Jong-Gol - Mushroom And Beef Hot Pot

If you don’t have a portable burner, cook the dish on the stove and bring it to the table to serve.

Yield:

Serves 4 To 6

Ingredients

1. 1 lb beef tenderloin
2. 2 tablespoons soy sauce
3. 2 tablespoons Korean rice wine or Shaoxing
4. 2 tablespoons sugar
5. 1 large garlic clove, minced
6. 2 lb mixed fresh mushrooms such as shiitake, enoki, oyster, and white
7. 1 bunch scallions, cut into 3-inch matchsticks
8. 2 large carrots, cut into 3-inch matchsticks
9. 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 3- by 1/4-inch sticks
10. 3 (4- to 5-inch-long) fresh red chiles, seeded and thinly sliced on the diagonal
11. 6 to 7 cups water

Directions

1. Freeze beef 15 minutes to facilitate slicing thinly. Cut beef across the grain into very thin slices. Combine beef, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, and garlic in a large bowl, tossing to coat.
2. Discard stems from shiitake mushrooms and slice caps 1/8 inch thick. Trim ends from enoki mushrooms. Trim ends from oyster and white mushrooms and slice 1/8 inch thick.
3. Arrange scallions, carrots, and mushrooms separately in bunches (like spokes of a wheel) in wok. Clear a space in center and spoon in beef with marinade, then scatter chiles over beef. Add enough water to just cover vegetables, being careful not to disturb the arrangement.
4. Bring to a boil on a portable burner (see cooks’ note, below) on medium-high heat at the table. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, skimming any foam and stirring once or twice to break up any clumps of beef but being careful not to disturb vegetables, until beef is cooked through and mushrooms are tender, 5 to 7 minutes.

Notes

Cucumber Apple Pickle

Korean tables—both in restaurants and at home—are always set with a series of banchan, or little dishes that can be eaten alone, with rice, or as an accompaniment to the main course. To keep things lively, banchan should run the gamut of tastes and textures, and this particular pickle really sparkles: It is sweet, tart, crisp, and fresh. Salting the sliced cucumbers and then squeezing out their excess water allows them to fully soak up the pickling mixture.

Yield:

Makes 1 Qt

Ingredients

1. 1/2 lb Japanese or Kirby cucumbers
2. 1 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3. 1/2 Fuji or Granny Smith apple
4. 2 cups water
5. 1/3 cup rice vinegar (not seasoned) or cider vinegar
6. 1 tablespoon very thin matchsticks of peeled ginger
7. 1/4 cup sugar
8. Pinch of Korean hot red-pepper threads (optional)

Directions

1. Slice cucumbers crosswise 1/8 inch thick and toss with sea salt. Let stand 30 minutes, then rinse well and squeeze out excess liquid with your hands.
2. Halve apple half lengthwise and cut out core. Slice crosswise 1/8 inch thick.
3. Toss apple with cucumbers and remaining ingredients and marinate, chilled, turning occasionally, at least 1 day.

Notes

COOKS’ NOTE: Pickles keep, chilled, 3 days.

Scallion Cilantro Pancakes

These scallion cilantro pancakes are supple and crêpelike rather than crisp—more Korean pa jon than Chinese scallion pancake.

Yield:

Makes 32 Hors D’oeuvres

Ingredients

1. For the Dipping Sauce:
2. =======================
3. 1/3 cup soy sauce
4. 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (not seasoned)
5. 3/8 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
6. 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted
7. .
8. For the Pancakes:
9. =======================
10. 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
11. 1/4 cup rice flour (not from sweet rice; see cooks’ note, below)
12. Slightly rounded 1/2 teaspoon salt
13. 1 whole large egg
14. 1 large egg yolk
15. 1 cup water
16. 1 small fresh green Thai or serrano chile, minced
17. 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
18. 1/8 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
19. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
20. 4 scallions (pale green and dark green parts only), diagonally sliced into 1 1/2-inch pieces
21. 1/4 cup loosely packed small fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

1. Stir together soy sauce, vinegar, and oil in a bowl, then stir in sesame seeds.
2. Whisk together flours, salt, whole egg, yolk, water, chile, pepper, and sesame oil in a bowl (batter will be thin). Heat 3/4 teaspoon vegetable oil in an 8-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Pour in 1/3 cup batter, then scatter one fourth of scallions and one fourth of cilantro leaves over top, gently pressing into pancake. Fry pancake until underside is pale golden, about 2 minutes. Turn pancake over and cook until scallions are lightly browned, about 1 minute, then transfer to paper towels. Make 3 more pancakes in same manner, adding vegetable oil to skillet each time (there may be some leftover batter).
3. Transfer pancakes to a cutting board and cut each into 8 wedges. Serve warm or at room temperature, with dipping sauce.

Notes

Rice flour—the base for numerous rice noodles and dim sum wrappers used in Southeast Asian and Chinese cuisines—is simply finely milled long-grain rice. Steer clear of “sweet rice flour,” made from sticky (glutinous) short-grain rice, as it gives food a distinct chewiness. Consistency among brands ranges from feathery soft to mildly gritty. The latter works best for this recipe (we like Arrowhead Mills brand; visit arrowheadmills.com for stores nearest you); the supersoft stuff made the pancakes too gummy.Dipping sauce can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.

Warm Tofu With Spicy Garlic Sauce

This gently simmered tofu topped with a stir-together sauce is a common banchan. It would also make a great vegetarian main course served with rice. The sauce—speckled with chopped garlic, scallion, sesame seeds, and Korean hot red-pepper flakes—couldn’t be simpler or more satisfying. You will want to eat it on everything.

Yield:

Serves 8 (As Part Of A Korean Meal)

Ingredients

1. 1 (14- to 18-oz) package soft tofu (not silken)
2. 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
3. 1/4 cup chopped scallion
4. 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted (see Tips) and crushed with side of a heavy knife
5. 3 tablespoons soy sauce
6. 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
7. 1 teaspoon coarse Korean hot red-pepper flakes
8. 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Directions

1. Carefully rinse tofu, then cover with cold water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then keep warm, covered, over very low heat.
2. Meanwhile, mince and mash garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt. Stir together with remaining ingredients (except tofu).
3. Just before serving, carefully lift tofu from saucepan with a large spatula and drain on paper towels. Gently pat dry, then transfer to a small plate. Spoon some sauce over tofu and serve warm. Serve remaining sauce on the side.

Notes

Tofu can be kept warm up to 4 hours.Sauce can be made 1 day ahead and chilled. Bring to room temperature before using.

Kimchi

No Korean meal is complete without kimchi, a piquant condiment of fermented vegetables (most popularly cabbage) seasoned with ginger, garlic, chile, and all manner of fresh or preserved seafood. Fermenting the ingredients over several days gives the dish its distinctive tang, but this easy version, which takes advantage of the funky depth of Asian fish sauce, offers relatively instant gratification.

Yield:

Makes about 2 Qt

Ingredients

1. 1 (3-lb) head Napa cabbage
2. 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
3. 1 tablespoon chopped peeled ginger
4. 2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
5. 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
6. 1 bunch scallions, chopped (1 cup)
7. 3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted (see Tips) and crushed with side of heavy knife
8. 2 to 3 tablespoons coarse Korean hot red-pepper flakes
9. 1/2 (1-lb) Asian pear

Directions

1. Quarter cabbage lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 2- to 3-inch pieces. Toss with 3 Tbsp salt in a large bowl and let stand, tossing occasionally, 2 hours.
2. Rinse cabbage well, then drain. Squeeze out excess water with your hands and transfer to a large bowl.
3. Purée garlic and ginger with fish sauce and vinegar in a blender until smooth, then pour over cabbage. Add scallions, sesame seeds, and red-pepper flakes and toss to coat.
4. Peel pear, then grate on large holes of a box grater (avoid core and seeds). Add to cabbage mixture and toss well. Marinate at least 1 hour.

Notes

Kimchi keeps, chilled in an airtight container, 1 month (flavor will get stronger).