Easy Banchan: Gamja Jorim (Potato Boiled with Soy Sauce)

A bowl of rice with simple banchan (Korean side-dish), fried egg and kimchi makes a good lazy weekend brunch. Here’s the recipe for gamja jorim, a simple wholesome banchan.

Ingredients

Serves 1

7 cubes potato (2 cm)

3 cubes onion (2 cm)

100ml water

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 pinch ground pepper

1/3 teaspoon honey

Directions

1. Place pot with potato, soy sauce and water over high heat.

2. Boil for about 10 minutes then add onion cubes.

3. Cook for an additional 5 minutes or until potato cubes are chopstick tender and the sauce thickens (add more water if too dry). Sprinkle ground pepper.

4. Turn off the heat. Drizzle honey and mix gently. Cool before serving.

* Tip: It cooks faster if you slice the potato cubes finer.

Summer Kimchi: Subaak (Watermelon) Kimchi

The most popular kimchi are usually made with baechu (Korean cabbage) or muu (Korean white radish) but there’re also several fruit kimchi recipes as well. During autumn, sweet persimmon - the hard kind not the soft creamy one - is the favorite fruit to make kimchi. The pickled dish with tomato or Korean melon is usually consumed in the hot season.

I created a simple, mild, garlic-free “watermelon rind kimchi.” It’s an easy salad-like version using plum to sweeten the pickle. I wanted this recipe to be simple and healthy so it might not satisfy your palates. Add about 1/4 teaspoon of sugar, an additional 1/6 teaspoon of fish sauce (sand lance) and red pepper flakes (or cayenne pepper) if you want to enjoy a tastier subaak kimchi.

Ingredients

Serves 1

10 watermelon rind cubes (white rind; 3cm)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon grated plum

1/2 teaspoon grated red paprika

1/4 teaspoon grated onion

1/6 teaspoon canari aekjeot (sand lance sauce) or 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce

Directions

1. Marinate watermelon rind cubes with salt for about 10 minutes.

2. Mix grated plum, paprika, onion and sand lance sauce in a sauce bowl.

3. Wash the marinated rinds with water about two times and squeeze out excess liquid with a tea towel.

4. Combine rind cubes with sauce mixture.  

A Tribute to the Women of the Sea: Watermelon with Soy Bean Sauce

Samdado, the island of “three abundances”- wind, rocks and women- is another name for Jejudo, the largest island and honeymoon destination in South Korea. The women in the southern province are known to be beautiful and strong as haenyeo, female divers who collect sea products for a living. Although the number of the traditional “sea women (literal translation of haenyeo)” decreased drastically over the last several decades, they still represent the women of the island.

The ladies clad in black wetsuits are underwater for a long time without the help of oxygen tanks. They have larger lung capacity than average Koreans so it comes to no surprise that the mother of the nation’s Olympic gold medalist (Hwang Young Cho, Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics) for marathon was a haenyeo.

Since the group of women spent most of their time working at sea, they didn’t have time to cook. So during summer especially, they consumed raw ingredients including fruits with soy bean paste. The following recipe is homage to the rustic simplicity of female diver’s table. This dish is sweet with a slight saltiness. Consume as an appetizer or as banchan (side-dish) like a traditional Jeju meal.

Ingredients

Serves 1

1 watermelon cube (flesh; 4cm)

1/10 teaspoon soy bean paste (literally a pinch)

1/4 teaspoon grated onion

Directions

1. Combine soy bean paste with grated onion.

2. Place watermelon cube on a plate. Put bean sauce on top of watermelon.

* Tip: Garnish with a slice of spring onion.

Crunchy Freshness: Watermelon White Rind Salad (Subak Muchim)

It’s “malbok,” the last hot day of the lunar year. The fruit most consumed during the three sweltering days- chobok, joongbok and malbok- is probably watermelon. The flesh is sweet and delicious. The white part of the rind is also fabulous. It has a fresh flavor like a cucumber and it becomes super crunchy and chewy after marination.

Ingredients

Serves 1

100ml finely sliced watermelon rind (white rind; 8cm length)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon finely sliced onion

1/4 teaspoon soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon brown rice vinegar

1/4 teaspoon sugar

Directions

1. Marinate white rind slices with salt for about 10 minutes.

2. Combine soy sauce, vinegar and sugar in a sauce bowl. Toss in onion slices. Set it aside for about 10 minutes.

3. Wash the marinated rinds with water about two times using a fine sieve. Squeeze out excess liquid with a tea towel.

4. Combine rind slices with sauce mixture.

Pan-Fried Baby Pumpkins

“Ae hobaak,” young pumpkin, is used to make soup, namul (Korean salad), jeon etc. The everyday ingredient is a light green zucchini-shaped squash which has a sweet taste. Ae hobaak jeon, is one of the favorite party menus, because it’s easy to prepare. It’s simple yet popular. You need food like that on festive occasions.

Ingredients

Serves 1

For Jeon:

5 slices young pumpkin or zucchini (about 4cm in diameter, 0.5 cm in width)

2 pinches salt (1 pinch for pumpkin slices, 1 pinch for beaten egg)

1 pinch ground white pepper

1 1/2 teaspoon (or more) all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon beaten whole egg

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

For Soy Dipping Sauce:

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon brown rice vinegar

1/5 teaspoon honey

1 pinch of finely chopped red pepper (or red paprika)

1 pinch of finely chopped spring onion

Directions

1. Season pumpkin slices with a pinch of salt and ground pepper.

2. Coat slices of pumpkin with flour and beaten egg (seasoned with pinch of salt).

3. In a preheated non-stick pan, drop oil and place the coated slices. Fry over medium high heat for about 2 minutes each side or until slightly golden brown.

4. Place jeon in a plate.

5. In a sauce bowl, mix soy sauce, vinegar, honey, red pepper and spring onion. Serve the dipping sauce with jeon. 

Kimchi Made Easy

Kimchi is arguably the best known Korean food and staple in the far eastern peninsula. There’s a variety of the vegetable dish already but I made an addition by creating a fast and easy salad-like recipe using gochujang (red pepper paste). You don’t have to soak baechu (kimchi cabbage) in brine for hours in this recipe. An instructional YouTube video is available in French and Spanish.

Ingredients

Serves 1

200ml kimchi cabbage squares (2cm)

1 teaspoon sliced leek

1 teaspoon grated onion

1 teaspoon grated Korean pear (or grated apple)

2 teaspoons gochujang (red pepper paste)

1/2 teaspoon fish sauce (or 1 teaspoon of soy sauce)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil (or olive oil)

Directions

1. In a bowl mix gochujang, fish sauce, grated onion, grated pear, sugar, leek slices, sesame oil and the white stems of kimchi cabbage.

2. Set the mixture aside for about 5 minutes to let the thick stems absorb some of the sauce

3. Combine kimchi sauce with the rest of the kimchi cabbage squares.

Guljeon (Oyster Fritter) with Soy Dipping Sauce

Jeon is a favorite Korean side dish and snack which is in desperate need of a proper translation. It has often been named pancake, but I don’t think that the word is adequate for jeon. The salt-seasoned fried dish is primarily made with diverse ingredients and rice powder (or flour). There’re kinds that are mixed like pajeon (green onion jeon); those that are coated with flour and egg like guljeon. 

Ingredients

Serves 1

For Jeon:

50ml fresh oysters

1/4 teaspoon finely sliced spring onion

1 tablespoon beaten whole egg

1 pinch ground white pepper

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

For Soy Dipping Sauce:

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon brown rice vinegar

1/5 teaspoon honey

1 pinch of finely chopped red pepper (or red paprika)

Directions

1. In a sauce bowl combine soy sauce, vinegar, honey, red pepper and spring onion. Set aside.

2. Wash oysters in salt water and rinse about a three times. Beat egg (do not whisk) and add sliced spring onion.

3. Combine flour and ground white pepper. Coat well oysters with the flour mixture and put them in the egg mixture.

4. Drop oil in a non-stick pan and fry oysters over medium low heat for about 1 minute each side (front & back) or until slightly golden brown (do not overcook oysters as they toughen).

5. Serve with soy dipping sauce or chogochujang (check out preceding post for recipe).

Oyster with Chogochujang (Sweet & Sour Red Pepper Sauce)

I’m not a cold weather person, but I look forward to winter because of oysters. The seasonal delicacy often dubbed “milk of sea” is highly nutritious and tasty. The best way to have the seafood is to consume it raw with sweet and sour red pepper sauce.

Ingredients

Serves 1

50ml fresh oysters

1/2 teaspoon gochujang (Korean red pepper sauce)

1/2 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon brown rice vinegar

1/4 teaspoon finely sliced spring onion

Directions

1. Wash oysters with salty water. Rinse about three times with drinkable water. Put oysters in a strainer to drain water out.

2. In a sauce bowl, add gochujang, honey and brown rice vinegar. Stir well.

3. Place oysters in a plate and sprinkle spring onion slices in sauce bowl. Serve immediately.

Oimuchim (Cucumber Salad with Red Pepper Sauce)

Vegetables are an important part of the Korean diet. A meal without any kind of greens or kimchi is a rarity. Cucumbers are one of the favorite vegetables in the peninsula. There’re numerous recipes for the crispy and refreshing ingredient. Let us start with muchim, the salad type. 

Muchim is a mix of raw or blanched vegetables with a variety of sauces. It makes a good banchan (side dish). The recipe below is garlic-free and vegan (use sugar instead of honey).

Ingredients

Serves 1

200ml cucumber batons (3cm length, 1cm width)

25ml julienned carrot

1 teaspoon salt

100ml water

1 teaspoon gochujang (red pepper paste)

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon grated onion

1/2 teaspoon honey

Directions

1. Put salt and water in a pot and bring it to a boil. Place cucumber batons in boiling water for about one minute and set aside to cool in a strainer. Press down cucumbers with a spoon to squeeze out excess liquid.

2. In a bowl mix gochujang, soy sauce, grated onion and honey. Combine julienned carrots, cucumbers with the red pepper sauce.