Seoul Food

I just got back from two weeks in Korea complete with tragic, disconcerting, but ultimately, insignificant North-South skirmishes and War Games. Garlic, like the Garlic Spam above, is big in Korea. Koreans are the world's largest per capita consumers of garlic, eating a staggering twenty-two pounds a year. (In comparison, Americans consume a paltry 2.6 pounds).

In fact, the importance of garlic dates back to Korea's incarnation as a nation. According to an ancient legend. God sent his son to earth to build a peaceful kingdom and be its king. One day, a tiger and a bear who observed the happy and civilized lives of man went to the king and asked him to reincarnate them in human form. The king gave them twenty cloves of garlic and a handful of mugwort and told them to go into a cave to pray. He told them, “ If you eat these and do not see sunlight for one hundred days you will become human beings." The impatient tiger gave up and returned to the wild, but the bear prayed and emerged as a woman.

As time went on, the so-called bear-woman desired a child of her own. Touched by her prayers, the king transformed himself, temporarily, into a man and married her. Together, they had a son, Tangun. Tangun succeeded his father as king and became the founding father of Korea. Thus Korea was born, and garlic and mugwort became the country’s first recorded medical herbs.

An earlier post gave a recipe for kimchi (one of over 180 varieties found in Korea). Below, please find a recipe for chojang sauce, a sweet-spicy red chili condiment that 's enjoyed at Seoul's many all-you-can-eat raw tuna restaurants. It's my favorite Korean sauce. Special thanks go out to super blogger Daniel Gray of Seoul Eats who introduced me to Korean raw tuna at Lee Chun Bok, the culinary highlight of my Korean visit.

Gray is one of the reigning authorities on Korean cuisine and worth seeking out if you're visiting Seoul with hopes of experiencing Korea's exquisite cuisine. Gray, who was raised in Delaware, is also a partner in Seoul's O'ngo Food Communications which that offers Korean cooking classes and culinary tours.

Chojang Sauce

5 tbsp kochujang (Korean red chili pepper paste)
1 tbsp sugar (or honey)
3 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp sesame oil
2 stalks of green onion, chopped (optional)

Mix all ingredients together until well-blended. If the consistency of the is too thick, thin out with some warm water. Use immediately or refrigerate for later use.

Kimchi Nation

In the late 1990s, the Japanese took an unlikely liking to kimchi and the formerly garlic-averse nation was once responsible for 70-80% of Korea’s kimchi exports. The Japanese started producing their own, less expensive, version of kimchi and even had the audacity to ask that Japanese kimchi, (kimuchi in Japanese) be declared an official food at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

The Koreans, insulted and outraged, charged that Japanese kimchi is imitation kimchi as it's soured with chemicals and not fermented. In 2001, the Codex Alimentarius, which sets international food standards recognized by the World Trade Organization, adopted a global standard for making kimchi that matches Korean methods. In honor of the G20 Summit opening today in Seoul, here’s a recipe for traditional Baeuchu Kimchi is from Eating Korean by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee. I'm going to Seoul next week so look for upcoming pictures from the Kimchi Field Museum.

Kimchi

1 c plus 1 T coarse sea salt or kosher salt
Water
2 heads Napa cabbage, cut into quarters or 2-inch wedges, depending on size of cabbage
1 bulb garlic, cloves separated and peeled
1 (2-inch) piece of ginger root
1/4 cup fish sauce or Korean salted shrimp
1 Asian radish, peeled and grated
1 bunch of green onions, cut into 1-inch lengths
1/2 cup Korean chili powder
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
Sesame oil (optional)
Sesame seeds (optional)

Dissolve 1 cup salt in 1/2 gallon water. Soak cabbage in the salt water for 3 to 4 hours.

Combine garlic, ginger, and fish sauce or shrimp in food processor or blender until finely minced.

In large bowl, combine radish, green onions, mustard greens, garlic mixture, chili powder, 1 tablespoon salt and optional sugar. Toss gently but thoroughly. (If mixing with your hands, be sure to wear rubber gloves to avoid chili burn.)

Remove cabbage from water and rinse thoroughly. Drain cabbage in colander, squeezing as much water from the leaves as possible. Take cabbage and stuff radish mixture between leaves, working from outside in, starting with largest leaf to smallest. Do not overstuff, but make sure radish mixture adequately fills leaves. When entire cabbage is stuffed, take one of the larger leaves and wrap tightly around the rest of the cabbage. Divide cabbage among 4 (1-quart) jars or 1-gallon jar, pressing down firmly to remove any air bubbles.

Let sit for 2 to 3 days in a cool place before serving. Remove kimchi from jar and slice into 1-inch-length pieces. If serving before kimchi is fermented, sprinkle with a little bit of sesame oil and sesame seeds. Refrigerate after opening.