1421 recipes. Page 53 of 60
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Butterbur stems, peeled of their stringy outer skin, simmer in doenjang broth until they bend limply under a chopstick. Their sharp, acrid taste is the main hurdle: unless the stems are blanched and soaked in cold water first, that harshness spreads through the whole pot.
Duck releases a steady stream of fat as it steams, so skimming the surface every 10 minutes during the 30-minute cook leaves a clean sauce rather than a greasy one. Garlic chives are laid on top only at the end and wilt just enough to stay pungent, cutting through the richness of the meat.
King oyster mushrooms are firm and meaty while oyster mushrooms pull apart into soft strands, so cooking both together keeps the texture from being one note. Broccoli and carrot brighten it up, and soy and oyster sauce do the seasoning.
Mideodeok, a small sea squirt, holds a pocket of briny liquid inside its tough skin, and it bursts in your mouth when you bite down. To keep that liquid in, the stems are left uncut and the sea squirts get only three minutes in the pot, and the doenjang is dissolved in rice-rinsing water rather than anchovy stock. Around Tongyeong and Geoje on Korea's south coast, it is everyday home cooking.
Ground perilla seeds (deulkkae-garu) thicken the soy braising liquid into a creamy, nutty sauce, a world away from the red, spicy versions of Korean braised tofu. Searing the tofu on both sides first firms the surface so the sauce coats it thickly and the slices hold their shape. Green onion and a few drops of sesame oil at the very end lift the earthy perilla flavor. Perilla powder is sold at Korean grocers and is not the same thing as sesame.
Tiny dried anchovies end up glossy, sweet-salty, and crisp once the glaze sets as they cool. After they go back into the bubbling syrup, 30 seconds to a minute of tossing is all they need; chasing every last bit of sauce on the bottom only makes the coating hard and clumpy.
Tofu and water dropwort (minari) are nearly all there is in the bowl, so the anchovy broth stays clear and light. The minari is pulled off the heat while its stems are still crisp and bright, and the soup goes straight into bowls.
Layered with well-aged kimchi and left to simmer a long time, the kimchi goes soft right down to the stems and the pork shoulder, streaked with fat, pulls apart with chopsticks.
Myeongyeopchae, pollock floss, is finer and softer than ordinary dried pollock strips, and once stir-fried it sits between the two familiar dried-fish sides: softer than seasoned dried pollock, milder than the shredded squid stir-fry. Its cottony clumps are teased apart along the grain by hand before cooking. A spoonful of mayonnaise in the sauce rounds off the gochujang.
This is the dried pollack soup Koreans often make the morning after drinking, with a handful of spring water dropwort (minari) added. Pollack strips toasted in sesame oil give the broth its base, beaten egg drifts through it in soft ribbons, and the grassy minari lightens the whole heavy bowl.
Served cold and thinly sliced, pyeonyuk has a firmer, cleaner bite than warm boiled pork. Pork shank simmers with ginger, garlic, and whole peppercorns to take away any gamey smell, then gets rolled tightly in plastic wrap while still warm and chilled for at least 2 hours so it holds a neat shape. Slices are dipped in salted fermented shrimp, a classic starter for holiday tables and guests.
The shepherd's purse comes off the heat the moment it starts to wilt, so its bitter spring scent is still there. Perilla oil is used twice: half to brown the tofu, the rest drizzled on with sesame salt after the heat is off.
Brisket simmered for about 25 minutes gives a clear, light brown broth. The cooked beef can be torn along the grain and returned to the soup, or lifted out and dipped in a seasoned soy sauce.
Searing king oyster mushrooms until browned before adding any sauce gives this banchan two textures: a chewy, golden cut face and a juicy center. Spread in a single layer, they lose the water they release, which would otherwise thin the glaze and keep it from turning glossy. Mix the sauce beforehand and keep it beside the pan so it can be poured straight in before the mushrooms scorch. The soy and oligosaccharide syrup glaze cooks only briefly, and the heat goes off before it turns too strong, letting residual heat bring up the shine. Finished with green onion and sesame oil, it is best warm and keeps well as a make-ahead side.
It is called a stir-fry, but for the first few minutes the lid stays on. Bean sprouts laid on the bottom let out enough water to keep the gochujang from scorching, and a final blast of heat reduces that liquid into a thick sauce that coats the octopus.
No meat and no stock, just plain water. Seaweed fried in sesame oil and doenjang (Korean soybean paste) give the broth its flavor, and tofu takes the place the beef would usually hold. It is lighter than beef seaweed soup, and the doenjang leaves the broth slightly thick.
Pan-fried tofu and thick-cut king oyster mushrooms share the same spicy soy and gochujang sauce but feel completely different to bite: one soft, the other springy. Browning the tofu slowly over low heat until the edges firm up gives the sauce a surface to cling to.
The seasoning is just a teaspoon each of chili flakes, soy sauce and sugar, and the fish cake's own savory saltiness comes through first. A quick dip in boiling water to rinse off surface oil helps that small amount of seasoning soak in rather than slide off.
In Korea this soup is served on birthdays and to new mothers, and on a birthday it also carries thanks to the mother who gave birth. Beef and soaked sea mustard are fried in sesame oil one after the other, then simmered in water for more than 20 minutes, until the seaweed is soft enough to lift easily with a spoon.
King oyster mushrooms soak up the soy broth and turn light brown, giving this quail egg braise a meaty chew alongside the soft eggs. The mushrooms braise first until they wilt and soak up plenty of seasoning, while the eggs join later and never simmer long enough to toughen. Mushrooms sliced at least 1 cm thick hold on to that chew. With no chili at all, just garlic and black pepper, it stays mild, and a spoonful of syrup at the end adds shine and rounds off the saltiness. Stored in the fridge with its remaining broth, both mushrooms and eggs stay moist, which makes it an easy side to portion into packed lunches.
The cucumber here is cooked, but only until it is warm and glossy, never soft in the middle. Soup soy sauce and a little chili flakes are the only seasonings, giving a faint red tint with no real heat. The tofu is browned on its own and folded back in at the end.
The only heat involved is a 20-second dip for the seaweed, which is rinsed in cold water right after so it stops cooking. The broth is never heated either; it is soup soy sauce, vinegar and sugar topped up with cold water.
The shrimp steam on a bed of onion, green onion, and garlic, and the rising vapor carries those aromas in between the shells. Apart from a splash of rice wine and a squeeze of lemon there is no seasoning, which puts the shrimp's own sweetness at the center. The steaming stops within 8-9 minutes, before overcooking can shrink the flesh and make it stiff.
A shallow crosshatch scored on the inside of the squid body opens up as it cooks, curling each piece and letting the gochujang sauce work into the cuts. Score too deep and the body tears apart; the knife should only graze the surface.