat solidify for easier removal. If you have room in the freezer, this process will be faster.)

Mix together all the braising liquid ingredients. Return the ribs to the pot. Pour the braising liquid over the meat. Set it aside to marinate for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables.

Add 2 1/2 cups of the stock to the marinated ribs. Cover and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the vegetables, leaving out the optional garnish ingredients. Continue to simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes.

Stir in the optional garnish ingredients. Return to simmer, uncovered this time, for an additional 10-20 minutes, or until the sauce is thicker and the meat is tender but not falling off the bone.

Tips:
At this time, adjust the heat level and cooking time, depending on how tender you want your ribs to be and how much sauce you like to have.

Use medium-low heat and additional time for more tender meat with more sauce.

Likewise, you can increase the heat to medium to reduce the sauce faster. Also, leaving the pot uncovered during the last 10-20 minutes gives the ribs a nice sheen.

Kimchi mandu (Korean dumplings)

Published : 2013-01-04 19:45
Updated : 2013-01-05 11:34

Kimchi mandu (Korean Bapsang)

The Korea Herald is starting a new series, Korean Home Cooking, in which Ro Hyo-sun, author of the Korean Bapsang blog, explains how to make quick Korean comfort foods. The recipes are designed for people who are not familiar with Korean cooking and ingredients. ― Ed.

Kimchi mandu is a variation of Korean dumplings made with kimchi as the main ingredient.

The key to making good kimchi mandu is to use fully fermented kimchi for the extra kick that this mandu is known for. Kimchi mandu is especially good for making soup, manduguk (dumpling soup) or tteok-manduguk (a variation of rice cake soup, tteokguk, with dumplings), which is a must-eat New Year’s dish. With its pungent flavor and crunchy texture, the kimchi version adds a nice contrast to the mildly flavored broth and soft rice cake slices. For this recipe, I steamed the dumplings, but you can cook them your favorite way.

Ingredients:

● 25-30 dumpling wrappers (slightly thick)

Filling:
● 1 cup (packed) finely chopped kimchi

● 170 g (6 ounces) tofu

● 230 g (8 ounces) sukju namul (mung bean sprouts)

● 1/2 medium onion

● 3 scallions

● 110 g (4 ounces) ground pork (and/or beef)

● 1 tbs minced garlic

● 1 tsp finely grated ginger (or juiced)

● 2 tsp sesame oil

● 2 tsp soy sauce

● 1/2 egg (use the other half to seal the wrappers)

● Salt to taste (about 1/4 tsp)

● Pinch of pepper

Finely chop the kimchi and squeeze out as much liquid as possible by hand. Squeeze out water from the tofu. Using a cheesecloth will make the squeezing easier. Or, you can put the tofu under a heavy plate or a cutting board to press out water first and then squeeze by hand. Blanch the bean sprouts in boiling water, drain, chop and squeeze out water. Finely chop the onion and squeeze out water. Finely chop the scallions.

The squeezed ingredients should be fairly dry and crumbly. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well by hand.

Place one heaping teaspoon to a tablespoon of the filling on a wrapper. Wet the edges of the wrapper with water or egg wash and seal tightly (pushing the air out with your fingers) into a half-moon shape. (Stop here if you want half-moon shaped dumplings.) Then, bring the two ends together, wet the overlapping side, and press tightly together to create a round shape. Repeat this process until all the filling/wrappers are used.

Kimchi mandu can be steamed for about 8 minutes in a steamer (longer if frozen). Make sure to line the steamer with a cheesecloth or paper towel to prevent mandu from sticking.

Tips for freezing:
Freeze the dumplings on a tray with no pieces touching each other for about an hour, and then store them in a freezer bag. Otherwise, the skins will get soggy from the moisture in the filling and stick together in the freezing process.

Dipping Sauce:
● 1 tablespoon soy sauce

● 1 teaspoon vinegar

● 1 tablespoon water

● 1/2 teaspoon sugar

● Pinch of black pepper

● Pinch of gochugaru (red pepper flakes)

Combine all the sauce ingredients and mix well. Serve the mandu with the dipping sauce.

Goguma Juk, (sweet potato porridge)

Published : 2012-12-28 19:23
Updated : 2012-12-28 19:23

Goguma Juk (Institute of Traditional Korean Food)

Goguma Juk is a long-cooked sweet-potato porridge made with sticky rice powder. It has a sweet and nutty flavor.

Ingredients
● 2 sweet potatoes (yams)

● 3 cups milk

● 4 tbsp sticky rice powder

● 100 g water

● 2 tbsp honey

● 1/2 tsp salt

1. Clean sweet potatoes and rinse well with water.

2. Set up a steamer over high heat. Once it starts to steam (which takes approximately 9 minutes), put sweet potatoes in the steamer and steam them for about 15 minutes. Peel the skins.

3. Blend it with half the amount of portioned milk for about 2 minutes.

4. Add water to sticky rice powder. Simmer it over low heat for about 5 minutes. Whisk continuously until it thickens to porridge consistency.

5. Combine blended sweet potatoes and the remaining half of the milk with the sticky rice porridge. Simmer over medium heat for about 3 minutes, whisking.

6. When the ingredients are well mixed, season with honey. Simmer another minute over low heat and serve immediately in a bowl.

Tips
● Whisk continuously with a wooden spoon while the porridge is simmering, or it may stick into the bottom of the pan.

● The ratio of sweet potato and sticky rice powder can be adjusted to suit one’s preference. 

Gimbap, (Rice rolled in laver)

Published : 2012-12-21 19:52
Updated : 2012-12-21 19:52

Gimbap (Institute of Traditional Korean Food)

Gimbap is cooked white rice seasoned with sesame oil and salt, then rolled with other ingredients in a sheet of laver. Gimbap has been popular since the 1960s. It is good to pack for a picnic for lunch or as a snack because it is convenient to eat and contains many different ingredients and flavors.

Ingredients:

● 2 cups non-glutinous rice, 2 1/2 cups water

● Seasoning for rice: 3/4 tsp salt, 1 tbsp sesame oil

● 1/4 carrot, 1/4 tsp salt

● 1/2 cucumber, 1/4 tsp salt

● 70 g pickled radish

● 100 g burdock roots, 1 tbsp edible oil

● Diluted vinegar: 1 tbsp vinegar, 1 cup water

● Seasoning sauce ①: 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp water, 1/2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp refined rice wine

● 80 g minced beef

● Seasoning sauce ②: 2 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp

● Chopped green onion, 1/4 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp sesame salt, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 0.1 g ground black pepper

● 2 eggs, 1/4 tsp salt

● 4 sheets dried laver

● 2 tbsp edible oil

1. Wash the rice and soak in water for 30 min., drain water in a strainer for 10 min. (440 g).

2. Clean the carrot and peel (40 g). Clean the cucumber by rubbing and cut it into 20-cm-long, 0.7-cm-wide pieces (removing the seeds) (60 g), sprinkle on salt and allow it to marinate for 5 min. Wipe excess water with a cotton cloth.

3. Slice the pickled radish into 20-cm-long, 0.7-cm-wide pieces.

4. Peel burdock roots (86 g), cut into 20 cm-long, 0.7 cm-wide and thick pieces, and soak in diluted vinegar for 2 min.

5. Clean blood off minced beef with cotton cloth and season with seasoning sauce ② (70 g).

6. Beat eggs and salt.

7. Put the rice and water in the pot and boil it on high heat for 4 min. After an additional boiling for 4 min., reduce the heat to medium and boil for 3 more minutes. When the rice become sodden, reduce the heat to low and steam for 10 min. (730 g). Season with salt and sesame oil.

8. Preheat the frying pan and oil, stir-fry the carrot and cucumber on high heat for 30 sec., respectively.

9. Preheat the frying pan and oil, stir-fry the burdock roots on medium heat for 3 min., add seasoning sauce ①, stir-fry on low heat for 10 min.

10. Preheat the frying pan and oil, stir-fry the beef for 2 min. on medium heat.

11. Preheat the frying pan and oil, fry beaten egg on low heat for 3 min. on front side and 2 min. on back side, to be 1 cm thick, then cut it into 20-cm-long and 1-cm-wide pieces.

12. Toast the laver on low heat. Upon the laver, layer steamed rice (150 g) evenly and place the carrot, cucumber, pickled radish, burdock roots, beef and fried egg in the middle. Roll up the laver to create a log with a 3-4 cm diameter. Slice into 1.5 cm-wide individual pieces.

Tips:
● Boiled fish cakes, crab meat, tuna, kimchi and gourd flesh may also be used for filling.

Yaksik, (sweet rice with nuts and jujubes)

Published : 2012-12-14 19:55
Updated : 2012-12-14 19:55

Yaksik (Institute of Traditional Korean Food)

Yaksik is a sweet dish made with steamed glutinous rice, honey, soy sauce, jujubes, chestnuts and pine nuts. It may also be called yakbap (medicinal rice). It is said that yaksik was prepared and served to the crows as a reward for saving the king’s life in the Silla Kingdom.

Ingredients:

● 1 1/2 cups glutinous rice, 8 cups rice steaming water

● Salt water: 3 tbsp water, 1/2 salt

● 5 jujubes, 3 chestnuts, 1 tsp pine nuts

● Jujube stone tea: 5 jujube stones, 1 cup water

● Sweet steamed rice seasoning: 2 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp sweet steamed rice sauce, 3 tbsp yellow sugar, 1/4 cinnamon powder, 1/2 tsp jujube stone tea, 2 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tbsp sesame oil

● Sweet steamed rice sauce: 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp edible oil, 1/2 tbsp starch powder, 3 tbsp warm water

1. Wash the glutinous rice and soak in water for about 3 hours, drain water through a strainer for 10 min. (330g).

2. Wipe the jujubes with damp cotton cloth, cut the flesh round and cut it into 6 pieces (16g). Skin the chestnuts and cut into 6 pieces (30g).

3. Remove tops of the pine nuts and wipe the nuts with a dry cotton cloth.

4. Pour water into the steaming pot, heat for 8 min. on high heat. When it gives off steam, layer a damp cotton cloth on the bottom, put in the glutinous rice and steam for 20 min. Sprinkle salt water, mix well, and steam for another 30 min.

5. Put the jujube stones and water in the pot, cover and simmer for 15 min. on medium heat. Then strain (19g).

6. Put the sugar in the pot, heat it for 3 min. on medium heat. When the sugar melts, coat the pan with oil. When the sugar turns to a brownish liquid, add the starch powder and boil while stirring for 1 min. to make the sauce.

7. While the steamed rice is still warm, add soy sauce, sweet steamed rice sauce, yellow sugar, cinnamon powder, jujube stone tea, honey, regular sugar and sesame oil into the steamed rice and mix them well. Mix them well again after adding chestnuts, jujubes and pine nuts.

8. Put the mixture of above steamed glutinous rice into the steaming pot for 10 min. on high heat. Then lower the heat to medium, steam for 20 min. and mix it well. Reduce the heat to low, steam for 20 min. and then mix again and steam for another 10 min.

Tips:

● To cook good-tasting steamed rice, the rice should be steamed to be pretty tender, neither too hard nor too soft or watery.

● Steaming in boiling water will produce a deeper brown color, better taste and sweet smell.

● Two hours is a good timeframe for steaming in boiling water.

● For the sweet steamed rice sauce, caramel sauce may produce a good color and sweet smell.

(Adapted from the Institute of Traditional Korean Food)

Patjuk (rice and red bean porridge)

Published : 2012-12-07 19:11
Updated : 2012-12-07 19:11

Patjuk (Institute of Traditional Korean Food)

Patjuk is a porridge of non-glutinous rice and sweet red beans that have been boiled and strained. Patjuk is served on the winter solstice (dongji day), which has the longest night of the year. It is traditionally believed that the red color of the beans can expel demons and help cure mild illnesses.

Ingredients

● 1/2 cups non-glutinous rice

● 1 1/3 cups sweet red bean, 4 cups hot water

● 12 cups boiling water

● Rice ball: 1 cup glutinous rice powder, 1/8 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tbsp water

● 1 tsp salt

1. Wash the rice, soak in water for 2 hours, drain water with a strainer for 10 min. (110g).

2. Wash the red beans and clean throughly. Drain water with a strainer for 10 min.

3. Put red beans into a pot of scalding water, heat for 4 min. on high heat. Once it boils, continue to boil for another 3 min. Discard the boiling water, add new boiling water into the pot, and heat it up for 10 min. on high heat. Lower the heat to medium, and boil it for 1 hour and 20 min. for the red bean to be deeply cooked.

4. While the cooked red beans are still hot, and strain the red beans by mashing them in a strainer with a wooden scoop. Let the mashed red beans cool for 30 min.

5. Sprinkle salt on the glutinous rice powder, knead with hot water. Shape the rice balls with a 1.5-cm diameter (5 g each, total 25 balls).

6. Put the red bean water (880 g, 4 cups) and soaked rice into the pot, heat it up for 4 min. on high heat. When it boils, lower the heat to medium, and boil for another 20 min. while stirring.

7. When the rice is well sodden, add the red bean sediments. When it boils again, continue to boil for 10 more min. and add rice balls, wait for 1 min. When the rice balls float, season with salt and bring pot to a boil.

Tips
● If the red-bean boiled water is not enough, add just water to cook the porridge properly.

● The rice balls may be replaced by glutinous rice cake. 

Bibim-naengmyeon, (Mixed cold buckwheat noodles)

Published : 2012-11-30 19:13
Updated : 2012-11-30 19:13

Bibim-naengmyeon (Institute of Traditional Korean Food)

Bibim-naengmyeon is a dish of cold buckwheat noodles mixed with a spicy, thick red pepper sauce. It may also be garnished with raw fish. It is also called “hamheung-naengmyeon” because it was a regional food of the Hamheung district in Hamkyeong Province, now North Korea.

Ingredients
● 600 g buckwheat noodles (dried), 15 cups water

● 100 g minced beef

Seasoning sauce 1: 
● 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp minced green onion

● 1/4 tsp minced garlic, 1/8 tsp ground black pepper

● 1/2 tsp sesame salt, 1/2 tsp sesame oil

● 1 cucumber, 1 tbsp water, 1/2 tsp salt

● 100 g radish, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tbsp vinegar

● 1/5 pear, 1/2 cup pear dipping water, 1 tsp sugar

● 2 eggs, 5 cups water, 1 tsp salt

Seasoning sauce 2: 
● 1/2 pear, 1/4 onion, 1 1/2 tbsp salt

● 1 tbsp minced garlic, 3 tbsp sugar, 6 tbsp vinegar

● 4 dried red peppers, 4 tbsp coarse red pepper powder

1. Clean the beef with cotton cloths and then season with seasoning sauce 1 (85 g).

2. Wash the cucumber, cut it into two pieces lengthwise and shred into 4 cm-long and 0.2 cm-thick pieces diagonally. Marinate them with salt water for 20 min. then wipe off the water with cotton cloths (47 g).

3. Wash the radish, shred into 6 cm-long, 1.5 cm-wide and 0.2 cm-thick pieces, then marinate with salt, sugar and vinegar for 20 min (85 g).

4. Peel the pear and cut in half (70 g). Dip in sugar water for 5 minutes.

5. Peel and shred the pear and onion for seasoning sauce 2.

6. Wipe dried red pepper with damp cotton cloths, cut them diagonally and remove the seeds.

7. Grind seasoning sauce 2 without red pepper powder in the mixer first, then add coarse red pepper powder and mix together.

8. Preheat a frying pan, stir-fry beef for 2 minutes on medium heat (66 g).

9. Put water, salt and eggs in a pot, heat it up for 5 minutes on high heat. When it boils, lower the heat to medium, boil it for 12 minutes and then place them in cold water. Peel off the eggshell and halve them.

10. Pour water into a pot, heat it up for 12 minutes on high heat. Boil noodles for 2 minutes and rinse in cold water by rubbing the batch with your hands. Make coils with noodles and drain water on a tray.

11. Place the noodles in a bowl, and top with prepared beef, cucumber, radish, pear, egg and seasoning sauce 2.

Tips
● Fresh wet noodles may be used.

● Pre-mixed noodles with seasoning sauce may be served.