Blog | Keep up on information regarding Kinja & Korean customs

Kinja Eats: Gopchang-Jeongol

April 30, 2019

Daily Dish: Gopchang-Jeongol

(Spicy beef tripe stew)

Gopchang-jeongol (곱창전골) or beef tripe hot pot is a spicy Korean stew or casserole made by boiling beef tripe, vegetables, and seasonings in beef broth. Gopchang refers to tripes, while jeongol refers to a category of stew or casserole in Korean cuisine. Although the dish is mainly based on beef gopchang, other parts of beef tripe are also used to give the dish a richer flavor and chewy texture.

To remove any odor and excessive fat in the dish, any white fat adhering to the intestines should be meticulously cleaned out by rubbing them with wheat flour and salt and washing them several times. Since cooking the dish requires not only specialized cooking techniques and a great deal of labor to prepare, but also very fresh ingredients, gopchang jeongol is generally eaten...read more

Author: Kinja

Kinja Eats: Naengmyeon

April 26, 2019

Daily Dish: Naengmyeon

(Cold Buckwheat Noodle Soup)

Naengmyeon (냉면; 冷麵, in S. Korea) or raengmyŏn (랭면, in N. Korea) is a Korean noodle dish of long and thin handmade noodles made from the flour and starch of various ingredients, including buckwheat (메밀, memil), potatoes, sweet potatoes, arrowroot starch (darker color and chewier than buckwheat noodles), and kudzu (칡, chik). Buckwheat predominates (despite the name, it is not a wheat but rather is more closely related to sorrel). Other varieties of naengmyeon are made from ingredients such as seaweed and green tea.

History

According to the 19th-century documents of Dongguksesigi (동국세시기, 東國歲時記), naengmyeon has been made since the Joseon Dynasty. Originally a delicacy in northern Korea, especially in the cities of Pyongyang(평양) and Hamhung (함흥) in North Korea, naengmyeon...read more

Author: Kinja

Kinja Eats: Haemul Pajeon

April 22, 2019

Daily Dish: Haemul Pajeon

(Seafood cakes)

Pajeon (파전, Korean pronunciation: ) is a variety of jeon with scallion as its prominent ingredient, as pa (파) means scallion. It is a Korean dish made from a batter of eggs, wheat flour, rice flour, scallions, and often other ingredients depending on the variety. Beef, pork, kimchi, shellfish, and other seafood are mostly used. If one of these ingredients, such as squid, dominates the jeon, the name will reflect that; ojing'eo jeon (오징어전) is 'squid jeon'.

Pajeon is usually recognizable by the highly visible scallions. It is similar to a Chinese scallion pancake in appearance but is less dense in texture and not made from a dough.

Preparation

It is made by placing jjokpa scallions parallely on a hot pan with vegetable oil, pan-frying them, then ladling onto them the...read more

Author: Kinja

Kinja Eats: Tteokbokki

April 18, 2019

Daily Dish: Tteokbokki

(stir-fried rice cakes)

Tteok-bokki (떡볶이) or stir-fried rice cakes is a popular Korean food made from small-sized garae-tteok (long, white, cylinder-shaped rice cakes) called tteokmyeon (떡면; "rice cake noodles") or commonly tteok-bokki-tteok (떡볶이 떡; "tteok-bokki rice cakes"). Fish cakes, boiled eggs, and scallions are some of the most commonly added ingredients. It can be seasoned with either spicy gochujang (chili paste) or non-spicy ganjang(soy sauce)-based sauce; the former being the most typical form,, while the latter is less common and sometimes called gungjung-tteok-bokki (royal court tteok-bokki). Today, variations also include curry-tteok-bokki, cream sauce-tteok-bokki, jajang-tteok-bokki, seafood-tteok-bokki, galbi-tteok-bokki and so on. Tteok-bokki is commonly purchased and eaten at bunsikjip...read more

Author: Kinja

Kinja Eats: Nabeyaki Udon

April 15, 2019

Daily Dish: Udon

(Japanese wheat noodles)

Our house special udon is nabeyaki udon. This consists of thick white flour noodles served with a seasoned fish broth in a stone bowl.

History

Udon (饂飩, usually written as うどん) is a type of thick wheat flour noodle used frequently in Japanese cuisine. It is often served hot as a noodle soup in its simplest form, as kake udon, in a mildly flavoured broth called kakejiru, which is made of dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. It is usually topped with thinly chopped scallions. Other common toppings include tempura, often prawn or kakiage (a type of mixed tempura fritter), or aburaage, a type of deep-fried tofu pockets seasoned with sugar, mirin, and soy sauce. A thin slice of kamaboko, a halfmoon-shaped fish cake, is often added. Shichimi can be added to taste.

The flavour of...read more

Author: Kinja

Kinja Eats: Kimchi

April 04, 2019

Daily Dish: Kimchi

Kimchi (/ˈkɪmtʃiː/; Korean: 김치, translit. gimchi, IPA: ), a staple in Korean cuisine, is a famous traditional side dish made from salted and fermented vegetables, most commonly napa cabbage and Korean radishes, with a variety of seasonings, including gochugaru (chili powder), scallions, garlic, ginger, and jeotgal (salted seafood). There are hundreds of varieties of kimchi made with different vegetables as the main ingredients.In the past, kimchi was traditionally stored underground in jars to keep cool during warm months, and remain unfrozen throughout the winter months, during which time it was a vital source of vegetables. With the rise of technology, kimchi refrigerators are more commonly used to store kimchi.

Kimchi (김치) is the accepted word in both North and South Korean standard languages. Earlier...read more

Author: Kinja

Kinja Eats: Tamagoyaki

March 04, 2019

Today we are going to introduce you to a staple of any sushi establishment, Tamagoyaki. Tamagoyaki (Japanese omelette) is a lightly seasoned, fluffy egg (tamago) that is served either with sushi, or as a stand alone item. Either way it is a delectable treat.

There are several types of tamagoyaki. It is made by combining eggs, and sometimes sugar or soy sauce. Additionally, sake and mirin are used in some recipes. Alternative versions include "dashimaki tamago" which adds dashi to the egg mix, a stock of dried bonito and kelp, or a version including a mix of shrimp puree, grated mountain yam, sake, and egg, turned into a custard-like cake. Tamagoyaki is served around the world in the form of nigiri, and also appears in many types of sushi rolls. In Japan, it is also served as a breakfast dish and in other preparations. As part...read more

Dish of the Day Author: Kinja

Kinja Eats: Sushi Part 4

February 20, 2019

Daily Dish: Sushi

A Japanese dish made up of a variety of seafoods such as, fish, shrimp, squid etc. It is usually served on rice that has been seasoned with a vinegar and sugar mixture. Sushi is usually presented in a roll that is sliced into individual portions.

Ingredients

All sushi has a base of specially prepared rice, complemented with other ingredients.

Sushi-meshi

Sushi-meshi 鮨飯 (also known as Su-meshi 酢飯, shari 舎利, or gohan ご飯) is a preparation of white, short-grained, Japanese rice mixed with a dressing consisting of rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and occasionally kombu and sake. It has to be cooled to room temperature before being used for a filling in a sushi or else it will get too sticky while being seasoned. Traditionally, the mixing is done with a hangiri, which is a round, flat-bottom wooden tub or...read more

Dish of the Day Author: Kinja