683 recipes. Page 26 of 29
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Blue crab starts in cold water and boils for 12 minutes to make the stock behind this porridge, releasing a natural sweetness from the shells and meat. Once the crab cools, picking the meat from the legs as well as the body gives the porridge plenty of sweet flakes to bite into.
Thin-sliced bulgogi beef sits in a gochujang marinade for about ten minutes, then hits a hot pan with onion. By the end there is almost no liquid left, just a glossy coat of sauce clinging to every slice.
Soy-braised beef, torn along the grain, goes over rice with whole shishito-style peppers (kkwari gochu) and enough of the glossy braising liquid to mix through. The peppers simmer whole for just 6 minutes, long enough to wilt without going limp, and keep a mild heat.
Beef and bell pepper are cut into strips of about the same width, and one pinch of the chopsticks brings up both. The seasoning is only soy sauce, sesame oil and garlic, and the peppers go in once the beef's marinade starts to bubble in the pan.
Okara, the soy pulp left over from making tofu, gives this porridge a nutty, hearty body that lets half a cup of rice make a filling pot, and anchovy stock adds savory depth underneath. The pulp goes in only once the rice is half softened, which lets the grains break down without the okara simmering for too long. Freshly ground soaked soybeans, for anyone making their own pulp, taste noticeably beanier than store-bought.
Bulgogi-style beef marinated in soy sauce and pear juice gets ssamchu, a leafy cabbage, at the very end, stems first and leaves a minute later. That split leaves crunchy stems next to leaves that have only just wilted, and any longer in the pan would drain the greens of their sweetness and moisture.
Young soybean leaves have a fresh, grassy aroma that sits well against gangdoenjang, a thick, salty soybean paste here cooked down with shiitake, onion, and garlic until it barely moves. That thickness is the point: a runny paste loosens the rice and leaks out of the leaf. The amount of rice is matched to each leaf, since they vary in size, and the parcels are set seam side down so they hold until serving.
Crown daisy is slightly bitter and oyster mushrooms are mild, and the two stay distinct on the plate. The mushrooms are torn along the grain and cooked dry in a wide pan first; the crown daisy goes in right before the heat is turned off.
Piling bean sprouts high on the soaked rice and cooking them together lets their moisture seep into the grains, while the sprouts turn slightly translucent and still keep a little crunch. The rice itself is unseasoned; a soy sauce dressing with sesame oil, chili flakes, green onion and sesame seeds does all the work when spooned on and mixed in. Some cooks add julienned radish to soften the beany smell of the sprouts.
Doenjang (Korean fermented soybean paste) does most of the seasoning, with only a little gochujang, so the pork comes out savory and salty rather than hot. The crown daisy goes in after the meat is cooked and comes off the heat just as the leaves wilt, keeping its slightly bitter scent.
The sauce holds just a teaspoon of gochujang, and what comes through is mostly soy sauce and sesame oil rather than heat. Cucumber, avocado, seaweed salad and chilled cubes of tuna sit in separate sections over brown rice, with the sauce drizzled on right before eating.
Long-aged takana, a salted mustard-green pickle, soaks for hours to lose its salt, then gets chopped fine and fried in sesame oil with a little sugar and soy sauce. Even after soaking, one piece tasted before cooking shows whether it needs more time in water. Only half the soy sauce goes in at first, and a salty pickle may not need the rest.
Chicken thigh and shiitake are marinated in soy and oyster sauce, stir-fried, and wrapped in dried lotus leaves with sticky rice that has already been steamed halfway, then steamed again. Nobody moves it to a plate: the leaf is opened and the rice eaten straight off it, and the moment it opens, a rush of lotus-scented steam comes up. Cantonese dim sum restaurants bring it out in a bamboo steamer.
The bean sprouts are not pulled after 30 seconds but cooked through, which makes this a soft stir-fry rather than a crunchy one. The oyster mushrooms are torn along the grain instead of cut, and the seasoning is soup soy sauce and salt.
Maesaengi, a seaweed as fine as thread, spreads green through the whole pot, and the oysters bring a briny, salty depth. Maesaengi holds heat and barely steams, so it is much hotter than it looks. Blow on the first few spoonfuls.
Once the beef is in the pan this is done in a few minutes, so the onion, garlic and soy sauce are lined up next to the stove before the heat goes on. The bean sprouts come off while their stems are still white and crisp.
Once the salt-blanched tofu is in the doubanjiang sauce, the spatula is put away and only the pan gets shaken, which keeps the cubes square all the way to the rice. A sprinkle of Sichuan pepper at the end pushes it toward a proper mala taste.
Thin burdock matchsticks cook down in soy sauce and grain syrup until the outside is a glossy brown while the inside keeps some bite. Near the end, when the bubbles get large and the liquid is almost gone, the sugars catch on the pan very quickly, and that is when the bottom needs frequent scraping.
The sea squirt goes on last, over rice already topped with cucumber and lettuce, and everything is turned over with the vinegared gochujang only a few broad times right before eating. The longer it is mixed, the more of its briny aroma is lost. Even drying the rinsed sea squirt is gentle: a paper towel pressed on top, never rubbed.
Carrot, onion, bell pepper and shiitake go in one after another, firmest first, and all of them finish crisp, with a single tablespoon of oyster sauce added only in the last 20 seconds for gloss.
Butterbur leaves are steamed for 4 minutes rather than blanched, which leaves them pliable enough to fold. Their bitterness softens once each bite also holds sesame-oil rice and a salty ssamjang of doenjang and gochujang.
A tablespoon of doenjang and some chili flakes are loosened in 30 ml of water ahead of time and poured around the rim once the cabbage edges turn glossy. Because doenjang varies in saltiness from brand to brand, the amount stays modest at first and the cabbage is tasted just before it is done.
Minari (Korean water parsley) and clams are both at their best in spring, which is when this porridge gets made. Each spoonful starts with the clean savoriness of the clams, followed by the green scent of barely wilted minari.
Cabbage cut into 1 cm strips and tossed briefly over high heat wilts at the edges while the center stays crisp and sweet. Sesame oil starts the cooking, and perilla oil plus partly crushed toasted sesame are added after the heat is off, layering two kinds of nuttiness.