I recently bought some brisket from an American grocery store. But when I brought it home and cooked it, it looked and tasted different from the Yangjimeori(양지머리 – also labeled “brisket”) that I usually buy from the Korean supermarket. And this is not the first time– it has happened to me many times before and always wondered why. I had a feeling that maybe the two cuts were not from the same part of the brisket. And so I started my quest for the truth..

I have researched for hours on end trying to figure out how Korean beef cuts and US beef cuts correspond to each other. OK, yes, they use quite different primal cuts (primal cuts are largest units of cuts that is further divided into individual retail cuts that are sold at stores) – and that’s fine. But what confused me terribly were the English cut terms used in Korean documents (I figured out eventually – after much frustration- that the terms used in Korea are mostly Australian and Canadian terms. Probably because US beef import was banned from 2003-2008 ). What was also frustrating was even within the US, the cut diagrams and names were not always the same.

Anyway, here is the diagram that I used for the US retail cuts:

retail cuts 0f beef (www.askthemeatman.com)

Did you know that the US cuts are usually around 22, French and English cuts are 35 and the Koreans cuts are a staggering 120? It’s partly because Koreans use just about every part of the cow – from head to tail – including almost every organ meat along with the brain. Before it was imported into Korea, beef was always very expensive and this is probably why every part of the cow was utilized in Korean cooking.

Americans love steak, therefore, many primal cuts of beef are cut into cross sectional thick pieces to produce all different tender cuts of the steak. After that, bigger chunks used whole as roasts (for BBQ) or cut into cubes for stews or kabobs. Finally, any miscellaneous, not-so-tender meats are usually gathered together to make ground beef.

Koreans love soups and grilled meats. So any tough meat–including tendons and bones–are boiled in soups (탕 tahng) or cut into very thin slices against the grain (sometimes paper thin as in chadolbaeki/chadolbaegi(차돌백이) and grilled (usually unseasoned). More tender meats are sliced a little thicker and marinated to make bulgogi. The very tender meats are cut even thicker and grilled, unseasoned. Ribs are cut thin (as in LA Kalbi) or fanned out, marinated and grilled as Korean BBQ Kalbi or braised/boiled.

The table below lists the most widely used Korean cuts grouped under US primal cuts along with their corresponding US cuts. Chances are, you probably won’t need half of the cuts I listed here but I wanted to make the table somewhat complete – yeah, it’s an obsession I have…This list will definitely come in handy if you ever visit a legitimate Korean BBQ restaurant that serves a whole slew of different cuts of meat for grilling – each with a different texture and flavor.

In addition, I also discuss which beef cuts work best for of each method of Korean cooking.

Soups(국 Guk or 탕 Tang)

• chuck meat (kkurisal 꾸리살, jaebichuri 재비추리) for stock, plain meat soup
• ribs (kalbi 갈비) for Kalbitang(갈비탕)
• brisket(yangjimeori 양지머리) for Yukejang(육계장), Jangjorim (장조림), Dduk Guk(떡국)
• shank (sahtae 사태)
• knuckle (doekanisal 도가니살) for Doekanitang (도가니탕)

Tip : start with cold water and meat, bring to boil and simmer until meat is very tender. Add onions, green onions for additional flavor.

Stew/Hotpot (찌게 Jjigae/전골 Jeongol)

• neck meat(mokshim 목심)
• brisket(yangjimeori 양지머리)
• foreshank(apsahtae 앞사태)

Tip: Usually cut into small thin bite size pieces. Always cut against the grain.

Grilling (구이 Gui)

grill recommended:

• tenderloin(ahnshim 안심)
• rib eye(deungshim등심)
• strip loin(chaekkeut 채끝)
• outside skirt(ahnchangsal 안창살)
• under blade steak/roast(salchisal 살치살)
• brisket(chadobaekgi 차돌백이)

grill and marinated bulgogi recommended:

• neck meat (mokshim 목심)
• boneless top, bottom round(wudun 우둔, seolkisal 설기살)
• chuck tender (kurisal 꾸리살)
• blade steak (buchaesal 부채살)

Tip: The more tender meats are sliced and then grilled, unseasoned. The more tougher meats are best marinated and grilled as bulgogi.

Braised (Jjim 찜, Jorim 조림)

• short ribs (kalbi 갈비)
• shank (sahtae 사태)
• boneless top, bottom round(wudun 우둔, seolkisal 설기살)

Tip: Meats are  first cooked slightly and then well seasoned, simmered in sauce until reduced, for a long time making the meat fully tender.

Boiled Meat (Suyuk 수육, Pyeonyuk 편육)

• brisket (yangjimeori 양지머리)
• shank (sahtae 사태)

Tip: To keep the flavor within the meat, cook in boiling water. Use any or all of green onion roots, peppercorns, garlic, onion and rice wine for smoother taste. Slice against grain – see my Gogiguk post. BTW,  suyuk is meat that is simply boiled and served in slices and Pyeonyuk is suyuk with fat and water squeezed out by further pressing with heavy weights to wring out any fat or water from the cooked meat.

Steak tartar (Yukhwe 육회)

• shank (sahtae 사태)
• flank steak (chimasal 치마살)
• chuck tender (kkurisal 꾸리살)
• boneless top, bottom round(wudun 우둔)

Jerkey (Yukpo 육포)

• boneless top, bottom round(wudun 우둔)
• eye of round (hongdukkaesal 홍두깨살)

Whew..I almost gave up on this one…Writing this post was even more exhausting than my kimchi post. Hopefully, it’s helpful. Also, the list does not include any of the misc parts such as head, tongue, feet, tail, stomach and other organs because that’s a whole different post.

Well.. now you know!

Soy Sauce w/ Vinegar (Chokanjang 초간장)

Just like many other cuisines, sauces play an important role in Korean cooking. The same kind of sauce is used in many different dishes so many Koreans can make these sauces with their eyes closed. When I was preparing to write about sauces I was hoping that there would be some well organized categorization of the Korean sauces much like the 5 mother sauces in French cooking. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any (or I simply may not have found it) so using my engineering sense, I am going to group the sauces into 5 groups. There are sauces for 1. Dipping and Mixing (Bibim), 2. Braising(Jorim) or Glazing (Jjim), 3. Tossing and Coating (Moochim or Namool), 4.Stir Frying (Bokkeum) and 5. Marinades for Grilling (Gui).

Let’s first start with Korean dipping sauces as shown below. These 3 sauces are probably the most used and also the most basic of all sauces. When foods are dipped into these sauces, the flavor really comes alive. And the great thing is that the seasoning level can be controlled by individuals who dip the food. Some people like to make a batch of these sauces and keep them in the fridge for easy use. But unless you are eating these all the time and/or have a big family, I don’t think you really need to.

Sauce #1 – Soy Sauce with Vinegar (Chokanjang 초간장)

• 2 Tbs Soy Sauce (Jinkanjang 진간장)
• 1 Tbs Vinegar (brown rice, rice wine are best or just use white)

Optional Extras

• 1 Tbs water or anchovy stock (for a milder tasting sauce)
• 1/8 tsp chopped pine nuts (for a richer tasting sauce)
• dash of dried red pepper powder (gochookaroo 고추가루 for more zing)
• dash of crushed roasted sesame seeds
• 1/8 tsp sugar

*  When adding pine nuts, it is best to not add other extra ingredients because the other extras (except for sugar) will overpower the taste of the pine nuts.

Use as dipping sauce for: all kinds of Jeon (hobahkjeon,zucchini fritters, fish jeon, beef jeon..), Mandoo(dumplings), and Twigim (Yache Twigim)

spicy soy sauce with yellow mustard(Gyeojakanjang 겨자간장)

#2 Sauce – Spicy Soy Sauce with Yellow Mustard(Gyeojakanjang 겨자간장)

• 2 Tbs Soy Sauce (Jinkanjang 진간장)
• 1 Tbs Vinegar (rice or white)
• 1 Tbs Oriental Yellow Mustard (Gyeoja 겨자)

Optional Extras

• 1 Tbs water or anchovy stock
• 1 Tbs sugar
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 green onion (chopped)

*  Making yellow mustard from powder : mix equal amount of yellow mustard powder and warm water. Cover the mustard mix with plastic wrap and keep it warm (in rice cooker or on top of a warm pot) for 15 min. You will notice that the hot spicy flavor and smell intensifies over time. Sometimes the yellow mustard can taste bitter – this is because the flavor has not developed properly (probably not the right temp or time). In this case, it’s just best to discard and make it again.

Use as dipping sauce for: Korean style sashimi (Hwe 회),  grilled fish or meats – the mustard is great in getting rid of any fishy or oily taste.

sweet and sour red pepper paste (Chogochoojang 초고추장)

Sauce #3- Red pepper paste with Vinegar (Chogochoojang 초고추장)

• 1 Tbs Korean red pepper paste
• 1 Tbs vinegar (rice wine or white) or 1 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar

Optional extras:

• 1 1/2 tsp honey/yuzu syrup/plum syrup(maesilchung)
• dash of ginger powder or garlic powder
• dash of black pepper
• sesame seeds (1/4 tsp)
• 1 tsp of cider or coke (to add extra zing right before serving)

Chogochoojang can be made in larger batches and stored in the refrigerator for several weeks or even longer. When making larger amounts, use a bit more vinegar or lemon juice to increase the storage life. Using lemon juice instead of vinegar will work better with fish dishes.

Use as dipping sauce for: boiled squid, raw seafood (oyster, abalone, sashimi, squid), boiled vegetables(green onions, broccoli)

With some modifications, it can also serve as the base for mixing sauce for Bibim Kooksoo (비빔국수) or Sashimi Rice (Hwe Deopbap 회덮밥).

Happy Dipping!

Korean Kyungbok Palace

Happy New Year everyone!! I received this ’2012 in review’ report from WordPress and thought I would share this with all of you. When I started my Korean Food at Home blog in Jan of 2011, my average visits per day was 4 and now my blog gets over 1000 daily! I want to say THANK YOU to all my readers, followers and especially to those who have given me great encouragements, questions and requests! They really help me keep going.

So what’s my New Year resolution? Actually I have none – I don’t like making resolutions because I can never keep them. But I do have some exciting news to share with you. I just signed up for a Food Stylist class at SookMyung University Korean Food Institute and also for a Vegetable Sommelier certification class. I have always found styling Korean food very difficult and hopefully with this class I can produce better presentation and photos to share with you on my blog. I actually found the Vegetable Sommelier class by accident. But I am glad I found it because I think it’s a very interesting and unique approach to food. The original vegetable sommelier certification started in Japan and it teaches everything about vegetables and fruits including organic farming, cooking, nutrition, etc. In particular, I’m especially excited to learn about organic farming! Hopefully when I am able to have my own garden again, I can apply what I learned in this class.

Enjoy!

Here’s an excerpt:

About 55,000 tourists visit Liechtenstein every year. This blog was viewed about 250,000 times in 2012. If it were Liechtenstein, it would take about 5 years for that many people to see it. Your blog had more visits than a small country in Europe!

Click here to see the complete report.

cabbage kimchi (배추김치 baechu kimchi)- source (http://blog.naver.com/wefhpop/60143368957)

Everyone has a different preference as to when Kimchi(김치) tastes the best – some love eating freshly made, raw kimchi (kind of tastes like a salad); some love eating it when it is just perfectly ripe and then there are those who love sour kimchi (신김치 shin kimchi) which has basically over fermented and obviously tastes quite sour. But one thing is for sure – no one likes the stage when it is in the in-between stages of being raw and ripe. Kimchi really does not taste good at all when it is in the process of getting ripe – I had an aunt who used to call this the time when kimchi has gone CRAZY! And you certainly don’t want to eat the kimchi when it’s crazy! So here’s how to avoid CRAZY kimchi.

Since most of us now buy kimchi from the store, let me first write about the best way to eat a store bought kimchi. Too often, I hear people say that the kimchi served at our house tastes great, but when they try the same brand themselves, they think it doesn’t  taste nearly as good. I realized it was because they don’t take the time to ripen it properly and then also forget to serve it cold (right out of the fridge).  I found that most kimchi (even the poorly made ones) will taste quite palatable when they have had time to ripen properly.
Now, the hard part about buying kimchi from a store is that it is hard to tell at what stage of the fermentation process they are in. One clue is the appearance of the vegetables. They will look more shriveled up if they are further along in the fermentation process. The chances are it will also have lost a bit of the juice because the content will start to bubble and balloon up when it ferments which ends up usually overflowing out of the jar. This is actually too bad because kimchi should always be immersed in its own juices for it to taste the best. The best way is to buy the freshest kimchi possible and bring it home and ripen it from the beginning. But this is usually not possible…So far, I have found the best tasting kimchi that you can buy are actually the ones that are directly imported from Korea (종가집Jongajip is my favorite). It is expensive but worth it in my opinion as long as it hasn’t traveled too far or stayed on the shelf too long at your store. Other than that, the next best thing is to try to buy kimchi that is made locally if it’s available (less chance of it over ripening) and when you bring it home, open it, smell it or better yet, taste it. If your store has a fast turnaround, it is probably in the “crazy” stage. If it’s already fully ripe, put it in the fridge in the coldest possible setting. If it’s not yet fully ripened and you can wait, let it ripen in your fridge. This will take about 2 weeks in your fridge. Also note that the juice may overflow so either move the kimchi into a bigger container or take some out (1/5^th) and leave some room for the kimchi to expand. If your kimchi is still very fresh, not at all ripe and you need to eat it quickly, you can ferment it at room temperature. In the summer, it will ripen in 12 ~ 18 hrs and in cooler weather it can take about 24 – 48 hrs. Just check every 4-6 hrs. If this is all too much info for you to digest, I have a chart at the bottom of this post that can help you with the process. (Boy, it’s been ages since I drew up a flowchart…brings back memories from my college days of hand drawing the charts using graphic rulers..)

So.. what is the ultimate best way to ripen or ferment kimchi? The most delicious and fantastic kimchi is made when it is fermented the old fashioned way…In a traditional Korean clay jar, buried in the ground in winter time. Even though the ground freezes in the winter, the jar and the saltiness of the kimchi keep it from freezing completely. This is called 김장김치 (kimjang kimchi). Kimjang kimchi is usually made around the ‘start of winter’ (입동 ipdong) in the lunar calendar which is just about now (Nov 7-8th in Gregorian calendar).

row of kimchi jars in the ground – source (http://cafe.naver.com/ovenwon/30851)

I remember when I was a kid, we spent days preparing and making kimjang kimchi so that it could last us through the winter and into spring. We first dug big holes in the ground big enough to hold our huge clay jars (so big that a child can fall in). In the meantime, we spent the day washing and brining 100+  napa cabbages and also preparing the ingredients for the stuffing. The next day we took these salted napa cabbages and inserted the stuffing in between each cabbage leaf. It was an enormous amount of work but boy…was it worth it. All winter long, we got to eat these amazingly crunchy and zingy and sometimes even ever so slightly frozen kimchi that came out of these jars in the ground. So why was it so tasty? According to research, when it is buried in the ground, the temperature remains quite constant – at 32 – 35 F all winter long. At this temperature it takes about 20 days for the kimchi to fully ripen but it is definitely worth the wait. The clay jars are glazed to hold the moisture in but it can still breathe which allows just the right amount of air circulation to take away any heat produced from the fermentation (keeping the temperature stable).   It also keeps the air tight enough for the bacteria to not grow too fast which helps the kimchi maintain its peak flavor for a longer period. The history of kimchi can be dated back almost 2000 years to the Goguryo Dynasty according to some historians, so you can see how long Koreans had time to refine the technique of kimchi making.

Since most Koreans now live in apartments and have no backyards to bury the jars, they have invented what is called a kimchi refrigerator. This fridge is different from the conventional refrigerator because the interior walls of the fridge are cooled instead of the air which helps to keep the interior at a more constant temperature. I own one and I have to say it is the next best thing to having your own kimchi jar in the ground. It even has temperature options for fermenting and then just storing it to prolong its freshness.

How to tell if Kimchi is ripe and ready to eat?

When a kimchi is not fully ripe, you are able to smell and kind of taste the individual ingredients – garlic, cabbage, radish, green onion, fish sauce, etc – as they have yet to fully integrate with each other. When it is fully ripened, the tastes of all the ingredients are well blended together and there is full flavor embedded in each cabbage leaf or vegetable pieces. There is also a slight sour taste with an added zing at the end. You can also no longer smell the raw ingredients individually but rather have a combined, wonderful slightly stinky smell that is unique to kimchi. Below is the chart that I promised earlier -

procedure for ripening kimchi

*** CORRECTION : When slow fermenting your home made kimchi in the fridge, please leave your very freshly made kimchi outside at room temp for 1/2 day to overnight BEFORE putting it in and letting it ripen for 4-7 days.  A reader pointed it out to me – thank you MOMO!

So how long will Kimchi keep?

When stored at the ideal temperature that’s close to the freezing point of 32 F, kimchi will keep for 3 months or more. If the temperature of your fridge is higher (which is normally the case), it will probably keep for at least a month or more. Kimchi will start to taste just too sour when it starts to go bad at which point, the best way to eat them is by cooking them. Kimchi will go bad – it will have this whitish kind of film when it has been really too long and will also smell very pungently sour. You don’t want to eat it at this stage.

Pork is probably the most popular meat in Korea. Partly because it’s much more affordable than beef but also because the fatty flavor of pork really goes well with many Korean seasonings and condiments, especially Kimchi. Adding pork to Kimchi Jjigae really transforms it into a very hearty, flavorful stew.

When compared to beef, Pork cuts are simpler – 22 pork cuts vs 100+ beef cuts! And as far as the primal cuts go, there is almost a one-to-one correlation between Korean cuts and US cuts. But again, Korean pork cuts are further divided into more detailed smaller cuts.

First, here’s the US pork cut diagram from http://www.clovergarden.com:

North American Pork Cuts

And below is a diagram that shows all the different Korean Pork cuts within each US primal pork cut. Believe it or not, I drew this by hand!!! I just could not find one that properly showed all the different cuts in the right location so after searching the internet for many hours, I decided I would spend even more hours to draw the Korean pork diagram myself…why I do these things, I don’t know..

Korean pork cuts diagram by JinJoo Lee (www.kimchimari.com)

Now, let’s go over each of the 22 Korean cuts of pork along with applicable US cuts.

Note that the cuts are not always an exact match.

• 24. Jok bal(족발) usually includes bottom part of the hock but not all. The upper part of the hock is also included in Sahtae(사태).

Here are some additional tid bits that’s worth mentioning:

• 16. Galmaeggi sal(갈매기살) – This is Flap meat taken from the concave part of the spareribs and Saint Louis ribs. In the US, it is usually trimmed off from the ribs and is either ground up for sausage meat or chefs just eat it as snack(aka Chef’s bonus). Koreans consider this cut a delicacy and restaurants advertise this cut as their featured menu. Because this is a muscle near the diaphragm, it can get exposed to the pig’s innards and can be contaminated. Careful cleaning and preparation is important when eating this cut.
• 18. Tosi sal(토시살) – This cut is separated from Galmaeggi sal and is so small (only about 3 oz per pig) that it’s often sold as part of Galmaeggi sal. Some people love the taste of Tosi sal because of it has more intense flavor and chewy texture than Galmaeggi sal.

Finally, here is a list of which cuts work best for each cooking method:

Soups(국 Guk or 탕 Tang)

• shoulder, picnic(apdari sal, apsahtae sal)
• center cut of ham(seolkit sal, dogani sal)
• rib tips(maguri)

Stew/Hotpot (찌게 Jjigae/전골 Jeongol)

• center cut of ham(dogani sal)
• butt(mokshim sal)

Grilling (구이 Gui)

Koreans are masters at grilling all kinds of tough, chewy meat by slicing them thinly against the grain.

• basically all cuts except the Loin area are popular for grilling. Most popular are slices from the Belly(samgyeop sal) and Tenderloin(ahnshim sal).

marinated bulgogi recommended:

• loin(deungshim sal)
• butt(mokshim sal)
• butt end of ham(bolggi sal)
• rump(boseop sal)
• leg of ham(dwitsahtae sal)

Braised (Jjim 찜, Jorim 조림)

• tenderloin(ahnshim sal)
• picnic(apdari sal)
• rump, leg, butt end of ham(boseop sal, dwitsahtae sal, bolggi sal)
• baby back ribs(deungkalbi sal)

Boiled Meat (Suyuk 수육, Pyeonyuk 편육)

• butt(mokshim sal)
• leg of ham(dwitsahtae sal)
• belly(samgyeop sal)
• rib tips(ohdolsamgyeop sal)

Sweet and Sour pork (Tangsuyuk 탕수육)

• tenderloin(ahnshim sal)
• loin(deungshim)
• center cut of ham(seolkit sal, dogani sal)

** Special appreciation to Mr.Grygus at www.clovegarden.com for granting me permission to use his chart and cut information. His site has some great information about the various cuts.

** AmazingRibs.com also was a great resource for understanding how exactly the ribs and belly parts were cut.

Hope this was helpful!!! Hope you will get to enjoy some great samgyeop sal BBQ very soon!

Recently I was asked by Yakima magazine (a wonderful local lifestyle magazine written for and by the local people in Yakima valley in the state of Washington) if I would allow my No Crazy Kimchi flowchart to be included in their upcoming article about eating and making Kimchi.

Making the flowchart was not at all easy but it is truly wonderful to know that it is appreciated and deemed useful by people. Thank YOU Yakima magazine for including my chart in your article!

Check out their great article Try Something Kimchi.

A little blurb about their magazine: Yakima magazine is the popular bi-monthly lifestyle publication that’s 100 percent locally written by dedicated writers. Yakima magazine focuses on the people and places that make the Yakima Valley unique, featuring original stories about local homes and gardens, local entertainment, going out on the town, local food and wine, the outdoors, fun day trips and interesting places to spend a weekend that aren’t that far away.

Be sure to check them out – especially if you are going to visit the area of Yakima, Washington.

It’s only been a few days since my arrival in Seoul but I just couldn’t wait any longer to post–

The last couple months have been a very exhausting but also a very meaningful time. I went through every single item (including 5 cans of WD40’s – don’t ask me why we have so many -and 10 pairs of tweezers!!!!) that we had in the house and so many things brought back all the wonderful memories we had in the US. Leaving was really sad but it was also a catharsis for me. There was a sense of freedom and lightness that came over me as I kept purging away…

And now.. I have to start a whole new life here – including a whole new set of Korean seasonings (양념 Yangnyeom) for cooking. So I started writing down a list and then thought that this list may be useful to many of you. So here it is. This is a minimal list of Korean seasonings and condiments that I feel are must-haves if you are going to cook Korean food.

I have organized the list based on Escoffier’s categorization of seasoning and condiments: (ones in italics are extra and not a ‘must-have’)

Seasonings (양념 Yang nyeom )

Saline Seasonings

• Salt (소금 Sohkeum) – Korean sea salt is best. (see my K Ingredients page)

Acid Seasonings

• Vinegar (식초 Shikcho) – Brown Rice Vinegar (현미식초 Hyunmee Shikcho)
  • Persimmon Vinegar (감식초 Kaamshikcho )
  • Apple Vinegar (사과식초 Saakwashikcho)

Hot Seasonings

• Red chili powder (고추가루 Gochukaroo)
• Ground black pepper (후추가루 Hoochookaroo)
• Fresh green chili pepper (풋고추 Putgochoo)
• Dried Red chili pepper (홍고추 Hong gochoo)

Saccharine Seasonings

• Sugar (설탕 Seoltang)
• Rice Malt Syrup (조청 Jochung) – substitute corn syrup or maple syrup
• Honey (꿀 Kkul)
• Plum syrup/extract (매실청 Maesilchung) – this syrup was not used much traditionally but is now very popular. Both my mother-in-law and mother gave me a bottle so you can imagine how popular it is now.

Condiments

The pungents

• Garlic (마늘 Maaneul), ginger (생강 Saengkang), onions(양파 Yangpa), chives (부추 Boochoo), green onions ( 파 Pa )

Hot condiments (Sauces and Wines)

• Soy sauce (간장 Kanjang) – see my K Ingredients page
  • Soup soy sauce (국간장 Kook kanjang aka 조선간장 Chosun Kanjang)
  • Dark soy sauce (진간장 Jin Kanjang)
• Soy bean paste (된장 Dwenjang/Doenjang)
• Red pepper paste (고추장 Gochujang)
• Yellow mustard (겨자 Gyeoja) aka Oriental yellow mustard
• Rice wine or Mirin (미린)
• Fermented Shrimp (새우젓 Saewoo jeot) -see my K ingredients page
• Fermented Anchovy Sauce (멸치액젓 Myulchi-aek-jeot)

Fatty Substances

• Sesame oil (참기름 Chaamkireum)
• Vegetable oil (식용유 Shik yong yu)

Additionally, following are garnishes that are often used to add finishing flavors and decoration:

• Sesame seeds (깨 Kkae)
• Perilla leaves (깻잎 Kkaetnip) – my favorite!!
• Crown dasises (쑥갓 Ssukkat)
• Chives (부추 Buchu)
• Water parsely/water dropwort (미나리 Minari) – aka Japanese parsely
• Pine nuts (잣 Jaat)
• Jujube (대추 Daechoo)
• Gingko Nuts (은행 Eunhang)
• Roasted Sea Laver (김 Keem) – substitute Nori

Below is a photo of seasonings and some condiments that I was able to get so far.

Korean seasonings – list of essentials with labels

With these seasonings and condiments, you should be able to cook almost every Korean recipe. Hopefully I did not forget anything…

PS. If you want to know what brands I like – 풀무원 Pulmuone, 오뚜기 Ottogi and CJ are all good brands in general. 샘표 Sampyo has been making soy sauce for many years…and 해찬들 Haechandeul makes good 고추장 gochujang.

The post Korean Seasonings (양념 Yang nyeom) appeared first on Kimchimari.

SBS Interview Kimchimari

After my KBS World Radio interview in Feb, I was contacted by Harnsle Joo at SBS Australia to do an interview about Kimchimari.com.  First, I thought it was the Korean broadcast station SBS but then I soon learned it’s actually the Australian’s Special Broadcasting Service that is a national, multi-cultural, multi-language service. Harnsle told me my interview will be on their bilingual (Korean/English) segment which I thought was wonderful.

I had a great time doing the interview – we talked about how I came to start my blog and even about where I want to go from here. Anyway, here’s the interview in both Korean and English:

English – http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/korean/en/content/korea-online-kimchimaricom?language=en

Korean – http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/korean/ko/content/koria-onrain-kimchimaricom?language=ko

Have a great week!

The post My podcast Interview with SBS Australia is now online! appeared first on Kimchimari.

For once, I posted too soon..

I just got word from Expo Milano 2015 Worldrecipes that they have decided to feature my Bulgogi post on their homepage!!!! How cool is that?!!!!!

Kimchimari bulgogi recipe on Expo Milano 2015 Worldrecipes home page

If you go to Expo Milano 2015 Worldrecipes homepage, look under Chosen For You section to see it. Now, I know you have already seen the recipe on my blog but there is good reason to visit because all recipes submitted on the site is enhanced with nutritional facts and environmental footprint analysis, consistently linked with Expo Milano 2015’s theme: Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.

If you would like to see any of my recipes with nutritional facts, please let me know and I would be happy to post it there!

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Centuries old Korean Tile Roof with rock pine (wason 와송)

While in Korea, I visited many different restaurants and I took pictures of the food without really knowing when or how I will use them. My family members often complained to me with words like “OK… can we eat now?? Are you done??”- whenever I told them they could not eat until I took photos of the food. I had almost forgotten all about this until recently, stay.com contacted me for restaurant recommendations in or around Seoul to put on their tour guide. Great!! Yes, I do know some great restaurants in Seoul! Places that locals love to eat and then also some best non-Korean restaurants from all over the world that have some really delicious food.

My list of best places to eat in Seoul, Korea is now on Stay.com.  (Btw, see end of post for more info about stay.com.)

Now that I have the list, I thought I would also share the list (and more) here with my wonderful readers. I hope this list helps you find some good eats in Seoul. Bon Apetit!

Shihwadam(시화담) Restaurant in Seoul, Korea

시화담 Sihwadam (http://www.siwhadam.com/): A lovely literary interpretation of Korean food with a modern twist. Quite upscale and expensive but you will be transported to a world of peoms, stories and picturesque foods that are also very delicious. Located in Insadong and Itaewon – which are great area for tourists.

Gondurae Bap(곤드레밥) / Rice with Thistle Leaves

곤드레집 Gondurae Jip (195-16, Sinwon-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul)

One of my favorite places to go when I need to eat a great authentic, absolutely delicious, homestyle Korean food. Limited menu (5 items) but their wood charcoal grilled bulgogi and Gondurae Bap (rice cooked with thistle leaves) are Korean food at its best. Very simple, traditional Korean décor with minimal service. Located near Cheonggye Mountains(청계산), it is a favorite spot for hikers on weekends.

Kwangjang Shijang Mayak Kimbap (Opium Kimbap at Kwanjang Market) – image source (http://blog.naver.com/bl85219)

광장시장Kwangjag Shijang (88 Changgyeonggung-ro Jongno-gu, Seoul)

A visit to the past when Koreans sold everything thru traditional open markets called shijang. In addition to many clothing/fabric stores, a central food court area sells many traditional foods like Bindaetteok (Korean Mungbeen Pancake) and also the famous Opium Kimbap (마약김밥 Mayak Kimbap) where Opium just refers to the fact that it’s so good, it’s addictive like opium.

토담골 Todamgol (27, Bongeunsa-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul)

A great place to get a general introduction to Korean food. A good selection of Bibimbaps and other popular Korean menus liks Bossam (Boiled pork with Kimchi) and Dwenjang jjigae (Soybean Stew). They are known to use best ingredients shipped from all over Korea and uses no MSG.

우래옥 Wooraeok (62-29 Changgyeonggung-ro Jung-gu, Seoul)

Open since 1946, original owner was my father’s friend and have sister restaurants in New York and Washington DC. I have been going to this place since I was a little girl in the 70’s and the place was and still is simply the best place to have North Korean style Bulgogi and Naegmyeon (cold noodles in soup) in Seoul.

Jungsikdang chocolate dessert shaped like Korean kimchi urns

정식당 Jung Sik Dang www.jungsik.kr (11, Seolleung-ro 158-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul)

A two Michelin star restaurant by chef Yim Jung Sik that has taken Korean food to another level by bringing molecular gastronomic techniques into Korean cuisine. Fantastically good Korean fusion dishes that have beautifully delicate presentations.

예당 Yedang (5 Eonju-ro 13gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul)

This place serves really delicious, modernized Korean food using high quality ingredients while doing the best they can to bring nature into their foods. Food is very elegant and the taste is quite complex (in the most excellent way of course). A bit on the expensive side but you will not regret the visit because no matter what you order, everything will be delicious.

Great International (Non-Korean) Restaurants in Seoul

Vatos Urban Tacos in Itaewon and Gangnam, Korea

Vatos Urban Tacos (vatoskorea.com) – I am not a big fan of fusion food but this place serves fabulous Mexican food with a twist of Korean flavors. A must visit when you are tired of eating Korean food. Their Kimchi fries and Nacho Mama’s Kalbi are dishes you probably cannot get anywhere else in the world.

tofu burger at the plant in itaewon, seoul

The Plant (https://www.facebook.com/STUDIOPLANT) – My daughter took me to this cute tiny restaurant tucked in the back alley streets of Itaewon. It’s VEGAN. I am not a big fan of VEGAN food because usually it just doesn’t taste good. But I was very pleasantly surprised at how good everything was. From yummy soups to tofu burgers to heavenly tea cakes, everything was simply good.

Their menu changes constantly so you get to have the freshest ingredients that are in season. The owners are also very sweet and started out as bloggers – Alien’s Day Out.

Rose Bakery in Itaewon, Seoul Korea

Rose Bakery 

I kind of stumbled onto this place while waiting for an appointment. It is located right next to Leeum Museum and has a very non-Korean feel to it. Simple french cafe and restaurant that uses organic ingredients for most of their menu.

Love the simple, open decor and love the fact that they give you paper and crayon to doodle on.

Great simple french style foods from salads to sandwiches and fresh bakery of course.

There’s plenty more restaurants to share but I will save the rest for another day. Till then, enjoy~ (https://www.facebook.com/rosebakerykorea)

NOTE: Stay.com is a Norway-based company, launched in 2010 by the founder of the very successful hotellweb. The same year, it was named the top best 5 web sites by TIME. It is basically tripadvisor meets facebook. Stay.com offers beautiful curated travel guides by local experts in over 150 cities. Stay lets you discover exciting attractions, restaurants and nightlife, and build your own travel guide with your friends through facebook and other social media. Thank you Stay.com for choosing me to be part of your Seoul guide.

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Basic Korean pantry – list of essentials with labels

I was recently asked by a college bound student what basic ingredients he needed to buy to start cooking Korean food. And I remembered I wrote a post when I first arrived in Korea in 2012 about what I needed to buy to get my kitchen ready for Korean cooking. And the post about Korean Seasonings was written. But I realized that the post I wrote then was in order to stock a full Korean pantry. For a college student, they may not be able to nor want to do that. And so the reason for this Basic Korean pantry – list of essentials post. It is the minimalist version of my Korean seasonings list plus a few items you will want to have to make stock and other dishes.

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Korean Rice Cake Soup (떡국 Dduk Guk)

Happy New Year everyone!! Hope you had a wonderful start to 2016 – the year of the monkey!

Year 2015 has been a remarkable year for me and my family as we moved from Korea back to US, we welcomed Spock as a new member to our family (a Tibetan Spaniel mix rescue) in March, my husband and my daughter both got new jobs, moved my blog to a self-hosted wordpress.org version, entered some contests but won nothing, Spock ran away from me 6 times and we still have him and our family is all healthy so we are so blessed and thankful!

Our new family member Spock!!

Here are also some quick updates about my blog –

I opened up an Amazon store under Store. I thought my readers could benefit from my selection of Korean cooking ingredients and tools that I personally know and want to recommend. I will post more about the store soon. It’s just a start now and have very few items on it now but I hope to grow it a little more. Every time you purchase through my store, I get a small commission and hopefully that will help me buy a bottle of soy sauce or two.

I just wanted to wish everyone all the best of health and happiness to the New Year. I also wanted to share some quick ideas for a wonderful Tteok Guk Happy New Year party that I will be hosting tomorrow.

• Tteok Guk  – choose from my low calorie Tteok Guk recipe using anchovy broth, or traditional Tteok Guk recipe using beef broth
• Jeons – Hobak(zucchini) Jeon, Gochu(green chili pepper) Jeon – I will be using my Wanja jeon recipe for the stuffing and stuff half cut green chili peppers, Fish Jeon – no recipe yet on my blog but very easy, just buy cod or pollock fillet, cut it into thin bite size fillets, salt, pepper, coat with flour and coat in egg batter and fry! I chose gochu jeon instead of regular wanja jeon to add some spiciness and freshness to the meal.
• Bugeo Gui – Pan seared Korean dried pollock will be a great addition
• Bok choi geotjeori – Will be using a modified dressing from my Lettuce Salad with probably a little less soy sauce, finely chopped onions, more vinegar.
• Kimchi
• Myulchi Bokkeum – always a great addition to any Korean meal

So from above, I can prepare the following the day before (today) and help me have a less crazy day tomorrow-

• Make jeons ahead and reheat tomorrow
• I think I will go with the traditional beef broth for tteok guk so make beef broth ahead
• marinate pollock for bugeo gui tomorrow
• myulchi bokkeum

And that will be it!! Hopefully I can take some pictures and share with you!

But remember since every one has probably had a lot of heavy, high calorie meals in the last week or so, I would try to keep things light with a touch of spicy and freshness and it will be a wonderful Korean New Year’s breakfast, lunch or dinner!!

Happy New Year again! 새해 복 많이 받으세요 (Saehae Bok Maani Badeu saeyeo)!!

XOXO

JinJoo

PS – if you want to do more, you can also make some JapChae or Three color Namul.

The post Tteok Guk for a Happy New Year!! appeared first on Kimchimari.

My pretty measurement cups from John Lewis, London and spoons from Anthropologie, Carmel, CA~

Recently, someone asked me what measuring cup I use. Is it US measuring cup or is it Metric? 

My answer: “I use US measuring cup.” 

But then I realized the answer is not that simple. And I also remembered that I have always wanted to write about US and Korean cup measurements. Because Korean measuring cup is 200 ml and US legal measuring cup is 240ml. Also, many Korean recipes will say 1 Korean paper cup (종이컵) which is 180 ml instead of 200ml.

OK, so here I go again…I need to get to the bottom of what people mean by US measuring cup and what is the correct volume? And then I was curious about what other different size cups other countries use?

First, a quick summary table of my findings:

Below is a table of different measuring cup sizes throughout the world. Please let me know if I’m missing anything or if you find anything that needs to be corrected. 

Measuring cup sizes in ml for different countries

KOREAN Measuring CupsFortunately, Tablespoons are mostly 15ml throughout the world except for US customary, Australia and Canada.

Korean recipes commonly use 4 different measuring cups :

• international metric cup = 250 ml
• Korean cup = 200 ml (same as Japanese 1 cup)
• small Korean paper cup (종이컵) = 180 ml
• soju glass (소주잔) = 40~50 ml.

The Korean paper cup is the same size cup you get from a coffee vending machine all throughout Korea. Usually, pastry and baking recipes use 250 ml as 1 cup. Traditional Korean recipes usually use 200 ml as 1 cup.

So when reading Korean recipes, pay close attention to what they mean by 1 cup (컵). 

IMPORTANT : NOT all US MEASURING CUPS are EQUAL

It is important to note that what I have stated above for US cups and what is actually commonly used is often different. Of about 25 different US measuring cups I checked –

• only ONE by Martha Stewart has 1 cup = 236ml
• only TWO: Martha Stewart and Bellemaine have 1 cup = 240ml
• about TEN: OXO, Progressive, All clad, Chef N, etc have 1 cup = 250 ml
• rest were unmarked but it’s safe to assume is 250 ml
• ** all my FOUR 1 cup measuring cups are 250 ml, including one bought in London

A little more info on each US cup:

US Legal cup = 240 ml  is the official cup and tablespoon volume which are used in nutritional labeling.

US Customary cup = 236ml is defined as 8 oz or 1/2 pint and was used customarily throughout United States. But it seems this is no longer popular.

US Metric cup = 250ml is what you will find in most stores. Betty Crocker defines 1 cup as 250 ml. And then Julia Child’s pyrex measurement cup (on display at Smithsonian) actually has both: 1 US cup as 8 oz (240ml or 236 ml to be exact) and 1 Metric cup as 250ml. Some American recipe books will say 1 cup (240ml) but then there’s some that has 1 cup (250ml). 

So BE AWARE of what your measuring cup size is. 

Martha Stewart dry measuring cup with 1 cup = 236ml

Martha Stewart dry measuring cups 1 cup = 240 ml

So WHY are US measuring cups all different?? 

Reason 1: Partly because we are dealing with the traditional US cup size of 236 ml which then got rounded to 240 ml by government and then some chefs decided to go with 250 ml which is what is widely used internationally, especially in French cooking. 

Reason 2: We are all confusing the use of DRY vs WET measuring cups. After spending many hours looking at many measuring cups and reading many documents, I think it is safe to say that most DRY measuring cups measure 250ml and most WET measuring cups measure 240ml. But since people often don’t differentiate the two measuring cups, it gets all mixed up…

DRY vs WET (LIQUID) measuring cups

Many of you may know that there are different measuring cups for DRY vs WET (liquid). The measuring cups that come in 1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 cup sizes (like the ones you see in the pictures above) are actually meant for DRY ingredients like flour and sugar. Easy to scrape off the top for accurate measurement. For WET or liquid measure, there is the good old clear glass Pyrex measuring cups with a spout. If you look closely, these pyrex cups actually measure 1 cup = 8 oz = 240 ml on one side and 250ml on the other side. 

But if you ask around, everyone will say that the DRY and WET measures all have the same volume. NOT SO!!! According to my research, DRY tends to be 250 ml and WET is 240 ml. But, problem is, many just use DRY cups a lot of times. 

So, when trying out a recipe from a cookbook or a blog,  if the recipe is not working out, you may want to check what their measurement is for 1 cup and then also make sure you know exactly what ml volume your cups have.  Now for most cases, it will not make much of a difference since the error will most likely be around +/- 10 ml for both the author and yourself. If you know what I mean..  But it is going to make a quite a bit of difference if you are talking about 10 cups…cause 10 ml x 10 = 100 ml which is almost 1/2 cup difference!!! 

Pyrex glass WET measuring cup

Well, hopefully that was helpful and not too confusing.

BTW, all my DRY measuring cups measure 250 ml = 1 cup. For WET measuring cups, I use Pyrex 1, 2, 5 cup measures. So for any recipe that contains more than 2 cups of liquid measure, I’ve always used Pyrex cups for WET measure, so please take a note of that. 

Good luck!!

JinJoo

Sources:

• Good general info on Cups: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cup_(unit)
• Good discussion about DRY vs WET measures: http://www.cooksinfo.com/measuring-cups
• Good video on how to measure DRY vs WET: http://www.marthastewart.com/1100808/how-properly-measure-wet-and-dry-ingredients
• Good info on which measuring cups are best: http://thesweethome.com/reviews/the-best-measuring-cups/
• http://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/guidancedocumentsregulatoryinformation/ucm063102.htm

The post Know your Measuring Cups-US vs Metric vs Korean appeared first on Kimchimari.

Korean Soy Sauces – Ganjang(간장) and Guk Ganjang(국간장)

Do you know your Soy Sauce? About Korean Soy Sauce? How to buy and use good Korean soy sauce?

This post will answer all of that and is way long overdue..I had meant to write this last year right after the friend’s visit but life just got in the way…so first, my apologies to my new friend who feels like an old friend.

Ever since I started my blog in 2010, I have had one special blog follower (Judith) who felt more like a friend than just a blog follower. Her name was American but her questions about Korean foods caught me by surprise sometimes. Who is this person? Is she Korean in disguise? Or does she actually, I mean, really, cook Korean food all the time like she talks about? She must have some Korean ties somehow..

Well, it turns out, she has absolutely no Korean ties except she got interested in Korean dramas (Boys over Flowers 꽃보다 남자 – actually one of my favorite too) and then it got her more curious about Korean food and then into Kpop of course. Which is a wonderful series of happenings – especially for me.

Anyway, I was always appreciative for the time she took to write the most thoughtful comments and asked the most interesting questions. She also kept me on my toes because she points out any errors I make on my posts – especially grammar or spelling!! Yikes! Being the director of the Digital Game Museum in Santa Clara and of course, being a native, her English is leaps and bounds better than mine. I was thinking the other day..that God has a mysterious way of sending me the most wonderful friends and helpers just when I need it. I’m truly blessed in that way.

In 2015, when I returned to California from Korea, I invited Judith to my home (after finding out that she actually lives just 15 minutes away) to thank her for all her support through the years and also discuss future ideas about my blog. When she visited, she came bearing wonderful gifts – 3 herb plants : lemon verbena, French thyme and tarragon.

Lemon Verbena herb flowers from my friend Judith – so delicate and lovely~

She knew that I love gardening almost as much as cooking. We talked for hours about Korean cooking, gardening, other Korean food blogs and even little bit about music. We joked at the end that she must have been a Korean in her previous life and I must have been an American in my previous life!!!! You just never know what friends you will make along your life’s journey…

So, long story short, we decided that in the New Year, we should go shopping together to all the Korean grocery stores so she could ask me all the questions that she had about Korean groceries. How to buy and what to buy at Korean grocery stores. The resulting write up became too long so the full list will come in the form of an eBook (or something like that) very soon so stay tuned for that!!  I will just offer a shortened post how you should Know your Soy Sauce which will also serve as a Buying guide for Korean Soy Sauce. I will also add as a sub menu page under my Korean Ingredients so you can refer back whenever you need it.

The first couple questions asked by Judith was the following:

Which Soy sauce (간장) should I buy? What is the difference between Korean Guk Ganjang and Regular Korean Ganjang?

First, read my K ingredients page to learn about the difference of Guk Ganjang and regular Ganjang. But here is a quick look at the visual difference in terms of Guk Ganjang vs regular Ganjang. Guk Ganjang is much lighter in color, is more fragrant (or smelly ), saltier and more complex in flavor.

Korean Guk Ganjag (Soy sauce for Soup) vs Ganjang (Soy Sauce)

If you are just going to make some Korean Bulgogi or other simple dishes but not anything like stews or namul then you don’t need Guk Ganjang. But for anyone who is serious about some authentic Korean cooking that is not just BBQ and Bibimbap, Guk Ganjang is a must.

There’s basically only one type of Guk Ganjang sold in stores since there is only one way to make it in a factory – naturally brewed (more about that later).  Look for simple ingredient list that includes not much else than soybean, salt, water and possibly spirits.

Regular Ganjang is also called Whe-Ganjang (왜간장) because originally it tasted similar to soy sauce made using Japanese “Natural Brewing” method (Whe 왜 refers to Japan). There’s a LOT MORE to this and that will also be in my mini book.

When buying regular Korean Ganjang you will see some common words like below:

1. Naturally Brewed Soy Sauce = Yangjo Ganjang(양조간장): a somewhat “natural” process of making soy sauce by “brewing” a mixture of soybeans/defatted soybeans + wheat/rice + mold/yeast for 6 months in factory incubation chamber.
2. Blended Soy Sauce = Honhap Ganjang(혼합간장): a blended mixture of Naturally Brewed Soy Sauce + Acid Hydrolized Soy Sauce. NOT GOOD
3. Jin Ganjang (진간장): a very confusing term because in the Sempio brand it means blended soy sauce, in Chung Jung One, it is 100% Yangjo Ganjang and maybe something else in other brands.
4. Acid Hydrolized Soy Sauce (산분해간장): the cheapest version of soy sauce. Hydrochloric acid is used to extract amino acids from soy protein. Lot more flavor enhancing additives are added to improve the flavor. e.g. Soy Sauce packets that you get from fast food restaurants.
5. Flavored Soy Sauce = Mat Ganjang (맛간장): soy sauces flavored with various ingredients such as mushrooms, garlic, onions, apple, pear, etc. It will say it is specifically for braising (jorim 조림) or stir frying (bokkeum 볶음). If you want a flavored soy sauce, make a batch of my Apple Lemon Soy Sauce and that should work fine. These soy sauces will most likely have corn syrup and isomalto-oligosaccharides so be aware.

Tip1:  Korean law requires that soy sauce is categorized into one of the 4 above so always look for that at the top of the label.

Tip2: T.N.(Total Nitrogen) is a number that Korean soy sauce producers are required to put on the label. T.N. is basically a measure of how much protein is in the sauce and number ranges from 1.0 to 1.7 and above. Higher the number, the higher quality soy sauce, because it’s usually (not always) an indication that they used more soybeans. Traditional recipe uses ONLY soybeans. Anything above 1.5 is premium.

How to read type of soy sauce and T.N. number in Korean soy sauce label – this is my Sempio Organic Naturally Brewed Premium Soy Sauce

Tip3: News Flash!! Just found out that Korean companies started to put English labels (instead of using English label stickers on top of Korean labels) on the bottles that are in the US. Which is good thing but then it is now missing the very important T.N. number!!!?  I will be listing the T.N. numbers for each bottle in my book so don’t worry too much!

My recommendation for what Korean soy sauce to buy:

• For good Stews(Jjigae) or Namul => Buy Guk Ganjang (Sempio).
• For everything else (bulgogi, stir fry, braising, sauces etc) => Buy 100% Naturally Brewed Yangjo Ganjang (6 months or more) with high T.N. 
  • Sempio 701, 501 are good quality with T.N. > 1.7 and > 1.5 respectively.
  • Chung Jung One Jin Ganjang (명품진간장) is 100% Yangjo Ganjang with T.N. > 1.4.
  • Sempio Jin Ganjang Gold (샘표 진간장 금) series are blended soy sauces with Acid Hydrolized soy sauce so it’s the cheaper but also of lesser quality. 
  • My personal favorite is Sempio Organic Naturally Brewed Premium Soy Sauce (유기농 자연콩간장 or 유기농 양조간장) with T.N. > 1.5  You can buy it here.
  • There are certainly other brands but these are probably the most common brands in the US.

Storage Tips

• Soy sauce does NOT need to be kept in the fridge. The usual expiration period is 2 years.

General Buying Tip for Soy Sauce

• Whether you buy Korean, Japanese, Chinese or any other kind of soy sauce, try to buy ones that says it’s “naturally brewed” over 6 months. Just don’t buy Acid Hydrolized soy sauce or a blended soy sauce. Japanese Shoyu and Tamari are good choices with little or no gluten. Avoid liquid aminos because they are not made naturally either.

Well, hopefully that was helpful and now I hope you Know your Soy Sauce! I will be writing more on other seasoning ingredients like gochujang and doenjang later – so check back soon.

As I have mentioned above, I have added some better quality Korean soy sauces, gochujang and doenjang to my Kimchimari store. So please check the Korean seasonings category, if you are interested!

Have a flavorful day!!

XOXO

JinJoo

Sources:

• Good general discussion about soy sauce: Wikipedia
• About healthy soy sauce -“Natrually Brewed” method is basically overlooked but has good stuff about rapid hydrolysis method that produces acid hydrolized soy sauce.
• A whole slew of Korean articles…

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Rice water for Doenjang Jjigae

As I wrote in my Doenjang Jjigae post, rice water or water obtained from rinsing rice has a separate name in Korean – Ssal Tteu Mul (쌀뜨물) where ssal means rice and mul means water.

But before we go into more about rice water, Happy Easter everyone!  There’s no special Korean dish to share for Easter except as I posted on my facebook already, you can always make some Savory Egg Souffle (Gyeran Jjim) with any leftover eggs you may have.

Korean savory egg souffle (gyeran jjim) two ways

OK, let’s get back to rice water.

As I wrote in my Doenjang Jjigae post, rice water or water obtained from rinsing rice has a separate name in Korean – Ssal Tteu Mul (쌀뜨물) where ssal means rice and mul means water.

When I was writing my Doenjang Jjigae post, I found lots of information about all the different ways of using rice water. I had always known about using it as a base for making stews/jjigae and I have seen my mother-in-law use rice water to wash her dishes but I did not realize Koreans use it for so many other uses. 

IMPORTANT – 1st rinse of rice water can contain dust or pesticide residue from the rice so use the 1st rinse for non-cooking tasks like cleaning and polishing and use 2nd or 3rd rinse for cooking.

QUICK SCIENCE: The vitamin B1, B2, lipids and starches in rice water makes it a special solution. The rice starch and water is basically a colloidal solution. For cleaning purposes, rice water becomes a natural colloidal micelles cleaner and therefore basically works like a cleaning solution without the harshness of chemicals but with added vitamins and lipids.

1. Wash your dishes 100% naturally (1st or 2nd rinse) with rice water

My mother-in-law always washes her dishes with rice water. Because most Korean foods are not very greasy, this works well (most of the time). For heavy grease, I find that you will have to use regular dish washing soap but you will be surprised how it will do the job for most of your dish washing needs. Good for your health, good for the environment and good for your hands too!

2. Water your house plants (1st rinse) and veggies (2nd rinse) – it’s a natural fertilizer

The different nutrients make the rice water a very good fertilizer for your plants. I am not sure of the exact science on this but I do have a green thumbed friend who uses rice water to grow her veggies. I visited her home last year and she had such beautiful healthy perilla plants growing out of her pots at her apartment. She shared that her two tips with me which were planting earthworms in her pot and then using rice water when she waters her veggies!

3.  Broth for Doenjang Jjigae/Doenjang Guk/Kimchi Jjigae/Miyeok Guk (2nd or 3rd rinse)

I already mentioned about using rice water for Doenjang Jjigae. It makes the broth richer and smoother because of the colloids. I know from personal experience that it tastes good and this tip has been passed down through generations so you must give it a try! Just replace same amount of water with rice water or use rice water partially.

4. Rice water for Fish Jorim or to take away fishiness by washing fish (2nd or 3rd rinse)

Koreans use rice water in braising (jorim) fish or by washing fish to take away fishy smell. If you are making salted mackerel (Godeungo Jaban 고등어자반) and you want to make it less salty, soak the mackerel in rice water for 30 minutes and fish will become less salty, less fishy and also more tender.

5. Deodorize your Kimchi or other plastic containers (2nd rinse)

I watched a TV show in Korea couple years ago and they actually did some experiments to see if this really worked and they said it did! Try filling your smelly plastic containers with rice water for 30 minutes or more and it should do the trick!!

6. Clean your face with rice water!

Perhaps the most well known use of rice water is as a beauty product. You will find many beauty blogs and sites (Korea, US and Asian) that talk about the beauty effect of rice water on your face as a face wash. There are also many beauty products made with rice water in them. Rice water is said to help clear the skin of acne and also has a whitening effect. Recommended use is for about 2 times a week and rinse off the rice water fully with regular warm water because any leftover rice starch particle in your pores can cause trouble.

You can also make a rice water mask by collecting the rice water sediments and mixing it with a little bit of lemon juice and flour.

History records that royal palace ladies during Joseon Dynasty used rice water to whiten and beautify their skin so try it!

7. Polish your glass and mirrors!

Similar to how it works for washing dishes, rice water starch or colloids that help to attract dirt from glass and mirrors while the oil helps the shine. Put rice water in a spray bottle and spray and wipe with a dry cloth.

STORAGE: Rice water only keeps for a day at room temperature. Will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge.

ARSENIC IN RICE? : There is some concern about the level of arsenic in rice. Consumer Report’s article discusses the level of arsenic in rice in detail. Now, if you are concerned about that then you would also be concerned about arsenic washing off into rice water. I think that’s a valid concern but with anything, I believe the devil or in this case, angel is in the details.

First, you have to ask – What kind of rice is the report about? Is the arsenic level the same regardless of where the rice was grown?  The rice that I am talking about here and that Koreans eat are the short grain Korean rice which is different from rice that is massively produced in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana which are known to have the highest level of inorganic arsenic. So I would say, please do stay alert about consuming processed rice products like rice milk and rice cereal, especially for young infants and children because they are probably made from these massively produced rice from one of these states.

The Consumer Reports report specifically states “Our latest tests determined that the inorganic arsenic content of rice varies greatly depending on the type of rice and where it was grown. White basmati rice from California, India, and Pakistan, and sushi rice from the U.S. on average has half of the inorganic-arsenic amount of most other types of rice... All types of rice (except sushi and quick cooking) with a label indicating that it’s from Arkansas, Louisiana, or Texas or just from the U.S. had the highest levels of inorganic arsenic in our tests. For instance, white rices from California have 38 percent less inorganic arsenic than white rices from other parts of the country.”

So when you buy rice in your area, check where it is from. I guess I am lucky that we have a lot of Korean short grain rice that is grown in California in our local markets and that I can also buy organic Pulmuone rice pretty easily.

Well, hope that was helpful!

Have a great weekend everyone,

take care,

JinJoo

The post 7 Uses for Rice Water and Happy Easter! appeared first on Kimchimari.

Cabbage Juice for Acidic Stomach

Why do I eat gluten free and drink cabbage juice? Because these two things totally saved me from a life of discomfort and knowing where the bathroom is in every super market, mall and shopping center in our area. And I always wanted to share the reasons why with you all because I feel not many people know about this. I think health issues concern everyone and even though you may not be directly affected, I’m sure you know a friend or a family member that is troubled with similar issues. I am no medical professional but I am writing this from my experience in the hopes that sharing my experiences can help someone avoid the many years of frustrations that I had to go through. I am also writing for my daughter too so that she may refer back to this post when she wants to know more about our family history of stomach problems..

So.. I think my stomach problems started way back when I was 5, living in Tunisia. The stress of going to a French kindergarten school without knowing a single word of French was too much for me and I kept having stomach aches when it was time to go to school. I heard from my sisters that I came home after couple days and announced to everyone that they should all call me “Quangtrang”(in French pronunciation) instead of JinJoo. I guess that sounded JinJoo just did not sound like French… hahaha..

The moment my mom said that I could stay home, my stomach ache went away. After missing many days of school, my mom decided (at the recommendation of a doctor) that perhaps a different, more relaxed (since the French school was a pretty strict school run by nuns). American school will maybe suit me better? And so it happens, I had a great time at the American school with no further stomach problems. But as you can expect, that was not the end of my problems..

Lesson 1: Don’t accept IBS as your diagnosis and give up on it. There may be other things you can do to help your issue.

Similar things happened throughout my life whenever a very stressful (for me anyway) situation came about and my stomach aches came and went. But after college and up until about year 2000, for about 12 years, my symptoms of diarrhea, indigestion and bloating continued and got worse over time. Then my sister #1 who is very similar to me physically in terms of our issues, told me that she was able to relieve her symptoms by going gluten free.

This was the time when people just started to talk about Celiac disease, the disease where you have an allergy to gluten. So my daughter and I went and got tested for Celiac disease and we both tested negative. And so because we did not have Celiac, at first, I didn’t really think to go gluten free.  But our stomach issues continued and in 2008, I took my daughter to a GI specialist to get to the bottom of all her problems. And after a battery of tests, Irritable Bowl Syndrome (IBS) was the only diagnosis the doctor could come up with while shrugging her shoulders.  Which meant, there is no cure, you just live with it and manage it through diet.

Well, that’s just dandy….isn’t it?? I mean, what are you supposed to do?

Often times,  medical doctors will tell you that if it’s not life threatening then sorry but just live with it. Go home, learn to manage it yourself cause we have no idea how to fix it. I refused to accept that. There must be a reason and there must be something one can do to help. IBS is just so vague.

Lesson 2: Even though you may test negative for Celiac, I think you can still have sensitivity to gluten.

So on our own, we decided go gluten free. And that was like a miracle!! Well, at least for me.

It cleared things up for me just after few days of going gluten free. But for my daughter it was a bit different. Although it made things better, it didn’t clear up things completely.  BTW, actually for her, symptoms were a bit different. She also had bloating, so much that it even hurt her belly but not diarrhea. She was at the other end of the spectrum – constipation.

Lesson 3: Too much acid in your stomach can cause a variety of symptoms other than the classic ones that you hear about.

Hmm..now what can it be? Fast forward few years and I am now living in Korea. My daughter came to visit in the summer of her senior year in college and her symptoms have worsened. I also started to develop a new symptom of feeling like there was something stuck in my throat and then the old symptom of diarrhea came back (now sometimes 10 times a day) even though I was not eating much gluten in Korea.

So we went and saw a GI specialist in Korea. Funny thing, the doctor heard our symptoms and right away, she says that it’s because we have too much acid in our stomach due to stress and other factors. So I asked, how can that be? We don’t have the classic symptoms of heartburn or acid reflux… she said, “Oh, not everyone has those symptoms..”

We got some strong antacid medications and boy, we both got better really fast!!

Lesson 4: If you stop antacid medications too suddenly, more acid comes back with a vengeance.

OK. So this is great. But, I hate taking medicines long term because they always have side effects. EVERY human made drug has side effects and the longer you are on them, you will end up taking more pills to fix the never ending side effects and sometimes you get new diseases as a result. This is my theory so I try to go off medications and find a more natural solution if possible.

Hmm.. now when I got off antacid medications (e.g. Zantac), I didn’t know (and the doctor failed to tell me) that if I stop too suddenly, the stomach acid comes back with a vengeance. Yikes.. that was NOT good! Then, my sister #3 told me about how her friend drank cooked cabbage juice for few months and cured her stomach acid problem completely. So I decided to give it a try and what do you know?!!

Green cabbage is MUCH better than any antacid medication!!

And this is what I wanted to share with you all –

SOLUTION: Try drinking cooked cabbage smoothie if you have too much acid in your stomach! Also try avoid gluten at the same time.

cabbage juice or smoothie heals acidic stomach and even stomach ulcers

MY CABBAGE SMOOTHIE RECIPE:

• Boil or steam green cabbage leaves for good 15-20 minutes until they are fully cooked.
• Blend cabbages and some of the cooked liquid to make a smoothie. The finer you blend the cabbages the better. Add more liquid if you like yours more watery.
• Make a big batch and keep leftover in the fridge. It will stay fresh for several days. You can also freeze it.

HOW TO DRINK:

• Whenever you feel your stomach is too empty and feeling the symptoms of acid like first in the morning
• After a meal when you feel things are not digesting well or if you feel you have too much acid.
• Drink anywhere from 4 – 8 oz each time. You should feel relief right away.
• Drink for a week at least or longer based on how you feel.

FYI – drinking cabbage smoothie for a week or more is NOT going to cure your problems once and for all. I do have recurrences but it has happened only every few months so far. And I have to confess, for me it reoccurred mainly because I was basically bad. I either went off my gluten free diet and ate too much gluten for days or if I skipped meals.  I found that these things bring back my usual problems of too much acid in my stomach, bloating, indigestion and then diarrhea.

PLEASE go visit a doctor first and try to get a proper diagnosis. I tried the cabbage regimen because I did NOT yet have peptic ulcer or acid reflux but other symptoms of too much acid in my stomach (stomach pain, bloating, diarrhea, indigestion). You should always go to a doctor first to make sure you don’t have anything serious. But if you don’t want to continue to take antacid medicines forever, then you may be in an area where this may be helpful. I tried taking Tums and they only last for 5 minutes and my symptoms of acidic stomach comes back right away. But when I drink my cabbage smoothie, I’m OK for few hours or longer and eventually I feel back to normal within a few days as long as I watch my diet at the same time.

FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS

If you have bloating, indigestion, diarrhea or constipation along with other symptoms of acidic stomach, you could make things better by trying the following:

• Make cabbage smoothie and drink often throughout the day whenever you feel uncomfortable
• Continue drinking cabbage smoothie for several days to weeks
• Never skip meals, eat a full healthy meal and never leave your stomach too empty too long
• Avoid gluten (this may apply to you or not but definitely try it)
• Avoid the usual stuff – acidic foods, too spicy foods and too greasy foods, coffee
• Add more probiotics like yogurt and kimchi to your diet

 Again this is all just from my personal experience but there is also quite a bit of write up online about how cabbage is good for stomach ulcers. An article in Western Journal of Medicine writes “The average crater healing time for six patients with gastric ulcer treated with cabbage juice was only 7.3 days, compared with 42 days, as reported in the literature, for six patients treated by standard therapy. ”

Also, an article in Natural News talks about an experiment – “In a double blind study of 45 inmates at San Quentin Prison in California, 93 percent of the ulcers in prisoners taking cabbage juice concentrate in capsules – the equivalent of a fresh quart of cabbage juice every day – were healed after three weeks. Only 32 percent of the ulcers healed in those taking a dummy capsule.”

So you see, it’s not just me..

But I have to say I did not experience much relief from just eating raw cabbages as part of a meal like in salads. I only found immediate relief when I drank a smoothie consistency cooked cabbage juice. I can feel it coat my throat and stomach as it goes down. Cooked cabbage juice also tastes much better than raw in my opinion.

Well, I hope this is helpful to some of you out there.

Have a happy week everyone!

XOXO

JinJoo

The post Why I eat Gluten Free and drink Cabbage Juice appeared first on Kimchimari.

Korean BBQ Beef – Bulgogi (불고기)

Are you reading the right blog?? Yes, you are. I know it’s a strange title but yes, this IS Kimchimari.

My recent experience of having my Bulgogi photo illegally used by a website and then getting laughed in the face when I sent a request to give me credit, prompted me to write this post. I happen to have a great support system where I can get good legal advice and also being pretty good at researching and sorting out the truth enabled me to resolve the issue to my satisfaction. But this is after the person who used my photo illegally giving me some BS about how my photo was in the public domain and that he had fair use rights and that I needed to prove to him that my image had registered copyright. I mean.. wow…pretty crazy, right? Well, I fought back with the facts and also by mentioning a possible lawsuit and then he suddenly backed down and removed the image.

But in doing so, I ended up wasting a lot of time on this matter… Then, I thought – why should I waste the knowledge I gained through this experience? So I decided I should share and help my fellow bloggers on how they can fight for their copyright of their photo images. Most of the information is already out there on the internet but it took me quite some time to figure everything out and put it altogether. Bloggers spend a lot of time and effort on their photos and it is just simply wrong for people to use it without giving you proper credit. Especially if you happen to get a crazy infringer like this one. It is just NOT RIGHT.

In short,  I will list issues that are related to the use of photo images online, how to protect your own copyrights and how to fight illegal use of image if they refuse to cooperate.

First, a little background about me and why I am doing this.

So…I was painfully shy when I was a child. When my 1st grade teacher called my name during roll call, I was so quiet in my answer that the teacher would ask the class – “Is JinJoo here? I don’t hear her?!” And my class mates would have to step in and say “Oh, no! Mrs. Lee! she is right here!!!”

And things did get a little better as I grew older but until about 15 years ago, for the first 35 years of my life, I struggled with speaking in public, arguing back when I have been wronged and basically not being able to stand up for myself. Still to this day, I don’t do Karaoke and I would rather not stand out in a crowd if possible. And still, unless I prepare myself, my natural instinct is to just not to fight back when someone treats me badly or unfairly. Sometimes people say it’s because I am just a nice person and don’t like to fight. And that most people will be just as nice to me in return. Yes, that’s true for most cases and I have to say I am truly blessed to have immense love and support from many friends and my family including my sisters, nephews and nieces who help me with my work in so many different ways. But for some cases that’s just not true.

So for me, it was many years of ending up with the short end of the stick – so to speak. Because the world will not always treat nice people in a nice way. You and I know there are a lot of bullies in the world. I decided 15 years ago (yes, first time I stood up to my boss at work and quit) that I will no longer be stepped on or be pushed back just because the other party is stronger, louder and meaner – even though they are completely in the wrong. If you let bullies have their way and walk all over you and you don’t fight back then you just end up internalizing all your frustrations. In which case, you end up getting sick – I mean physically sick. I have experienced that. And not to mention the risk of losing confidence and self-respect on the way.

If you are a blogger and you find that people are using your images without permission and you don’t like it, you have to let them know. Now, WAIT – I have NO problem with bloggers or magazines using my image – I am actually always flattered when that happens – as long as they give me proper credit. BUT, I have a problem when commercial sites use my image for their commercial/marketing purposes without my permission. 

FIRST – Reverse image search on Google will find web pages that use your image (How To)

Now, in this particular case, it was accidental. I just happened to search for Bulgogi on Yummly to see what other Bulgogi recipes are out there and I found that my Bulgogi image was appearing with a recipe that was not my own and the yum post was linking back to some beef seller site and not back to Kimchimari! This site had illegally downloaded my bulgogi image without my permission, was using my photo on their web page with no credit, no link back to my bulgogi post. 

HOW TO FIGHT ILLEGAL USE of IMAGE

• Take screenshots: As soon as you confirm it is your image, take screenshots of the webpage that is infringing on your copyright – just in case you need proof later. It’s a good idea to include your computer time stamp in the screenshot. Here is what I did. I blocked out the seller logo and url here, not because I want to protect the identity (he does not deserve it and this is the truth) but because I actually don’t want to give the site any exposure.

  Illegal use of my bulgogi photo

• Notify the infringement by pointing out the illegal use of image along with your requests of what they should do to the site owner. This article has a great form for such purpose. I sent email to the owner and asked that they give me credit and link back or take it down if they can’t do that. 
  • Most reasonable people will comply and either add credit/link or take down the copyright image which was the case for others except for this guy. And, that’s when you go for the next step –
• Find out the owner and hosting company of the website. If it’s a custom URL, self-hosted website then lookup the site in Domainwhitepages.com which has good information. Fyi – Registrant Name is the owner of the site. Organization under Network Whois record is the hosting company/provider of the site. If it’s a blog hosted by wordpress or blogger, etc. then you should be able to contact them directly. 
• Request DMCA takedown: If all else fails, you can always request DMCA takedown. DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998) takedown allows you to contact the hosting provider of the infringing website and the hosting company (assuming your case has sufficient proof) will takedown the website because they don’t want to be liable for hosting such a website. Many large hosting companies such as godaddy now have separate online forms that you fill out for DMCA takedown requests. For me, it just took 5 minutes to fill out a form at Godaddy.com.
  • FYI, Godaddy will take down the entire site instead of the particular page or article. Each hosting company handles things differently. So research and be aware that this may happen before you request a DMCA takedown. This is not an action to take lightly so be sure you do this as the last resort.
• Check for any remaining illegal use of images on the internet and notify any other aggregate site such as Yummly of the copyright infringement.
  • In my case, Yummly had a yum post that was yummed by someone else who thought the beef seller’s recipe and photo was good enough to post. Well, that was a problem for me because people were looking at my bulgogi image but then was directed to some other recipe which was not mine. And this happened 1000 times already!
  • I sent email to Yummly and they took it down right the next day!

UNDERSTAND FAIR USE

• Some people may claim that they have Fair Use to your photo. They may say that because your photo is on your blog which is public, the image is part of the public domain. NO such thing! Your image/photo is in the public domain ONLY if you declare it to be so. Read more about public domain or creative commons here.
• Some may claim they have fair use of your image/photos due to the fair use. It may or they may not apply. Basically what that means is that if the purpose of using your photo/image is for the benefit of the public (educational, nonprofit, scholarly, reporting, reviewing, or research) then they are allowed to use it without your permission. Although almost all responsible parties will ask for permission anyway.  If it’s for any other use including commercial use, then fair use does NOT apply! More info here.

KNOW your COPYRIGHT (this is what I learned along the way..)

• You own the copyright to your photos the moment you press the shutter on your camera. Only exception is under the “work for hire” situation – if you are employee or have a contract to take photos under “work for hire”.  
• You don’t have to register the copyright of your photos to have the copyright. But it certainly make things easier in and outside of court if you do have your photos registered. So it’s good to have your photos registered.
• Even if someone bought your image, it does not mean they also bought the copyright. You still own the copyright. They are not allowed to reproduce the image without your permission unless you explicitly allowed them the rights. (More here)
• When you get paid to take photos for someone, be clear about the copyright and have a contract ready. Also know that you as an artist/photographer can choose which photos are given from a shoot. You don’t have to give them all 300 photos that were taken at the event but the only ones that represent the quality that you want to be known for.
• DON’T use images from the internet on your blog without permission. You can actually get sued for monetary damages.

LESSONS LEARNED 

• Upload only low resolution photo on your blog with watermarks added if you want to protect your image. This was my original mistake – bulgogi photo was my very first photo as a blogger and I thought that it was probably not good enough for anyone to want to use it. I uploaded a high resolution without thinking with no watermark back in 2010. Big mistake. I’m still working to fix this mistake..and others..sigh..
• Register your photos copyright at the copyright office.   There are a lot of info on how to file for copyright of your photos electronically at http://www.copyright.gov/eco/. But I had a problem because I have just too many photos and their price is $35 for single and $55 for group but I would still have to do many group application to make it work for the amount of photos I have to register. But my nephew told me that there is another way – which is really quite odd but it’s a much better option. So instead of filing electronically, you can file by paper but this method was created specifically for photographers who have hundreds of photos to register for copyright in this age of digital photography. For $85, you can register up to 750 photographs taken in a calendar year all in one application!(Read http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formgr_pph_con.pdf)
• Keep your photos organized including your original high resolution images. You just never know when you may need it to prove that you own the copyright of your photo.
• Value your work – if you don’t, no one else will. 

Other References

• DMCA Takedown Notice info
• Great article overall on “What to do when someone steals your content”.
• Fun chart about fair use 

Finally, PLEASE, LET US VALUE OTHER BLOGGER’S WORK by giving each other proper credit, link back and asking for permission.

Thank you!

JinJoo

The post How to fight illegal use of your image appeared first on Kimchimari.

This is a picture that I took back in April. Most of my lettuces have bolted since then but I still have perilla and beet greens left. It was great to have all the different varieties for a while! What are the different types of greens used in Korean Lettuce Wraps or Ssam? Ssambap? This was...

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The post Types of Greens for Korean Lettuce Wraps (Ssam) – A comprehensive list appeared first on Kimchimari.

I know I have not posted for a while…I actually have been working really hard on a project for someone developing over 20+ recipes!! I’m almost done with the project and I will be posting soon – sharing some new recipes I have been working on. I’m so excited that I can share these with...

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The post New Comfort Food event in San Francisco! appeared first on Kimchimari.

[caption id="attachment_7879" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Doenjang - Korean classic doenjang (Jaerae Doenjang)[/caption]

What is Doenjang? 

Doenjang (Korean Soybean Paste - pronounced DEN-jahng) is a twin sister to Gochujang that is not spicy and lot more complex in flavor. Probably much less known than Gochujang outside of Korea. But in my opinion, it is one of the most amazing seasoning ingredient in Korean cuisine. Doenjang (된장) is fermented Korean soybean paste that is made by fermenting cooked soybeans with salt for 6 months or more.

Making doenjang requires a lot more work and time than gochujang but you also get a huge depth of umami flavor in return. It also tastes a little sour and salty in addition to its amazing umami flavor.

What is the difference between Korean Doenjang vs Japanese Miso?

They are somewhat different in color (most of the time) but both are salty, have similar consistency and made of fermented soybeans. Traditional Korean doenjang is made just from soybeans and salt only. Whereas miso has added flour, barley or rice to soybeans which produces a sweeter taste. In terms of flavor, I would say the difference in flavor is like comparing American Cheese and blue cheese or parmesan cheese. Miso is milder, smoother and sweeter. Korean Doenjang is stronger, sharper, deeper and more complex in its flavor profile. I am not saying one is better than the other (I love miso!) they are just different in their flavors and their place in cooking.

What do the different names of Doenjang mean on the labels?

I know many who can't read Korean are probably frustrated that it is hard to tell what the difference is among all the different kinds just by reading their English names. I just came back from a Korean grocery store and realized that the English descriptions are quite confusing and there's absolutely no consistency.

The post Know your Doenjang (Korean Soybean Paste)! appeared first on Kimchimari.