114 recipes. Page 3 of 5
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The square fish cake sheets (eomuk) are cut into triangles small enough to pick up together with a cube of potato. The fish cake goes in only when the potatoes are half done; any earlier and it turns soggy.
Ssamjang, the thick soybean and chili paste served with Korean lettuce wraps, forms the base of this sauce instead of plain gochujang. Resting the sauce for about ten minutes before tossing softens the heavy note of the ssamjang. Squid rings blanched for just forty seconds stay springy against the medium wheat noodles, and gochugaru, vinegar, and syrup add heat, tang, and sweetness. The cooked noodles are rubbed under cold water to strip their surface starch so they do not stick together. Julienned perilla leaves and paper-thin onion on top bring an herbal scent and a sharp crunch.
The dried shrimp go into a dry pan for about a minute first to drive off leftover moisture. The soy sauce and oligosaccharide syrup glaze gets 30 seconds after it first bubbles, and then the heat goes off; any longer and it sets hard. Cooled and sealed, it keeps for a few days at room temperature.
The deodeok, a fibrous mountain root, goes into the pan ahead of the eggplant and onion, because eggplant cooks far faster. Its earthy bitterness is toned down beforehand with a short soak in salted water.
Soy sauce, minced garlic, and syrup with a little vinegar make a glaze that is salty-sweet with no heat. Boiled down too long, the soy turns harshly salty, so the chicken goes in while the sauce is still thin and gets just a quick glossy coat over high heat.
Chicken thighs go into a gochujang marinade, ideally overnight. On the day, the skin side is pressed into the pan first to render the fat, then the pieces are flipped and covered so the thick meat cooks through. The glaze only turns glossy at the very end, in the last 2 minutes over high heat with the lid off.
In the same soy broth, the potato soaks up seasoning to the center while the peeled quail eggs only brown on the outside. It has long been a familiar lunchbox side for Korean children, and it is seasoned without any heat.
Braised dried pollock comes out soft and moist; this version tosses the dry shreds straight into a gochujang, vinegar, and oligosaccharide syrup dressing and keeps them chewy. With no stove involved, it takes about 15 minutes when a side dish is needed in a hurry.
Deodeok root and thin bulgogi beef share one sweet-spicy gochujang sauce, but not at the same moment. Two thirds of it marinates the beef for just 10 minutes, short enough that the meat does not turn too salty, and the rest goes straight onto the deodeok later in the pan. The root is pounded lightly to loosen its fibers, yet left thick enough to hold together when tossed.
Equal parts gochujang, ketchup, and oligosaccharide syrup, brushed on in two thin coats, give these grilled skewers their glossy red finish. Hard garae-tteok soaks in warm water for only 5 minutes, since longer soaking makes it crack on the skewer. Sesame seeds go on at the end, and cheese powder is an option.
The hwangtae, a Korean dried pollack, is not soaked; it is only dampened front and back with wet hands, which keeps it chewy rather than soggy once grilled. The gochujang glaze goes on in several thin layers over low heat, and it is done when the surface turns sticky and glossy.
The konjac is blanched for two minutes first to get rid of its faint limey smell. Shallow crosshatching on both sides lets the soy glaze settle into the grooves, and once it is done it cools completely before serving, which evens out the seasoning.
A tablespoon of mayonnaise goes into the gochujang dressing. Its oil coats the dry squid strips, letting the dressing cling softly and making the squid less tough to chew. The finished dish is nearly dry, and in a lunchbox the sauce stays put instead of creeping into the next compartment.
Balloon flower root has a sharp, bitter edge, so the torn strands are rubbed hard with salt and rinsed twice before they meet the pan. The sauce is gochujang sweetened with oligosaccharide syrup and sharpened with chili flakes, cooked only until it clings to each strand in a thin, glossy layer. Brief cooking keeps a firm bite in the root.
Garae-tteok on skewers is browned in an oiled pan before the gochujang sauce goes on. A final minute of rolling over low heat after glazing sets the sauce onto the surface, so it stays put even as the skewers cool.
Pollock dried through a winter of freezing and thawing puffs up into hwangtae, softer and chewier than most dried fish. The strips get a thin coat of gochujang, soy sauce and syrup and only a minute or two per side over medium-low heat. Tear them apart while warm for makgeolli or soju, with mayonnaise for dipping if you like.
Dried pollock strips turn pleasantly chewy as they absorb a soy and gochugaru glaze, while the potatoes go soft and floury around them. That chewiness depends on a short soak: five minutes in lukewarm water is enough, and anything longer leaves the fish limp and stringy in the pan. The potatoes get a head start for the same reason, so the pollock only needs a few minutes in the sauce. A little oligosaccharide syrup rounds off the saltiness, and the dish holds up well in the fridge for the next day's lunchbox.
Drying makes radish sweeter and chewy, and that chew is the reason to use it. The strips get only 20 minutes in cold water; any longer and they turn limp like fresh radish. Rice syrup in the gochujang dressing gives it its shine.
Chewy squares of Korean fish cake (eomuk) are mixed with crisp onion and carrot. Soy sauce and oligo syrup give a sweet-salty glaze, and a cheongyang chili tossed in at the end adds a little heat.
Chicken hearts turn chewy and springy on the skewer, and their flavor builds the longer you chew. Halving each heart and clearing out blood clots and the thin membrane is what keeps the taste clean rather than gamey. A thin glaze of soy sauce, oligosaccharide syrup, and mirin brushed on both sides adds a sweet-salty shine, finished with sesame oil and black pepper.
Dried filefish is browned on both sides in butter, then the heat drops and a thin glaze of soy sauce and syrup goes on. A pinch of chili powder and sesame seeds, a few snips into long strips, and it is ready to sit next to beer or soju.
On drying racks in Gangwon-do, pollock freezes and thaws dozens of times over the winter to become hwangtae, and the flesh ends up full of sponge-like pores. Braised in soy sauce with gochujang, it takes the salty-sweet seasoning in through those pores, all the way to the middle rather than just on the surface.
Medium dried anchovies are toasted in a dry pan for a minute before any sauce touches them, which drives off moisture and fishy smell and keeps them crunchy under the glaze. Once the anchovies are in the sauce, the coating takes under 2 minutes, and any longer sets the glaze hard.
Flakes of green gamtae are scattered through a glazed stir-fry of tiny anchovies and sliced almonds, giving a familiar banchan an extra sea smell. Gamtae is a seaweed from Korea's southern coast, milder and less bitter than sea lettuce.