62 recipes. Page 1 of 3
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Ground perilla seed, a nutty seed flour common in Korean cooking, goes into both the batter and the tops of these muffins, so its toasty smell comes through first when they leave the oven. Honey and brown sugar share the sweetening, and neutral oil stands in for butter, so there is nothing to melt or cream before mixing. The batter fills one 6-cup muffin tray.
Perilla powder goes in last, after the boiled napa cabbage has been dressed with doenjang. It soaks up the water left on the leaves, so the seasoning clings to each strand instead of pooling in the bowl. One tablespoon is enough; more turns the dish pasty.
Ground perilla seed goes in with the Parmesan at the end of this mushroom risotto, and the first spoonful smells nutty in a way anyone who knows Korean perilla noodle soup will recognize. There's no cream; the starch stirred out of the rice is what makes it thick.
Firm bottle gourd is sliced thin, salted briefly, stir-fried, and then finished covered with a splash of water. When it is done, the edges turn translucent and a chopstick slides in easily. Garlic and green onion are the only aromatics, which keeps the gourd's mild flavor up front.
Ground perilla seed (deulkkae, a nutty Korean seed) whisked into hot milk makes a latte with a deep, toasty aroma. Even sifted, the finest particles settle to the bottom of the cup, so give it a stir right before drinking. A light dusting of cinnamon goes on top.
Perilla seed powder turns the broth a pale cream color and brings a grassy, nutty smell unlike sesame oil or sesame seeds. The base is doenjang dissolved in rice-rinsing water rather than a fish stock. It belongs with the Korean perilla soups made from dried radish greens or mushrooms, and it comes to the table with white rice once autumn starts to turn cold.
Perilla seed powder has a heavier nuttiness than sesame with a slightly bitter finish, and in this jeon its aroma actually gets stronger once the pancake cools. Before they meet the batter, the oyster and shiitake mushrooms spend a minute in a dry pan to drive off their water. Soy sauce in the batter means it is seasoned enough to eat without a dipping sauce.
Boiled radish greens and blanched loach simmer in anchovy stock seasoned with doenjang and gochujang, and three tablespoons of perilla seed powder at the end thicken it to something close to porridge. More radish greens push it toward bitter and chewy; more perilla powder makes it nuttier.
Gondre, a soft mountain thistle green, soaks up seasoning readily, and steamed with ground perilla seed and perilla oil it turns deeply nutty. It is kept a little moist and often spooned over rice and mixed in.
With no meat in the pot, the broth takes its savory backbone from oyster and shiitake mushrooms sauteed in perilla oil before the kelp stock goes in. Ground perilla seed stirred in at the end turns it milky and smooth, and slippery rice noodles glide through the thickened soup. Torn oyster mushrooms and thick shiitake slices supply the chew.
This tomato-free lasagna gets its nutty, toasty depth from ground perilla seeds (deulkkae) stirred into the white sauce, and that flavor pairs with the earthy browned mushrooms. Button and oyster mushrooms are browned in batches so they taste roasted rather than steamed. Mozzarella binds the layers and Parmigiano browns the top, and a short rest after baking lets the slices hold their shape.
Crisp, honey-sweet chamoe (yellow Korean melon) and cucumber make a cold summer salad dressed with ground perilla seeds. The perilla powder thickens the lemon dressing and gives it a nutty, almost toasty depth, a flavor Koreans know from perilla noodle soups. Shredded perilla leaves go in last for a second, fresher layer of the same plant, and the melon tastes sweeter the colder it is.
Mashed boiled potato and ground perilla seed are worked into the focaccia dough, and sliced garlic and rosemary stud the top. The first rise is judged by the dough nearly doubling and a fingertip dent springing back slowly, not by the clock alone. When the dough springs back and refuses to reach the corners of the pan, a 5-minute rest relaxes it enough to stretch without tearing.
Slightly bitter chwinamul is blanched for 2 minutes and dressed with doenjang, soup soy sauce and sesame oil, then finished with perilla powder and scallion. The doenjang is worked in with spread fingers so it reaches between the leaves, and the greens rest five minutes before serving. In winter, when fresh chwinamul is not around, dried chwinamul soaked until soft can stand in.
The freshwater fish disappears entirely, its flesh dissolved into a spicy gochujang and doenjang broth thick with both rice and thin somyeon noodles. Perilla seed powder and perilla leaves are strong enough that the muddy taste river fish can have barely registers. Fine bones can survive even several strainings, so eat slowly.
Peeling is most of the work here: the thin outer skin has to come off the whole length of each stem, because leftover fibers stay stringy no matter how long they cook. Peeled and blanched, the sweet potato stems turn a clear olive green, and ground perilla seed added at the end thickens the little pan liquid into a nutty, clinging coat. The last step stays brief because that coating sticks to the pan quickly.
Oyster mushrooms are torn along the grain, shiitake sliced thin and king oyster mushrooms cut on the bias, and each of the three has its own chew in the bowl. The base is an onion stock, yet perilla seed powder and tofu make it filling, and two minutes of rest off the heat lets the thick broth settle.
Freshwater eel is cut into 3 to 4 cm pieces, bones and all, and simmered in a gochujang broth. With the bones still in, the liquid comes out rich, and ground perilla seed stirred in just before the heat goes off thickens it. In Korea it turns up on the table around boknal, the hottest days of summer.
Jijim uses far less liquid than a stew, so by the end the dried radish greens (siraegi) are coated in a glossy doenjang (Korean soybean paste) sauce with almost no broth left. Stripping the tough outer fibers matters: skipped, the stems stay stringy however long they cook.
Pieces of rested wheat dough, stretched thin by hand and torn straight into the pot, cook into chewy, rough-edged dumplings in an anchovy-kelp broth. Letting the dough rest allows it to stretch without snapping back, and the thinner each piece, the faster it cooks while keeping its bite. Potato releases starch that gives the soup natural body, and ground perilla seed turns it milky and nutty. It is a rainy-day staple in Korean home cooking.
Perilla seed powder and Greek yogurt bind this potato salad instead of mayonnaise, giving it a nutty taste and a light finish. King oyster mushrooms torn into thick strips keep their chew after roasting, a good foil to the fluffy, roughly mashed potato.
The first thing you taste is ground perilla seed (deulkkae), which clings to the sprouts in a pale, nutty coating. The sprouts steam in a little water under a lid rather than boiling, so they stay crunchy and hold less water.
Perilla leaves plus ground perilla seed give soy-glazed tofu a double dose of that nutty, minty perilla smell. The tofu is seared firm beforehand, so the pieces keep their edges.
Shiitake and oyster mushrooms simmer first until the broth turns light brown, then tofu, enoki and lengthwise-halved bok choy are arranged neatly on top. Ground perilla seed is stirred in a little at a time two minutes before serving, and there is no meat in the pot.