Awhile back, the Relief Society of the Suseong Ward approached us about doing some cultural exchanges. Of course we said yes!! They offered to go first by teaching us some fantastic Korean recipes.
First, they taught us "Mother's Sauce" which is a basic sauce that you can use for a lot of Korean dishes like 불고기 (bulgogi) and 잡채 (japchae/chapchae). I've been asking for this recipe for years, but I always got the answer "we just make it..." So, color me excited!
(recipe in pics...)
Next, they showed us how to make 떡볶이 (tteokboke), japchae, and bulgogi. Tteokboke is one of the most popular street foods in Korea. There are tteokboke carts all over the place, but especially where there's a concentration of hagwons (Korean academies or "cram schools"). Tteokboke is to Korean kids what mac & cheese is to American kids! The most common type is made with a hot sauce and 오뎅 (odeng or fish cake), but our awesome sisters taught us how to make a lovely savory Tteokboke with "mother's sauce."
Next came japchae, which is made with glass noodles (made from sweet potato) and a variety of veggies. Japchae is really pretty easy to make:
1-Precook the noodles
2-warm up some oil in a deep frying pan or wok
3-Add the slower to cook veggies first (carrots & onions)
4-Add in the noodles and some of the "mother's sauce" and saute for awhile
5-Push the noodles to the side of the pan and add in meat (or not... depends!)
6-Once the meat is mostly cooked, add in the softer veggies like spinach (can be precooked with sesame oil as well) and mushrooms, as well as some sesame oil, salt, sugar, sauce, whatever else you want to taste.
Finally, they showed us how to make bulgogi. This is the more saucy stuff you get at home. Basically, it's a stir-fry sort of thing with the "mother's sauce." You can marinade the meat beforehand to make it more flavorful. It's absolutely amazing!
We all enjoyed spending time with the Korean sisters and making some new friends. We're already planning for how we can reciprocate (tacos/taco salad came up). If you have ideas, send them our way!
First, they taught us "Mother's Sauce" which is a basic sauce that you can use for a lot of Korean dishes like 불고기 (bulgogi) and 잡채 (japchae/chapchae). I've been asking for this recipe for years, but I always got the answer "we just make it..." So, color me excited!
(recipe in pics...)
Next, they showed us how to make 떡볶이 (tteokboke), japchae, and bulgogi. Tteokboke is one of the most popular street foods in Korea. There are tteokboke carts all over the place, but especially where there's a concentration of hagwons (Korean academies or "cram schools"). Tteokboke is to Korean kids what mac & cheese is to American kids! The most common type is made with a hot sauce and 오뎅 (odeng or fish cake), but our awesome sisters taught us how to make a lovely savory Tteokboke with "mother's sauce."
Next came japchae, which is made with glass noodles (made from sweet potato) and a variety of veggies. Japchae is really pretty easy to make:
1-Precook the noodles
2-warm up some oil in a deep frying pan or wok
3-Add the slower to cook veggies first (carrots & onions)
4-Add in the noodles and some of the "mother's sauce" and saute for awhile
5-Push the noodles to the side of the pan and add in meat (or not... depends!)
6-Once the meat is mostly cooked, add in the softer veggies like spinach (can be precooked with sesame oil as well) and mushrooms, as well as some sesame oil, salt, sugar, sauce, whatever else you want to taste.
Finally, they showed us how to make bulgogi. This is the more saucy stuff you get at home. Basically, it's a stir-fry sort of thing with the "mother's sauce." You can marinade the meat beforehand to make it more flavorful. It's absolutely amazing!
We all enjoyed spending time with the Korean sisters and making some new friends. We're already planning for how we can reciprocate (tacos/taco salad came up). If you have ideas, send them our way!