Jeyuk Bokkeum (Spicy Pork Stir-fry)

Thinking of making a dish that is easy to cook which has a well balance of veggie, meat and goes well with a bowl of hot rice, and Jeyuk bokkeum comes across my mind!  This dish is easy to make and it's like a stir fry version of spicy BBQ samgyeopsal (pork belly) ^^

 



Serving size: 3-4 person

Ingredients:
Pork belly                                                          250g
Pork tenderloin                                                  250g
Cabbage                                                             1/2 cup
Carrot                                                                 1/4 cup
Onion (medium)                                                1/2
Leek                                                                   about 10cm length
Red Chilli                                                           1 (for garnish)
Sesame seeds                                                     for garnish
Cooking oil                                                        2 tbsp

Sauce:
Gochujang (Korean pepper paste)                     4 tbsp
Gochugaru (Korean pepper flakes)                    1 tbsp
Soy sauce                                                           2 tbsp
Minced garlic                                                     1 tbsp
Honey                                                                 2 tbsp
Grated ginger                                                     1/2 tsp
Ground black pepper                                          1 tsp
Sesame oil                                                          2 tbsp

Step by step photos:

1. *Cut the pork thinly. 
2. Cut the cabbage into bite size and slice the onion, carrot, leek and red chili into thin slices.
3. Prepare the sauce by mixing well all the sauce ingredients.
4. Prepare a bowl, put in the pork and onion slices.  Add in the sauce mixture.
5. **Mix well with the meat and onion.
6. Cover it with cling wrap and let it marinate for about an hour in the fridge.
7. Heat up a wok/pan and drizzle some cooking oil in it.
8. Add the marinated pork in the wok and stir-fry for about 1-2 minutes.
9. After the meat is half-cooked, add in the vegetables and continue to stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes until all the ingredients are cooked.
10. Serve on a plate and garnish with some sliced leeks, red chilli and sesame seeds.  Enjoy!

Tips:
*Try to cut the pork while it's half frozen. It's easier to cut and get thinner slices of pork. You can use purely pork belly for this dish.  I use tenderloin to reduce the greasiness ;)
**You can skip the marinating part and straight away start to stir-fry if in hurry.  But, marinating helps to gets the flavor in and soften the meat.

Budae Jjigae (Army Stew)

Budae Jjigae literally means army stew.  It's originated during the Korean War, soon after the war, food was scarce and they made this dish by combining the surplus food like Spam, hot dogs and baked beans from the US Army facilities with other ingredients where available.  It's still very popular in Korea and in modern days, more ingredients are added which include instant noodles, ground beef/pork, tteok (Korean rice cake), mushrooms, sliced cheese, tofu, kimchi and etc.  Once I tasted this stew, I already fall in love with it.  I like the spicy and sourish taste and the idea of adding instant noodle in the stew is brilliant!  It matched and it's really delicious!  If you like Tom Yam Kung (Thai food) or Laksa (Malaysia food), you may like this dish too~ Enjoy!

 

 

Serving size: 3-4 person

Ingredients:

Spam                                                              1/2 can

Hot dog                                                           2

Ground Pork (or beef)                                    80g

Tteok (Korean rice cake)                                16 pieces

Baked Beans                                                   2 tbsp

Tofu (200g)                                                    1 pack

Onion (medium)                                             1/2

Well fermented kimchi                                   1/4 cup

Sliced Cheese (optional)                                 1

Instant noodle                                                 1 pack

Leek                                                                For garnish

Green chilli                                                     For garnish

 

Broth:

Dried anchovy                                                 10 piece

Kelp (4cm x 4cm)                                            5 piece                                                  

Water                                                               6 cup

 

Sauce:

Gochujang (Korean Pepper Paste)                  2 tbsp

Gochugaru (Korean Pepper Powder)              1 tsp

Minced garlic                                                  1 tbsp

Soy sauce                                                        1 tbsp

Kimchi juice (optional)                                   2 tbsp

 

Step by step photos:

 

 

1. Prepare the broth by adding the dried anchovies and kelps in water.  Boil for 15-20 minutes over medium heat.
2. While the broth is boiling, prepare sauce by mixing gochujang, gochukaru, minced garlic, soy sauce and *kimchi juice.
3. Wash and soak the tteok (rice cake) in water for 5 minutes and cut the kimchi into bite size.
4. Prepare a pot, sliced the spam, hot dog, tofu and onion and place them into the pot.
5. Add the soaked rice cake, minced pork, baked beans and cut kimchi into the same pot.
6. Add the broth that was prepared earlier to the pot and add in the sauce in the middle of the pot.
7. On the fire on medium heat and once it starts to boil, stir-in the sauce into the broth and try to stir the minced pork a little bit so that it won't cook into chunk.
8. Keep boiling on medium heat.  After 10 minutes, add in the noodle and some sliced green chillis and leek.
9. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the noodle is cooked.  Add in a **sliced cheese. Let the cheese melt and serve~

• * Kimchi juice - I added kimchi juice in this recipe because I like how the juice helps to enhance the broth flavor. However, it's optional :)
• ** Sliced cheese - I find that sliced cheese not only added a little bit of saltiness in this stew but it also helps to reduce the spiciness of the stew.  If you like your army stew a little less spicy, you can try adding a piece of sliced cheese ^^

 

 



Dubu Jorim (Braised Tofu)

Tofu (Dubu) is widely use in Korean dishes, as main ingredients or compliment.  It's one of the staple food in Korea.  Basically, there are two common types of tofu used in Korean cuisine.  One is soft tofu and another is hard/firm tofu.  Soft tofu is usually use in jjigae (stew) while firm tofu is use for pan-fried.  We will use firm tofu for today recipe.  This dish is suitable for vegetarian too! ^^

 

 

Serving: 2-3

Ingredients:

Firm Tofu (200g)                                            2 packs                                           

Corn Starch (or all purpose flour)                   3-4 tbsp

Cooking Oil                                                     2 tbsp

 

Sauce:

Soy sauce                                                          2 tbsp

Water                                                                6 tbsp

Spring onion (chopped)                                    1 stalk

Sesame Seed                                                     1 tbsp

Sesame Oil                                                        1 tbsp

Sugar                                                                 1/2 tsp

Garlic (minced)                                                 1 tsp

Gochugaru (Korean Pepper Flakes)                  1 tsp

 

Step by step photos:



 

1. Rinse and cut tofu into 1/2 inch thick, rectangular size (you can cut into square size too depend on your own preference).
2. Prepare some corn starch or flour on a plate and cover the tofu with a layer of it.
3. Prepare a non-stick pan, add in the cooking oil heated over low fire.  Place the tofu pieces in the pan.
4. Fry both sides of the tofu until they turn golden brown on medium heat.
5. Prepare the sauce by mixing in the soy sauce, water, sesame seeds, spring onion, hot pepper flakes, sugar, sesame oil and minced garlic.  Set aside.
6. Remove the tofu after they turned golden brown.  Wipe off the remaining oil from the pan with kitchen towels and put the tofu back in on low heat.
7. Pour the sauce over the fried tofu and close the lid.  Let it simmers for 1-2 minutes.
8. Off the fire and serve on plate.  It's great to eat as a side dish or main with a bowl of warm rice! Enjoy~

  

Gamja Bokkeum (Panfried Potato with Vegetable)

I love potatoes! Any dishes made with potatoes sure gonna get me drooling...haha :P
Today I am gonna share a recipe where the potato is use as the main ingredients and this is a very common side dish serve in Korea and especially children loves this dish. 

Serving: 1-2
Ingredients:
Potato (medium)                                             2                                                               
Carrot (medium)                                             1/2
Onion (medium)                                             1/2
Garlic (minced)                                               1 tbsp                                                             
Spring Onion                                                   1 stalk
Cooking Oil                                                     2 tbsp
Salt                                                                   1/2 tsp

Garnish:
Chopped Spring Opnion
Sesame Seed

Step by step photos:

 

1.  Wash, peel and cut potatoes, carrot, onion and spring onion into thin strips.
2.  Soak the cut potatoes in water for 5 minutes.
3.  After 5 minutes, drain the potatoes for 10 minutes.
4.  Prepare a non-stick pan with 2 tbsp of cooking oil. (*Do not preheat the pan as the minced garlic will turn brown fast).
5.  Turn on the fire on low heat and add in minced garlic and onion, stir fry for 1 minute.
6.  Add in the potatoes and stir fry for another 5 minutes over medium heat.
7.  Add in carrot strips and fry for 5 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.
8.  Sprinkle some salt and add in the spring onion. Fry for another 30 seconds.
9.  Serve on plate and garnish with some sesame seeds.