Steamed egg side dish

Gyeranjjim is very easy to make if you use a microwave oven, but my grandmother made her gyeranjjim using her special method. She had a huge pot made of cast iron (gamasot in Korean) with which she made rice or soup. She made her gyeranjjim when she cooked rice at the same time.

When her rice was almost done, she lowered the heat to let it simmer, then she put the bowl that contained egg mixture into the pot and closed the lid. Several minutes later, not only her rice but also her gyeranjjim was done. She took her gyeranjjim out from the pot.

The steamy gyeranjjim always made my mouth watery and excited!

The other basic side dish in this video is gyeran-mari.

Ingredients

3 eggs, ½ cup water, 3 teaspoons salted shrimp sauce (saeujeot in Korean), 2 chopped green onions

Directions

1. In a microwavable bowl, put eggs, water, salted shrimp sauce, and green onion. Mix well.
   *tip: If you don’t have salted shrimp sauce, you can use 3 teaspoons fish sauce.
2. Put it into the microwave oven and cook it for 5 minutes. Serve it with rice.

If you don’t have microwave oven, steam it. In a large pot, pour about 3-4 cups of water and place the bowl that contains the egg mixture in the center of the pot. Close the lid and steam it for about 15 minutes over medium heat.

This spicy steamed egg side dish is unusual because hot pepper flakes are used. I learned this recipe from my cousin living in a very southern part of Korea. Sometimes I make it this way and sometimes I make the mild one, which is more authentic gye ran jjim.

Ingredients

3 eggs, ½ cup of water, 1½ tbs soy sauce, 2 ts Korean hot pepper flakes (gochugaru), ½ tbs toasted sesame seeds powder, 3 green onion or chopped Asian chives (buchu), and sesame oil.

Directions

1. In a microwavable bowl, add the eggs, water, soy sauce, hot pepper flakes, chopped green onions, and the toasted sesame seeds powder and mix it well with a fork.
2. Put it into a microwave oven and cook it for 5 minutes.
3. Dribble some sesame oil on top before serving.