"korean" news and stories

The two most popular cuts of beef for Korean barbecue are cross-cut shortribs (galbee) and thinly-sliced ribeye (bulgogi). However, marinating a whole side of beef, or in this case, a flank steak ,in the same seasonings, grilling, then slicing the grilled steak after cooking is a good way to enjoy Korean barbecue as well. Most Koreans wrap up a slice of beef with a little spoonful of rice and some red pepper sauce in a lettuce leaf, but I usually leave the rice out and double up on the hot sauce.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 Tbsp sesame oil, 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp. minced ginger, 4-5 minced garlic cloves, and a dash of black pepper.

Place a 2 lb flank steak in a large zipper seal bag, along with the marinade. Let steak marinate for about 30 minutes, turning the bag occasionally to cover all sides. 

Grill the marinated flank steak for about 5 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove the steak from the heat and let sit, covered, for at least five minutes. Do not touch, poke or prod it.

Thinly slice the beef across the grain. Serve with whole leaves of red leaf lettuce and goh-choo-jahng (Korean red pepper sauce).

That's right. South Korean astronauts may be taking a specially designed type of kimchi with them when they travel on a Russian spacecraft in 2008. The news comes from a recent Los Angeles Times article about kimchi's presence in the academic and scientific communities in Korea. The kimchi that the Korean astronauts will take is intended to help their digestion. Some of you may recall news about kimchi's possible ability to stave off avian flu, and the Times lists several other health claims associated with the fermented national treasure. Mice fed kimchi were apparently less stressed and had fewer wrinkles. Still, other research suggests that eating too much kimchi may be linked to increased risk of gastric cancer. According to the Times, South Koreans consume 77 pounds of kimchi annually and rates of gastric cancer are 10 times higher there than in the U.S.

[Photo: Kim Kyung-hoon / Reuters]

Grains, beans, and other legumes make up a large part of the Asian diet. In fact, at the Korean market, entire aisles can be dedicated to beans alone. Koreans add beans to white rice, creating a "mixed" steamed rice. My mother did this a few times when we were kids because there are a lot of health benefits, but when we saw bowls of steamed rice tainted with giant red, purple, and black beans, we wouldn't touch it. She made two pots of rice every night after that. One with plain white rice, and one with a mixture.

Some of us may be familiar with adzuki beans after they have been cooked down to almost a paste. They beans are sweet and nutty, but they are made sweeter with the addition of sugar and honey and used as a filling in pastries like Japanese mochi and Korean dduk. Koreans also use the beans to make "jook," a sweet porridge.

More Korean market food finds:
Dae chu - Korean red dates, aka jujubes
Ume (Japanese plum) cactus honey
All-in-one packaged sahm-gyae-tahng - Korean chicken soup
Ready-steamed bahp - rice
Clam jerky
Bahn-chan bar - salad bar of Korean side dishes

We've talked about Korean sojus here before, and even sang the praises of a strangely flavored "herbal" soju (the herb was ginseng). Now I am no stranger to the Korean spirit distilled from sweet potatoes (many a night and morning battling the stuff), and I am certainly familiar with mixing soju with different flavors to make the stuff that tastes like pure lighter fluid a little more palatable: strawberry soju (ddahl-ghee), peach soju (bohk-soong-ha), yogurt soju (yo-gu-rut), and even cucumber soju (oi).

I just tried a melon version at a cafe in LA's Koreatown and it was horrible. It was neon green, and tasted like a melon flavored body wash. I don't even know what "melon" flavored liquid they used to make it, but if ever you go out for a night on the K-town, stick with the originals. 

First, American markets had boil-in bag rice. Now they have Uncle Ben's ready made rice that you just heat up in the microwave oven. So why can't Asian markets have ready-made rice? They do.

At the Korean market, I came across rows and rows of ready made steamed rice, that even came in their own bowl. No need to dirty another plate! You simply pull back the vacuum-sealed plastic, stick it in the microwave, and minutes later, you have perfect, fluffy steamed rice to eat with your kimchee. The rice also comes in different "flavors" - brown rice as well as rice mixed with other grains like barley, oats, and beans.

I am not unfamiliar with microwaved rice. In college, my Mom used to steam entire pots of rice, let it cool, package them into single size servings in zipper bags, then freeze them. All I had to do was unzip, re-heat, and I was ready for a final exam cram session. If only we had known back then to market it and sell it...

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Clam jerky
Bahn-chan bar