# Korean food questions



## nicklord1 (Jul 16, 2007)

I tried to get in too korean food  a while back but it all seemed to be about  pickles  . Plz convince me otherwise and  send me some recipes and  educate me on  korean food .

Thanks


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## jennyema (Jul 17, 2007)

Pickles? Korean food? Not sure what you are referring to, actually.

There are threads on lots of korean dishes, including kimchi, bulgogi and babimbap.  Type in "Korean" in the search box.


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## Claire (Jul 18, 2007)

Korean food is always accompanied by a plethora of small bowls of various salads, pickles, and kimchee (actually I think they're all generically callled Kimchee, but you would always be served with several types). That is where the "pickles" come from. Have patience, I'm sure someone will come in with some good recipes.

I like to take soy sauce, hot peppers, maybe a little vinegar, a dab of sugar, chopped scallions. Marinade beef ribs or thin sliced beef for a few hours, then grill over charcoal. Ribs are kal bi, thin sliced beef is bulgogi. Since I don't use an exact recipe, someone will chime in with one. Some recipes call for rubbing the thin sliced beef with sugar first. Be careful. It makes for a tender peice of meat, but beware. Like with yogurt in Indian foods, pure sugar can literally turn your meat to mush after a few hours. 

Another favortie is chop chae. Soak bean thread noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile chop spinach and scallions. Other appropriate vegetables are bean sprouts, grated carrots, or shredded squash. Quite often this is made with leftover bulgogi, but if not, every time I've had it, it had some thin sliced, marinated beef in it. Toss in the skillet or wok and keep tossing until all is coated. Add a little soy/sugar/garlic/hot pepper mixture towards the end. Yummyummm. 

Many Korean recipes reflect the turbulent relationship between Japan and Korea. 

If you want exact recipes for any of these, respond and I'll go get my trusty Korean cookbook, or better yet, email a friend for it.


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## jennyema (Jul 18, 2007)

Claire, the small dishes you refer to are collectively called "panchan" not kimchi.   Kimchi is often served as panchan.  But to me, not many things served as panchan would qualify as "pickles,"  unless one is using the term very generically.


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## BreezyCooking (Jul 18, 2007)

Nicklord1 - please elaborate as to what made you feel that Korean food was "all about pickles"?  Was it a book, a restaurant?

Korean food is definitely not "all about pickles".  You may have gotten that impression due to the Korean table - like the Indian one - having a number of accompanying condiments on the table.  While Kimchee is nearly always present, it's only one of a number - many of which are not pickled.

The food itself is very diversified, with quite a number of grilled meat/seafood dishes among them.  It stands on its own, in my opinion.  Not equated with Chinese/Japanese cuisine very much at all.


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## Robo410 (Jul 18, 2007)

What they all said above...very diversified depending on where a recipe comes from.


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## candelbc (Jul 18, 2007)

One word...

Bulgoki...............


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## nicklord1 (Jul 19, 2007)

Breezy i have a  korean cook book and not alot of seemed nice


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## Claire (Jul 19, 2007)

Panchan.  I will try to remember that.  We called them all kimchee, but didn't know the correct word.  I have never been to Korea (both husband and father have lived there) and I make these various salads, pickles, and kimchee often for hubby and friends who love them.  Being from a military background, and living in Hawaii for many years, I love this food.  I have a Korean cookbook, but mostly I go by instinct on it.  I agree that most do NOT qualify as pickles, but that was the only explanation I could come up with for what Nicklord read.  I would call it more salads?  It is hard to explain sometimes what one culture eats to a culture who has never had the pleasure.  By the way, a Korean-Hawaiian-American friend just visited, and we cooked together and had a great time.


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## nicklord1 (Jul 19, 2007)

sounds like a blast claire i have had the cooking blast for over a year now and  spent alot of my own money on oils , herbs ,  and  spices etc . Much to the dismay of my  family and i am prob boring my friends with stories of how to  make a perfect  lemon chicken or  rogan josh  but  when you got a passion for something  you are always a little geeky .


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## jennyema (Jul 19, 2007)

nicklord1 said:
			
		

> Breezy i have a korean cook book and not alot of seemed nice


 
Too bad. 

Korean food is one of the world's most delicious cuisines, IMO.


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## Caine (Jul 19, 2007)

nicklord1 said:
			
		

> Breezy i have a korean cook book and not alot of seemed nice


 
So, how about taking it back and exchanging it for a cookbook with a different ethnic cuisine? How about one of Martin Yan's or Ming Tsai's cookbooks? They're recipes are more of an Asian Fusion style, although Yan purports to hate that term.


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## Lady DeWinters (Sep 11, 2007)

Korean food is fantastic! I love Korean food especially the bimbibap where your food comes piping hot in a hot stone pot. Fried egg on top, OMG.... just delicious! If you've never tried it before, go for it. It really is yummy!


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## qmax (Oct 21, 2007)

The little side dishes are called banchan.  Most meals are served with a bunch of these and many are pickled.  Kim chee is typically one of the banchan.  

Korean food is pretty intriquing.  It is way more than bulgogi.  Although I count a Korean dish as one of the strangest I have ever eaten.  On the menu it was described as a cassarole of assorted meats (that is a road sign for the odd stuff).  What it turned out to be was effectively artery soup.  No kidding.


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## BarbieDawl (Nov 5, 2007)

candelbc said:


> One word...
> 
> Bulgoki...............



I love bulgogi!!!!  I eat it alot, like twice a week.  I am going to try to make it myself next week.


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## candelbc (Nov 5, 2007)

It's definitely easy to make.. I have been craving it myself. 

When I worked at the Korean Restaurant, it's all that I would make for myself... 

I actually love to eat mine with fresh Pineapple, Onions, and Asian noodles... That's just me..

-Brad


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## BarbieDawl (Nov 5, 2007)

candelbc said:


> It's definitely easy to make.. I have been craving it myself.
> 
> When I worked at the Korean Restaurant, it's all that I would make for myself...
> 
> ...



would you mind posting a recipe?


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## candelbc (Nov 5, 2007)

Not a problem.. I scoured recipes to find anything close to what I used to cook at the restaurant. 

Bulgogi (Korean Barbecued Beef) - Allrecipes

I generally freeze the sirloin for about an hour ahead of time and slice it nice and thin. Then I marinade. I do use MSG. 

From there, I pan fry the entire contents (Marinade and all) until the sirloin is cooked. For me, I then follow through with putting it either over an open flame (Grill) or use a grill pan. For me, it's all about a little blackened parts.. Flame kissed if you will...

Anyways, it's AWESOME!

-Brad


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## BarbieDawl (Nov 5, 2007)

thanks
will try it!


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## Claire (Nov 6, 2007)

Made chop chae last night.  Yummmmmm


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## candelbc (Nov 6, 2007)

Enjoy it.. I am planning on making it this weekend now that I have a craving for it.. 

-Brad


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## PJP (Apr 10, 2008)

For Korean food, understanding the common ingredients is important.  Some common ingredients are: *red pepper paste/powder, garlic, ginger, vinegar, sesame seeds/oil*, ginseng, pear, *mustard, soy sauce, miso paste*, chungju (sake), yooksu (beef stock), jujubees, [SIZE=-1]glutinous rice, anchovies, and a whole bunch of pickled stuff including a variety of pickled seafood.  (Can't think of anything more)

Knowing those ingredients and having some of the important ones in bold in your kitchen will help you get started.  Whenever you see a Korean recipe, I bet you're going to need above common ingredients.  Take a look at some of my Korean recipes in my blog link below for a quick review.  
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## PJP (Apr 11, 2008)

And don't forget the Kimchi


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## Jikoni (Apr 11, 2008)

How about Japchae, it's very delicious. I love it so much.

Ingredients:
Noodle: Dried noodle made of sweet potato starch
Meat: small amount of meat of your choice.  
Vegetables: Carrots, onion, spinach Shitake mushrooms

  Instructions:
1.  Cut and soak noodles in water until they are flexible for about 30 mins. 
2.  Clean and cut vegetables and slice them thinly, about 2.5inches in length.
3.  Cut meat in small strips as wel and marinate.  For  100g of meat, use 1tbsp of soysauce, 2 clove garlic crushed, half tbsp sugar, little bit of sesame oil, 2tbsp green onion chopped
4.  Boil noodles until soft and drain and rinse with cold water.
5.  In a skillet, stir fry each vegetable with a dash of salt.  It looks nicer if you cook each veggie separately.
6. Stir fry meat.
7. Stir fry the cooked noodles in oil with a little bit of soy sauce for color.
8. In a large bowl, toss the veggies, meat and noodles with sesame oil, sugar, crushed garlic to taste.  For a 4 serving amount use 1tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp sugar, 3 cloves of garlic.


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## GB (Apr 11, 2008)

Japchae is one of my favorites Jikoni!


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## PJP (Jun 10, 2008)

Pickle is one aspect of Korean food.  Just one of the fascinating bundle.


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