My first homemade Korean feast!
I tried my hand at Korean cuisine for the first-time ever. I went with some pretty typical dishes to start, because they're perennial favorites. This is one of the few times when I cooked for other people without having tried the recipes once myself first, to get a feel for making them and to ensure that they tasted as they were supposed to.
The dinner was mostly a success. The only thing that bombed was the dessert. And frankly, I'm not all that surprised. I couldn't even in my life remember ever having Korean dessert before. I probably should have gone with something simple, like tomato slices drizzled with honey (yes, that is an actual recipe from one of my Korean cookbooks!), but oh well. The dishes that received rave reviews were the jap chae, bulgogi (SO easy), and soup.
The menu (I made everything from scratch except the kimchee):
Banchan
- kimchee
- sigeumchi namul (seasoned spinach)
- kong namul (seasoned bean sprouts)
- oi muchim (seasoned spicy cucumbers)
Main Entrees
- jap chae (glass noodles with beef and vegetables)
- bulgogi (thinly sliced "barbecue" beef in sweet soy sauce)
- kom tang (beef bone broth)
Extras
- sticky white rice (I wanted to make Korean "purple" rice but didn't realize that I needed to soak the black rice -- which is what makes it purple in color -- for so long)
- sangchu kutjuri (mixed simple salad in sweet/sour/soy dressing)
- roasted barley tea
Dessert
- saenggang jelly (ginger gelatin)
Pictures from the whole experience, along with cooking notes and recipes for the dishes people loved, at my food blog here. If anyone has tips for the best brand of store-bought kimchee, or advice on cooking Korean, or what Korean dishes I should attempt next, I'd love to hear them.
The dinner was mostly a success. The only thing that bombed was the dessert. And frankly, I'm not all that surprised. I couldn't even in my life remember ever having Korean dessert before. I probably should have gone with something simple, like tomato slices drizzled with honey (yes, that is an actual recipe from one of my Korean cookbooks!), but oh well. The dishes that received rave reviews were the jap chae, bulgogi (SO easy), and soup.
The menu (I made everything from scratch except the kimchee):
Banchan
- kimchee
- sigeumchi namul (seasoned spinach)
- kong namul (seasoned bean sprouts)
- oi muchim (seasoned spicy cucumbers)
Main Entrees
- jap chae (glass noodles with beef and vegetables)
- bulgogi (thinly sliced "barbecue" beef in sweet soy sauce)
- kom tang (beef bone broth)
Extras
- sticky white rice (I wanted to make Korean "purple" rice but didn't realize that I needed to soak the black rice -- which is what makes it purple in color -- for so long)
- sangchu kutjuri (mixed simple salad in sweet/sour/soy dressing)
- roasted barley tea
Dessert
- saenggang jelly (ginger gelatin)
Pictures from the whole experience, along with cooking notes and recipes for the dishes people loved, at my food blog here. If anyone has tips for the best brand of store-bought kimchee, or advice on cooking Korean, or what Korean dishes I should attempt next, I'd love to hear them.