Kalbi Jjim – Korean Braised Short Ribs with Radish and Carrots

October 16, 2011 § 4 Comments

Dear Korean Food,

I love you.

Love,

Stephanie

Kalbi jjim, galbi jjim, any way they’re spelled, these Korean-style braised short ribs are perfect. With only just a few ingredients and around two hours, you will end up with a foolproof, delicious, and impressive meal. This entry is for you my little Bobo 🙂 And thank you, chapster, for all of your help.

Notes:

1. When reserving the beef broth, make sure you discard all the foam and impurities in the broth.

2. Make sure you rinse the ribs really well and drain fully to get most of the tiny bone fragments out.

3. Cook covered for the first hour and half, on medium low heat, and then after you add the vegetables, uncover and cook on medium high heat for the last thirty minutes to reduce some of the sauce.

4. Many people like putting potatoes in, and up to a couple years ago, so did I! But, I found that the broth is much cleaner, light, and more consomme-esque without potatoes but for a heartier meal, feel free to put some in.

Kalbi Jjim Recipe – Korean braised short rib

Ingredients

  • 5-6 lbs thick English-cut short rib, also called “Beef short rib for soup”
  • 8 cups boiling water
  • 3/4 cup of soy sauce
  • 7 tbsp brown sugar
  • 6 tbsp mirin rice wine
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 16 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 1/ tsp black pepper
  • 1 large onion or 2 medium onions, sliced thinly
  • ~2 cups Korean radish (moo), cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 3-4 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces

Directions

  1. Soak beef ribs in a big bowl, submerged in cold water for 1 hour. Rinse and drain a few times.
  2. Boil 6 cups of water in a big pot, and add the ribs when the water is boiling. Bring to a rapid boil for 10 minutes, and you will see lots of foam and impurities come out. Take off the heat, and then reserve around 4-6 cups of the broth and discard the foam and impurities and fat.
  3. While the beef is boiling, mix the marinade ingredients together in a bowl: soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine, sesame oil, garlic, sesame seeds, and black pepper.
  4. Wash the pot well and put the semi-cooked short ribs back to the pot. Turn heat to medium high and add the marinade to the beef, and 4-6 (if you like more sauce, then add the full 6-cups, if you like it more braised and less saucy, 4 cups) cups of the beef broth. Bring to a boil, and then cover and reduce the heat to medium low for an hour and a half, at least (2 hours is better).
  5. Prepare your vegetables, wash and peel the radish and carrots and onions. (My dogs were begging me for some carrot pieces and how could I refuse those cute little faces?) After the beef has been simmering, add the vegetables and mix well into the pot. Keep the pot uncovered and bring the temperature up to medium high and boil for 30 minutes. The liquid should reduce a bit.
  6. Serve with hot rice! Enjoy!

Basil Fried Rice with Beef

October 3, 2011 § Leave a comment

I have been on a Thai-kick lately! I mean, really, what’s more satisfying than a plate of spicy, delicious, rice/noodles/curry?

I used my creative thinking cap the other day to come up with this dish. Do you ever feel strangely proud when you’re able to use your imagination, past the age of 10? I remember when I was little, I could literally spend hours creating this magical world with my friends or by myself, and only recently realized that it is much harder than it seems! Whenever I babysit or look after little kids and they ask to play or tell them a story, I start getting a little nervous because nothing seems quite as cool or fun as the stories I used to make up. So HUGE kudos to the parents and nannies that have to do it every day. 🙂

Notes:

1. You don’t have to use an expensive cut of beef. I think the one I used was just chuck/stew meat, but the KEY THING IS to cut it as thinly as possible AGAINST THE GRAIN.  Then it’ll be nice and tender and easy to chew. To make it easier to slice, you can freeze the beef a little for 1 hour before use.

2. I like a lot of egg in my fried rice, but if you don’t like it as much, you can cut down the number of eggs.

3. Depending on how spicy you like your rice, adjust the hot chili peppers accordingly. I put 3 in, with the seeds, but it wasn’t spicy at all! I think next time I will put in 5.

4. Use day-old rice, preferably chilled. It will be easier to mix.

Basil Fried Rice with Beef Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb chuck stew meat, sliced thinly against the grain
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 6 cloves of garlic, minced finely
  • 3-5 jalapeno peppers, sliced thinly
  • 1/2 onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Golden Mountain seasoning sauce (or substitute 1 tablespoon soy sauce)
  • 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 4-5 cups of day-old cooked rice
  • 1 cup of loosely packed basil leaves, rinsed
  • 2-3 eggs, scrambled with 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • Sriracha *optional

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a large wok on medium heat. Add garlic and chili peppers and cook until fragrant and lightly browned, about 30 seconds.  Add onions. Cook 30 seconds.
  2. Increase heat to high. Add the beef, and stir until it is well mixed with the garlic, onions, and chili peppers. Then add the fish sauce, seasoning sauce, black pepper and oyster sauce, and cook until beef is cooked through, about 3-5 minutes.
  3. After the beef is cooked through, add the rice and break apart clumps and incorporate well into the beef and onions.
  4. Scramble the eggs in a separate saucepan and mix into the rice after they are just-cooked through.
  5. After the rice is well mixed and hot, turn off the stove and immediately add your basil leaves. Mix well, and serve! Enjoy. You can add sriracha on top if it’s not that spicy.

Bulgogi (불고기 Korean Marinated BBQ Beef)

September 9, 2011 § Leave a comment

This is probably one of the most popular Korean dishes and one of the easiest to make.

1. Probably best to marinate for at least 1 hour, overnight is ideal but 1 hour will still be pretty delicious.

2. This can completely be vegetarian-friendly if you make the sauce for some mushrooms, onions, cabbage, whatever vegetables you’d like, and then grill the same way! I like to marinate some of my onions in the sauce. Another quick and easy snack, served with rice!

3. This can be great for a jungol as well, please see my other post!

Stephanie’s Bulgogi Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2.5 – 3 lbs of thinly sliced rib-eye or beef brisket
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 10-15 minced garlic cloves (around 3 heaping tablespoons)
  • 1/4 cup mirin (rice wine)
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
  • 3-4 green onions, minced
  • 2 onions, sliced thinly
  • 1 carrot, sliced thinly at an angle * optional
  • mushrooms, sliced thinly * optional
  • 2 hot green peppers, sliced thinly * optional

Directions

  1. Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl and taste. If you like your sauces a little sweeter, add a little more honey or sugar to your liking.
  2. Add your beef, onions, and green onion. Toss gently to combine with your hands, that’s the best way. Add other veggies if wanted.
  3. Marinate for at least one hour (up to overnight), and then grill and cook until the beef is cooked through. (Only a few minutes.)
  4. Serve with rice and some kimchi, the best combination.
  5. Enjoy!!

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

April 30, 2011 § 2 Comments

I have been waiting to make this for 40 days.

This recipe is a shout-out to my most darling friend of Taiwanese-descent, Ellen. Superspy.

Notes:

1. Only put two star anise, because even if you think it’s not enough, those little suckers are STRONG. And delicious. But just put two, you don’t want to overpower your soup.

2. I didn’t make my own noodles, but one day I will.  Until then, kalgooksoo noodles (jja jang myun noodles) are totally sufficient.

3. I couldn’t find Chili Bean sauce in the grocery store, so I used Chili Black Bean Sauce.  I hope I didn’t make a cardinal error that is an affront to this noodle’s tradition, but it tasted really good!

4. If you can’t find rock sugar, I think it would be fine.  It just looks pretty cool.

5. Ideally you want to boil until the meat has fallen off the bone and your marrow-bones look bare, see below. (That means all the FLAVOR is in your broth! Mmmmm)

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup
Serves 4
Adapted from TinyUrbanKitchen

3 lbs Beef Shank
2 T vegetable oil
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch chunk of ginger, chopped
2 star anise
2 scallion stalks, chopped
2 1/2 T Chili black bean sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 carrots, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1/4 cup rice wine
1/4 cup rock sugar

8 baby bok-choy, split in half and washed well

2 bunches of fresh hand-pulled noodles
hot sauce

Directions

Soak beef shank pieces in hot water for about 5 minutes. Drain dirty water, rinse beef shanks, and set aside. Over medium high heat saute garlic, ginger, scallions, and star anise in vegetable oil until fragrant. Add beef shank and chili bean sauce and saute for a few minutes, until the beef is slightly browned. Add soy sauce and cook for 2 minutes. Add carrots, tomatoes, rice wine, and rock sugar. Add water until everything is just covered. Bring to medium high heat and then reduce to a simmer and cover for 2-4 hours, or until the beef is fall-apart tender. You may need to add water because of evaporation, so please keep a close eye on it! (Optional* Add hot sauce to taste.) Remove meat and let it cool, and then slice carefully against the grain when it is cool enough to handle.  Reserve.

In a separate pot, boil water.  Add bok-choy and boil for 3 minutes, and then immediately submerge in cold water.  Drain, and put aside.

In another large pot, boil water for the noodles.  Boil the noodles according to directions on the package, mine were no longer than four minutes.

In your serving bowl, add the drained noodles.  Add bok-choy on top, and then a few slices of meat (around 5-6 per bowl is good).  Enjoy!

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