Kimchi Pancake (Kimchi Jeon)

Kimchi pancakes is another easy dish to whip up easily when you need to make a snack or extra banchan with ingredients you most likely already have.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup pancake mix or flour
1 cup chopped kimchi
1 green chili pepper
1/2 cup icy cold water

1. Slice the chili pepper.

2. Put the kimchi, flour, water in a bowl.

3. Mix it well.

4. Heat some cooking oil in a non stick skillet on medium to high. When the it is hot put a scoop of the pancake mix onto the pan.

5. Use a spatula to spread it into a flat round shape.

6. Place some chili slices onto the pancake.

7. When the bottom is crispy looking, flip it over. Cook until the other side is also crisp. (You might have to add a bit more oil if it's not turning crispy)

Enjoy while it's still warm!

Bo's mom's Kkakdugi

My mom taught us how to make kkakdugi(daikon kimchi) as well. We were making a mess in the kitchen anyway so why not? It's a little bit sharper in taste and the crunchiness makes it so refreshing. One of my favorite kimchis.

Again, just like the  cabbage kimchi, this can be broken down into three steps: salting the veggies, making the seasoning, and seasoning the vegetables.

Part I. Salting the Vegetables

Ingredients:
- 2 firm medium daikon
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/8 cup salt
- 1 T vinegar
- 3/4 T agave syrup

1. Cut the daikon into bite size pieces. A little smaller than 1" is good.

2. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and let everything dissolve.

3. Put the daikon pieces in a large bowl and pour the salt water mixture over it. Mix it around so everything is evenly covered.

4. Let it sit at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours depending. Flip it over with your hands halfway through.

5. It's ready when the saltiness has seeped into the daikon. When it's ready rinse with cold water and let it drain.

Part II. Making the Seasoning

Ingredients:
- 2/3 cups water
- 2/3 T flour
- 1/3 cup minced garlic
- 1/2 T minced ginger
- 3 T Korean fish sauce
- 2 1/2 T red chili powder
- 1 T plum extract
- 1 packet of stevia
- 1 t salt
- 1 bunch of green onions, sliced

1. Like we did with the kimchi, put the water and flour in a small pot and let it simmer on low heat while stirring with a beater until it turns slightly gluey.


2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the glue and mix it well.

Part III. Seasoning the Vegetables

Ingredients:
- Salted daikon
- Seasoning mix
- 1 bunch green onions

1. Add everything to a large bowl and mix with your hands.

2. Put it into a plastic container and cover with plastic wrap so it is not exposed to air. Then put the lid on. Leave it at room temperature for 1 or 1  1/2 days. Taste it every now and then to check if it's ready.
You can tell when it tastes a bit tangy and fermented. When you think it's ready put into fridge.

It's a bit easier to make than regular kimchi. Hope some of you try it out!

Spicy Kimchi Stew (Kimchi Jjigae)

Jjigae means stew in Korean, and is another common dish we constantly crave. Here we make it with kimchi. It's hot and spicy and tangy and makes a bowl of rice disappear in a second.

The secret to kimchi jjigae is using very old kimchi(see kimchi bokkumbap). If you can't get a hold of the old kimchi that is sold, you can just let your kimchi age in your fridge until the cabbage loses its whiteness and turns dark and a bit transparent like the picture below. Taste the kimchi and if its really sour then it's perfect for jjigae.

Ingredients for 2 people:
1 1/2 cups old kimchi cut into small pieces
1 T cooking oil
1 can of tuna packed in water, drained (we think Dongwon brand is best for this dish)
6 dried anchovies and 1 square of dried kelp (Optional)
2 cups water
1 t sugar
1 t red pepper powder
1 T red chilli pepper slices
2 T green onion slices

1. Add anchovies and seaweed in to a pot with water and boil for 5 minutes. Set aside.


2. Heat the oil in a ceramic pot(it's ok to use whatever pot you have) and put in the kimchi slices. Let it fry for 1-2 minutes.


3. Add sugar.


4. Add the red pepper powder and mix it around.


5. Add the anchovy stock to the ceramic pot. Bring to boil then let it simmer for 10 minutes.


6. Add the tuna and let simmer for 5-10 more minutes. Simmer time may vary depending on how thick you like the jjigae to be. The longer you simmer, the richer the taste.


7. Add the green onions and red pepper and simmer for 1 more minute. Put on the table and enjoy!

* Pork version is also delicious and a bit more hearty. Just add 2 ounces of pork belly when you are frying the kimchi and let it cook through. Replace anchovy broth with regular water.

Kimchi Fried Rice (Kimchi Bokkumbap)

This is one of our favorite ways to use old kimchi that's been sitting in the fridge for a while. It's so easy and comforting.

The key is to use kimchi that is a little old because it is more tangy and tastes better when fried. Also important is using rice that is a day old because it has less moisture and gets crispy at the bottom of the pan. If you don't have rice that's a day old, just make rice as usual but use a little less water and stick it in the freezer for 5 minutes to cool.


Also Our favorite brand of Kimchi is "Chongga". We've tried all kinds of brands but this one is by far the best.  The one on the right is regular fresh kimchi which needs at least 10 days to be ready for Kimchi Fried Rice. The one on the left is old fermented Kimchi so it's already ready. This is about $7.99 at a Korean Market.

Ingredients for 4 servings:
4 cups old kimchi, cut into bite size pieces
4 bowls of one day old rice (cold)
2 T cooking oil
1 T butter
1 T red pepper paste (gochujang, sold in Korean markets) - if you don't have it, you can skip it.
1 T sesame oil
Pepper to taste

Garnish:
4 eggs
Sesame seasoned seaweed, crushed (sold in the Asian section of most supermarkets)
Chopped green onions

1.Heat a frying pan on medium and add cooking oil. Then add the kimchi and fry for a few minutes until it is heated through.

2. Add butter and red pepper paste

3. Add the rice. Use a spatula to break it up and mix it around so all the rice is evenly coated in the kimchi and paste.

4. Add sesame oil.

5. Spread the rice evenly on the pan and let it sit for a couple minutes so the bottom turns a little crispy and brown.

6. While the rice is browning, fry up the eggs in a separate pan. We like sunny side up because it looks the nicest. But remember to cover the pan with a lid so the top side cooks and is not too runny.

7. Mix the rice again using the spatula and then put in serving bowls. Top each bowl with a fried egg, crushed seaweed, and a sprinkling of the green onion.

*Variations with more protein: Fry some chopped ham in the pan before adding the kimchi. Or add canned tuna(drained) with the kimchi.