Kimchi

Found a great youtube video on how to make Kimchi.

She has lot and lots of instructional videos and recipes on Korean Cooking.
Hmmm.. I have a lot to learn from her. =)

www.maangchi.com

Oyee Banchan - Cucumbers

Ingredients:

1 Swedish /English cucumber (2-3 Kirby cucumbers are good too)
1 tbsp Salt
1/2 tsp Korean Red Pepper Powder
1/2 tsp Minced Garlic
1 tsp Roasted Sesame Seeds
2 tbsp Chopped Scallions



Slice thinly your cucumber.



Salt your cucumber for approx. 1 hour.


When your cucumber bends slightly, rinse off the salt with cold water.


Soak your cucumbers in cold water for 5-10 minutes to release the saltiness.



Remove the water, and squeeze the cucumbers to take away the excess water.

Add the scallions, red pepper powder, sesame seeds, and garlic.

Stir all of the ingredients and serve.

Bindaeduk - Mung Bean Pancake

It's like a Korean falafel, but spicy.
It is made of dried Mung Beans, which is the dried yellow part of a beansprout.


There are 2 kinds of Mung Beans, Green and Yellow. The green ones are with shells, and the yellow ones are without. I recommend buying the yellow mung beans because shelling the green ones take a long time and is a tedious job. You are required to soak them in water over night and fish out the floating green shells.

2 cups Yellow Mung Beans
2 cups Chopped Kimchi
500 g Thinly sliced lean pork (I used tenderloin, Fläskfile)
1 tsp salt
1 pinch Pepper

Vegetable oil to pan fry. (Rapsolja eller liknade)

Sauce:
1 part soy sauce (3 tbsp)
1 part rice vinegar or white vinegar (3 tbsp)
1 pinch dried Korean chili flakes.
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp chopped scallions (salladslök)


Here is what Korean dried chili flakes look like.


Add all sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.



In a bowl soak the dried mung beans in water over night. Leave about 2 inches of water above the beans since they expand. If you are in a hurry, 3 hours is good enough.



Pour out the water and put your beans in a food processor. Add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water to the beans. Puree them into a nice thick Pancake batter consistency.




Transfer the bean puree into a large bowl.
Add your chopped Kimchi, sliced Pork, salt and pepper to the bean puree and mix it all together. You can add 1/2 cup Kimchi juice to add more flavor.



Pan fry the batter into small round pancakes, until golden brown.


Serve with the dipping sauce on the side.

Kong Namul - Beansprouts

1 bunch of Beansprouts. (Böngroddar 200g)
1 tsp Sesame oil
1 tsp Sesame seeds (roasted)
1 pinch Salt

You can add a bit of chopped scallions for garnish. (salladslök)


Beansprouts with their green shells. Try to get them when they are fresh. If they are brown, they are BAD!


Wash your beansprouts in a bowl with cold water.



Leave the water, and fish out the green shells.


You want your beansprouts to look like this. You can also take the time to cut off the long stringy tails. The "tails" are left on in this picture.


Cook a pot of boiling water. Blanch the Beansprouts in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Do not cook the beansprouts, you want them to be semi-translucent.


Rinse the blanched Beansprouts under cold water.


In a separate bowl, add the sesame oil, sesame seeds, and salt.

You can add a bit of chopped scallions for garnish. (salladslök)

Stir and serve.

Sidedishes.

In Korea, you have your rice, a meat/fish dish and/or a soup. On your table, there will also be many small dishes with veggies, pickled cabbages and radishes and so forth. If you don't have any side dishes, you need at least Kimchi (pickled cabbage or radish). I will post up my side dish recipes one by one!

Enjoy!

Shigumchi Namul - Spinach

1 bunch of Spinach. (200g)
1 tsp Sesame oil
1 tsp Sesame seeds (roasted)
1 pinch Salt

You can add a bit of chopped scallions for garnish. (salladslök)


Wash your Spinach thoroughly, otherwise you'll get grit in your mouth.



Cook a pot of boiling water. Blanch the Spinach in the boiling water for 20 seconds. Do not cook the spinach, you want to just wilt the leaves.


Rinse the blanched Spinach under cold water.


Squeeze out the excess water with your hands.


In a separate bowl, add the sesame oil, sesame seeds, and salt.


You can add a bit of chopped scallions for garnish. (salladslök)


Stir and serve.

Cooking Rice in a Pot

The biggest question I get is how to cook rice without a rice cooker.
I don't own a rice cooker, mainly because it is expensive and it is hard to get my hands on a real good one. Plus, pot rice is so much better, even though you have to pay attention to it more carefully.

In Sweden the Korean rice is called sushi rice. If you are planning to cook Chinese food, then I suggest Jasmin rice.

Time to cook: 20 minutes

1 cup of rice is a good portion for 2 people, unless you love eating rice.
1 cup = 2.5 DL

Put the desired amount of rice in a high pot. (No more than 4 cups, depending on your pot. Rice can easily be undercooked on the top and overcooked on the bottom)



Wash and rinse the rice until all the white starch is clear in the water.
It may take 3-5 rinses.


To measure the amount of water needed, put your hand palm facing flat on the rice. Add cold water until it covers your middle knuckle.


Cook rice on medium heat until most of the water evaporates and it starts to bubble through the rice. This may take 5-10 minutes. Keep your eye on it!

Important! Don't stir the rice! You must have a small layer of water over the rice!


Turn off the heat, put on the lid to the pot and let it steam for 10 minutes. Do not remove the pot from the burner as the remaining heat will help with the steaming process.

After 10 minutes, you can stir and fluff the rice with a spoon. You are ready to serve.

Please keep the lid on the pot in between servings to keep it warm and moist.