Saturday, January 29, 2011

kalbi jjim via maangchi

Korean recipes:

Beef short ribs (galbijjim)

Galbi jjim is one of the most popular Korean dishes. It's made with beef short ribs and is often prepared for special occasions.

Ingredients:
2 lbs (about 1 kg) of beef short ribs, water, cooking wine, soy sauce, black pepper, brown sugar, garlic, green onion, onion, sesame oil, carrots, radish, shiitake mushrooms, and mulyeot (corn syrup).

  1. Soak 5 shiitake mushrooms in warm water for about 4-6 hours.
  2. Soak short ribs in cold water in a large bowl for at least 30 minutes and change the water a few times.
  3. Boil water in a large pot. Put in the short ribs. Boil for 5-10 minutes.
  4. Take out the ribs from the boiling water and wash them with cold water to remove unnecessary fat or floating bubbles.
  5. Throw away the boiling water and clean the pot.
  6. Place the clean  beef short ribs in the pot.
  7. Prepare a bowl to make seasoned water by mixing  2 cups of water, 4 tbs soy sauce, 8 cloves of minced garlic), ½ sliced onion, 1 tbs rice wine, and 1 tbs brown sugar.

    Add it to the short ribs in the pot.
  8. Boil it over medium heat for 20 minutes.
  9. While it boils, you can prepare the other ingredients:
    • Cut carrot and radish into 5 cm-size cubes and round the edges to make several balls (the size of the balls should be like ping pong balls )
    • Cut the soaked shiitake mushrooms into bite size.
      *tip: You can add several skinned chestnuts and gingko nuts
  10. Open the lid of the pot and add all ingredients (carrot, radish, shiitake mushrooms) to the pot. Let it simmer for about 1 hour over low heat.
    *tip: Stir the ribs and other ingredients with a wooden spoon from time to time. Pour the liquid from the bottom of the pot over top of the meat
  11. Open the lid and check if the meat is cooked fully. Use your chopstick to poke the meat. When it is smoothly going through the meat, the meat is tender enough.
  12. Add 2 tbs of moolyeot (corn syrup), 1 tbs sesame oil, ½ ts black pepper, and heat it up over high heat. Mix it well until liquid evaporates
  13. Transfer galbijjim to a platter before serving.

zucchini jeon

Main Ingredients

  • 1 Cup Flour
  • 1 Cup Water
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 Medium Size Zucchini
  • ½ Onion
  • 1 Red Hot Pepper
  • ½ tsp Salt

Dipping Sauce Ingredients

Directions

 

Julienne a zucchini, chop ½ onion very finely, and slice 1 hot red pepper thinly.

 

In a bowl, combine 1 cup of water, 1 cup of flour, 1 egg, and ½ tsp of salt. Mix everything together.

 

Add the vegetables into the batter.

 

Mix all of the ingredients together.

 

In a slightly oiled pan, pour 1 large spoonful of the batter and spread it to make a round shape.

 

Fry them until they become golden brown.

 

crab jeon

Main Ingredients

  • 4 Korean Crabsticks (1 Cup Chopped)
  • 3 Eggs
  • ⅓ Onion (⅓ Cup Chopped)
  • 1 Green Onion
  • 1 Tbsp Carrot
  • 1 or 2 Hot Peppers
  • 6 Tbsp Flour
  • ¼ Tsp Salt

Directions

 

Chop 4 Korean crabsticks (1 cup), ⅓ of an onion (⅓ cup), 1 Green Onion, 1 Tbsp of carrot, and 1 or 2 Hot Peppers finely. If you do not like hot peppers, you can use sweet peppers instead.

 

Break and then beat 3 eggs.

 

Add the chopped vegetables and crabsticks to the egg and then mix everything together.

 

Add 6 Tbsp of flour to the mixture. I mixed all-purpose flour, Korean pancake mix (Jeon flour), and frying mix to get better texture. If you do not have them, it is okay to just use normal flour.

 

Add ¼ tsp of salt and mix again.

 

When you scoop the batter, it should not run off the spoon. Get a spoonful of batter.

 

In a oiled pan, put a spoonful of batter and make the shape round. Plenty of oil gives better flavor. Fry them on medium with patience.

 

When the bottom of the jeon becomes golden brown, flip it over. When the other side of jeon becomes golden brown as in the picture, it is done.

 

potato jorim

Main Ingredients

  • 3 Medium Sized Potatoes (2 Cups)
  • ½ Cup Water
  • 2 Tbsp Oil
  • 2½ Tbsp Soy Sauce
  • 2 Tbsp Corn Syrup
  • 1-1½ Tbsp Sugar
  • 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
  • ⅛ tsp Fine Sea Salt
  • ½ tsp Sesame Seeds

Directions

 

Cut 3 medium sized potatoes (2 cups) into ½-inch cubes.

 

In a heated pan, with 2 Tbsp of oil, add the chopped potatoes.

 

Fry the potatoes for 5 minutes on medium-high until they are about ⅓ cooked.

 

After 5 minutes, add ½ cup of water, 2½ Tbsp of soy sauce, 2 Tbsp of corn syrup, 1-1½ Tbsp of sugar, and 1 Tbsp of minced garlic.

 

Cook it for 5 more minutes on medium-high.

 

Taste it and if you need to, add up to ⅛ tsp of fine sea salt depending on your tastes.

 

Cook until the liquid is reduced to a paste, which should take about 5 minutes.

 

Reduce the temperature to medium and fry 5 to 7 more minutes until the potatoes are completely cooked. Then add ½ tsp of sesame seeds.

 

It is done. :)

 

tofu jorim

Main Ingredients

  • 1 Pack Firm Tofu
  • ⅓ Cup Corn Starch or Flour
  • ¼ Cup Onion (¼ Onion)
  • ¼ Cup Carrot
  • ¼ Cup Green Onion (2 Green onions)
  • Some Oil for Frying
  • Salt and Black Pepper

Sauce Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
  • 3 Tbsp Water
  • 2½ tsp Sugar
  • 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
  • 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
  • 1 tsp Sesame Seeds
  • 1 Pinch Black Pepper

Directions

 

Rinse 1 pack of firm tofu in water once, and then wipe off the water with a paper towel.

 

Divide the tofu in half and then slice it into half inch pieces.

 

Sprinkle some salt and black pepper on both sides of the sliced tofu. Set it aside while you are preparing the other ingredients. This process helps pull the water out of the tofu and gives it flavor.

 

Finely chop the onion, carrot, and green onion to make ¼ cup of each.

 

Add 2 Tbsp of soy sauce, 3 Tbsp of water, 2½ tsp of sugar, 1 Tbsp of minced garlic, 1 Tbsp of sesame oil, 1 tsp of sesame seeds, 1 pinch of black pepper, and the chopped vegetables in a small bowl. Mix them all together to make the sauce.

 

Prepare ⅓ cup of cornstarch or flour. Cover the tofu with some cornstarch. Personally, I prefer to use cornstarch for better flavor and texture.

 

In a heated non-stick pan, add 1 or 2 Tbsp of oil, and then place the tofu in the pan.

 

Fry both sides of the tofu until they become golden brown on medium-high.

 

In a heated pan or wok, add the fried tofu and the sauce.

 

Fry for 5 minutes on high.

 

Occasionally stir gently. Be careful not to break the tofu. 5 minutes later, the sauce will thicken.

 

kimchi jeon

Main Ingredients

  • 1 Cup All Purpose Flour
  • Frying Mix (or ⅓ Cup All Purpose Flour)
  • 1 Cup Well Fermented Kimchi
  • ⅓ Cup Kimchi Broth
  • ¼ Cup Milk
  • ⅓ Cup Water
  • 1 Egg
  • 1½ tsp Sugar
  • ⅛ Generous tsp Salt

Directions

 

Chop 1 cup of kimchi into 1-inch pieces. The most important tip for delicious kimchi pancakes is using well-fermented kimchi. Sour (old) kimchi works great too. When you cut kimchi on your cutting board, the cutting board will get stained. Here is a tip: Put some wax paper on top of your cutting board before cutting the kimchi. :)

 

In a bowl, add 1 cup of all-purpose flour and ⅓ cup of frying mix. To make the pancakes a little crispier, I like to add some frying mix to the batter. However if you don't have the frying mix or don't want a crispy texture, you can use another ⅓ cup of flour instead.

 

Add 1½ tsp of sugar and a generous ⅛ tsp of salt into the bowl. Mix everything together. Adding some sugar is a secret ingredient from my aunt. ;) Depending on how salty your kimchi is, you might need to adjust the amount of salt.

 

Pour ¼ cup of milk and ⅓ cup of water into the dried ingredients. Milk is another secret ingredient from her, but if you cannot eat milk or do not have it, you can use another ¼ cup of water instead.

 

Add 1 egg and ⅓ cup of kimchi broth. Several people have asked, "What is kimchi broth?" :) While the kimchi is fermenting in the jar, a liquid forms from the fermentation process of the napa cabbage. That is what I call kimchi broth. You can use it for other kimchi dishes such as Kimchi fried rice or kimchi soup, so don't throw away your valuable kimchi broth. ;) It will give these dishes an extra burst of kimchi flavor.

 

Before you add the kimchi to the batter, stir the batter until it doesn't have any chunks and gets a consistency like pancake batter.

 

Add 1 cup of chopped kimchi into the batter. If you don't have enough kimchi broth, you can add a little more water and kimchi to get enough flavor.

 

Mix thoroughly. Oh, it already looks delicious, even without frying.

 

In a non-stick pan, add generous amount of oil. Heat the pan on medium-high. I said generous! =P

 

According to your pan size, get 1 or 2 scoops of batter and pour it into the pan.

 

It is important to spread the batter out thinly for crispy pancakes. ;)

 

When the surface of the pancake starts to cook, flip it over.

 

Pressing the pancake with a spatula helps the pancake fry better and makes it crispier.

 

Occasionally flip the pancake, but not too often. When both sides of the pancakes are nicely brown and crispy, it is done. :D