Rice

Omelet Rice (Omurice)

April 30, 2007 Category: Eggs and Poultry, Rice 37 Comments - Leave a comment!

I often feel like cooking something very simple without taking much effort, yet want to pretend that I spent some good time on it. Do you ever feel the same way? Then this omelet rice might come in handy. In fact, I cooked it 4 times in the last week already.

Michael was very intrigued how I cover the rice with the eggs so well. Although dicing vegetables can be a little annoying and the most time consuming part of the process, it is quite simple to make. Would you like to pretend too?

Ingredients – 2 servings

1/2 (50 g) carrot 1/2 (80 g) onion 1/3 (40 g) red capsicum 80 g smoked ham 100 g crab stick 3 tbsp tomato sauce 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce 4 eggs A pinch of salt

2 cups steamed rice Some rice bran oil Some tomato sauce

Method

-Stir frying rice (You will need a wok)

1. Dice carrot, onion, red capsicums, ham and crab stick.2. Mix the tomato sauce (3 tbsp) and worcestershire sauce in a bowl.3. Pre heat the wok on high heat for 10 seconds and add some oil.4. Add all diced ingredients and saute for 1 minute.5. Reduce the heat to half.6. Add the steamed rice and the mixed sauce. Mix them well for 30 seconds.7. Stop the heat.

-Omelet

1. Beat two eggs in a bowl and add a pinch of salt.2. Heat a frying pan and add some oil. Pour the egg in the frying pan.3. Quickly spread the egg and make a thin, large, and round omelet.4. Repeat step 1 to 4 for the rest of the eggs.

-Shaping (You will need two deep bowls and two plates)

1. When the omelets are made, place them in deep bowls.2. Put the stir fried rice on top of each omelet.3. Put the plate on top of the bowls. Turn them up side down and remove the bowl.

-Decoration

1. Make a cross cut on top of the omelets and add some tomato sauce on top.2. Enjoy!

Tags: Eggs and Poultry, Korean-fusion, Omelet-Rice, Omelette, Omurice, Rice

Steamed Cabbage Rice Wraps (Yangbaechu Ssambap)

April 26, 2007 Category: Food and Culture, Rice 9 Comments - Leave a comment!

It’s Autumn here in Australia. But still in my mind April means spring, with lots of beautiful flower blossoms and also more fresh herbs to make Namul banchan (seasoned vegetables or herbal side dishes) or Ssam (wraps) – in Korea that is.

Are you familiar with Ssam? Ssam means any wrapped food in edible leaves or wet seaweed like kombu. If you had meat in lettuce at a Korean restaurant that is called Ssam as well.

One type of Ssam I love is Ssambap (쌈밥). Ssambap is wrapped rice in edible leaves or some leafy seaweed. It is known as a healthy diet meal, because lettuce (or cabbage) makes you feel satisfied sooner. However, the material that is contained in lettuce, called lactcarium, can make you sleepy after the meal, so we need to watch out for that.

There are also some Korean restaurants specializing in Ssambap. They have a menu called “Ssambap Jeongsik” (consider this as Ssambap combo) which includes various kinds of leaves with dipping sauce, several side dishes, soup or stew and Jeyuk bokkum (stir fried spicy pork). Man, my mouth starts to water thinking of these already.

(Homemade Jeyuk Bokkum – January 2007 )

The key point of making delicious Ssambap is making delicious Ssamjang, the dipping sauce. Every restaurant has their own secret recipe for this. Me? I don’t have a secret recipe, I am not a specialist at this. However I found a simple and interesting recipe from the free recipe book that came with a magazine.

The dipping sauce turned out sweet but also a bit spicy. But to be honest, it might go better as a Bibimbap sauce rather than as a dipping sauce. Yet give it a try! You never know how you might feel about it.

Ingredients

-Cabbage wraps (for 2 people)

600g steamed cabbage Steamed plain rice

-Ssamjang (enough to serve 6-8 people)

1 cup of Korean chili paste (Gochujang) 100g beef mince 1 tbsp sesame oil 4 tbsp grated Nashi pear (or Korean pear) 1 tbsp sesame oil 1 tbsp brown sugar 2 tbsp honey

-Marinade sauce for beef mince (mix these well)

1 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp brown sugar 1 tsp minced garlic 1 tsp sesame oil 2 tsp minced green shallots little ground black pepper

Method

1. Marinade the beef mince with the marinade sauce, leave it for 5 minutes.2. Pre heat the wok on high heat for 10-20 seconds then add 1 tbsp of sesame oil in the wok.3. Add the marinade beef and stir it fast.4. When the meat is nearly cooked add the pear and stir it.5. Add the Gochujang and stir it occasionally for about 6-10 minutes on medium heat.6. Add the sesame oil, sugar, and honey, then stir.7. Turn the heat off.

8. Serve the Ssamjang (dipping sauce) with steamed cabbage and rice or you can make the roll then serve.

Note : When you serve the Ssamjang, you should scoop out an adequate amount for the size of the meal. You can store the rest of the sauce in a sealed container in the fridge. It should last for at least a month.

Related Post

Stir Fried Gochujang and Simple Bibimbap

Some recipes for Ssambap combo

-Side dishes

Thinly Sliced Radish Kimchi

Fish Cake Stir Fry (Eomuk-Japchae in Korean)

Simmered Lotus in Soy sauce (Yeon-gn Jorim)

Seasoned Green Bean Sprouts (Sukju Namul Muchim in Korean)

-Soup

Tofu Soybean Paste Stew (Dubu Doenjangjjigae in Korean)

Pork and Kimchi Stew (Dwaejigogi Kimchijjigae in Korean)

-Meat

Marinatied Pork Stir Fry with Gochujang sauce (Jeyuk-bokkeum)

Tags: Food and Culture, Rice

Stir Fried Gochujang and Simple Bibimbap

February 5, 2007 Category: Red Meat, Rice, Side Dishes (Banchan) 18 Comments - Leave a comment!

Today’s post is about a multi purpose condiment “stir fried gochujang”(볶은 고추장). I made this about 3 weeks ago, and since then every time I don’t feel like accomplishing my kitchen duty, it has been a great help. Busy working ladies and gentlemen would love to have this in their fridge, especially if you love Bibimbap. Do you like the idea so far?

Stir fried gochujang is literally stir fried gochujang and you add it on some cooked red meat (pork or beef mince) and cook them together a bit . Once you make fair amount of it, you can store it in the fridge for up to 2-3 months. You can use it as a dipping sauce for wrapped meat in lettuce or ddeokbokki sauce or bibimbap sauce.

In my case, I used it as a bibimbap sauce and it was very convenient indeed.

(My simple Bibimbap – rice with stir fried gochujang and radish sprouts)

Ingredients (as a 15 serving bibimbap sauce)

Gochujang – 3/4 cup Honey – 1 tsp Water – 3 tbsp Minced pork or beef – 200 g Sesame oil – 1/2 tsp

Sauce for the pork (mix these in a bowl)

Soy sauce – 1/2 tsp Refined rice wine (cooking wine) – 1 tsp Minced garlic – 1/2 tsp Ginger powder – 1/4 tsp Pepper – 3 sprinkles

Steps

1. Rinse the pork in cold water.2. Marinate the pork with the sauce and leave it for 5 minutes.3. Pre heat the wok and add the sesame oil.4. Add the pork and stir it well so the meat doesn’t clot.5. Add the gochujang, honey, water and stir it well.6. Turn the heat off in 3 minutes.

I keep it in a container in the fridge, with the lid on of course (You need to cool it down, before you put it in).

Related Posts

Yangpun Bibimbap

Stir Fried Rice cake with Gochujang Sauce (Ddeokbokki in Korean)

Tags: Quick Meals, Red Meat, Rice, Side Dishes (Banchan)

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

January 15, 2007 Category: Noodles, Rice 22 Comments - Leave a comment!

I got shocked as soon as I stared at my face in front of the bathroom mirror in the morning. There were lots of traces of the battle between my skin and hormones, and it seemed like the hormones won in the battle called “Sugar high”. I had lots of pimples here and there, because I had consumed too much sugar yesterday. My sister said my face looks like it was bitten by swarms of mosquitoes all night.

Yes, when you having some sweets, you really enjoy the moment. You feel good, become active, cheerful, then a bit violent, cranky, moody, then peace comes finally, and the next day, the glory of pimples.

Rabokki (stir fried rice cake and noodle) is what I had for lunch yesterday. Rabokki is combining words for ddeokbokki and ramyun (instant noodles). It is quite simple to make if you know how to make ddeokbbokki. All you need to do is, add some instant noodles and extra water into ddeokbbokki. Voila~!

I simply used the same ingredients from my ddeokbokki recipe, just increase the amount of them for 4 people.

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.

Related Posts

What Rice Cake, for Cooking, Looks Like

Stir Fried Rice cake with Gochujang Sauce (Ddeokbokki in Korean)

Royal Rice Cake (Gungjung Ddeokbbokki in Korean)

Tags: Noodles, Rice Cake Meals

Tuna Rolls (Chamchi Kimbap in Korean)

January 9, 2007 Category: Rice 20 Comments - Leave a comment!

Chamchi Kimbap is my favourite type of Kimbap. It has a savory taste and the smell from perilla leaves (Korean style sesame leaves, ggaennip) and tuna is just well balanced. I haven’t made it myself until today though, I did a pretty good job I think. I have learnt well from Kimgane.

Ingredients for 7 rolls (it serves 4 people)

Main ingredients

Laver 7 sheets 4½ cups of steamed short grain rice Tuna 250g 7 yellow pickled radish strips 7 long sticks of seasoned edible burdock root 7 sticks of BBQ Kimbap ham (Kimbap ham is made for Kimbap. It is easy to slice.) 4 crab sticks 4 eggs 4 stalks of spinach 1/2 a medium carrot 14 perilla leaves

Some mayonnaise

Seasoning (mix these in a bowl)

Sesame oil – 1tbsp Salt – 1/2 tsp Sugar – 1 tsp (I used dark brown sugar, the only sugar I have in my kitchen) Vinegar – 1tbsp

Prep

Cut the roots off from the spinach, rinse it and parboil it in boiled water. (For 1 minute) Drain the water, and put the spinach into a bowl. Add 2 sprinkles of salt and 1 dash of

sesame oil on the spinach then mix it well.

Beat one egg in a bowl. Fry the egg in a pan and make the egg stick by rolling it. (it rolls well when it is 60-70% cooked) Repeat this with the rest of the eggs.

Cut the crab sticks and egg rolls in half. (Length ways, they will give you a total of 8 sticks each, but we will need only 7 each from them. So you can have spare ones if you are hungry.)

Cut the carrot into long thin slices. Make 14 sticks of it. We will use 2 carrot sticks per Kimbap.

Take out the rice from the rice cooker or pot. Add 1/2 of the seasoning on the rice. Mix it well. (The rice needs to be cooled down a little bit.)

Cook the carrots, crab sticks and BBQ ham in a pan with a little oil. (You can use un-cooked fillings, but I prefer cooked ones. When I cook these I prefer the order in the following picture, that way I can use one pan without washing it.)

Rinse the perilla leaves. Put all the ingredients on one or two plates (depends on the size of the plate). It makes

organized rolling.

Making

1. Place one laver on the bamboo mat.2. Put the rice on the laver. You need to spread it thinly and fast, otherwise the laver get

soggy. Leave the top 10% of the laver empty. (To spread the rice, I use my fingers and rice spatula. Have a bowl of cold water next to you to rinse your finger tips when the rice sticks on your fingers too much.)

3. Put the two perilla leaves in the centre of the rice. (Facing each other)4. Put two carrot sticks, 2-3 spinach leaves, some tuna, mayonnaise on top.5. On top of that put the crab stick, ham, burdock stick, yellow radish, and egg stick (all one

each).6. Lift the bottom end of the laver to cover the ingredients, once you cover it then roll it.

(Paste some water at the edge of the laver, if it doesn’t stick).7. Once you have made rolls, paste the other half of the seasoning onto the laver surface and

slice them.8. Serve it on the plate.

My chamchi Kimbap was very delicious, like some luxurious Kimbap restaurant. It was also cheaper to make 7 rolls of chamchi Kimbap myself than buying them from a Kimbap shop, because 1 chamchi kimbap is 2500 won at Kimgane, so I made 17,500 won (US $18.40) worth of Kimbap today for less than half the cost for the ingredients. What a bargain!

I hope you enjoy having this chamchi Kimbap.

Rice

Omelet Rice (Omurice)

April 30, 2007 Category: Eggs and Poultry, Rice 37 Comments - Leave a comment!

I often feel like cooking something very simple without taking much effort, yet want to pretend that I spent some good time on it. Do you ever feel the same way? Then this omelet rice might come in handy. In fact, I cooked it 4 times in the last week already.

Michael was very intrigued how I cover the rice with the eggs so well. Although dicing vegetables can be a little annoying and the most time consuming part of the process, it is quite simple to make. Would you like to pretend too?

Ingredients – 2 servings

1/2 (50 g) carrot 1/2 (80 g) onion 1/3 (40 g) red capsicum 80 g smoked ham 100 g crab stick 3 tbsp tomato sauce 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce 4 eggs A pinch of salt 2 cups steamed rice Some rice bran oil Some tomato sauce

Method

-Stir frying rice (You will need a wok)

1. Dice carrot, onion, red capsicums, ham and crab stick.2. Mix the tomato sauce (3 tbsp) and worcestershire sauce in a bowl.3. Pre heat the wok on high heat for 10 seconds and add some oil.4. Add all diced ingredients and saute for 1 minute.5. Reduce the heat to half.6. Add the steamed rice and the mixed sauce. Mix them well for 30 seconds.7. Stop the heat.

-Omelet

1. Beat two eggs in a bowl and add a pinch of salt.2. Heat a frying pan and add some oil. Pour the egg in the frying pan.3. Quickly spread the egg and make a thin, large, and round omelet.4. Repeat step 1 to 4 for the rest of the eggs.

-Shaping (You will need two deep bowls and two plates)

1. When the omelets are made, place them in deep bowls.2. Put the stir fried rice on top of each omelet.3. Put the plate on top of the bowls. Turn them up side down and remove the bowl.

-Decoration

1. Make a cross cut on top of the omelets and add some tomato sauce on top.2. Enjoy!

Tags: Eggs and Poultry, Korean-fusion, Omelet-Rice, Omelette, Omurice, Rice

Steamed Cabbage Rice Wraps (Yangbaechu Ssambap)

April 26, 2007 Category: Food and Culture, Rice 9 Comments - Leave a comment!

It’s Autumn here in Australia. But still in my mind April means spring, with lots of beautiful flower blossoms and also more fresh herbs to make Namul banchan (seasoned vegetables or herbal side dishes) or Ssam (wraps) – in Korea that is.

Are you familiar with Ssam? Ssam means any wrapped food in edible leaves or wet seaweed like kombu. If you had meat in lettuce at a Korean restaurant that is called Ssam as well.

One type of Ssam I love is Ssambap (쌈밥). Ssambap is wrapped rice in edible leaves or some leafy seaweed. It is known as a healthy diet meal, because lettuce (or cabbage) makes you feel satisfied sooner. However, the material that is contained in lettuce, called lactcarium, can make you sleepy after the meal, so we need to watch out for that.

There are also some Korean restaurants specializing in Ssambap. They have a menu called “Ssambap Jeongsik” (consider this as Ssambap combo) which includes various kinds of leaves with dipping sauce, several side dishes, soup or stew and Jeyuk bokkum (stir fried spicy pork). Man, my mouth starts to water thinking of these already.

(Homemade Jeyuk Bokkum – January 2007 )

The key point of making delicious Ssambap is making delicious Ssamjang, the dipping sauce. Every restaurant has their own secret recipe for this. Me? I don’t have a secret recipe, I am not a specialist at this. However I found a simple and interesting recipe from the free recipe book that came with a magazine.

The dipping sauce turned out sweet but also a bit spicy. But to be honest, it might go better as a Bibimbap sauce rather than as a dipping sauce. Yet give it a try! You never know how you might feel about it.

Ingredients

-Cabbage wraps (for 2 people)

600g steamed cabbage Steamed plain rice

-Ssamjang (enough to serve 6-8 people)

1 cup of Korean chili paste (Gochujang) 100g beef mince 1 tbsp sesame oil 4 tbsp grated Nashi pear (or Korean pear) 1 tbsp sesame oil 1 tbsp brown sugar 2 tbsp honey

-Marinade sauce for beef mince (mix these well)

1 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp brown sugar 1 tsp minced garlic 1 tsp sesame oil 2 tsp minced green shallots little ground black pepper

Method

1. Marinade the beef mince with the marinade sauce, leave it for 5 minutes.2. Pre heat the wok on high heat for 10-20 seconds then add 1 tbsp of sesame oil in the wok.3. Add the marinade beef and stir it fast.4. When the meat is nearly cooked add the pear and stir it.5. Add the Gochujang and stir it occasionally for about 6-10 minutes on medium heat.6. Add the sesame oil, sugar, and honey, then stir.7. Turn the heat off.

8. Serve the Ssamjang (dipping sauce) with steamed cabbage and rice or you can make the roll then serve.

Note : When you serve the Ssamjang, you should scoop out an adequate amount for the size of the meal. You can store the rest of the sauce in a sealed container in the fridge. It should last for at least a month.

Related Post

Stir Fried Gochujang and Simple Bibimbap

Some recipes for Ssambap combo

-Side dishes

Thinly Sliced Radish Kimchi

Fish Cake Stir Fry (Eomuk-Japchae in Korean)

Simmered Lotus in Soy sauce (Yeon-gn Jorim)

Seasoned Green Bean Sprouts (Sukju Namul Muchim in Korean)

-Soup

Tofu Soybean Paste Stew (Dubu Doenjangjjigae in Korean)

Pork and Kimchi Stew (Dwaejigogi Kimchijjigae in Korean)

-Meat

Marinatied Pork Stir Fry with Gochujang sauce (Jeyuk-bokkeum)

Tags: Food and Culture, Rice

Stir Fried Gochujang and Simple Bibimbap

February 5, 2007 Category: Red Meat, Rice, Side Dishes (Banchan) 18 Comments - Leave a comment!

Today’s post is about a multi purpose condiment “stir fried gochujang”(볶은 고추장). I made this about 3 weeks ago, and since then every time I don’t feel like accomplishing my kitchen duty, it has been a great help. Busy working ladies and gentlemen would love to have this in their fridge, especially if you love Bibimbap. Do you like the idea so far?

Stir fried gochujang is literally stir fried gochujang and you add it on some cooked red meat (pork or beef mince) and cook them together a bit . Once you make fair amount of it, you can store it in the fridge for up to 2-3 months. You can use it as a dipping sauce for wrapped meat in lettuce or ddeokbokki sauce or bibimbap sauce.

In my case, I used it as a bibimbap sauce and it was very convenient indeed.

(My simple Bibimbap – rice with stir fried gochujang and radish sprouts)

Ingredients (as a 15 serving bibimbap sauce)

Gochujang – 3/4 cup Honey – 1 tsp Water – 3 tbsp Minced pork or beef – 200 g Sesame oil – 1/2 tsp

Sauce for the pork (mix these in a bowl)

Soy sauce – 1/2 tsp Refined rice wine (cooking wine) – 1 tsp Minced garlic – 1/2 tsp Ginger powder – 1/4 tsp Pepper – 3 sprinkles

Steps

1. Rinse the pork in cold water.2. Marinate the pork with the sauce and leave it for 5 minutes.3. Pre heat the wok and add the sesame oil.4. Add the pork and stir it well so the meat doesn’t clot.5. Add the gochujang, honey, water and stir it well.6. Turn the heat off in 3 minutes.

I keep it in a container in the fridge, with the lid on of course (You need to cool it down, before you put it in).

Related Posts

Yangpun Bibimbap

Stir Fried Rice cake with Gochujang Sauce (Ddeokbokki in Korean)

Tags: Quick Meals, Red Meat, Rice, Side Dishes (Banchan)

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

January 15, 2007 Category: Noodles, Rice 22 Comments - Leave a comment!

I got shocked as soon as I stared at my face in front of the bathroom mirror in the morning. There were lots of traces of the battle between my skin and hormones, and it seemed like the hormones won in the battle called “Sugar high”. I had lots of pimples here and there, because I had consumed too much sugar yesterday. My sister said my face looks like it was bitten by swarms of mosquitoes all night.

Yes, when you having some sweets, you really enjoy the moment. You feel good, become active, cheerful, then a bit violent, cranky, moody, then peace comes finally, and the next day, the glory of pimples.

Rabokki (stir fried rice cake and noodle) is what I had for lunch yesterday. Rabokki is combining words for ddeokbokki and ramyun (instant noodles). It is quite simple to make if you know how to make ddeokbbokki. All you need to do is, add some instant noodles and extra water into ddeokbbokki. Voila~!

I simply used the same ingredients from my ddeokbokki recipe, just increase the amount of them for 4 people.

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.

Related Posts

What Rice Cake, for Cooking, Looks Like

Stir Fried Rice cake with Gochujang Sauce (Ddeokbokki in Korean)

Royal Rice Cake (Gungjung Ddeokbbokki in Korean)

Tags: Noodles, Rice Cake Meals

Tuna Rolls (Chamchi Kimbap in Korean)

January 9, 2007 Category: Rice 20 Comments - Leave a comment!

Chamchi Kimbap is my favourite type of Kimbap. It has a savory taste and the smell from perilla leaves (Korean style sesame leaves, ggaennip) and tuna is just well balanced. I haven’t made it myself until today though, I did a pretty good job I think. I have learnt well from Kimgane.

Ingredients for 7 rolls (it serves 4 people)

Main ingredients

Laver 7 sheets 4½ cups of steamed short grain rice Tuna 250g 7 yellow pickled radish strips 7 long sticks of seasoned edible burdock root 7 sticks of BBQ Kimbap ham (Kimbap ham is made for Kimbap. It is easy to slice.) 4 crab sticks 4 eggs 4 stalks of spinach 1/2 a medium carrot 14 perilla leaves

Some mayonnaise

Seasoning (mix these in a bowl)

Sesame oil – 1tbsp Salt – 1/2 tsp Sugar – 1 tsp (I used dark brown sugar, the only sugar I have in my kitchen) Vinegar – 1tbsp

Prep

Cut the roots off from the spinach, rinse it and parboil it in boiled water. (For 1 minute) Drain the water, and put the spinach into a bowl. Add 2 sprinkles of salt and 1 dash of

sesame oil on the spinach then mix it well.

Beat one egg in a bowl. Fry the egg in a pan and make the egg stick by rolling it. (it rolls well when it is 60-70% cooked) Repeat this with the rest of the eggs.

Cut the crab sticks and egg rolls in half. (Length ways, they will give you a total of 8 sticks each, but we will need only 7 each from them. So you can have spare ones if you are hungry.)

Cut the carrot into long thin slices. Make 14 sticks of it. We will use 2 carrot sticks per Kimbap.

Take out the rice from the rice cooker or pot. Add 1/2 of the seasoning on the rice. Mix it well. (The rice needs to be cooled down a little bit.)

Cook the carrots, crab sticks and BBQ ham in a pan with a little oil. (You can use un-cooked fillings, but I prefer cooked ones. When I cook these I prefer the order in the following picture, that way I can use one pan without washing it.)

Rinse the perilla leaves. Put all the ingredients on one or two plates (depends on the size of the plate). It makes

organized rolling.

Making

1. Place one laver on the bamboo mat.2. Put the rice on the laver. You need to spread it thinly and fast, otherwise the laver get

soggy. Leave the top 10% of the laver empty. (To spread the rice, I use my fingers and rice spatula. Have a bowl of cold water next to you to rinse your finger tips when the rice sticks on your fingers too much.)

3. Put the two perilla leaves in the centre of the rice. (Facing each other)4. Put two carrot sticks, 2-3 spinach leaves, some tuna, mayonnaise on top.5. On top of that put the crab stick, ham, burdock stick, yellow radish, and egg stick (all one

each).6. Lift the bottom end of the laver to cover the ingredients, once you cover it then roll it.

(Paste some water at the edge of the laver, if it doesn’t stick).7. Once you have made rolls, paste the other half of the seasoning onto the laver surface and

slice them.8. Serve it on the plate.

My chamchi Kimbap was very delicious, like some luxurious Kimbap restaurant. It was also cheaper to make 7 rolls of chamchi Kimbap myself than buying them from a Kimbap shop, because 1 chamchi kimbap is 2500 won at Kimgane, so I made 17,500 won (US $18.40) worth of Kimbap today for less than half the cost for the ingredients. What a bargain!

I hope you enjoy having this chamchi Kimbap.

Stir fried Kimchi and Rice (Kimchi Bokkumbap in Korean)

January 3, 2007 Category: Rice 31 Comments - Leave a comment!

When I was making Kimchi Bokkumbap for lunch, my sister was helping me out. I said to her to cut neatly and put the ingredients neatly on a plate, because I need to take some pictures to post for the blog, and my sister was surprised because I haven’t posted recipes for Kimchi bokkumbap yet. I sort of did here, but it is more complicated because it has some extra ingredients and didn’t taste as good as this one, if I remember the taste right. (It was a very early post, so my cooking wasn’t as good as nowadays.)

This recipe is really simple and quick to make, you can also appreciate the Kimchi taste more (this implies that it has a stong Kimchi taste). It works really well with bacon and enoki mushrooms too. It was the best Kimchi bokkumbap I ever had.

Ingredients for 3 big eaters or 4 medium eaters

(Prep time – 5 minutes, Cooking time – 5 minutes )

1 cup of Kimchi (at least 1 week fermented)

3 ½ cups of steamed rice 1 pack of enoki mushrooms Bacon 150 g Minced garlic – 1/2 tsp Kimchi liquid – 4 tbsp (this is the sauce in

the bottom of the kimchi container) Sesame seed oil – 1 tbsp Olive oil – 1 tbsp 3-4 eggs for topping (by the number of

people) Some parched sesame seed (optional)

Prep

1. Cut the Kimchi and bacon into small pieces.

2. Cut off the root of the enoki mushrooms and rinse them.3. Pan fry the eggs individually.

Cooking

1. Pre heat the wok for 10 seconds and add the olive oil then spread it well.2. Add the garlic, stir it fast for 10 seconds.3. Add the bacon and stir it until half of it cooks.4. Add the Kimchi and stir it until 80% of it cooks.5. Add the mushrooms, stir it for a second then add the rice.6. Add the Kimchi liquid and mix all together throughly.7. Add the sesame oil and mix it throughly with other ingredients.8. Serve it on a plate (You can sprinkle some parched sesame seeds on top) add the egg on

top.

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Rice Cake and Instant Dumpling Soup (Ddeok Mandu Guk in Korean)

January 2, 2007 Category: Rice, Soup and Stew 11 Comments - Leave a comment!

Korea has two national holidays about New years day. One is called Shin jung (solar New years day) and the other one is called Gu jung (lunar New years day – Chinese New years day) Apparently more than 90% of people celebrate on lunar New years day and less than 10% of people celebrate on solar New years day.

Ddeok Guk is the core meal of New Years day in Korea, but Koreans eat it on normal days as well. It means purity (from its white color), maturity (there is a saying that if you have Ddeok guk on New years day, you get one year older, its further meaning is I wish you become mature), wishing long life (rice cakes used for ddeok guk are very long) and rich (rice cakes’ shape looks like currency in the old days). Of course as a kid I wanted to grow up faster, so I ate too much Ddeok Guk and got sick instead.

The Ddeok guk I made was enough for one meal without any rice. I added some instant dumplings, some Koreans prefer eating rice cake soup in this way and they use handmade dumplings. My recipe below is a simple version, the traditional version includes pheasant meat, but now it is rare, people use beef instead. Yet I didn’t even add beef here.

Ingredients for 4 people

Main

Sliced (garaeddeok) rice cake 400 g Instant dumplings 12 pieces

Broth

Dried kelp (15×15 cm size) 5 big dried anchovies 8 cups of water Minced garlic – 1 tsp Salt – 1tsp

Vegetables

1/3 of a zucchini 1/2 an onion 1 stalk of big spring onion

Toppings

1 egg 2 sheets of laver Pepper (optional)

Prep

1. Soak the rice cake in cold water for about 20 minutes. (If it is dried)2. Thin slice the zucchini and onion.3. Diagonally slice the spring onion.4. Beat the egg, pan fry it, and thin slice it. (Normally you fry the egg white part and yolk

part separately, but I cooked it together. It is up to you.)5. Thin shred laver with scissors.

Cooking

1. Pour the water into the pot then add the kelp and anchovies.

2. Simmer it on medium to low heat for about 15 minutes. (It looks light brownish)

3. Take out the kelp and anchovies (I threw them away).

4. Add the zucchini and onion. Boil it for 1 minute.

5. Add the dumplings, rice cakes, salt, and garlic.

6. Boil it until it cooks. (It takes 3-4 minutes) Add the spring onion 30 seconds before you serve the dish. (I forgot to add it, and you can adjust the taste with salt)

7. Serve it in a bowl with the toppings on top (egg and laver). You can add pepper if you want. I always do, I love sprinkles of pepper .

Note

Rice cakes for ddeok guk are called garaeddeok and they are the same rice cake for ddeokbokki (stir fried rice cake with gochujang) but just a bit thicker. You slice them diagonally then it looks like what I used. If you bought a lot of garaeddeok, you can keep them in the freezer.

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Tags: Ddeok-guk, Korean Food, Korean-cuisine, new_years_day, Rice Cake Meals, seol, Soup-and-Stew

Vegetables and Caviar on Rice (Albap in Korean)

December 19, 2006 Category: Rice 3 Comments - Leave a comment!

Albap is a kind of trendy meal that got popular in recent years. I’ve never had this meal at a restaurant before so I don’t know what to expect for its commercial taste. I tried this meal last weekend, twice. At first I cooked it in a hot pot (Dduk bae gi – Traditional looking stew pot), but I really needed two pots for two people. It was a bit hard to mix the rice with other ingredients in the pot I had. So the second time I made it in a bowl instead, which made it a lot easier to mix the ingredients, yet I prefer eating in a hot pot. It seems more authentic and tastes better.

Ingredients for 2 people

(Expected prep time – 5 minutes)

Caviar – 2 tbsp (oil drained) Tuna – 125 g 2/3 of a peeled cucumber 4 crab sticks 1/3 a capsicum (I used 1/6 each of yellow and orange capsicums) 6 sesame leaves Radish sprouts – 10 g 2 cups of steamed rice

For sauce (mix these well in a bowl)

Gochujang – 2 tbsp Vinegar (I used apple vinegar) – 1 tbsp Sugar (I used dark brown sugar) – 1 tsp Minced garlic – 1/4 tsp Plum extract – 1 tbsp

You will share the above ingredients between two people.

Steps (You will need two bowls)

1. Cut the cucumber, crab sticks and capsicums into small cubes.2. Thin slice the sesame leaves.3. Put the rice into a bowl.4. Put all the ingredients on top of the rice.5. Serve the bowl with the sauce.6. Enjoy the popping feeling.

Excluding adding the caviar part, it is a kind of Bibimbap. However it looks more luxurious, and you are less likely to tire of it. Caviar is quite expensive, though adding little bits of caviar makes a big difference. I paid about 7000 won (US $7.40) for 250 g.

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Traffic Light Kimbap

December 15, 2006 Category: Rice 9 Comments - Leave a comment!

Last night, we had traffic lights for dinner.

It was my second time trying this Kimbap. When I tried it the first time, which was about a month ago, it looked terribly broken by a storm or something. So I changed the method a bit yesterday and tried it again. I didn’t expected to make it successfully this time, so I didn’t take pictures on the way. However it was a success. You never know, right?

So what do you think about this Kimbap? It doesn’t taste as nice as other Kimbap like vegetable or tuna Kimbap, because it hardly contains any ingredients, though it’s the creativity that counts

I used cucumber, yellow radish, and crab sticks as fillings. Crab sticks are supposed to show more red color instead of white. Sorry about the mis indication.

By the way, Is the order right? or Am I causing some accidents?

I am willing to make them again to give you a more detailed recipe, though the willingness comes from its popularity.

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Inarizushi (Yubu Chobap in Korean) – Instant Version

December 3, 2006 Category: Rice 18 Comments - Leave a comment!

When I was in school, I was so jealous when some of my friends brought Yubu Chobap as a lunch on a school field trip day. Mine was just plain vegetable Kimbap like most of the kids, so my friend’s lunch box looked even more fancy, unique and so special. My mom never made any Yubu chobap for me in my life, so I always thought it is really expensive or hard to find.

Now, as an adult, I realized that it is very easy and cheap to get those ingredients at a supermarket, I sometimes buy instant Yubu chobap to brighten my day. – Though it is an instant version, so don’t get your hopes too high. It is my favourite non fish sushi by the way. It’s very more-ish.

Ingredients for 16 Yubu chobap (Big enough as one person’s meal or a light meal for 2 people)

(Expected prep and making time – less than 10 minutes)

Freshly cooked white rice for 1 and half people (If I used a measuring cup, it would be about 2 cups, though I can’t guarantee. Use a bit less water than usual for cooking rice.)

Yubu chobap package : It includes 16 Yubu (fried bean curd), flavoring sauce (clear liquid sauce), herb mix, and fried flavoring.

Steps

1. Pour the rice in to a bowl. (A big bowl, like a salad bowl is easier to use)

2. Pour out all the sauce from the packet on to the rice. (Though, I only used half of the herb mix, which is the green packet. It is really up to you.)

3. Mix the rice well with a spatula.

4. Hold the Yubu and open it.

5. Scoop out the rice from the bowl and fill the Yubu with it.

6. Serve it on the plate.

This is the packet I used, and different brands are also available. It was 1,950 won (US $ 2) at Homeplus.

As you can see, it is very simple, even a 5 year old child can make it. Good for picnic meals or when you don’t want to bother with heavy cooking.

Stir Fried Rice cake with Gochujang Sauce (Ddeokbokki in Korean)

November 19, 2006 Category: Rice

57 Comments - Leave a comment!

I’ve meant to post this recipe since I started blogging, but I just couldn’t post it because my picture wasn’t quite ready. I have tried this meal nearly every week, I’ve never got good pictures. Yes! I have to admit that I may have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) but it is not as bad as Mr.monk.

This is the most common Korean snack meal in Korea. You can see mini vans or carts that sell this food on the street easily as well. There are lots of variations of this meal, however today’s recipe is the most common and basic way of cooking this meal.

Ingredients for 2 people are

(Expected preparation time: 4 minutes, cooking time: less than 10 minutes)

Fresh rice cake 300g (I always prefer fresh rice cake from the rice cake shop, it tastes best.) Fish cake 2 sheets 1/2 an onion 1 stalk of spring onion 2 leaves of cabbage Water 1/3 cup

Seasoning sauce (mix these in a bowl well) : Gochujang 2 tbsp, Sugar 2 tbsp (I used dark brown sugar), Chili powder 1/2 tsp , Squashed garlic 1 tsp (If you are afraid of spice, you can reduce the chili powder)

Preparation

1. Thin slice the onion.2. Cut the cabbage and spring onion into medium size

pieces.3. Cut the fish cake sheets into medium size pieces.4. Separate the rice cakes with your hands.

Cooking

1. Pre heat the wok for about 10 seconds.2. Add some oil and the onion. Stir it.3. Add the cabbage and stir it.4. Add the rice cakes, fish cakes, sauce and water. Stir

it.5. Add the spring onion. Stir it6. Once all the vegetables are cooked, serve the meal

on the plate.

It was really nice because the rice cakes were so fresh. Originally it was today’s menu, but I decided to cook it last night.

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Tags: Rice Cake Meals

Tuna Salad Sushi Rolls

November 16, 2006 Category: Rice

14 Comments - Leave a comment!

No, it is not a traditional Korean food, but it is quite a simple meal to cook. I’ve been suffering from time consuming dishes lately, so I needed a break. I wonder if this sushi is available in Japan. Kat if you are reading this post, please tell me!I think, it can be a good picnic meal or dinner party appetizer.

Ingredients for 12 sushi rolls (Big meal for 1 person, light snack for 2 people)

Freshly steamed white rice for 1 person Tuna 250 g (drained of its oil) 1/4 an onion 3 crab sticks 1 cucumber Dashi (mix these together) – Vinegar 1 tbsp, Sugar 2 tsp, Salt 1 tsp, Refined rice wine 1 tsp Salad sauce – Mayonnaise 3 tbsp, Pepper 4 sprinkles, Salt 4 sprinkles

Preparation

1. Cool down the rice for about 10 minutes.

2. Finely chop the onion, tuna, and crab sticks.

3. Put them into a bowl.

4. Add the salad sauce and mix it well.

5. Peel the cucumber skin off then thin slice the flesh with a peeler carefully. (Thickness about 0.2 cm)

6. Boil the dashi on the pan for 15 to 20 seconds.

7. Pour half of the dashi on the rice and mix it well. (You can add it more as needed.)

Making

1. Wet your hands in cold water then work rice (12 dough ball of rice).

2. Wrap the rice with cucumber.

3. Put the tuna salad on the rice.4. Serve the sushi rolls on the plate.

Tips

1. When rice seem to stick on your hand, use cold water. (have a bowl of cold water next to you.)2. The height of rice’s dough ball should be shallower than the sliced cucumber’s height. (to hold

the tuna salad topping)

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Tags: Appetizers, Kimbab-(Sushi-Roll), Kimbap (Sushi Roll), Korean-fusion, salad, sushi, tuna

Radish and Oysters on Rice (Gulbap in Korean)

November 4, 2006 Category: Rice

6 Comments - Leave a comment!

“Radish and Oysters on Rice” sounds like a very weird combination, yet it is one of the best food combinations for each other apparently.

I cooked this meal with my rice cooker again, so there was hardly any work to do. But it was hard to take the rice and other ingredients out from the rice cooker, because I didn’t want to ruin its shape for taking the pictures. In the end, I ruined it a bit, though it didn’t seem to affect the taste.

It was really yummy and filling. I also felt really healthy. As far as I remember, it was the first time I had this meal in my life, as well as cooking this meal. I should cook this more often I think.

If I describe the taste I would say something like this. It kept the individual tastes yet had harmony somehow. It was sweet from the chestnuts and dates, a bit salty from the oysters, and a bit spicy from the sauce.

I am not very good at describing things, but I am working on it.

Ingredients for 2 people

(Expected preparation time – 15 minutes, Cooking time with rice cooker – 30 minutes)

Rice for 2 people (uncooked – 1 and 1/3 cups was good for me) Shelled oysters 150g Radish 300g 1/6 a medium size carrot 2 shiitake mushrooms Shelled and peeled chestnuts 6 Dried Chinese dates 4

Water 1 and 1/3 cups Dried kelp

For sauce (mix them all together in a small bowl.)

Finely chopped garlic chives (You can substitute with small spring onion.) – 2 tbsp 1/2 a red chili Soy sauce – 4 tbsp Chili powder – 1/2 tsp Sugar – 1/2 tsp Sesame oil – 1 tsp Crushed garlic 1/4 tsp

Preparation

1. Soak the oysters in salty water for 10 minutes.2. Soak the dried kelp in the water (1 and 1/3 cups). We

are going to use this water to cook the rice.3. Cut the carrot into medium size cubes.4. Long thin slice the radish.5. Thin slice the Chinese dates (we are not using its seed

by the way) and shiitake mushrooms.6. Rinse the rice. (If you are going to boil the rice, soak it

in water for about 30 minutes after rinsing it.)7. Drain the salty water (from no.1). Dry the oysters in

the air.8. Take the kelp out (from no.2) and pour the water onto

the rice (in the rice cooker).9. Add the vegetables on top of the rice in the following

order : Radish, Carrot, Shiitake mushrooms, Chestnuts, Chinese dates, Oysters

Cooking

1. Cook the rice and ingredients in the rice cooker.2. When it is done, serve it on the plate or bowl. I found a bowl is easier to have the meal.3. Add the sauce one spoonful at a time. Mix it with the rice.4. Dig in.

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King Oyster Mushrooms and Prawns on Rice

October 31, 2006 Category: Rice, Seafood

7 Comments - Leave a comment!

I had king oyster mushrooms and prawns on rice for dinner last night. I didn’t plan to have that meal though, that was one of the few meals I could make with the ingredients I had. (I didn’t want to go out shopping.)

Although the dish tasted a bit plain when I mixed it with some rice, it was really good, especially the prawns. I love prawns. I think I have to make the sauce a bit saltier than it was.

Ingredients for 2 people

(Expected preparation time – 15 minutes, cooking time – 10 minutes)

Shelled Prawns (It was 420g before I unshelled them.)

3 medium size king oyster mushrooms 1/4 an onion 1/4 of small size broccoli 1/2 yellow capsicum (the color doesn’t really

matter.) 1/3 of medium size carrot 1/6 of medium size zucchini 1 stalk of spring onion 1 green chili (I just added it for the extra spicy

flavor, so if you don’t want it, you can exclude it)

1 and 1/2 cups of water Olive oil 15 ml Steamed rice for 2 people Oyster sauce 1 and 1/2 tsp Soy sauce 2 tsp Refined rice wine (or any cooking wine) 2 tsp Starch water (mix of starch 2 tbsp and water 2 tbsp) Pepper 3 sprinkles Sesame oil 1/2 tsp

Preparation

1. Thin slice the mushrooms and cut them in half.2. Cut the broccoli.3. Thin slice all the rest of the vegetables.4. Rinse the prawns in cold water.5. Add 1tsp of refined rice wine and 3 sprinkles of pepper to the prawns.

Cooking

1. Pre heat the wok.

2. Put the olive oil into the wok.

3. Add all the vegetables into the wok except the spring onion and chili. Stir it.

4. Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, 1 tsp of refined rice wine. Stir it.

5. Add the prawns and stir it for a bit then add the water. Boil it for 1 minute.

6. Add the spring onion and chili.

7. Add the starch water. Stir it for 20 seconds. (It goes thick pretty fast.)

8. Add the sesame oil. (You can adjust the taste with some salt.)

9. Put the rice onto the plate, then serve the mix of the veggies and prawns on top of the rice.

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Sprouts and Rice (Kongnamul bap in Korean)

October 18, 2006 Category: Rice

6 Comments - Leave a comment!

I don’t cook this meal, Sprouts and Rice, very often. The reason is, it is too annoying to trim the sprouts. It is just too much to do. (Am I the only one who trim sprouts? My husband said he never trimmed them before.)

Though it is a cheap, healthy meal and simple to cook. Also very good if you are on diet, because it digests really fast.

There are various ways to cook this meal. However my rice cooker saved my labor again, because it has a special setting for this meal, but a normal rice cooker can make it fine too.

If you don’t have a rice cooker, you can make it in a sauce pan in which you usually boil rice. (The key point in this case is to soak the rice in water for about 30 minutes before you boil the rice, and to put less water than usual when you boil the rice, because when the sprouts cook, some water comes out of them.)

Ingredients for 4 people

-For main meal

Rice for 3 people (I used 2 cups of white rice and 1 cup of brown rice – using the cup that came with the rice cooker; This cup is a special cup for rice only)

3 cups of water (using same rice cup) Sprouts 250g 3 shiitake mushrooms (This is optional) 1/4 a zucchini (Optional) Pork mince 200g (beef is good too.)

-For meat marinating and seasoning

Pepper 2 sprinkles Rice wine – 1 tbsp 1 minced garlic Soy sauce – 1 tbsp

-For sauce (mix them well in a bowl. -To save some time, you can make this while the rice is cooking)

Soy sauce – 4 tbsp Sesame oil -1tsp Chili powder – 1/4 tsp 1 stalk of thinly cut spring onion 1 minced garlic

Preparation

1. Rinse the sprouts and trim the bad beans and tails.

2. Thin slice the zucchini and mushrooms.3. Soak the pork in cold water for 10 minutes.

Marinate the pork with pepper and rice wine for 15 minutes.

Cooking

1. Pre heat the wok.2. Add some olive oil and pan fry the garlic.3. Add the pork and soy sauce, stir it until it cooks.

Then drain the excess liquid (you don’t need to keep it).

4. Put the rinsed rice in a rice cooker. Add the water.5. Add all the vegetables and meat on top of the rice.

6. Press the cook button.

7. When it is done, mix the rice and other ingredients well.

8.serve it the plate.

9. Add the sauce to the rice before you eat and mix it well. Then dig in.

I served it with some Kimchi and salt seasoned laver. It was really good. Also it was very filling for 4 people. I didn’t make a mistake when I wrote 3 cups of rice. Vegetables can make up for it. Trust me.

Vegetable Kimbap

October 13, 2006 Category: Rice

31 Comments - Leave a comment!

Kimbap is similar to sushi roll. Vegetable Kimbap especially tastes similar to California roll. You can buy Kimbap at a Kimbap store, and there is one on nearly every corner of the street in Korea. (Kimbap is available from 1000 won (US $ 1.05) at the shop.)

Kimbap is very popular as a picnic meal. There are lots of variations of kimbap, however I’m going to show you how to make vegetable kimbap today. It is quite simple to follow.

Ingredients for 2 people

Laver 4 sheets Steamed rice for 2 people 4 Yellow radish strips 2 Crab sticks 4 sticks of BBQ Kimbap ham (Kimbap ham is long and easy to slice. Because it is made for

Kimbap) 3 stalks of spinach 1/5 a carrot 6 long sticks of seasoned edible burdock root 3 eggs Some sesame oil Some salt

Preparation (It will take about 15 minutes)

1. Cut the crab sticks in half. (Length ways, it will give you a total 4 sticks.)

2. Cut the carrots into long thin slices. (I need 6 sticks.)3. Rinse the spinach and parboil it in boiled water. (For 1

minute)4. Put the spinach into a bowl. Add 2 sprinkles of salt and

1 dash of sesame oil on spinach then mix it well.5. Beat one egg in a bowl. Fry the egg in a pan and make

the egg stick by rolling it. (It is better if you can make it thin.) Do the same with rest of the eggs.

6. Cook the carrots, crab sticks and BBQ ham in a pan with a little oil. (You can use un-cooked ones, but I prefer cooked ones.)

7. Put all the ingredients on one plate. It makes it easy to roll.

8. Add 2 dashes of sesame oil and 2 sprinkles of salt on the rice. Mix it well.

During the process of no 5 and 6 I used the same pan and I didn’t rinse or wash it.

Making (It will take about 10 minutes)

1. Place one laver on the bamboo mat. (Actually you don’t really need a mat. I hardly use it.)

2. Put the rice on the laver. You need to spread it thinly. (I use my fingers and rice spatula.)

3. Put two burdock sticks, two carrot sticks, crab stick, ham, yellow radish, egg stick (all one each), and some spinach in the middle of the rice.

4. Roll it. (If the laver doesn’t stick, paste some water at the edge.

5. Once you made rolls, paste some sesame oil onto the laver surface (just little bit) and slice them.

6. Serve it on the plate.

Picture) Top right : Normal Kimbap Picture) Bottom left : Normal ingredients with 1 layer of mayonnaise Picture) Bottom right : 3 ingredients with 2 layer of mayonnaise

I expected to make 3 big rolls which is just enough for two of us, but there was some seasoned rice left over, so I had to make 1 small roll extra.

Tip) I tried one layer of mayonnaise just before I rolled the laver, it gives a moist texture and nice taste. So if you want, you can try.

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Royal Rice Cake (Gungjung Ddeokbbokki in Korean)

October 9, 2006 Category: Rice

9 Comments - Leave a comment!

You might be surprised to hear that ddeokbokki originated from the royal palace in the Chosun dynasty. At that time they used soy sauce instead of gochujang paste, and the King had this Gungjung Ddeokbokki on New Years day. Gungjung means “palace” in English.

This meal is supposed to include some kind of meat, mostly beef (or pork), but as you know the price of beef in Korea is ridiculously expensive. (About 3000 won per 100g for Korean beef which is about US $3.20) So I didn’t use any meat, but if you can afford it, you are welcome to add it. Without the meat, this meal was still filling enough for 2 people.

However, I will cook this meal with some meat some other time, so do check the update in the future.

Ingredients for 2 people are

(Expected preparation time :5 minutes, Cooking time : 7 minutes)

Rice cake (About 20 pieces, 300g) 1/2 a carrot 1/2 an onion 4 button mushrooms 5 shiitake mushrooms (Pyogo beosot in Korean) 1/4 red and 1/4 yellow capsicums (I forgot to take a picture of them, sorry.) 1 stalk of big spring onion

-Seasoning Sauce (Mix these well in a bowl.)

Sugar – 1tsp Soy sauce – 4 tsp 1 minced garlic 1 dash of sesame oil

-Preparation

1. Wash all the vegetables, and thin slice them.2. If the rice cake is hard, parboil the rice cake. Or just run them under hot tap water for one

minute.

-Cooking

1. Pre heat the wok for about 20 seconds.

2. Pour some olive oil into the wok.

3. Put the onion into the wok. Stir it.

4. Add the carrot and stir it until 80 % of the carrot cooks.

5. Add all the other ingredients. Stir it until it cooks.

6. Serve it on the plate.

By the way, I add one green chili for extra taste as you can see on the very first picture, but it was quite spicy. It stung my lips for a while. I liked it though, I don’t think you should add any chili in this meal, for your benefit. (Without a chili, it still tastes good. It is not spicy at all.) That is why it is not listed in the ingredients section.

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Mushrooms on Rice (Beosot Deopbap in Korean)

October 8, 2006 Category: Rice

6 Comments - Leave a comment!

I think Korea is a mushroom paradise. We have lots of different types of mushrooms available all year round. I love any kind of mushrooms.(Not the poisonous ones though) Mushrooms are a type of vegetable yet some mushroom’s texture is like meat.

At the Chinese restaurant, this meal sells for about 5000 won. (US $5.30) I think it is expensive, though mushrooms are as expensive as pork, so I guess it is fair.

Ingredients for 2 people

(Preparation time : 5 minutes, Cooking time : 7 minutes)

4 button mushrooms 5 shiitake mushrooms (Pyogo Beosot in Korean) 1 enoki mushrooms (Paeng-ee Beosot in Korean) Shelled shrimps 100g 1/2 an onion 1/4 red capsicum and 1/4 yellow capsicum 1 garlic 1 cup of water Starch water (mix of starch 2 tbsp and water 2 tbsp) Soy sauce 2 tsp Refined rice wine (or any cooking wine) 2 tsp Oyster sauce 1 tsp Pepper 2 sprinkles Olive oil 15 ml Steamed rice for 2 people

Preparation

1. Thin slice all vegetables. (except enoki mushroom)

2. Mince the garlic.3. Rinse the shrimps in cold water.

Cooking

1. Pre heat the wok.

2. Put the olive oil into the wok.

3. Put the garlic into the wok. Stir it until it goes brownish.

4. Add the soy sauce and refined rice wine into the wok. Stir it for short time.

5. Add the shiitake mushrooms and button mushrooms into the wok. Stir it.

6. Add the oyster sauce, shrimps, onion and capsicums. Stir it.

7. Add the water. boil it for 30 seconds.

8. Add the starch water. Stir it for 20 seconds. (It goes thick pretty fast.)

9. Add the pepper and enoki mushrooms. (You can adjust the taste with some salt)

10. Serve it on the plate.

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Japanese Style Chicken Curry Rice

September 24, 2006 Category: Rice

4 Comments - Leave a comment!

When I first tasted curry in Japan, it was so different to what I was used to yet it was really delicious. I think Japanese curry is sweeter, darker, and smells stronger (Someone said it is similar to the original Indian curry) than Korean curry.I personally like Japanese curry better. However I cooked this Japanese curry for the first time today. But it turned out really well, so I am very glad.

Because Japanese curry is imported, it is more expensive than the Korean one in Korea. It was about 3,300 won (US $3.50) I bought it at Homeplus.

This is what I used today. Curry looks like chocolate, so my husband was happy for that moment.

(Top : Outside, Bottom : Inside of the packet)

With this one, you can serve about 12 people. Once you open it you need to keep it in the fridge in an air tight container. (It was on the directions.)

There were two choices in terms of spicy level, I chose “medium hot”, but as you may expect, it wasn’t hot at all to me. (If you are used to Korean food, it wouldn’t be hot.)

Ingredients for 2 people are: (If you are a big eater it is quite right, but if you are a small eater, it can serve up to 3 people.)

1/2 an onion 1/3 of a zucchini 1 medium size potato 1/4 of a carrot 1/4 of a red capsicum 1/4 of a yellow capsicum 1 piece of chicken breast Olive oil 1 tbsp Curry 1 and a 1/2 blocks Water 265 ml (approximately 1 cup) Steamed rice for 2 people

-Preparation

1. Wash all the vegetables and chicken in cold water. Peel off the skins as needed.

2. Cut the onion, zucchini, potato, and carrot into small cubes.

3. Cut the capsicums and chicken breast into small pieces.

-Cooking

1. Pre heat the wok for 10 seconds.2. Pour the olive oil.3. Put in all the vegetables (except capsicums)4. Stir it for about 3 minutes.5. Add capsicums and the chicken.6. Stir it for a bit. (For about 2 minutes)7. Add the water.8. Boil it until vegetable and chicken get soft. (For

about 5 minutes)9. Add the curry. Stir it around until it melts in.10. Stir it well.11. Put the rice on the plate.12. Serve the curry on the top of the rice.

Tags: chicken-curry, japanese-curry, Japanese-Style, Korean Japanese, Quick Meals, Rice

Stir Fried Calamari Rings on Rice (Ojingeo Deopbap in Korean)

September 23, 2006 Category: Rice, Seafood

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Calamari is quite cheap and easy to get in Korea. You can get 4 medium size squids for about 3500 won (US $ 3.60) at a super market . But the thing is, sometimes they clean the squid for you, but most of the time, you need to clean it yourself at home. (Cleaning means taking out the organs, bone, and peeling off the skin) Here are great instructions on how to clean and cut squid.

-Ingredients for 2 People are :

1 calamari (squid) 1/2 a medium onion 1/3 of a medium size carrot 1/3 stalk of a big spring onion A small amount of cabbage. Refined rice wine 15 ml 2 cups of cooked rice A little olive oil Seasoning Sauce :Gochujang 1 tbsp, Chili powder 1 tsp, Soy sauce 1 tbsp, Sugar 1tsp, 1 medium

sized squashed garlic, Sesame oil 1 tsp (Mix these all together).

-Preparation

1. Clean the squid. Cut the squid in thin rings.2. Put the squid into a bowl, and add the refined rice wine.

Soak the squid for about 15 minutes in the fridge.3. Cut some vegetables. Thin slice the onion and carrot.4. Cut the spring onion in (short angled lengths) and the

cabbage.

-Cooking

1. Pre heat the wok for about 20 seconds.2. Put the olive oil into the wok. Add all the vegetables. Stir it for about 4 minutes (Until its 2/3

cooked)3. Add the seasoning sauce into the wok and stir it.

4. Add the squid into the wok. Stir it thoroughly to mix with veggies and sauce.5. Cook it for about 2 minutes.(until the calamari gets harder.)

6. Put some rice on the plate.7. Add the stir fried meal on the rice.8. Serve the dishes and enjoy the meal.

Yangpun Bibimbap

September 14, 2006 Category: Rice

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This is one of our favourite meals. I can proudly say that I can make it better than some restaurants too.

Yangpun is a kind of salad bowl, and Bibimbap is boiled rice with various vegetables and Gochujang sauce. People usually share the whole bowl (scoop and eat from the bowl),so some foreigners might not like this idea, however it seems to taste nicer to me simply because we share the joy of the food together.

-Ingredients for 2 people

(Expected prep time – 5 minutes , Cooking time – 5 minutes )

For vegetables and meat (You can pretty much use any kind you want)

1 King oyster mushroom Kimchi 20g (very small handful)

Tuna 125g 1/5 a zucchini 1/2 a medium onion 5 Sesame leaves Soy sauce 1 tsp Some olive oil (for pan frying some veggies) 1 egg

For Gochujang sauce (Bibimbap taste really depends on this sauce, mix these well in a bowl.)

Gochujang 1 tbsp Sugar 1 tsp Vinegar 1 tiny dash (make sure not to pour it out, it happens

often.) Water 5ml (1 tsp)

For meals

Steamed rice for 2 people (about 2 cups) Sesame oil 5ml (1 tsp)

-Preparation-

1. Thin slice the mushroom, onion, and sesame leaves.2. Cut the zucchini in half moon slices.3. Slice some Kimchi.4. Drain the tuna oil.

-Cooking-

1. Pan fry mushroom (There is no need to wash the pan between these steps).

2. Fry the egg.

3. Stir fry some zucchini and onion with soysauce.

4. Put some rice into a Yangpun (The big bowl).

5. Put the vegetables and meat into the Yangpun.

6. Add Gochujang sauce and sesame oil.

7. Mix them throughly.

8. Dig in

Related Posts

Stir fried Kimchi and Rice (Kimchi Bokkumbap in Korean)

Stir Fried Calamari Rings on Rice (Ojingeo Deopbap in Korean)

Tags: Korean Food, Quick Meals, Rice, yangpun-bibimbap

Korean Kimchi fried rice with squid and tuna

September 11, 2006 Category: Rice

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People in Korea usually cook fried rice when they don’t have many ingredients left in the fridge (because it is quite simple to make with a few things), or when they need to get rid of left over vegetables.

This meal may look difficult to cook if you looked up the ingredients, however you can use minimum ingredients such as Kimchi, half an onion, some rice and oil, and Gochujang sauce to make “Kimchi fried rice”.(Warning – This food can be spicy to people who aren’t used it.)

Ingredients for 2 people are :(Expected preparation time: 5 min, cooking time:10 min)

1/2 a medium size onion 1/2 the tuna from a 250g can Kimchi 40g Legs from 2 small squids (or 1/2 squid flesh) 1/5 of a zucchini Steamed rice for 2 people Some oil (I used oil from the tuna can)

– Preparation –

1. Cut some squid legs into medium size pieces.

2. Add seasoning to the squid and mix it well.

-Seasoning squid with

Soy sauce -1 tsp A sprinkle of pepper Sugar -1 tsp Gochujang (chili paste) -1 tsp (heaped)

3. Cut onion and zucchini into small cubes.

4. Slice Kimchi into small pieces.

–Cooking–

1. Put some oil into a wok.

2. Pan fry onion first, then add the other ingredients about every 2 minutes in the following order: zucchini, Kimchi, squid, tuna.

3. Put the rice into the wok. Stir it thoroughly with vegetables and meat. Then add the following sauce and mix it. This sauce is optional but it tastes better if you do so.

Sesame oil 1/2 tsp Gochujang (chili paste) 1 tsp

4. Serve it on the plate.

Related Posts

Stir fried Kimchi and Rice (Kimchi Bokkumbap in Korean)

Stir Fried Calamari Rings on Rice (Ojingeo Deopbap in Korean)

Yangpun Bibimbap

Tags: hot-food, kimchi-fried-rice, Korean Food, Korean-cuisine, Rice, spicy-food, squid, tuna

Egg Fried Rice

September 8, 2006 Category: Rice

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Apparently my husband has a wheat allergy.

A Chinese medicine doctor recommend me not to feed him wheat products. So he’s cut out bread for breakfast, and I had to think what to feed him.I came up with egg and rice (that’s what we call this meal). I used to have this meal when I was a baby. It is not spicy at all. So it can be a good baby’s weaning food.It’s very simple to cook. My husband can do it. So pretty much anyone can make it.

The ingredients are (for one person)-expected cooking time ; 3mins

Little olive oil (You can use other oil, my husband specifically likes extra virgin olive oil)

15ml soy sauce (really just a dash) 1 egg 1 cup of Steamed Rice

-Cooking-

1. Turn the gas on. Heat the wok about a minute.

2. Put some oil into a wok. (You can try with frying pan, however you can lose some rice when you stir.)

3. Break the egg into a wok.

4. Put some rice onto a wok. Then pour soybean sauce.

5. Stir it thoroughly.

6. Now it’s all done.