I guess you have to be Korean or know somebody Korean to have experienced Korean Chinese food.
Yes, there really is such a thing. It's Korean food that's Chinese. Or maybe it's Chinese food that's Korean....hmmm. Anyways.
It's basically Chinese food, but catering to Korean tastes and using Korean ingredients. There's a whole menu of really incredible food that you're missing out on if you've never had it. Wikipedia has a nice article on this. If you'd like to read more about it, click here. If you'd like to EAT this kind of food, head out to your nearest Koreatown (hopefully there is one near you) and look for a Chinese joint that offers jajangmyeun or jjampong (that's how you'll know it's Korean Chinese).
Korean Chinese restaurants have their version of Mapo Tofu, a Sichuan dish also known as Pockmarked Grandmother's Beancurd.
No, I'm not making that up. Look it up. Seriously.
So THIS recipe is my Korean/American variation of the Korean version of the Chinese version....or something like that. Still following along? Okay! Great! Let's continue!
For me, this is one of the dishes that really symbolizes comfort food. There's nothing I like better than to curl up in bed with a warm bowl of this and binge watch shows on Netflix.
Here's the line up:
1 package of tofu
1-2 pounds of ground pork
heaping tablespoon of crushed garlic
fresh ginger
chili oil or crushed dried chili
soy sauce
onion
mushroom
Korean squash
water chestnuts
frozen mixed veggies
cornstarch
tofu and ground pork
Korean soybean paste (dwenjang), chili oil, chili garlic sauce, garlic
onion, fresh ginger, king mushrooms, water chestnuts and squash
While out to lunch in Ktown with my best friend and wifey Mike, I ordered dwenjang jigae (a soybean paste stew). When our food hit the table he said,
"Something smells like socks."
To which I replied,
"That's our lunch, sweetie."
I'm not trying to scare you off. Because in actuality, dishes using Korean dwenjang are delicious. We use it for stews and soups to seasoning sidedishes (banchan), dipping sauce for veggies, smeared in lettuce leafs and eaten with Korean BBQ, and in old times was used for keeping away infection on cuts and bruises. It's fermented soybean paste and is a staple of Korean cuisine. It has been used for hundreds of years. It's basically the song of my people...just kidding. It's similar to Japanese miso. But stronger and darker. It's like miso-zilla.
If you run out to your nearest Korean grocer, you will be overwhelmed and in awe because of the variety of different brands. I use this one:
But I don't always buy this brand. I'm not committed to just one brand. Just make sure it says "soybean paste" and not red pepper paste. That's a whole other playing field that we will get into another time. I should also point out that you don't have to commit to a 6.6 pound container either. Only people who have huge families or run restaurants buy this size.
To be honest, I didn't even buy this one. I inherited it from my non-Korean friend Brooke (who knows how to cook Korean food better than me!) when she moved to Chicago and that was like 2 years ago (right, Brooke?)! Since I don't eat Korean food everyday, this block will probably last me until I start collecting social security. I just keep it in the fridge. There's enough salt in that puppy to prevent it from going bad.
The recipe I'm about to walk you through feeds me and my co-workers for days. So you can HALVE this recipe and feed 4 people fairly easily I think for one meal.
I start with about 2 pounds of ground pork. I always get my ground pork at the Korean market. It's way cheaper and it's just a better quality than anywhere else. Not overly fatty and no gross chewy bits in there, if you know what I mean. I use a caste iron skillet. If you don't have one, make sure you use a fairly large frying pan.
To my skillet, I add chopped onions, garlic (as much or little as you want) and finely minced ginger with the ground pork. I happen to really love ginger so I add a chunk about the size of my thumb to this recipe. If you don't like ginger, don't add it. But I think ginger goes really well with pork and garlic and you will be missing out if you leave it out completely. Get your pork, onions and chopped garlic going on medium in your skillet while you work on the ginger...
Ginger is easy to work with. Just remember to PEEL it and mince it as much as you can into tiny pieces. Or you can throw in huge chunks into your pan and fish out the pieces later...
Using your knife, peel it like you would a piece of apple. I guess you could use a potato peeler if you're not too sure of your knife skills...
Then slice the ginger into the thinnest slices that you can.
Stack the slices on top of each other and julienne slice your ginger rounds.
Next, turn the slices and finely chop the ginger into small, minced pieces. If you want to go even smaller, just use your knife to go over the ginger over and over. Tah dah!
Add to your already browning skillet full of pork, garlic and onion.
You should season now while the meat is cooking. I use chili oil that I made, but you can use store bought chili oil or maybe even just crushed chili (like the kind you get with pizza). Depending on how spicy you like your food, put in as little or as much as you want.
Koreans use soy sauce to season their food. And this is a good example of using during cooking. I like the base of this dish, the pork, to be nicely seasoned so I make sure to season it as it is cooking. I add about a tablespoon of soy sauce.
Veggie time! Chop up and add veggies. I chop the mushrooms and the Korean squash and add into the skillet. It doesn't matter how large or small you chop your veggies are as long as you are consistent. Even cooking only occurs when the veggies are all the same size.
If you've never worked with Korean squash, its like a zucchini but not as moist and more spongy. I would say its similar to eggplant in texture. It cooks nicely and soaks up flavor. For this recipe, I used half of one, but depending on how much you like, you can add more or non at all.
Simply slice in rounds, stack the slices and cut into strips and then cut evenly across the strips to create cubes.
Like this:
I also threw in a handful of frozen mixed veggies because I like veggies and I like the color it adds to this dish.
Okay. Let's get one thing straight. I absolutely adore spicy food. Not like, "Hey. Let's just pour this hot sauce on top of my food" kind of spicy. But really, well seasoned food with spice cooked INTO it. So for me, of course I would add more hot sauce at this point.
The love of my life is sambal olek. It's a garlic chili sauce. It has the rooster in the label and a green lid. Not Sriracha sauce. No, no, no. Sambal oelek chili paste. I ALWAYS have one in my fridge and two on deck in my pantry. If I'm short any in my pantry, I panic a little bit. If you read my Jambalaya post, you'll know I add it into my jambalaya too. For my jambalaya recipe click here!
It has two different versions. The gold label is fresh chili paste and the other is chili garlic paste.....(I love you *whisper voice).
So, I add it now. You can too. You don't have too. As much or as little as you want.
Remember that stinky sock stuff we just got done talking about? It's time to bring out the big guns. Dwenjang! Soybean Paste! MMMMMM!
Add one tablespoon to your skillet now. If you're unsure, start smaller and add more as you go. It looks like...uhhhh...brown mud. I used about a tablespoon.
I used 2 ladles of beef broth that I made. You can use canned store bought (I have) or even water. Two ladles is about half a cup.
Word of caution- Make sure your soybean paste is dissolved completely. If you don't, you'll end up with undissolved chunks of soybean paste and that is NOT pleasant to bite into.
As it all begins to simmer, chop up your water chestnuts. Never had them before? They are crunchy and delightful and if I don't have them, I won't make this dish. You can buy them whole, sliced or chopped. I buy sliced and chop them up myself. Sometimes, I'll add bamboo here too. But not this time.
Let the whole concoction simmer while you add the tofu. You almost forget there was tofu, didn't you? I almost forgot there was tofu. Sheeez.
I like this kind. You can use whatever brand you want and whichever firmness you want (ranges from super soft to extra firm).
This package has four pieces of tofu. I used all four pieces for this recipe. You can use more or less. If you're HALVING the recipe use two.
Tofu is really easy to cut because its so soft. I like the cubes to be on the smaller size, but you can do large squares. It's all a matter of personal preference. Just be sure to stay consistent and cut evenly and consistently to ensure even cooking.
I cut one piece of tofu in half lengthwise, lay the two halves on top of each other and then cut in even strips and THEN finally cut into small cubes.
Throw the tofu into the party so they can simmer and get yummy...
Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add more liquid if you need it. Lastly, I throw in a little cornstarch mixed with cold water to thicken into a glorious sauce and eat with rice. You can eat it over linguine too. It's sooooo good.
Oh wait. Are those chopped green onions I threw on top before serving? Yes. Not a must but a "why not" since I had some on hand and it tastes good and looks nice.
If it's easier for you to chop everything up ahead of time, you can. I just prefer to chop as I'm cooking. Not everyone cooks that way. Just remember to cook your onions and garlic with the meat, your veggies next and then add chestnuts and tofu last. Why? Well your veggies don't need as much cooking time as the meat and you don't want them to get too soggy and the tofu doesn't need to cook for too long either.
Okay. Go! Eat!
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