Korean Food

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/9772735

Fantastic dish. I made this tonight. Oddly enough I never had this dish growing up. I subbed in daikon for the potato since we had it on hand.

Be careful about the amount of liquid that's in the pot when you put the noodles in. They'll absorb quite a bit. You may also not need to add the potato starch slurry if it's cooked down enough.

Ingredients

250 g beef chuck steak (or your choice of meat), (8.8 ounce), diced
1 Tbsp sweet rice wine (mirin)
3/4 cup water , to mix with the curry powder
100 g Korean curry powder (3.5 ounce)
2 Tbsp cooking oil
200 g onion (7 ounce), peeled and cut into large cubes
70 g salted butter (2.5 ounce)
150 g potato (5.3 ounce), peeled and cut into large cubes
120 g carrot (4.2 ounce), peeled and cut into large cubes
4 cups water
steamed rice , to serve

Instructions

In a bowl, marinate the meat with sweet rice wine (mirin), then set it aside for 5 minutes.
In a small jug, combine 3/4 cup of water with the Korean curry powder. Mix well until you achieve a smooth, well-blended mixture.
Preheat a large pot (e.g. dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Then, add the cooking oil and sauté the onions until they turn golden brown.
Add the previously marinated meat to the pot and stir. Cook the meat until it reaches a medium level of doneness, with a slight hint of pink in the center.
Add the butter to the pot and stir until it completely melts and evenly incorporates into the dish.
Add the potato and carrot pieces to the pot, and then pour in 4 cups of water.
Bring the pot to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue cooking uncovered for about 30 minutes, periodically skimming off any bubbles or foam that may form on the surface and discarding them. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
Finally, add the prepared curry powder mixture to the pot and stir it in until the curry thickens, which should take around 1 minute.
Serve the curry on a bed of steamed rice with a variety of side dishes to complement the flavors. Some popular side dishes include kimchi, radish kimchi, pickled radish, and a refreshing pickled cucumber. You can store any leftover curry in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months.

I used the recipe from Korean Bapsang blog, and tossed in an extra red capsicum. https://www.koreanbapsang.com/japchae-korean-stir-fried-starch/. Very tasty, and I like how she makes a batch of sauce at the start.

No pics. We ate it all.

I also have some heavenly sauce and a few chicken strips (gojujang/garlic flavored). My lunch tomorrow is gonna make people jealous as F.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/7108203

Korean Street Toast (Gilgeori-toast 길거리토스트). It's basically a Korean breakfast sandwich. There's no one way to make it but it's usually egg mixed with various veggies that is fried into a patty and put on buttered toast (think made like a grilled cheese). It's gotten super popular in Korea as a quick street food breakfast and there's Korean Toast shops popping up all around the world now. Here's a recipe from Maangchi, but you can put basically anything you want on it. This one had ham, cheese, and a sweet gochujang sauce on it. Got it from a vendor in a local Korean themed food hall.

Ingredients For 1 folded kimbap (only an example)

1/4 cup cooked rice
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon sesame seeds -- optional
1 gim (김밥용 김), seaweed sheet (aka laver, nori)

For proteins

2 thin slices Spam or 2 tablespoons canned tuna (press out the liquid) or other cooked or processed meat
1 fried egg (no runny yolk) or cheese, eomuk (fish cake), fried tofu, etc. 

For vegetables

1 lettuce leaf you can use 2 or double up with a perilla leaf
1/2 small cucumber or carrot or your choice of veggies thinly sliced or julienned as necessary

Instructions

Mix warm rice with a little bit of sesame oil, salt to taste, and optional sesame seeds
If using Spam, thinly slice and pan fry for a minute or two on each side over medium heat. If using leftover cooked meat, you can heat it in the microwave as necessary. If using canned tuna, press the liquid out.
Clean and pat dry the vegetables with a paper/kitchen towel. Thinly slice, shave (with a peeler), or julienne the cucumber or carrot. You can lightly sauté the cucumber or carrot, but not necessary. If using kimchi, thinly slice and squeeze out the liquid. You can mix kimchi with sesame oil and/or stir-fry in lightly oiled pan, but not necessary.
Put a sheet of nori, shiny side down and shorter side towards you (the photo may not look like that because of the camera angle), on a cutting board or plate. Cut a slit to the middle of gim (seaweed sheet) from the short side.
Spread the rice evenly over the bottom left quarter of the seaweed sheet. Arrange the other ingredients on each quarter. Lift the bottom left quarter and fold it onto the top left quarter, then to the top right, and finally to the bottom right. Press lightly and tuck the filling in after each fold.

Notes Tips for folded kimbap

Squeeze out the liquid from any wet ingredients.
Pat dry vegetables with a paper/kitchen towel.
Don't overload it! It'll be hard to fold and eat. Leave some space between the quarters for folding.
You can double up the ingredients on each quarter as long as they are not too bulky.
Place small pieces or easy to fall out ingredients next to the rice one. The sticky rice will help hold them together.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/6763680

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/6680716

I make Kimchi Jigae, or Kimchi Soup, pretty often and the only staple I use is kimchi, obviously, and tofu. It's traditionally made with pork and other spices, but I like to experiment. For this I didn't have any meat ready that would be good but I found a package of crawfish tails I had been trying to figure out what to do with so I figured I'd try it out and see how it goes and it turned out so good.

Ingredients (none of these are exact, I tend to season by taste but I'll try to put an estimate of what I used

About 5 cups of water
2 cups of cabbage kimchi
A bottle of [Ajumma Republic Korean Kimchi Seasoning](https://www.amazon.com/Ajumma-Republic-Korean-Kimchi-Sauce/dp/B01M68C6A6)
1 lb of cooked, peeled crawfish tails
however much tofu you like.  I like a lot so I used 3 packages
2 TBSP onion powder (you can used minced onions as well)
2 TBSP garlic powder (likewise can use minced garlic or whole cloves if you like)
1 can tuna (I like the fishy taste it brings to the broth but it's optional)

Directions

Heat a big pot and put some oil in and fry the kimchi a bit.  I find it brings out the flavor and gives it a nice crunchy texture

Pour in the water and however much of the kimchi seasoning you like to taste

add tofu sliced into cubes, tuna, garlic powder, onion powder, and crawfish

bring to boil and let simmer 15-20 minutes

taste and if it's good, serve

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/6536262

So the mods of a few of the cooking/food communities have come together to try to help eachother and our communities grow. You may have noticed we have started linking other communities on the side bar. And we are discussing other forms of cross-promotion. If you have any suggestions please feel free to comment them below.

For now, we are encouraging our users to subscribe and cross post when they can to related communities. We want our communities and Lemmy as a whole to grow and we need users and content. More content = more users that may become interested to subscribe. We are also asking our users to take part and post. There's a very high percentage of lurkers and that's perfectly fine, but we need people to post and share. That's the only way we will be able to keep this train rolling. So please post and cross-post when you can and help us grow our communities. Thank you!

This is one of my all time favorite soups, probably because I like things with a lot of stuff on/in them. It says the rice cakes are optional, but I feel like they're a must. Additionally, I'd highly recommend adding ramen noodles in addition to the glass noodles and rice cakes.

짬짜면, which is essentially 짜장면(Jjajangmyeon) + 짬뽕(Jjambbong), is a go to delivery food for a lot of Koreans.

탕수육(Tangsuyuk) as well.

With a bit of 청양고추(Koreat hot pepper) in there as well.

Ingredients MAIN

1 cucumber (English or Lebanese), (350g/ 12.3 ounces)
4 eggs
3 carrots (320g / 11.3 ounces), julienned
2 sheets Korean fish cake (90g / 3.2 ounces), rinsed with hot water & thinly sliced
5 cups cooked rice (resulted from 2 cups of uncooked short or medium grain rice)
7 strips yellow pickled radish (danmuji), cut into long strips if you didn’t buy the pre-cut version (available at a Korean / Japanese grocery store)
14 strips seasoned edible burdock root (available at a Korean grocery store)
555 g canned tuna (19.6 ounces), drained (3 cans of tuna each weighing 185 grams / 6.5 ounces)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
7 sheets dried seaweed (gim / sushi nori)
7 to 14 perilla leaves (depending on its size, optional), rinsed
1 Tbsp sesame oil
cooking oil

CUCUMBER SEASONING

1/2 Tbsp fine sea salt

EGG SEASONING

1/8 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp rice wine (mirin)

FISH CAKE SEASONING

1 Tbsp soy sauce , regular
1/2 tsp sugar

RICE SEASONING

2 Tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

Instructions

Cut the cucumber into long strips and remove the seeds. Place on a plate, season with the salt (1/2 Tbsp fine salt) and mix well. Set aside.
Break the eggs in a medium sized bowl and whisk them lightly. Add the egg seasoning (fine sea salt and rice wine) and mix them well. Preheat a pan and add a small dash of cooking oil. Add a thin layer (about one-third) of beaten egg and cook both sides well over low-medium heat.
Transfer to a plate or cutting board and cool it down. Repeat until you cook up the whole batch of beaten egg.
In a heated pan, add a small dash of cooking oil and cook the carrots over medium heat for about 2 to 3 mins. Transfer to a plate.
Wipe the pan with some kitchen paper, add a dash of cooking oil and cook the fish cakes with the seasoning (soy sauce and sugar) over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Stack the pan-fried eggs on top of each other, roll up, and thinly slice. Transfer to a plate.
In a large bowl, mix the rice with the rice seasoning. Set it aside until it cools down.
Squeeze the cucumber strips, yellow radish pickle, and seasoned edible burdock root to remove excess water. Transfer to a plate.
Prepare a medium sized bowl and put the drained tuna. Add the mayonnaise and mix them well. Set it aside.
Gather all the kimbap ingredients at the ‘kimbap rolling station’. This makes it easy to assemble.
Place one dried seaweed sheet on the bamboo mat (shiny side facing down). Grab the rice (about tennis ball size) and put the rice on the seaweed sheet then spread it evenly and thinly to cover the seaweed, leaving about 5 cm / 2 inches gap at the top of the seaweed.
Now fill the seaweed with the filing ingredients. Make sure that you evenly distribute the ingredients so that you don’t run out later.
Place a perilla leaf (half if too big, two if too small), tuna on the middle of perilla leaves, then add one yellow radish pickle, and two burdock strips around it. Then pile up cucumber sticks, eggs omelette strips, fish cakes strips, and carrot sticks.
Then hold the ingredients together with your hands and start rolling the seaweed. To glue the top end of the seaweed, apply a few drops of water to the gap left in Step 10. Alternatively, put a few grains of cooked rice into this gap. Finish rolling the seaweed and shape the roll by pressing down with a bamboo mat. Set the finished rolls aside.
Repeat steps 10 to 11 with the remaining ingredients.
Line up all the kimbap on a cutting board and coat the seaweed surface with some sesame oil (about 1 Tbsp). Slice the kimbap into bite-sized pieces. Serve with some yellow pickled radish or kimchi.

Notes Tips

Use slightly cooled down rice (enough to touch without burning the finger tips). Too-hot rice can make the seaweed shrivelled and soggy.
Don’t overfill the side ends of the roll, particularly the tuna. It falls out easily when you start rolling. Also, be sure not to overstuff the kimbap or else it may break when you slice it.
The trickiest part of the process is the initial lifting of the seaweed over the filling. When rolling kimbap, hold the ingredients together with your hands well, so that they don’t fall out of position. After an initial wrap of the fillings, press gently on the bamboo mat to shape the roll, then roll up all the way. Bring down the kimbap roll onto the bottom of the bamboo mat, roll kimbap up, and press firmly over it to finish shaping.

How To Store Kimbap

Make sure to eat kimbap on the day that you make it or the next day at the latest for optimal eating experience. It should be refrigerated in an airtight container and only sliced into bite-sized pieces just before serving it to minimise the rice going dry.

Ingredients

2 cup makgeolli (Korean rice wine), chilled
1 cup vanilla custard
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
100 g vanilla ice cream (3.5 ounces)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
160 g ice cubes (5.6 ounces)

Instructions

Begin by carefully stacking the required ingredients into the blender. Engage the blender for approximately 30 seconds, or until the mixture achieves a smooth consistency, speckled with small ice fragments. Be mindful to stop blending before it becomes fully liquid - these tiny ice pieces contribute to a delightful texture in the shake. Pair it with your meal of choice. You might be surprised how well it complements a burger!

Ingredients MAIN

48 pieces Korean rice cake (garaetteok), (342g / 12 ounces)
32 pieces cocktail sausage (230g / 8.1 ounces)
Some cooking oil (I used canola oil)

SAUCE

1/3 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup ketchup
1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce , regular
1/2 Tbsp gochujang (Korean chili paste)

GARNISH (OPTIONAL)

toasted sesame seeds or other crushed nuts
American mustard sauce
mayonnaise

Instructions

Blanch the rice cakes in boiling water for 1-2 minutes to soften them. Then, drain the water and rinse the rice cakes under cold tap water. Set aside. (If your rice cakes are fresh, soft, and the skewer can pass through them without any problems, you can skip this step.)
Combine all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan, stirring continuously until the sugar dissolves completely and the sauce thickens. This should take approximately 5 minutes. Be sure to keep stirring to prevent the sauce from burning. Set aside.
Thread the rice cakes and sausages onto the skewers, alternating them in a pattern. For a well-balanced size, aim for three rice cakes and two sausages per skewer, assuming you’re using a 12cm (or 4.7-inch) long skewer.
Heat the oil in a shallow pan until it reaches boiling point. Gently place the skewers into the hot oil and fry them for about one minute on each side to ensure even cooking. Fry the skewers in batches to prevent overcrowding in the pan.
If you prefer not to deep-fry, you can also pan-grill the skewers using less oil. Using tongs, carefully remove the fried skewers from the pan and set them aside on a paper towel. Continue this process until all the skewers have been cooked.
Dip the cooked skewers into the sauce, generously coat both sides evenly by brushing the sauce onto them.
Optionally, garnish with your preferred nuts or seeds, drizzle with the sauce, and serve immediately.

Ingredients DONKATSU SAUCE

1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup tonkatsu sauce , bulldog brand preferred
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
30 g salted butter (1 ounce)
1 1/2 Tbsp plain flour
1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp water

PORK CUTLET

600 g pork loin (1.3 pound), cut thinly for pork cutlet, about 1 cm / 0.4 inch thickness
milk , enough to soak the meat
3 eggs
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

SIDES (OPTIONAL)

250 g cabbage (9 ounce), thinly sliced
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup mayonnaise
non-spicy chili (e.g. long green pepper)
ssamjang
macaroni salad
cooked rice
pickled cucumber
danmuji (yellow pickled radish)
kimchi

Instructions DONKATSU SAUCE

Combine ketchup, tonkatsu sauce, brown sugar, water and milk in a large bowl or measuring cup. Mix well and set aside.
Preheat a frying pan over medium heat, then add the butter. Once the butter has melted, add the flour to the pan. Stir well to ensure the flour is thoroughly mixed with the butter. Continue to cook over medium to medium-high heat until the mixture turns dark brown; this should take approximately 5-7 minutes, with occasional stirring. Then, reduce the heat to low.
Pour the brown sauce from step 1 into the pan, stirring well. Increase the heat to medium-low or medium and cook until the sauce thickens, which should take approximately 8-10 minutes; remember to stir often. In a separate bowl, combine the cornstarch and water, whisking until the starch dissolves completely. Once the sauce in the pan has thickened slightly, add the slurry. Continue to stir frequently for an additional 5 minutes, or until the sauce reaches your desired thickness. Once done, either set it aside or reduce the heat to the lowest setting to keep it warm while the pork cutlet is being cooked.

PORK CUTLET

Lightly score the meat in a diamond pattern using a knife, or use a mallet to tenderize it. Next, place the meat in a bowl and pour in the milk. Let the meat soak in the milk for 10 minutes. This will help further tenderize the meat and reduce any gamey smell. Afterward, drain the milk away and set the meat aside.
Prepare two separate plates; fill one with a mixture of flour, garlic powder, and onion powder, and the other with panko bread crumbs. In a medium-sized bowl, crack the eggs and whisk them until fully combined. Arrange your workstation in the following order: a plate of pork, a plate of the flour mixture, a bowl of whisked eggs, and finally, a plate of panko bread crumbs.
Thoroughly coat all sides of the pork with flour, then dip it into the beaten eggs. Finally, roll it in the panko bread crumbs until it’s fully covered. Repeat this process until all the meat is fully breaded.
To prepare for frying, fill a fryer or large deep pan with a generous amount of oil and heat it. Make sure the container is wide enough to fully immerse at least one pork cutlet. Once the oil reaches 175°C (350°F), it is ready—this usually takes about five minutes on medium-high heat.
Carefully place the pork cutlet in the sizzling oil and fry for about four minutes, flipping it every one to two minutes for even cooking. Once the pork cutlet is fully cooked and golden-brown, remove it from the oil and place on paper towels to absorb excess oil. Using a fine-mesh strainer, quickly skim off any remaining fried crumbs from the surface of the oil between batches. Repeat this process until all the cutlets are fried.
Serve your chosen sides on a large plate, arranged around the edge. If serving cabbage, combine the ketchup and mayonnaise in a small bowl, then dollop the sauce over the cabbage. Place the cutlet in the center of the plate. Drizzle the sauce over it. Enjoy!

Prep 5 mins
Cook 25 mins
Active 15 mins
Total 30 mins
Serves 2 to 3 servings

Ingredients

2 cups cooked white rice (12 ounces; 350g) (see notes)

3/4 pound kimchi with juices (about 1 cup packed; 340g)

2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable or canola oil, divided

1 (12-ounce; 340g) can Spam, cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch dice

1 large onion, finely diced (1 1/2 cups; 12 ounces; 340g)

4 scallions, white and pale green parts only, thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup; 40g)

2 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons; 10ml)

1 hot red or green chile (such as jalapeño, serrano, or Thai bird), stemmed and thinly sliced

Freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons (10ml) Asian fish sauce

1 teaspoon (5ml) toasted sesame oil

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves and fine stems (1/2 ounce; 14g)

Kosher salt

Fried eggs, for serving

Hot sauce, for serving

Directions

If using day-old rice, transfer to a medium bowl and break rice up with your hands into individual grains before proceeding. Place kimchi in a fine-mesh strainer set over a large bowl and squeeze out excess liquid. Reserve liquid and finely chop kimchi.

Heat 1/2 tablespoon oil in a wok over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add Spam and cook, tossing and stirring frequently, until well browned and starting to crisp. Add chopped kimchi and onion and cook, stirring and tossing regularly, until vegetables are softened, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Add another 1/2 tablespoon oil to wok. Increase heat to high and heat until smoking. Add half of rice and cook, stirring and tossing, until rice is pale brown, toasted, and has a slightly chewy texture, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Repeat with another 1/2 tablespoon oil and remaining rice.

Return all rice to wok and press it up the sides, leaving a space in the middle. Add another 1/2 tablespoon oil to the space. Add scallions (reserving some for garnish), garlic, and chile. Stir gently and cook until lightly softened and fragrant, about 1 minute. Toss with rice to combine. Add onion, kimchi, and Spam mixture and toss to combine. Pour in reserved kimchi juice and season generously with black pepper. Add fish sauce, sesame oil, and cilantro (reserving some cilantro for garnish). Toss everything to combine. Season to taste with salt if necessary. When ready to serve, allow rice to sit in wok without tossing for 45 seconds to create a crisp crust underneath.

Turn rice out onto a serving platter, trying to get as much of the crispy rice facing up as possible. Top with fried eggs, sprinkle with reserved scallions and cilantro, and serve immediately with hot sauce. 

Ingredients

2 bowls of cooked rice (about 3 cups)
1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup onion, chopped
5 ounces beef (about 3/4 cup), cut into small pieces: replace with chicken, pork, or ham
⅓ cup kimchi, chopped
3 cups colorful vegetables, cut into small pieces (¼ inch cubes): carrot, zucchini, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, white mushrooms
1 or 2 green chili pepper (optional), chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 egg, cooked sunny side up
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ cup Oaxacan cheese, split it into threads: replace with mozzarella or cheddar cheese

Directions

Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan over high heat. Add the vegetable oil, garlic, and onion. Stir-fry them for about a minute until they’re light brown.
Add the beef and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until the beef is no longer pink.fried rice onionfried rice beef
Add kimchi and stir-fry about 2 minutes.
Add the vegetables and stir-fry about 3 minutes.
Add the rice. Keep stirring and mixing for 3 to 5 minutes.
Add oyster sauce. Keep stirring and mixing for 2 minutes.
Remove from the heat.fried rice friedfried-rice_ricefried rice friedrice
Add sesame oil, ground black pepper, chopped green onion. Mix well.
Transfer it to a serving plate and place the sunny side up egg on top. Serve right away unless you’re preparing this dish for a party, in which case you can make it a few hours in advance.

Ingredients

2 pounds (9 or 10 cucumbers) kirby cucumbers or four 4½ inch long small, thin cucumbers (you can use Korean cucumbers, english cucumbers, or persian cucumbers)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 cup buchu (Asian chives), chopped into ½ inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium carrot, cut into thin matchsticks (about 1 cup)
1 cup onion, sliced thinly
½ cup Korean hot pepper flakes (gochugaru) aka Korean red pepper flakes or Korean chili flakes
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions

Wash the cucumbers. Make pockets out of them by slicing them twice lengthwise at right angles, ½ inch from one end so the cucumber quarters are still connected to each other at the end.oisobagioi-sobagi
Put them in a big bowl, and sprinkle and rub them with salt inside and out. Let them sit for 10 minutes on the kitchen counter, and then turn them over so they’re evenly salted. Then turn them over and let them sit another 10 minutes.cucumber kimchi
Rinse the cucumbers in cold water a couple of times to remove excess salt. Drain and set aside.
Combine buchu (Asian chives), carrot, hot pepper flakes, fish sauce, sugar, and sesame seeds in a large bowl. Mix well with a wooden spoon.
Stuff the seasoning paste into the cucumber pockets. If you have sensitive skin, you can wear rubber gloves for this because the paste might irritate your hands.oisobagioisobagi seasoningoisobagi stuffing
Serve immediately as a side dish for rice, and keep the leftovers in a sealed container or jar in the refrigerator. If you prefer it to be fermented a bit more, let the container sit at room temperature for a couple of days until it smells and tastes sour. Then put it into the fridge. Serve cold.

oi-sobagi

oi-sobagi

My original video shows how to make barley rice. Eventually I’ll make a videos for this, too, but in the meantime here’s the recipe: Barley Rice Ingredients

1 cup short grain rice, 1 cup  barley

Directions

Combine rice and barley rice in a heavy pot.
Wash and drain a couple of times. Drain water as much as you can and add 2½ cups water.
Cover and let it sit at least 30 minutes.
Bring the pot to a boil over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes.
Open the lid and turn the rice over with a rice scoop or spoon.
Simmer it over low heat for another 10 minutes.
Fluff with a rice scoop to remove excess steam. Serve immediately with side dishes.

Ingredients

10 pounds baechu (napa cabbage)
1 cup kosher salt
½ cup sweet rice flour
¼ cup sugar
water
1 cup of crushed garlic
1 to 2 tbs ginger, minced
1 cup onion, minced
1 cup fish sauce
salty, fermented squid (see FAQ, above)
2½ cups Korean hot pepper flakes (gochugaru) (to taste)
2 cups leek, chopped
10 green onions (diagonally sliced)
¼ cup of carrot, julienned
2 cups Korean radish, julienned

Directions Prepare the cabbage

Trim the discolored outer leaves of the napa cabbage.
Cut the cabbage lengthwise into quarters and remove the cores. Chop it up into bite size pieces.
Soak the pieces of cabbage in cold water and put the soaked cabbage into a large basin. Sprinkle salt.
Every 30 minutes, turn the cabbage over to salt evenly (total salting time will be 1½ hours).
1½ hours later, rinse the cabbage in cold water 3 times to clean it thoroughly.
Drain the cabbage and set aside.

Make porridge

Put 3 cups of water and sweet rice flour in a pot and mix it well and bring to a boil. Keep stirring until the porridge makes bubbles (about 5 minutes).
Add ¼ cup sugar. Stir and cook for a few more minutes until it’s translucent.
Cool it down.

Make kimchi paste

Place the cold porridge into a large bowl. Now you will add all your ingredients one by one.
Add fish sauce, hot pepper flakes, crushed garlic, minced ginger, and minced onion.
*tip: it’s much easier to use a food processor!
Wash and drain the salty squid. Chop it up and add it to the kimchi paste.
*tip: how to prepare salty squid is posted on the FAQ above!
Add green onions, chopped leek, Korean radish, and carrot.
Mix all ingredients well and your kimchi paste is done.

Action! Mix the cabbage with the kimchi paste!

Put the kimchi paste in a large basin and add all the cabbage. Mix it by hand.
*tip: If your basin is not large enough to mix all the ingredients at once, do it bit by bit.
Put the kimchi into an air-tight sealed plastic container or glass jar.
You can eat it fresh right after making or wait until it’s fermented.

I usually put all my kimchi in the fridge except for a little bit in a small container. I like fresh kimchi, so this way the kimchi in the fridge ferments slowly and stays fresh, while the smaller container ferments faster and gets sour. I use this sour kimchi for making things like kimchi jjigae where sour kimchi is better. Then, when the small container is empty, I fill it up again with kimchi from the big container. It takes a little management, but experiment and you’ll get the hang of it! How do you know it’s fermented or not?

One or 2 days after, open the lid of the Kimchi container. You may see some bubbles with lots of liquids, or maybe sour smells. That means it’s already being fermented.

Ingredients

4 pounds Korean radish (or daikon)
2 tbs kosher salt
2 tbs sugar
¼ cup fish sauce
⅔ cup Korean hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)
4 stalks of green onions, chopped
2 tbs minced garlic (about 5 or 6 cloves garlic)
1 ts minced ginger

Directions

Peel Korean radish, rinse in cold water and pat dry.
Cut it into ¾ to 1 inch cubes. Put into a large bowl.
Add kosher salt and sugar, and mix well.
*tip: If you like your kkakdugi sweeter, add 1 or more extra tbs of sugar.
Set aside for 30 minutes.
Drain the juice from the radish into a small bowl.
Add minced garlic, minced ginger, green onions, fish sauce, hot pepper flakes, and ⅓ cup of the juice from the radish.
*tip: The amount of hot pepper flakes you use depends on your taste; use ¼ cup hot pepper flakes for a mild version. For a vegetarian version, replace fish sauce with soy sauce.
Mix it up well until the seasonings coat the radish cubes evenly, and the radish looks juicy.
Put the kkakdugi into a glass jar and press down on the top of it to remove any air from between the radish cubes.
You can eat it right away, and then store it in the refrigerator. Or you can let it ferment by keeping it outside of the refrigerator for a few days. When it starts fermenting, little bubbles may appear on top of the kkakdugi and it’ll smell strong & sour. Then put it in the refrigerator.

Kkakdugi goes with kongnamulguk (soybean sprout soup) and ox bone soup.

Ingredients

Makes about 8 pounds (3.6 kg) of Kimchi For salting cabbage:

6 pounds (about 2.7 kg) napa cabbage
½ cup Kosher salt (2.5 ounces: 72 grams)

For making porridge:

2 cups water
2 tablespoons sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour)
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (or brown or white sugar)

Vegetables:

2 cups Korean radish matchsticks (or daikon radish)
1 cup carrot matchsticks
7 to 8 green onions (scallions), chopped
1 cup chopped Asian chives (buchu), optional (substitute with 3 green onions, chopped)
1 cup water dropwort (minari), optional

Seasonings and spices:

½ cup garlic cloves (24 garlic cloves), minced
2 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 medium onion, minced
½ cup fish sauce
¼ cup fermented salted shrimp (saeujeot) with the salty brine, chopped
2 cups red pepper flakes (gochugaru)

Directions Prepare and salt the cabbage

If the cabbage cores stick out too much, trim them off with your knife over your cutting board.
To split a cabbage in half without shredding the densely packed leaves inside, first cut a short slit in the base of the cabbage, enough to get a grip on either half, and then gently pull the halves apart so the cabbage splits open. kimchi_cut cabbage
Cut a slit through the core of each half, 2 inches above the stem. You want the cabbage leaves to be loose but still attached to the core.napa cabbage_cut (배추)
Dunk the halves in a large basin of water to get them wet. Sprinkle salt between the leaves by lifting up every leaf and getting salt in there. Use more salt closer to the stems, where the leaves are thicker.Salting cabbage cabbage_salting (배추 소금절이기)
Let the cabbages rest for 2 hours. Turn over every 30 minutes, so they get well salted. From time to time you can ladle some of the salty water from the bottom of the basin over top of the cabbages if you want to.kimchi_cabbage salting (배추소금절이기) kimchi_cabbage salting (배추소금절이기)
After 2 hours, wash the cabbage halves a few times under cold running water. Giving them a good washing, to remove the salt and any dirt. As you wash, split the halves into quarters along the slits you cut into earlier. Cut off the cores, give them a final rinse, and put them in a strainer over a basin so they can drain well.

kimchi-cabbage wash (배추씻기)

While the cabbage is salting for 2 hours, and in between the times you’re turning it over, you can make the porridge:

Combine the water and the sweet rice flour in a small pot. Mix well with a wooden spoon and let it cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes until it starts to bubble. Add the sugar and cook 1 more minute, stirring. Remove from the heat and let it cool off completely.
Pour cooled porridge into a large mixing bowl. Add garlic, ginger, onion, fish sauce, fermented salted shrimp, and hot pepper flakes. Mix well with the wooden spoon until the mixture turns into a thin paste.salted fermented shrimp (saeujeot: 새우젓)kimchi_seasoningskimchi_paste (김치양념)kimchi paste
Add the radish, carrot, and green onion, plus the Asian chives (or more green onions) and the water dropwort if you’re using them. Mix well.Kimchi making (김치)kimchi paste (김치속) kimchi paste

Make kimchi

In a large bowl, spread some kimchi paste on each cabbage leaf. When every leaf in a quarter is covered with paste, wrap it around itself into a small packet, and put into your jar, plastic container, or onggi.
Eat right away, or let it sit for a few days to ferment.

kimchi makingwhole-cabbage-kimchifresh-kimchi (포기김치) On fermentation

The kimchi will start fermenting a day or two at room temperature, depending on the temperature and humidity of your room. The warmer and more humid it is, the faster the kimchi will ferment. Once it starts to ferment it will smell and taste sour, and pressing on the top of the kimchi with a spoon will release bubbles from beneath. If you’re using a sealed jar with a lid, be sure to open it once a while, let it breathe, and press down on the top of the kimchi.
Once it starts to fermented, store in the refrigerator to use as needed. This slows down the fermentation process, which will make the kimchi more and more sour as time goes on.

Ingredients

(serves 2 with side dishes, serves 4 without)

1 pound kimchi, cut into bite size pieces
¼ cup kimchi brine
½ pound pork shoulder (or pork belly)
½ package of tofu (optional), sliced into ½ inch thick bite size pieces
3 green onions
1 medium onion, sliced (1 cup)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons gochugaru (Korean hot pepper flakes)
1 tablespoon gochujang (hot pepper paste)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 cups of anchovy stock (or chicken or beef broth)

For stock (makes about 2½ cups’ worth):

7 large dried anchovies, heads and guts removed
⅓ cup Korean radish (or daikon radish), sliced thinly
4×5 inch dried kelp
3 green onion roots
4 cups water

Directions Make anchovy stock:

Put the anchovies, daikon, green onion roots, and dried kelp in a sauce pan.Kimchi stew (kimchijjigae: 김치찌개)
Add the water and boil for 20 minutes over medium high heat.
Lower the heat to low for another 5 minutes.
Strain.멸치국물 (anchovy stock)

Make kimchi stew:

Place the kimchi and kimchi brine in a shallow pot. Add pork and onionKimchi stew (kimchijjigae: 김치찌개)
Slice 2 green onions diagonally and add them to the pot.
Add salt, sugar, hot pepper flakes, and hot pepper paste. Drizzle sesame oil over top and add the anchovy stock
Kimchi stew (kimchijjigae: 김치찌개)Kimchi stew (kimchijjigae: 김치찌개)
Cover and cook for 10 minutes over medium high heat.Kimchi stew (kimchijjigae: 김치찌개)
Open and mix in the seasonings with a spoon. Lay the tofu over top.Kimchi stew (kimchijjigae: 김치찌개)Kimchi stew (kimchijjigae: 김치찌개)
Cover and cook another 10 to 15 minutes over medium heat.
Chop 1 green onion and put it on the top of the stew. Remove from the heat and serve right away with rice.

I know there are many recipes online but I would love to get to know what your favourite recipe to make at home is. I made mostly vegan Kimchi in the past but I am ready to try recipes with fish sauce now because I have no more vegan girlfriend to consider in my cooking.

My standard is that I pre cut nappa cabbage in ready to eat size, salt it for at least a few hours and then wash it to clean it and to get the salt off. I make a sauce from Korean red pepper flakes, ginger, garlic and spring onions. Sometimes I also put in onions, carrots, radish and pear too. I usually add some soy sauce (as a umami replacement for fish sauce). Then I make a slurry by cooking up some rice flower and water and mix that with the sauce. Afterwards I mix the sauce into the cabbage, put everything in a large container and let it sit at room temperature until fermentation sets in. After that I keep my kimchi on slow fermentation in the fridge.

What is your standard, what can I improve? Looking forward to reading your recipes and ideas!