Posts Tagged: cooking

Vegan Napa Cabbage Kimchi

On September 9, 2025 by admin With 0 Comments - Cooking

This is a tested recipe for anyone who does not eat meat, anyone with shrimp allergies or anyone who does not like the fishy taste of fish sauce. Once this recipe ferments, you will have a tasty vegan kimchi that you can use just like any other kimchi. It is a variation on a cut kimchi recipe that I posted previously. If you are interested in making a kimchi with all the seafood included or if you are interested in more information about kimchi in general, you can find that by clicking here.

Ingredients

  • 1 large (2kg) Napa Cabbage
  • 80 grams/3oz (around 1/2 cup) Diamond Kosher Crystal salt for brining
  • up to 2 Tablespoons kosher salt for seasoning (not for brining…save this for later)
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 275ml (1 1/2 cups) water
  • 1/4 cup rice flour
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar or maesil plum syrup
  • 1/2 cup peeled garlic cloves (around 20)
  • 1 tablespoon ginger peeled and sliced
  • 1 white onion peeled and chopped
  • 1 asian pear or apple peeled and chopped
  • 1/4 up to 1 cup (30-120 grams) korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
  • 2 bunches (12 or so) green onions sliced
  • 1 cup carrot matchsticks
  • 1 cup korean radish matchsticks

Try to weigh your salt rather than measuring by cups. Diamond Kosher is a popular salt in my area. If you live in the US, you may be using Morton’s. This salt is much saltier by the cup. Same goes for sea salt if this is what you are using. Whichever salt you use, it is better to weigh it. Avoid using table salt.

Rice flour/rice powder is just finely ground sweet rice. Mochiko is a popular brand but any brand will work.

Korean chili flakes are all very different from batch to batch. Some are mild and fruity and some are sharp and very spicy. It is better to start with less, taste, and then add more if you want it spicier.

Process

Cabbage preparation

Quarter the cabbage and chop off the stalks.
Slice into big-bite-sized pieces.
In a large container, rinse the cut cabbage in fresh cold water.
Drain it for a few minutes before salting.

Brining

In a container large enough to hold all the cabbage, salt the cabbage in layers and mix it up well by hand. Use all 80 grams of kosher salt for brining but hold back the extra 2 tablespoons for seasoning until later. This is the brining stage. This will take about two hours. Mix the cabbage by hand every 30 minutes or so. Try to move the leaves from the bottom to the top. The cabbage will wilt and produce a good amount of water.

Making the kimchi paste

While the cabbage is brining, make the kimchi paste:

Combine the water and rice flour in a pot over medium high heat. Stir constantly until the slurry get very thick and starts bubbling a little. Afterwards, set it aside until it cools to room temperature.
Peel and chop ginger, asian pear (or apple), onion and garlic. Place them in a food processor and mix into a uniform sauce.
While it is running, add the soy sauce.
It should look something like this when it is done. If you don’t want to use a food processor or blender, you can also chop these ingredients by hand. It does not have to be this smooth.
Add maesil plum syrup or white sugar to your cooled rice flour slurry. I am using maesil plum syrup because I have it on hand but white sugar works just as well.
Mix in the sauce from the food processor.
Add in the chili flakes. Start with a small amount, taste it and then add more if you want more spice. You can taste and add more now or later in the process. Chili flakes can be mild or very spicy so it’s hard to give a fixed amount to use. Depends on your preferences and the chilis you have. As long as you like the flavour, you have done it right.
Mix well and give it a taste to judge the heat levels.
Cut the carrot and the Korean radish into matchsticks. I used this Japanese Benriner brand veggie slicer but you can use a knife instead. They don’t need to be perfectly uniform. Slice the green parts of the green onions into 1-2cm pieces.
Combine the veggies and paste.
Mix well, let it sit for a few minutes, and taste it again. This is a good time to adjust the spice level AND the salt level. If you think that the paste is a little bland, season with small amounts of salt until you like the flavour. In a regular kimchi recipe, brined baby shrimp and fish sauce add a large amount of salt. Because we have left them out, we have to bring up the salt level a little in other ways. The soy sauce will do some of the work, but you will probably need to add a little salt here as well. I ended up using around 2 tablespoons but you do not have to use this much. It better to put less now and add some later on, even days later. Once it is too salty, it is nearly impossible to fix.
The kimchi paste is done. Once the cabbage has finished it’s 2 hour brine, these will get combined.

Put it all together

Once the 2 hour salting time is up, wash the cabbage 2 or 3 times in fresh cold water.
Put it into a strainer and allow it to drain completely. This can take 10-15 minutes. Wait until no more water is running out of the bottom of the strainer.
Cabbage and paste can meet.
Mix them together and taste it again. Adjust salt and chili if you think it is necessary. If it tastes ok, you are done!
I am using a stoneware onggi jar to ferment this batch of kimchi. I have them around the house so this is what I usually use. Mason jars or a glass storage container can work just as well. You can also use plastic containers but keep in mind that they will probably always smell like kimchi after you have used them. Whichever container you choose, make sure to leave the lids loose so that fermentation gasses can escape.
Leave your container at room temperature until the kimchi is fermented to your liking. This could be as little as overnight or as long as several days depending on the temperature of the room. Taste it a couple of times per day. When the kimchi is nearly as sour as you like, store it in the fridge to slow down the fermentation. If you prefer fresh crisp kimchi, you can refrigerate it right away.

Now what?

For ideas on what to do with your kimchi take a look at this post.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. I am always happy to hear from you.

Thanks for reading!

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Seolleongtang

On August 28, 2025 by admin With 0 Comments - Cooking

Seolleongtang is the first meal I ever ate in Korea. After a 15 hour flight and a long train ride, I finally arrived at my Insa-dong hotel sore, exhausted and hungry. The closest restaurant was directly behind the hotel, attached to the parking lot. This unassuming restaurant turned out to be one of the oldest in Seoul: Imun Seolleongtang. I had a big hot bowl of this plain milky beef soup and within an hour I felt completely refreshed. This simple soup seemed to erase my body’s memory of being crushed in an economy seat for the last 15 hours. It was like magic.

Since then, I have been back to Korea many times and I always start and finish my travels with this simple meal. Imun Seolleongtang has since received Michelin recognition and so it is busier (and more expensive) than ever with lots of tourists coming in to snap photos for instagram and tiktok. The staff seem to take it in stride, brisk and efficient, though maybe somewhat less friendly than I remember nearly 10 years ago. Also gone is the sloppy bucket of juicy and chunky kkadugi in the middle of the table and the big basket of chopped green onion. These now arrive in less bottomless portions after you order. But, even though some things have changed, the food is still as delicious as I remember and I still go to Imun as well as another smaller family run Seollongtang restaurant nearby.

Homemade seolleongtang

Seolleongtang always seemed kind of mysterious to me. Where did that milky colour come from? How was this simple soup so nutty and delicious? It arrives at the table completely bland and unseasoned but the addition of a little salt and pepper, kimchi juice and green onion turns it into something deep and complex and unforgettable.

Like a good food detective, I decided to launch a full investigation. After much reading and video watching, I discovered that the secret is really in the style of beef stock, in the process rather than the ingredients. The recipe below is a two-part process. First you will need to make the milky bone broth. Once you have this broth on hand, turning it into finished seolleongtang is a very simple and quick process. You can find the complete recipe for the beef bone broth by clicking here.

Ingredients

*this is for one big portion or 2 smaller portions

  • 1 litre Korean milky beef bone broth
  • 250gr beef brisket point
  • cooked white rice
  • cooked somyeon/somen noodles
  • 2-3 green onions (scallions)
  • salt and pepper

I used brisket point. You can use any beef you like. Tougher cuts will take longer to soften up and more tender cuts will take less time. I like brisket because it is somewhere in between. It has the deep beef flavour of a tougher muscle but is slightly more tender so takes a little less time to cook. If you like, you can soak the meat in water for a few hours to remove some of the blood but, this is optional.

Process

raw seolleongtang ingredients
Raw ingredients. This is leftover rice from yesterday. I am cooking a whole portion of noodles but probably will not use them all in here.
sliced brisket point
Slice beef into thin bite-sized pieces. Note: if you are making seolleongtang and the bone broth on the same day, you can cook the uncut chunk of meat directly in the broth and slice it after it is cooked. Either way will work. I think that slicing the meat first and then cooking might give it a slightly drier texture but I don’t think it makes that much difference in the end.
cooking somen noodles
In a seperate pot, precook your somyeon according to the directions on the package. The ones I am using take around 3 minutes.
Drain the noodles and rinse them with cool water.
Warm up the beef broth.
Add in slices of meat. Cover the pot and simmer the meat in the broth until it is as tender as you like. I let this brisket go for about 30 minutes.
Add noodles. You can put as many noodles as you like.
assembling finished seolleongtang
Scoop in some rice. You can also serve a bowl of fresh rice on the side. I usually end up putting most of it in the soup anyways so I will add it now.
While the above ingredients are warming through, slice up some green onions.
Once everything is warmed through, it is ready to go. Serve it with kimchi, salt, pepper and green onion on the side. As you add salt, you will notice that the bland broth suddenly comes alive with rich nutty sweet and beefy flavour. Add some pepper if you like. You can also add in some kimchi juice if you want to give it a little spice or acid. This is usually served with a juicy kkakdugi and this radish kimchi is a perfect accompaniment to this dish. Some time ago, I made a batch of watery kkakduki to eat with seolleongtang but I ate it all before I got around to cooking this. Cabbage kimchi is also good. You can find the kkakdugi recipe by clicking here. This doesn’t look too impressive at the table does it?
All the good stuff is hiding in the milky broth.
a look at the finished and seasoned soup

The verdict?

This turned out to be very very good. Maybe 4 out of 5 stars. One star off because, as good as it is, it doesn’t quite measure up to the flavour of Imun Seolleongtang in Seoul. But, honestly, I can say the same thing about all Korean food made outside of Korea. There is always a little something missing when you make these dishes yourself or, eat them in restaurants back home. I think a big part of this is the high quality of ingredients in Korea but, there is also generational knowledge and experience that adds flavour to these dishes and makes the magic hard to replicate. Imun Seolleongtang has been making this same dish for over 100 years and legend has it that the same stock pot has been continuously boiling fresh bones every day for the whole time!

Having said that, I am really happy with the way this turned out and I feel just as refreshed after eating a big hot bowl of this flavourful soup. 시원하다!

If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the space below. Thanks for reading!

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Beef Bone Broth Version 2: Hard and Fast

On August 26, 2025 by admin With 0 Comments - Cooking

Korean Beef Bone Broth vs Western Versions (hard and fast vs low and slow)

Some time ago, I posted a recipe for beef bone broth (stock) that involves a very long cooking time at a very gentle simmer (click here for this low and slow version). The result is a mostly clear, brownish, meaty and gelatinous stock. This is most often what chefs make in a western kitchen…it will typically be used as a soup or sauce base.

This recipe is almost identical in ingredients and process. The main difference is that this recipe cooks at a harder rolling boil for a shorter time. Even though the steps are almost identical, this small change results in a completely different stock. This one is just as gelatinous but, it is a silky opaque white colour with a nutty and delicate flavour. This stock is a base for dishes like mandu-guk (dumpling soup) or seolleongtang in a Korean kitchen. And, I think this is the version that most people think of when looking for “beef bone broth”.

Ingredients

  • 4kg (almost 9lb) beef marrow and knuckle bones cut into pieces.
  • 1.2kg (around 2.5lb) cow foot cut into pieces
  • water

The Korean grocer in my neighbourhood usually has beef bones already cut up and frozen in bags ready to go. If you don’t have access to something like this, any butcher should be able to sell you beef bones for stock. A separate Halal butcher in the neighbourhood stocks frozen cow feet which he chops up for me on his meat saw. Cow foot adds gelatine to your stock which will give it a rich mouthfeel. If you can’t get cow feet, you can leave it out and substitute more bones.

The weights above are a guideline. You can make this as big as the biggest pot you have to hold the bones. I have a 12 litre stockpot and this is a good amount for me. The ratio of bone to cow foot does not have to be exact but I wouldn’t use more than 20-25% foot to bone.

There is no salt in this recipe. Season the stocks as you use it, depending on the dish you are preparing.

Process

This recipe is a slightly abbreviated version of the slow-and-low stock recipe. The process and ingredients are almost exactly the same so I have left out a few of the more obvious photos. If you want more detail on any step, just reference the recipe at this link.

Wash and soak bones

beef bones soaking in water
Rinse the bones and cover them with cold water. You can see the hip bones on the left and cow foot on the right. You don’t have to separate them. I kept them separate so that you can see what each looks like. Soak them for a minimum of 6 hours or so. Better still, cover them and leave them in the fridge overnight. If you have time, change the water every few hours (this is optional).
After soaking, blood and other impurities will leach out into the water and it will be noticeably red. Pour all the water off and rinse the bones a few times.
beef bones after soaking
After soaking, the bones will look more pale pink than red.

Blanching the bones

Place all the bones in a stockpot that has enough room for the bones plus a few centimetres of water plus some extra room for boiling. I am using a 12L pot here.
raft of blood from blanching of bones
Bring the water up to a full rolling boil and let it go for around 5 minutes. During this time, any remaining blood will leach out of the bones and coagulate into a brownish floating mass on top.
rinsing bones in sink
After 5 minutes of boiling, dump the bones and the dirty water and give all the bones a good rinse with fresh cold water. Wash your stockpot too.

Making the stock

Add bones back to the clean pot, cover with fresh cold water. Bring the heat up until the water comes to a steady roll. This shouldn’t be boiling at full speed but the water should be actively rolling all over the surface.
This is what a good medium rolling boil looks like. This is critical to the success of this stock. With the stock rapidly moving, some fats, collagen and proteins will emulsify with the water. This is what gives this stock it’s characteristic white colour and nutty flavour. Make sure the stock is moving well without boiling over.
boiling the beef bone broth
Boil the stock uncovered for around 8 hours (more is ok if you have the time). It will evaporate pretty quickly so every hour or so, add back enough boiling water to keep the water level up. I boil a full kettle of water to top it up. If you use cold water, the stock will most likely stop boiling and it will take time and attention to bring back up.
An hour or so in and you will notice that the stock is becoming milky. This is a great sign.
It is so opaque that even in a shallow spoon, you can’t see through it.

After 8 hours or so…

Remove the bones from the stock and strain the liquid.

bones strained out of broth
If you look at these bones compared to the bones from the other recipe, you can see that these bones still have some life in them. At this point, you have the option to put the bones back in the pot, cover them with fresh water and repeat this whole process. After another few hours you will get a second stock that is a little thinner and milder in flavour. In pro kitchens, we call this “remi”, short for “remoulade” in French (basically means reboil). Once this is done, you have the option of having 2 separate stocks, one richer, one more mild OR you can choose to blend them together for something in between.
These bits of connective tissue and marrow were strained out of the finished stock. Everything here is edible. If I were making seolleongtang today, I would use them in the soup. If you don’t like eating this kind of thing, just discard with the bones.
Here is the finished stock in a small glass beaker. It is thick and milky.
Cool your stock in a sink or ice bath until it is room temp or below. Refrigerate overnight.
removing fat layer from finished bone broth
Once the stock is cool, remove the hard layer of fat from the top. This is pure clean beef fat. You can use it for frying and it stores for a long time in the fridge or freezer. Optional, of course.
You can see here that the stock itself is nearly as white as the fat layer.
Good solid jiggle…cow foot adds a lot of bounce to a stock.
At fridge temperature, I can easily stand a spoon up in the stock. It is that firm. The colour is just beautiful.
broth prepared for freezing
I usually portion my stock into yogurt containers, cover with plastic wrap and lids and freeze it. The yield from this recipe was around 6 litres of rich delicious milky beef bone broth. If you reboiled the bones, you would have twice as much. Unfortunately I didn’t have time or freezer space today. Next time for sure!

What to do with your bone broth (stock)

This is the essential milky base for Korean soups like seolleongtang (click here for recipe), doganitang or mandu guk. However, you can also use it as a base for almost any soup where you want good body and deep beef flavour. You can even drink it as is or add just a bit of cooked rice and chopped green onion for the simplest, easiest to digest, healthy and protein rich meal.

If you have any questions or comments or if I spelled Seolleongtang wrong, please let me know in the space below.

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Jeow Bong

On August 10, 2025 by admin With 2 Comments - Cooking

What is it?

Jeow bong (or jaew bong) is a Lao chili paste used as a dip or seasoning. It is powerful and complex: full of strong aromatics and potent citrus and fruit flavours, all tied together with fermented fish sauce.

One summer at the restaurant we had a food runner who’s mom was from Laos. We became pretty good friends and her family ended up visiting for a meal a few times. I had fun preparing interesting veggie dishes (off menu) for her vegetarian dad and sister.

Afterwards, on more than one occasion, her mom sent me homemade Lao beef jerky and other little snacks. One time I even got a full dinner-set of larp, sticky rice, sides and, of course, jeow bong! This was my first experience with Lao food and I was hooked.

Sometime before our food runner left to go to university, she brought me my own bamboo sticky rice steamer and pot set with a couple of little rice baskets. This was such a thoughtful gift and I use them often. Thanks Tounie, Émilie and famille Desrosiers!

Jeow bong recipe:

First let me say that I am no expert at Lao cooking. I have learned to make a few dishes because I like them so much but I am still an amateur. When I looked around the internet for recipes, I found many different recipes for jeow bong. I pulled from a few of them, combining ingredients that I can easily get in my neighbourhood. Many recipes include pig skin as an ingredient but I left it out of this recipe only because I didn’t have time to pick it up. This recipe turned out very well without it but next time I may try with pork included.

Ingredients

  • 10 cloves garlic
  • 4 medium shallots
  • around 25 grams fresh galangal (one thumb-size chunk)
  • 20 grams dried chilis
  • 60ml (1/4 cup) of water
  • olive oil for frying (1-2 tablespoons)
  • 30ml (2 tablespoons) fish sauce
  • 6 kaffir lime leaves
  • 25 grams tamarind paste (a little less than 2 tablespoons)
  • 1 teaspoon MSG or Aji-no-moto (same thing, different name)
  • 1 tablespoon palm sugar (or use regular white sugar)

Process

jeow bong ingredients
Raw ingredients. If you enjoy labeled diagrams as much as I do, check out this post.
chopped shallots and garlic
Slice shallots and garlic into uniform smaller pieces…this will help them to brown and cook evenly and will make them easier to crush with a mortar and pestle.
chopped galangal and kaffir lime leaves
Slice galangal into smaller pieces, rough chop lime leaves (you don’t have to do this but it keeps them from bouncing out of the mortar).
grating palm sugar
Shave palm sugar…you can probably just cut off a tablespoon-sized chunk if you don’t have a rasp.
In a hot dry pan, toast the shallots and garlic. Keep them moving.
heating shallots and garlic in dry pan
When they start to get brown and soften up a little, they are done.
heating galangal and lime leaves in dry pan
Dry roast galangal and lime leaves. These don’t need to brown. Just heat them until they are very aromatic. Use your nose. It is ok if the leaves char just a little. Galangal looks like ginger and I guess it shares a little of the flavour but…it has a much sweeter fruity aroma. I think it smells kind of like pink bubblegum when you warm it up.
roasting chilis in dry pan
Roast chilis until they become dark and smokey. A few charred patches are ok.
all aromatics pictured with stone mortar and pestle for making jeow bong
Now these will get processed by hand with this stone mortar and pestle. I think most people probably use a food processor instead but I wanted to try it this traditional way. It was more work that I thought!
scissors cutting chilis to smaller size
Start with the chilies. I snip mine into smaller pieces with scissors first. This way they don’t bounce out of the mortar so easily when you are grinding them.
chilis after grinding in mortar
Grind and pound them into a rough powder.
galangal and lime leaf grinding in mortar
Add galangal and kaffir lime leaves.
Pound and grind these into a rough paste. This takes a considerable amount of time and muscle. I was surprised.
Repeat this process with the shallots and garlic…pound..grind..pound…grind.
adding garlic and shallots to mortar and grinding into paste
This looks good to me. This is much rougher than would come out of a food processor (or a jar) but, I like the rustic look and once you cook it out everything relaxes into a nice soft paste.
Heat oil in a heavy pan.
cooking paste from mortar in pan
Add all of the paste from the mortar and warm it through.
Add the fish sauce, palm sugar, MSG, tamarind and water.
cooking paste while reducing liquid
Cook over medium heat stirring often.
finished jeow bong in pan
Once it cooks down to a sticky paste, it is done. Remove from heat and cool it down.
cooling jeow bong
Finished product! This is definitely chunkier than you would get if you bought it in a jar. But, it is delicious and easy to eat. Addictive! Personally, I like this rustic homemade look out of the mortar and pestle. If you want something perfectly smooth, use a food processor instead.

Now what?

Store the paste in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

You can use your jeow bong as a dip for meats or veggies or mix it into stir fried dishes. Or, try swiping a little onto a ball of warm sticky rice and popping it into your mouth. This is my favourite way to eat it.

Go easy with this stuff. It is surprisingly powerful!

If you have any comments or questions (or cooking advice), please feel free to leave them below.

Thanks for reading : )

Cold Chickpea Salad

On June 10, 2025 by admin With 0 Comments - Cooking

This is a recipe for a cold chickpea salad base. You can eat it just as it is here. It is delicious. But, you can also add just about anything you like to make the recipe suit your personal tastes. If you want to eat it over a few days, it is easy to add different ingredients to change it up. The ingredients I am including in this basic version can sit for a few days in the oil and vinegar dressing without degrading.

When I was little, especially in summer, there was always some kind of homemade cold salad in the fridge. Potato salad, pasta salad, egg salad… My new-Canadian parents refused to use air conditioning (or the dishwasher haha) so it was always nice to have something ice cold to snack on in the hot and humid weather! This recipe is the latest variation and I ate it at mom’s house recently.

Chickpeas are a great source of cheap protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals. And they taste great!

Ingredients:

  • 400gr (2 cups) dry chickpeas
  • 1/2 red onion small dice
  • 1 red pepper small dice
  • 3 green onions (scallions) sliced
  • 1 carrot
  • 2 cloves of garlic minced
  • 2 Tablespoons hot chillies in oil (or chopped fresh chillies)
  • 2 Tablespoons diced dill pickles
  • 90-100ml (6 tablespoons) olive oil
  • 45-50ml (3 tablespoons) vinegar
  • 1-2 teaspoons salt
  • 1-2 teaspoons black pepper

I am using dry chickpeas because I like the flavour and texture. Soaking and cooking them is very easy but it takes a little more time. Feel free to substitute an equal amount of canned chickpeas. Just be sure to rinse them thoroughly in cold water to remove all the slippery brine.

Use a good extra virgin olive oil. I have used apple cider vinegar in this recipe but any good vinegar works. As for the chillies, I am using delicious chopped red chillies in olive oil which I recently found at a local Italian grocery. You can substitute with any fresh chopped chilli or leave them out if you don’t like the heat.

Process

Before anything else, we need to rehydrate (soak) the dry chickpeas.

dry chickpeas
You can look through them quickly to make sure there are no little rocks or other debris in them. I think these days it is pretty rare to find stones but it doesn’t hurt to look.
soaking chickpeas
Cover with water (at least twice as much water as peas) and soak for a minimum of 6 hours. I soak mine overnight in the fridge.
Make sure there is enough water and enough room in the container. They will suck the water up and expand a little.
showing plum chickpeas after soaking
The next day…nice plump chickpeas ready to cook.
raw ingredients for cold chickpea salad
Raw ingredients: soaked chickpeas, red pepper, red onion, green onions, garlic, carrot, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper.
chickpeas in pot
To cook the chickpeas, put them in a pot with at least 3 times as much water as chickpeas. Do not add salt to the cooking water.
boiling chickpeas
Bring to a boil and boil hard for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat and simmer them until they are tender (this will take between 45 and 60 minutes).
draining chickpeas
Drain them completely.
rinsing and cooling chickpeas
Rinse with cool water.
cut ingredients for cold chickpea salad
While the peas were cooking, I diced all the veg, measured liquids and ran the carrot over the Benriner veggie slicer to make matchsticks. At this point i decided to put some pickles in here…that’s why they weren’t in the first picture.
mixed cold chickpea salad
Mix everything together and add salt and pepper. I ended up using around 1.5 teaspoon of salt and around the same amount of pepper. Start will small amounts, taste and add. This amount worked for me but you can decide how much salt and pepper you like in yours.
cold chickpea salad served with chopped avocado, cherry tomato and fresh parsley
Tonight I decided to add chopped avocado, cherry tomatoes, baby cucumbers and fresh parsley for a big veggie feast. This was very good!

Variations

As I mentioned at the start, I keep this basic recipe limited to the veggies that will be able to sit in the oil and vinegar for a few days without spoiling. Feel free to add anything you like to this starting recipe just before eating.

Some other things I have used:

  • blanched or raw asparagus
  • corn
  • zucchini
  • celery
  • chopped kimchi
  • diced sour apple
  • parmesan cheese
  • any and all fresh herbs
  • crispy diced bacon
  • pan fried anchovies (myeolchi bokkeum)
  • cumin is delicious and classic but try any spice you like
  • tobasco, cholula or any other hot sauce

This kind of a salad is a good match for any picnic foods and especially grilled meats. And, although it is a cold salad, there is no reason why you couldn’t heat it up in a pan and serve it hot as well. As a warm dish, I think it would work perfectly under a piece of grilled fish.

Hope you enjoy. If you have any questions or comments or interesting variations, please leave them below. I am always happy to hear from you.

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Bossam Leftovers: Pork and Vegetable Udon

On May 21, 2025 by admin With 0 Comments - Cooking

Bossam Part 2:

Earlier I put up a recipe for a simple bossam. Towards the end, I mentioned that if you go easy on the salt in the braising liquid, you can use it to make another delicious pork dish. This is what I have done with the leftover braising liquid from that recipe: Pork and Vegetable Udon. This recipe made one huge portion but could very easily make 2 portions by adding more noodles.

Ingredients:

  • Leftover braising liquid from Bossam recipe
  • Leftover pork meat (if any) thin slices
  • 1/2 onion sliced thin (the other half of the onion from the Bossam recipe)
  • 3 cloves garlic sliced thin
  • 2 green onions/scallions chopped
  • 1 fresh green chilli pepper sliced into thin rounds
  • 1/2 zucchini sliced thin
  • 1/2 package of enoki mushrooms
  • 1 cup green cabbage sliced thin
  • 1 or 2 portions frozen udon noodles

I am using vegetables that I have in my refrigerator at the moment. You can substitute just about any vegetable you would normally put in a soup. You can use different mushrooms too. Different noodles could work as well. I like these Udon noodles. I usually find them at the neighbourhood Asian grocery store in the freezer section. They are convenient because they are frozen in single portions. If you don’t have leftover pork meat, don’t worry. The braising liquid has plenty of delicious pork flavour on it’s own. Sub in some extra mushrooms. I had enokis on hand but sliced king oyster mushrooms are even better!

Process

Bossam leftover liquid and pork meat
This is my leftover meat and braising liquid from bossam pork which I stored in the fridge overnight. Before you start, remove the hard fat layer and toss it out. Make sure to strain out all the solids as well.
Warming up leftover pork in braising liquid
Warm up the leftover pork in the liquid.
Raw vegetables and udon noodles for Pork and Vegetable Udon dish
Raw vegetables and frozen noodles. In the end, I could only fit one portion of noodles in the pot I was using.
All vegetables thinly sliced on a red cutting board
Thin slice onion, cabbage, garlic, zucchini, chilli pepper and green onion. Pull apart enokis into smaller bunches.
Cooking onion and garlic in black stoneware pot
Cook onion, garlic and white part of green onions in a bit of olive oil until soft and translucent.
Adding cabbage and chiles to the pot
Add the cabbage and chiles. Cook until soft. You can even brown the cabbage a little for some extra sweetness.
Enoki mushrooms and sliced zucchini go in the pot
Layer in the zucchini and enoki mushrooms.
ladling warm braising liquid over the cooking vegetables for the Pork and Vegetable Udon
Ladle in the warm leftover braising liquid until everything is covered. Leave some room for noodles later.
Like this….
Simmering the Pork and Vegetable Udon
Simmer for 5 minutes or so until all the vegetables are cooked through. Now is a good time to check the seasoning. Add salt if you like. Mine was ok without extra salt.
Adding in one frozen portion of udon noodles to the pot
Drop in the frozen udon noodles. Sink them in the broth and let them cook for 2 minutes or so. The package says to cook them in their own pot of boiling water but I find that this works fine and makes less of a mess.
This is the finished dish: pork and vegetable udon
If you have leftover pork from the original recipe, slice it thin and layer it on top. Add the fresh green onion tops.

This took almost no time at all…

I think this probably took around 15 minutes to make. The leftover braising liquid from the bossam recipe is a perfect, rich and complex broth to cook vegetables and noodles in. This was a delicious meal that used up every last leftover from the previous night.

If you have any questions, comments or other ideas please leave them below. I always look forward to hearing from you.

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Bossam Braised Pork Belly

On May 19, 2025 by admin With 0 Comments - Cooking

This is a very basic version of bossam. The main event here is the meat. Fresh pork belly is braised in a liquid made with strong aromatics to flavour the meat and to soften some of the gamey aroma of the pork.

It can be served with kimchi and various sides, wrapped in a leaf of cabbage, perilla or lettuce.

There are a couple of good recipes here and here which include all the components for a more traditional Korean preparation with pickled Napa cabbage leaves and spicy shredded radish. This is a delicious way to eat it but I am going to do something a little different with things I already have in the refrigerator.

Ingredients for Braised Pork

  • 1 kg (around 2.5lb) pork belly
  • 1 small chunk (25gr) fresh ginger sliced
  • 12 garlic cloves roughly chopped
  • 1/2 onion
  • 2 green onions roughly chopped
  • 30ml / 2 tablespoons doenjang
  • 15ml / 1 tablespoon instant coffee
  • 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
  • 1.5 litres / 6 cups water

Other Ingredients:

Once the pork is done, you will need something leafy to wrap it in. You may also want to add other fillings to your pork wraps. This can be anything from kimchi to fresh crunchy veggies. Sometimes I even like a little bit of nice mustard in them. This time around, I will use:

  • red leaf lettuce, washed, dried and separated into leaves
  • perilla leaf (kkaennip) washed and dried
  • napa cabbage kimchi
  • Korean radish kimchi or (kkakdugi)
  • pan fried anchovies with peanuts (myeolchi bokkeum)

Process

ingredients for bossam braised pork belly
Raw ingredients
aromatics in pot for bossam
Place onion, ginger, garlic, coffee, doenjang, green onion and peppercorns in pot
adding water to aromatics
Add 1.5 litres of water
Stir well and bring to boil
cooking aromatics in water for 10 minutes
After it boils, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 10-15 minutes covered
adding pork to the braising liquid for bossam
Add pork belly
showing how pork belly should be covered
Make sure there is enough water to fully cover the meat.
Simmer covered for around 1 hour or until pork is tender. Make sure to cover it so the liquid doesn’t reduce too much.
Cool to room temperature. Taste the broth. This one is very good, not too salty to reuse for another meal.
Slice thinly with a sharp knife. Taste a piece and if it needs salt, you can add a little now. This tastes salty enough so I will leave it as it is.

Serving

Serve the pork slices with sides of your choice and leaves to wrap it with.

I am using red leaf lettuce and perilla leaves, kimchi and myeolchi bokkeum…and a bit of Czech mustard : )
Perfect bite

What about the leftover braising liquid?

Store any leftover meat in the braising liquid. Reheat it covered in the liquid as well.

The first time I made this, I noticed that the leftover braising liquid is actually very tasty. You can’t really notice the coffee as a distinct flavour. The liquid is just a warm and delicious pork and doenjang flavour. The only problem is that it is a little too salty.

The next time I made it, I decided to remove extra salt from the recipe, using doenjang only as the main seasoning. The meat is still delicious and can be salted a little after cooking if you think it needs it. But, keep in mind, you are also eating this with kimchi or maybe salted shrimp or other well seasoned add ons so very salty meat is not so necessary.

Once you reduce the salt, you are left with a delicious pork soup base. When the meal is done, I usually strain out all the solids and refrigerate it. The next day I combine it with shredded cabbage, the other half of the onion, mushrooms and frozen udon noodles, a little of the leftover pork and chopped scallions. It is surprisingly delicious! Find that recipe here.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. Look forward to hearing from you.

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Beef Bone Broth Version 1: Low and Slow

On May 18, 2025 by admin With 0 Comments - Cooking

Broth vs Stock

I am calling this a “Beef Bone Broth” only because it seems to be the name that everyone is using these days. It makes a perfect base liquid for any number of soup or sauce recipes although it also has many other uses.

In professional cooking, a “broth” is a usually a lighter, thinner, and often salted liquid made by boiling vegetables and/or meat for a relatively short time. A “stock”, in contrast, is made from bones and their connective tissue, simmered for a very long time, sometimes with vegetables and aromatics, usually without salt. A broth is a thin and flavourful liquid while a stock is a thick, gelatinous and relatively flavourless liquid (until it is seasoned).

So..as you will see, what we are making here is nothing like a broth. It is a very simple beef stock.

Long, Low and Slow vs Hard and Fast

This recipe is for a long, low and slow method that cooks until the bones have nothing left to give. The end result is a mostly clear, slightly brown stock. It is thick and gelatinous, even slightly sticky. If you added mirepoix (say onions, celery, carrot) to this later in the process, you would end up with something like a Western white veal/beef stock.

The second one (click here for other version) is a hard boil and relatively fast stock (for beef bones). It will still take several hours but, it will result in a milky white broth with a nutty flavour and slightly thinner consistency. This is what you will often see in Seolleongtang or Mandu Guk (dumpling soup) in Korean restaurants.

Ingredients

You can make this as large or small as you like. I have made a recipe that fits into my biggest stock pot which holds around 12 litres / 3 gallons. Just make sure that the pot is big enough to keep bones submerged plus a little water on top.

  • 4 kg / 8lb cut beef hip bones (this is usually a mix of marrow bones and knuckle bones)
  • 1.5 kg / 3lb cut cow foot
  • fresh cold water to cover them

My local Korean grocer keeps bags of cut beef bones in the freezer section all the time. And, there is a butcher near me that usually has frozen whole cow feet as well. Any butcher shop should be able to get you beef hip bones for stock. The cow foot is optional but it is made of of mostly connective tissue and this will add body and richness to your finished stock. If you can’t get cow foot, just omit or replace with regular hip bones.

Process

Wash and Soak

Beef hip bones for beef bone broth
Beef bones cut into chunks for stock. There is a mix of marrow bone and knuckles (hip joint)
chopped cow foot for beef bone broth
Cow foot cut into pieces will add body to the finished stock
washing bones
Cover bones with fresh cold water
soaking bones
Soak for a minimum of 8 hours. I left mine in the fridge overnight.
showing blood leaching out of soaked bones
Fairly soon, the bones will start to release blood into the soaking water. If you can, change the water a few times.
refreshing water for bone soaking
Pour old water off and refresh as many times as possible. If you are unable to change the water, it’s ok..the impurities will also cook out in the simmering stock.

Initial Boil (blanching)

clean soaked bones ready to make beef bone broth
Clean bones ready for blanching.
Cover with cold water
blanching bones to remove residual fat and blood
Bring to a hard boil for 10 minutes or so. During this time, the bones will release fat and blood.
shows raft of congealed beef blood
This is a raft of congealed blood floating on top
washing blanched bones with fresh water in sink
After this initial 10 minute boil, dump out the bones and wash them with cold water. Ged rid of the water from the first boil. Wash the stock pot thoroughly.

Simmering the stock

Return the clean bones to the clean pot and cover with fresh cold water.
All the bones should be completely submerged
Simmering: This is what a simmer looks like. The water is bubbling a little and definitely moving around the bones. It is not boiling hard and it is not still. This simmer is important to extract the nutrients and flavour from the bones.
bones simmering under glass cover of pot
Cover your pot and watch it for a little while. You will most likely have to adjust the temperature down to keep the simmer going without overflowing the pot.
skimming fat from cooking beef bone broth
Once every hour or two, I like to skim off the fat layer that floats on top of the stock. You don’t have to do this. I like to take it off because I can replace the fat with fresh water and end up with more stock at the end.
showing a measure of 500ml skimmed fat from beef bone broth
The first time I skimmed, I got nearly 450ml of fat off the top. I replaced it with 450ml water.

32 hours later….

showing finished beef bone broth
This is the finished stock. I simmered mine for a total of about 32 hours. Bones this size should simmer for at least 24 hours. The best way to know when it is done is to pull out bones and have a look at them.
examining a fully depleted stock bone
Once a solid white bone full of marrow, this is now just a hollow network of calcium fibres. If you press them between your fingers, you can crush them pretty easily. These bones have no more to give and the stock is finished.
Remove the bones
straining beef bone broth
Strain the liquid
You may find some pieces of marrow or cartilage in your strainer. You can make a snack of them or just discard them.

Cooling and Storage

cooling beef bone broth
I like to cool the liquid in a sink of cold water. If you have ice, it will speed up the process. Make sure the stock comes down to at least room temperature before you put it in the fridge. There is a lot of heat energy here and your fridge will not be able to cool it fast enough.
Once completely cool, remove any hard white fat from the top.
It is so thick at fridge temperature that this metal spoon will stand up in it
Gelatinous bounce : )
I ladle mine into 750ml yogurt containers which is usually a good amount to use for other recipes
preparing beef bone broth for freezing
Total yield from this batch is around 6.5 litres / 2 gallons of thick rich and lean beef bone broth (stock). I will press a layer of plastic wrap against the surface of the stock, put on the lids and store in my freezer.

How to use your Beef Bone Broth

Simmer any combination of meat/vegetables/mushrooms in it for a delicious soup. Add your favourite noodles to it. Or, you can simply warm it up and add rice and seasoning. You can even drink it as is for a deeply nutritious and filling liquid snack.

This beef bone broth (stock) is a liquid rich in body and texture that is mostly neutral in flavour…a base for almost anything you can imagine. Soup, stew, sauce, smoothie…anything goes. If you have any recipe that has water as an ingredient, replace it with this stock to improve the flavour and the nutritional value. As I cook with this new stock, I will post up ideas as I make them.

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Beef and Radish Soup: Muguk

On May 1, 2025 by admin With 0 Comments - Cooking

Korean beef and radish soup, or sogogi muguk, is a flavourful and nutritious soup which is easy to make quickly. There are only a handful of ingredients and everything is cooked in one pot.

Ingredients

  • 150gr (5-6oz) beef brisket point sliced thinly against the grain
  • 250gr (8oz) Korean radish
  • 15ml (1 tablespoon) sesame oil
  • 5 or 6 cloves garlic sliced thin or minced
  • 15ml (1 tablespoon) Korean soup soy sauce (gukgangjang)
  • 2 or 3 green onions (scallions)
  • 750ml (3cups) water approximately
  • salt and pepper

I used beef brisket in this recipe because I can get it easily and I like that it is lean and tender at the same time. If you can’t get brisket, you can use almost any other good cut of beef. Lean cuts from the round will be a little chewier but still delicious: cut them thin. If you want to put premium steak cuts in here, go right ahead. I have even made this with ground beef in a pinch.

Don’t use regular soy sauce. Korean gukganjang or soup soy sauce can be found at any Korean grocer. Regular soy sauce is a poor substitute. If you can’t find soup soy sauce, substitute with a good quality fish sauce.

The meat to radish proportion can vary. This one I am making has a pretty generous amount of meat. Feel free to use a little less or, even more if you want to load up on protein.

Process

raw ingredients for korean beef and radish soup muguk
Raw ingredients.
shows marinating beef and garlic and soup soy sauce for beef and radish soup
Thinly slice beef and garlic. Stir together with soup soy sauce. You can also mince garlic instead of slicing.
Allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes. I left mine for 2 hours but you don’t have to.
shows how to chop radish into bite sized pieces
Chop up radish into bite sized chunks
cooking beef in sesame oil on stove for muguk korean beef and radish soup
Cook beef in the sesame oil over medium high heat. The meat may release a lot of water. Let it cook until it becomes almost dry.
showing point where beef is cooked enough to add radish for muguk
This looks good. The beef has browned a little and there is just a little juice left.
radish is added to the pot
Stir in the radish pieces
topping up with water into pot
Add enough water to cover. I used around 750ml/3cups
showing simmering pot of korean beef and radish sour muguk
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until radish is tender. After cooking, taste it and add pepper if you like. Adjust salt as needed.
demonstrating how to chop green onions
Chop green onions.
adding green onions to pot of cooked Korean beef and radish soup
Add them to the soup and remove from heat.
Korean Beef and Radish soup is served on table with kimchi, white rice and cucumber salad

I like to eat this with a bowl of rice and a couple of sides. Today I am having home made kimchi and a cucumber salad. I made kkakdugi yesterday but it is not quite ready yet. Otherwise I would eat it with this dish : )

This recipe will make enough for two medium portions or one very large portion.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. I love to hear from you.

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Kkakdugi or Korean Radish Kimchi

On April 29, 2025 by admin With 0 Comments - Cooking

Kkakdugi, or Korean Radish Kimchi, is one of the fastest and simplest kimchis to make. There are relatively few steps and just a handful of ingredients. The recipe you will see here is a little different from others you may find.

Last time I travelled through Korea, I noticed 2 distinct kinds of kkakdugi. One was the classic little cubes served as a side in many restaurants. The other is a much larger and chunkier radish kimchi. This second one accompanies clear and mild beef broth dishes like seolleongtang or doganitang. The pieces of radish tend to be bigger and less uniform and there is much more liquid in the kimchi. The kimchi is on the table in a big container from which you can eat the radish but you can also use the kimchi-juice to season your soup. This is what I am attempting to make here. You can also just eat it as a side the same as you would any kkakdugi.

Ingredients

As a chef, I always preferred to cook by weight rather than volume. I grew up using the metric system and I like it very much. So, as much as possible from now on, I will include metric equivalents. Keep in mind that other than salt and radish, you can vary ingredients as you like to suit your tastes.

  • 3.5-4lb (1.5-2kg) Korean radish (the one i am using is 1700gr)
  • 2 tablespoons (25gr) Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
  • 1/4cup (30gr) korean chilli flakes / gochugaru
  • 1 tablespoon (20gr) salted baby shrimp / saeujeot
  • 10 cloves (35gr) garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon (10gr) ginger minced
  • 1 tablespoon sugar (75gr)/syrup
  • 1 asian pear peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup of chopped green onion/scallion or asian chive/buchu

Korean radish is similar to white daikon in some ways but the flavour of Korean radish is usually more sweet and vegetal and less hot and bitter. But, if you really can’t find Korean radish, daikon is a reasonable substitute.

I am using Diamond Kosher salt. You can substitute 30 grams of any good salt, but avoid using table salt.

I just happen to have a homemade maesil plum syrup on hand which I am using instead of sugar. If you want to try it, you can find maesil syrup in any Korean grocer.

Feel free to vary the amount of chilli flakes to make this as spicy or as mild as you like.

Korean pears are not available at this time of year so I am using a whole regular asian pear which is roughly half the size of the Korean variety. You can also substitute an apple or regular pear or leave it out altogether.

Process

raw ingredients for kkakdugi korean radish kimchi
Raw ingredients
chopped Korean radish
Peel and slice radish into disks approximately 3cm/just over an inch thick
Showing the size of the radish pieces after cutting
Use a chef knife to chop the radish into chunks. They don’t need to be the same shape but they should be roughly the same size. As a size guide, you should probably not be able to fit more than one or two chunks on a spoon.
This looks pretty good…
adding salt to the chopped Korean radish
Add the salt and mix thoroughly. You can now let the radish rest for an hour or so. Mix it up every 15-20 minutes moving the radishes on the bottom to the top.
picture shows moisture coming out of salted Korean radish
Within just a few minutes, the radish pieces will start to release water.
shows minced garlic and ginger ready for kkakdugi korean radish kimchi
While you are waiting for the radish to brine, mince the garlic and ginger.
shows asian pear shredded on slicer
Peel and chop the asian pear. I chose to run it over this Benriner Japanese slicer/shredder.
Shows chilli flakes, garlic, ginger, shrimp, pear and plum syrup together in one bowl. Ready to season kkakdugi kimchi
Put garlic, ginger, pear, salted shrimp, chilli flakes and sugar (or syrup) together in a bowl
bowl of stirred up seasoning ingredients for Kakkdugi Korean radish kimchi
Mix them all together
shows how much water the salted radish released
After an hour, the radish has released a good amount of water.
showing the draining of water from the radish
Drain off the radish water and reserve it. Do not rinse the radish.
a measuring cup showing the volume of water released: 250ml/1 cup
I got almost 250ml/1 cup of water out of this radish. I will probably end up adding all of it back as I want this kimchi wet and the radish itself does not taste too salty right now.
Add all ingredients together
radish mixed with seasoning ingredients
Stir them up. Now is a good time to taste the kimchi. The radish will still release a large amount of water so don’t worry if it seems salty now: this will change. Taste for spice..add more chilli flakes if you prefer more heat.
how to chop buchu or scallions
Chop your buchu or scallions into 2cm pieces
adding back released water
Stir the greens back into the radish mix and add back the water
Finished product: here you get an idea of the size of the pieces.
Shows finished Kakkdugi Korean radish kimchi in a mason jar
I will let this ferment in a large mason jar on the counter for a day or two until it starts to sour. It is a good idea to put a plate or tray under the jar. The kimchi will expand as it starts to ferment and it may overflow a bit. Also…the bacteria that ferment your kimchi are much happier in the dark. Keep your jar away from sunlight or bright indoor light. I will cover this jar with a towel.

Allow the kimchi to ferment on the counter for a day or two. Taste it a couple times a day and when you are happy with the flavour, refrigerate it. You can eat the radish kimchi as is as a side to any dish or use the kimchi liquid to season mild soups.

Just like any kimchi, kkakdugi will continue to ferment and sour over time. If it gets too sour to eat as is have a look here for ideas on how to use well aged kimchi. Radish kimchi will work just as well as cabbage kimchi in hot dishes. I especially like it in kimchi fried rice.

If you are also looking for a good cabbage kimchi recipe, you can find mine here.

Lastly, if you are interested in what Seolleongtang looks like in Seoul, Korea, have a look here or here. Maybe in the future I will put up a recipe for Seolleongtang although it is a long long process that is challenging to make at home. Here is a good recipe from Korean Bapsang. This kimchi would be a perfect accompaniment!

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. I love to hear from you.

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