Filed under Soups, Stocks + Sauces · Print This Post
Have you seen that Anthony Bourdain episode shot in Seoul? I caught a rerun over the weekend and I salivated during the part when they ate a hot spicy soup with noodles after arriving in the country all jet-lagged and grouchy. He said it immediately made him feel better.
After two weeks of drinking almost everyday, I needed to recuperate, too. The Dr. said I made a chigae, or a soup, but because of all the vegetables I happily tossed in, I made a chungol or a hotpot with noodles. I’m sure his mother won’t approve that I bastardize a soup she can make with her eyes closed, but I liked how my hearty version turned out. It immediately made me feel better.
When reheating leftovers–oh, there will be plenty–add a small amount of water and another tablespoon of kochujang sauce.
Ingredients:
a handful of Korean dduk
a fistful of glass noodles
1 green bell pepper, seeded, chopped
2 eggplants, chopped in thick rounds only before adding to the pot
2 small potatoes, peeled, chopped
1 bunch of scallions, chopped in 1/2-inch pieces
4 tbsps kochujang, or Korean red pepper paste
ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp peanut oil
salt
1. In a large Dutch oven, heat the peanut oil. Add the ginger-garlic paste and scallions. Sauté and avoid burning the paste. Add the chopped eggplants and bell pepper. Toss and cook until they are half-cooked.
2. In the meantime, bowl some water in a small pot and cook the dduk for 7 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. Back to the large pot of vegetables, add 3 cups of water and stir in the kochujang. Add the dduk and the potatoes. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt.
4. Remove pot from heat and stir in the noodles. The noodles will cook in the soup’s remaining heat. Serve immediately with rice.
Related post/s:
Make your own ginger-garlic paste and store in freezer
Korean Dduk but without the soup or the noodles
Filed under Beef, Soups, Stocks + Sauces · Print This Post
I hurried home on Sunday afternoon because I was in the mood to spend the rest of my weekend cooking. The Dr. bought fresh perilla leaves from Koreatown before we left for Montauk in preparation for all the sashimi that we were going to eat after a planned fishing trip for striped bass. We didn’t catch any fish that weekend (neither did anyone on the entire boat), so he saved the leaves to use it for something else. His kalbi tang, or Korean beef rib soup, last Tuesday was so comforting that I badly wanted to recreate it at home.
It reminded me of the Filipino bulalo, or bone marrow soup, only less fatty. Browning the short ribs made the stock beefier and toastier. The perilla leaves added an interesting kick to it–I don’t know how else to describe the taste but medicinal. And really, after a pot of this soup with some warm white rice and kimchi, you’d feel a hundred per cent better already.
Ingredients:
6 pieces of beef short ribs
1 napa cabbage, chopped
10 pieces perilla leaves
2 tbsps soy bean paste
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
oil
1. In a large Dutch oven, add some oil and brown all sides of the beef ribs. Remove from the pot and set aside.
2. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the used oil. Try to get the darkest bits out from the oil. In the remaining oil, sauté the garlic until light brown and the onions until soft. Add the soy bean paste and stir.
3. Return the browned beef ribs in the pot and add 5 to 6 cups of water. Cover and simmer for about 2 to 3 hours. Check after 20 minutes to remove the impurities that float to the top. It’s okay if you discard some of the onions.
4. When the meat is almost falling off the bone, add cabbage and perilla leaves. Cook for another 10 minutes or until cabbage is tender. Season with some more soy bean paste if it needs extra salt.
Related post/s:
I get my Korean ingredients at Han Ah Reum in midtown
I made a cleaner Korean soup with dumplings before
