My family loves Korean food. Although I am not much of a good cook, I will try my best to replicate authentic Korean dishes at home.
Today, I am sharing with you this easy spicy chicken stew known as Dakdoritang or Dakbokkeumtang in Korean. I have been cooking this regularly as it has now become my favourite one-pot meal...delicious and yet easy to put together. Most importantly, I can always prepare this earlier in the afternoon at a much leisurely pace than having to wok up 3 dishes during the evening rush hour. It makes home cooking a much fun activity for me to 'enjoy'...of course, minus the washing, cleaning, mopping and putting every single utensils and cutlery back to where they belong, single handedly.
The main ingredients or rather the dish itself looks similar to our curry chicken dish with potatoes. But, the taste is totally different. While our curry chicken tastes spicy, milky and flavoured with lots of spice, dakdoritang is equally spicy, but tastes lighter and slightly sweet. You won't feel jelak(to describe the stage when you won't enjoy the food any more after taking too much of it or it means the food is too rich) even you were to over eat, I am speaking from experience (^^"). This dish also reminds me of the non-spicy Chinese version of braised chicken and potato stew. I personally prefer this Korean version since we really like spicy food.
To prepare this dish, besides the basic ingredients, there are two Korean ingredients to get ready, Gochujang ((고추장) and Gochugaru (고추가루). Gochujang or red chili paste is easily available at local supermarkets here. I have to make special trips to get my Gochugaru, red chili powder (coarse chili flakes) from Korean supermarts though. It usually comes in bigger packs but I can get smaller ones (300g) from Shine Korea Supermarket. I am sure you won't have problem or be confused when buying gochujang as it comes in Red plastic tubs (see here). Those in Green tubs are SSamjang and Brown tubs are Doenjang. So, just grab the Red ones! For Gochugaru, do read this post by Maangchi to avoid getting the wrong type of chili powder. Do not attempt to replace gochugaru with other types of chili powder and always look for gochugaru made in Korea.
Despite its fiery red appearance, it is only mildly spicy as I use less chili powder. This is a very comforting and hearty dish, I simply love the potatoes that have absorbed all the flavours and the sauce is great to drizzle over hot steamed rice. Yum!
Dakdoritang (Korean Spicy Chicken Stew)
Ingredients:
1 medium size whole chicken, cleaned and cut into 2x2 inch pieces
1 yellow onion, peeled and cut into chunks
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 green chili, sliced
1 red chili, sliced
2 stalks spring onions, chopped
½ tablespoon cooking oil
1½ cups water
Seasoning:
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon ginger juice (grate fresh ginger and squeeze to get juice)
2 tablespoons light soya sauce (I used only 1½ tbs)
2 tablespoons Korean red pepper paste, Gochujang
1 tablespoon Korean red chili powder, Gochugaru (use 2 tbs if prefer the dish to be very spicy)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Method:
- Combine seasoning ingredients in a bowl, mix well and set aside.
- Heat oil in a deep pan until hot but not smoking. Pan fry the chicken for about 5mins.
- Add the seasoning mixture, stir to combine. Add in water and bring to the boil. Cover with lid and turn to medium low heat, leave to simmer for about 10mins.
- Add the onions, carrots and potatoes, stir to combine. Cover with lid and leave to simmer for about 20~25mins or until the chicken is cooked but the vegetables are not mushy. Stir occasionally while it is cooking.
- Remove cover and turn heat to high. Let the mixture boil for 1 to 2 mins until the sauce is reduced and slightly thickened.
- Turn off the heat, toss in the sliced spring onions and the green and red chilies. Dish up and serve hot with rice.
Recipe source: adapted from Korean by Lee Minjung
During our last trip to South Korea, we had chance to sample the various street food such as hoddeok, tornado potato, waffles and toasted sandwiches. There is this particular street food, Gyeran Bbang, or egg bread, which I had wanted to try. It looks somewhat like a muffin topped with an egg. I first chanced upon it on a travel and food website while I was planning for the trip. I thought my elder son would like it since he loves eggs...in any form.
Ironically, even though we passed by street vendors selling gyeran bbang on a few occasions, we didn't get to try it! We were either too full after our dinners or we were too tired and cold...all we wanted to do was to get back to our warm and cosy hotel room!
In order to satisfy my cravings for Korean food, I have been looking up for recipes to replicate some of the Korean dishes at home. I first saw a gyeran bbang recipe over at Aeri's Kitchen, the egg breads look exactly like the ones we saw along the streets in Seoul. I have planned to follow the recipe but hesitated because I don't have that unusual oval-shaped muffin pan, in fact, I don't even own a normal muffin pan. I have thought of baking them in paper muffin cups, but when I stumbled upon another version (with the egg on top) from K Food Addict, it struck me that I could actually use my ramekins to bake these egg breads!
So, one fine Saturday morning, I got down to prepare these egg breads first thing in the morning. It was rather quick and easy, I took only 15 mins to get everything into the oven. Breakfast was ready in no time!
I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious the egg bread turned out. The eggs were not overcooked as we really prefer runny egg yolks. The 'bread' texture was on the dense side, not as fluffy as muffins, but instead reminds me of pancakes. I will certainly make these again since they are so tasty and yet easy to put together!
Korean Egg Bread (Gyeran Bbang)
Ingredients:
(makes 6)
for batter:
100g plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
120ml (1/2 cup) fresh milk
for filling:
6 small eggs
1 bacon slice (chopped into small pieces)
some salt
dried parsley flakes (optional)
some ground pepper
some butter (for greasing)
Method:
- Preheat oven to 190 degC.
- Grease the inside of 6 ramekins (6 oz size ramekins) with butter, set aside.
- Place plain flour, baking powder, sugar an salt in a mixing bowl. Stir with a manual balloon whisk to combine.
- Add in eggs and vanilla extract, stir with the whisk. The mixture will come together and turn dry and lumpy.
- Add in the milk little by little, keep stirring with the whisk until the batter becomes smooth (no more lumps).
- Pour batter into the prepared ramekins, fill each ramekin to about 1/3 full (Note: do not fill more than 1/3 full as it will overflow).
- Crack a small egg into each ramekin. Top with chopped bacon, a sprinkle of salt and parsley flakes.
- Bake for 10~15 mins until the eggs are set. (Note: If you prefer runny yolks, check at around 10 to 12 mins, remove from oven when the egg whites start getting set, turning white. The eggs will continue to cook further even when removed from the oven. )
- Serve warm with freshly ground black pepper.
Note: use small eggs to prevent overflow.
Recipe source: Kfoodaddict.com
This is my very first attempt at making kimbap or Korean style seaweed rice rolls.
The first time I tasted kimbap was along Meokja Golmok (literally translated as let's eat alley), a busy food alley cramped with street food vendors in Nampo-dong, Busan.
We were there to try the famous street food, bibim dangmyeon (glass noodles mixed with vegetables and red pepper sauce). It was included in our 'die die must try' food list after having seen it on 'Tasty Road', a Korean food and travel program. It was quite an experience having to cramp in front of the tiny 'table', with our knees and elbows brushing against each other as we tucked into the delicious bowls of noodles, right in the middle of the alley, out in the cold. It took a while for me to get used to sitting on the low plastic stools as our knees came up to as high as the table (see above picture on left), with our bags and camera on our lap as we ate...there was no space to put our belongings...and not forgetting our cumbersome winter jackets! I really salute the locals, they appeared so at ease and comfortable enjoying their snack food!
Besides the dangmeyeon, we also ordered some chungmu kimbap, mini rice seaweed rolls served with odengs (fishcake) to try. Never mind the food presentation, these mini kimbap and the damgmeyoeon tasted exceptional delicious! I am not able to describe the taste, you have to go try it yourself ;)
It has been more than two months since we came back from our South Korea trip. I thought I have almost recovered from Korean food withdrawal syndrome as the Chinese lunar new year feasting binge took over. But when I saw this easy and simple tuna rice rolls recipe from a cookbook which I borrowed from the library, I started craving for Korean food all over again! This book, 'Good Morning! 每天都要吃早餐: 10分鐘就能上桌的小確幸早餐提案', is actually a collection of breakfast recipes written by a Korean author. I doubt I will ever be able to get these rolls on my breakfast table in 10 mins (as suggested by the title of this cookbook), I made these tuna rolls for a light lunch instead.
Making these tuna mayo seaweed rolls was actually not that difficult for me since I have experience making sushi rolls or maki. Prior to making these mini kimbap, I have always thought kimbap and sushi rolls are the same, at least they look the same to me. It was only after some googling around, I learned that there is actually a difference between the two. The sushi rice is prepared with rice vinegar, sugar and salt; while the kimbap is made with rice that is usually seasoned with sesame oil and salt. I find it much easier to make kimbap as the rice is not as sticky as sushi rice, making it less messy (for me!) to spread it onto to the seaweed. I didn't use dried seaweed sheets meant for rice rolls, I experimented with salted, toasted crispy Korean seaweed sheets instead(that was what I have in my pantry cupboard). Luckily, I was able to roll up the rice rolls neatly, the seaweed didn't tear or give way, lol!
I made these specially for my younger child who loves canned tuna and sushi. I wouldn't say these mini kimbap are to die for since there is only one main ingredient. Both of us prefer the sesame oil flavour rice even though it didn't taste as soft as sushi rice. No matter how simple it is, nothing beats home cooked meals, I really enjoyed our once a week, just the two of us, weekday lunch together. Hmmm...will have to start thinking what to prepare for our next lunch date ;)
Simple Tuna Mayo Kimbap
Ingredient:
(serves 2)
2 cups uncooked Short grain rice (cup here refers to the standard measuring cup provided by rice cooker)
2 teaspoons sesame oil (adjust according to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt (adjust according to taste)
1 can tuna chunks
1 tablespoon mayonnaise (I use Japanese mayonnaise, Kewpie brand)
some freshly cracked black pepper
some dried parsley flakes (optional)
4 sheets roasted seaweed
Method:
Cook 2 cups rice with 2 cups water in rice cooker. When the rice is cooked, leave in rice cooker for 15mins. Remove cooked rice from rice cooker. While the rice is still hot, add sesame oil and salt, mix with rice paddle, add more sesame oil or salt if desired. Leave aside to cool (about 5 to 10mins) while preparing the tuna filling.
Drain the water/oil from the canned tuna. Mix in mayonnaise, black pepper and dried parsley flakes (if using). Set aside.
Place a sheet of roasted seaweed with the shiny side down on a sushi bamboo mat. Divide rice into 4 portions. Spread 1 portion of the rice (should still be a little warm, not completely cold or hot) evenly onto the seaweed, leaving about 1/2 inch of open strip on bottom and about 2 inches on top (the rice should cover about 2/3 of the seaweed). Place tuna mixture, length wise, on the rice, roll up from the bottom. Repeat with the remaining rice.
Wet a sharp knife with water or rub with some sesame oil. Cut each roll into 6 pieces (wet the knife after each cut to prevent sticking). Arrange cut rolls on plate, if the rolls are not served immediately, cover with cling wrap.
My latest blog post on Korean Sujeonggwa (Cinnamon Ginger Tea with dried persimmons) was gone missing after Blogger did a scheduled maintenance last Thursday. I noticed most of the regular blogs I visit do not have the problem of missing posts. I waited patiently for Blogger to restore everything but every time I checked my blog, the post was still not restored. For the past few days, I have been searching on the internet to see whether I am able to get around the problem. I did manage to find some possible solutions but it didnt work for me...I googled for the missing post and tried going to the cache link to retrieve it, but I didn't have luck. This morning, I googled again, and was happy to find another alternative solution. I managed to find the full post from 'Goolge Reader Feed'!
For those of you who have got missing posts, this was what I did: I was logged on to Blogger (which means I am signed in to my Google account), then I opened another new tab on my web browser. I searched using Google with key words "Goolge Reader Feed". I clicked on the first search result with the link: www.google.com/reader, and there right in front of me was all my recent blog posts. When I clicked on the link of my missing post, the entire blog post appeared, and I could copy and paste the text into a new post.
I am re-posting the blog post here as I treasure every blog post I wrote :)
当了两个星期的陪读妈妈，今天终于可以解脱了！
每当考试季节的来临也是意味着我恶梦的开始。万事起头难，通常我都得经过一番拉锯战，加上‘威逼’之下（我不用’利诱‘， 我是不吃这一套的），我家那两个少爷才会乖乖就范，专心备考。还好，值得欣慰的是，一旦定下心，不论大小都会全神惯注，专心温习那一大堆的课本和作业！他们的毅力有时真的令我很惊讶！在这么酷热的天气下他们还能精神奕奕，而我这个名副其实的陪读妈妈却半躺在一旁对着不停向我招手的周公直点头。
今年老大升上中一，我老早就和他讲明，他得自己保重，自己安排时间温习，不能再依靠老妈的督促。不过有时他还是把我当成他的活动字典和不用插电的’专用‘网络维基！外表愚钝（就是blur blur 那种lor），不善言辞的他，成绩不算优秀。去年经过那一轮艰辛的小六会考的历练，他总算领悟到一些读书心得，加上他还蛮勤奋，勤能补础，希望他中学的成绩不要太惨不忍睹。
把老大丢一旁，我的火力全集中在小宝贝的身上。吸收力蛮强的老二，能举一反三，陪他备考比较轻松。不过和哥哥相比，却显得粗心，毛躁，不够稳重淡定。我非常质疑他上课时到底有没有专心听讲？可是他又能把老师所教的都倒背如流，也能一一举出重点，有时还能做出结论或提出他的看法和见解。考试前夕，我在一边看着他那专注的神情，不禁对他有一丝的刮目相看，小不点好像长大了！看他那副充满自信的样子，我之前的焦虑也跟着一扫而空。
这几天，为了解热，我不是煮薏米水就是菊花茶。好想来一杯自制冰凉的韩国茶－－水正果! 可是市面上已经找不到韩式柿饼（柿饼就是晒干的柿子，韩式柿饼是半干的），我又不想用 made in China 的。。。所以现在只能望梅止渴lor。。。
水正果是一种韩国传统甜点饮料。它是用生姜、桂皮和水一起滚煮然后加糖调味，放凉后，加入柿饼泡上几小时冷冻后饮用。饮用前把柿饼切块再撒几颗松子仁在饮料上。比较讲究的吃法还会把核桃包入柿饼切块后配饮料一起享用。生姜、桂皮、柿饼和松子仁都有个自独特的功效，把这些凑在一起作成的水正果据说具有预防感冒的疗效呢！
水正果有点微辣又有甜味，非常生津止渴。尤其喉咙干痒时喝下一杯，感觉真的很爽。为了不要口感太辣，桂皮我没煮太久，而且我用冰糖（多数食谱都用红糖）所以我的水正果茶颜色比较淡没那么深褐色。想学如何煮一锅水正果茶可以查看这个 video clip (从03:20分开始) 或这个和这个食谱。希望你会和我一样喜欢这个饮品。
Thanks to VB, my cyberfriend, I was introduced to Sujeonggwa, a type of Korean cinnamon ginger tea with dried persimmons. It is a delicious beverage and very refreshing especially when served chilled. This tea is made by simmering cinnamon and ginger with sugar added to sweeten it. Upon cooling, dried persimmons are then added and left to soak for a couple of hours. The drink is usually served with the persimmons and some pine nuts as garnish. Hop over to this video clip(starting from 03:20min) or this video by Maangchi if you are interested to learn how to prepare this drink.
Su jeong gwa
Ingredients:
50g ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
2 litres (8 cups) of water
30g cinnamon sticks (about 5 to 6 sticks)
some rock sugar, adjust to taste (original recipe calls for 175g brown sugar)
3 dried persimmons
some pine nuts
Method:
- Place ginger and water in a pot or a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Turn to low heat and let it simmer for 20-30mins.
- Rinse cinnamon sticks and add to the mixture. Return the mixture to a boil and remove from heat. (Note: I let it simmer for about 5mins.)
- Strain the mixture through a fine sieve. Discard ginger and cinnamon sticks. Return the mixture back to the pot, add the sugar and bring it to the boil. When sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and leave to cool.
- Wash the dried persimmons, remove the calyx and add to the cooled mixture. Leave to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
- Remove persimmons from the mixture and cut into bite size. Serve the drink with the persimmons and some pine nuts as garnish.
Recipe source: adapted from Step by Step Cooking Korean: Delightful Ideas for Everyday Meals by Lee Min Jung
