Pickled Sesame Leaves

This summer my garden has been growing like crazy. This year I planted a few Korean vegetables in pots on my deck. Sesame leaves are one of those. Pickled vegetables are easy side dishes. They last for a long time in the refrigerator. So, it's one of the worry - free side dishes.
In Korean cuisine, there are many kinds of pickles, among which sesame leaf pickle is popular. Pickled sesame leaves are good to have with Korean bbq. Put some rice and bbq on a leaf and roll like a cigar. It will be the most delicious thing you ever tasted in your life!

Ingredients
60 pieces                             sesame leaves

Pickle sauce
1/2 C                                     soy sauce
1/4 C                                     fish sauce
4 packets                             truvia
1/2 C                                    Japanese apricot concentrate
2-3                                        dried hot peppers
1 T                                        dried mushroom powder
2/3 C                                     vinegar

Directions
Put all sauce ingredients except vinegar in a pan and bring to a boil over high heat.
When the sauce starts to boil reduce the heat a little and simmer for 5 minutes.
Set aside and add vinegar and cool.
Rinse sesame leaves under running water then pat them dry.
Put the sesame leaves in a container in a zigzag pattern.
Pour enough chilled pickle sauce over the sesame leaves to cover them.
Age at room temperature for 3 days then put in refrigerator. Enjoy.


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Stir-fried dried anchovies and dried shrimps - Korean side dishes

I will show Korean side dishes today. There are stir-fried dried anchovies (myulchi bokkeum) and stir fried dried shrimps (maleun saewoo bokkeum).
Myulchi is dried anchovy in Korean, bokkeum as you might have guessed refers to stir-fried dishes. When I was young, my mother often put it in my lunch box as a side dish. This is really low calorie and high calcium, so Korean parents regularly prepare it for children.
As far as I know, there are two variations of myulchi bokkeum, one of which is soy sauce-based and the other is hot pepper paste-based. So I used soy sauce-based for anchovies and pepper paste-based for shrimps.
Try eating it with some steamed rice. It's unbelievable tasty. You won't be able to stop!

Stir-fried dried anchovies.
Heat the pan on medium high and stir-fry dried anchovies without oil - it will remove the fishy smell.
Add cooking oil and stir fry anchovies and some nuts until light brown.

Put oligosaccharide (rice syrup - http://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/rice-syrup) on anchovies to taste and stir - I didn't put soy sauce because dried anchovies are a little salty.

Stir-fried dried shrimp.

It is similar to Stir-fried  anchovies, just  a different sauce base.

After making golden dried shrimp and nuts put hot pepper paste sauce - Mix soy sauce, Korean hot pepper paste, hot pepper powder, sugar, ginger powder and some water to taste.  That's it!

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Beef Boiled Down in Soy Sauce - Jangjorim

Look at this!  It's a Jangjorim - beef boiled down in soy sauce.

Jangjorim is one of the most loved Korean side dishes. It's also a popular item for home packed lunch boxes. When I was growing up, it was very interesting thing to eat Jangjorim for my lunch at school, too.

So, if I make a Jangjorim I eat it as a side dish and make a lunch box for my husband.

Above all, he likes to eat Jangjorim with hard boiled eggs. He always says "Jangjorim and hard boiled eggs are forever entangled."

Also, I enjoy not only the beef taste but also the sauce. Mix your warm rice with Jangjorim and the sauce. Eat it or wrap it in crispy seaweed (nori) and put it into your mouth. Mouth will be watery. It makes me happy even to think of it!

Refer to this link... 

http://busychopsticks.blogspot.com/2011/01/jang-jorim.html

I just added sliced shiitake mushrooms... and I did it in a pressure cooker to speed things up. 

If you don't have a pressure cooker, simmer it covered.

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Korean Side Dishes - Banchan

I always have some side dishes(banchan) with a Korean meal.
So, banchan often translated as "side dishes" are an essential part of any Korean meal. 
It refers to small side dishes of food served with cooked rice in Korean cuisine. 
They are not just decoration or appetizers: they are the meal, along with soup and rice.
Today, I made 3 types of Korean side dishes.
Eggplant stir-fry, bean sprout stir-fry and summer cucumber kimchi.
These are my favorites Korean side dishes!

Eggplant stir-fry (Gaji Bokkeum).
Ingredients
2 medium size eggplants
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
pinch of pepper
pinch of pepper powder or crushed chili peppers

Directions
Cut the eggplant and heat the pan with oil over medium high heat.
Stir fry the eggplants quickly until outside starts to get soft.
Add all the remaining ingredients.
Stir until eggplants are coated well with seasonings.
Sprinkle sesame seeds, oil and serve.

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Soybean Sprout stir-fry (Kongnamul Bokkem)
Ingredients
1 bag of soybean sprout about 1 1/2 lb
chopped green onions to taste
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3-4 tablespoons soy sauce to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon Korean chili powder to taste
1/2 tablespoon sugar
toasted sesame seeds, to taste

Directions
Wash soybean sprouts and drain water.
Heat  the pan with vegetable oil over medium high heat.
Add minced garlic and saute until golden brown about 2 minutes-it's a garlic oil.
Stir-fry soybean sprouts briefly, don't let them wilt.
Add soy sauce, sugar and chili powder and stir until seasonings are mixed well and cover with a lid until sprouts are wilted.
Turn off the heat and sprinkle with sesame oil and  stir well. 
Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds before serving.

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Summer Cucumber Kimchi (Oi Kimchi)
Ingredients
1 bag of mini cucumbers (from Costco)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons oligosaccharide
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon minced jalapeno

Directions
Wash cucumber and drain water and cut it into 8 pieces.
Put them it in a bowl and sprinkle with kosher salt and mix well.
Let them sit for 15 minutes and rinse and drain quickly.
Mix cucumber, fish sauce, minced garlic, jalapeno and oligosaccharide.
Put it in a container and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours then keep in the refrigerator.
Serve it cold.

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