Tag Archives: soy sauce

장아찌–Tasty Jang Ah JJee (Korean Pickled Vegetables)

Hello everyone! Here is our first pickled vegetable dish! :) A few months ago, H and her family volunteered to serve food for a group of christian North Korean defectors after a church service. The menu was bibimbap with a side of Oi Jang Ah Jjee (pickled cucumber). The latter was made by a local restaurant owner. Well, it was delicious, crunchy, and very fresh tasting! It is also tangy, sweet, and soy saucy…if we can call that a description of the taste.  Anyhow, after contemplating on the recipe, H’s mom called and found out how to make this tasty side dish. Surprisingly, it is very very easy to make and fun because you can choose what you want to pickle! We are thrilled to share this with you!

Continue reading

Jang Jo Rim: Soy Sauce Eggs and Beef –쇠고기 & 달걀 장조림

Soy sauce eggs and beef….soy sauce eggs and beef….mmmm. This is one side dish that I always BEG my mom to make when I see her once every blue moon. I remember years back, I was missing this dish SO much…. I spent hours looking up various recipes and finally found one that used all sorts of vegetables to make the broth. Well, basically, the whole thing was a very painstaking process that didn’t even taste good at the end. I was enormously disappointed.

Well, this time when my mom came over, I watched her like a HAWK to see how she made it…and guess what? It was SOOO easy to make! It was so easy, that it was like a joke. I mean, the whole thing is long, because you are boiling everything for a long time, but the process itself is easy like pie! Perhaps the method that she uses is not the real traditional way to make things, but guess what? I don’t care. :D It tastes better than any other restaurant’s and it is way simpler to make!

Try this recipe out! It’s especially popular with kids (well, with Korean kids anyways…) and for those unfamiliar to this dish, this is usually served as a side dish with rice. The flavor is a sweet soy flavor and its juices are perfect mixed in with rice! MMM! Also, you can keep it in the fridge for about 2-3 weeks. My mom usually packages a little bit to eat right away, and then freezes the rest by making little packets of it. When you are craving for one, just take it out of the freezer the night before and transfer it to the fridge. walah! It’s ready for you the next day. You can eat it cold from the fridge, or warm it up in the microwave (30 seconds..don’t want the egg to explode). See? It’s multi versatile AND long lasting! Have I convinced you yet?

Let’s get started!

What You Need:

eggs (how many you want to use)

Package of beef (you can use beef for stewing or top round)

Sugar

Soy Sauce

Garlic

Dashi

Fresh Korean Green Peppers or Jalapeño (Optional)

What to Do:

First boil your eggs. You guys all know how to do that. :)

While that’s boiling, in a separate deep pot, boil your beef…about 3-4 cups of water. Your beef should be cut up into stew size pieces. Also, peel your garlic cloves. You want many whole garlic pieces in. This is both for flavor and for you to enjoy (yay for garlic lovers!) later on. If you don’t have pre-peeled garlic, it’s a pain peeling skin. Try what my mom does. She soaks it in water for about 15 minutes, and wala~~much easier to peel.

When the eggs are done boiling, peel the shells.

Ok, so when boiling the beef, check and make sure that you get out the floating foam that rises up. Use a spoon to spoon them out. You’re going to boil until the foam does not rise anymore and the liquid is kind of clear. Basically, once your eggs are done and you are done peeling, your beef should be ready.

In the pot with beef, add in about 1/2 cup of soy sauce. My mom said about this much:

Add in your eggs and garlic and peppers.

Let it simmer and cover. Try not to boil it.

Once the soy sauce mixture has reduced by 1/3, add in about 2 tablespoons of sugar and good pinch of hon dashi.


Simmer away until the liquid is about 2/3 (of your original) gone.

You are DONE! HOORAY! :D When serving, slice the eggs lengthwise…add in a few pieces of beef and garlic. Spoon in some of its delicious juices…and ENJOY!

Tasty Asian Beef Stew

This is a dish that H particularly enjoys. It is inspired from both the Western Beef Stew and the Chinese Beef Noodle Soup. The combination of Western and Asian ingredients marry beautifully together and brings about a delcious flavor that one cannot quite place a finger on–”what is IN this?” Well, it is a combination of many things. To name a few: beef (duh), tomato, soy sauce, star anise, and ginger. Are you excited yet? :)

Another great thing about this recipe is that it is very cheap to make. You can make a whole pot of this and enjoy it for the rest of the week with rice…with bread…with noodles…or just alone. Please, next time you are craving beef stew, give this stew a chance. You do not want to miss out on this dish! :)

What You Need:

  • Beef for stewing (beef shank brings great flavor!)
  • Soy Sauce
  • Whole Star Anise (We found this at the local Asian Store)
  • Ginger (ginger flavor is not too strong, so for you ginger haters, don’t worry)
  • Garlic
  • 1 Can of Beef Broth
  • 1 Can of diced tomato
  • Hon Dashi
  • sugar
  • Carrot
  • Onion

What to Do:

First, we have to cut the carrots and onion–cut into bite size pieces. Let’s also dice the garlic and slice the ginger.

Next, cut the beef into a nice stew-size:

Now, heat up some oil in a big pot and brown the meat.

After the meat has browned, you can either take the meat out while you cook the onions, but being lazy, we decided to just add the onions, garlic, and ginger in the pot with the meat. Stir, stir, stir!

Next, add in the carrots.

Ok, the hard part is done. Open the can of tomatoes and pour it into the pot.

Open up the can of beef broth, and pour that in. Pour in one and 1/2 cans of water into the can, and pour that in as well.

Now put in 3-4 star anises into the pot. You can choose to put them in a cheese cloth if you do not want to deal with the star anise when you eat the stew–up to you.

Next, put in 4-5 spoons of soy sauce.

And now for the last step, put in a pinchful of hon dashi and about 1/2 spoonful of sugar.

Now, bring the stew to a boil…then turn down to heat, cover and let simmer for a couple hours.

Now DIG IN! ENJOY! YUM! :)