Korean dinners are typically well-balanced. A good mix of fresh vegetables, meat and some rice. Here is an example of a Korean dinner meal that I cooked for myself after a trip abroad.
I spent the last two weeks in Vietnam, taking a food tour from the north (Hanoi) down to the south (Ho Chi Minh). During the journey, I had the chance to take a few cooking classes with local chefs. What an amazing experience that was – I always enjoyed popular Vietnamese food like pho, but after learning how to cook new dishes like banh xeo, it took my interest to the next level! Will share these recipes with you guys in the near future.
Whenever I go abroad for an extended period of time, my stomach gets funky. I think its from the abrupt change in diet (…or I am getting old). I usually get a case of indigestion or the opposite (!) Fortunately, this time it was only the indigestion – ha! So when I landed back in Seoul yesterday, I was craving some home-cooked spicy Korean food. That Korean spice does the trick for me, makes my gut go back to normal.
I wanted to cook a few dishes that were light and spicy. Dotorimuk salad was an easy one. Dotorimuk looks like tofu but is made from acorn starch. Yes, acorns! It has no cholesterol and is high in dietary fiber – perfect for digestion issues.
Next, I also wanted some fried rice, but something light. After browsing Instagram, I found a picture of this spicy soybean sprout fried rice. It was exactly what I was craving! I tracked down the recipe – which to no surprise – was also from Chef Baek Jong Won.
These two dishes provide plenty of spice. If you do not handle spicy food well, I would recommend making only one of the two dishes and pairing it with other banchans.
Korean Dinner: Dotorimuk, Beansprout Rice & Grilled Beef
Ingredients
Dotorimuk Salad
- Dotorimuk - 1 block
- Assorted greens - 10 leaves
- Carrot - finger-length size
Dotorimuk Sauce
- Gochugaru Korean red chili flakes - 1.5 Tablespoon
- Soy sauce - 5 Tablespoon
- Honey - 1 Tablespoon
- Sugar - 1 Tablespoon
- Sesame seeds - 1 Tablespoon
- Spring onion - A handful
Beansprout Rice
- Soybean sprouts - 1 handful
- Cooked white rice - 1 cup
- Carrot - Finger-length size
- Spring onion - 10 inch piece
- Egg - 1
- Sesame seeds - few shakes
- Gim - 5-6 small sheets
Spicy Gochujang Sauce for Rice
- Gochujang - 2 Tablespoons
- Korean red chili flakes - 2 Tablespoons
- Soy sauce - 2 Tablespoons
- Sugar - 2 Tablespoons
- Mirin - 2 Tablespoons
- Minced garlic - 2 Tablespoons
Instructions
Dotorimuk Salad
- Fill pot with water and bring up to boil. Place dotorimuk into water for 1 minute. Drain and let it cool down. Then cut in half and into small rectangle pieces. Cut veggies and place in a salad bowl. Julienne carrot and place strips into salad bowl. Then place dotorimuk pieces into salad.
- Mix all ingredients under "Dotorimuk Sauce" in a separate bowl.
- Then dress the salad when you are ready to eat. Enjoy!
Make Beansprout Rice
- Dice carrot and green onion into small cubed pieces.
- Take out a small mixing bowl and put in all of the listed ingredients under "Spicy Gochujang sauce for rice". Mix and take a small taste with your pinky
- Then bring a pot of water up to boil. Place the beansprouts into the water for 1 minute. Drain and run under cold water. Let the sprouts sit in the strainer for a little bit to get rid of excess moisture.
- Put a frying pan on medium-high heat. Put some oil in. Once it is hot, place the carrots and spring onions in. Stir them around. Once you smell the spring onions, place the rice and spicy sauce into the pan (put only about 2/3 of the sauce in). Thoroughly mix the spicy sauce into the rice. Then place in the blanched sprouts in. Mix that thoroughly into the rice. If you feel that you need more rice or spicy sauce, feel free to add more. Turn off the heat.
- Crumble some dried seaweed into the rice. Top with a fried egg and garnish with more dried seaweed. Enjoy!
GRILLED BEEF.
- Grill the beef yo!
Notes
- Blanch the soybean sprouts for only 1 minute – the beansprouts will continue to cook as they get stir-fried with the rice.
- Don’t add in all of the sauce when you stir-fry the rice. Start with only 2/3 of the sauce. Add more rice or sauce to taste.
- Koreans also like to eat dotorimuk with just the spicy sauce – no salad greens. Feel free to sample it like that as well.
- Watch video below for more details
