Cooking Korean with Eun Jung

My friend Eun Jung met a nice Canadian boy who was teaching English in Korea. They fell in love, married and moved to Canada.  Eun Jung left behind her parents and brothers, her culture and her food for a new adventure in Canada.  At first, it was hard to adjust and things like cooking were difficult because there weren’t a lot of Korean ingredients available. 

However, as Canada became more and more multicultural, Asian grocery stores and ethnic restaurants are now commonplace in middle to larger sized communities - not just cities! 

Food gives comfort and for Eun Jung it is an important connection to her roots.  We often talk about how much she loves Canada but misses her family, culture and food in Korea.  To help ease her homesickness, Eun Jung prepares and eats the traditional Korean food that her Mom used to make for her. Not that she has much time to be homesick.  Eun Jung and her husband Alan are raising two smart, musical, witty boys. Eun Jung is also an educational assistant and works with special needs kids and kids who have recently immigrated to Canada.  She also recently became a Canadian citizen scoring a whopping 100 percent on the citizenship exam! Our circle of friends joke that she knows more about Canada than all of us put together.

Eun Jung always brings Beef Bulgogi to our gatherings. We love it so much we have never really given her the chance to bring anything else – so it was fun to get together with Eun Jung and cook some other Korean foods.

Our cooking adventure focused on the main dish of Korea - kimchi! Koreans eat up to 40 lbs (18 kg) of kimchi per person each year. Kimchi is loaded with vitamins, fiber and if it is fermented, boast the same healthy bacteria as yogurt or sauerkraut. It is a hot, spicy, and sometimes sour tasting side dish that can be served fresh or more traditionally fermented.  There are thousands of recipes for kimchi. They vary from region to region, differ depending on the season and are served at every meal. Kimchi is also often used as the starting ingredient to make other dishes like soup, stew or stirfries. Eun Jung suggested making fresh kimchi and enjoying it for a few weeks.  Making traditional ferment kimchi is a lot of work and takes weeks and months of fermenting.  Ready made kimchi is available in Asian grocery stores.

Eun Jung stressed that Koreans cook with their hands. You need to be able to feel the food and through your hands add the ingredient of love. However, when adding the hot pepper flakes/powder make sure to use a spoon or gloves to avoid burning.

Korean cuisine has a few key ingredients.  Garlic, green onions, Chinese cabbage, and cucumber are ones we are familiar with.  Korean sun-dried, red pepper flakes, are more coarsely ground than the red pepper flakes found in Canadian grocery stores. It is used to give kimchi its spicy flavour. You may find it labeled as red pepper powder, but again Korean red pepper powder is not as finely ground as red pepper powder (cayenne powder) found in Canada. You will probably have to go to an Asian grocery store to find this ingredient. In a pinch you could try a mixture of red pepper flakes and cayenne powder. This will give you the heat but not the same earthy, slightly sweet flavour as the Korean pepper flakes. Roasted sesame seeds add another layer of flavour and are often used to garnish dishes. I also learned that there are actually many types of soy sauce. Korean soy sauce has a slightly more yeasty smell and flavour.  You can substitute a naturally brewed soy sauce but if you are at the Asian grocery store, pick up a Korean one to try. While you are at the Asian grocery store also pick up some ginseng root, dried jujubes (not the candy but red coloured Korean dates) and short grain sticky rice (preferred by Koreans) to make the Ginseng Chicken soup. There are many more ingredients to explore but this was enough for our first batch of Korean recipes!  Enjoy!

Radish Kimchi

I think Eun Jung craves kimchi the most of all the Korean dishes.  Here is her family recipe for Radish kimchi. Sesame seeds can easily be roasted to deepen their flavour in a frying pan over medium heat.  Stir continually and remove from heat as soon as the start to brown and pop. 

Ingredients:

1 medium daikon radish, peeled and cubed

3 Tbsp coarse salt 45 mL

¼ cup chopped green onion 60 mL

1 Tbsp roasted sesame seeds 15 mL

1 tsp grated ginger 5 mL

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 – 2 Tbsp Korean red pepper flakes 15 – 30 mL

Instructions:

1.    In a medium size bowl, add radish and coarse salt.  Mix salt into radish using hands.  Set aside for at least 2 hours. Then rinse and drain the radish repeatedly to remove salt.

2.    Add green onion, sesame seeds, ginger, garlic and red pepper powder. Stir to combine ingredients. Serve as a side dish or with sticky short grain rice.

3.    Serve fresh or allow to ferment in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days.  Kimchi will continue to ferment as it ages. Many advise to eat it within 3 weeks others say it will keep longer. The home economist in me says eat with 1 week!

Yield: 4 cups (1 L).

Quick Cucumber Kimchi

Eun Jung sometimes adds a little sugar (about 1 tsp/5mL) to kimchi if she finds the flavour too salty or sour.

Ingredients:

2 long English cucumbers, sliced and halved

3 Tbsp coarse salt 45 mL

¼ cup chopped green onion 60 mL

1 Tbsp roasted sesame seeds 15 mL

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 – 1 Tbsp Korean red pepper flakes 7 – 15 mL

Instructions:

1.    In a medium size bowl, add cucumber and coarse salt.  Mix salt into cucumber using hands.  Set aside for at least 2 hours. Then rinse and drain the cucumber repeatedly to remove salt.

2.    Add green onion, sesame seeds, garlic and red pepper powder. Stir to combine ingredients. Serve as a side dish or with sticky short grain rice.

3.    Serve fresh or allow to ferment in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days.  Kimchi will continue to ferment as it ages. Many advise to eat it within 3 weeks others say it will keep longer. The home economist in me says eat with 1 week!

Yield: 3 cups (750 mL).

Cabbage Kimchi

Eun Jung sometimes adds fish sauce to this kimchi but her family prefers it without.

Ingredients:

1 head Chinese (Napa) cabbage, washed and chopped

¼ cup coarse salt 60 mL

1/2 cup chopped green onion 125 mL

1 Tbsp roasted sesame seeds 15 mL

1 Tbsp sesame oil 15 mL

2 tsp grated ginger 10 mL

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 – 3 Tbsp Korean red pepper flakes 30 – 45 mL

Instructions:

1.    In a medium size bowl, add cabbage and coarse salt.  Mix salt into cabbage using hands.  Set aside for at least 2 hours. Then rinse and drain the cabbage repeatedly to remove salt.

2.    Add green onion, sesame seeds, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and red pepper powder. Stir to combine ingredients. Serve as a side dish or with sticky short grain rice.

3.    Serve fresh or allow to ferment in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days.  Kimchi will continue to ferment as it ages. Many advise to eat it within 3 weeks others say it will keep longer. The home economist in me says eat with 1 week!

Yield: 3 cups (750 mL).

Beef Bulgogi (Korean BBQ)

Eun Jung and Alan’s specialty. The Asian pear sometimes called an apple pear in Canada adds extra sweetness but it is not necessary.

Ingredients:

¼ cup crushed garlic 60 mL

¼ cup sesame oil 60 mL

¼ cup roasted sesame seeds 60 mL

½ tsp black pepper 2 mL

1/3 cup granulated sugar 75 mL

½ cup chopped green onion 125 mL

1 onion, sliced

1 Asian pear, cored and finely chopped (optional)

3 lb sirloin steak, sliced into thin strips 1.5 kg

Instructions:

1.    In a medium sized bowl, combine garlic, sesame oil, sesame seeds, pepper, and sugar.  Add onions, pear and beef stirring to combine.

2.    Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  Then grill or stirfry until beef is just cooked through. Serve with short grain sticky rice.

Yield: 2 cups (500 mL)

Spicy Potatoes

This is a dish that Eun Jung’s mother prepares often for supper.

Ingredients:

4 potatoes, cubed

½ onion, sliced

¼ cup soy sauce (Korean if you can get it!) 60 mL

½ Tbsp Korean red pepper flakes 7 mL

1 Tbsp sesame seeds 15 mL

Instructions:

1.    In a medium saucepan, combine potatoes, onion, soy sauce and red pepper flakes. Simmer of medium high heat stirring occasionally. Simmer until all the liquid is gone and the potatoes are cooked.

2.    Serve warm garnished with sesame seeds.

Yield: 2 cups (500 mL)

Ginseng chicken soup (samgyetang)

About 15 years ago I was lucky enough to visit Korea.  With Eun Jung’s help I finally found a recipe for my favourite dish during our visit – Ginseng Chicken Soup. On our trip our host took us to a restaurant that only served this soup. It came in ceramic pots and there were up to 24 garlic cloves in each serving! This soup is served to promote good health and I am sure it must be Korean comfort food as it was so warm and nourishing.  I adapted this recipe from www.maangchi.com - a fabulous site for Korean recipes and cooking videos.

Ingredients:
1 small chicken or Cornish hen (it needs to fit in the pot

1/4 cup of short grain sticky rice (sometimes called sweet rice

12 cloves of garlic

3 jujubes (not the candies but Korean dates)

1 or 2 small ginseng roots, trimmed off the tops

salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup green onions 60 mL

Instructions:

1.    Wash and rinse chicken in cold running water. Soak sweet rice for 1 hour then drain.

2.    Stuff the chicken with the sweet rice, ginseng root, jujubes and 3 or 4 cloves of garlic. Place it in a pot, preferably earthware.

3.    Pour water into the pot about half way up the chicken. Add remaining garlic and ginseng. Bring to a boil it over high heat for 20 minutes. When it starts boiling, skim off any foam and fat that rises to the surface Then pour in more water and boil it over medium heat for 40 to 50 minutes.

4.    It is cooked when the chicken pulls away easily using chopsticks.

5.    Add salt and pepper. Garnish with green onion serve with kimchi.