Seaweed Salad (Miyuk Muchim)

This seaweed salad is a great little appetizer or side dish for when you want to eat light. We looked at the ingredients and it looks like there are no calories! Anyway, it was such a warm and beautiful Saturday afternoon we pretended we were camping and made this dish outside. 

Ingredients:
- 2 small handfuls of dried seaweed (can be bought in most Asian markets)
- 1 small cucumber or 1/2 a large one
- 2 T rice vinegar
- 1 T sugar
- 1/2 T red chili powder
- 1 T lemon juice
- 1/3 T minced garlic
- Sesame seeds and lemon slice for garnish

1. Put the dried seaweed in water and let soak for 10-15 minutes or according to the package instructions.

2. Slice the cucumbers into matchsticks.

3. Drain the seaweed and squeeze lightly.

4. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl to make the sauce.

5. Pour the sauce into a mixing bowl with the seaweed and cucmber.

6. Mix it around with your hand, Korean mom style.

7. Put on a serving dish and garnish with some sesame seeds and a slice of lemon.

Fish Cake Soup (Odeng Tang)

Now that the weather is cooling down and we have been getting a few chilly nights, we thought it was time to introduce one of our favorite comfort soups. We remember ducking into cozy bars on cold winter nights and ordering this soup to go with little glasses of rice wine. If you have the ingredients it won't take you more than 15 minutes to make this.

Ingredients:
- 5 dried anchovies
- 2" slice of daikon
- 2" square of dried seaweed
- 150g fish cake
- 1 T dark soy sauce (soy sauce used for soups, can be found in Korean supermarkets)
- 2 T sliced green onion
- Soy sauce and wasabi for dipping sauce

1. Put the seaweed and daikon into 5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add anchovies and boil for another 1-2 minutes. Lower heat and take out the anchovies.

2. Slice the fish cake into 2" pieces.

3. Put them into the broth and let it come back to a boil. Then let it simmer for a couple minutes.

4. Add the dark soy sauce and stir it in for another minute. Taste the soup and add a little more soy sauce if it is bland.

5.  Turn off the heat and put in the green onions.

6. Serve with a little bit of soy sauce and wasabi for dipping the fish cake.

Korean Style Omelet (Gaeran Mari)

'Gaeran Mari', which literally means egg roll in Korean is another easy side dish you can make with ingredients you already have in your fridge. It's so comforting and nostalgic, I love having this with any kind of kimchi dish. The rolling part might be tricky at first but you will get used to it with practice.

Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- 2 T minced carrot
- 2 T minced onion
- 2 T thinly sliced green onion
- 1/2 t salt
- 1 T water

1. Beat the eggs in a bowl then mix in the remaining ingredients.

2. Heat some oil in a pan on medium heat. Here we are using a square omelet pan. If you don't have a square one, just use a small round pan.

3. When the oil is hot pour in the egg mixture.

4. When the egg is halfway done start the roll by folding over a small section on one side.

5. Using a spatula pull the folded part back to the edge.

6. Repeat this until all the egg is rolled up. You may need to use 2 spatulas.

7. Pat the finished roll with the spatula to get it into a nice shape and let it cool down for a minute.

8. Use a sharp knife to slice.

9. Put on a plate and serve. We especially like it with kimchi jjigae.

Pan Fried Zucchini Slices (Aehobak Jun)

This is a go to recipe for when you are in a pinch and don't have enough side dishes for a meal, or you just want a comforting snack. It's basically foolproof because in our opinion zucchini is delicious cooked in any way.

Ingredients:
- 1 Korean zucchini (you can substitue with other types of zucchini)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/2 cup flour
- Dipping sauce (1T soy sauce, 1t rice vinegar, 1/2 t red chili powder, sesame seeds)

1. Slice the zucchini into 1/4" slices.

2. Beat the eggs with the salt and heat up frying pan with a bit of oil.

3. Dredge the zucchini slices in the flour.

4. Dip into egg.

5. Put on the hot pan. Repeat steps 3-5 for each slice.

6. Flip in a couple minutes when the bottoms are golden brown.

7. Enjoy with the dipping sauce.

Spicy Cold Noodles on Platter (Jengban Mak Guksu)

Sorry for the absence of posts. There were a few distractions these past couple weeks but we are back!
It's technically not summer anymore and this recipe might be too late for some of you living up north..but we decided to share anyway.

In Korea when it is really hot and muggy in the summer your appetite goes away and it's hard to think about eating anything. That's when we eat a dish like this. It's cold, sweet and spicy and will bring you and your taste buds back to life on a hot afternoon.

Ingredients for 2 portions:
- 2 portions of Korean white noodles (package says Somyun, or you can substitute with the buckwheat noodles often used for cold Japanese soba)
- Cucumber, carrots, cabbage, sesame leaves, mugwort cut into matchstick size (you can use pretty much any veggies you like that are sitting in your fridge)
- 2 hardboiled eggs, sliced
- Sauce: 4T red chili paste, 3T rice vinegar, 1T sugar, 1/2 t plum extract, 1 T minced garlic, 1/2 t red chili powder(only if you really like it spicy), 1t lemon juice, 1 t sesame seeds
- 1 T sesame oil
- 2 T shredded dried seasoned seaweed for garnish

1. Mix all the sauce ingredients and set aside.

2. Add the noodles to a pot of boiling water. When it comes back to a boil add one cup of cold water. When it comes back to boil again the noodles should be done.

3. Rinse with cold water and drain.

4. Arrange the sliced veggies and eggs around a large platter. Place the noodles in the center and pour the sauce on top. Garnish with seaweed. This is how it should be presented at the table. (This is when everyone will start salivating!)

5. Add the sesame oil and mix everything together with chopsticks.

6. Serve into individual bowls.


It was a pretty big platter of noodles, but apparently not big enough. Went really well with the leftover rose wine that Jeana had.

Nakzi Village in Korea town

We went to Nakzi Village in Korea town for dinner with a bunch of our friends. (Many of our non Korean friends are obsessed with this place!) We love to go there because it's delicious, you get really full and it's cheap.

낙지마을 Nakzi Village
(213) 380-8382
Koreatown
4177 W. 3rd St.
Los Angeles, CA 90020

The octopus pancake is our favorite appetizer to order. So good with cold beer or sake!

This restaurant is famous for their grilled octopus. Their portions are big so order the small size for 3-4 people. Also if you can't eat spicy food, make sure to order "mild". Their "Medium spicy" is spicy!

This is the best part of the meal. After you finish the octopus, they make fried rice using the left over sauce. It's soooooooo good. I usually take the left over fried rice for the next day lunch.

Stir Fried Dried Cuttlefish (Ojinguh Chae Bokkeum)

A staple side dish in most Korean kitchens and lunchboxes. Takes less than 5 minutes to make and will stay good for a long time. Adjust the amount of red chili paste and sugar depending on how spicy and sweet you like it.

Ingredients:
- 2 cups of dried cuttlefish strips
- 1T vegetable oil
- red chili paste
- 3T water
- 1/2 T rice wine
- 1/2 T soy sauce
- 1/2 T plum extract (optional, but it will taste better with it)
- 1 TKorean cooking syrup (agave works too)
- 1T sesame oil
- sesame seeds

1. Mix the oil, red chili paste, soy sauce, rice wine, cooking syrup, and plum extract in a frying pan and bring to simmer on low.

2. Add the cuttlefish strips and mix until everything is evenly covered. Let it heat for another couple minutes or so.

3. Add sesame oil and sesame seeds and mix around.

And you're finished, literally under 5 minutes! It's good warm or cold.