Ashimi

You misunderstand – If you are interested I can sell you the book – make me an offer. Possibly send me the translations – lets negotiate!

I believe I have what you are looking for. It is called, interestingly enough, the Home Cooking Encyclopedia.

It is over 700 pages, all in Korean and reads from right to left. I believe it was published in the late 60’s to early 70’s. Although I cannot read it, my niece took a look at it a few years ago and seemed to think it wasn’t so much a “recipe” book, as much as a guideline of which foods to use, and for what health reasons, what combinations were the most healthful and the like, although there are definitely recipes in there – I can tell because they have a list of ingredients with gram weights next to them.

There are about 20 pages of glossy color photos at the beginning of the book in what seems to be an intro and table of contents, a few glossy black and white photos that seem to show presentation methods, and the recipe photos in the rest of the book appear to be poor, grainy black and white photos, almost like you would see in a newspaper. Asian publications from that time period were not always as pristine as western publications.

Am including photos from the book – the last photo may be showing how to make tuen jang!

If you are interested in the book let me know.

Wow it was delivered frozen? Will they take it back?

When you cut open tofu that has been frozen you will see large holes in the tofu – looks kind of like bread, rather than the fine texture you normally see. The taste is chewy, and rather grainy. It therefore doesn’t work so well in normal korean tofu dishes. It might work for any dish in which you are going to break it up and mix with something else – like in mandoo.

I have used frozen tofu in the past to mix into a mixture of chopped mushrooms when I wanted to emulate meat in a vegetarian casserole, and its not bad as a meat substitute in a chinese stir fry because the chewiness is satisfying to meat eaters, but for the most part the texture will not work well in most korean recipes.

I hope you can return it, or you don’t have a large amount! I would have a serious talk with your supplier!

Good Luck!

You might also try activated charcoal. It is used in fish tank filters (and I imagine there are other uses) and can be purchased anywhere fish tank supplies are found. I bought some in little bags that can be tossed into the fridge. When it was time to replace them (over a year later) my husband found a container that looked like, and was the same size as a milk carton. The fellow at the store showed him these mesh bags that are used in fish tanks to hold the activated charcoal. The idea is to throw away the used charcoal and then refill the bags. Much cheaper than buying the prefilled bags.

I stayed in a hotel recently, and had some leftover kimchi soup that my daughter and I had gotten at a korean restaurant. The next morning I opened the fridge – and OH MY GOODNESS – I was afraid of leaving the hotel and having everyone wonder what on earth I had done to their refrigerator. I called my daughter and had her pick up the activated charcoal from a local

Walmart.

We took the kimchi soup out and put two bags of activated charcoal in. By that evening the smell was completely gone.

When at home I put my kimchi in Zip top freezer bags, then put them in the lock top plastic containers. I don’t usually have too much trouble with the smell then, unless, as tastingkorea noted, sauce residue is left outside the bag or container.

Good luck! You might consider this – often college students purchase small refrigerators for their dorm rooms. I discovered that they often sell them super cheap, or just give them away when they are leaving school at the end of the year – often they cannot transport them home. If you can get your hands on one of those bargains you can have a kimchi fridge with room for your beer or soda to boot!

I think it is wonderful that you are interested in providing familiar foods to the korean residents of your facility – but I wonder, have you spoken to the families of these residents? Koreans as a rule are very respectful of their elders, and I think if you were to talk to some of their families, and indicate your willingness to provide familiar foods to their elders that they would be willing to help.

When my mother was in the nursing home before she passed I took a rice cooker, rice, soy sauce, sesame oil, and a few easy recipes for the dietitian at her nursing home. I would bring panchans as I made them so Mom would have the complete meals she was accustomed to.

If you talk to the families, and are willing to provide an area somewhat aside from the other residents where the Korean residents could eat in privacy I think everyone would be happy. One of the things I have become aware of is the attitude of many American elders to anything that is outside of their normal experience. This is especially true of foods and smells. They can often become unpleasant in their comments and gestures to things that they do not approve of.

Some of the most basic foods that your Korean elders will want to eat are rather aromatic, and your American elders will most likely say unpleasant things, which may cause a heap of trouble, and emotional disturbance to your Korean residents. I say this from personal experience.

If the families of your Korean residents see that you could provide an area where their loved ones could eat familiar foods in an atmosphere untainted by negatives, I am sure they would provide the rice, panchans and familiar flavors you are looking to provide. They have these items at home. Bringing extra to Mom or Dad would make them happy.

Here is a link to Aeri’s Kitchen where she makes homemade rice cakes.

Sticky Rice Cakes for TteokBokkI & TteokGuk

The video has directions using a bread machine for kneading the dough. If you don’t have a bread machine read down the page, and into the comments. Instructions are given there.

This doesn’t look that complicated. Think I will try it myself!

Yes. The fluid prevents the sprouts from absorbing off flavors in the fridge. I do this with leftover meats whenever possible too. And if you freeze leftover meats (example; poached chicken) in broth, even just to cover in a small container, it protects from freezer burn.

Since my post I have gotten a self watering sprouter so I am now able to sprout my own soy bean (or any other kind) sprouts so I won’t have to freeze them any more.

Just remember if freezing sprouts don’t cook them too long before you freeze, because you will probably cook them again in soup or such. When they are over cooked they loose flavor, and they want to stay together, and the tails get all tangled up and you end up picking all the sprouts out of your bowl in the first spoonful!

I had the same problem with kongnamul going bad before I could use them all, which is why I experimented with freezing.

I also find that kongnamul muchim starts to taste funny by the third day, so I never make more than we can eat in two days.

Have fun cooking!

There have been a number of discussions online about the best “keepers” as far as korean banchans. In many cases Maangchi will say in her videos how long items will last in the fridge. Unfortunately, you need to watch the videos in order to get that info.

I am of korean heritage, and have been cooking korean food for many years. The best bet in trying to figure out if the item will last in the fridge is to consider how the fresh ingredients would last in a regular context. For example, if you know spinach will only last a few days if made for your regular type meal (be it american, italian or french) then it will only last that long for a korean banchan.

Dried ingredients (dried squid, dried fish, dried vegetables) will probably stay in the fridge longer than a fresh vegetable or fish presentation.

Use logic, watch her videos, and experiment.

The soy sauce, kochujang and hot peppers are not preservatives, simply seasoning ingredients. Unless you are pickling, they will last no longer than they would if you made them with western methods.

Remember. Koreans believe in using the freshest ingredients available. If it is perishable, the final ingredient is too.