Soju123

Have you tried this one? It’s on my to-try list. Note that one of the reviewers recommend halving the sesame oil as it can dominate the dressing.

Happy cooking!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/mesclun-and-mango-salad-with-ginger-carrot-dressing/detail.aspx

Prepping food in advance makes things easier, and the more you cook Korean food the faster you will become. While you’re finding your groove, I remember in one of Maangchi’s videos she showed a rectangular block of minced garlic she kept frozen in her fridge in plastic wrap, so whenever she needed to grab a tablespoon of garlic or something, she just had to tear off what she needed. Easier than having to peel garlic and chop it up every time you need it.

Some fast recipes, besides soups, are bulgogi (you just need to marinate it for a while, but after that you cook it the way you would cook any beef on the stovetop or grill) and grilled beef or pork belly (no marinating required).

The nice thing about Korean food is that a lot of the recipes call for the same ingredients. So while you’re prepping a green onion salad to go with your grilled pork belly, you can also mince a little bit to throw into a bowl with some egg and water to microwave into a steamed egg side dish. And kimchi and things like cucumber or broccoli pickles keep for weeks in the refrigerator so you don’t have to prep those sides every night; you can just pull it out whenever.

Also, if you take a weekend or something to make black bean sauce or naengmyun broth, you can cook up some noodles when you get home on a weekday and have dinner ready in the same amount of time you would have pasta ready.

Happy cooking!

That japchae looks so good, it’s making me hungry!

Are you bringing some ingredients with you? A lot of Korean dishes can be made if you have staples on hand, like sesame oil and red pepper flakes. There are some fun videos of Maangchi in Mexico, cooking with ingredients she brought with her. Maybe they will inspire you.

I hope you have a good trip!

In case anyone is interested, I learned this from watching Kimchi Chronicles on TV the other day: to make soon dobu (soft tofu), right after you start boiling the soy milk and it starts to coagulate, skim off the first bits that have coagulated. I haven’t tried it yet myself but it looked like it would work.

If anyone tries it or knows of another way, let me know, thanks!

And doenjang does expire. There’s usually an expiration date marked on the container but you’ll also be able to tell just by looking at it. If it’s rock hard, super dark brown and you have to think twice about eating it, it’s a goner.