Saturday, December 22, 2012

Warm Noodle Soup 잔치국수 Janchi Guksu

I'm back with another  recipe, finally. I have had so much happening lately. This week I have had work and also all of my exam results have been released. So now I'm faced with the problem of what I should apply for in university. My results weren't too and so I have a pretty large choice of courses, but I don't know what I want to do yet...still.

It's cold in the Northern Hemisphere these days and as it approaches Christmas we all want some more homely and warm food. So today I'm going to bring to you a warm version of something that I have made before.

I'm going to post a recipe for janchi guksu 잔치국수 which is a simple warm noodle dish made with thin wheat flour noodles  that are usually in a clear anchovy or beef broth. It is typically topped with thin strips of beef, eggs, and vegetables. I have previously posted a cold version of this dish that you could eat in summer, this is more suited for colder times. You can find my other recipe here.

Noodles symbolize long and happy lives in Korean culture. Thus, this noodle dish is traditionally served alongside other special occasion foods at large feasts such as weddings. The name of the dish comes from that tradition. And you know what, there is no better time to hope for longevity that at Christmas.

Today's recipe is going to have an anchovie broth but you are welcome to use a beef broth if you wish.

Ingredients
250g somyeon  noodles
Anchovy Broth
10 - 12 medium to large dried anchovies (myulchi)
1 square dried kelp
100g Korean radish, cut into cubes
1/2 onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 of scallion
6 cups water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Toppings 
1/2 zucchini julienned
1 small carrot julienned
1 egg, beaten and fried into a thin sheet
100g beef, cut into thin strips (if you make a beef broth use the same cut of beef)
2 sheets of dried seaweed
1/2 scallion chopped

Method
1. Wrap all the anchovies and kelp is a cheesecloth and secure it into a pouch.
2. Add all broth ingredients to a medium pot. Bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and boil for 10 minutes, uncovered.
3. Remove anchovies and kelp from the broth.
4. Add soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste and boil for an additional 15 minutes over medium heat.
5. Remove all vegetables from the broth. Keep it warm over very low heat while preparing the toppings and noodles.
6. Season the beef strips with 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic, and pinch black pepper. (If you use a beef broth season the cooked meat) Set aside while preparing the vegetables.
7.  Lightly sprinkle salt over zucchini and set aside  for 5 - 10 minutes. Squeeze out excess liquid from salted zucchini and sauté in a lightly oiled pan over medium high heat (1 - 2 minutes).
8. Sauté the carrots in a lightly oiled pan over medium high heat (1- 2 minutes), sprinkling salt and pepper to taste.
9. Sauté the beef in a pan for 2 - 3 minutes over high heat. (skip if using a beef broth)
10. Cut the seaweed into thin strips.
11.  Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Cook somyeon noodles according to the package instructions. 12. Drain quickly and shock in cold water to stop cooking. Continue to drain and rinse in cold water.
13. Make two one-serving size mounds as you remove from the water. Place the mounds in a colander to drain. Place the noodles in a serving bowl.
14. Pour the hot broth over the noodles.
15. Nicely arrange a small amount of each topping on top of the noodles.
16. Finish the dish off with a sprinkle of the chopped scallions.
Serve the dish whilst still warm and you will have everyone feeling warm and toasty and right at home with the meal that is a reminder of the good times at home.




There seems to be a lot of work that goes into the dish but the end result makes up for all of it with the taste being absolutely amazing.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe because is perfect as a home cooked meal to prepare you for the amazing Christmas dinner that you are bound to have. I hope that you all stay safe, healthy and happy until my next post.

AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Gyeong Dan 경단

It has been a really long time since I blogged, about 2 weeks I think. I've been MIA I know, and there isn't really an explanation other than I was just not bothered. Sorry about that, but I am putting up a post today.

So today I'm going to go back to posting up Korean recipes  And today I thought that I would introduce you all to a Korean snack dessert that is similar to some of the other things that I have posted before. Today I will be posting about Gyeong Dan (경단).

Gyeongdan is a type of rice cake made by kneading glutinous rice powder with hot water, shaping the dough into balls, boiling them in hot water and coating them with various sweet powders. It gets its name because the shape is similar to round jade (gyeongdan). The color or taste varies depending on the coating powder. Sesame seeds or powder can be used to coat the balls, as well as other powders such as green tea powder and mitsugaru.

Ingredients 
5 cups glutinous rice powder
1 tsp salt
120 g water
20g  white sesame seeds
20g green tea powder
20g  black sesame seeds
28g mitsugaru powder
⅛ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
27 g red bean
1 cup scalding water
2 cups boiling water
⅛ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
10 cup boiling water

Method
1. Wash the red bean and drain water on a strainer for 10 min.
2. Put water and red bean in the pot, heat it up for 5 min. on high heat. When it boils, discard the boiling water and pour new water, boil it for 20 min. on medium heat.
3. Reduce the heat to low, steam it for 25 min. until the red bean very tender, pound with salt, sieve, and mix it with sugar thoroughly (52 g).
4. Add salt in the glutinous rice powder and knead with hot water. Pull off around 12~13 g of dough and roll it into 2 cm-diameter balls (total 48 ea).
5. Flatten the balls and fill them with small amounts of the red bean paste.
6. Pour water in the pot and heat it up for 9 min. on high heat. When it boils, put the rolled dough into the boiling water, boil it for about 2 min. and 30 sec.
7. When balls float up on the surface, let them float there for 20~30 sec. more. Take them out with strainer, quickly rinse in cold water and drain.
8. Divide rice-cake balls into 5 parts and coat the balls with each coating.

And there you have it, a Korean dessert that you can pack as a snack when you are going out or you can place it up on a plate nicely and serve it when you have guests over. It is not overly sweet and the coating of the gyeong dan makes all the difference to the dish.



I hope that you like this recipe because it is quite nice to have around the house for when you have guests because you can make it really pretty. 

Anyways I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post, I'll try and blog again soon. And until next time I hope that you all stay safe, happy and healthy.