Jjamppong

Jjamppong

Today I’m introducing you to jjampong, a dish that’s usually sold at Chinese restaurants in Korea. Jjamppong (hangul), is a spicy noodle soup flavoured with onions and chili oil. A form of jjamppong is also the local Chinese speciality in the Japanese port city of Nagasaki (see Chanpon). Due to geographical proximity, most Korean-Chinese dishes are derived from Northern styles of Chinese cuisine such as Beijing and Shandong cuisine. The cuisine developed in the port city of Incheon, where the majority of Korea's ethnic Chinese population historically lived

Ingredients:

Noodles for jjamppong

For stock:

10 dried anchovies with the heads and guts removed.

3 dried shiitake mushrooms.

4 inch x 4 inch sheet of dried kelp.

½ cup of onion, sliced.

Meat and seafood:

4 ounces of lean pork, cut into thin strips, mixed with a pinch of salt and ground black pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.

6 large shrimp, shelled and deveined.

10 mussels, cleaned and debearded.

4 ounces of  squid,  cut into ½ inch x 2 inch pieces.

Vegetables and seasoning:

1 tbs of minced garlic

2 ts of minced or sliced ginger

¼ cup of vegetable oil

1 ts of fish sauce

2 ts of salt

3 tbs of hot pepper flakes

½ ts of ground black pepper

¼ cup of carrot, sliced into ½ inch x 2 inch strips.

4 stalks of green onions, cut into 2 inch long pieces.

1 pound of cabbage (or napa cabbage), sliced.

4 ounces of leek, cut into ½ inch x 2 inch pieces.

4 white mushrooms, sliced.

1 teaspoon of sesame oil.

water

Method:

First step: make stock

1.      Pour 10 cups of water into a pot. Add the dried anchovies, dried kelp, onion, and the dried shiitake mushrooms.

2.      Boil for 20 minutes over high heat. Then turn it down to low heat and cook for 10 more minutes. Strain and keep the clear stock. Set it aside.

Second step: make mixture of hot pepper flakes and vegetable oil

3.      In a small bowl, combine 3 tbs of hot pepper flakes and 2 tbs of vegetable oil with a spoon. Set aside. You can add more or less hot pepper flakes according to your taste.

Third step: start frying

4.      Heat up a large wok or a heavy bottomed pot with 2 tbs of vegetable oil, and then add garlic and ginger and stir them until light brown.

5.      Add pork strips and stir fry them for 2 minutes.

6.      Add vegetables: cabbage, carrot, green onion, leek, and white mushroom and stir for 5 minutes until all are cooked nicely and light browned.

7.      Add the mixture of hot pepper flakes and vegetable oil and mix them well.

8.      Add squid, shrimp, and mussels and keep stirring over high heat for about 5 minutes.

9.      Add 7 cups of the stock and boil it for about 7-10 minutes.

10.  Add 2 ts of salt, 1 ts of fish sauce, and ½ ts of ground black pepper.

11.  Take out 2 portions of the noodles from the package  and add them to the boiling soup and cook until the noodles are done. Take a sample to see if the noodles are cooked fully or not. The noodles should be soft and chewy.

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Char Kway Teow

Char Kway Teow

It’s very important to only cook one serving of this dish at a time so the noodles brown. Rice noodles become brittle if refrigerated, so buy them fresh from Malaysia food shops. They will keep, sealed, at a low room temperature for up to 2 days after purchase.

Ingredients:

2 dried red chillies, seeds removed

1 long red chilli, seeds removed, chopped

2 small Asian red eschalots, peeled, chopped

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp caster sugar

¼ tsp white pepper

125 ml (½ cup) vegetable oil

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

8 large green prawns, cleaned and peeled, tails intact (see Cooking Notes)

10 slices fishcake (see Note)

2 lap cheong (Chinese sausage) (see Note), thinly sliced

500 g fresh flat rice noodles (see Note)

½ bunch garlic chives (see Note), cut into 5 cm lengths

200 g (2½ cups) bean sprouts

2 eggs

Method:

1.      Soak dried chillies in a bowl with 60 ml boiling water for 10 minutes. Place chillies and soaking water in a small food processor, along with long red chilli and eschalots, and process to form a paste. Set aside.

2.      Combine soy sauces, fish sauce, sugar and white pepper in a bowl. Set aside.

3.      Heat half the oil in a wok, heavy-based frying pan or skillet with high sides over high heat. Add half the garlic, half the prawns, half the fishcake slices and 1 sliced lap cheong, stir-frying for 10 seconds. Add half the noodles and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until golden and coated. Add half the reserved chilli paste and half the soy sauce mixture, stir-frying for a further 2 minutes. Add half the garlic chives and half the bean sprouts, stir-frying for a further 20 seconds. Crack one egg into mixture and scramble into noodles for 30 seconds or until egg is cooked. Transfer to a serving plate, keep warm, then repeat with remaining ingredients to make a second serve.

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Malaysian laksa

Malaysian laksa

This laska combines fresh ingredients with a commercial laksa paste, meaning a lot of the prep work is done for you. To make this recipe even easier, place the garnishes in the centre of the table, allowing diners to assemble their laksa to taste.

Ingredients:

1½ tbsp dried shrimps

6-7 garlic cloves, chopped

4—5 eschallots, chopped

5-6 cm piece ginger, chopped

1-2 long red chillies, chopped, or to taste

80 ml (⅓ cup) vegetable oil

12 large green prawns, shells removed and reserved

⅓ cup laksa paste

1.5 litres (6 cups) chicken stock or water

400 ml coconut cream

12 fish balls

12 small fried tofu puffs, halved

1 tsp white sugar

fish sauce, to taste

salt

1-2 limes, juiced

200 g dried rice vermicelli noodles

200 g fresh egg noodles

Garnishes

200 g shredded poached chicken (poaching water can be used for the broth)

bean sprouts

finely sliced spring onion

finely sliced long red chilli

coriander leaves

fried shallots

lime wedges

Method:

1.   Soak shrimps in 125 ml (½ cup) hot water for 10 minutes then transfer the mixture to a food processor. Add the garlic, eschallots, ginger and chilli, and process until a smooth paste forms.

2.   Place a large saucepan over high heat. Add the oil and reserved prawn shells and fry 1-2 minutes until the shells turn red. Remove with a slotted spoon. Add the blended paste to the oil and fry for 1 minute before adding the laksa paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes until fragrant, then add the stock and bring to the boil. Add the coconut cream and reduce heat to a simmer. Add the fish balls, tofu and sugar. Season with fish sauce, salt and lime juice to taste.

3.   Bring another large saucepan of water to the boil. Cook the rice noodles and egg noodles, separately, for 2 minutes then transfer to a colander and rinse with cold water.

4.   Add the prawns to the laksa, turn off the heat and allow to gently poach for 2-3 minutes until cooked through.

5.   To serve, divide the noodles and prawns among bowls. Ladle over the broth and top with chicken, bean sprouts, spring onions, chilli, coriander, fried shallots and lime wedges.

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Jjajangmyeon

Jjajangmyeon

Jajangmyeon is a noodle dish topped with a thick sauce made of chunjang (a salty black soybean paste), diced pork and vegetables, and sometimes also seafood. Jajang (alternately spelled jjajang), the name of the sauce, is the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese characters, which literally means "fried sauce." Myeon (also spelled myun) means "noodle", which Chinese character is.

Ingredients:

jjajangmyeon noodles.

½ pound pork belly, cut into ½ inch cubes (about 1½ cups’ worth).

1 cup of Korean radish (or daikon), cut into ½ inch cubes (about 1 cup’s worth).

1 cup of zucchini, cut into ½ inch cubes.

1 cup of potato, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes.

1½ cups of onion chunks.

3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil.

¼ cup and 1 Tablespoon of black bean paste.

2 Tablespoons of potato starch powder, combined with ¼ cup water and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl, set aside.

1 teaspoon of sesame oil.

½ cup cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks for garnish.

water.

Method:

Stir-fry the pork belly in a large, deep wok with 1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil for about 4-5 minutes, until golden brown and crispy.

Pour out the excess pork fat.

Add radish and stir fry for 1 minute.

Add potato, onion, and zucchini and keep stirring for about 3 minutes until the potato looks a little translucent.

Clear a space in the center of the wok by pushing the ingredients to the edges.

Add 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil to the center of the wok, then add ¼ cup of black bean paste and stir it with a wooden spoon for 1 minute to fry it. Then mix everything in the wok and keep stirring.

Add  2 cups of water to the wok and let it cook with the lid closed for about 10 minutes.

Open the lid and taste a sample of the radish and potato. If they’re fully cooked, stir in the starch water little by little. Keep stirring until it’s well mixed and thick.

Add the sesame oil and remove from the heat.

Serve with noodles (jjajangmyeon) or steamed rice (jjajangbap).

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