[Food]

[Food] Maesaengi (매생이, Seaweed Fulvescens)

Maesaengi (매생이, Seaweed Fulvescens) is not a very well-known seafood/

ingredient in Korea, it's usually eaten in China and Korea as soup and porridge. The reason why it's not well known to most  people is that it can only be grown in the crystal-clear clean sea in winter. Fishermen of the south-western coast (Jeonnam province) of the Korean peninsula usually plant and cultivate it.

It gives a savory, mild and refreshing taste with a very silky texture. It doesn't puff any steam out even when boiled or very hot, so you have to be very careful when you eat any porridge or soup made of maesaengi. There's an idiom in Korean that says. 'Give maesaengi soup to the annoying son-in-law' (the son-in-law will burn his tongue if he doesn't know his mom-in-law is giving him maesaengi).

You'd better be careful if you've been a naughty boy (or son-in-law)

Maesaengi is one of my favorite ingredients because it gives a refreshing sea flavor and also goes very well with any kind of hot soup or porridge (even in ramen and cup noodle). Moreover, it's very easy to cook. You can make pancake with it too.

Oyster is perfect partner to maesaengi

It's maesaengi pancake, not green tea flavored one.

You can buy maesaengi in any winter market. It looks like a ball of thin green string. Wash it with salt water, then it's ready to be put into pancake dough or soup :)

These days, with the help of food science and technology, people can buy quick-frozen dry maesaengi which becomes fresh when it goes into hot water or soup :)

A package of quick-frozen maesaengi from Wando (Wan Island in south-west region of Korea)

This one bag contains maesaengi for one person

Maesaengi is full of minerals, folic acid, zinc, fiber and proteins - very nutritious :) If you are thinking of hot soup or porridge in the winter, how about maesaengi soup today? I hope you don't burn your tongue :)

Bon Appétit!

 [Food]

[Food] Hoedeopbap (회덮밥, Raw Fish Bibimbap)

Culture is a way of life so it always changes, flows elsewhere and forms new cultures. We can even think of 'stem culture' (this is beginning to sound somewhat like a virus!). Hoedeopbap(회덮밥, Raw Fish Bibimbap) is a result of Korean and Japanese food culture; born of raw fish and topped rice (Japanese) and bibimbap (Korean mix rice). I'm sure that the Japanese never thought Koreans would bring culture into their country and make it into bibimbap.

It's a very simple, quick, tasty and exotic (for non-Koreans) food. Grab a bowl containing steamed rice, chop vegetables (carrot, pickled radish, cabbage, lettuce, roasted sea weed, cucumber etc.) and put them into the bowl. Also, top it with raw fish (or raw seafood likewise squid, calamari, shrimp, prawn etc.). The most important ingredient to spice it up is chogochujang(초고추장, sour Korean chili paste). You can buy pre-made chogochujang or make it yourself by mixing Korean chili paste and vinegar. Koreans prefer to dip raw fish fillet so it's a given that they'll use chogochujang even for hoedeopbap.

Hoedeopbap is a typical dish found in every seafood restaurant in Korea. They usually use shark fillet cubes, squid, calamari, salmon, sole, flounder, rock fish, sea squirt and flying fish roe for everyday hoedeopbap. Abalone, octopus, sea urchin roe and tuna are added to make expensive hoedeopbap. However, it's surprising that no one knows who and how hoedeopbap was made in Korea for the very first time. Regardless, there's no doubt that hoedeopbap is one of the most popular seafood dishes in Korea :)

Bon Appétit!

 [Food]

[Food] Dakhanmari (닭한마리, One Whole Chicken)

Many people may misunderstand Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea, to be a state-of-the-art city alone with global culture, but if you visit its narrow alleys behind its skyline and high-rise buildings, you will meet Seoul's particular traditional and modern culture :)

Dakhanmari (닭한마리 which means one whole chicken) is Seoul's indigenous food culture which originated in Dongdaemun alleys. There have been many chicken noodle soup restaurants in the alleyways of Dongdaemun since the 1970's with customers shouing 'Give me one whole chicken!' as they enter the restaurant to order chicken noodle soup. So 'one whole chicken' became the name of this menu :) Originally customers came to this alley to eat 'noodle soup with chicken', but gradually the menu was changed to 'whole chicken soup with noodle' because all customers shouted 'Give me one whole chicken!':)

The recipe is simple but every restaurant has a different know-how with its secrets for their dakhanmari recipe. They all put one whole chicken, leeks, water and spicy red pepper powder, but differ with the rest of the ingredients. Some put ginseng or kalopanax (thorn tree) or oriental herbs, and so on. So you can taste unique dakhanmari at each dakhanmari restaurant :)

One big whole chicken is served in a huge stainless bowl on a gas stove which customers chop with scissors (scissors are a typical utensil on the Korean meal table) when it's boiled. Then you eat pieces of chicken with the restaurant's unique spicy sauce and chopped chives. When you are finished with the chicken, you can order chopped noodle to eat with chicken soup :)

Similarly, the whole chicken is boiled in water for Samgyetang and Baeksuk but it's different from dakhanmari as that has a different recipe for soup and uses a spicy sauce :)

So, if you are visiting or living in Seoul...then how about tasting healthy dakhanmari at a Dongdaemun alleyway today? :)

Bon Appétit!

[Food]

[Food] Dwejibaechudoenjangjjigae Recipe (돼지배추된장찌개, Korean-style bean paste stew with pork and Chinese cabbage)

Today's Korean dish is Dwejibaechudoenjangjjigae (돼지배추된장찌개, Korean-style bean paste stew with pork and Chinese cabbage). It's not a hard dish to cook and is great Korean gourmet cuisine:) Just follow my photos and you can make it, too :) Let's begin.

Ingredients: Pork (Neck is the best but you can use foreleg or hind leg instead), doenjang (Korean bean paste), Chinese cabbage, scallion, minced garlic, soju (Korean rice wine), sesame oil, salt, pepper, perilla powder (optional), green spicy chili (optional -adds spice) and water

1. Wash and chop Chinese cabbage and scallion :)

2. Marinate pork with soju, salt and pepper to remove the unpleasant fat odor of pork :) It also softens the pork.

3. When the pork is ready, stir-fry it with sesame oil :). When half-cooked, pour chopped Chinese cabbage and stir-fry with the pork till it is 100% cooked.

4. Pour water until the pork and Chinese cabbage is submerged. Then put doenjang (Korean bean paste) into them :) Don't forget to break doenjang down, so it can be dissolved.

5. Heat it over high-heat, put minced garlic, scallion, perilla powder and green spicy chili when it boils:)

6. Heat it over medium-heat, and boil it once again. Then it is finished :)

Bon Appétit!

[Food]

[Food] Yukgaejang (육개장, Spicy Meat Stew)

Yukgaejang (육개장, Spicy Meat Stew)

Ancient Koreans were not very fond of meat diets; they usually gained energy and protein from abundant bean and seafoods instead of meat. The meat diet flowed into Korea in the 13th century through the Mongol Invasion but it still remained uncommon because Korea's major religion at that time was Buddhism. Even the 16th century's Chosun Dynasty prohibited the butchering of cows because cows were a very precious tool and resource for farming.

So Koreans cooked stew with dog or an old cow for a party or a patient. They added strong and bitter spices and seasonings to remove the pungent smell of meat, and thick green onions, mung-bean sprouts, bracken, taro branch, red chili and more. This traditional recipe has passed down to today, except for dog meat :)

Yukgaejang is also famous as the dish eaten by King Soonjong who was the last king of the Chosun dynasty. The Master chef of Chosun palace served King Soonjong a bowl of yukgaejang when King Soonjong was in deep sorrow and pain after losing the kingdom to Japan. The anecdote tells of King Soonjong eating yukgaejang with tears running down his cheeks.

These days, Koreans enjoy eating yukgaejang in all seasons regardless of the weather. In contrast with traditional recipes, chicken or beef is used for today's yukgaejang and is still very spicy and hot. Koreans usually eat yukgaejang in summer because its spicy taste builds an appetite and the meat gives energy and stamina to those who are exhausted from the heat.

However, yukgaejang is not an easy dish to cook. Every vegetable has to be chopped and seasoned with spices, and the meat has to be fully steamed and torn into small pieces. Then every prepared vegetable, seasoning and meat is boiled for several hours in beef stock. To cook a delicious yukgaejang quickly, your hands must be very busy. More than 10 years ago, I cooked it with one of my friends. I remember deeply thanking my grandmother who cooked yukgaejang by herself for me every time I visited her after finishing cooking yukgaejang.

Nevertheless, yukgaejang is a very popular traditional Korean dish :) Its spicy, savory and meaty flavors are more than enough to awaken one's spirit and body :)

Kalguksu (Hand-made chopped noodles) in yukgaejang, it's as good as eating yukgaejang with steamed rice :)

Korean home-made yukgaejang

Do you love spicy and meaty soup? Try yukgaejang, it will fill your tummy :)

Bon Appétit!

[Food]

[Food] Soondubu-Jjigae (순두부찌개, Soft Beancurd Stew)

Soondubu-Jjigae (순두부찌개, Soft Beancurd Stew)

When you go to any Asian restaurant and Asian market to look for beancurd you might see somewhat like the following :)

Typical beancurd one would think of when hearing the word 'beancurd' or 'tofu'. It often looks like a white cube of soap

How many of you know of other types of beancurd? It's not a surprise that there are more types of beancurd as there are a lot of types of cheese or chocolate. Beancurd is called 'Dubu' in Korean, and there are 2 more types called 'Soondubu (Soft beancurd)' and 'Yeondubu (Silken beancurd)'. They are made in the same way as common beancurd, but the difference lies in its firmness and coagulation.

Dubu is the hardest, soondubu is softer and yeondubu is the softest as its English name 'Silken' attests :)

Freshly-made Soondubu (Soft beancurd)

Yeondubu (Silken beancurd)

Soondubu is usually used for stew (which is the topic of this article) and ice cream (a famous dessert in Gangneung province, Korea) or eaten alone with soy sauce. Yeondubu is eaten with soy sauce or used in salads and deep-fry (a typical Japanese food is deep-fried yeondubu, called 'Karaage Tofu')

Soondubu ice cream (Soft beancurd ice cream) in Gangneung

Yeondubu (Silken beancurd) with soy sauce

Yeondubu (Silken beancurd) salad

Today, I want to introduce you to Soondubu-Jjigae (순두부찌개, Soft Beancurd Stew) one of the typical dishes in Korea which is lesser well-known to non-Koreans. Koreans who love hot, spicy and savory (or salty) food with hot soup invented hot and spicy stew with soondubu. Fresh prawns, shells, red chili and minced pork with hot and spicy soup is more than enough to quench a Korean's appetite and let them sit in front of the dinner table with a bowl of rice and kimchi

Freshly-made soondubu (Soft beancurd)

Spicy soondubu-jjigae with pork

Koreans usually prefer soondubu-jjigae with seafood in it including shells, shirimps and squid because seafood gives a refreshing and deep flavor. To cook soondubu-jjigae, we need to make a spicy chili sauce in ttukbaegi (뚝배기, Korean earthen pot) with oil, red chili powder, chopped spring onion and minced pork, soy sauce and salt :) Then pour seafood stock into the sauce with the seafood and boil it until it is completely cooked. Garnish it with minced garlic and black pepper powder :)

It sounds very simple but the spicy chili sauce and seafood stock is the key to a delicious soondubu-jjigae :) Every Korean restaurant has its own secret soondubu-jjigae recipe.

Soondubu-jjigae doesn't always need to be spicy :) there is non-spicy soondubu-jjigae too

Soondubu-jjigae is always a typical lunch or supper dish though it's usually more popular in winter when good-quality seafood is in the market and people want a hot and warm stew. I'd also rather eat soondubu-jjigae in autumn or winter, because I don't want to sweat like a pig whilst eating soondubu-jjigae in the hot summer.

Soondubu-jjigae with doenjang (Korean bean paste) stew

The funny thing is that it's very hot summer in Korea but I cooked soondubu-jjigae yesterday because I missed this spicy and hot stew with soondubu (LOL). I don't sweat thanks to an excellent air conditioner :)

Bon Appétit!

[Food]

[Food] Galchi-Jorim (갈치조림, Braised Hairtail)

Galchi-Jorim (갈치조림, Braised Hairtail)

Koreans love seafood as much as they love meat, freshwater food and local vegetables. Koreans eat and use most resources from the sea including fish, shell and marine plants.

According to a recent survey carried out by the Korean Maritime Institute in 2020, the most eaten seafood is squid, followed by mackerel, laver, hairtail and flatfish.

Today's fish is hairtail (also known as cutlass fish), which is one of the most popular seafoods in Korea. It's been caught in Korea, Japan, China and also in South-East Asia. It has a very long, shiny, silver-colored body with sharp teeth. It aggressively preys on smaller fish. It's called 'Galchi' in Korean, which means 'Sword Fish', because of its look and the way it swims. It swims like other fish do but it can also swim vertically. Hence the name 'sword fish'. You'll be convinced by the following pictures :)

Contrary to its tough appearance, it has a very soft and silky flesh loved by all. However, it's unfortunate to say that hairtail is one of the most expensive fish, so people can't eat it everyday like mackerel or anchovy. Nevertheless, it's worth keeping in mind that the dark-hairtail from Mokpo is a little cheaper than the silver-hairtail from Jeju Island :) Koreans usually roast it over a grill with salt but they love Galchi-Jorim (Braised Hairtail) most :)

Roasted silver hairtail

Galchi-Jorim (갈치조림, Braised Hairtail)

Put a chopped piece of hairtail into a pot with water, spicy sauce with chili powder, daikon and vegetables, and braise it till the chopped hairtail is well cooked. Then it becomes somewhat like a spicy fish stew with a spicy and savory flavor :) Moreover, the flesh of the hairtail easily absorbs the sauce, adding more flavor with the stew. Spicy, salty and savory with a silky flesh! It doesn't get much better than this as a favorite Korean dish. So galchi-jorim is one of the most popular dishes on the Korean lunch or dinner menu. Many Korean restaurants sell galchi-jorim too. You can easily find good galchi-jorim restaurant in Seoul :)

Bon Appétit!