Tag: beef
Japchae
Japchae
Japchae is a popular Korean dish using glass noodles, which are made out of sweet potato starch. The noodles are stir fried and tossed with beef, vegetables, and egg in a sweet and salty sauce. All of the ingredients are cooked separately instead of stir frying together.
Ingredients
- 8 oz sweet potato starch noodles
- 1 carrot julienned
- 1/2 medium onion sliced
- 2 green onions chopped
- 4 oz sirloin julienned
- 4 oz oyster mushrooms sliced
- 6 oz spinach
- vegetable oil for frying
Sauce
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 2 tsp garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Garnish
- 2 large eggs beaten
Instructions
- Mix together the sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Add on the noodles. Boil for 8 minutes. You will want these noodles cooked through, not al dente.
- Drain the noodles. Shock in cold water to stop the cooking process. Place in a large bowl and toss with 2 tbsp of the sauce.
- In the same pot, blanch the spinach for 1 minute. Shock in cold water. Squeeze out any excess water and give the spinach a rough chop. Set aside.
- Heat up 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large sauté pan or wok over medium high heat. Stir fry the noodles for 4 minutes. Return the noodles to the bowl.
- Heat up another tbsp of vegetable oil. Stir fry the carrots for a minute. Add in the onion and green onion. Stir fry for another minute. Place on top of the noodles.
- Heat up another tbsp of oil. Stir fry the mushrooms and beef for 1 minute with 2 tbsp of the sauce. Place on top of the noodles.
- Heat up a tbsp of oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Pour in the eggs. Let firm up for a minute or two, then flip.
- Roll the omelette and cut thin ribbons. Add 2/3 of the egg to the noodles.
- Add the spinach and the rest of the sauce to the bowl. Gently toss all of the ingredients together.
Kimbap
Kimbap
Kimbap is one of the most popular foods in Korea. Resembling sushi, these rice rolls of multi layered complexity are fairly time consuming to make, but are very addicting. Each of the ingredients have a few steps in preparation. The classic ingredients in kimbap are beef, carrots, fish cakes, pickled radish, spinach, and julienned omelette; rolled in nori with steamed rice seasoned with sesame oil. These are best eaten the day they are made, but can be slightly warmed up in the microwave. Since there is so much going on with kimbap, they are served without sauce.
Equipment
- sushi rolling mat
- serrated knife
Ingredients
Rice
- 3 cups steamed short grain rice
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp salt
Beef
- 8 oz ground beef or thinly julienned sirloin
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp rice wine
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 garlic clove minced
Fish Cakes
- 1 sheet fish cake cut into 3/4” strips
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp sugar
Spinach
- 8 oz baby spinach
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
Eggs
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
Carrots
- 1 large carrots julienned
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
Other Ingredients
- 4 strips pickled radish
- 4 sheets nori
Instructions
Ingredient Prep
- Brown the beef in a sauté pan over medium high heat.
- Season with soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, sesame oil, and garlic. Cook for 1 minute. Set aside.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Blanch the spinach for 1 minute.
- Shock in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Squeeze out the water. Season with sesame oil and salt. Set aside.
- Heat up vegetable oil in a small sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the carrots for 2 minutes. Season with salt. Set aside.
- Add cooking oil to the pan. Pour in the beaten eggs.
- Cook for 1 minute a side. Cut into 3/4” thick strips. Set aside.
- Add cooking oil to the pan. Add in the fish cakes. Season with soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. Sauté for 2 minutes. Set aside.
- Finally, stir in the sesame oil and salt to the steamed rice. Let cool slightly.
Kimbap Assembly
- Gather all of the kimbap ingredients together.
- Lay a sheet of nori on a bamboo sushi rolling mat; shiny side down. Place 3/4 cup of the rice in a thin layer on the nori sheet.
- Leave a 1/2” of rice uncovered across the bottom of the sheet. Then place thin layers of each ingredient starting from the bottom in the specific order: beef, carrots, fish cakes, pickled radish, and egg. You should use no more than 2/3 of the sheet to layer your ingredients, with the top 1/3 just rice. It is very important to not overstuff the nori.
- Using the bottom of the rolling mat, roll over the top. Press it tightly.
- Unroll the mat. Bring the roll back to the bottom and roll it tightly again, making sur the bottom is sealed.
- Using a serrated knife, slice 1” thick pieces of the kimbap roll.
Steamed Watercress Meatballs
Steamed Watercress Meatballs
Watercress meatballs are a common item that can be found on dim sum menus. You pretty much mix all of the ingredients in a food processor, form the meat into balls, and steam them on a bed of watercress. Watercress happens to be highly nutrient dense, making these healthier then your average meatball.
Equipment
- food processor
- bamboo steamer
Ingredients
- 2 bunches watercress
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 tsp ginger grated
- 1 green onion finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 2 tsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 1 1/2 tsp dried tangerine peel
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup cilantro
Instructions
- Blanch 1 of the bunches of watercress for 1 minute. Shock in cold water. Finely chop.
- Place all of the ingredients except the watercress and cilantro in a food processor. Process until smooth.
- Mix in the watercress and cilantro by hand.
- Line a heat proof plate with the other bunch of watercress. Form 12-14 meatballs and place them on the watercress. Place the plate inside the steamer.
- Cover and let steam over medium high heat for 15 minutes.
