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Tag Archive for 'Bulgogi'
It’s funny how easy it is to become obsessed with Korean food. All your life, you’re bombarded with Chinese and Japanese and Vietnamese cuisines… but at your first taste of gorgeously tender Korean bulgogi, you’re hooked. Because while his type of food may not be as well known or over-popular as some other types of Asian cuisine, some very discerning eaters consider it the very best.
Fortunately for those of us who are in love with Korean food, there are many people out there so devoted to Korean cuisine that they create entire Korean food blogs dedicated to the food they love. And if you haven’t spent time looking at some of the great Korean food blogs that are available on the net, you’re missing out. Because some of the most passionate lovers of Korean food in the world are just a Google search away from sharing all of their cooking secrets with you.
One of the best things you can get from Korean food blogs are, of course, Korean recipes. If you’ve never tried Korean food at home before, it can be hard to know what to make and how. But there are lots of Korean food bloggers out there who are experts at preparing Korean dishes, and many of them post wonderful recipes on their blogs. When you go to a Korean food blog instead of a regular old recipe blog, you can be sure that the recipes you use are as authentic as possible. Which is more important than you might think, as there are tons of not-so-authentic Korean recipes all over the web.
In addition to recipes, Korean food blogs are good resources for ingredients, supplies, and how-to information. Don’t know how to choose the right kind of bowl to make dolsot bibimbap or where to find one? Bloggers are a great resource for understanding the simple techniques and supplies that you’ll need in order to make Korean food at home. They can help you do anything from evaluating the best brands of specialty Korean ingredients, to buying and caring for your dolsot. Need a list of what must-have ingredients you should buy before starting to learn Korean cooking at home? The best place to look is on Korean food blogs.
Another thing you can learn about by reading Korean food blogs is Korean culture. Food is a huge part of Korean culture, and as you develop an interest in the cuisine, knowing more about Korean culture can really help bring a special edge to your cooking. Instead of throwing a Korean meal together, you can develop a better understanding of the history behind each dish, what it means, when it should be eaten, and what it should be served with.
Who knows… when you learn enough about it, you may decide to start a Korean food blog of your own!
If you’ve never tried dolsot bibimbap, you’ve been missing out on one of the tastiest dishes in Korean cuisine. Heck… in any cuisine. While it sounds pretty simple on paper (as you’ll see as you read on), in reality the combination of ingredients used to make this dish makes for something surprising, wonderful… and remarkably healthy.
So, what sets dolsot bibimbap apart from plain old Korean bibimbap? Simply put, it’s the temperature. Regular bibimbap consists of warm or cold rice served up in a bowl and covered with assorted seasoned veggies (called namul), meat, a fried egg, and a wonderful chili sauce (called gochujang). Dolsot bibimbap is just… well… hotter. Doesn’t sound like it would make a big difference, right?
But it does. Simply serving a bibimbap in a hot bowl (this is called a dolsot –hence the name) takes an already-wonderful Korean dish to a mind-boggling level of deliciousness. The dolsot is heated approximately to the level of the molten lava, and the inside is covered with sesame or olive oil before the warmed rice is added. The rice touching the bowl gets crisp and fried and, well… indescribably delicious. This almost-burnt rice is called nurungi, and is so wonderful that they actually sell it on its own as a snack in Korean grocery stores.
Eating a Korean Dolsot Bibimbap
When you make a dolsot bibimbap (or order one at your favorite Korean restaurant), it comes out sizzling, smelling wonderful, and very pretty. But it won’t stay pretty for long– because you’ve got to add plenty of gochujang chili sauce and mix it all up into a tasty homogenized mess before eating. A raw egg is generally floating up on top of the rest of the ingredients, bright and gooey and a little strange-looking. But don’t worry– the bazillion degree heat of the dolsot will cook the egg as you mix, making it creamy and delicious.
What’s in Your Dolsot Bibimbap?
While all dolsot bibimbaps are similar in concept, the ingredients can vary widely. Like regular Korean bibimbap, this dish was originally considered a good way to use up leftover rice and vegetables. So while you’re probably not using leftovers at home (or eating them in a Korean restaurant), almost any ingredient can be tossed into your dolsot bibimbap. And it’ll all taste good– that much I can promise you.
Though you can toss just about anything into your bibimbap, some of the most popular Korean ingredients you’ll find in them are:
* Rice or a multi-grain rice mixture.
* Sesame or olive oil.
* Assorted raw, blanched, or cooked and seasoned veggies. These include carrots, squash, soybean sprouts, red cabbage, mushrooms (generally shitaki), burdock root, fern stems (called gosari), and others.
* Fried ginkgo nuts.
* Meat (generally beef), or Korean Bulgogi, a meat mix made with wine, garlic, onion, and pineapple, among other things — so delicious!
* Egg (generally raw, though it can be fried first).
* Toasted sesame seeds.
* Gochujang sauce (sometimes spelled Kochujang). This sauce is both sweet and spicy, but generally not too spicy. Use it generously.
You’ll find a wide combination of these and more ingredients in a dolsot bibimbap. And even if the idea of eating that many vegetables doesn’t excite your inner glutton… don’t listen to him. All veggies or no, dolsot bibimbap is a Korean delicacy you won’t want to miss out on.
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