Many people have asked me what kind of Korean appetizers I would recommend. Serving appetizers is not common in Korean traditional cuisine and Korean mothers likely say to their children: “don’t eat any sweets or snacks before dinner! If you eat them, your stomach will get full before eating your main meal”

But you will see Korean restaurants serve side dishes after taking orders from their customers. While waiting for the main dish to be served, customers eat the side dishes.

I received an interesting email asking me if I would be interested in entering a contest to promote avocados. Avocados are a very nutritious fruit, as many people know, and I love to eat them.

When I lived in Korea, avocados were a totally unfamiliar imported fruit usually sold in the basement of huge department stores. I remember they were tremendously expensive. I think the fruit is more and more familiar to Koreans these days.

I usually eat an avocado by itself with a spoon after cutting it in half and putting some soy sauce in the hole where the pit sat.  I sometimes use avocados in California rolls or tuna kimbap.

The contest idea made me think and I did some experiments and eventually I’m satisfied with this recipe I created using avocado.

And the ginkgo nut skewers are so easy that I don’t even need to explain them here. Check the video!

Avocados and ginkgo nuts are very healthy fruits, and you’re going to love these appetizers.

Ingredients for avocado appetizers:
1 medium size avocado, 1/3 cup flour, 1/3 cup water, 1-2 ts soybean paste, 1 clove of garlic, egg, salt, and vegetable oil.

Ingredients for ginkgo nut skewers:
Vegetable oil, ginkgo nuts, skewers, salt.

Avocado appetizer:

1. Skin avocados and slice them into several pieces.
2. Make batter by mixing 1/3 cup of water, 1/3 cup of flour, 1 clove of chopped garlic, and 1 ts of soy bean paste.
3. Crack an egg into a bowl and add a pinch of salt. Mix it up.
4. Heat up the pan with some vegetable oil.
5. Dip sliced avocado into the batter and then coat them with the egg mixture. Put them on the pan and cook until both sides look light golden brown.
6. Transfer cooked avocado to a serving plate and serve.

Ginkgo nut skewers:

1. Heat up pan over medium heat and put in 1 tbs of vegetable oil.
2. Add a handful of ginkgo nuts and 2 ts of salt to the pan.
3. Stir them with a wooden spoon until the inner skins of ginkgo nuts are broken.
4. Wrap the cooked ginkgo nuts in a paper towel and rub it the top to remove the inner skins.
5. Skewer gingko nuts and serve them.

I arrived there before 11:00 am and one by one they showed up at the restaurant. I noticed who was there for the meetup right away because they seemed to recognize me before I recognized them.
“Oh~ Maangchi, oh~!!”
“yes, yes!”
”haha!”
We just hugged each other just like long time friends!

Of course we kept talking about Korean food. Someone asked me “Where can I get sashimi grade raw fish for hwedupbap recipe?” Someone asked, “Maangchi, who taught you your cooking skill? Where did you get all the recipes?” Whatever I answered, whatever they asked, we were ready to laugh and smile!

We ordered “grilled pork belly” which is the restaurant’s specialty. There was one who doesn’t eat meat, so she ordered “roasted mackerel with rice.”

I showed them how to wrap the grilled pork in lettuce.
“Ok, see what I’m doing. First put the cooked crispy pork in here, then put seasoned green onion, sliced garlic , a piece of chopped green chili pepper, and ssamjang! And wrap it like this and eat like this!” : )

Everybody had fun while they were eating lunch.

I suggested they meet regularly to go to a Korean restaurant together. I was going back to New York so I couldn’t join them next time.

I was told that they already emailed each other. It’s awesome! Isn’t it?

Good food, good people!

I like this brand name of brown sugar.

Wood ear mushrooms are used for some Chinese dishes which are popular in Korea. Soak them in warm water for an hour before using them.

Tangsuyuk is a Chinese dish which is very popular in Korea.

When I was young, this dish was always my number one choice at a Chinese restaurant. When I passed my middle school exam, my father took me and all my family members and some of his friends to celebrate it. He asked, “What would you like to eat, my smart girl? I would buy whatever you want!” I answered before he finished his sentence, “Tangsuyuk! And jjajangmyeon!” It’s very crispy fried meat in a jelly sauce and colorful vegetables, overflowing a huge plate.

I sometimes order Tangsuyuk at either a Korean restaurant or Chinese restaurant. It’s known as “sweet and sour pork” (or beef), but my satisfaction with the dish always is different.

There are 2 important factors to make this dish stand out: the crispiness of the meat and the taste of the sauce. I’m releasing a few priceless tips to all of you now!

4-6 servings
Ingredients:
600 grams (1.3 Lb) of beef, starch powder (2 cups and 2 tbs), vegetable oil, egg, Turbinado sugar 1 cup (brown or white sugar is ok too), salt, ground black pepper, 3 tbs vinegar, apple, pineapple, 5-7 wood ear mushrooms, onion, cucumber, carrot, and water

1. Soak ¼ cup of dried wood ear mushrooms in warm water (about 5-7 mushrooms) for a few hours.
2. To make the coating batter, mix 2 cups of starch powder (either corn starch or potato starch) with water (about 3 cups) and let it sit for a few hours until the starch sinks in the bowl. Then remove the water by pouring it into the sink.
   *tip: after draining the water, the starch will be solid and stiff.
3. Cut beef into thin strips (5 cm long, 1 cm thick, 1 cm wide) and put it in a bowl.
4. Add ½ ts salt and ½ ts ground black pepper to the beef and mix it well with your hand. Set it aside.
5. Add the beef strips to the starch, and 1 egg white (or yolk) and mix it well with your hand.
6. Heat vegetable oil in your wok and fry the beef strips for about 5 minutes until they look golden brown and crispy. It’s very important to coat the beef strips with as much starch batter as you can. Try to use all of it. Then put the fried crispy beef strips into a strainer.
   *tip: the beef strips should feel crispy through your tongs as you handle them

Next, let’s make delicious sauce!

1. Slice ¼ medium size onion.
2. Slice 1 or 2 apples (you can replace apples with plums).
3. Slice carrot and cucumber thinly (several slices are needed).
4. Drain the soaked wood ear mushrooms and cut them into bite sized bits.
5. Cut some pineapple into chunks.
6. Put 1/2 tbs of vegetable oil on a heated pan.  Add the sliced onion and stir it up.
7. Add wood ear mushrooms, sliced carrot to the pan. Stir it for 1 minute.
8. Pour 2 cups of water into the pan and boil it.
9. When the sauce boils, add 1 ts salt, 1 ts soy sauce, 1 cup brown sugar and stir it well.
10. Add 3-4 tbs vinegar and water starch (mixture of 2 tbs starch and 2 tbs water).
11. Add pineapple chunks and sliced cucumber to the pan.
12. Your sauce will look like light jelly but it will also be sizzling. Be sure to put a few drops of sesame oil in at the last minute!

Now you made your fried beef strips and sauce! If you’re waiting for your family or guests, just take a break and do the next steps just before serving.

Ok, it’s time for you to serve it now?

1. Reheat the oil and fry the beef strips again, until each strip becomes very crispy.
2. Put the fried beef on a large platter
3. Reheat the sauce for a minute and pour it on top of the beef strips.
4. Serve it hot with dipping sauce (mix 2 tbs soy sauce and 1 tbs vinegar)

I’m planning Toronto Meetup on Saturday, Dec.13, 2008 at 11:00 am

(from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm).

I’m going to visit Toronto soon!

We are going to a Korean restaurant all together.

Don’t expect me to cook at this time. : ) I have no kitchen to cook there.

If you want to meet me or other blog readers, please contact me at maangchi@gmail.com

I haven’t decided where it will be yet. I am going to let you know it through email.

I also made a book that contains books one and two in one volume. So if you want all my recipes so far, you don’t have to get 2 books, you can buy just one. You can download that e-book for free, too.

These books are made to be practical, with all of my recipes plus lots of color photos so you can bring the book with you to the grocery store and easily find the ingredients you need.

My next DVD is also coming soon, I will let you know when it’s done.

Here are some photos of my new book, I think they look great!

The recipes in the second book are:

• Beef short ribs (galbijjim)
• Bulgogi
• Kimchi fried rice (kimchi bokkeumbap)
• Sweet and crispy chicken (dakkangjung)
• Mandu (dumplings)
• Butternut squash porridge (hobakjuk)
• Sweet red bean soup (danpatjuk)
• Dessert punch with persimmon, cinnamon, and ginger (sujunggwa)
• Fried squid (ohjinguh twikim) and fried sweet potato
• Rice cake (gyungdan)
• Rice cake (songpyeon)
• Egg side dish (gyeranmalyee)
• Egg side dish (gyeranjjim)
• Spicy egg side dish (maewoon gyeranjjim)
• Eggplant side dish (gaji namul)
• Oi naengguk (cold cucumber soup)
• Potato side dish (gamja jorim)
• Potato side dish (gamjachae bokkeum)
• Soybean side dish (kongjang, kongjorim)
• Stirfried dried anchovy side dish (myulchibokkeum)
• Yeolmu mulkimchi (young summer radish water kimchi)
• Naengmyeon (cold noodles)
• Spicy fish soup (maeuntang)
• Soondubu jjigae (soft tofu stew)

And here’s some pictures of the volume that’s Books 1&2 together:

Whenever I pronounce “jjamppong,” I think it sounds funny! “JJAM PONG!”  : )

You need so many different ingredients to make good “jjamppong” as you will see in this video. It contains all the nutrients we need, so I can say a bowl of jjamppong  is a wholesome, nourishing, and well balanced meal. You can skip some ingredients or replace some ingredients with ones more easily available to you.

I prepared 2 versions of jjamppong recipe here: spicy jjamppong and non-spicy jjamppong.

Hot spicy jjamppong (1 serving)

Ingredients
Noodles for jjamppong, as well as…

for stock:
10 dried anchovies, 3 shiitake mushrooms, a handful of dried kelp (1/3 cup), half a medium size onion

meat and seafood:
¼ cup of pork, 3 large shrimp, 4 mussels, a few pieces of squid

vegetables and seasoning:
garlic, ginger, vegetable oil, oyster sauce, fish sauce, hot pepper flakes, ground black pepper, onion, carrot, green onions, leeks, white mushrooms, bamboo shoots.

Let’s start!

First step:
make stock

1. Pour 7 cups of water into a pot. Add 10 large dried anchovies (after removing heads and guts), a handful of dried kelp, half a medium sized onion, and 3 dried shiitake mushrooms.
2. Boil it for 10 minutes over high heat. Then lower the heat to low-medium and boil for 30 minutes more. Then set it aside

Second step:
make mixture of hot pepper flakes and vegetable oil

In a small bowl, mix 1½ tbs of hot pepper flakes and 1 tbs of vegetable oil.

*tip: The reason we make this mixture is to prevent the hot pepper flakes from floating in the soup when it boils. You can add or decrease the amount of hot pepper flakes and vegetable oil according to your taste.

Third step:
prepare seafood and meat

1. Cut squid in half lengthwise and then cut shallow the inside part of squid in a grid pattern.
   
2. Shell 3 large shrimp and 4 mussels per serving.
3. Cut ¼ cup of pork into thin strips.

Fourth step:
prepare vegetables

1. Slice some carrot, cabbage, napa cabbage, onion, and white mushrooms into bite sized pieces.
2. Cut leeks and green onions into about 7 cm in length. Add some bamboo shoots.

*tip: 3-4 cups worth of vegetables are used per serving.

Fifth step:
cook noodles

Boil water in a large pot and add the noodles. Cook for a few minutes, then drain and rinse in cold water.

*tip: When you cook the noodles, take a sample to see if it’s cooked fully or not. The noodles should be soft and chewy.

Now ready to cook!

1. In a heated pan, drop 1 tbs of vegetable oil, 2 cloves of garlic, and 1 ts of minced ginger and stir it until its color starts to change to golden brown.
2. Put pork strips into the pan and stir fry it for 2 minutes.
3. Put in vegetables (cabbage, napa cabbage, carrot , sliced onion, green onion, leeks, white mushrooms, and a few pieces of bamboo shoots) and stir for 3-5 minutes.
   
4. Lower the heat and put the mixture of hot pepper flakes and vegetable oil into the pot. Stir it.
5. Put in seafood (squid, shrimp, and mussels) and keep stirring.
6. Pour 5-6 cups of stock into the pan and boil it for about 5 minutes.
7. Skim off the foam from the top with a spoon.
8. Add 1 tbs of fish sauce, 1 tbs of oyster sauce, and a pinch of ground black pepper.

Ready to serve!

Put some noodles in a large serving bowl and pour the soup and cooked ingredients on top of the noodles.

Serve it hot.

Enjoy!

Non-spicy jjamppong

Ingredients
A can of non-sodium chicken broth, ¼ cup of pork (cut into thin strips), 3 large shrimp, 4 mussels, squid (¼ cup),  garlic, ginger, vegetable oil, oyster sauce, fish sauce, ground black pepper, onion, carrot, green onions, leeks, white mushrooms, bamboo shoots, noodles, and Asian chives.

First step:
prepare seafood and meat

1. Prepare seafood by cutting squid into bite sized pieces, shelling 3 large shrimp, and washing 4 mussels.
2. Cut pork into thin strips (¼ cup worth).

Second step:
prepare vegetables

1. Cut some carrot, cabbage, napa cabbage, onion, and white mushrooms into bite sized pieces.
2. Cut leeks, green onions, and Asian chives into pieces about 7 cm long.

*tip: use 3-4 cups of vegetables per serving

Ready to cook?

1. Drop 1½ tbs of vegetable oil and 2 cloves of chopped garlic and 1 ts of minced ginger into a heated pan. Stir it until it starts to go golden brown.
2. Put pork strips into the pan and stir fry it for 2 minutes
3. Put vegetables (cabbage, napa cabbage, a few sliced carrot, onion, green onions, and leeks, white mushrooms, and bamboo shoots) into the pan and stir them for 3-5 minutes.
4. Put seafood into the pan and stir it for 1 minute.
5. Pour a can of chicken broth into the pan and 2 cans of water from the can (that’s a total of 5-6 cups of liquid).
6. Skim off the foam from the top with a spoon.
7. Add 1 tbs of fish sauce and 1 tbs of oyster sauce.
8. Put noodles into the boiling soup and cook for a few minutes until the noodles are cooked but still soft.
9. Turn off the heat and add some Asian chives (1/4 cup) and a pinch of ground black pepper.
10. Transfer it into a large serving bowl and serve it hot.