my favorite korean recipes

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I'm a Certified Korean Person, so I'm always cooking Korean food at home. Here are a couple of my favorite recipes!

seaweed soup (미역국)

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Seaweed soup is a traditional birthday meal (though you shouldn't have it if you have an exam the next day!). It's one of my favorites, and always tastes like home.

ingredients

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• dried seaweed
  • NOT the roasted/seasoned stuff, you want the straight-up seaweed
  • something like this
• a good amount of beef
  • almost any cut will do, but you probably want something that's good for soup like sirloin (my personal recommendation) or chuck
  • Korean grocery stores often have pre-cut meat specifically labeled for soup
• salt
• soy sauce
  • probably you want Korean soy sauce, I am partial to this particular brand
  • some people use soup soy sauce, but I don't really like it
• sesame oil
• minced garlic
• your choice of cooking oil (optional)

instructions

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1. Rinse a SMALL amount of seaweed in running water, then leave it to soak in a large bowl of water.
   • Make sure that it is a SMALL amount. The seaweed will expand something like 5-10x once soaked. A good rule of thumb is to measure out ~20% of the amount of beef you have, by volume.
2. Cut up the beef into bite-size pieces.
   • Option: you can soak the beef in water (with or without salt) to get the "blood water" out. I am not sure if this does anything, but my mom does it, so it's probably legit.
3. Make a marinade by up soy sauce, some salt, sesame oil, and minced garlic. Put the meat in it and let it rest for some amount of time (the longer the better, but the lower bound is something like 5 minutes).
   • The amounts here are something like "enough soy sauce to generously coat all the pieces of meat if you mix things up" and one pinch of salt, one spoonful of sesame oil, and one spoonful of minced garlic per 250g (~0.5lb) of meat.
4. Squeeze the water out of the seaweed. Stir-fry the seaweed and marinated beef together at the bottom of a pot (medium-high heat, I guess?).
   • You can use cooking oil or sesame oil for stir-frying. If you use sesame oil, keep in mind that it has a relatively low smoke point.
5. Once the surface of the beef pieces is cooked, add enough water to cover everything in the pot. Turn up the heat until the water boils.
6. When the water is boiling, turn the heat down to ~low-medium heat and keep boiling for 30-60 minutes. Add water as needed.
   • You can probably get away with 15 minutes, but it won't taste as good.
7. Add salt to taste.
8. Done! Serve with a dash of sesame oil.

beef and radish soup (소고기무국)

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One time, I was asked the following: if I was about to be executed, what would I want my last meal to be? The answer is beef and radish soup. I love this stuff.

ingredients

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• a good amount of beef
  • same deal as seaweed soup
• salt
• soy sauce
  • same deal as seaweed soup
• sesame oil
• minced garlic
• Korean radish
  • aim for a radish to beef ratio of 3:2 ish
  • daikon will probably work? but I make no promises
• yellow or white onion
  • I doubt red onion would work, but you can try. it will make the soup ugly, though
• your choice of cooking oil (optional)

instructions

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1. Cut up the beef into bite-size pieces.
   • Option: you can soak the beef in water (with or without salt) to get the "blood water" out. I am not sure if this does anything, but my mom does it, so it's probably legit.
2. Make a marinade by up soy sauce, some salt, sesame oil, and minced garlic. Put the meat in it and let it rest for some amount of time (the longer the better, but the lower bound is something like 5 minutes).
   • The amounts here are something like "enough soy sauce to generously coat all the pieces of meat if you mix things up" and one pinch of salt, one spoonful of sesame oil, and one spoonful of minced garlic per 250g (~0.5lb) of meat.
3. Peel the radish and onion, then cut into chunky pieces.
   • I like to cut the radish into discs ~0.5cm thick, then cut the discs into quarters.
4. Stir-fry vegetables and meat together.
   • You can use cooking oil or sesame oil for stir-frying. If you use sesame oil, keep in mind that it has a relatively low smoke point.
5. Once the surface of the beef pieces is cooked, add enough water to cover everything in the pot. Turn up the heat until the water boils.
6. When the water is boiling, turn the heat down to ~low-medium heat and keep boiling for 30-60 minutes. Add water as needed.
   • You can probably get away with 15 minutes, but it won't taste as good.
7. Add salt to taste.
8. Done!

microwave steamed egg (계란찜)

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My favorite "instant" meal, microwave steamed egg takes like 5 minutes to make and is impossible to get wrong. I converted many college friends to this way of making eggs, and they all still make it to this day.

ingredients

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• eggs
• water
• salt

instructions

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1. In a microwave-safe bowl, beat the eggs until yolks and whites are fully combined.
2. Add water in 1:1 ratio with the egg. Add some salt, then stir up the mixture.
3. Microwave for 1-2 minutes per egg (until the egg is not runny).
   • The exact time will depend on the microwave and the amount of water. I find it's best to do 1 minute per egg, then add 1 minute increments as needed.
4. Done!

korean braised ribs (갈비찜)

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Unfortunately, English does not have a word for 찜 and I have a sneaking suspicion that "braised" is the wrong word. But whatever, the dish is yummy and you should try it.

ingredients

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• beef short ribs
  • you want them cut into chunks; I think this is called the English style cut
• soy sauce
  • same deal as seaweed soup
• salt
• sugar
• black pepper
• minced garlic
• carrot
• potato
• yellow or white onion
• green onion (optional)

instructions

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1. Optional: Soak the beef in water for ~30-60 minutes. You can add salt to the water if you like.
2. Mix up the soy sauce, sugar, black pepper, and minced garlic to make a marinade.
   • Rough amounts: enough soy sauce to generously coat the beef pieces if you mix things up, about half that amount (by volume) in sugar, and a pinch of black pepper + spoonful of minced garlic for every 250g of beef.
3. Put the marinade on the beef, making sure that all the surfaces are covered, and let it sit for ~15-30 minutes (you could do longer if you wanted).
   • You might want to occasionally rotate the pieces so the marinade gets in deeper.
4. While the beef sits, peel and cut the carrots, potatoes, and onion.
   • The total amount of vegetables doesn't matter too much (up to your taste), but you want the pieces themselves to be pretty chunky. Make them similar sizes if you can.
5. Pan fry the marinated beef and onion together.
   • Try to get all the faces of the beef pieces; cook them long enough so that the sugar caramelizes.
6. Put the beef and onion into a large pot. Add just enough water so that everything is covered, then turn the heat up and wait for it to boil.
7. Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down (to like low-medium/medium) and add the vegetables. Put the lid on the pot, and wait for 30-60 minutes.
   • Taste as you go. If it's too bland, wait for the water to boil down a bit more. If it's too salty, add water or sugar to balance it out.
8. Once the meat is cooked through, turn the heat off and salt to taste.
9. Done! Add cut green onion on top as a garnish, then serve.