King of Crabs: Ilsan, Korea 2009

Two weeks in Korea = Food Heaven!

So I will start with the seafood.........

King Crab

I had never tried King Crab before so was pretty excited about this. We stopped off in Ilsan (a city just North of Seoul) on our way back from the Imjin river and found a place that only sells crab. Its a pretty usual thing in Korea for the resturant to specialise in a particular type of food - so the question asked is often "what do you want to eat?" rather than "which restaurant do you want to go to?".

Anyway, so there is a guy at the front of the place who is the "tank man". He helps you choose one of the huge crabs swimming around in the big fish tank there. Well I say swimming. Wriggling would be a more accurate description since the poor things hardly have any space to move.

He then fishes it out and gives it to the restuarant who will cook it up for you. We sat down and were served an assortment of seafood related side dishes and within 10 minutes we had our freshly steamed crab in front of us cut up into sections. For anyone who has seen the Lost Boys, I was reminded of Michael's Texas Chainsaw Massacre comment when he opens the door to his grandfather's taxidermny workshop. Just check out the picture and you'll see what I mean!



Ok so it doesn't look pretty. But it was delicious. They give you a pair of scissors to cut open the shell and the meat comes out in big soft, white, tender chunks rather than the flakey meat of smaller species. You can dip in the hot sauce of course, although I prefer mine pure. Eaten with plum wine is great as it compliments the flavour.

I will try anything once, so I when the waitress took the crab away and brought it back with the brains mixed up with fried rice, I gave it a go. Not for me. Too bitter and worse is the knowledge of what it is. I think a few more attempts and I might get over the psychological barrier (as an ex-vegetarian of 11 years I now eat pigs trotters (Chokbal)without too much trouble which is an achievement!)

Yum, just thinking about it is making me hungry. hmm what do I have in the cupboard? Ah. baked beans. oh well.

Choices choices

Apologies to my small gathering of readers for my long absence. The big issues in life, and also moving house to a tiny kitchen sharing with 5 other people had somewhat put pay to my cooking whims.

Two weeks ago I returned from my third trip to Korea. The first trip was in 2005-6 teaching english, the second in 2007 for a holiday. But this one was pretty special for a few reasons. Firstly I visited Jeju Island off the South Coast which, contrary to some reports I had heard was stunning. Lush, green with volcanic rock formations and a beautiful coast I really couldn't fault it. Added to which I went on my own and found friends there at the guesthouse, and since one of these people was born on the island and knew the place like the back of his hand we all toured the island together.

Also this trip was special because I had to decide something really major. Can I live here again? Can I give up a life in the UK and make one here? This isn't an easy decision to make once you have embarked on a career and not one to be taken lightly. There are plus point and negative points in all places, it's just a question of balancing these with what your fundamental needs and ambitions are. Months of mental wrangling eventually led me to one conclusion. I had to go and visit again first.

I think the answer came to me in the first week of being in Korea. It was about 11pm and I was sat in the office of my Hapkido master's dojang chatting with his wife and playing with their baby daughter. My master had finished training for the night and he was using chiropractic technique to straighten out Ha Kyung's bad back while we sat and drank tea. I realised that I couldn't remember the last time I felt so at peace. It was like going back in time, like the last three years never happened. Some connections are never broken. After that, we went to a restaurant where we stayed, talking about hapkido, the world, everything until 6.30am. At the end of the day all anyone wants is to feel that they belong somewhere, and in Korea I am never alone.

Silly perhaps but there it is. And damn it I'll finally learn to speak Korean and cook Korean properly with any luck.

ok so back to the food.... my foody review of my trip is coming up in the next day.

Fried Tofu

Ok I stunned myself when I cooked this tonight. It was totally yum and it's my own recipe. I have had a go at it before but not been so impressed with the result. This evening, I first consulted the Lee Wade book on Korean Cookery and as often happens with that book the ingredients and instructions combined simply do not add up to what is in the picture so I hurled it aside in frustration and improvised.

Pictures soon I promise...I was too busy eating it to think about photographing it this time.

Ingredients

half a block of tofu cut into one inch long and 1 cm thick pieces

soy sauce

approx 1 tablespoon sesame oil

approx 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil

sea salt

quarter of a spoon of dwaenjang

a few pinches of sesame seeds

1 small spring onion


Directions

• Cut the spring onion into diamond shape slices and put to one side

• Mix about 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and the dwaenjang together in a small bowl. You might need to add a tiny amount of hot water to the paste to get it mixed, depending on how solid it is.

• Heat a small amount of sesame oil and olive oil together in a small frying pan.

• Fry the tofu for about 5-10 minutes, turning ocassionally until it is well browned on both sides. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt on ocassionally. Once it is almost done, pour about half a tablespoon of soy sauce into the pan and as it sizzles away, move the tofu pieces through it.

• Arrange the tofu pieces on a plate in an attractive manner. Add a bit more salt depending on how much you like ( I like mine quite salty). Sprinkle the spring onion on top and then drizzle the soy sauce and dwaejang mixture over the top (put a bit on first...then add more if, having tasted it you want more). sprinkle a few sesame seeds over the top. Voila, a yummy side dish or snack!

Sheer beauty on a plate. ^^













Aiiigo!

Dwenjang Chigae (Soya bean soup)

Dwenjang is the DADDY of korean soups. One of the most famous of Korea's soups, its super easy to throw together using what ever items you happen to have in the cupboard and its really healthy. Cheap, healthy and yum..it doesn't get much much than this does it? Its perfect for when you get home from work and want to sort something out quickly. The base soup is also vegetarian although you can add fish and meat if you want to.

Are you sold?!! I damn well hope so because dwaenjang rocks. Can't comprehend my irrational love of soup? Ermmm. Yeh me neither.

So I have seen a lot of dwaejang recipes right? Just google it and you'll find tons. Different ingredients everytime which might leave you wondering if it really is a kind of soup on its own. Well, the beauty of it is while there are a few pretty much essential ingredients, you can be flexible after that and add the things you like in the quantities you like. Therefore I am going to be a rebel and depart from the usual recipe format ie insistence that you have a strict list of ingredients and instead I list core ingredients and suggested optionals. Kind of a pick n mix salad bar idea really.

This recipe is sufficient for one person as a main dish (with rice of course) and perfect as a sidedish in a meal for say three or four people.

Ingredients

Core Ingredients

• about 4 cups of water - or enough to fill most of a black Korean cooking (see picture)

If you are boiling the rice as opposed to using a rice cooker, do the rice first and save the water you cooked it in...it is common in Korea to do this and then use the water for soup...plus it's more energy efficient.

• roughly 1 and a half large table spoon of dwaenjang

• 1 teaspoon gojuchang

• 1 medium potato cut into 1/2 inch cubes or about 4 baby new potatoes cut into halves

• half a small courgette cut into half moon shape slices - I think that they are known as zucchini in the states - a thin green squash (see picture for example) ho pak in Korea

• half a block of tofu -cut into slices or cubes

• half a small onion

• sea salt

• sesame oil

• one piece of ta shi ma seaweed (if you don't have any don't worry too much)

Suggested extra ingredients - add however much you think you would like (use your instincts)
shredded chinese cabbage
anchovies
shell fish eg clams or mussels - very commonly used in Korea
sliced beef -fry first before adding to soup
chillis -sliced - This is one of my favourite extras - but I like my soup with a kick
mushrooms of varying types -shitake especially recommended (and the long thin mushrooms - enochi)
a few pinches of gochugaru red chilli powder - again, this will hot it up
1 spring onion/green onion/yang pa (same same) sliced - if you add it, either do it right at the end or just sprinkle on top for decoration
fried pork pieces

Directions

• Put the water in the bowl and bring to the boil. If you are using the ta shi ma, put it in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes with a few anchovies if you have them. Then take the ta shi ma out but leave the anchovies.

• Add the gochugaru (if you are using it) and and the potatoes. Let it cook for about 4 -5 mins - you need to give the potatoes a chance to soften up a bit but not too much.

• Add the onion and the courgette/squash and a dash of sesame oil and pinch of salt.

• Stir in the dwaenjang and the gochujang.

• Add whatever other ingredients you are going to (unless I say above to add them at the end) and let the soup bubble away for about another 5 minutes, adding the tofu a few minutes before serving.

Serve with rice and kimchi.

Lovely jubbly.

Le Grand Chef

This movie is a must see for anyone interested in Korean food, and its also a thoroughly enjoyable story. The story is based on a manga series and follows the fortunes of two rival chefs battling it out in a cookery competition to win a rusty sushi knife (yeh go figure).

It's pretty easy to tell who is going come off better from the start (just look at the picture and work it out if you don't believe me!) but its enjoyable along the way, and full of intricate, and beautifully presented food. Your mouth will quite literally be watering afterwards. There are some fun sub plots and also some genuinely sad moments that are handled in the film with beautiful sensitivity.

You can see it on the mysoju.com website although of course if you have access to it by buying it you should do that (ahem).

Ingredient Notes 1: Key items for the cupboard

So this will be an ongoing post, starting small and growing (I hope) into a useful guide on items to keep stocked up on if you plan on doing a fair bit of K Cuisine. I'm putting photos up so that when I start referring to "myol chi this" or "go ju that" you will be able to check back here and see what I am referring to...














Above. Left: Myol Chi (fish sauce), Centre: Korean soy sauce,
Right: 2 bae yang jo shik cho (double fermented vinegar)














Above: Left: Mat Kimchi, Right: Go ju Jang red sauce














Above: Dwaen Jang (Soya bean paste)



















Above: Gochu garu red chilli powder


















Cham kirum (Korean sesame oil)


































OK. Pay close attention to the two pictures above: top one: Da shi da (fish powder) bottom one: Da shi ma (type of seaweed). Similar names (you can see from the names on the packet even if you don't read Hangul) but totally different products .....both of them I recommend you keep in the cupboard.

Oi Kimchi (Cucumber Kimchi) 오이 김치

This kind of kimchi is spicey but at the same time you get the freshness of the cucumber which is lovely.

I originally tried the recipe that is in Lee Wade's book Korean Cookery which was published back in the 1970s. This book has been brilliant for me as it has given me a starting point from which to explore Korean recipes. Lee Wade was an American lady who learned Korean cookery while she was working as a librarian for the Eighth US Army Recreation Services in Seoul from a lady called Kim Samsun. Tragically she died in her thirties and her book was finished off by a friend. That is all I can find out about her, but her detailing of the ingredients involved in Korean cookery is such a valuable aid. On the other hand some of the quantities in the book are rather strange when you come to make them.

Ooops...back to the kimchi. I mention quantities because Wade's book says use 10 cucumbers!!!! 10 frickin cucumbers? Forget it. Unless they are pigmi cucumbers or you are planning to feed the korean five thousand. The thing with oi kimchi is that it does not stay fresh for long. So make it and eat it...otherwise the cucumber goes soggy.

This recipe will make enough to use as a side dish for a meal with say 4 people.

Ingredients

1 large cucumber

sea salt - unground - about enough just to go in the palm of your hand
this is the type of salt you would put into a grinder. If you only have finely ground salt it doesn't matter too much.

4 cloves of garlic chopped finely

2 small green onions sliced diagonally so you get nice diamond shaped pieces (see picture at the bottom of the page for an example)

roughly 1 small handful of Korean red chilli powder - change according to taste

1/2 teaspoon of fresh finely chopped ginger

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of fish sauce - (myol chi sauce)
Don't be tempted to add any more than this

salt to taste

Directions

• Cut the cucumber horizontally into 2 inch long pieces and then then vertically through each circular piece to halve it. Then cut thse in half one more time so you have chunky 2 inches sticks. There is another way you can cut which is to not totally cut through the sections - make cross slits in them instead and then you can stuff the mixture inside.
  

• Rub the unground sea salt into the cucumber pieces and then leave them in a bowl for 2 hours to soften up and take in the salt.
  

• In the meantime, make a separate mixture with the green onions, red chilli powder, garlic and ginger. Add fish sauce and sugar. Also add salt to taste. You need it to be a bit salty but not too much because the cucumbers already have salt on.
  

• After the 2 hours is up rinse the cucumbers in a little cold water (not too much you don't want to lose the flavour) and then add them to the mixture rubbing it into the cucumber. Taste it and if it needs more chilli or anything else, then add some at this point.
  

• Put the mixture into a small container with a lid on so that the mixture and the cucumber is tightly packed together and then leave it in the fridge at least overnight.

Then voila....a nice lunchtime snack or dinner time side dish for the next day.

The picture below illustrates the way I recommend cutting the green onions..simply because it looks pretty :)