kimchee hambuger

Hamburgers are versatile. You can make it with one type or any combination of ground meat. You can season it any way you like - Asian or Western. You can chop veggies finely and sneak them inside the meat and kiddos won't know it's there!  

Ingredients: 

Ground meat - 3 cups (I used 1/2 beef, 1/2 pork)
Onion - 1/2 med (finely chopped)
Carrots - 1 med (finely chopped)
Kimchee - 1/2 cup (chopped)

Garlic salt - 1/4 tsp (or you can use regular salt + 2 cloves of garlic - minced)
Pepper - 1/4 tsp
Kojujyan - 1-2 TBS (depending on how spicy you want it) **see TIPS
Egg white - 1

[Other optional veggies]
Zucchini - 1/2 (finely chopped)
Mushroom - 1/4 cup (finely chopped)

Prep:

1. Chop onion, carrots and kimchee (and other optional veggies) 

Cook:

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Using your hands, mix it well. If it appears too wet, add 1-2 TBS of flour or breadcrumbs. 
2. Take 1/2 cup of meat and make it into an oval shape. While you are shaping, toss from one hand to another (my mom always said it gets the air out... so I do it, too. haha)
3. If you are not cooking immediately, sarang wrap it and keep in the fridge until ready to fry.
4. Heat 2 TBS of olive oil on the non-stick pan (medium heat). When it's hot, fry the burgers for 3-4 minutes on one side. Flip to the other side and fry for 3-4 more minutes. 
5. Steam the burgers by adding 2 TBS of water to the pan. Cover and steam cook for 5 minutes. 

Serve:

1. You can serve the burgers several ways - 1) Cheeseburger style (put a slice of cheese on top and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds), 2) Fried/poached egg (I like runny egg yolk over my burger, but I'm pregnant now so... too bad) or 3) use Kojujyan sweet and sour sauce from calamari salad recipe.
2. Serve with rice or bread.

 TIPS

• You can add miso (soy bean paste) Korean or Japanese instead of Kojujyan for milder taste. 

japchae (korean-style stir fried noodles)

We have a Korean cousin who can cook really good food. We live so far away from them now and we miss them (and their Korean food) so much. So we tried to recreate it. I love getting recipes from www.maangchi.com! 

Ingredients:

Korean starch noodle "dangmyun" - 2 bunches
Beef - 1/3 lbs
Spinach - 1 bunch
Carrots - 1 med (sliced)
Onion - 1 med (sliced)
Shiitake mushroom - 1/2 cup (soaked and sliced)
White mushroom - 2 cups (sliced)
Garlic - 3 cloves (minced)
Green onion - 6 stalks

Eggs - 2 (beaten) 

[seasoning to prepare]
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Sugar
Pepper
Sesame seeds

Korean noodle

Prep: 

1. Soak shiitake mushroom in warm water. Squeeze water and slice thinly.
2. Slice white mushrooms, carrots (matchstick-shaped pieces 5 cm long), green onions (7 cm long pieces), and onion into thin slices. 
3. Wash spinach.
4. Slice beef and marinade with 1 tsp of soy sauce and dash of salt and pepper. 

Cook: **see TIPS

1. Bring big pot of water to boil. Add bunch of spinach and blanch for 1 minute. Take it out and wash it in cold water couple of times and cut into 5 cm length. Add in 1/2 TBS of soy sauce and 1 tsp of sesame oil to spinach. Keep the boiling water.
2. In the same pot of hot water, boil 2 bunches of noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and put in a large bowl.
3. Using scissors, cut the noodles into shorter strands and add 1 TBS of soy sauce and 1 TBS of sesame oil. Mix and set it aside.
4. On a frying pan or wok, put a 2 tsp of olive oil. Fry carrot strips and stir it consistently for couple of minutes (until somewhat soft). Take it out on a big serving dish.
5. Add another 2 tsp of olive oil and fry sliced onion and fry until translucent (about 3-4 minutes). Take it out in the serving dish with carrots. 
6. In the same wok, fry sliced white mushrooms and fry for 2 minutes. Put it together with carrots and onions.
7. Fry green onion next. Add in 1 tsp of olive oil if the pan is dry. Fry for 1 minute. Take it out.
8. On the same wok or frying pan, add 2 tsp of olive oil. Fry together with shiitake mushrooms. Cook until meat is done. Add in 3 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 TBS soy sauce, and 1/2 TBS sugar. Cook for another minute and add them in the large bowl with other veggies.
9. Add 2 tbs of soy sauce, 3 tbs of sugar, 2 tbs of sesame oil, and 1 ts of ground pepper to the large bowl. Mix all ingredients, then sprinkle 1 tbs of toasted sesame seeds on the top.

Serve:

1. Cook thin slices of egg (with 1 tsp salt) on frying pan and cut into thin slices for garnish on top.
2. Serve with rice and Kimchi, or as a side dish. (I didn't know it was a side dish! we had it as a main dish. haha)
3. We also made Korean green onion pancake along this dish. It turned out great!

TIPS

•  Don't let the long instruction stop you from making this dish! Basically, you fry everything separately and mix everything at the end. Just pay attention to the bold seasonings.

kimchee jjigae (woo family style)

We love Kimchee jjigae! But if any Korean people eat our kimchee jjigae, they probably say it's not authentic kimchee jjigae. We put a lot of things in the stew - our favorite ingredient is SPAM. I moved to a very cold state, so we will be eating a lot of this in the winter (and other soups, too.) What is your kimchee jjigae like? Please share with me your version of kimchee soup. :)

Ingredients:

Kimchee (cabbage) - 1 cup
Kimchee (raddish) - 1 cup

Water - 5-6 cups
Miso - 1.5 TBS (**see TIPS)
Kojujyan (Korean chili paste) - 1.5 TBS
Garlic - 2 cloves (crushed)
Sugar - 1 TBS
Soy sauce - 2 tsp

Carrots - 2 small (thin slices)
Onion - 1 small (sliced)
Bacon - 3 slices (cut in 1 inch piece)Shiitake mushroom - 6 (sliced)
SPAM - as much as you like (cut in dice)
Chapchae noodle or instant noodle - 1 bundle (**see TIPS)
Tofu (silken/soft) - 1 packet
Green onion - 2 stalks (chopped)
Spinach - 3 cups (or 1 bunch)

[Chicken/pork meatball]

Ground chicken - 1 cup
Ground pork - 1 cup
Onion - 1/2 small (diced)
Garlic - 1 clove (minced)
Panko (breadcrumbs) - 1/3 cup
Egg white - 1
Pepper & salt - 1 tsp each
Soy sauce - 2 tsp
Carrots (optional) - 1/2 small (diced)

Prep:

1. Cut all ingredients and set is aside.
2. Cook chapchae noodle according to packet. Drain & rince.
3. [Meatball] Mix all ingredients under meatball. Make 1 inch ball (toss the ball back and forth using your hands)

Mix all ingredients - use your hands and mix well!

Chapchae noodle

Cook: 

1. In about 4-quart pot, bring water, garlic, miso, and kojujyan to boil. 
2. Add in Kimchee (both kinds), carrots and onion. Boil for 5 minutes. 
3. Lower the heat and add in SPAM, Bacon, Meatball and shiitake. Simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add in sugar and mix well. Taste the soup and adjust if needed (too salty? add in more water). Simmer for 10 more minutes.
5. If you're happy with the taste, add in tofu, noodle, green onion and spinach. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. 

As you can see, the previous pot was too small to fit everything! :)

Serve: 

1. It goes perfectly with hot short-grain (Japanese/Calrose) rice. 

TIPS

• If you like more kimchee taste, add dashi instead of miso. Miso makes the taste mild. 
• You can use Korean instant noodle or udon instead of chapchae noodle.
• Use a bigger pot - when you add all the ingredients, the pot gets very full.

kimchee fried rice omelet

In our family, having SPAM is a treat! We like to combine SPAM with Kimchee. The combination is simply awesome. :) You like SPAM? You like Kimchee? You like eggs? Then this dish will sure to satisfy your taste buds. As usual, you can adjust how spicy by adding more chili paste or kimchee.

Ingredients:

Rice (long grain) - 4 cups (after cooked) *see TIPS

Kimchee - 1/3 cups (chopped)
Chicken breast - 1 (diced)
Spam - half a can (diced)
Spinach - handful
Garlic (optional) - 2 cloves (minced)
Green onion - 2 stalks (chopped) 

[Fried Rice seasoning]
Kojujyan (Korean chili paste) - 2-3 TBS *see TIPS
Soy sauce - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 TBS 
Water or chicken stock - 3-4 TBS

salt & pepper to taste 

[topping choices]
Mayo 
Ketchup
Chili sauce
Kimchee

[Omelet] 
Eggs - 5 (beaten)
Soy sauce - 1 tsp
Salt & Pepper - dash
Milk (optional) - 3 TBS (*see TIPS)

Prep:

1. Cut chicken breast and Spam in small cubes. Season chicken breast cubes with salt and pepper.
2. Chop Kimchee into smaller pieces. 
3. If you want to add garlic, mince it finely.
4. Wash spinach and set it aside. If you are using a whole spinach, cut them into smaller pieces. 
5. Chop green onion into small pieces. 
6. Mix fried rice seasoning in a bowl. 
7. In separate bowl, beat 5 eggs and add other ingredients for omelet. Set is aside.  

Chop the ingredients

Cook:

1. In a wok or frying pan, heat 1 TBS of oil. Add spam and fry until somewhat crispy around the edges. Add in chicken. Cook until chicken is almost done. 
2. Add in chopped kimchee. Fry until well integrated (couple of minutes).
3. Add in spinach, garlic and green onion and cook for another minute. 
4. Add in rice. Stir fry for couple of minutes. Add the fried rice seasoning (little bit at a time) and fry for additional 3-5 minutes. 
5. On a separate frying pan or on the one you were using for the fried rice (dish out rice on a bowl). Oil the pan. Pour enough egg mixture to make a thin layer of egg. 
6. Add about a cup to a cup and a half of fried rice on the bottom half of the egg. Fold the top half of the egg towards the bottom (so it looks like it's closing). 
7. Bring a plate close to the frying pan and slide and flip the eggs/rice on the plate. 

Make a thin layer with eggs

Put 1-2 cups of cooked fried rice on the bottom side of the eggs

Bring the top half and fold it in half

Serve:

1. Serve omelet with mayo, ketchup or more chili sauce.

TIPS

• Rice - rice kept over night works the best, but if you are making the day of, just make the rice few hours in advance and turn the power off after it finished cooking. Open the rice cooker lid. 
• Chili paste - you can use any type of chili sauce/paste. 
• Milk in the omelet make it fluffy. 

korean-style gyudon (beef rice bowl)

This sweet and spicy beef will make you want to eat more rice. I can't eat too spicy, so every time I attempt making spicy food, it turns out 'sweet & spicy.' My husband is from Singapore and they eat spicy food there. But after he got married to me, I think he can't tolerate the spicy food like he used to. My challenge to myself is to learn how to appreciate spicy food and cook some for my husband. :)

Ingredients:

Beef - 1.5 lbs (thinly sliced)
Onion - 1/2 (sliced)

[Beef marinade]

Kojujyan (Korean chili paste) - 4 TBS or more if you want it to be more spicy
Sugar - 4 TBS
Soy sauce - 2 TBS
Salt - 1 tsp
Sesame oil - 2 tsp
Oyster sauce - 2tsp
Minced garlic - 2 cloves
Ginger juice - 1 TBS

Oil for stir fry

Spinach - whole bunch (for veggie garnish on the side)
Sesame oil & salt - 1 tsp each (when frying spinach)

Prep:

1. Cut beef in thin slices (if you bought chunk meet). 
2. Cut onion in slices.
3. In a bowl, mix the marinade together with beef and onion. Cover and let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour (longer the better!).
4. Wash spinach and set it aside.

grate ginger first

Squeeze the ginger juice!

Slice the meat as thinly as possible

Mix in the marinade

Ready to go in the fridge!

Cook: 

1. Heat the wok or frying pan with 2 TBS of oil. 
2. Fry the meat/onion in pan until beef is done (it doesn't have to be well-done, if you prefer). Add about 2 TBS of water to the bowl you used for marinade, get the sauce on the bowl, and add to the meat. Let it simmer for few minutes. 
3. Fry spinach with 1/2 TBS of oil and 2 tsp of sesame oil. You can add sesame seeds if you want.

Frying in a wok

Add some water in the bowl and get the sauce around

Fry until almost caramelized

Serve:

1. Serve on hot rice. Put the meat on top of the rice and surround them with spinach. 
2. Serve with soup, salad, or pickled vegetables. 

TIPS

• You can use any meat - pork, chicken, turkey, etc. 
• If you live near Asian market, they usually have already thinly sliced meat packets. Those are easier to work with since no matter how hard I try, I can't cut as thinly as they do! haha.. Plus it saves your time.