Hi there: Love the website and recipes! I had a question about stews/soups. I see in my Korean market bags of soup stock powders -- seafood, beef, etc. Are these routinely used in Korean households and can I use them in your recipes?
For example, in your recipe for soon dubu chigae (one of my favorite dishes) you call for dried anchovies and kelp to be boiled in water for the soup base. Can I just use some seafood stock powder instead? Will it hurt the dish?
Thanks
Mike
Mike,
I don't use any soup powder (Dashida) because it contains a lot of MSG. I was told that MSG is not harmful, but I still prefer making my own stock to using soup powder. My answer is that you can use it though.
I use the anchovy, clam, and beef powders regularly because that's how the Korean women I'm around cook. Maangchi's recipes were actually the first I made without them :)
My aunties still cook using powdered stocks, and I still think they're delicious, though they are bulked up with MSG and salt...so use in moderation. Also, while those I listed taste good to me, I avoid the seafood one they have (with all the different seafood on the front) like the plague. It's got a very strong seafood flavor that's oddly sweet and very artifical tasting.
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