Category Archives: Korean Food at Home

Meatless Monday: Chilled Adzuki Bean Soup with Fried Kimchi

Soup isn’t just for the wintertime. This chilled bean bowl is loaded with antioxidants and flavor, making it perfect for a healthy weekday lunch or light dinner.

 

Kimchi is a common side dish in Korea, served with just about every meal. The most traditional variety is made with Napa cabbage. In this recipe, it’s fried with immune-boosting enoki mushrooms and purslane, and used to garnish the soup and give it a spicy kick. Kimchi is widely available in supermarkets, but you might have to hit an Asian market to find enoki mushrooms and purslane. White or oyster mushrooms make good substitutes for the enokis, and radish sprouts or watercress can replace the purslane.

Fun fact about adzuki beans: They were first cultivated in Korea around 1000BC.

Chilled Adzuki Bean Soup with Fried Kimchi
Serves 12

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, diced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup dried adzuki beans
1 cup dried oats
8 cups water
Vegetable oil, for frying
1/2 cup Napa cabbage kimchi, drained and dried with paper towels
1/2 cup enoki mushrooms, roots trimmed
1 cup zucchini, diced
3 tablespoons salt for boiling zucchini
1/4 cup purslane greens
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons sesame oil

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large stock pot, and cook onions over medium-high heat until translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Add water, adzuki beans and oats, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low, and cook until beans are tender, about 45 minutes to an hour. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside and cool for about an hour, and then for an additional two hours in the refrigerator.

2. Blend chilled soup in batches until smooth.

3. Pour vegetable oil into a wok or deep skillet, about 2 inches deep. Heat to 350 degrees. Fry kimchi until kimchi is crispy and translucent, about 30 seconds. Repeat with mushrooms. Drain on paper towels.

4. In a medium-sized pot, bring salted water to a boil. Cook zucchini until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.

5. To assemble: Pour adzuki bean base into a bowl and mix in zucchini. Garnish with fried kimchi, mushrooms and greens. Drizzle sesame oil on top.

 

 

 

 

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Filed under Food2, June 2011, Korean Food at Home, Meatless Mondays, Rina's Food2 recipes

Meatless Monday: Spicy Korean Stew and Dumplings

Food2 is jumping on board with Meatless Monday, an initiative to help reduce meat consumption for personal health and the health of the planet by going vegetarian for one day each week.

Got an hour to kill? Then you’ve got time to whip up this vegetarian Korean feast.

Spicy Korean Ground-Soybean Stew (Kongbiji jjigae) with Leek Dumplings

Ingredients

Stew:
8 cups water
1/4 cup chili powder
2 cups okara (soy pulp, found at Asian markets)
1 cup zucchini, diced
1 cup firm tofu, sliced into 1 x 1 1/2-inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly-ground pepper
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup enoki mushrooms, ends trimmed

Dumplings:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 leeks, white parts only, finely chopped
4-6 large white mushrooms, finely chopped
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 12-ounce package of wonton or dumpling wrappers, thawed
6 cups water, plus more to seal dumplings

Dipping sauce:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons jalapeno, finely chopped (optional)
2 teaspoons scallions, thinly sliced

Directions

Stew:
1. Bring water to boil in a large saucepot. Add chili powder and soy pulp, stir and cook, uncovered for 30 minutes.

2. Add the zucchini and tofu and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in salt and pepper and garnish with scallions and enoki mushrooms.

Dumplings:
1. In a medium skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add leeks, turn heat to low and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Repeat steps for the mushrooms. Combine leeks and mushrooms and stir in salt, pepper, and soy sauce.

2. Lay out the dumpling wrappers on paper towels and spoon a teaspoon of the leek and mushroom filling into the center of each. Using a pastry brush, moisten the edges with water and seal, forming a half moon. Press ends together tightly to seal.

3. Bring water to a boil and cook dumplings for 3-4 minutes. Serve with dipping sauce.

Dipping sauce:
1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients. Garnish with scallions.

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Filed under February 2011, Food2, Korean Food at Home, Meatless Mondays, Rina's Food2 recipes