Dried Persimmon Punch (Sujeonggwa)

By Soon Young Chung, Korean Cooking Made Easy: Simple Meals in Minutes

Reprinted with the express permission of Tuttle Publishing, a member of the Periplus Publishing Group.

Serves 4

2 in (5 cm) fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
6 cups (11/2 liters) water
1–2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 cup (100 g) sugar, or to taste
4 small or 2 medium dried seedless persimmons, stems trimmed, sliced into triangles
Pine nuts, to serve

1 Bring the ginger, water and cinnamon to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and strain. Discard the solids.

2 Add the persimmon tringles to the cinnamon and ginger water 3 hours before serving to allow them to soften. Ladle to individual serving bowls, sprinkle some pine nuts on top and serve.

Seasoned Vegetables (Namul)

By Soon Young Chung, Korean Cooking Made Easy: Simple Meals in Minutes

Reprinted with the express permission of Tuttle Publishing, a member of the Periplus Publishing Group.

Serves 4

Spinach
2 cups (500 ml) water
Pinch of salt
10 oz (300 g) fresh spinach, roots removed, leaves and stems cut into short lengths
1 tablespoon minced green onion
1 tablespoon crushed garlic paste
11/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons sesame paste

Mushrooms
10 fresh or dried black Chinese mushrooms
2 teaspoons crushed
garlic paste
1 tablespoon minced green onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame paste
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon oil

Green Bell Pepper
1 tablespoon oil
2 teaspoons crushed
garlic paste
1 green bell pepper, deseeded, cut into very thin strips
1 tablespoon minced green onion
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons sesame paste

1 Prepare the Spinach first by bringing the water and salt to a boil over high heat in a saucepan. Blanch the spinach for 1–2 minutes and remove from the heat. Rinse the blanched spinach in cold water and drain well. Squeeze out the excess water from the spinach. Combine the spinach with all the other ingredients in a bowl and mix until well coated. Set aside.

2 To prepare the Mushrooms, return the salted water to a boil over high heat and blanch the fresh mushrooms for 15 seconds or the dried mushrooms for 3-5 minutes, adding more water as needed. Remove from the heat, rinse in cold water and drain well. Squeeze out the excess water from the mushrooms. Remove and discard the stems, then thinly slice the caps.

3 In a bowl, combine the mushroom slices with all the other ingredients, except the oil, and mix well. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and sauté the mushroom mixture for 2–3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

4 To cook the Green Bell Pepper, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and sauté the garlic until golden and fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add all the other ingredients, sauté for 1 minute and remove from the heat.

5 Arrange the vegetables in separate piles on a serving platter and serve as a side dish with other main dishes and steamed rice.

For variations, you can use other vegetables you like. The photo shows a different combination of spinach, Chinese bellflower root and fernbrake.

Rice and Malt Drink (Sikhye)

By Soon Young Chung, Korean Cooking Made Easy: Simple Meals in Minutes

Reprinted with the express permission of Tuttle Publishing, a member of the Periplus Publishing Group.

Serves 4

1/2 cup (125 g) powdered malt
6 cups (11/2 liters) water
1 cup (100 g) cooked rice
5 ginger slices
1/2 cup (100 g) sugar, or to taste
1 teaspoon pine nuts, to serve

1 In a saucepan, soak the malt in the water for 1 hour, then bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine sieve. Discard the solids and reserve the malt liquid.

2 Add the cooked rice to the malt liquid, stir well and set aside in a warm place until the rice floats to the surface, 3–4 hours. Strain the mixture and reserve the liquid. Rinse the rice grains well, cover and chill in the refrigerator.

3 Add the ginger slices and sugar to the strained liquid and bring to a boil in a saucepan, then simmer uncovered over low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, discard the ginger slices and cool, then chill the malt tea in the refrigerator. To serve, ladle the chilled malt tea into serving bowls or cups, and top with some chilled rice grains and pine nuts.

Pork with Kimchi and Tofu

By Soon Young Chung, Korean Cooking Made Easy: Simple Meals in Minutes

Reprinted with the express permission of Tuttle Publishing, a member of the Periplus Publishing Group.

Serves 4

Oil, for frying
7 oz (200 g) Chinese Cabbage Kimchi, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
7 oz (200 g) pork belly, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon crushed garlic paste
2 tablespoons minced green onion
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame paste.
1 cake (10 oz/300 g) firm tofu

1 Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok over medium heat and stir-fry the kimchi, onion, pork, garlic and green onion fro 3–5 minutes until the pork is well cooked. Remove from the heat, add the sesame oil and sesame paste to the pan and mix well.

2 Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and blanch the tofu for 10 seconds. Remove from the heat and drain. Slice the tofu into 11/2 x 3/4-in (4 x 2-cm) pieces.

3 To serve, place the stir-fried pork in the center of a serving platter and arrange the tofu pieces around it. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Korean Chicken Noodle Soup (Dahk Kahl Gooksoo)

Courtesy of Joanne Choi, WeekofMenus

This Korean soup uses a couple of skills that are good to master.  One is making a suitable soup stock and the other is how to saute some vegetables.  The rest is just construction and everyone can do that.  It is my mom’s and my take on Kahl Gook Soo ( 칼국수).  The Kahlgooksoo in Korea tends to be very very starchy and it is really about the homemade knife-cut noodles. The broth is the second major player in the dish and the rest is more for decoration or garnish.  I’m not such a huge fan of eating a massive amount of boiled starch and neither is my  mom, so we tend to add a more protein and a lot more vegetables to bring the dish into a more balanced state of nutrition.  I like a good flavored broth to go under the noodles and then really nicely seasoned vegetables to go on top.  The finishing touch is a sauce that flavors the entire dish and makes it YUMMY!

Serves 4-5

Chicken Broth
5 quarts of water
1 or 2 chicken breasts, still on the bone, but skin off (bones add flavor, skin only adds fat)
1/2 of an onion
3-5 cloves of garlic
1 inch knob of ginger root, peeled and sliced

Rinse chicken breasts under cold running water.  Place into a large stock pot with the water, onion, garlic and ginger root.  Place covered pot over high heat and bring to a hard boil.  Once soup is boiling, reduce heat so that the broth continues to simmer.  Skim any scum or fat off the top of the soup.

Total cooking time 1 hour.  Remove garlic, onion and ginger from broth and discard.  Remove chicken from broth and set aside.

Vegetable Saute Topping
2 zucchini, cut julienne (or if you can find it, 1 nice Korean zucchini with the light skin)
2 carrots, cut julienne
1/2 onion, sliced thinly
1 package of enoki mushrooms
3-4  tablespoons of oil
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a fry pan over medium high heat, and then add one tablespoon of oil.  Add zucchini and quickly saute.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook, until zucchini is slightly wilted, but still with texture, about 2 minutes.  Remove zucchini from pan.

In the same fry pan, over medium high heat, add one tablespoon of oil, and carrots and saute.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper and cook, until carrots are cooked, but wilted, about 3 minutes.

In the same fry pan, add one tablespoon of oil, onions, salt and pepper and saute.  Cook until onions are translucent and golden brown, about 3-4 minutes.

In the same fry pan, add a dash of oil and the enoki mushrooms and quickly saute for 30 seconds.  Add all the cooked vegetables and mix together, checking seasoning (add more salt and pepper if necessary) and then finish off with toasted sesame seeds.  Remove from heat and set aside until needed.

Chili Scallion Soy Sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped scallions
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon Korean chili powder (gochugaru 고추가루) (2 tablespoons if you like it spicy.)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Set aside.

Assembly
Shred cooked chicken.

1 to 1.5 lbs of noodles – I use fresh knife noodles, which I can find at my Chinese supermarket, but you can use whatever dried Asian wheat noodle you have on hand.

Set aside about 3 cups of the chicken stock.  I do this in case I need to thin out the broth later, as cooking the noodles in the broth often makes the soup really thick (which I personally don’t like…others do.)

Bring remaining stock to a rapid boil and add noodles and cook according to package directions.  (fresh noodles cook in about 4-5 minutes.)  When noodles are fully cooked, then prepare to serve.  Portion out noodles into each bowl, the broth (using the reserved broth if necessary) and top with mixed vegetables and shredded chicken.  Serve and pass the scallion sauce separately, allowing people to serve themselves.

Kimchi Pizza

Courtesy of Joanne Choi, WeekofMenus

Korean Spicy Green Onion and Beef Soup (Yuk-Gae-Jahng)

Courtesy of Joanne Choi, WeekofMenus

This is my mother-in-law’s signature dish. In her hands, simple ingredients of beef, green onions, chili powder and garlic become something complex, delicious and far greater than the sum of its parts. Seasoning each component ensures that your dish is flavorful and well seasoned and not salty.  Cooking the chili sesame seasoning paste first instead of just adding it to the soup creates a more balanced and enhanced flavor base.  Blanching the green onions removes the sliminess and sharpness of onions. I do not use Korean soup base (dashida) as it has MSG in it and I like to avoid it for all Korean cooking.  It does add a layer of flavor, but it is not one that I want to get used to or rely on.

Makes 7 quarts of soup.  (Eat some now and freeze for later.  Soup freezes EXCELLENTLY)

Beef Soup Stock
1.5 lbs to 2 lbs beef brisket or flank steak (brisket is more tender)
20 cups of water (5 quarts)
15 cloves of garlic
1 whole onion, peeled

Soak meat in cold water to drain the blood, at least 45 minutes.  Meat will lose its bright red color.  Drain water and set aside meat.

In a large stock pot (I use an 8 quart stock pot), bring 20 cups water to a rapid boil.  Add beef, onions and garlic and reduce heat to a nice even simmer.  Cover and let cook until a chopstick pokes easily into the meat, about 1 hour 20 minutes.  (these times can vary based on the meat piece.)  Using a slotted spoon, remove meat, onion and garlic.  Set stock aside and set beef aside.  Discard onion and garlic.

Garlic Chili Sesame Seasoning
3/4 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup of finely minced garlic
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons Korean chili powder ( gochugahloo 고추가루)
3 tablespoons soup soy sauce (국간장)
2 teaspoon salt

** NOTE – if you cannot get soup soy sauce, then use 1 1/2 tablespoons regular soy sauce and 1 tablespoon salt)

In a small saucepan, over low heat, add sesame oil, garlic, chili powder, soup soy sauce, salt.  Slowly stir the mixture over low heat, until the sesame oil is absorbed into the garlic and chili powder and the entire mixture is a fiery red, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.

**NOTE This mixture burns VERY easily, and if you burn it, don’t try and rescue it, just start over.  When making this mixture, just focus on the stirring and don’t be tempted to do anything else. Set seasoning aside.

Vegetable Preparation
10 bunches of green onion
1 lb package of fernbrake (gosari)

Carefully cut the root end of the green onions.  Wash onions well in cold water.  The white portion of the onion needs to be cut down the length, so as to separate the individual onion “leaves.”  Cut each green onion into thirds.

In a large pot, add about two inches of water to the bottom.  Add 1 teaspoon of salt.  Bring to a boil.  Add green onions to the boiling water to blanch them; immerse the green onion into the water and wilt them, about 90 seconds in boiling water.  Using a slotted spoon, remove onions from the water and place in a bowl.  Repeat in the same boiling water until all onions are blanched. (I did mine in three sets.)  Set the onion cooking water aside, in case you are short beef broth later.

Open the package of fernbrake (gosari)  Soak in cold water for about 15 minutes.  Rinse and drain and squeeze out all excess water from the gosari.  Set aside.

Soup Assembly

Take the beef from the soup stock and using your hands shred it.  If it is hot, it actually shreds more easily, but you burn your fingers, so I tend to do it when it is cooler, although the shredding can be harder.  Place in a bowl.  Add two nice heaping spoonfuls of Chili Garlic Sesame Seasoning and using your hand (with a disposable glove) massage the meat with the seasoning mixture.  Set aside.

Take washed rinsed fernbrake (gosari) and to it add 1 tablespoon sesame oil and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.  Using your hand, massage the gossari very well, making sure to season every bit of the gosari.  Spend time working the seasoning into the fernbrake (gosari).

To the blanched green onions, add the remaining Garlic Chili Sesame Seasoning.  Wipe down the pan with the green onions, getting every little last bit.  Don’t be shy about not wasting that precious seasoning, because that is what is going to make your soup taste yummy.  Using your hands carefully toss the green onion mixture with the garlic chili seasoning until it is all coated.  To this add the seasoned meat and the seasoned gosari.  Mix all the ingredients together.

Begin heating your soup again over high heat and carefully add handfuls of the vegetable mixture to the hot broth.  It doesn’t need to be boiling, but you will eventually get this soup boiling.  Add all the vegetables and bring soup to a boil.  Allow the soup to boil until the green onions fully wilt and lose their bright color, about 10 minutes.  Taste and season with salt if necessary.

**NOTE:  Cool soup and then you can freeze it.  Freezes very well.  Individual portions are nice to freeze so that whenever you have a craving, you can have a bowl of soup.

Korean Burritos

Courtesy of Joanne Choi, WeekofMenus

Serves 4 (but easily expandable…make your own burrito bar.)

1 lb Korean marinated flank steak, cooked and rested.

Mixed Greens
1 head of romaine lettuce (or any other lettuce) shredded
3 scallions cut thinly
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 cucumbers chopped
The vegetables can be left separately (if you anticipate picky eaters who don’t like certain greens like cilantro or cucumber) or you can just toss it all together.

Spicy Sauce
2 tablespoons sambal oelek
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seed
Mix all ingredients in a bowl to combine.  Set aside until needed.

Kimchee Fried Rice
1 cup kimchee finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 cups cooked white rice

Heat a fry pan over medium heat.  Add vegetable oil, kimchee, ginger and garlic, and cook until kimchee is softened and translucent.  Time will vary on this based on the ripeness of the kimchee, but anywhere between 4-8 minutes.  Add sesame oil and cooked white rice and continue mixing until the kimchee is evenly distributed through the rice and the rice is colored pink.  Set aside. (cover to keep warm if necessary.)

For Assembly
Tortillas (burrito sized)
Kimchee Fried Rice
Cooked Flank, sliced across the grain
Shredded cheddar cheese
Mixed Greens
Spicy sauce

On a plain tortilla lay a small mound of kimchee fried rice, about 1/2 a cup. Lay on top of it a layer of sliced flank steak.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Top with mixed greens.  Finish with spicy sauce.

Good luck wrapping! (I found it useful to rely on a piece of tin foil to help.  If you do a party of burritos, have cut up tin foil ready to go to facilitate wrapping the burrito.)