unchienne

I don’t know if this is in bad form because it’s someone else’s video, but since Maangchi stated that she’d probably not do this recipe, I hope she doesn’t mind.

Was trying to find recipes online when I stumbled across this vid: http://www.easy2cook.tv/video_recipes/recipes_video.aspx?Recipe_id=7148&Recipe_en=JokBal%20-%20Korean%20Pork%20Shank&Recipe_cat=Meat

Not much into html writing at 6 in the morning, so please excuse my long link-age. The recipe seems pretty authentic, despite the very Southern sounding gentleman conducting the video, and he even uses my aunt’s trademark sprite additive in his sauce. She uses sprite when making wasabi and korean quick cucumber peppers. Says it adds a kick, though I imagine it’s just the carbonation and sugar that does the trick.

I second Maangchi’s suggestion. I prefer using quail eggs in my jangjorim because they look adorable and have all the flavors in one little bite. We don’t have fresh quail eggs where I live (lucky you) but for the janjorim, I use canned eggs. They’re a little rubbery, I admit, but the pickling in soy makes even fresh eggs just a bit more chewy, so it doesn’t turn out to be a drastic difference. However, if I lived in an area that provided fresh, I’d definitely choose those over the canned version.

I don’t know if white mold signifies good things or not, but I can tell you that my mom just scraped it off and dug into the paste beneath. I keep all my pastes in the fridge, but when we lived in Korean, mom had huge clay jars on the roof of a little concrete shed and they were filled with beanpaste and soy sauce. It stayed pretty hot during the summer (I remember the lids to the pots being very warm to the touch), but it lasted for ages. Just scrape and dip, scrape and dip.

I love this recipe as well and have made a few stabs at preparing it. I like mine very, very vinegary…so I usually make my own or doctor store bought versions with a touch or two of vinegar. I don’t have a precise recipe like Maanchi would, but I can give you a quick walkthrough of what goes into the prep work.

I usually buy just one wing, and I prefer getting the already skinned and frozen variety instead of fresh. As you’ve seen in the video, these things are brutal to try and skin yourself. The cartiledge is as thick as bone in some places, and the skin is worse than catfish. Waaaay worse. I had to use pliers and a good grip just to pry off a small strip that had remained. And it’s got these little horned areas on it as well. The frozen actually works better in a couple of ways as it’s easier to slice when it’s partially frozen.

I cut the wing width-wise, with the cartiledge in the wing, into about three parts so that the ends of each are around 2-3 inches. Then I soak these pieces in either milk or vinegared water to eliminate the strong ammonia taste that these fish have. I either use a ziplock freezer bag or weigh it down in the solution to make sure it all gets covered, then let it soak overnight. The next day I drain the liquid, wash off the pieces, and then cut across the grain of the cartiledge to make those pretty, flexible, almost fan-like strips. Set the meat aside.

Take a korean radish, peel and julienne into small matchstick strips. Set aside. My aunt slightly salts these at this point to reduce the water content. As for myself, it depends on how I’m feeling. Usually this dish barely lasts long enough in my house to worry about water content. LOL

Wash and clean one bunch of Korean watercress and slice the stems only into one inch pieces. I usually reserve the tops for soup. Add to turnips. My aunt likes to add a bit of julienned carrots to hers…I hate carrots. It’s up to you.

Drain water if necessary. Add skate. Add hot pepper flakes, sugar, sesame seeds, about a tablespoon of hot pepper paste, vinegar (if you did not soak in vinegared solution or if you like your vinegar strong). If using vinegar, my aunt usually chooses Assig vinegar, which is concentrated vinegar, so she can get all the vinegary taste without all the liquid. My aunt adds scallions. I don’t. I like MSG; she doesn’t. She uses more sugar than I do. A lot of it is just taste and adjust, but that’s pretty much the basics of the recipe. At least the way I make it. Not saying this is the tried and true method…so don’t hold it against me. ^_^

I’ve tried cooking with Bellflower roots before, but mine always turn out bitter. I must be doing something wrong as the store-bought versions don’t have this bitter aftertaste.

I’ve bought from Koamart and have been very happy with the results. I didn’t buy any perishables from them but stuck to canned goods and tableware. The shipping can sometimes be a little “painful” when compared to the price of the food (sometimes as much as 1/3 of the total price), but they really do a great job packing and a whole set of ceramicware arrived at my house without so much as a hairline split in any of the items though they were packed with heavy canned foods as well.

Whenever mom’s friends would come over for breakfast, they would expect to have rice and kimchi-jigae. A side dish or two might go with it, but usually the stew was enough. One thing I did notice that when eaten for breakfast, more emphasis was placed on the broth than the meat or kimchi.

So I’d go with soup and rice with maybe a side dish.

Me personally, I’m a grab and go girl. Instant coffee, a bagelful or kashi breakfast bar and I’m out the door.

I’ve made mini bibimbap bentos. I’ve also packed rice with a variety of banchan…usually something slightly less smelly like fresh pickled radish or anchovy stirfry.

Egg dishes always work well. But my favorite is soy braised beef. Yum. Tastes great cold, so I don’t even need the microwave.