Hi, everyone! Before I start posting, I'll briefly introduce myself. My name is Hyeonah, but since most people find it difficult to pronounce, you can just call me Hannah. I'm an exchange student for this semester, and I'm from South Korea!
I usually enjoy American food, but sometimes when I eat in the Dining Hall, I find myself craving something new. So I started cooking new dishes with 2 other Korean friends who live in the apartment, and today I'm going to write about the best Korean dishes that we made.
Korean Instant Noodles & Samgyeopsal (Korean Grilled Pork Belly) & Gochujang Jjigae (Spicy Red Chili Paste Stew)
These dishes were the best Korean food I ever ate in Ohio. The photo on the left shows me and my Korean friends cooking. Actually I'm really bad at cooking, but a friend who came with me as an exchange student from my home university is a great cook. He cooked almost all of these dishes. Thanks to him, eating these dishes made me feel like I was back home!
In the photo on the right, you can see Korean spicy noodles, Samgyeopsal (pork belly) in the middle, and Gochujang Jjigae (stew) at the bottom. As you already know, cooking instant noodles is very simple -- just add the noodles and soup to boiling water and wait 3 minutes. As a Korean, here's a tip: use slightly less water than the original recipe. This will help you enjoy Korean instant noodles that aren't too bland!
Most of the other dishes, excluding the pork belly, were spicy. (acutally most Korean food tends to be spicy) This spicy flavor typically originates from a sauce called Gochujang. It is made from chili peppers, giving it a bright red color and spicy smell and taste.
Among these dishes, the Gochujang Jji-gae is a stew made primarily with this Gochujang. Its recipe is as follows:
- Cut the pork into bite-sized pieces and stir-fry in a pan.
- Chop onion, potato, and green onion into bite-sized pieces, then stir-fry them together with the pork.
- Add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons of Gochujang, and soy sauce. Stir well.
- Transfer everything into a pot, add water, and bring to a boil.
- Once the water starts boiling, add zucchini and mushroom.
- Season with 1 tablespoon of fish sauce to taste.
I liked Gochujang Jjigae the best! I didn't eat stews much even in Korea, but this dish (my friend cooked for me) tasted just like my grandmother used to make. And at that time, We were with a friend from Madagascar and one from Spain, I was so happy that they enjoyed this too!
Great post, I understand the feeling of craving a taste of home. Your food looks amazing and even though my dad is a chef, I'm also pretty bad at cooking. Good luck on the rest of the semester and hope you improve at cooking.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t know much about Korean food before, so this post was really interesting. The photos and your explanation make the dishes look very tasty. I especially want to try Gochujang Jjigae after reading your recipe. Thanks for introducing Korean culture through food!
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