Korean Cooking Ingredients

Recently I am into watching Korean drama craze whereby it makes it curious and keen to learn some of their basic homecook dishes shown in the drama such as Kimchi Stew(김치 찌개), Spicy Korean Instant Ramen, and Japchae(잡채) and etc. So without hesitate, I loot back quite a number of Korean ingredients home and start off with my Korean Cooking Project(recipes HERE).

Some of these Korean Ingredients can be easily purchased at local supermarkets such as Cold Storage, Fairprice, Fairprice Extra/Finest as well as Seoul Mart(location HERE).

KIMCHI

김치

Kimchi(김치)also known as gimchi or kimchee is a traditional fermented Korean dish made of vegetables with a variety of seasonings. It was originally developed as a way to preserve the vitamins and minerals in vegetables over the long winter.

Kimchi is the most common banchan(or side dish) in Korean cuisine and it can also be used a main ingredient for many popular Korean dishes such as Kimchi Stew(kimchi jjigae - 김치찌개), Kimchi Soup (kimchiguk - 김칫국) and Kimchi Fried Rice(kimchi bokkeumbap - 김치볶음밥).

Kimchi Tofu Soup (김치순두부찌개)	Kimbap - 김밥

GOCHUJANG

고추장

Gochujang(고추장) is a savory and pungent fermented Korean condiment made from red chili, glutinous rice, fermented soybeans and salt.Gochujang is widely used in all kinds of Korean food to give them their signature taste. It also act as important ingredient in bibimbap, tteokbokki (rice cakes in hot sauce), gochujang stew, and bibimguksu (noodles with vegetables and gochujang) which makes the dishes spicier but some how or rather it also sweeten the final product.

Korean Spicy Chicken (매운 닭 날개)	Gochujang Chicken Stew 닭도리탕

KOREAN RICE CAKE

Tteok (떡)

Tteok(떡)or also commonly known as "ddeock" is a classic Korean rice cakes made with glutinous rice flour and steaming method. There are many different ways and ingredients used when it coming to this traditional Korean dish. And in Korea it is customary to eat tteok guk(tteok soup) on New Year's Day and sweet tteok at weddings and on birthdays.

For your information, you can find two different types of Korean Rice Cakes which is either oblong in shaped or slices for different type of cooking purpose.

TOPOKKI HOT SAUCE

떡볶이

With this quick and easy Topokki Hot Sauce(serve 2 - 3) you can easily make authentic Korean Sweet and Spicy Rice Cakes with some side ingredients such as Beef/Chicken/Seafood, Instant Ramen, Fishcake, Napa Cabbage, Hard-boiled Eggs.

Korean Rice Cakes with Ramen Noodles (Rabokki - 라볶이)

KOREAN RAMEN NOODLES

라면

Assorted flavour Korean Instant Ramen/Ramyeon(라면)is a popular instant meal. Korean ramyeon is often known to be hot and spicy as its soup base is usually flavored with chili peppers. You can find different varieties of Korean ramyeon in the supermarkets such as kimchi-flavored, seafood-flavored and beef-flavored. If you want to make your ramyeon more appetising you can add extra ingredients such as dumplings, napa cabbage(大白菜), fishcake, egg and etc too.

Korean Clay Pot Ramyun 韩式泡菜拉面

KOREAN GLASS NOODLE

(Japchae - 잡채)

Japchae(잡채) is a Korean dish made from sweet potato noodles(dangmyeon). The name "japchae" comes from the combination of two Chinese characters, "jap" (which means stirred or mixed) whereas "chae" (means vegetables). So Japchae literally means a mixture of vegetables and it is often stir fried in sesame oil with various vegetables such as thinly sliced carrots, onion, spinach, and mushrooms or sometimes served with beef too. Japchae is most commonly served as a side dish even though it can be a main dish by itself too.

Japchae - 잡채 韩式拌杂菜