Spicy Seafood Noodle 짬뽕 (Jjam Ppong)

Hey guys, day three of the week.

Ok, it admit it. I'm kinda starting to hit a slump here, literally. I am really tired at the moment. Friends came over today and we made our costumes for this things next week. Anyways, because I am really tired, I'm just going to post a quick post. I'll try and post more tomorrow.

So today I'm not posting a rice dish. It is a noodle dish. Today I will be introducing you to Spicy Seafood Noodle or Jjam Ppong (짬뽕). This is pretty much noodles in a seafood broth. This is a dish similar to jajangmyeon which also has origins from China.

"Jjamppong is a popular noodle dish that is prepared in a red, spicy seafood broth containing hearty vegetables and variety of seafood. This dish presumably has its origins in Japan with influence from China and is known to be very popular at various restaurants or even at homes. Instant noodle versions are also popular which can be prepared within minutes.

However, to enjoy this authentic dish, many Koreans go to Korean/Chinese restaurants where noodles are mixed in with real seafood such as squids, shrimps, clams and scallions. Fresh vegetables such as onions, red peppers, green onions as well as many others are included in this dish to compliment the spiciness of the base soup. Jjampong is considered to be mild to high in spiciness so expect to sweat while consuming this dish."

That is a description of the dish, and a bit about it's history. Now, on to it's recipe:

Ingredients
1 package fresh egg noodles
½ cup pork, thinly sliced
½ cup squid, cleaned and thinly sliced
8 small shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 mussels, scrubbed
5 dried black mushrooms
½ onion sliced
½ carrot, cut into match-stick pieces
¼ napa cabbage, cut into 1x2 in pieces
2 green onions, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 red chili peppers, seeded and sliced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
7 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp soy sauce
Salt & pepper to taste
½ tbsp gochugaru (red chili pepper flakes - optional for spiciness)

Method
1. Soak mushrooms in warm water and cover for 30 minutes. Drain. Slice and set aside.
2. Bring mussels and water to a boil in a pot. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 5 minutes or until the shells open. Lift out mussels and set aside. Retain liquid and add 7 cups of chicken broth.
3. In a large pot of boiling water, cook noodles according to package directions until tender but firm to the bite. Drain well and set aside.
4. Add olive oil to a wok or frying pan.
5. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 5 seconds. For spicier taste, add gochugaru.
6. Add pork, shrimp, squid, mussels, and stir-fry.
7. Add onions, carrots, red chili pepper, and green onions and stir-fry.
8. Add cabbage and chicken broth mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med-low and let simmer.
9. Add soy sauce.
10. Add salt & pepper to taste.
11. Place noodles in a large soup bowl and pour hot soup mixture over noodles

And there you have it. A delicious hearty seafood meal, you is going to warm you up in this cold weather.



That is it from me today. Until tomorrow remember to stay healthy and happy. See you tomorrow.

Hot Spicy Fish Soup 매운탕

Hey guys, so I am back with another post today. I hope that you guys tried out the Yugwa recipe from the last post, because I did and it turned out quite nice.

It has been quite cold in Korea and where I am lately so I thought that I should post a recipe that is sure to warm you up from the winter chills. Where I am from and in Korean both share an abundance of one type of food, and that is seafood. So today I am going to introduce to you a recipe that is going to use seafood and warm you up.

Today it is going to be just one variety of seafood stew that can be made in winter. It is going to be Hot Spicy Fish Soup or 매운탕. This is mainly more focused on putting fish into a spicy soup that is made more refreshing by the addition of radish and other vegetables such as green onions and chilies.

The origins of the name is that the name is a combination of two words: maeun, which derives from maepda (맵다), meaning "hot and spicy"; and tang, meaning "soup."

The dish itself is quite easy to make if you have prepared all the ingredients beforehand.

Now, for my version of spicy fish soup.

Ingredients
2 trouts whole (12-14 inches)
½ cup radish, thin sliced
2-3 red chilies, cut in slices

3 green onions, cut in a slices
100g tofu, cut into sqaures
6 tbsp gochujang
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp gochugaru
3 tbsp minced garlic
3 tbsp salt
6 cups water

Method
1. Scale and wash the fish, then verticall

y cut into several pieces.
2. Put water in a pot, start boiling.
3. Add gochujang, gochugaru and soy sauce. Bring to a boil.
4. Add radish, squash, half of chilies, keep cooking on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
5. Add fish, tofu and garlic.
6. Heat until fish is completely cooked. Add salt to taste.
7. Add green onions.
8. Cook for another 1-2 minutes.
9. Serve hot with white rice.

So there you go guys, a nice spicy soup that will be sure to warm you up this winter. And if you like shell fish you can always add them in too to help provide a refreshing taste.

I'll post again soon. Stay healthy and be happy.

Jajangmyeon 자장면

I know that this dish is not strictly a Korean dish because it was derived from a Chinese dish, but for the sake of this post let us pretend that it is purely Korean. The dish is quite easy to make, it is almost as simple as making pasta. With the twist being
that is is Asian and not Italian.

Jjajangmyeon was first created in the city of Incheon, where early Chinese migrants to Korea began to settle in the late 19th century. The dish was arguably first developed in a Chinese restaurant called Gonghwachun (공화춘; 共和春 - meaning Republican Spring) in Incheon around 1905. The city of Incheon sponsored the "100 year anniversary of the birth of jajangmyeon" in 2005.

The dish originated from zha jiang mian (炸醬麵, literally "fried sauce noodles") in China's Shandong region. The pronunciation of the dish's name is nearly identical to that of its Korean counterpart. But Korean jajangmyeon differs from Chinese zha jiang mian, as Korean jajangmyeon uses black Korean chunjang including caramel, and onions that Chinese zha jiang mian does not use. Korean-style jajangmyeon has also been gaining popularity in China recently.

Noodles
Jjajangmyeon uses thick noodles made from white wheat flour. The noodles, which are made entirely by hand and not by machines, are called sutamyeon (수타면; 手打麵) are praised in South Korea as an essential ingredient of good jjajangmyeon.

Sauce
The sauce is made with a dark soybean paste called chunjang (춘장). The paste, which is made from roasted soybeans and caramel, is called chun

jang when unheated, while the heated sauce (containing vegetables and meat or seafood) is called jjajang (literally "fried sauce"). Chunjang is stir-fried with diced onions, ground meat (either beef or pork) or chopped seafood, and other ingredients. When cooking the sauce, usually meat stock is added to reduce the salty taste of cooked chunjang, and potato starch or cornstarch is added to give the sauce a thick consistency. The sauce is served hot over noodles, sometimes with sliced raw cucumbers.

Accompaniments
Jjajangmyeon is always served with a small amount of danmuji (단무지). The dish is often served with a small amount of sliced raw onions, seasoned with rice vinegar, accompanied with a little jajang sauce. The diner eats the noodle with danmuji and onions dipped in jjajang sauce.

There are a number of variations available for the dish.

Including ganjajangmyeon (간자장면), which is jjajangmyeon served with the jajang sauce without the starch, with the sauce and noodles being served separately in different bowls, and samseon jajangmyeon (삼선자장면), which incorporates seafood such as squid, shrimp, sea cucumber, and others (but never fish). Samseon ganjajangmyeon (삼선간자장면) consists of noodles served with sauce, which contains seafood on the side.

Instant jjajangmyeon is also popular in South Korea. Dried noodles is boiled in the same manner as instant ramen with dried vegetable bits, drained, and mixed with jjajang powder and a small amount of water and oil.

Now for my version of the dish.

Ingredients:
Cooked Noodles (Thick in size and chewy) 300 g
Pork 50 g
Onion 1/2 of a whole
Potatoes 50 g
Zucchini 30 g
Ja-jang sauce 3 Tbs (available in all Korean grocery stores)
Cooking oil 3 Tbs
Corn Starch 1 Tbs
Water(or Broth) 1/2 Cup
Ginger, black pepper, sesame oil

Preparation:
1. Cook the noodles in boiling water and rinse them off with cold water.

2. Cut the onions, zucchini and potatoes into pieces, approximately 0.5 cm in length.

3. Also cut the pork in the same fashion (0.5 cm in length).

4. Slowly stir the ja-jang sauce in cooking oil at a simmer. (The cooking oil should shrink the ja-jang sauce in half in content.)

5. Mix the corn starch with water. (1 Tbs of corn starch to 2 Tbs of water is fine).

6. Cover the frying pan with oil and cook the pork with chopped ginger until the pork is completely cooked. Then add in the chopped vegetables and stir-fry some more. Then add one cup of water and let it come to a boil. Add in the corn starch/water mix and let it come to a boil.

7. Place noodles on a bowl and pour the ja-jang sauce over the noodles.

I know that it doesn't look the appetising from the photos, but it is REALLY hard to take photos that look good when you have a lot of black sauce on top. But it does taste amazing so I hope that will make up for the bad photos. This dish is also not spicy so it is something that everyone should try, it is really filling too.

Anyways, that is all from me. I hope you guys have a great week. And I might not be posting for a while because I have exams coming up in two weeks and I need to study. We'll see what happens though.