Kimchi Bibim Guksu (Spicy cold noodles with kimchi)

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bibim guksu, cold noodles, dinner, fast meals, gochujang, kimchi, kimchi bibim guksu, Korean, lunch, mains, Noodles, perilla, quick meals, sesame, sesame oil, shiso, spicy, spicy cold noodles

I’m a big fan of Korean dramas and variety shows (I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before). I blame it on those very shows that I’m getting fatter by the day. They make Korean food look so sooooo appetizing! These are one of the dishes that I saw on the telly sometime back. It sounded and looked good… cold kimchi noodles.

After a bit of research, I decided to try the recipe from Korean Bapsang (website below). Her stuff is what you’d call “daebak” (awesome). Her food photos and recipes seem pretty and easy to follow so I made the noodles a few months ago with the recipe. It was good! Totally would make this again. Cold, sour rounded by some sweetness, and a little spice. And kimchi always makes everything taste better.

http://www.koreanbapsang.com/2011/07/kimchi-bibim-guksu-spicy-cold-noodles.html#.Ug-0fhYqS0s

Speaking about spice, I ordered this dish today at a Korean restaurant. All I can say is that I must have downed a whole jug of iced water after a few bites. I’m a person that would sprinkle chilli flakes liberally all over my food and use chilli padi soy sauce as a favourite condiment so I don’t think my spice tolerance is that low. But I really couldn’t enjoy the noodles, it being so spicy! So if you’re not a fan of spicy food, you can adjust the level of gochujang to suit your preferences (this recipe isn’t that spicy in any case).

Secondly, on my recent trip to Japan, I frequented a korean restaurant in Takashimaya, Tokyo (I really liked it!) and made a discovery. In all my posts on Korean food so far I’ve been referring to shiso/Japanese perilla leaves as the Korean perilla leaf. When I tried the real Korean perilla leaf I was taken aback. I absolutely had no idea that they were so different! As wikipedia clarifies:

“The flavor is distinct from Japanese perilla, and the leaf appearance is different, as well – larger, rounder, flatter, with a less serrated edge, and often a violet coloring on the reverse side.”

Well that explains why the leaf was so large. So now, I’m on a mission to find Korean perilla leaves in Singapore ;p

Ingredients (2 pax); recipe from Korean Bapsang

• 8 – 10 ounces somyeon (somen) noodles
• 1 cup thinly sliced kimchi (fully fermented)
• 1/4 cup juice from kimchi (use a little more soy sauce and vinegar if unavailable)
• 1 tablespoon Korean red chili pepper paste, gochujang (adjust to taste)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon corn syrup (use honey or more sugar if unavailable)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons rice or apple vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• Optional garnish:
• 4 perilla leaves, kkaennip, thinly sliced (my pictures show the Japanese perilla leaves/shiso leaves)
• (or cucumber or lettuce, thinly sliced)

Cooking instructions

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil while preparing the kimchi sauce.

Thinly slice the kimchi and place it in a medium size bowl. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and mix well.

Add the noodles to the pot of boiling water. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions (3 – 4 minutes).

Prepare a bowl of iced water to dip the noodles into. The recipe in Korean Bapsang calls for cold water, however if it is not cold enough the noodles could get soggy quite easily. So just in case, just use iced water.

Drain the noodles quickly and shock in iced water to stop the cooking. Drain and rinse in cold water again. Repeat until the noodles become cold. Drain well.

Here’s the fun part! Throw your cold noodles into the sauce mixture and toss so that the sauce coats the noodles evenly. Try not to over-handle the noodles with utensils or you could get mashed noodles. Not yummy. Use your wrist to toss the noodles in the bowl and use chopsticks to further mix the noodles.

Dish into a serving bowl and top with (Korean) perilla leaves. I thought Japanese ones worked just as well.

Perfect dish for a hot day!

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Hoedeopbap / hwedeopbap – Korean Spicy Sashimi salad Rice bowl

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chogochujang, dinner, gochujang, healthy, hodeopbap, hoedeopbap, hwe deop bap, hwedeopbap, Korean, korean spicy sashimi salad, lunch, perilla leaves, red pepper paste, rice, salad, sashimi, sesame oil, shiso, spicy, sweet and sour

I’m currently on a Korean craze. I also am hopelessly addicted to Running Man, a korean variety show. But way too often do they show delicious, mouthwatering looking korean dishes and delicacies. Like sizzling Korean bbq, grilled oysters, kimchi, ramyeon, sea urchin, spicy ddukbokki and the list is endless. One of these demonish dishes I just saw on another episode is something called ‘ganjang gejang’, which is raw crab marinated in soy sauce and fermented. It sounds disgusting but it looks so good T______T I googled countless recipes on it but then decided against making it. One because I have no clue how to get the freshest of crabs in Singapore, and secondly, I don’t think I have the courage to successfully pickle/ferment the crab LOL.

So I settled for this dish instead. Technically its supposed to be a spicy sashimi rice bowl, but, like chirashi-don (sashimi on vinegared rice) versus just sashimi and rice in separate bowls, I really prefer to keep them separate. I like my rice hot, and this would wreak havoc onto sashimi if placed onto the rice directly like that. So yeah, I put it in a separate bowl. The sashimi salad is spicy, sour and sweet and has a nice crunch from all the vegetables in there. It could have been spicier, perhaps next time I’ll add some sliced chilli padi into the sauce for for a “BURN TONGUE BURNNNNN” experience =D 

Ingredients (2 pax)
I adapted the recipe from here http://www.food.com/recipe/spicy-sashimi-bowl-hwe-deop-bap-221946

• 2 cups cooked rice (Japanese or Korean, preferably)
• 2 ounces tilapia fillets/other white fish sashimi (I used tai)
• 2 ounces tuna, sashimi quality
• 1 cup salad greens, any combination (I used only butterhead lettuce)
• 1/8 onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 carrot, thinly julienned
• 1/4 English cucumber, thinly  julienned
• 2-3 inch daikon radish, thinly julienned
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled, minced
• 1 chili pepper, thinly sliced (I’m replacing this with chilli padi next time)
• 4 perilla/shiso leaves, thinly julienned (*edit* Korean perilla leaves)
• 16 Perilla/shiso leaves for wrapping (*edit* Korean perilla leaves, no other substitute unless you don’t mind a lettuce wrap)

Cho Gochujang (sweet and sour chili sauce)

• 3 tablespoons korean red pepper paste (gochujang) or more if you wish
• 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame seed
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon salt, taste before adding (optional)

Instructions

1. To be really specific, julienne ALL THE VEGETABLES thinly and around the same thickness and length where possible.
2. Arrange the vegetables in a bowl.
3. Julienne your sashimi too, not as thinly as the vegetables, but try to cut it into long strips. Makes it easier to pick up with the vegetables later on, rather than cutting it into cubes.
4. Mix all the ingredients for the Cho-gochujang in a bowl and taste. Add more spicy or salt if you wish but I think the salt content is fine without the optional salt.

5. Arrange the sashimi on top of the vegetables, top with minced garlic, and cho-gochujang sauce and garnish with shiso leaves.

Tastes a bit like the Chinese Yu Sheng which I really really like. And it is pretty healthy isn’t it 😉

Take a few photos of your slicing efforts

Then you mix the salad. Toss it and mix it and get the sauce into every nook and cranny.

Get your hot rice ready, alongside some shiso leaves for wrapping. If you don’t like the taste of shiso leaves, you can replace them with lettuce or other vegetables.

And so, you take a leaf, plonk some of that hot rice on top, followed by the sashimi salad. Stuff it into your mouth. Charming.

Yummeh~