If We Can Cook This, So Can You.

A few weeks ago, Natasha and I ate several Korean dishes and fusion food. This week, we attempted to cook them instead. We did extensive research on the different types of Korean dishes available. We looked at the types of ingredients needed, whether it is easy or difficult to make the dish ourselves and how confident we are at tackling them. Since the both of us can cook, we were quite confident that cooking Korean dishes should not be that difficult. Eventually, we decided to cook (1) Egg-rolled Kimchi Fried Rice, (2) Kimbap, and (3) Hotteok.

(1) Egg-Rolled Kimchi Fried Rice
We first had to cook Kimchi Fried Rice, where we threw Kimchi, cooked rice and sesame oil into a wok, stir-fry them for a good 15 minutes and then it's ready. Yes, it is that simple.

Onion, cucumber and carrot are mixed with the eggs for flavour.

Afterwards, we cracked a few eggs into a frying pan. As it is frying, we placed Kimchi Fried Rice in a straight row in the middle and then we wrap the egg around it. What you get, is the masterpiece below.

(2) Kimbap

Kimbap is well-known for being a simple easy-to-make Korean snack, yet still very filling. All you have to do is cook short-grain rice and placed it in the middle of the seaweed. You can then add whatever fillings that you may want. For us, we added carrots, cucumber, and egg.

    

Once you're satisfied with its content, simply roll them. 

(3) Hotteok
For our 3rd choice, we went with the popular Korean street food Hotteok. While looking at the recipe, it seemed fairly difficult as we would have to make the dough and placed the fillings inside. It is pretty much like baking, but without the use of an oven. 

Instead of the usual Hotteok fillings (brown sugar, honey, peanut, cinnamon), we decided to fill it with cheese, simply because we both love cheese. If you did not remember me mentioning in my previous post, yes, I do love cheese.

The process of preparing the dough was a bit troublesome but it was not as difficult as we imagined. We simply add flour, water, and yeast in a bowl. After mixing them together, we left it aside for 20 minutes. Once the dough had become thicker, we took a handful of dough, flatten it on our palm, added cheese in the middle and then wrap it into a ball. After that, we put them in a frying pan and ta-dah they are ready.

Once they are ready, we served them with honey for the extra sweet flavour. The end result is simply delectable. You can see how the cheese stretches when we break the Hotteok into two. 

The Simplicity Of It All

Yes, we did not attempt to make Kimchi-jjigae (Kimchi Stew) or Jajangmyeon (Black Bean Sauce Noodles). Instead, we settled on 3 simple Korean snacks / side dishes. Either way, I was still amazed at how simple it is to make the dishes. The fact that I was able to summarize the cooking process of all 3 dishes in just a few sentences just goes to show how easy it is to make them. We were able to replicate the dishes without looking at the recipe too much. All 3 dishes are just as filling and delicious. By the end of our meal, Natasha and I were stuffed. 

Vegetables prepared for all the dishes (sans onion)

100% recommended for anyone willing to try making their own Korean food.