http://mykoreankitchen.com/category/food-culture/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfZTN2Ljj9o&feature=relatedBulgogi Wrapped in Rice Paper

How well do you make a good looking wrap in rice paper? Well, I used that material for the first time just yesterday and I proved that I am not very good at it, obviously. So the one thing I want to emphasize is that it tastes better than it looks. 

This Bulgogi wrapped in rice paper is another way of enjoying the famous Bulgogi. Either way, I hope you enjoy making it and the food as well.

(Picture above – I just made this for lunch with some left over meat and leaves, I rolled it much better than last night, didn’t I? Please say Yes! It was really delicious even without the dipping sauce )

Ingredients for serving 2 people

Thinly sliced beef – 560g (sirloin)

Perilla leaves – 22 leaves

Lettuces -22 leaves

Rice paper – 22 sheets

1 cucumber

1/2 a medium carrot

A dash of olive oil

Sesame oil – 1 tbsp

For marinade sauce (mix these in a bowl) Soy sauce – 5 tbsp

Dark brown sugar – 2 ½ tbsp

Refined rice wine – 1 ½ tbsp

Grated onion – 2 tbsp

Grated pear – 4 tbsp

Minced garlic – 1 tbsp

Ginger powder – 1/4 tsp

Pepper – 3 sprinkles

Dipping sauce ; Sweet Ssamjang sauce (mix these well in a bowl)

Soybean paste (Doenjang) – 1 tbsp

Gochujang – 1/3 tbsp

Honey – 1 tbsp

Water – 2 tbsp

Minced garlic – 1 tsp

Minced green chili (not spicy) – 2 tsp

Sesame oil – 2 tsp

Parched sesame seed – 1/2 tsp

Prep

1. Rinse the beef in cold water a couple of times to get rid of the blood.

2. Add the marinade sauce to the meat and leave it for 1 hour at room temperature.

3. In 1 hour, add the sesame oil and stir it well.

4. Rinse the leaves.

5. Peel the cucumber and carrot’s skin off. Thin slice them (You can use a peeler to slice).

Cooking the meat

1. Pre heat the wok for 10 seconds on a high heat. Add a dash of olive oil.

2. Put the meat into the wok. Stir it until it cooks. (it takes less than 5 minutes)

Making the wraps

1. Put some hot water in a curved plate and dip the rice paper for 5 seconds (this instruction was written on the rice paper packet).

2. Put the rice paper on the plate and place the lettuce, perilla leave, cucumber, carrot, and bulgogi on top.

3. Fold it well and make a wrap.

4. Repeat steps 1 to 3 for the rest.

5. Serve it with the dipping sauce.

6. Enjoy your meal.

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Japchae  This dish is very common at Korean celebration parties and special occasions.  Japchae is a well-loved Korean dish which incorporates virtually any selection of vegetables.  Those in season have the best flavor.  Vegetables are fried separately in a minimal amount of oil.  Other ingredients can include

match stick-sliced beef and vermicelli noodles (made from potatoes and sweet potatoes).

Bindaeduk     Crispy fried patties of ground mung beans mixed with scallions, bean sprouts and beef were traditionally eaten by Koreans only on special occasions, such as weddings, holidays, and the hundredth day after the birth of a baby.  Nowadays, however,  Bindaeduk are commonplace in Korean homes and restaurants.  

Bulgogi    The Korean barbecue, means fire (bul) and meat (gogi). The meat is cooked over a charcoal grill, usually at the table.  Beef Bulgogi usually uses soy sauce while pork and chicken use hot chili paste called Gochoojang. Bulgogi tastes best when it is wrapped in lettuce with thin slices of fresh/ grilled garlic and green pepper and a dab of soybean paste.

Kimchi    A pungent, fermented dish generally consisting of cabbage or turnip seasoned with salt, garlic, green onions, ginger, red pepper and shellfish.  One of the earliest descriptions of kimchi making is in the 12th century, but the first mention of kimchi seasoned with red pepper is in a cookbook printed in 1765.  It is low in calories and cholesterol and very high in fiber.

Dakgalbi   This spicy chicken dish is also known as Buldak (fire chicken) because of it's tongue-stinging spiciness from the red hot chilly peppers.  This dish is very popular especially among young people and goes best with Soju, a strong transparent vodka-like alcohol in Korea.

Ttokbokki  The main ingredients of this stir-fry dish are chewy rice cake (ttok), soy sauce, and assorted vegetables.  Because it was enjoyed by the royal family historically, it is also called Goongjoong (palace) Ttokbokki.  Currently, it is one of the most popular dishes for everyone in Korea, especially for children and youth.

Kimbap  This dish means seaweed rice.  It looks very similar to the more-known Japanese sushi rolls.  Though it is unclear whether the origin of kimbap is Korea or Japan, the flavoring of the rice has diverged between both countries.  Koreans use salt and sesame oil while the Japanese use sugar and vinegar.  It is a all time favorite for picnics.

Spicy, Sweet and Vinegary Noodles (Bibim Guksu)

This bibim guksu is something I am very much enjoying making and eating lately. I made this 5 times last week already. Yes! it is that tasty and morish. I just can’t get sick of it. Besides, it doesn’t require any complicated preparation or cooking.

Its main taste comes from the sauce, which has a slightly spicy, sweet and sour taste, and the fragrance from the sesame oil is another pleasant experience.

Bibim guksu is a popular Korean summer dish, because the spicy and sour taste rejuvenates your lost appetite in drowsy hot humid summer days. For me, looking at this picture is good enough for now. How about you?

Ingredients for 2 people (Ready in 10-15 minutes)

Noodles

180 g organic soba noodles

Toppings

2 medium lettuce leaves, thin sliced

1/4 a leaf red cabbage, thin sliced

1/2 a small cucumber, julienned

1/3 a small carrot, julienned

A few snow pea sprouts

2 tbsp thumb nail size Kimchi

Sauce (mix these in a bowl) 2 tbsp gochujang 2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp Korean sesame oil

1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds

Method

1. Boil the noodles in boiling water for about 3 minutes.

2. Sieve the noodles and run the cold water thoroughly over the noodles to cool them down.

3. Place the noodles in a bowl and add the toppings and sauce.

4. Mix them well and dig in.

Cook’s Note

You can alter the toppings as you wish, like adding boiled egg or white radish pickle etc. Also if you want more spicy taste, you may add some Korean chili powder or minced garlic in the sauce and more vinegar for a sour taste. However, before you add anything into the original sauce, make sure you taste it first to ensure it tastes good.

The noodles I used for this recipe

HAKUBAKU organic soba (ingredients : wheat flour 69%, buckwheat flour 29%, salt 2 %, water), Price – about AU $2.30, available at Woolworth or ColesThe noodles are conveniently divided into 3 portions with white paper straps.

What are your favourite cup noodles? And do you have your own secret way to enhance the taste?

Instant Cold Noodles in Broth (Mul Naengmyun)

Sugar High, Stir Fried Rice Cake and Noodles (Rabokki in Korean)

Ingredients for 4 people

(Expected preparation time – 5 minutes, cooking time – 7 minutes)

-For main ingredients

1 instant noodle pack.

Fresh rice cakes 300g (about 30 pieces) – If you use pre packaged rice cakes, soak them in cold water for 20 minutes before you use them.

Fish cake 4 sheets – 240g

1 onion

4 leaves of cabbage

1 stalk of spring onion (optional)

8 instant dumplings (optional)

1½ cups of water

-For sauce (Mix them well in a bowl.)

Gochujang – 4 tbsp

Dark brown sugar – 4 tbsp ; If you don’t want to be attacked by sugar high pimples, I recommend you to reduce the amount of sugar.   maybe reduce it down to 2 to 3 tbsp

Minced garlic -1 tsp

Chili powder (Gochutgaru in Korean) – 1 tsp

Preparation

1. Thin slice the onion and diagonally slice the spring onion.

2. Rinse the fish cakes in hot water. (To clean the oil coating from its surface)

3. Cut the fish cakes and cabbage into medium size pieces.

Cooking (I cooked them on a portable burner, it is the restaurant style of eating)

1. Pour the water into the pot. Start to boil it.

2. Add the sauce and stir it well.

3. Add all the other ingredients. (reduce the heat to medium to low)

4. Stir them well.

5. You can start eating them when one of the ingredients is cooked.

Although, it was over sweet, it was really delicious. All of us who ate this meal got high later, but it was worth it for short moment. 

Buckwheat Noodles (Memil Guksu in Korean)

It is the end of the year already. Time flies. One of the best things that has happened in my life this year is starting this blog and making some good friends with people from all over the world. Are you getting ready to welcome the coming year?

I wouldn’t usually eat these Buckwheat noodles in the middle of winter (Most Koreans eat these in summer), but it is Japanese culture to eat these noodles at dinner with family at the end of the year, which is today. (It has a meaning of wishing long and happy life, and the noodles are called toshikoshi-soba.) I wanted to bring back memories from my short adventure in Japan years ago, so I decided to make this noodle.

Ingredients for 4 people (for 2 people, reduce all the ingredients in half)

Buckwheat Noodles 600 g

Dashi

1 ½ cups of water

1/2 cup of liquid sauce from dried shaved bonito

1 cup of refined rice wine

A picture of the liquid sauce from dried shaved bonito.

Side additions

2 sheets of laver (Thinly shred them with scissors)

4 stalks of small green onion (Cut them into small pieces)

Grated white radish – 4 tbsp (Squeeze the water out from the radish)

Wasabi water (mix of wasabi 1 tsp + cold water 1/2 tsp)

Cooking (you will need 2 pots)

1. Boil the dashi for about 3 minutes, cool it down first then slightly freeze its surface.

2. Boil the buckwheat noodles in boiled water for 4 minutes and rinse them in cold water.

3. Serve the noodles on a plate with the dashi and side additions (I added some radish sprouts and laver as a topping but you don’t have to do the same.)

How to eat

Put the amount of the side additions you want into the dashi bowl and dip the noodles into the bowl and dig in. Enjoy!

I hope you have wonderful, happy and healthy New year.

Vietnamese rice paper rolls

Vietnamese rice paper rolls

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon peanut oil 2 chicken breast fillets (340g)24 x 17cm-square rice paper sheets 1 small red capsicum (150g), sliced thinly1 ¼ cups (100g) bean sprouts 1 cup firmly packed fresh mint leaves1 cup firmly packed fresh coriander leaves

DIPPING SAUCE1 clove garlic, crushed2 tablespoons fish sauce¼ cup (60ml) lime juice¼ cup (60ml) oyster sauce¼ cup (65g) finely grated palm sugar2 fresh small red thai chillies, chopped finely

METHOD

Make dipping sauce.

Heat oil in small frying pan; cook chicken until browned all over and cooked through. Stand 10 minutes; slice thinly into 24 pieces.

Place one sheet of rice paper in medium bowl of warm water until just softened; carefully lift from water. Place on board; pat dry with absorbent paper. Position rice paper in diamond shape; place chicken slice vertically down centre of rice paper, top with capsicum, sprouts, mint and coriander. 

Fold bottom corner over filling; roll rice paper from side to side to enclose filling. Repeat with remaining rice paper sheets and filling.

Serve rice paper rolls cold with dipping sauce.

DIPPING SAUCE Combine ingredients in small saucepan; stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Refrigerate until cold.

tips Chicken can be cooked a day ahead. Cover, refrigerate until required.Dipping sauce can be made a day ahead. Cover, refrigerate until required.