Kimchi and Links

I just realised that I almost finished off Korean week without describing my home-made Kimchi!

The Food of Korea, says, “A man can live without his wife, but cannot live without Kimchi”, and according to David Lebovitz Koreans would be ashamed to buy Kimchi, so it would be a travesty not to include it in a week of Korean food. (I’m not attesting to the truth of either of those statements, just repeating them).

Kimchi is a dish of fermented vegetables with chilli, garlic and leek. It seems that in Australia it is most commonly made with cabbage and daikon radish, although i understand from my reading that it can be made with other ingredients.

To make kimchi you first soak the cabbage, then mix it with the other ingredients and set it to ferment in a jar or pot for a few days.

My home-made kimchi

I used a recipe I found here.

So, how did it turn out? It was fermented, and spicy, and a bit sour. I’ve never had kimchi before, so I don’t know how it stacked up to the real thing, but I thought it was pretty tasty. We had some in the Bibimbap yesterday, and I’m sure I’ll figure out something to do with the rest.

Links

Before I head off to discover a new part of the world, I thought I’d leave you with a few links for vegan-korean things. And don’t forget, you can always visit your local library for recipes and much more!

Happy Cow has a list of restaurants (for those lucky enough to actually go to Korea)

Vegetarian in Korea – a blog

Spice Island Vegan has posted some Korean recipes

Happy cooking vegan kitchen travellers.

Next week: Azerbijan!

Bibimbap and the terrible tea

Yesterday was the last day of Vegan Korean food week. We ended it on what I suppose you could call a high note, but one that went squeaky and sharp at the end. Like a child practicing playing the recorder.

Lunch was Bibimbap. Vegan bibimbap, of course. It was delicious, if I do say so myself, and was made from my very own recipe, which I’ll share below. What wasn’t so delicious was the Ginseng tea.

According to my sources, Ginseng is the number one exported product out of Korea, and a staple ingredient in Korean cooking. I have tried it before, but only in the hyper-westernized tea-bags, or flavoured ‘energy’ drinks. I’d never gone to the source before, and bought the real thing.

The recipe I had called for 50g of dried ginseng root, and four dried jujubes, and a large pot of water, boiled for 4 hours. I followed it to the letter, and I was expecting big things- after all, this was the same book I’d folowed blindly to make the persimmon tea, pumpkin porridge, and barbecued seitan, and that had all been delightful. What could go wrong?

The witch's brew

At the end of the specified time, I drained it and I added the specified amount of sugar. It looked like tea, it had the aroma of tea, but what did it taste like?

I took a sip and to my surprise… it tasted exactly like ear-wax. I’m not kidding. It was foul, horrible, disgusting stuff. And it wasn’t even amusing, like the Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans in Harry Potter. To check I hadn’t somehow inexplicably gotten real ear-wax on the spoon (that’s how uncannily ear-waxy it tasted), i tried another spoon. But alas, the evil flavour remained. So, I got Mr to try it, to ensure it wasn’t just some individual sensory glitch. He made the same faces and used the same curse words that I had.

Apparently, the ginseng tea just wasn’t to be. I don’t whether an inferior ginseng root, a bad recipe, a cooking mistake, or simply our unrefined palates are to blame. I mean no disrespect to either he North or South Koreans (and I will certainly try it again, if I ever come across it being made by someone in the know) but it was just awful.

Has anyone else tried ginseng tea made this way? Is it usually good?

Well, shaking off that unfortunate experience, its time for the vegan bibimbap recipe.

Vegan Bibimbap Recipe

makes enough for two.

150g firm tofu

2 cups cooked brown rice (1 cup uncooked)

3 tbs soy sauce

3 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp beef-flavoured stock powder

2 tbs chilli paste (korean if you can find it- I couldn’t)

2 tbsp sesame seeds

2 tbsp shredded dried nori (laver)

1/4 of one large carrot

1/4 of one small daikon

6 spinach leaves

5 shiitake mushrooms

2 small bunches of enoki mushrooms

2 oyster mushrooms

3 tbs bean sprouts

1/2 small cucumber

4x5cm piece red capsicum (bell pepper)

2 tbsp kimchi

Tofu

Rice

1. Cook the rice

2. Chop all vegetables (except enokis and bean sprouts) into thin match sticks, about 4cmlong. Chop tofu into cubes.
3. Heat a small amount of sesame oil in a wok, and briefly stir fry each vegetable at a time (i.e. carrots in, carrots out, then spinach in). Add a little salt to the mushrooms, and a little soy sauce to the spinach.When each vegetable is cooked, setitaside on a warm plate. Do not cook the bean sprouts of cucumber.
4. Heat remaining oil in the wok and add the tofu. Cook on high stirring constantly, and add the remaining soy sauce and the beef stock powder. Fry until heated through.
5. Divide the tofu into two bowls.
6. Cover the tofu with the rice, and shape into a mound.
7. Sprinkle the sesmae seeds and nori onto the rice, and add spoonfulls of the chilli.
8. Arrange the vegetables in bunches on the rice, creating a wheel-effect.
9. Spoon the kimchi into the middle of the wheel and serve.

Vegan Bibimbap!

Disaster strikes, but turns out yum

The aim for last night was to attempt the Traditional Pancake Rolls, or Milssam, and Pumpkin porridge, with Persimmon Tea, Persimmon sherbet, and Barbequed beef. I had made a plan, I had all the ingredients, I had a clean kitchen to start with and I was in my element- this was going to be good.

I started with the Persimmon Sherbet, or Yeonci. Re-reading the recipe, I realised I didn’t have the required freezing horsepower to turn a whole persimmon into ice before dinner, so instead I peeled and belnded it, and stuck it in the freezer in a plastic container.

I then moved to the tea, and realised that I had again mis-read the recipe and had bought fresh rather than dried persimmon… ah well, how different can it be, right? So on with the tea, fresh chopped persimmons and all. At least I got to throw in some of my newly-procured jujubes.

I then moved on to the seasoning the beef-flavoured seitan and some tempeh to make the barbecued beef. No worries here, at least. I cooked the pumpkin for the porridge, again, no issues. For the pancake rolls, I managed to get the vegetables julliened without a hitch.. things are beginning to go well. I made the batter, no worries there, and then preceeded to heat the wok.

I poured in the stated amount of batter, fried the pancake, began to lift it and bam! pancake crumbles. That’s ok, I say to myself, the first one never works out, we’ll try again. So I pour in the next spoonful, fry one side, lift it up… and no joy. It tears, it crumbles, it falls apart. Okay, third time’s the charm right? Wrong. The third one was the worst. It wouldn’t swirl, it got all thick in the middle, and then it just stuck to the bottom of the pan and no amount of coaxing would get it off.

So I left off for a while, stuck the evidence in the compost, and fried up the ‘beef’. I, rather nervously as I just couldn’t imagine it working, added the rice flour to the pumpkin mixture. Inspiration struck, and I wrapped the intended pancake filling in some rice paper rolls, and served the lot with some rice noodles. Mr made the mustard lemon sauce, being drawn to the kitchen by the sounds of and impending tantrum.

We ate the lot with the persimmon tea (which was wonderful), and followed it up with the pureed frozen persimmon and some vanilla soy ice-cream.

In the end all was well. I loved the ‘beef’, and the rice-paper-cum-pancake rolls were great, especially with the lemon mustard sauce. The pumpkin porridge, which I had been suspicious of from the start, was fantastic- much better than either of us imagined. My noodles (I made them up on the night) were a good fit with the other flavours, and Mr loved the persimmon sherbet. Me, not so much, I didn’t like the flavour of the persimmon, but otherwise it was yum.

So, without further ado, I have some photos, and my recipe for fresh-flavoured noodles to go with the tempeh and seitan.

Dinner on the box table

Tempeh, seitan and noodles

Surprisingly yummy pumpkin porridge

Yummy mustard sauce in my favourite tea cup, and rice paper rolls

Persimmon Tea - so good

Sweet Noodles

1 packet glass noodles

4 tbs chopped corriander

1 nashi pear, diced (small)

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbs raw sugar

2 tbs lime juice

3 tbsp sesame seeds

Cook the noodles in some water, as per packet instructions, drain and set aside.

Chop the pear and corriander.

Add the rest of ingredients to a large frying pan, add noodles and stir until completely mixed. Serve warm.

The first Korean Supper

I’m happy to report that my first night of Korean cooking went fabulously!

I chose Pine Mushroom Skewers, two Namul (carrot and greens), Noodle Soup with Vegetables, Vegetables and Bean Curd in Bean Paste, and rice.

These were all out of the book, so I wont repeat the recipes here. I will, however, include some food porn photos and a description of my vegan adjustments.

Namul and Songi Sanjeok

I had to substitute the pine mushrooms with king oyster mushrooms, as I just couldn’t find the former anywhere in Melbourne. Okay, anywhere in Preston,which was as far as I was willing to travel. It looked a little messy, but it tasted fantastic. There was also an attempt at vegetable sculpting, but it didn’t go that well.

Kalguksu

This cloudy looking number is Kalguksu, or vegetable noodle soup. To veganise, I added some mock abalone instead of the small clams called for in the recipe, and Massell beef-flavoured stock powder. It was really good, very tasty, and great with the sauce (a sesame, soy and ginger combination).

Doenjang jjigae

The main was a Tofu and vegetable stew, with pumpkin, shiitake and other mushrooms.  Worried that it would be too hot for Mr, I only used about half the chilli in the recipe, but ended up wishing I’d used it all, and we added some chilli sauce at the table.

I threw in the rest of the mock abalone and beef-flavoured seitan instead of the real stuff, and left out the clams. Otherwise I followed it to the letter, including making the stock from scratch, and to good results, although it wasn’t as tasty as I’d hoped.

All together

We laid it all out on our improvised box table (we don’t have room for a real one) and ate it with rice. Korean’s eat all the foods in one course, not religating soups to starters.

It was fun to cook so many dishes at once, something I’m not used to. However next time I will try to remember to make a little less if we are going to eat so many dishes in one meal! We were so full we could hardly make it to the main, and there was a lot left over for the next day.

Stay tuned for tomorrow and pancake rolls.

The food of the hermits in fairyland

I have been reading the book (The food of Korea) and apparently the title of this post is the english translation of Shinseolo, a royal delicacy in Korea. I’m not gonna lie, it made me giggle.

Unfortunately I won’t be cooking up fairy hermit food, as I don’t have the required implements- the recipe calls for a special hot-pot with a chimney. I will however, be tackling a number of the recipes in the book, such as:

• Songi Sanjeok (Skewered Pine Mushrooms)
• Milssam (Traditional Pancake Rolls) with mustard lemon sauce
• Hobakjuk (Pumpkin Porridge)
• Namul (side dishes of vegetables)
• Kimchi (Fermented Cabbage)
• Doenjang Jjigae (Vegetables and Beancurd Simmered in Bean Paste)
• Bulgogi (Barbecued Seasoned Beef)
• Kalguksu (Noodle Soup with Vegetables)
• Dolsot Bibimbap (Pot Rice with fried beef and vegetables)
• Yeonci (Persimmon Sherbet)
• Sujeonggwa (Persimmon Tea)
• Insam-Cha (Ginseng Tea)

Of course the plan is that I will be substituting tofu, seitan, and tempeh for any beef, chicken or eggs in each dish.

I have taken a trip to my local ‘asian’ grocery store, and have brought home a veritable bounty! Nashi pears, dried jujubes, ginseng root, chinese cabbage, rice noodles, assorted mushrooms (although not pine ones, couldn’t find them), mock abalone, beef-flavoured seitan, and lots of spring onions. Yum! can’t wait to start.

Introducing Korea

The first country will be Korea. This is because I had 10 minutes to use the library before it closed, and pulled cook books off the shelf at random, until I found one with enough pictures to satisfy me.

There it is! borrowed from skateboard.about.com

The Basics

Korea, as most people know, is actually two countries: the Republic of Korea (South Korea), and the Democratice People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea). Most often, South Korea is referred to only as ‘Korea’ and the DPRK is referred to as ‘North Korea’.

The Korean Peninsula is located north-east of China. North Korea shares borders with China, South Korea, and a small stretch of border with Russia, and is situated between the Sea of Japan and Korea Bay. South Korea shares a border only with North Korea, and sits between the Yellow Sea and Sea of Japan.

The two countries have been divided since the end of the second world war, when North and South Korea were occupied by the Soviet Union and United States of America respectively. The stated goal at that time was to unify eventually, however this did not occur, and the division was made permanent as a result of the Korean War (1950-1953). They are separated by a demilitarized zone. (This is a very simplistic overview, for more information, look it up, or head to your local library).

South Korea

Population of South Korea: Aprrox. 50Million

Demographics: The vast majority of South Koreans are of Korean descent.

Capital City: Seoul (approx 1 in 5 South Korean’s live here).

South Korea is a Capitalist Democracy

Human rights: Came 115th out of 134 cutries in the Global Gender Gap report 2009 (not very good).

North Korea

Population of North Korea: Aprrox. 24 million

Demographics: The vast majority of North Koreans are of Korean descent.

Capital City: Pyonyang

North Korea is a Stalinist/Totalitarian Communist state

Human rights: Amnesty International and Human Rights watch have both placed North Korea among the worst states in terms of human rights.

The Food

I have used a number of net-based sources and the links are below. The book I borrowed from my local library this week is “The Food of Korea, Authentic Recipes from the land of the morning calm”, by David Clive Price, the Chefs of the Shilla Hotel, Seoul, and photos by Masano Kawana.

The Book

Korean food consists mainly of rice, soups, stews and vegetable dishes, and of course, Kimchi.

There are no designated breakfast foods, and all meals seem to be similar: rice, soup, and many side dishes.

Kimchi is fermented vegetables (cabbage and radish, among others) with chilli and garlic. I have tried to make some, and I’ll post the results later.

Pansang is the usual meal of steamed rice, soup and side dishes.

Changkuksang is the main dish, and it is arranged with kimchi, cold greens, mixed vegetables, pan-fried dishes, confectionary, fruit and fruit punch.  This simple meal can be served as lunch as well.

Ingredients that are used in Korean cooking include ginseng, daikon radish, chinese cabbage, jujubes (red dates), bellflower root, asian pear (nashi), bamboo shoots, white short grain rice, ginger, garlic, cucumber, kelp, gochu (chilli), leek (different than the western version), spring onion, pine nuts, persimmon and sesame, along with a number of meats, fish, other sea creatures and vegetables.

So, here we go. I’ve picked out a bunch of recipes, and I’m off to butcher veganise them.

Sources/ places to get more Korea information

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/north-korea

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/korea.html

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2792.htm

http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/korea/food.htm

http://www.foodbycountry.com/Kazakhstan-to-South-Africa/Korea.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea#Demographics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea