Why Korean food is everything missing from your life

Whew! The last two weeks have been busy ones! Unfortunately, my little one has been away for the past week, so I made it a point to keep myself very busy. I am lucky enough to have many fantastic friends who were kind enough to occupy my free time. One such friend, who shall be known on my blog as “Raul,” is my general cooking buddy and partner for all things food related. Raul has greatly broadened my horizons since we became friends. I really have to give him major props in the cooking department. He busts out recipes that most people wouldn’t even attempt.

Some time back in the fall, he made me aware of a “life changing” Korean chicken recipe that he had recently made. Raul was kind enough to make a batch for me, AND share the recipe with me! I have made this chicken a few times since then, and it does NOT disappoint. I will go ahead and warn you that it is a bit spicy. If you don’t like heat, this may not be for you. It has spice, sweetness, some tang, everything a good sauce needs in my humble opinion. This is a great sauce to make and add to store bought fried chicken. In fact, every time we’ve made it, we’ve added it to Bojangles fried chicken. I will say that the surface area to sauce ratio is VITAL. I would definitely recommend smaller pieces of chicken/ dark meat to make sure you get adequate sauce in each bite. Legs & thighs are my favorites for this recipe. If you want to be super fancy and make your own fried chicken, that would work well too! Just make sure to get adequate breading for the sauce to stick on. I love this chicken recipe SO much, that I now affectionately refer to it as PDC. No explanations on that name, but bonus points if you figure it out!

Spicy Korean Chicken

Ingredients

• Appoximately 8 pieces of fried chicken
• 1 Tbsp Canola oil
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1/3 cup tomato ketchup
• 1/3 cup Karo syrup
• 1/4 cup hot pepper paste (Gochujang)
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• Sesame seeds

Put the oil & garlic in a small sauce pan on low and allow it to heat up a bit. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk lightly to mix them all together. Allow the sauce to heat on low for 7-8 minutes. Make sure to keep the heat low, so it doesn’t burn. Turn off the heat. Place the fried chicken in a bowl and pour the sauce over it. Toss the chicken gently until covered. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and enjoy!

 

The other Korean treat we enjoyed with our chicken was a Kimchi Pancake. Would you believe that before last year, I had never had kimchi? I didn’t even know what it was! As I mentioned, Raul has been a culinary gold mine! If you are in the same sad boat I was once in, and you have no clue what I’m talking about, allow me to enlighten you. Kimchi is a delicious spicy fermented cabbage. You can find it in most markets in the refrigerated vegetarian/vegan section. Because it is fermented, it contains bacteria that can be beneficial to your gut health. Delicious AND health benefits??? SIGN. ME. UP. I use kimchi all the time now. It is super tasty, and kicks up any number of dishes.

Enter the Kimchi Pancake. I love when foods take a turn from the way we traditionally consume them. When you think of a pancake, you likely get images of fluffy syrup covered breakfast items. This is a crispy and savory 180 degree change from the pancakes you know and love. In many Eastern cultures, pancakes include any number of ingredients that are pan fried and served as a side dish. You may never look at pancakes the same way again. Before embarking on your new pancake adventure, I would recommend making a dipping sauce. Raul was a bit reluctant to fully disclose the exact ratios of dipping sauce ingredients, but this should be fairly close.

Dipping Sauce

• 1/4 cup good soy sauce
• 1/4 cup Mirin
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-3 scallions, minced
• Splash of sesame oil
• A few shakes of sesame seeds
• A squirt of Sri racha

Mix well and set aside.

Kimchi Pancake

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped Kimchi
• 3 Tbsp kimchi juice
• 2 Tbsp chopped Onion
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 1/2 cup Flour (all purpose flour)
• 1/4 cup water
• Vegetable Oil

Directions

In a bowl, place chopped Kimchi, kimchi juice, chopped onion, salt, sugar, flour, and water. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

Heat up a 12 inch non stick pan over medium/high heat. Drizzle in about 2 Tbsp vegetable oil. Spread the kimchi batter out evenly in the bottom of the pan with a spoon. Cook it for 1 to 1.5 minutes. Until the bottom gets golden brown and crispy. Turn it over with a spatula or flip it. (Raul did this, and it looked pretty cool.) Lower the heat to medium, and cook for an additional 1.5 minutes. Turn it once more, and cook for ~30 seconds, before transferring to a plate for serving. Cut into bite sized pieces. Use chopsticks to pull apart pieces and dip. Serve hot.

 

Recipe cred to Maangchi (Be sure to check out more of her awesome recipes!)

Well, there you have it! All the tools you need for an awesome evening of Korean deliciousness! These recipes are packed with flavor, and will fill a culinary void you never knew you had! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

If you try these recipes, let me know what you think!