Jangjorim. Growing up, I was always very happy to see Jangjorim in the back corner of the refrigerator. Even more exciting if there were any hardboiled eggs left in the Jangjorim. My sister was very good at picking out the eggs and eating them the first day. None left for me.
Jangjorim is a delicious yet simple banchan. It is thin beef strips braised in a flavored soy sauce. Since the beef pieces have boiled in the soy sauce, the dish stays edible for an extended period of time (best within 1-3 weeks). As such, it is a very popular banchan for lunchboxes and school cafeterias.
The key variable to this dish is the soy sauce. It’s important to strike a good balance between salty and savory flavor, along with a hint of sweetness. The recipe below does exactly that! If you have any leftover sauce, use it a stir-fry sauce or simply spread a few spoons over white rice.
Jangjorim - A nice soy sauce balance
Ingredients
- Beef pieces Eye of Round or brisket - 300 grams
Soy Sauce Marinade
- Soy sauce - 1/3 cup
- Mirin - 1/4 cup
- Sugar - 1/4 cup
- Water - 1.5 cup
- Black pepper - 6 shakes
Umami for Soy Sauce
- Shiitake mushrooms - 2
- Garlic - 8 cloves
- Dashima - palm-sized piece
- Ginger - thumb-sized piece
- Spring onion - 10 inch piece
Optional Ingredients
- Shishito peppers - 5-8 pieces
- Eggs - 5
Instructions
Prep beef
- Cut large beef piece into smaller rectangles - length about the size of your index finger. Put water in a pot and bring it up to a boil. Boil the beef pieces for 5 minutes.
- Then drain and wash under cold water. Set aside.
Boil Beef
- Take out a large pot. Put all of the ingredients listed under 'Soy Sauce Marinade' into the pot. Place the beef pieces into the soy sauce. Then put all of the listed ingredients under 'Umami' into the pot as well (remember to cut the ginger piece into thinner slices).
- Put the pot onto a medium low heat. Once the pot comes to boil, take out the dashima pieces. Then double check to see that the pot is gently-boiling - lower the heat if the soy sauce is boiling too hard. Let the pot gently boil for 15-20 minutes (until the sauce has reduced to a 1/3 of its original amount).
Prep Eggs & Peppers (Optional)
- Hardboil eggs. Peel them and set aside. Then gently pop the stems off the shishito peppers. Poke holes into the peppers with a toothpick or with the tip of your knife. Set aside for next step.
Finish Dish
- After 15-20 minutes, the sauce should have reduced to about a 1/3 of its original level. Pick out the wilted spring onion from the pot. Then place shishito peppers and eggs into the dish. Let them soak in the marinade for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, turn off the heat and let the entire pot fully cook down. (The waiting part is hard - I know!).
- When it is cool, pull the beef pieces apart with your hands. Serve on a small dish with a boiled egg, a shiitake mushroom and few shisito peppers.
- Garnish with a spoonful of soy sauce and sesame seeds. Pair it with a bowl of hot rice!
Notes
- Make sure to boil the beef before bathing them in the soy sauce. This removes any of the beefy smell and the impurities/scum from the beef pieces.
- Store the rest of the Jangjorim batch in a large Tupperware and keep in the refrigerator.
- Watch the video below for more details
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