National Post (National Edition)
Modern Korean fare designed for the Western kitchen.
FEAST ON L.A.-STYLE KALBI AND KIMCHEE SLAW AS OLYMPICS WIND DOWN
‘Korean food is that ‘kapow’ in the mouth,” author Kim Sunée says with a laugh. “It has such bold flavours — there’s nothing subtle about it.”
In her third book, Everyday Korean, Sunée and coauthor Seung Hee Lee illustrate how they incorporate Korean flavours into daily cooking. They offer original interpretations of traditional dishes, and creative uses of leftovers.
Inspired by their respective travels and dishes they’ve enjoyed together, these are the foods they like to cook and eat. Leftover kimchee fried rice becomes arancini (Sicilian fried rice balls). And scraps of roasted salmon with gochujang (fermented chili paste) mayo become a savoury Dutch baby.
“It’s a thrifty cuisine — you can reuse a lot of your banchan and make (excellent) leftovers,” Sunée says, referring to the Korean table’s trademark small side dishes and condiments. “It’s aesthetically very beautiful but it’s also hearty and rustic.”
Fragrant notes of chili — central to “Korean mother sauce” gochujang and gochugaru (chili powder) — bring depth to dishes but not unbearable heat, Sunée emphasizes. “It’s not necessarily always spicy. I think that’s one of the misconceptions,” she adds.
Many of the recipes in the book are based on Lee’s family favourites “but with a modern twist using fresh, seasonal ingredients.”
Lee — a cooking instructor and epidemiologist in Atlanta, Ga. — was born and raised in South Korea. A nutrition expert, she also studied Korean royal court cuisine with an emphasis on cultural preservation and adapting historic recipes for today’s kitchens.
In some ways, Everyday Korean was a decade in the making. Born in South Korea, Sunée was brought up by her adoptive family in the Southern United States. The co-authors met in 2008, during Sunée’s book tour for the Korean edition of her memoir, Trail of Crumbs. Lee was her interpreter but the two quickly bonded over a shared love of food.
Having grown up in a different food culture, Sunée writes that while fascinated by Korean cuisine, she found the idea of cooking it intimidating. She now regularly cooks with ingredients from the Korean pan try and makes dishes from the book several times a week.
“It’s been rewarding to be able to recreate these dishes that I tasted and fell in love with in Korea,” Sunée says.
“Seung Hee and I wanted to honour this cuisine and culture that is becoming more and more popular. … We wanted to encourage the home cook to get in the kitchen—get hands on and try it — and make it their own.”
L.A.-STYLE KALBI
❚ Makes: 10 servings
❚ 10 lb (4.5 kg) beef short ribs, cut laterally to about 1⁄4‑inch (6‑mm) thickness
❚ 5cups (1.25L )water
❚ 2 cups (500 mL) reduced‑ sodium soy sauce, plus more if needed
❚1⁄4 cup (50 mL) fish sauce or reduced‑ sodium soy sauce
❚ 1 tbsp (15 mL) aged soy sauce
❚ 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) brown sugar, plus more if needed
❚ 1/2cup (50mL) mirin
❚ 1/2 cup (50 mL) grated Asian pear, or 1 kiwi, grated
❚ 1/3 cup (75 mL) grated or minced garlic
❚ 2 yellow onions, sliced into thick rings
❚ 8 green onions, cut into 4 pieces each
❚ One 2‑inch (5‑cm) piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into chunks
❚ 1 tbsp (15 mL) freshly ground black pepper
❚ 2 tbsp (30 mL) toasted sesa‑ me oil
For serving lettuce leaves, perilla leaves (see note), fresh warm tortillas, salsa, and warm cooked rice
1. Rinse the short ribs under a thin stream of cool water to remove any bone fragments. Let theme at drain ina colan der. Do not soak theme at in water. Layer paper towels on top of every 3 or 4 pieces of meat to absorb blood from the bones. Thoroughly pat dry each strip of meat. Using back of a cleaver or meat tenderizer, pound out theme at, going against the grain.
2. Place the water, soy sauce, fish sauce, aged soy sauce, brown sugar, mirin, pear, and garlic in a large bowl, preferably with a lid (or use a large, heavy-duty resealable plastic bag). Mix well. Do not add the sesame oil at this time. Stir (or shake the sealed bag) well so that the sugar dissolves. Add the onion rings, green onions, ginger, and pepper. Taste the sauce and add more soy sauce or sugar, as needed.
3. Add the pounded ribs, one at a time, making sure the marinade covers both sides of the meat. Add the sesame oil. Seal well and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 24. Be careful not to marina te longer than 24 hours, otherwise the blood will drain from the bones and ruin the marinade.
4. Remove theme at and discard the marina de( alternatively, reserve and reduce the marinade in a saucepan over medium heat to use as a glaze).
5. Heat a charcoal or electric grill to about 500°F (260°C). Cook the meat for 2 minutes on one side, then turn and cook for another minute or soon the other side, or until charred and crisp around the edges. Cook to your preference, just like bacon; some like it crispy, some like it chewy. We think the best bits are right around the bone, so to truly enjoy this part, crispy is better to ensure that the fat renders out completely. This is best cooked on a grill but can be pan-fried, then heated under a broiler (8 to 10 minutes, checking and turning every 2 minutes) to mimic the char from a grill.
6. Serve with lettuce leaves, perilla leaves, fresh warm tortillas, and warm cooked rice.
❚ Note: Find fragrant and sturdy perilla leaves (a.k.a. wild sesame leaf or kenip) at Korean grocery stores.
KIMCHEE SLAW
We take breaking pop culture news and piece it back together at nationalpost. com/arts
It’s a thrifty cuisine – you can reuse a lot of your banchan and make leftovers. It’s esthetically very beautiful but it’s also hearty and rustic.
— Kim Sunée, on Korean food
❚ Makes: 2.4 L
❚ 1⁄4cup (50mL) gochugaru (Korean chili powder)
❚ 2 tbsp (30 mL) fish sauce, low‑sodium soy sauce, or ta‑ mari
❚ 2 tbsp (30 mL) granulated sugar
❚ 3 tbsp (45 mL) rice vinegar or cider vinegar
❚ 1 1/2 tbsp (22 mL) minced garlic
❚ 1 tsp (5 mL) minced fresh ginger
❚ 1/2 grated large Asian pear or apple, or 1 tbsp (15 mL) light corn syrup
❚ About 10 leaves napa cab‑ bage, from 1 head, starting from the outer layer, rinsed
❚ 1 cup (250 mL) daikon or red radish
❚ 1 cup (250 mL) green onion, thinly sliced crosswise
❚ 1 cup (250 mL) chopped fresh cilantro
❚ Optional garnishes: 1⁄4
cup (50 mL) toasted sesame seeds, 1⁄4 cup (50 mL) pom‑ egranate arils
Place the gochugaru, fish sauce, sugar, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and Asian pear in a large bowl. Mix well to form a wet paste. Pat dry then a pa cabbage and slice about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick; add to the paste. Cut the radish into thin julienne and add to the cabbage mixture. Toss well to combine. Fold in the green onion and cilantro. Garnish, if desired, with the sesame seeds and pomegranate arils.
GREEN ONION AND SEAFOOD PANCAKES
❚ Haemul Pajeon
❚ Makes: 4 servings as an appetizer
❚ 3 cups (750 mL) loosely packed green onions, or com‑ bination of green onions and chives
❚ 1 cup plus 1 tbsp (265 mL) all‑purpose flour ❚ 1cup (250mL) water
❚ 1 large egg
❚ 1 tsp (5 mL) fish sauce, or 1/2 tsp (2 mL) fine sea salt
❚ Neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed, duck fat, or beef tallow, for pan‑frying
❚ 1 pint (473 mL) fresh raw oysters, drained, or fresh raw shrimp or bay scallops (op‑ tional)
❚ 1 to 2 red or green chilies, cut into thin slices (optional)
❚ For serving: Soy‑Vinegar Dipping Sauce (recipe fol‑ lows) or Gochujang Vinai‑ grette (recipe follows)
1. Wash, trim, and pat dry the green onions. Cut into 2-inch-long (5-cm-long) pieces and then into thin matchsticks; place in a large bowl. Add the flour, water, egg, and fish sauce. Mix gently just to combine, preferably using your hands to carefully incorporate the ingredients and to not overwork the batter.
2. Heat about 11/2 tablespoons (22 mL) of the oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat; the oil should dance and sizzle. Scoop one-half of the batter into the very hot skillet and press down with the back of a spoon or spatula to make an even pancake. If the pancake is steaming and not sizzling, increase the heat and add another drop of oil. If adding seafood and chilies, lightly dust them with flour (as they’ll adhere better to the pancake) and then stud the pancake with them. When the bottom turns golden brown, about 4 minutes, flip and press gently with the spatula. Lower or increase the heat depending on whether they are browning too quickly or not sizzling enough. Cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, until crispy around the edges and golden all over. Transfer to a wire cooling rack or wooden cutting board and let cool slightly.
SOY-VINEGAR DIPPING SAUCE
❚ Cho‑ganjang
❚ Makes: 1/2 cup (125 mL)
❚ 1⁄4 cup (50 mL) low‑sodium soysauce
❚ 1⁄4 cup (50 mL) rice vinegar or cider vinegar
❚ 1 tbsp (15 mL) granulated sugar
❚ 1 tbsp (15 mL) finely chopped green onion
❚ 1 tsp (5 mL) gochugaru (Ko‑ rean chili powder; optional)
❚ 1 tsp (5 mL) toasted sesame oil (optional)
❚ Optional garnish toasted sesame seeds
Place the soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar in a mediumsize bowl; stir to combine. Add any optional ingredients, if desired, sprinkling with toasted sesame seeds just before serving. Serve in a bowl with a small spoon for easy serving, or in individual sauce bowls and use as needed.
❚ Variation: Quick and easy version: Combine soy sauce with balsamic vinegar in a 1:1 ratio.
GOCHUJANG VINAIGRETTE
❚ Cho‑gochujang
❚ Makes: about 1 1/2 cups (375 mL)
❚ 1/2 cup (125 mL) gochujang ( fermented red chili paste)
❚ 1/2 cup (125 mL) rice vin‑ egar or cider vinegar
❚ 11/2tbsp (22mL) freshlem‑ on juice
❚ 1⁄4cup (50mL) granulated sugar
❚ 1 tbsp (15 mL) minced garlic
❚ 1 tbsp (15 mL) minced green onion
❚ 1 tbsp (15 mL) toasted sesa‑ me seeds
Place all the ingredients in a small bowl; stir well to combine, incorporating the gochujang by pressing with the back of a spoon against the side of the bowl. The consistency should be similar to that of a thick syrup. Can be stored, in an airtight container, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Gochujang absorbs liquid, so it may thicken over time; simply stir in some warm water or fresh lemon juice to loosen it up.
Recipes excerpted from Everyday Korean: Fresh, Modern Recipes for Home Cooks by Kim Sunée and Seung Hee Lee, by permission of Countryman Press.