Korean Recipes
137 recipes found
Korean Fried Cauliflower
Long before the Cheesecake Factory made this dish popular in the United States, it was made at Yardbird in Hong Kong by the Canadian chef Matt Abergel. Food that is “Korean-fried” combines the thin, crisp crust of Japanese tempura with the fire of Korean gochujang, a spicy staple available in any Asian market. The Yardbird version also includes tempura mix and red yuzu kosho, a tart Japanese condiment made of red chiles, yuzu and salt. If those are out of reach, feel free to substitute your own favorite flavors — many versions of the sauce include a little ketchup — and use any tempura batter that you like. Just don’t leave off the toasted sesame seeds; they add a nutty crunch at the very end.
Bulgogi Sliders With Scallion Salsa
Here is a sandwich version of the Korean barbecue standard known as bulgogi — “fire meat,” is the literal translation — and a taste of the sort of home cooking that can lead to more home cooking. It serves as a fragrant hamburger crusher, an elegant vanquisher of pizza. It is an enemy of takeout. I learned the recipe from Hooni Kim, the chef and owner of Danji, on the edge of the theater district in Manhattan, where bulgogi “sliders” are a hallmark of the menu and by far the restaurant’s most popular dish. It’s been adapted for use in the home.
Barbecued Chicken Wings, Korean Style
Jalapeño Jangjorim With Jammy Eggs
Jangjorim is a Korean dish of soy sauce-braised meat, often studded with pulled eye of round (sometimes sold as “jangjorim meat” at Korean grocery stores), hard-boiled eggs and wrinkly kkwarigochu (shishito peppers), which are mild enough to eat whole. This version, inspired by my mother’s recipe, uses eggs that are just boiled enough that they’ll peel easily and the yolks will remain fudgy. In place of the shishitos are fat, juicy jalapeños, adding a welcome freshness and fruity heat. And the beef is brisket, shredded into long, pleasurably chewy strands, which soak up the umami-rich soy sauce brine. As a banchan, this dish is an ideal accompaniment to a bowl of fresh white rice. Any leftover sauce you might have is a large part of the joy of making jangjorim: It tastes fabulous when soaked into rice with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil, or as a sweet, saline base for soba noodles.
Seolleongtang
Seolleongtang (SULL-lung-tahng), also known as ox bone soup, is a deeply comforting dish seemingly magicked out of just bones, sometimes a small hunk of meat, and scallions, if you have them. This version is especially pared down, relying mostly on the bones, which are boiled over multiple hours to imbue the broth with fatty redolence. The best seolleongtang is made from reused bones kept specifically for this dish, which is why batches made with fresh bones may not have the quintessential milky whiteness characteristic to this dish. The broth is seasoned with a quick, gremolata-like mix of scallion, garlic and sea salt.
Fennel ‘Quick Kimchi’
This is not a traditional kimchi, but it approximates the flavor profile, bypassing a lengthier fermentation and instead relying on vinegar. In Korea, this dish would be considered a muchim, which can refer to any number of “seasoned” or “dressed” salads or other preparations. That also means you can eat it right away, though this fennel kimchi will keep up to two or three days before losing its crunch. Admittedly, fennel is not a traditional ingredient in kimchi, but its gentle aniseed flavor provides a clean landing pad for the spicy dressing, which leans on pantry stalwarts like gochugaru, sesame oil and fish sauce. Enjoy this as a hearty salad alongside fish, pork chops or any main dish that could use a fresh accompaniment. For a vegetarian option, you can swap out the fish sauce for soy sauce.
Mandu
As with any dumplings, making mandu requires lots of space, time and hands. In other words, it's the perfect project food for your next dinner party. Double or triple this recipe so all of your guests can take home leftovers. And if anyone finds it too difficult to fold the classic dumpling shape, offer up the alternate cigar shape. Its ratio of crispy brown crust to moist filling is perfect.
Bindaetteok (Mung Bean Pancakes)
Rice Cooker Bibimbap with Salmon and Spinach
Hui Leng Tay, a food blogger in Singapore, is unusually committed to her rice cooker. She developed this recipe for bibimbap, and she sees herself as seeking the elusive grail of cooks everywhere: the make-ahead, not-too-unhealthy, tasty meal. "I try to figure out which ingredients get better when kept over low heat for a long time, like cabbage and onions, and which ones get droopy," she said.
Cold Spicy Kimchi Noodles
Could this be the anti-ramen? Either way, it’s my new favorite cold pasta, custom-made for hot summer weather because it is refreshingly and unapologetically spicy. Make the sauce in advance, but wait to toss with the noodles until just before serving. While you could order Korean ingredients online, it’s more fun to go to a Korean supermarket, if only to see all the different types of kimchi. Korean red pepper flakes are without seeds, and only medium hot, so you can use a lot.
Kimchi Noodle Cake
This savory pan-fried noodle cake made with rice noodles (or leftover cooked spaghetti) packs a lot of flavor with just a few ingredients, ideal for a quick breakfast or lunch. The mixture can be assembled well in advance. It’s more steamed than fried, but a crisp bottom is revealed when the cake is flipped. Look for the red pepper paste (gochujang) at Korean markets.
Korean Braised Spare Ribs With Soy and Black Pepper
These St. Louis-style spareribs are braised until tender and lacquered in a savory Korean soy sauce glaze that’s spiked with fragrant garlic, ginger, scallions and lots of black pepper. There’s no marinating required and little hands-on work, but you will need to make sure the tough membrane on the back of each rack has been removed before cooking. (That task is easy: Set the ribs meat side down and find the thin, translucent skin that sits over the bones. Gently pull it up at one corner, inserting a sharp knife to loosen it at one end if necessary, then peel the membrane off in one piece.) The potatoes and carrots sit underneath the ribs and soak up the meaty drippings. The pork and vegetables all release flavorful juices as they roast, resulting in a rich, assertive pan sauce. A quick broil at the end achieves golden, crispy edges.
Korean Chilled Buckwheat Noodles With Chilled Broth and Kimchi
This recipe is inspired by the signature Korean summer noodle dish, naeng myung. The traditional dish is made with a strong beef broth. I’m using a vegetarian broth I make with dried mushrooms and kelp, adapted from a recipe in Deborah Madison’s “Vegetarian Cooking for Everybody.” You could also use chicken stock. The dish can include chicken or meat, or it can be vegetarian, as this version is, with tofu standing in for chicken. It can also be vegan if you omit the boiled eggs. Make the broth a day ahead so that it will be nice and cold.
Tongdak Gui (Whole Roasted Chicken)
This recipe draws inspiration from the old-fashioned rotisserie chickens sold along Seoul’s streets in the 1970s — before Korean fried chicken entered the scene in the next decade. Cornish game hens are an excellent substitute for the smaller, younger birds often used in South Korea for this succulent poultry dish. A simple soy-sauce brine, made even more fragrant with ground white pepper, ensures inimitably juicy, tender meat that, after roasting in the oven for an hour, truly falls off the bone. A nod to pa dak (“scallion chicken”), an early-2000s trend in which shaved scallions were served atop fried chicken to cut the fattiness, this recipe calls for lightly dressed scallions for a verdant counterpoint.
White Soondubu Jjigae (Mild Tofu Stew)
This Korean stew features velvety silken tofu in a clear, savory broth that allows the nutty flavor of the tofu to shine. Dried kelp, radishes and shiitake mushrooms build the base of the soothing soup: Radishes impart sweetness, while the kelp and mushrooms add earthy notes. Sesame seeds give each spoonful an extra toasty flavor and crunch. Traditionally, the stew is finished with eggs that have been gently poached, with runny yolks that enrich the broth. If desired, crack four eggs into the stew once the tofu is warmed through and let them simmer gently for three minutes.
Dalgona Candy (Ppopgi)
Crunchy with a light snap, this thin candy (as seen on Netflix’s “Squid Game”) has a distinctive toasty sweetness. In postwar South Korea, vendors outside schools and toy stores made and sold these tan disks stamped with shapes. They would offer a free one to children who could pick out the shape with a needle without breaking the candy in a game called ppopgi. Preparing the candy at home requires only two ingredients and attention at the stove. The ladle needs to be moved away from the heat occasionally to stir away any lumps without burning the melting sugar. If you want to make multiple candies quickly, keep a small saucepan of boiled water in the sink to quickly clean hardened sugar off the ladle.
‘Instant’ Kimchi With Greens and Bean Sprouts
Instant kimchi requires no fermentation and is ready to use as soon as it is seasoned. It makes a fresh salad-like accompaniment for meat or fish dishes, whether Korean or western.
Cheesy Cabbage Tteokbokki
A dish of royalty, tteokbokki consists of chewy Korean rice cakes (tteok) that are stir-fried (bokki) and slicked in a savory-sweet sauce. Sometimes the sauce is soy-sauce-based, as the kings of the Joseon dynasty enjoyed in the royal court dish gungjung tteokbokki. But more commonly today, as it is here, the sauce is gloriously red, spicy and gochujang-based. Traditional versions might include fish cakes and whole hard-boiled eggs, but this one leans into a base of butter-fried shallots and a layer of melted cheese covered in a crunchy blanket of raw cabbage. A parade of halved, molten-centered soft-boiled eggs bedecks the top.
Bibimbap With Chicken and Mushrooms
One chicken breast is stretched into a hearty meal here, with lots of rice or other grains and vegetables.
Miyeok Guk (Seaweed Soup)
People eat miyeok guk on birthdays to celebrate not just their own birth, but their mother’s sacrifice as well — which is why it is often known as birthday soup. This miyeok guk (ME-yuhk gewk) forgoes the more common beef broth for mussels and an aromatic base of onion, garlic and anchovies. Though not traditional, the addition of parsnip, for sweetness and umami, yields a broth with body, like the kind you would get with the usual brisket. Scooped out of their shells, mussels become little morsels in the soup, nuggets of briny joy.
Kimchi Radish Pickle
Anne Rosenzweig's Winter Kimchi
Bibimbap With Tuna, Sweet Potato, Broccoli Rabe or Kale, and Lettuce
I keep the tuna in one piece when I marinate it and cook it, then slice it after it’s seared so it won’t be overcooked. If you want to reduce the calories and carbs here, substitute winter squash or another vegetable of your choice for the sweet potatoes.
Bibimbap With Beef, Winter Squash, Spinach and Cucumber
Bibimbap is a classic Korean mixed-rice dish. In traditional bibimbap, a large serving of rice is placed in the center of a hot bowl and surrounded with small amounts of meat — usually beef — and seasoned vegetables that include a mixture of cultivated vegetables (cucumber, carrot, daikon or turnips, spinach, lettuce, mushrooms) and wild items like fiddlehead ferns and reconstituted dried toraji (bellflower roots). A fried egg is often placed on top of the rice, and diners stir everything together. This recipe breaks with traditional bibimbap by using brown rice (you could also use barley, quinoa or another grain of your choice). As for the winter squash and spinach? The recipe is a template; use whatever vegetables you like.