Korean Food Recipes

Kimbab is a popular Korean fast food made from steamed white rice and various ingredients, rolled in laver and served cold in bite-size slices. Kimbab is often eaten during picnics or outdoor events, or as a light lunch, served with danmuji(pickled radish or kimchi).
5 roasted sea laver sheets (nori in Japanese)
2 eggs
1 carrot
yellow pickled radish
ham (or sausage)
1 cucumber
salt
sesame oil
cooked rice

1. Whip eggs well. Fry the egg in a pan and make the egg stick by rolling it.
2. Cut carrot and cucumber into long thin strips. Cook carrot strips on a skillet with oil. Soak cucumber in salt and vinegar water for 20 minutes.
3. Cut ham or sausage into long thin strips and cook them in a pan.
4. Cut yellow radish into long thin strips.
5. Add 1T of sesame oil and 2 sprinkles of salt to the rice and mix them well.
6. Place a sheet of sea laver over a bamboo mat. Spread rice thinly, but covering well, up to 2/3 of the sea laver. (leave 1/3 of the space.) Place strips (carrot, cucumber, egg, yellow pickled radish..) in the middle of the spread rice, and place other things within 1/3 of the length of laver.
7. Roll sea laver with the mat firmly. If laver edge is not sticking on the surface, apply water lightly at the edge of sea laver with finger.
8. Brush the rolls with sesame oil.
9. With a sharp knife, slice roll into 1/2 inch thick kimbab pieces and serve them.

Summer in Korea is very hot and humid. There are many cold soups and cold dishes are popular to cool down summer heat. Cucumber cold soup (Cucumber Naeng Guk) is one of my favorite summer soup. Here is how I make it.

Cucumber 1
Salt 1/2 T
Sugar 1T
Minced Garlic 1/2 T
Sliced Red Pepper 1

For Soup
Cold Water 2 Cups
Sugar 2T
Salt 1t
Vinegar 1T
Soy Sauce 1T

1. Slice a cucumber, add salt and sugar to it. Mix them well and leave them for 10 minutes.
2. Add minced garlic to the cucumber and sprinkle sliced red pepper.
3. Make soup with 2 cups of cold water, 2 table spoons of sugar, 1 tea spoon of salt, 1 table spoon of vinegar, and 1 table spoon of soy sauce.
4. Keep the cucumber and the soup in the refrigerator until you serve.
5. When you serve, add the soup to the cucumber and add some ice.

Ssamjang is a thick, spicy paste used in Korean cuisine, where it complements meat dishes such as galbi and samgyeopsal. The name derives from the words jang (meaning “paste” or “thick sauce”) and ssam (meaning “food wrapped in a leaf”), hence “sauce for food wrapped in a leaf.”

Beat Paste 3T
Red pepper paste 1/2 T
Minced garlic 1t
Sesame oil 1 T
Chopped green onion 1t

Mix all the ingredients and serve with lettuce.

Bean sprout salad is very popular side dish. Bean sprouts have nutrient value similar to asparagus and mushroom, which contain high quantities of Vitamin A.
Bean sprouts 1/2 lbs
Salt 1t
Chopped green onion 2t
Minced garlic 1t
Sesame oil 1t
Korean chilly powder 1t

1. Boil water in a pot
2. Add bean sprouts in the pot and cook for 5 minutes (cover the pot while cooking)
3. Take bean sprouts out from the pot and cool them down a bit.
4. Add salt, green onion, garlic, sesame oil, and chilly powder to bean sprouts and mix them well.

Shabu shabu is a Japanese hot pot, but commonly served in Korea. Shabu-shabu means “swish-swish,” referring to the swishing action when you cook a very thin slice of beef in hot water. It is cooked and eaten at the table.
dried anchovy 10
dried kelp (tashima) 5×5″
1t pepper
thin sliced beef sirloin 1.5 lbs
Chinese cabbage 1/4
mushroom
mugwort
green onion
soy sauce 6T
lemon juice 5T
sugar 1T
ground turnip 1T
water 6T
washabi 1T

1. Boil water with dried anchovies and dried tangleweed in a big pot for 30 minutes and make soup.
2. In a big plate, place thin sliced beef, nicely cut Chinese cabbage, mushroom and green onion.
3. Add 3 cups of soup to an electric pot and warm it. If you don’t have an electric pot, you can use any portable cooker to keep the soup warm.
4. Mix soy sauce, lemon juice, sugar, ground turnip, and water and make the sauce.
5. Simply take veggie and beef, swish them around in the hot soup from a few seconds for beef to a few minutes for vegetables.
6. Take them out and eat with sauce. You can serve with rice.
7. Repeat this.

*Shabu Shabu may have originated in the 13th century as a way for Genghis Khan to efficiently feed his soldiers. Mongol troops would have gathered around large pots and cooked together. Thinly sliced meat was used for its short cooking time, which allowed the Mongolian army to conserve its limited supply of fuel.

There are several dishes that Koreans think from China, but only found in Chinese restaurants in Korea. Chilly prawn is only of those dishes. A bit spicy, sweet and delicious!
20 Prawns
Potato Starch 2/3 Cup
1 Egg
Onion 1/2
Carrot 1/2
Chinese Chilly Oil 3 T
Ketchup 1/2 Cup
Sugar 2 T

1. Peel off and wash prawns.
2. Make batter with starch, egg and water.
3. Add prawns to batter and fries them.
4. Mix Chinese chilly oil, ketchup, sugar in the heated pan and cook them.
5. Cook sliced onion and carrot and mix with the sauce.
6. Add 5 and 6 to the prawns and mix them well.

Kimchi jeon is pancake made with Kimchi. If you have kimchi in your fridge and get hungry at night, you can make this kimchi jeon with just flour and egg.

1/2 cup of chopped Kimchi
1/3 Kimchi soup
1 Cup of flour
1 egg
2/3 cup of water
1 tb of salt

1. In a big bowl, mix chopped Kimchi, flour, an egg and salt.
2. Add water and mix them well.
3. Heat the pan, add some oil, scoop the mix and spread the mix over the pan.
4. Cook it until it turns to nice orange color.

Cucumber salad is one of most loved side dishes in Korean dining. Enjoy fresh cucumber and sweet and spicy mix.
3 1/2 cups (1/16-inch-thick) slices English cucumber (about 1 large)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons minced green onions
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil

1. Combine cucumber and salt, tossing well. Let stand at room temperature 20 minutes. Drain and squeeze dry.
2. Combine cucumber, onions, rice vinegar, sugar, crushed red pepper, and sesame oil.
3. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Fried Tofu is a wonderful side dish and quite easy to make. It doesn’t require a lot of ingredients or time, so it’s a perfect dish for a beginner in Korean cooking.
Tofu 1
Chopped Green Onion 1T
Soy Sauce 2T
Chopped Garlic 1t
Sesame Oil 1t
Red Pepper Powder 1t
Sugar 1t

1. Slice tofu 1/2-inch thick.
2. Pan-fry both side of Tofu on medium-high heat until browned.
3. Mix chopped green onion, chopped garlic, sesame oil, red pepper powder, and sugar.
4. Spread the sauce on the fried tofu and saute for 3-4 minutes over low heat.
5. Server as a side dish

Korean potato pancake (gamjajun) is a good snack for kids and can be served as a side dish for a regular meal. ‘Jun’ in korean means pancake and there are many different kinds of juns.
3 medium potatoes, grated
1/2 tsp salt
Green & red pepper as garnish
2 tsp of oil

1. Peel and grate the potatoes.
2. Remove water out of grated potato.
3. If it sits for too long, the color changes, so cook immediately.
3. Heat a pancake pan and grease it with oil.
4. Put 2T spoon of the grated potato into the pan and flatten it.
5. Place sliced pepper on the flatter potato.
6. Cook until golden brown, then flip and cook until brown spots appear.
7. Serve with soy sauce.