korean food

[daryn]

i'm a big fan of these food threads. what can i say, i love to eat. i'm not too qualified to talk about korean food but i've had it, and liked it a lot. i'll talk about what i've had and maybe some guys like aloy and punkass can chime in w/ some recommendations

i've been to a few korean restaurants in boston and some korean bbqs which are great. for those that don't know korean bbq is basically korean side dishes such as



kim chee



which is basically spicy cabbage seasoned with chili pepper mmm it's tasty but maybe not for everyone

and what's that other stuff... they bring out these big lettuce leaves and you put this brown spread on them, it's so salty.. probably some kind of mashed up bean.

also usually some white carrot that may or may not be pickled, but that's good stuff

then there's like a grill in the middle of the table, and they come around with plates of raw meat, stuff like

galbi



which are just ribs, there you can see them on the actual grill in the table at a korean bbq

bulgogi



and other meats. you take a piece of lettuce, put some of that salty bean paste on it, put some meat on it that you cooked up, and enjoy.. it's fantastic.






any other recommendations?

[Aloysius]

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and what's that other stuff... they bring out these big lettuce leaves and you put this brown spread on them, it's so salty.. probably some kind of mashed up bean.

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Daryn - that stuff is called "gochujang":

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Gochujang is a spicy Korean condiment, made from glutinous rice powder mixed with powdered fermented soybeans, red chili powder, and salt, and fermented, traditionally in the sun. Other grains can be substituted for the glutinous rice, including normal rice, wheat, and barley. A small amount of sweetener, such as sugar, syrup, or honey is also sometimes added. It is a dark, reddish paste with a rich, spicy flavour.

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It's also used to flavor stews (chigaes) and some other dishes notably Hoedeopbap (cubed raw fish mixed with fresh vegetables and rice) and Dol Sot Bibimbap (both you add to taste).

Here is an OOT thread on Korean food that also has some great info: KKF's Korean Food Thread

-Al

[punkass]

Korean food: These are my favorite, and probably more popular things you'll find at any good Korean place.
Appetizers -

Favorites are dumplings (mondu), light pancakes filled with either veggies (pajon), kimchee (kimchee pajon), or seafood (haemul pajon). I also like squid (oh-jing-a) Depending on the restaurant, there will be others, but everyone korean place has these staples.

Mondu -

Pajon -

O-jing-a


Meat BBQ - Note: The term "BBQ" is used wrongly here, since BBQ denotes cooking with smoke. Korean BBQ denotes usually raw meats brought to the table and cooked on a small hot grill placed in the middle of the table. The diners control the cooking.

Bulgogi - Slivers of beef marinaded in sweet garlic soy sauce
Kalbi - Short ribs marinaded in sweet garlic soy sauce
Daeji-gogi (or daeji bulgogi) - marinaded pork, usually spicy
Dak-gogi (or dak-bulgogi) - chicken, which may or may not be marinaded

Bulgogi -

Kalbi -

Daeji -


There will probably be other assorted meats, including plain unmarinaded versions of the above.

Hotpots or Soups

Jam-bong - hot and spicy soup with (hopefully) lots of seafood and vegetables. Noodles as well. Seafood can vary including squid, shrimp, clams, mussels, or fish.
Udon - Noodles in mild soup. Specialty udons will have beef, pork, or seafood.
Jigae - a thicker soybean soup base. Kimchi jigae (kimchee, tofu, pork) or dengjang jigae (beef, tofu, vegs) are the more popular ones.
Gook or tang - means soup. Mando guk is dumpling soup with beef and egg. Gom tang is oxtail soup with a white rich beef stock. Sullang tang is tender beef slivers in white rich broth. There are many many more soups, but these are my favorites.

Rice or noodles: Note "bap" means "rice".

Bibimbap - rice dish served in a very hot stone bowl. Most popular is dolsol bibimbap, which has veggies, bulgogi, a fried egg, and seasonings, served with sides of hot chili sauce and sesame oil. You get to mix everything together.
Bokumbap - Korean fried rice. Veggies, bulgogi, and rice topped with a thin egg omelette. Other variations are kimchi bokumbap (w/kimchi) or seafood bokumbap.
Japchae - This can be an entree or appetizer. Thin clear noodles with marinated beef and assorted seasoned veggies panfried.

There are many many things I'm leaving out, but these are dishes you'll find at any place, and they will be good, if you're at a good restaurant. With any entree, you'll get side dishes and perhaps some miso soup. The side dishes are called banchan, and include picked veggies of any kind, beans, egg, tofu, kimchee of any kind, or seaweed. The better the restaurant, the fresher and more banchan you get, in my opinion. Also, when you get a meat bbq, you usually get big leaves of lettuce, slices of garlic, korean chili peppers, hot chili sauce.

I'll add more pictures as I find them.

[Losing all]

Mondu and pajon look yummy. Bulgogi looks like boiled cat fat.

[punkass]

more pictures:

Dubu jigae (or Tofu jigae)


Gomtang (which is beef and tripe soup, not oxtail soup, which is Goli-gomtang. I was mistaken)


Jampong


Udon

[punkass]

Japchae -

Bibimbap


banchan (assorted stuff you get with meal)

The crabs are not banchan, by the way.

[traz]

Everything I usually get when I go to a korean restaurant has been posted in the 3 posts, sweet job.

My standards the pancakes, potato noodles (posted by punkass I believe), and whatever meats my heart desires.

I love it.

[Aloysius]

Korean BBQ (Pork):

Samgyeopsal - pork bacon cut from the belly. Fatty and awesome. Once the pork is finished grilling in front of you, remove from grill (onions / garlic whatever will be grilling also, take that too), wrap in lettuce (some places will give you duk bo sam instead, thin slices of rice cake) dip in samsang (which is a mixture of gochujang, mentioned above, and dwenjang, which is more salty and soybean-y). May also have a more sesame oil based sauce (salt, fermented bean paste mixed in) for dipping:



Daeji Bulgogi - thin sliced pork loin, marinated in a spicy red pepper paste. Very similar in texture / feel to bulgogi, except the marinade is much spicier, and it's pork:



-Al

Edit - lol I believe Punkass and I used the same daeji picture but I will keep mine up also!

[skunkworks]

Korean BBQ is excellent and probably the easiest way to be introduced to Korean cuisine.

I just wanted to highlight some of the foods that I love that you might not get to try if you only stick to the basic Korean BBQ fare.


Soon dooboo (aka hot tofu bowl, aka soon tofu) is basically a spicy stew consisting of lots of tofu, your choice of meats, and some random vegetables. It comes served boiling hot in an equally frakkin' hot bowl. At this point, you can opt to crack a raw egg into the stew (or not). You can choose to get it mild or really spicy -- mild should be safe for most people. Spoon out parts of the stew into your rice bowl, eat together, enjoy. This is close to the best food to get at 2 AM in LA on a weekend (eff pho). If you're in LA, the standard place is BCD Tofu. My family knows the owners, so buy lots of tofu.

If you like the soon tofu, you may want to try some of the jjigaes (stews, pronounced chi-geh) mentioned by other posters, like doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew, relatively mild, mmmmmmm) and kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew, spicier).


Finally, my favorite Korean dish: naengmyun (nang-myun). There are two basic dishes, mul naengmyun (cold buckwheat noodles in a cold, tasty broth) and bibim naengmyun (cold buckwheat noodles mixed with some spicy pepper paste and vegetables). I'm a huge, huge fan of the mul naengmyun -- it comes with some brilliantly fresh-tasting pickled vegetables, and half a boiled egg, all in a refreshing broth. Lots of places will put ice cubes in it to keep it cold. I eat it with some vinegar and hot mustard paste. It is [censored] excellent.

TIP: there's a reason why a lot of Korean joints will have a galbi + mul naengmyun combo -- it just goes hand-in-hand. Something about the contrast of hot BBQ beef and the cold noodles just works. Also, the buckwheat noodles aren't soft so they can be a bit tough to chew. The trick is to chew just enough to allow the noodles to be swallowable, then just go for it.

[ThaSaltCracka]

I wouldn't say I am a big fan, but there are a few dishes I really like. Bulgogi and Garbi are awesome, as is dak-bulgogi. I have also had the seafood pajon (w/ octopus) I believe. Thought that was ok. I really like japchae. The noodles are especially tasty. But overall, Bulgogi is the bomb.

BTW, thank you for listing the names because there is no way I could spell them. Whats the name for this dish: Meat wrapped in an egg coating, usually beef.

I am not a big fan of the cabbage kim chee, but I do like the bean sprouts one.