In cold weather, I love eating mandoo (만두), Korean dumplings. This recipe is for jjinmandoo (찐만두), steamed dumplings with kimchi, tofu, and mung bean sprouts inside. Lunar New Year is approaching on January 31st, on which Koreans traditionally eat tteogkuk (떡국), to which dumplings are commonly added. I've added a recipe for tteogkuk below.
Make your own kimchi (김치)! Kimchi, fermented napa cabbage, is Korea's national dish. Traditionally, it was stored in a jar and allowed to ferment underground. You can find kimchi in stores, but it usually has shrimp paste or fish sauce in it. This recipe is relatively simple and easy to do yourself. You can eat kimchi as a side dish, and it's also used in a variety of dishes like kimchi stew (김치찌개; kimchi jjigae) or kimchi fried rice (김치볶음밥; kimchi bokkeumbap). You can find Korean chile powder, essential for this dish, at a Korean grocery store. Check to make sure it is from Korea.
My favorite Korean side dish is buchujeon (부추전), a savory pancake featuring buchu (부추) or Chinese chives. Buchu tastes more like garlic than chives and has flat, thin leaves. It is also used to make buchu kimchi.
Before the summer weather is over, I wanted to share my favorite dish to eat in summer, dotorimuk muchim (도토리묵무침), seasoned acorn jelly. The acorn jelly is traditionally made from acorns gathered from oak trees in mountain forests. The actual process for hulling the acorns is pretty difficult.
Now, you can buy acorn starch at Asian supermarkets, which you can make into acorn jelly. Be careful with the amount of water you put in and the cooking time. If there's too much water in the acorn jelly after it solidifies, it's slightly mushy and bitter tasting.
For every birthday in my family, we always eat japchae (잡채), a dish made from sweet potato noodles. It is usually served at special occasions. While it is sometimes served with beef, japchae originated as a vegetarian dish. The name includes the characters jap (잡) meaning "mixed" and chae (채) meaning "vegetables" (the same character in the title of this blog). Thus, japchae literally means "mixed vegetables."
The current version of this dish includes sweet potato noodles and usually has mushrooms, spinach, and carrots. You can find sweet potato noodles at most Asian supermarkets, or you can serve this dish without the noodles, just make sure to reduce the seasonings or add more vegetables to balance out the flavors.
