When I lived in Toronto, I learned how to make  Chinese steamed pork buns from my Korean-Chinese friend, Ms. Bong.

Ms. Bong’s story relating to this food fascinated me for a while. She said:

“We used to make a large quantity at once, enough to eat for the whole winter. We kept hundreds of steamed pork buns in earthenware pots in the yard. The weather was so cold that the buns were frozen the whole winter, until we finished them. They were hard as stones the whole time. We ate them every other day, not as a snack, but as a meal. We used to bring some frozen buns to the kitchen, thaw them out, steam them, and eat them.”

I was overwhelmed by this story. I could picture them making the buns and keeping them in a huge earthenware pot. I could imagine them bringing some to their kitchen, thawing them out, and eating them with the whole family! Ms. Bong said they usually served them with rice porridge for a meal.

The small rolling pin that I use in this video was given to me by her. When she gave me the rolling pin, I was so excited that I ran to Chinatown to buy my steamer! The steamer has been one of my most precious kitchen items for 3 years. : )

I modified the filling to be more like a Korean style filling. Real Chinese steamed buns use ground pork, dried shrimp, chives, and blanched napa cabbage.

Ingredients:

Yield:
16 steamed pork buns (6-8 servings)

Directions:
For dough
All purpose flour, dry yeast, water, salt, sugar, and vegetable oil.

For filling
Ground pork, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, black ground pepper, garlic, onion, zucchini, carrot, green onions (or Asian chives), and mushrooms.

Directions:
Make the dough:

1. In a large bowl mix warm water (under 40° Celsius, or 100° F), 2 ts dry yeast, ½ ts salt, 2 tbs vegetable oil, and 1 ts sugar. Mix well until the dry yeast is fully dissolved.
2. Add 3 cups of flour to the yeast water. Mix with a wooden spoon, then knead for 2-3 minutes.
   

   

3. Set aside in warm place until the dough doubles in size.
   *tip: watch the video to see how you can make your dough rise faster!

   

   
   

4. After the dough has risen, knead it again for 1 minute to remove any extra gas. Set it aside in warm place with the lid closed for 30 minutes.

While we wait for this to rise, we can prepare the fillings:

1. In a large bowl, place:
   • 1 cup chopped onion
   • ½ cup chopped carrot
   • 1½ cup chopped zucchini
   • 1½ cup chopped green onions
   • 2 cups chopped white mushrooms
2. Sprinkle 1 ts salt over top and mix it up by hand. Set aside for 10-15 minutes.
3. Squeeze the excess water out.
   *tip: using cheesecloth will make this easier. Wrap the chopped vegetables in cheesecloth and gently squeeze the water out.

   

4. In a mixing bowl, place:
   • 400 grams (14 oz) of ground pork
   • 1 ts soy sauce
   • 2 cloves of minced garlic
   • 1 ts sesame oil
   • ½ ts ground black pepper
5. Mix it by hand and set aside.

Let’s cook!

1. In a heated pan, add 1 tbs vegetable oil and sauté the chopped vegetables for 2-3 minutes. Transfer them to a large bowl.
2. Heat up the pan again, and cook the seasoned pork for 3 minutes until fully cooked.
3. Put the pork into the bowl with the vegetables and mix it all up.

Now let’s make the buns:

1. Split the dough into 16 smaller pieces.
2. Take a few dough balls and put them on a floured cutting board. The rest of balls should be in the bowl with the lid closed, to prevent them from getting dried out.
3. Roll out each ball into a disk 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter.
4. Place a disk into your palm and add 2-3 tbs of filling mixture to the center of it.
   
5. Lift the edges of the disk up around the filling, then press the edges together to seal the filling snugly inside the bun.
6. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling, until you’ve made 16 buns.
7. Put 6-7 cups of water in the bottom of a large steamer and place each bun on the rack.
   *tip: Place cheesecloth or cotton cloth on the steamer rack before adding each bun. Baking cups also work well. When you place the buns on the rack, leave a 1 inch gap between them because they will get bigger when steamed.
8. Wait for 20 more minutes to let the dough rise even more.
9. Bring to a boil over high heat, and steam for 20 minutes.

Dipping sauce:

1. Combine 1/3 cup soy sauce, 2 tbs of vinegar, and 2 ts sugar in a small bowl.
2. Add some chunks of onion (½ cup), chunks of green chili pepper, and roasted sesame seeds.

When the buns are cooked, turn off the heat and remove the lid to prevent water from the top of the lid from dripping over the buns.

Serve with the dipping sauce, and enjoy!

The more important reason for me to like this fish is that it’s tasty!
What else? : ) Yes, it’s also cheap!

Click here to view the embedded video.

When I lived in Korea, I used to buy a huge box of mackerel and split it with my friends. It was usual for us to meet at the wholesale fish market early in the morning to shop for fish! : ) I don’t think I can do it now, but at the time it was a good way to save  money and get very fresh mackerels during mackerel season. Besides, meeting my best friends at the market was a lot of fun.

In this video I only have 1 fish, but if you have a large family, or all your family members love mackerel, prepare several fish following my directions in the video and then wrap each piece of godeungeo in saran wrap. Keep them in the freezer and you can enjoy them for a long time.

Ingredients:
1 mackerel (1¼ pound or about 600 grams), salt, vegetable oil, flour.

Directions:

1. Remove the guts from the fish – watch the video to see how.
2. Rinse the fish in cold water and drain.
3. Cut it in half crosswise.
4. Sprinkle 1½ tbs salt evenly on both sides of each piece of fish.
   *tip: The amount of salt depends on your taste
5. Keep it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before cooking.

   

Now you can either pan-fry or grill.

Pan-fried mackerel:
Total cooking time: 10-12 minutes

1. Coat both sides of fish with flour.
2. Heat up the pan and add 2 tbs vegetable oil.
3. Cook the fish for 3 minutes over medium high heat, until golden brown.
4. Turn it over with a spatula and cook for 7 minutes over low heat.
5. Turn it over and cook for 1-2 more minutes before transferring it to a plate.
6. Serve with rice

Grilling:
Total cooking time 17 minutes

1. Preheat the oven and set it broil.
2. Rub some vegetable oil on both sides of the fish.
3. Broil on the bottom rack of the oven for 10-12 minutes.
4. Turn it over and cook 4-5 more minutes, until golden brown.
5. Serve with rice
   

The kimchijeon made with chopped kimchi is very easy and simple to make. You don’t need any special ingredients as long as you have some kimchi in your fridge. I usually make this style of kimchijeon at home.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The kimchijeon made with whole kimchi leaves is what I would call a kind of upgraded kimchijeon. ; )
Have you ever seen this kind of kimchijeon? My late grandmother used to make it for us. I thought this style of kimchijeon looked very special when I saw her cooking this pancake for the first time. I remember what I thought when I saw her making this pancake: “Hmm, grandma treats the kimchi leaf like a slice of fish? Interesting!” but I never told her what I thought. I just watched what she was doing.

I miss my grandmother now. She would be so proud of me if she knew I was posting her recipe here!

Which recipe would you like better? : )

In the video, I’m showing how to cut the big round chopped kimchi kimchijeon (12 inches wide because my frying pan is 12 inches wide) into bite sized pieces, but as I mentioned in the video, you could serve it right out of the pan without cutting. It’s usually served as family snack that way. Use your chopsticks to tear a piece of the kimchijeon from the plate. It may be difficult to do alone because the rest of the kimchijeon should remain on the plate for everyone else. So one of your family members should grab the pancake with her or his chopsticks so you can tear more easily. Helping each other is very important when you eat this way!
“Let me eat some, I need someone’s help! Grab the corner of this pancake for me, plz!”

If you cut it into bite sized pieces, it’s usually served as a side dish. It’s a popular side dish for lunch box, too.

Enjo~yee the recipe! : )

Kimchijeon made with chopped kimchi

Yield:
2 -4 servings

Ingredients:
Kimchi, onion, salt, sugar, flour, vegetable oil.

Directions:

1. In a bowl, place 1 cup of chopped kimchi, 3 tbs of kimchi juice, 2 tbs chopped onion, ½ ts salt, ½ ts sugar, ½ cup flour (all purpose flour), and ¼ cup of water and mix it well with a spoon.
   
2. Heat up a 12 inch non-stick pan over medium high heat and drizzle about 2 tbs grape seed oil.
3. Place the mixture of kimchi pancake batter on the pan and spread it thinly and evenly with a spoon.
4. Cook it for 1-1 ½ minutes until the bottom gets golden brown and crispy.
5. Turn it over with a spatula or flip it.
   
   
6. Lower the heat to medium and cook for another 1½ minutes.
7. Turn it over one more time and cook for 30 seconds before transfering it to a serving plate.
   *tip: Serve it right out of the pan or cool it down and cut it into bite size to serve.

Kimchi pancake made with whole kimchi leaves

Ingredients:
Kimchi, ground pork, tofu, onion chives (or green onions), onion, salt, black ground pepper, sesame oil, egg, flour, grape seed oil.

Directions:

Prepare kimchi

1. Prepare 6-7 kimchi leaves (6-7 inches long – 16 cm) and ½ cup flour in a plate.
   
2. Coat both sides of each kimchi leaf  in the flour by hand.

Make meat mixture

1. In a small bowl, add 2 tbs ground pork (or beef),  2 tbs tofu (after gently squeezing out excess water with a paper towel), 1 ts chopped onion chives (or green onion), 1 tbs chopped onion, a pinch of salt and black ground pepper, 1 ts of sesame oil, and mix the mixture well with a spoon.
2. Set aside.

Make the pancakes

1. Place 1 egg in a small bowl and add a pinch of salt. Beat it with a fork.
2. Add some of the meat-tofu mix on one side of a kimchi stem. Add some flour on top of the mixture.
3. Put some of the meat-tofu mix on the rest of kimchi leaves.
   
4. Heat up a non-stick pan and add some grape seed oil (or vegetable oil).
5. Coat each kimchi leaf with beaten egg mix and place on the heated pan.
   *tip: the meat mixture should be bottom of the pan
   
6. When the bottom of the kimchi pancake turns golden brown (1 or 1½ minutes), turn it over and cook another minute.
7. Turn it over one more time and cook another 30 seconds before transfering it to a serving plate.
   *tip: you can serve it as it is or cut it into bite size before serving

Click here to view the embedded video.

The first time I tried LA galbi was about 20 years ago when I visited my sister living in LA. She prepared LA galbi for me and my family. I enjoyed the galbi a lot even though I was a little surprised to see the short ribs cut thinly and across the bone.

Regular galbi in Korea is cut differently. It’s cut across and along the bone. Each piece that goes on the grill is one section of the rib, with one piece of bone in it. It’s a lot thicker. LA galbi is only cut across the bone, not along, so each piece on the grill is a longer, thinner strip, and includes 3 pieces of bone.

The marinade is exactly same as authentic Korean galbi.

At the time I never asked why it’s called LA galbi. I assumed it was because it’s popular among Korean immigrants in America.

But writing this recipe I researched the origin of the name, I couldn’t find the real answer anywhere. So I like to become a detective today, investigating LA galbi:

Theory #1:
LA galbi is cut laterally, so the name comes from the first 2 letters of the word “lateral.”

Theory #2:
Korean immigrants living in Los Angeles, California innovated this cut.

In my personal opinion, theory #2 seems more likely. If  #1 theory is true, where is the HO galbi (from the word horizontal)? : )

LA galbi had already existed before I tasted it 20 years ago, but I’ve never seen any other culture use this particular cut of short ribs for BBQ, only Koreans. If your culture also uses this cut, let me know in the comments. But as far as I know, it’s unique.

Last year I had a chance to go a BBQ picnic with about 20 Americans. I brought my marinated LA galbi to let them taste it. Surprisingly, none of them had seen or tasted LA galbi before. They loved my LA galbi and more than 1 year later they’re still talking about how good it was.

But if Koreans invented LA galbi, there must be someone or some group of chefs responsible, somewhere. If you’re the inventor, or know who he or she is, please contact me at maangchi@gmail.com. I want to interview you! You can share the history of LA galbi and the origin of the name, I’m very curious about it.

Serving: 4-6

Ingredients:
3.5 LB (1.5 kg) of LA style beef short ribs, soy sauce, water, honey, garlic, onion, ginger, pear, sesame oil, sesame seeds, black ground pepper, soybean paste, hot pepper paste, green onions, lettuce, perilla leaves, green chili pepper, cucumber, and carrot.

Directions:

1. Trim excess fat from the short ribs and rinse a couple times in cold water.
2. Soak the ribs in cold water for 10-20 minutes to remove the blood.
   

Make marinade:

1. In a large bowl, add 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup water or cooking wine, and ¼ cup honey (or 1/3 cup brown sugar).
2. Blend 1 Korean pear (about 2 cups’ worth), 8 cloves of garlic, 1 medium onion, and 1 ts of chopped ginger until it turns into a white creamy liquid.
3. Add it to your soy sauce base.
   *tip: If you can’t find a Korean pear, use 2 ripe bosc pears. I sometimes use bosc pears and they work well.

   

4. Rinse the short ribs in fresh cold water a couple more times to remove any remaining bone fragments. Drain the water.
5. Add the ribs to the marinade and mix it well, by hand.
6. Keep it in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Overnight is better, but an hour is ok if you are short of time.
   

Make dipping sauce:

1. Mix these 2 tbs soy bean paste, 1 tbs of hot pepper paste, 1 stalk of chopped green onion, 1 clove of minced garlic, 1 ts honey, 1 ts of sesame oil, and 1 ts sesame seeds in a small bowl with a spoon.

Prepare vegetables:

1. Rinse and drain lettuce and perilla leaves. Put them on a plate or basket.
2. Cut a cucumber into strips 3 ½ inch to 4 inches in length and ½ inch thick (8-10 cm long x1 ½ cm thick),
3. Chop green chili peppers and slice a few cloves of raw garlic and put them next to green lettuce and perilla leaves.

Let’s cook and eat!

1. Grill, pan fry, or BBQ the ribs. The LA style cut is thin, so they’re cooked much faster than usual ribs. It takes only about 5 minutes!
2. When the both sides are cooked, put them on a serving plate.  Cut the meat part off the bone with scissors into bite sized pieces.
3. Wrap it in a lettuce leaf and a periilla leaf. Add dipping sauce, garlic, and a piece of green chili pepper to the pocket, wrap it up, and put it in your mouth.

You can serve this with rice and kimchi, too.

Enjoy the recipe!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Good quality dried Pollock is made when it’s dried  by the wind from the sea. When it’s totally dried, the fish turns very hard like a wooden stick. : )  When it’s  cooked, the fish meat has a unique taste which is not only chewy, but also soft at the same time! Delicious flavor and taste from the dried pollack meets sweet radish! What will happen? Delicious!

If you make this soup early in the morning for your husband or wife (^^) who are suffering from a severe hangover, you will get lots of credit from him or her.

“Hey, here is some soup for you!  Have some and be yourself again, for God’s sake!”

Some may ask: “Maangchi, I’m sober, can I still have this soup?” lol, of course!  You don’t have to have a hangover to eat this soup. I’m sure I will get emails about this unless I make it clear right now.

Another benefit of this soup is that you can fill your stomach with this and a little bit of rice and it will help you control your weight.

Ingredients (for 2 servings):

2 oz (60 grams) dried shredded Poll0ck, radish, garlic, fish sauce (or salt), water, green onion, sesame oil, egg, and water

Directions:

1. Take 2 oz (60 grams) of dried and shredded Pollock from a package and tear each strip into thin pieces by hand. They should be about 2 ½ inch long (6 cm).
   tip: 1 package of dried shredded pollock that I use in the video weighs 150 grams (about 5 oz), so you could make 5-6 servings with 1 package.
   
   
2. Peel a radish and slice it into small pieces (2 x 3 inch and 1/8 inch thick) to make 2 cups’ worth.
3. Slice 2 stalks of green onions. Mince 4 cloves of garlic. Beat 1 egg in a small bowl with a fork. Set them all aside.
4. Heat up a pot and add 1 tbs sesame oil.
5. Add the dried Pollock strips and the minced garlic to the pot and stir it for 30 seconds with a wooden spoon.
6. Add 7 cups of water and the radish.
7. Close the lid and boil for 20 minutes over high heat.
8. 20 minutes later, open the lid and add 2 tbs fish sauce.
9. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
10. Open the lid and pour the beaten egg into the boiling soup.
    *tip: Don’t stir the soup until the beaten egg is cooked and floating.
11. Turn the heat off and add the green onion.
12. Stir it with a ladle so the green onion is cooked a little by the boiling soup.

Serve with rice and  side dishes including kimchi.

Julgi (줄기)  is “stem” in Korean, so miyeok julgi bokkeum means “sautéed sea plant stems.” Many people like the texture of the miyeok stems because they are chewy and a little crunchy. This side dish is one of the most popular Korean doshirak side dishes.

You can get this main ingredient “miyeok julgi” at a Korean grocery store. It’s usually sold in a package preserved with lots of sea salt.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ingredients:
Miyeok stems (1 pound package), onion, garlic, mulyeot (or sugar, honey), soy sauce, onion, sesame oil, roasted sesame seeds, and artificial crabmeat (optional).

Directions:

1. Open a package of miyeok julgi (1 pound) with scissors. Rinse it in cold water a couple of  times until all the salt is gone. Soak it in cold water for 10 minutes.
2. Boil about 8 cups of water in a pot.
3. Drain the miyeok julgi and put them into a pot of boiling water.
4. Blanch them for 20 seconds.
5. Rinse in cold water, strain, cut them into bite size pieces, and set aside.
6. Mince 2 cloves of garlic and slice half of a medium-sized onion. Set them aside.
7. Split 3 sticks of crabmeat lengthwise into threads with your fingers. Cut them into bite size pieces and set aside.
   *tip: sometimes, if some miyeok julgi is not shredded thinly,  split thinly with your fingers
8. Heat up a pan over medium high heat. Add some vegetable oil.
9. Add the minced garlic and sliced onion. Stir it with a wooden spoon for 10 seconds, and then add miyeok julgi.
10. Keep stirring for about 3 minutes.
11. Add 1 tbs soy sauce, 2 ts mulyeot, and the crabmeat threads. Sautée another minute.
12. Turn the heat off and add 2 ts of sesame oil.

Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

Each strip of squid incorporated with the shiny red sauce was so juicy that you could finish your rice easily without drinking water. You wouldn’t even think about kimchi! : )

Kyeong has been living in New York for a long time. She is one of the busiest Korean American professionals now. A few months ago, I gave her some of my ojingoechae muchim along with some other side dishes. She called me later and said: “the ojingeochae muchim was so delicious! My husband loved it. How did you make it? Please give me the recipe!”

I said, “Aigo! don’t you remember? This recipe is from you!” She did not remember!

Anyway I gave her the recipe over the phone. “1 package of dried squid, 1/2 cup…”

Later I asked her how her ojingeochae muchim turned out. She said: “It was not tasty as yours. When you post the recipe, please let me know. I should see the video recipe!”

Isn’t it funny? This recipe is one of the simplest recipes that I have. I even don’t cook it but just mix it! I will let her know this recipe is on now. She prefers my video recipe to my spoken recipe with my real voice! Hahaha!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ingredients:
1 package of dried shredded squid (1 pound), hot pepper paste, garlic, olive oil, corn syrup (or rice syrup), sesame oil, roasted sesame seeds.

Directions:

1. Cut 1 pound of dried shredded squid into bite sized pieces and set aside.
2. Make seasoning sauce by mixing ½ cup hot pepper paste, 4 cloves minced garlic, 1/3 cup olive oil (or vegetable oil), mulyeot (either rice syrup or corn syrup) 1/3 cup, 2 tbs sesame oil in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until it becomes a shiny red sauce.
3. Put the squid strips into the seasoning sauce and mix it with a spoon.
4. Transfer it in an air-tight container and keep in the refrigerator

You could serve it with rice as side dish. Sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds just before serving.

Let’s prepare a lunchbox with the ojingeochae muchim that we learned today!

Cut a sheet of kim (laver) in half with scissors and place a spoonful of rice on it.

Spread thinly, then roll it. Cut into smaller pieces, and you have cigarette kimbap!

Wanna learn these 2 other side dishes?

1. Korean rolled omelet side dish It’s called gyeran mal yee (or gyeran mari) in Korean.
2. Korean style cucumber pickle recipe It’s called oijangajji in Korean.

Enjoy the recipes!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ingredients:

• a package of soybean sprouts (500 grams), soy sauce
• salt, sugar, hot pepper flakes
• sesame oil, sesame seeds, green onions, garlic

Directions:

1. Rinse and drain a package of soybean sprouts a few times over. Pick out any rotten sprouts.
2. Put the soybean sprouts into a pot.
3. Add 2 ts of salt and 1 cup of water. Close the lid.
4. Bring to a boil over high heat, and boil for 15 minutes.
5. Drain the cooked soybean sprouts and let them cool down.
6. Put the soybean sprouts in a large bowl with 2 cloves of minced garlic, 2 chopped green onions,1 tbs of soy sauce, 1 ts of salt, ½ ts of sugar, 1 tbs of sesame oil, and ½  to 1 ts of hot pepper flakes.
7. Mix it by hand.
   
8. Transfer it onto a plate and sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds over top.
   

If you want non-spicy version, just skip the hot pepper flakes in the recipe.

I’m happy to introduce Korean-style steak tartare (called “yukhoe“) to you! If you like raw fish, I am sure you will love this dish.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I tasted yukhoe for the first time in my life when I was in my second year of university in Seoul. Don’t ask me when! Just long time ago! ; ) A bar in the Jongro area of Seoul was famous for their rice wine and yukhoe. Most of their customers were university students. Their yukhoe was unbelievably delicious ! : )

Since I tasted the yukhoe, it became not only my favorite dish but my specialty food. When I came back home, I tried to reenact the recipe by remembering the taste. Yes, garlic! The thin beef strips were almost soaked in garlic juice that made my tongue sore!

You don’t have to use as much garlic as I do in this recipe. But if you want to taste my yukhoe, you will have to follow the direction tightly. Got it? : )

When I lived in Missouri in the 1990s, I invited my Japanese friends to my house. I made yukhoe and kimchi noodle soup for them. One of my friends’ husband was going crazy when he tasted my food! He was sweating all over his face because the noodle soup was very spicy for him, and he loved the yukhoe I made! He kept saying “delicious delicious.”

Yukhoe is made with raw beef, so you will have to choose very fresh beef. Go to your butcher and ask for very fresh filet mignon (tenderloin) that arrived in the store on that day. If they say, “Wednesday our fresh beef comes!” Then you will have to wait  until Wednesday! Freezing 1 hour is also a very important tip.

Enjoy the recipe!

Ingredients (for 4-6 servings):
380 grams (18 OZ) fillet minon (tenderloin), Korean pear, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, garlic, black ground pepper, salt, pine nuts, roasted sesame seeds, endive (or lettuce).

Steak Preparation:

1. Rinse filet minon under a little cold running water and dry with paper towel.
2. Wrap it in a cotton cloth and keep it in the freezer for 1 hour.
3. In a bowl, add 2 cups of water and 1 tbs sugar. Stir it well.
4. Peel a Korean pear and cut it into thin matchsticks (about 3-4 cups).
5. Soak the pear strips in the bowl for 5 minutes. Then drain and set aside

Make sauce:

1. Finely mince a dozen cloves of garlic. Put into a mixing bowl with 1½ tbs soy sauce, 1½ tbs honey (or 2 tbs brown sugar), 1/4 ts salt, 2 tbs sesame oil, and a pinch of ground black pepper. Mix well.

Put it together:

1. Take the beef out of the freezer. Cut it into thin matchsticks, and mix with the seasoning sauce
   

   
   
   
   
   *tip: you can add green lettuce on pear strips

2. Sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds and pine nuts over top before serving.

How to serve:
You could use as an appetizer, a side dish with alcohol, or a main dish for a party.