5 Korean cuisine favorites
We know Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine. Now it’s time to shine for Korean cuisine. These are our favorites.
These days in Korea, people are eating whatever Maangchi eats. This Korean YouTube star cooks up a storm and helps everyone take their first baby steps in Korean cuisine: “Hi everybody, today I’m going to introduce you to Korean fermentated soybean paste, doenjang. You can use this in many many Korean recepies.” We’ve got that covered already. But there are more typically Korean foods worth a round trip to the Asian grocery store.
Bibimbap
A Korean rice dish with vegetables, meat and gochujang, a fermented chili paste. You don’t toss all the vegetables into a single wok; each one has its own method of preparation. So it is somewhat labor-intensive, but the result is a festive and colorful plate full of Korean flavors.
Bulgogi
Bulgogi is Korean BBQ steak. It used to be served only on holidays, as it was too expensive and exclusive. But these days, soy-marinated beef is appearing on the table more often. You can prepare it in a wok, but it is even better on the barbecue: the marinade caramelizes and gives it a wonderfully sweet edge.
Korean fried chicken
What makes Korean fried chicken so delicious is that the wings are fried twice. Twice as crispy, then. Important… don’t forget the sauce. The Korean chili paste gives the chicken a real kick. The honey, soy sauce and brown sugar also make it deliciously sweet.
Sundubu Jjigai
Of all the Korean stews, this is the most popular. It is made with tofu so soft that it is called silken tofu. Sundubu means pure, referring to this almost liquid tofu. As with almost all stews, you can vary this endlessly. There is a popular version with seafood, but also versions with meat. Traditionally, you serve the dish directly in the bowl in which you cook it. Oh, and in Korea they add a raw egg just before serving.
Rice cakes
A Korean birthday is not complete without rice cakes. You might as well forget the balloons. YouTube star Maanchi has an endless selection of rice-cake recipes ready for you. Savory, spicy, sweet, with dried fruit, pan-fried or baked, in balls, waffles or squares. Steam the dough made from water and rice flour before kneading it; this gives you an elastic dough and deliciously chewy cookies later on.
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