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Blistered shishito peppers with gochujang 🌶

By James Strange Leave a Comment

It is peak season for shsihito peppers so I had to buy some. These peppers will be perfect for blistered shishito peppers recipe with a Korean inspired gochujang sauce.

Fresh peppers in a bowl with other ingredients behind the bowl

Ingredients:

Shsihito peppers; For the most part shsihito peppers are not spicy but occasionally you will get a spicy one. After washing the peppers poke or cut a small hole in each one. This will let out the steam when they start cooking. Today this step was missed and some of the peppers popped make a mess on the stove.

Korean red pepper flakes or gochugaru. Is made by grinding dried red peppers. Flavor a fire level depend upon the peppers used. Most packages are labeled for the spice level. For this recipe we used a medium spice level and a medium grind.

Korean red pepper paste or gochujang. It is a fermented paste made from red pepper flakes, sweetener and other grains. It gives a nice depth of flavor. To learn more this is a great article.

Sesame oil: I prefer the toasted kind.

Garlic: The recipe calls for fresh but I cheated and used the kind from the jar.

Raw sugar: The recipe needs some sugar to balance everything out.

Water: Its just to thin out the sauce. The water will cookout and leave a nice sticky sauce on the peppers.

Oil: Today I used peanut oil.

A bowl of spicy sauce with a spoon

This is what the sauce looked like after mixing.

Peppers frying in a pan
Starting to get some color

In a pan on medium high heat add one tablespoon of oil. Add the peppers and toss to coat with oil. To cook them let them sit for a minute then toss. Keep doing this until the have blistered and have just gotten soft.

If you think they are cooking to fast or to slow adjust your heat.

Fried peppers in a pan with spicy sauce
Almost ready

When they are almost done turn your heat down. and add the sauce. Keep tossing until the sauce has coated the peppers and becomes nice and thick. Your shishito peppers with gochujang are now ready to serve.

Blistered peppers with a spicy sauce in a bowl. This is a pin for Pinterest
Please share this recipe
Blistered peppers with a spicy sauce in a bowl.
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Shishito Peppers with Gochujang

Easy recipe for blistered shishito peppers with a spicy Korean inspired gochujang sauce.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Korean
Keyword: Gochujang, shishito
Servings: 4
Calories: 66kcal
Author: James Strange

Ingredients

  • 12 oz Shishito peppers
  • 1 Tablespoon Oil

Sauce

  • 2 Tablespoons Gochujang Korean red pepper paste
  • 1/2 teaspoon Gochugaru Korean red pepper powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Sesame oil Toasted kind
  • 1/2 teaspoon Raw sugar
  • 2 cloves Garlic finely minced
  • 2 Tablespoons Water

Instructions

Sauce

  • In a small bowl mix together Gochujang, Gochugaru, Sesame oil, Garlic, raw sugar and water.
    A bowl of spicy sauce with a spoon
  • Wash the peppers. Poke or cut a small hole in each pepper.
    Fresh peppers in a bowl with other ingredients behind the bowl
  • To a pan on medium high heat add one tablespoon of oil. Add the peppers and toss to coat with oil. To cook the peppers sit for a minute then toss. Keep doing this until the have blistered and have just gotten soft.
    Peppers frying in a pan
  • Reduce the heat to low and add the sauce. Toss the peppers to coat with sauce. When the sauce has reduced they are ready to serve.
    Blistered peppers with a spicy sauce in a bowl.

Nutrition

Calories: 66kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 178mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 405IU | Vitamin C: 70mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg

Easy mung bean sprouts recipe 🥗

By James Strange Leave a Comment

Mung bean sprouts are tasty and loaded with health benefits. This easy bean sprout recipe will show you how to make them delicious. This method does work with other kinds of sprouts. If your interested in the health benefits Healthline wrote a great article.

Today I am using sprouts that I grew using this method.

Cleaned mung bean sprouts in a strainer and the tails on a plate.
All cleaned up and ready

My preference is to remove the roots before cooking. Removing the roots is not required but I think it makes the sprouts taste better. Sometimes when you buy them in the bag the roots are already removed or are very small. In that case you can bypass this step.

After cleaning I had eight ounces of bean sprouts and three ounces of roots.

Recipe ingredients laid out on a table
All ingredients ready to go

Since the cooking time is very quick you need to have your ingredients ready.

Ingredients:

Bean sprouts: For this recipe we used fresh mung bean sprouts. Soy bean sprouts will also work.

Fresh garlic: For this method only fresh garlic will do.

Green onion: It adds a nice flavor and a little color.

Salt: The dish does need salt.

Oil: For cooking use a neutral flavored oil that you like.

Sesame oil: Used for flavor.

A pan with oil, garlic and green onion
The house is smelling good.

Preheat your pan then add the oil, garlic and green onion. If you want to add other veggies like ginger or bell pepper add them now as well.

Cook until the garlic brings a nice smell to the kitchen then add the bean sprouts, salt and sesame oil. If you want to add some soy sauce add it also (but cut back on the salt).

Keep flipping the sprouts to mix in the seasoning until the sprouts have slightly softened. This should only take around three minutes. If they start to release water they are done. As soon as they are done remove from the hot pan.

Finished dish of stir fried bean sprouts in a pan. This is a pin for Pinterest
Please share this recipe
Finished dish of stir fried bean sprouts in a pan.
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Easy mung bean sprouts recipe

Basic stir fried and seasoned mung bean sprouts
Prep Time1 hr
Cook Time15 mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Asian
Keyword: mung bean sprouts, sprouts
Servings: 4
Calories: 40kcal
Author: James Strange

Ingredients

  • 8 oz Mung bean sprouts Cleaned, roots removed
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Oil Neutral flavored oil
  • 2 Cloves Garlic Finely minced
  • 1 Green onion Finely minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Sesame oil

Instructions

  • To a pan on medium high heat add the oil, garlic and green onion. Cook until the garlic starts to smell. The add the bean sprouts, salt and sesame oil.
  • Use tongs to keep turning the bean sprouts. Cook 3 or 4 minutes. When they start to release water they are done.
  • Remove from the pan so they can cool down.

Nutrition

Calories: 40kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 295mg | Potassium: 84mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 30IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg

Korean streusel bread 🍞

By James Strange Leave a Comment

Korean streusel bread or Soboro-ppang (소보로빵) is a light fluffy yeast bread with a crumb topping made with peanut butter. Due to the amount of sugar it is not gout friendly. With the eggs, butter and milk it is not vegan. But I am sure it could easily be made vegan. My wife and girls love Soboro-ppang so we decided to document the process but they are not on my menu.

Every time we go to H-Mart during the checkout process my wife will disappear. Nothing to worry about she is at the bakery for a little shopping. About the time we get on the highway she will open the bag from the bakery and the first thing she will eat is of course Soboro-ppang.

She has spent a lot of time working on this recipe, reading Korean food blogs and watching YouTube videos. She says its about 90%. She may never get it just right, kind of like me with pizza dough.

Finished Korean streusel bread on a baking tray
Ready to serve

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The recipe is broken up into two parts. One for the bread and one for the crumb (streusel like) topping.

Ingredients for Korean Streusel Bread dough on a table

Ingredients for the dough:

Bread flour: Bread flour is a high protein very strong flour. It gives dough lots of strength.

Cake flour: Is a finely milled low protein flour. It's used to make cakes light and fluffy. Can you use all purpose flour instead of mixing the two? Possibly but when it comes to Korean streusel bread I just go along with the program.

Sugar: Sugar will feed the yeast so that it will develop quickly and act as a lubricant for the bread.

Salt: Let's face it recipes need salt to balance out the flavors.

Dry or powdered milk: To add flavor and help with browing the outside of the bread.

Yeast: Yeast is what will cause the rise in our bread and give a yeasty flavor. It also makes the house smell nice while cooking.

Milk: We use two percent milk but you can use what you have.

Egg: Eggs help to lighten the texture of the bread.

Butter: Softened (let it come to room tempature) I am sure that there is a chemistry reason but butter will make the bread richer.

Crumb topping ingredients on a table in bowls

Ingredients for the crumb topping:

Butter: Yep lots of butter in the topping to help with the browning.

Peanut butter: To give a nice flavor to the buns. We used a smooth natural peanut butter but chunky works great. Perhaps you could even grind up some peanuts and add to the crumb topping. That might push the recipe to 92%.

Raw sugar: The sugar we used is from Korea labeled as organic brown sugar. But to me it looks like turbinado sugar.

Honey: The topping needs some kind of thick sweetener. We used honey but corn syrup is probably more common.

Egg: To help bind the topping and to make it richer. We will also brush some of the egg on the bread to help the topping stick. We used one large egg that had been beaten.

Dry Milk: For flavor without adding moisture.

Salt: Got to have some salt

Baking powder: Not sure why this is needed I just go along with the program. Remember safety first in the kitchen. Actually it helps to lighten the crumb.

All purpose flour: The type of flour here is not to important. In fact I would like to try grinding up some oats and mixing with flour.

The volume to crumb topping is more than what you will need. But in this house you must have enough topping. To keep from having to much left over just cut back on how much flour you use.

Dry ingredients is a glass bowl with whisk

Let's make the bread dough. Add all of the dry ingredients (dough only not the topping) to a mixing bowl. We used the stand mixer so we added to that bowl. Then gave a quick mix with the whisk.

Dough after mixing in glass bowl of a stand mixer

Then we placed the bowl on the stand mixer and added the wet ingredients (milk and egg), reserving the butter. Turned the mixer on setting one. Mixed a little then went to setting two. Mixed a little then used a spatula to scrape down the bowl. After everything was combined we started to speed up the mixer. Finally mixed on setting eight for three minutes.

Yep we beat the crap out of the poor dough. When we lifted the mixer the dough fell off of the hook. After this the dough needs to rest.

Note: You could knead by hand but it takes a lot of work. I am to lazy and as they say ain't nobody got time for that.

Ball of dough on a cutting board with plastic wrap

Put some (about a teaspoon) flour of your surface and scrape your dough out of the bowl and form it into a ball. The dough is very sticky but just do the best that you can. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for ten minutes.

Dough resting in a glass bowl

After the dough has rested it will be a lot more elastic (stretchy) it is ready for a little hand kneading. Put a touch (about a teaspoon) of flour on your surface and knead for three or four minutes. Then form it into a ball and add to a bowl and cover. Let it rise until doubled in volume.

The time to double in volume will depend upon the tempature and humidity in the air.

We have an electric bread proofer that we set on 120F. The bowl was placed inside and it took about one hour. You could turn your oven on just long enough for it to start to get warm then turn it off. Put your dough inside and leave the light on. Just make sure your oven is not hot.

Ball of dough in a glass bowl

After the dough has doubled in size punch it down and form into individual balls. This time we make twelve but eight is probably the best size.

Balls of dough on a cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap

Cover the balls and let them rise until close to doubled in size. This took about forty five minutes in the proofer at 120F.

During this rize is a good time to make the crumb topping.

Balls of dough on a cookie sheet after rising

Now they are ready to add the crumb topping.

Butter and peanut butter in a metal mixing

First step to our crumb topping is mixing the peanut butter and butter. The butter does not have to be completely soft or even fully mixed.

Metal mixing bowl with, butter, peanut butter, sugar and honey with a whisk

Then mix in the sweetners, in this case honey and raw sugar. You want to the sugar to mostly dissolve. But little crunchy bits of sugar are a sweet thing.

Then add about 1/3 of a large egg that has been beaten. We save the other 2/3 of the egg for an egg wash. But if you want add all of the egg at this point. And give a good mix.

Streusel topping ingredients in mixing bowl

Now mix in the dry milk, salt and baking powder.

Streusel topping in a bowl after mixing

Dump in the all purpose flour and use your hands to mix it in. You want it to have a course uneven texture. You now have your crumb topping.

A hand holding a ball of dough with crumb topping over a metal bowl of crumb topping.

When your dough balls are ready roll them into balls and brush with egg or milk. We used egg. And top with crumb mixture.

Note: Instead of egg or milk mix cornstarch with water and brush on to the dough balls. The main purpose of the egg, milk or cornstarch it so that the crumb topping sticks to the dough.

Dough for Korean streusel bread with crumb topping on a sheet pan

Place your dough balls on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and add more crumb mixture and press them kind of flat. The more crumb topping the better.

Start preheating your oven to 350 F and let them rise until they have almost doubled in size.

Korean Streusel Bread fresh out of the oven on a sheet pan

Place them in the oven and cook for twenty minutes. At about the fifteen minute mark turn your sheet pan around 180 degrees. So that they brown evenly. For this batch we forgot to do that and some more brown than others. If you have a convection oven this is not as big of an issue. Also after the fifteen minute mark keep a close eye on them. With all of the sugar in the topping they can go from brown to burn rather quickly.

Korean Streusel Bread on a baking tray.
Finished Korean streusel bread on a baking tray
Print Recipe

Soboro-ppang or Korean streusel bread

Korean streusel bread or Soboro-ppang (소보로빵) is a light fluffy yeast bread with a crumb topping made with peanut butter.
Prep Time3 hrs 30 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Korean
Keyword: Soboro-ppang, streusel bread
Servings: 12 people
Calories: 277kcal
Author: James Strange

Equipment

  • Stand Mixer

Ingredients

Dough

  • 210 grams Bread flour Sifted
  • 72 grams Cake flour Sifted
  • 60 grams Sugar Fine white sugar
  • 5 grams Salt Fine salt
  • 12 grams Dry milk Powdered milk
  • 14 grams Yeast instant dry yeast
  • 140 grams Milk 2% Milk or whole milk
  • 1 Egg Large (60 grams)
  • 24 grams Butter Softened

Topping

  • 60 grams Butter
  • 30 grams Peanut butter Smooth
  • 90 grams Raw sugar
  • 10 grams Honey
  • 20 grams Egg
  • 15 grams Dry Milk
  • 1 gram Salt
  • 2.5 grams Baking powder
  • 150 grams All purpose flour

Instructions

Dough

  • Add all of the dry ingredients (dough only not the topping) to a stand mixer bowl. Then give a quick mix with a whisk.
    Dry ingredients is a glass bowl with whisk
  • Then add the milk and egg. Turn the mixer on low to incorporate everything. If needed use a spatula to scrape down the bowl.
    Dry ingredients is a glass bowl with whisk
  • Slowly increase the speed of the mixer, mix on high for three minutes.
    Dough after mixing in glass bowl of a stand mixer
  • Put some flour of your surface and scrape your dough out of the bowl and form it into a ball. The dough is very sticky but just do the best that you can. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for ten minutes.
    Ball of dough on a cutting board with plastic wrap
  • After the dough has rested put about a teaspoon of flour on your surface and knead for three or four minutes. Then form it into a ball and add to a bowl and cover. Let it rise until doubled in volume.
    Ball of dough in a glass bowl
  • After the dough has doubled in size punch it down and form into eight to twelve individual balls.
    Balls of dough on a cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap
  • Cover the balls and let them rise until close to doubled in size.
    Balls of dough on a cookie sheet after rising

Crumb Topping

  • Add the the peanut butter and butter to a bowl and mix.
    Butter and peanut butter in a metal mixing
  • Add and mix in the honey and raw sugar.
    Metal mixing bowl with, butter, peanut butter, sugar and honey with a whisk
  • Add about 1/3 of a large egg and mix.
    Streusel topping ingredients in mixing bowl
  • Add and mix in mix in the dry milk, salt and baking powder.
    Streusel topping in a bowl after mixing
  • Dump in the all purpose flour and use your hands to mix it in.
    Streusel topping in a bowl after mixing

Make the Soboro-ppang

  • When your dough balls are ready roll them into balls and brush with egg or milk.
    A hand holding a ball of dough with crumb topping over a metal bowl of crumb topping.
  • Top the dough balls with with crumb mixture.
    A hand holding a ball of dough with crumb topping over a metal bowl of crumb topping.
  • Place your dough balls on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and add more crumb mixture and press them kind of flat.
    Dough for Korean streusel bread with crumb topping on a sheet pan
  • Let them rise until they have almost doubled in size.
    Dough for Korean streusel bread with crumb topping on a sheet pan
  • Preheat oven to 350 F
    Dough for Korean streusel bread with crumb topping on a sheet pan
  • Bake for 20 minutes at 350 F. After 15 minutes turn 180 degrees.
    Korean Streusel Bread fresh out of the oven on a sheet pan

Nutrition

Calories: 277kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sodium: 300mg | Potassium: 115mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 244IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 1mg

Vegan dak galbi recipe 🍚

By James Strange Leave a Comment

Dak galbi is a Korean spicy stir fry using chicken and lots of vegetables. This version uses seitan instead of chicken. It also uses some veggies not normally associated with Korean cooking.

Finished dish in a pan
Finished and ready to serve

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Chuncheon Korea is famous for Dak Galbi. They even have a dak galbi street lined with restaurants selling the dish. Chuncheon style uses lots of cabbage and rice cakes. It is a dish normally cooked at the table. When your almost done you can add rice to the pan, mix it with the left over bits and let it get crispy. It's delicious and fun to eat with friends.

As you can tell this version is nothing close to that but it does have lots of healthy veggies and a spicy sauce. But you could definitely add rice and enjoy with your friends.

Sauce in a bowl with potatoes on a table

First up we need a good sauce, the sauce should be made first to give the flavors time to come together. To make the sauce mix together:

Korean pepper paste, gochujang: I like to use the ones with red pepper listed as the first ingredient.

Korean soybean paste, doenjang: Check labels the best ones have only a few ingredients, some have fish or shellfish. When I make it the only ingredients are soybeans, water and salt.

Sweetener of choice: In this recipe we used plum syrup and brown sugar. Plum syrup was also used in the Beyond Meat bibimbap recipe. You should play around to find what you like.

Soy Sauce: You can use tamari if that is what you prefer.

Sesame Oil: It's a must use ingredient but only use a little. A little goes a long way.

Green onion: Used two that were finely chopped.

Garlic: This time we used the prepared kind (lazy day).

White pepper: This is an optional ingredient.

Also shown is potatoes. Traditionally the dish is made with Korean sweet potatoes. But my wife would not let me use the ones that she had. Said they were for something else. For even cooking bring the potatoes to a boil. After ten minutes turn off the heat, cover and let them sit for an hour or so. Drain the water and let them cool. They should be cooked thru but not mushy. When ready to use them peel with a spoon and cut into big chunks.

Chopped vegetables on a plate

For the veggie portion go crazy with what you have or can find. If you have something in the fridge that needs to be used up throw it in the pan. After all variety is the spice of life. To keep your stress level low prep everything before you start cooking.

Mushrooms: We used four big ones cut into chunks.

Onion: Used about 1/4 of a big one.

Zucchini: Used a medium one cut into using the roll cut (oblique cut). This way they look pretty in the dish. To do this cut the zucchini at an angle, roll it a third of the way around and make another cut. Roll again and make another cut. But you can cut them however you like.

Asparagus: Definitely not traditional but they looked great in the market andI love them. So why not? But I do treat the steams and tops as separate vegetables. First remove the hard bottom. Trim the steam into sections then split them. The tips will go into the dish at the very end so separate them from the stalks.

Red bell pepper: Traditionally spicy peppers would find there way into the dish. But we like the sweetness of these and they are pretty.

Sugar snap peas: Healthy and delicious so why not.

Not show in the ingredients is the seitan. For this we were experimenting with washing flour to remove the starch. I am not ready to make a post on that method of making seitan. But I do have a post showing another method. Or you can just buy it already made.

Cooked potatoes in a pan

In a pan on medium heat with a little oil lightly brown your potatoes on three or four sides. This helps to firm up the outsides. You may need to work in batches. The potatoes we had pre cooked took two batches. I only used half of what where pre cooked. The others will be for breakfast.

After browning remove the potatoes and set aside.

Cooked vegetables in a pan

After your potatoes are browned we can start cooking the other veggies. Start with the ones that take longer to cook. In this case zucchini, mushrooms and asparagus stems. Cook for about three minutes.

Do not add any more oil. If the pan starts to get dry just splash a few drops of water or veggie broth.

Cooked vegetables in a pan

Add the rest of your veggies (except the asparagus tops and potatoes) and cook until the onions start to get soft.

Cooked vegetables with sauce in a pan

Then add your seitan, sauce and asparagus tops. To adjust the spiciness of the dish adjust how much of the sauce you add. We only used 2/3 of the sauce. If you really want to make it spicy add some Korean red pepper.

Stir in the sauce. Cook for three or four minutes then add the potatoes. Cook for another two minutes.

The leftover sauce helps to make a quick dish. Saute whatever you want to eat then cover with the sauce and your good to go. Or use it as a veggie dip.

Finished dish in a pan
Finished and ready to serve

Your now ready to serve.

Print Recipe

Vegan dak galbi recipe 🍚

Dak galbi is a Korean spicy stir fry using chicken and lots of vegetables. This version uses seitan instead of chicken.
Prep Time2 hrs
Cook Time30 mins
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Korean
Keyword: korean, seitan, Vegan
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 170kcal
Author: James Strange

Ingredients

Potatoes

  • 3 each Potatoes

Sauce

  • 4 Tablespoons Gochujang
  • 1 Tablespoon Doenjang
  • 1 teaspoon Plum Syrup
  • 1 teaspoon Brown Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Soy Sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
  • 2 each Green Onions
  • 1 Tablespoon Garlic
  • 1/8 teaspoon White Pepper

Vegetables

  • 4 each Mushrooms Cut into large pieces
  • 1/4 each Onion
  • 1 each Zucchini Cut into large pieces
  • 6 each Asparagus Stems and tip separated
  • 1/4 each Red Bell Pepper
  • 1/4 Cup Sugar snap peas

Other

  • 8 oz Seitan
  • 2 Tablespoons Oil

Instructions

Pre cook the potatoes

  • Add your potatoes to a pot and cover with water. Bring to a slow boil for 10 minutes.
  • Cover and turn off the heat, let sit for an hour or so.
  • Drain and let the potatoes dry.
  • When ready to cook the dish peel the potatoes and cut into chunks.

Make the sauce

  • Mix together 4 Tablespoons gochujang, 1 Tablespoon doenjang, 1 teaspoon plum syrup, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, 3 chopped green onions and 1/8 teaspoon white pepper.
  • Mix everything and set aside.

Cook

  • To a pan on medium to medium high heat add 1 Tablespoon of oil and brown the first batch of potatoes, remove and set aside.
  • Add half a Tablespoon of oil and cook the next batch of potatoes and set them aside.
  • After cooking the potatoes add 1/2 teaspoon of oil to your pan and cook the zucchini, mushrooms and asparagus stems for 3 minutes. Do not add any more oil. If the pan starts to get dry just splash a few drops of water or veggie broth.
  • Add the rest of your veggies (except the asparagus tops and potatoes) and cook until the onions start to get soft.
  • Add your seitan, sauce and asparagus tops. Stir in the sauce. Cook for three or four minutes
  • Add the potatoes cook for another two minutes.
  • Serve

Nutrition

Calories: 170kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 502mg | Potassium: 80mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 98IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg

Beyond Meat bibimbap recipe 🥢

By James Strange 2 Comments

Bibimbap is a great way to use up leftover banchan (Korean side dishes). Or a quick meal after making a bunch of banchan for the week.

In this version we will use some of the seasoned spinach banchan (Sigeumchi-namul) that was in my last recipe. As well as some that we will make for the dish. Gosari 고사리 is also really good in bibimbap.

No veggie dish is mandatory it's really up to you what to put. The combinations are endless. Have fun and experiment.

Bibimbap (vegetables, rice and beyond beef) in a bowl
Beyond beef bibimbap ready to serve

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Package of beyond burgers and green onions on a table

To keep our Bibimbap gout friendly and vegan we will Beyond Meat Burger patties instead of meat. When I bought the these we were going to make burgers. But after making the spinach bibimbap sounded good. They do have a ground "beef" product and tha should also work.

The Beyond Beef was also used in my vegan stroganoff recipe and my Beyond meat tacos recipe.

Ingredients on a table

Some of the ingredients that you will need.

Soy Sauce: This is a Korean brand that I like.

Garlic: For convenience pre chopped garlic can be a big time saver. Fresh is better but yes this is real life.

Plum Syrup: It add sweetness along with a great depth of flavor.

Roasted Sesame Seeds.

Ingredients on a table

Raw Sugar I like the flavor that it adds.

Red Pepper Paste or gochujang

Roasted Sesame Oil

Apple Sauce: Bulgogi marinade usually has some kind of ground up fruit. Usually apple or pear. For convenience applesauce works great.

Bowl of mixed up sauce

For the Bibimbap Sauce mix red pepper paste, soy sauce, sesame seeds, sesame oil, raw sugar, plum syrup and garlic. Then set aside for at least one hour. It's really better the next day.

Bulgogi sauce in a bowl

For the bulgogi sauce mix applesauce, soy sauce, raw sugar, sesame oil, garlic and green onions.

Cooked bean sprouts in a bowl

The soybean sprout banchan is not a fully tested recipe. But I will tell you what I did with close amounts for the ingredients.

First boil the bean sprouts for three to five minutes until they just start to soften and they lose the raw taste. Remove from the boiling water and drain. Place them into a large bowl and while they are still hot season with red pepper flakes, green onion (finely chopped), garlic, sesame oil and salt.

Ingredients on a table

This was my first time using prepared lotus root. My wife did some searching on Korean cooking blogs to find out how to use it. When using fresh lotus root its best to blanch it in boiling water with some vinegar. When using the prepared root this step is not necessary.

Bowl of lotus root soaking in water

But when using the prepared root rinse it off and give it a one hour soak in cool water. Drain and add to boiling water for five minutes. Pour off most of the water leaving about two cups of water. To the water add soy sauce and raw sugar. Give it a stir and cook until the liquid is almost gone then add the plum syrup and turn off the heat. Give it a good toss set aside and let it cool.

Cooked julienned carrots in a pan

The carrot part of the recipe is easy except for the julienne cutting part. Julienne cut two carrots add to a pan with one teaspoon of oil (I use extra virgin olive oil). Cook until they start to get soft and have a little color. Season with a pinch of salt and remove from the heat.

Cooked beyond beed in a pan

To Make the Beyond Meat Bulgogi on medium high heat cook the Beyond Meat patties until they have some color on both sides. Chop them up and cook a little more. Then add the bulgogi sauce and turn the heat up to high. While occasionally stirring cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Reduce the heat to medium and brown the "meat". Remove from the heat and set aside.

Time to assemble to a bowl add your cooked rice and arrange your choice of vegetables. I did add some vegan kimchi. But not the one in my vegan kimchi recipe (its gone). This one I bought at WalMart it's made in Korea and actually not to bad. Then add some of the Beyond Meat Bulgogi.

Bibimbap (vegetables, rice and beyond beef) in a bowl
Beyond beef bibimbap ready to serve

After that add as much sauce as you would like. Just keep in mind it's kind of spicy.

Please comment below what is your must have veggie in your bibimbap.

If you like this recipe then please pin it on Pinterest. That really helps me get more exposure.

Bibimbap (vegetables, rice and beyond beef) in a bowl
Print Recipe

Beyond Meat Bibimbap 🥢

Vegan / gout friendly bibimbap made with beyond beef.
Prep Time2 hrs
Cook Time45 mins
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Korean
Keyword: bibimbap, korean food, Vegan
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 421kcal
Author: James Strange

Ingredients

"Meat"

  • 2 patties Beyond Meat

Bibimbap Sauce

  • 1/4 Cup Red Pepper Paste
  • 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds
  • 2 teaspoons Sesame Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Raw Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Plum Syrup
  • 1 teaspoon garlic

Bulgogi Sauce

  • 2 oz Apple Sauce Unsweetened
  • 3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons Raw Sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil Roasted
  • 1 Tablespoon Garlic
  • 2 each Green Onions chopped

Bean Sprouts

  • 12 oz Soy Bean Sprouts
  • 1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes Korean
  • 1 Tablespoon Green Onion chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon Garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt

Lotus Root

  • 12 oz Lotus Root
  • 1/4 Cup Plum Syrup
  • 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons Raw Sugar

Carrots

  • 2 each Carrots julienne cut
  • 1 teaspoon Oil
  • 1 pinch Salt

Rice

  • 1 Cup Rice cooked

Instructions

Bulgogi Sauce

  • Mix together 2 ounces applesauce, 3 Tablespoons soy sauce, 2 Tablespoons raw sugar, 1 Tablespoon sesame oil, 1 Tablespoon garlic and 2 chopped green onions.

Bibimbap Sauce

  • mix 1/4 Cup red pepper paste, 2 Tablespoons soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, 1 Tablespoon raw sugar, 1 teaspoon plum syrup and 1 teaspoon garlic. Then set aside for at least one hour. It's really better the next day.

Bean Sprouts

  • In a large pot of boiling water blanch soybean sprouts for 3 to 5 minutes.
  • Remove from boiling water and drain.
  • Season with 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1 Tablespoon green onion (finely chopped), 1/2 teaspoon garlic, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Carrots

  • Julienne cut two carrots
  • Add carrots to a hot pan with one teaspoon of oil. Cook until they start to get soft and have a little color. Season with a pinch of salt and remove from the heat.

Lotus Root

  • Open a 12 ounce package of lotus root. Rise then soak in cold water for 1 hour.
  • Drain and add to boiling water for five minutes.
  • Pour off most of the water leaving about two cups of water. To the water add 2 Tablespoons soy sauce and 2 Tablespoons raw sugar. Give it a stir and cook until the liquid is almost gone.
  • Add 1/4 cup plum syrup and turn off the heat. Give it a good toss set aside and let it cool.

Beyond Meat Bulgogi

  • Brown 2 Beyond Meat patties, give a rough chop then cook for an additional 2 minutes.
  • Add the bulgogi sauce and turn the heat up to high.
  • While occasionally stirring cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Reduce the heat to medium and brown the "meat".
  • Remove from the heat and set aside.

Assemble

  • Add cooked rice to a bowl.
  • Add veggies of choice, Beyond Meat Bulgogi and as much sauce as you would like.

Nutrition

Calories: 421kcal | Carbohydrates: 68g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1451mg | Potassium: 535mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 199IU | Vitamin C: 35mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 2mg

Korean spinach side dish 🥢

By James Strange 1 Comment

This simple Korean side dish (Sigeumchi-namul) made with fresh in spinach and seasoned with Korean fermented bean paste (Doenjang) is great with spicy foods or in kimbap.

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Banchan simply refers to Korean side dishes. Today's recipe for Spinach is a namul. Namul is still a banchan but is made from grass or leaves. Traditionally namul would have been made from what was freshly cut in the garden or found when foraging in the mountains. Mature spinach works great for this method of cooking.

Baby spinach is just that, it is very young spinach. It's great in salads but loses a lot of its flavor and texture when blanched. Mature spinach in early spring and late fall is the best spinach to use. Spinach grown in the heat of summer will work but tends to be a little bitter.

You do not have to stick with just spinach other leafy greens also work. Feel free to experiment.

We will season or dish with the following.

Toasted sesame oil. Keep in mind that a little goes a long way.

Korean bean paste or Doenjang. This will give the dish a nice deep somewhat salty flavor. This one has a very short ingredient list and no seafood. If your like me and suffer from gout read the labels. Some have shellfish.

Green onions. They should be very finely chopped.

Garlic. Fresh is best but I also use the stuff out of the jar. Either way it should also be very finelychopped.

Sesame seeds. The toased kind.

Salt.

Before cooking give your spinach a good wash (this is the hardest part). Spinach is usually grown in sandy soil and we do not want to serve gritty spinach. Cut off any roots and remove any ugly leafs. Next give the spinach a good rinse under cool running water. Fill a large bowl with cool water, add the spinach and gently stir it around to help remove and sand or dirt. The sand should sink to the bottom of the bowl.

Let the spinach soak for a few minutes then gently remove it from the bowl and place into a colander. If you see sand or dirt in the bottom of the bowl repeat until all of the sand is removed. If you do not see sand Give it one more rinse under running water just to make sure all of the sand is gone.

After washing the spinach it is time blanch the spinach. Bring a large pot of water up to a rapid boil. While the water is heating up prepare a large bowl of ice water and have it within arms reach of the stove.

Dump the spinach into the boiling water and immediately start stirring. This brings all of the spinach into contact with hot water for even cooking. As the spinach starts to cook it will quickly reduce in size. All that you really want to do is soften the spinach. This should take about thirty seconds.

Immediately remove the spinach and place it into the ice water. Let it cool completely.

After the spinach has had a chance to cool (it does cool quickly) remove it from the bowl and place into a colander. After most of the water has drained off pick up a small amount of spinach and give it a good squeeze. You want to remove most of the excess moisture. When most of the moisture has been removed you will have a small ball of spinach. You can place this into a bowl.

Keep repeating until you have squeezed out the excess moisture from all of the spinach. You should now have a few balls of spinach in your bowl.

Now that your ready to season your spinach break apart the small balls and spread out the spinach. Add your seasoning mix. To prepare your seasoning mixture add the sesame oil, fermented bean paste, green onion and garlic give it a good mix and add to the spinach.

The poor spinach has been wash, boiled, dumped into ice water then had the crap squeezed out of it. It is now time to treat the poor spinach to a massage. Gently massage in the seasoning mix ensuring that it is evenly distributed. I highly recommend wearing gloves for this unless you like your hands to smell like garlic.

Now it's time to salt your namul sprinkel on a little salt, mix and taste. Continue to do this until you are happy with the taste of the dish. How much salt to add will depend upon your taste buds and the brand of Doenjang that you use.

When your happy with it add some sesame seeds your namul is now ready to serve.

This is what the dish looked like when I was finished. The namul will keep for a few days in the fridge. But at my house it never last that long.

If your on Pinterest please share this pin.

Print Recipe

Korean Spinach Side Dish 🥬

Simple Korean side dish made with fresh spinach and seasoned with Korean bean paste (Doenjang)
Prep Time1 hr
Cook Time15 mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Korean
Keyword: banchan, korean, spinach
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 24kcal
Author: James Strange

Ingredients

  • 2 bunches spinach
  • 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon Korean bean paste Doenjang
  • 2 Tablespoons Green onions
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon Sesame seeds
  • 1 pinch salt

Instructions

Seasoning mix

  • To a small bowl add the sesame oil, doenjang, green onion, garlic, give this a good mix and set aside.

Blanch the spinach

  • Wash the spinach
  • Bring a pot of water to boil and prepare a bowl of ice water.
  • Dump the spinach into the boiling water and immediately start stirring. Cook for 30 seconds.
  • Immediately remove the spinach and place it into the ice water. Let cool completely

Prepare the namul

  • Working in small batches squeeze the water out of the spinach.
  • Break apart the spinach, add the seasoning mixture and massage in.
  • Taste the dish and adjust with salt.
  • Season with sesame seeds.

Nutrition

Calories: 24kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 88mg | Potassium: 474mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 7985IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 86mg | Iron: 2mg

Vegan kimchi recipe

By James Strange 1 Comment

I have been eating kimchi for a long time. But usually we buy it. The problem is most kimchi in the Korean markets has seafood including shellfish. As someone who suffers from gout shellfish is off the menu.

Kimchi ingredients in a bowl

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Why do we normally buy kimchi? It is a lot of time consuming work. But making your own is cheaper, last longer and you can season it how you like it.

Todays recipe is a veganised version of Maangchi's napa cabbage recipe. She uses salted shrimp in her kimchi but I will use my Vegan Fish Sauce.

BTW: Walmart now sales a Vegan kimchi from Korea that is not to bad. But it is expensive.

Kimchi ingredients on a table

The main vegetable ingredients are cabbage, carrot, green onion, Korean radish (Mu), garlic and ginger.

A knife cutting a head of cabbage

Cabbage is best in late fall so we will only make a small batch today. Later when cabbage is at its prime we will make a large batch.

To open the cabbage make about a two inch cut into it. Then pull the cabbage apart.

A head of cabbage that has been split into two pieces

As you can see I need more practice. If you want whole cabbage this is when you would salt the cabbage. But to make it easy I cut mine up into two inch pieces.

Cabbage cut into small pieces in a bowl

One five and a half pound cabbage filled this bowl up. Remember how this looks.

A bowl of salt sitting beside A bowl of cabbage cut into small pieces

To preserve the cabbage we need to salt it. Salting the cabbage will pull out moisture and help the good bacteria grow faster than the bad bacteria. You can use any grade of salt but it needs to be free from iodine. Iodine is a disinfectant and we want bacteria to grow.

To salt the cabbage sprinkle some on then mix. Sprinkle on some more and mix again. Then add what is left of the salt and mix. The cabbage needs to salt for two hours. Mix the cabbage every twenty to thirty minutes.

While the cabbage is salting we can get our seasoning mix made up.

Recipe ingredients on a table

You can see my Vegan fish sauce, sweet rice flour and Korean red pepper flakes. For red pepper flakes I always look for the ones from Korea. Even in the Korean market most are imported from China.

A pot of sweet rice porridge

First thing you need to do is make sweet rice porridge. This will give the bacteria some carbs to get the fermentation started. To a pan add water and sweet rice flour. Mix then heat to a boil while stirring. When it comes to a boil and you feel it start to thicken add some raw sugar. Take off the heat and let it cool down.

Dropwort on a plate

This is dropwort or minari. My wife loves this in kimchi. It's usually only available is the cooler months.

Kimchi ingredients in a bowl

There is a lot of chopping involved to make kimchi. Here we have chopped onion, green onion, carrot, dropwort, garlic, ginger and the Korean red pepper. To that we add the sweet rice porridge.

Pouring soy sauce into the kimchi ingredients

Add we add our Vegan fish sauce.

Kimchi stuffing all mixed up

Mix it all together. I like to let these ingredients mingle for a little bit before using but it not a requirement.

Cut up cabbage after salting and washing

After two hours rinse the cabbage to remove excess salt. Then drain the water off. Notice how much it has the volume has reduced.

Washed cabbage and stuffing mix in a bowl

Put on rubber or plastic gloves. Add the seasoning mix and mix everything up.

Finished kimchi in a container
Kimchi ready to ferment

Put into your container and mash out any air pockets. It is now ready to ferment. How much it should ferment before you put it into the refrigerator depends upon how quickly you want it to get sour.

At a minimum let it sit out overnight the first night. But you should let it sit out until it starts to have a slight fermentation smell. At 70F that should be twenty four to forty eight hours.

Closeup of kimchi this is a pin for pinterest
Print Recipe

Vegan Kimchi Recipe 🥢

How to make vegan kimchi
Prep Time1 d 3 hrs
Cook Time20 mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Korean
Keyword: kimchi, Vegan
Servings: 25 people
Calories: 20.44kcal
Author: James Strange

Ingredients

Cabbage

  • 1 head Napa Cabbage 5 to 6 pounds
  • 72 grams salt no iodine

Sweet rice porridge

  • 2 cups water
  • 2 Tablespoons Sweet Rice Flour
  • 2 Tablespoons Raw Sugar

Seasoning

  • 2 each carrots Shredded
  • 2 cups radish Korean Radish Mu
  • 1 cup dropwort Chopped
  • 10 each green onion chopped
  • 1/2 cup garlic chopped
  • 1/4 cup ginger chopped
  • 2 cup gochugaru
  • 2/3 cup Vegan Fish Sauce

Instructions

Salt the cabbage

  • Chop the cabbage into 1.5 to 2 inch pieces.
  • Add 1/3 of salt and mix.
  • Add 1/3 of salt and mix.
  • Add the remainder of salt and mix.
  • The cabbage needs to salt for two hours. Mix the cabbage every twenty to thirty minutes.
  • Rise the cabbage in clean water and drain.

Make the sweet rice porridge

  • To a pan add two cups of water and two tablespoons of sweet rice flour. Mix well.
  • Turn on the burner and while stirring bring to a boil.
  • After it comes to a boil and starts to thicken turn off the heat and add two Tablespoons raw sugar.

Make the seasoning

  • To a large bowl add the chopped onion, green onion, carrot, dropwort, garlic, ginger and the Korean red pepper.
  • Then add the cooled sweet rice porridge and vegan fish sauce.
  • Mix well.

Make the kimchi.

  • In a large bowl add the drained cabbage and seasoning.
  • Put on gloves to protect your skin from the peppers.
  • Mix well to ensure the seasoning mix coats the cabbage.
  • Put your kimchi in the storage container and press down to remove air.
  • Let sit at room temperature until the kimchi starts to ferment. Twelve to forty eight hours.
  • Your kimchi is now ready to enjoy.

Notes

The sodium value is off due to the software using regular fish sauce. Soon I can import data from another recipe. At that time I will update. 

Nutrition

Calories: 20.44kcal | Carbohydrates: 4.25g | Protein: 1.04g | Fat: 0.11g | Saturated Fat: 0.03g | Sodium: 1610.67mg | Potassium: 140.01mg | Fiber: 0.68g | Sugar: 1.92g | Vitamin A: 134.2IU | Vitamin C: 12.07mg | Calcium: 38.91mg | Iron: 0.25mg

Gout friendly / vegan yeolmu mulkimchi 열무 물김치🥬

By James Strange Leave a Comment

Yeolmu mul kimchi is a refreshing summertime dish. It's not a spicy dish but goes great with spicy foods. To keep it gout friendly and vegan this version is made without fish sauce.

Finished young radish kimchi in a bowl
Finished kimchi ready to serve

JamesStrange.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. In simple terms, this means that if you click and buy something, we are paid a fee. This fee is used to help recover some of the costs of running the site.

It is a fermented food so yes it is good for supporting healthy bacteria in your gut.

Young radishes on a table

Yeolmu is Korean for young radishes. During the summer the radishes are harvested while young mostly for the leaves. The large radishes are best during the fall.

For today's recipe we need two bunches of yeolmu. These have nice green leaves and are perfect for this recipe.

First thing we have to do is clean the yeolmu. Rinse them off in cool water. then use a knife to scrape the dirt off of the root. and where the root meets the stalk. Cut off the very small part at the root tip. Then wash them again.

One clean radish and one dirty radish

In the picture above you can see one that has been cleaned and one that has not.

Radishes that have been cleaned, chopped and salted

After cleaning the yeolmu cut it into two in pisces. Place into a bowl and add 1/2 Cup of coarse sea salt, toss and let it sit for twenty minutes. After twenty minutes toss again. After another twenty minutes one more time. You can substitute other coarse salt if you need to Kosher salt works great. But the salt must be free of iodine.

By tossing three time we ensure that moisture is pulled out of the yeolmu. This also ensures the surface is ready for the bacteria that we want to grow. The bad bacteria does not like a salty environment.

Most of this salt will be washed away but the sodium info in the recipe card will show all of it being in.

Some of the other important ingredients we need.

Asian pear, I used a Korean pear but any firm sweet fruit works. Including apple.

Sweet rice flour, it is food for the bacteria. If you can not get sweet rice flour. You can peel and cut up a small potato cover with water and boil until very tender. Then blend the potato with a small amount of the water you cooked it in. This will be your paste.

Onion.

Peppers, I wanted a mix of green and red but when I was at the market the red ones did not look good. So I used green Korean peppers. But you can use what you can find but keep in mind that this is not a spicy dish.

Ginger, ginger helps to keep the dish refreshing

Garlic, it's a Korean dish so of course it has garlic.

Gochugaru / Korean red pepper flakes, I really do recommend sticking with the Korean brands. Spice level it up to you but normally we buy medium. I do have one bag of spicy just for making Tongbaechu-kimchi.

Fish sauce (not pictured), normally this dish has fish sauce and sometimes anchovy broth. But to keep it gout friendly we will use my Vegan Fish Sauce.

Sugar (not pictured), sugar will help kick start the fermentation. It's easy food for the bacteria.

Water (not pictured), For the fermentation process you need clean water without chlorine. Chlorine kills bacteria even the good bacteria.

Optional: Other greens you can add other greens like young napa cabbage or pretty much any mild tasting green you like. Just salt them like you do the yeolmu and proportionally increase your other ingredients.

While the yeolmu is "pickling" we need to make out paste and let it cool down. The paste helps to give the water some body and provides carbohydrates for the bacteria. It is really simple to make. To a pot add one cup of water and one Tablespoon of sweet rice flour. Give it a good mix and heat until it starts to bubble. While heating keep slowly mixing.

After it starts to bubble sit it aside and let it cool.

While the paste is cooling down and the yeolmu is "pickling" we can prep our other veggies. Slice up the onion, pear, pepper and dice the ginger and garlic. Note: the picture was taken before I diced the garlic and ginger.

After our paste has cooled down add 1/4 teaspoon of sugar. One teaspoon of Gochugaru and two Tablespoons of Vegan Fish Sauce. Give this a mix and it is ready to use.

After one hour and tossing three times our yeolmu is pickled or salted. Its ready for the salt to be rinsed off. Notice how much it has shrunk in volume.

To wash off the salt fill your bowl with cool water and gently stir the yeolmu. Pour off the water and rinse again. Then let it drain. During the process be gentle.

After the yeolmu has been rinsed and drained add your paste and the cut up veggies. Notice that the ginger and garlic have been diced up.

Give everything a good but gentle mix.

Finished kimchi in a jar
Finished and ready to ferment

Then add it to a clean (sterilized if possible) jar and cover with bottled water. Now your ready to fremont.

My preference is lightly fermented. For this leave the yeolmu out with the lid off for twelve hours (at room tempature of 70 degrees F). Then into the fridge for three days. It's now ready to eat but will continue to ferment.

My Wife prefers a little more fermentation time. To achieve this leave the yeolmu out with the lid off for thirty six hours (at room tempature of 70 degrees F). Then into the fridge for three to five days. It's now ready to eat but will continue to ferment.

Notes: When taking some of the yeolmu out of the jar always use clean utensils. You do not want to introduce bad bacteria to the batch. Also if you take some out of the jar for you meal and have some left over do not add it back to the jar. Leave it in a separate container and use it first.

Young Radish kimchi in a bowl, this is a pin for pinterest
Print Recipe

Vegan Yeolmu mulkimchi

Yeolmu mul kimchi (young summer radish water kimchi) is a refreshing summertime dish. To keep it gout friendly and vegan this version is made without fish sauce.
Prep Time1 hr 30 mins
Cook Time30 mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Korean
Keyword: kimchi
Servings: 10
Calories: 10kcal
Author: James Strange

Ingredients

  • 2 bunches Young Radishes
  • 1/2 cup Sea Salt No Iodine

Paste

  • 1 Cup Water
  • 1 Tablespoon Sweet Rice Flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Gochugaru
  • 2 Tablespoons Vegan Fish Sauce

Other Vegetables

  • 1/2 Half Asian Pear
  • 1/2 Half Medium Onion
  • 2 Tablespoon Ginger
  • 2 Tablespoon Garlic
  • 6 Cups Water

Instructions

Pickle the Yeolmu

  • Wash the yeolmu in cool water.
  • Use a knife to scrape the dirt off of the root and cut off the tip.
  • Wash again.
  • Cut the yeolmu into two inch pieces.
  • Put the prepared yeolmu into a large bowl.
  • Add 1/2 cut sea salt and toss.
  • Let sit for one hour. Turn every twenty minutes. (total of three times)

Make the Paste

  • To a small pot add one cup of water and one Tablespoon of sweet rice flour. Stir to combine.
  • Place pot on a burner at medium heat. Keep slowly stirring until the mixture starts to bubble.
  • Remove from the burner and let cool.
  • After the paste has cooled add 1/4 teaspoon sugar, one teaspoon Gochugaru and two Tablespoons of vegan fish sauce. Stir and set aside.

Prepare other vegetables.

  • Slice up the onion, pear, pepper and dice the ginger and garlic.

Combine everything

  • Wash the salt off the yeolmu by filling the bowl with cool water and gently stirring the yeolmu. Pour off the water and rinse again. Then let it drain
  • To the bowl with the rinsed and drained yeolmu add your paste and the cut up veggies.
  • Mix everything.
  • Add to a clean glass jar.

Fermenting

  • Leave the jar of yeolmu out with the lid off for twelve hours (at room tempature of 70 degrees F). Then into the fridge for three days. It's now ready to eat but will continue to ferment.

Nutrition

Calories: 10kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 5958mg | Potassium: 50mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 59IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg

Korean spicy cucumber salad oi-muchim 🥒

By James Strange Leave a Comment

Oi-muchim or spicy Korean cucumber salad is one of the quickest and tastiest banchan (Korean side dishes) that you can make. Some people even call this cucumber kimchi (I used to) but technically it is not kimchi. But since it is quickly prepared and can be eaten fresh it's not kimchi.

This version is vegan and gout friendly.

Cucumber kimchi in a bowl
Kimchi ready to eat fresh or ferment.

JamesStrange.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. In simple terms, this means that if you click and buy something, we are paid a fee. This fee is used to help recover some of the costs of running the site.

Three different types of cucumbers

Any cucumber with a thin skin will work for oi-muchim here we have an English, Japanese and a Korean cucumber. Each one has an advantage.

The English cucumber can be found in almost any grocery store in the US year round. The thinner ones are better, they have fewer seeds and less water.

I think the Japanese ones taste the best but they are hard to find. When I had a garden these are similar to the ones that I grew.

The Korean ones are traditional and have a good shelf life. They can be found in Korean markets. The one in the picture is a little on the thick side so it will have more seeds than I like.

Three different types of cucumbers that have been cut. This show to difference of how they look inside

This is a view after I cut off the ends. As you can see the English and Korean cucumbers have more seeds than the Japanese ones. Cucumbers with fewer seeds are crunchier.

Fresh chives on a cutting board

This is Korean chives before being prepped. You can see some black spots and dirty roots. If you can find these they make the best muchim but if not just use green onions. The Chinese chives are very tough, I do not recommend using them.

Chives that have been cleaned and trimmed

This is the chives after removing all the damaged areas, washing and trimming off the end of the roots.

Chives that have been chopped and are ready for use

Using a sharp knife finely chop them up. For this the sharper the knife the easier it is.

A bowl with the kimchi seasoning mix

For our seasoning mix I used 1/4 cup of the chives, one teaspoon of Korean red pepper flakes (Gochugaru), one clove of garlic finely minced, 1/4 teaspoon sugar and one Tablespoon of vegan fish sauce. But you can use 1/2 soy sauce and 1/2 fish sauce. Or to keep it vegan and gout friendly soy sauce with some extra salt. Mix to combine and sit aside.

Sliced cucumber with salt in a bowl

After slicing up the cucumbers they need to be salted. This is two of the Japanese cucumbers. Since they are small it takes two of them to equal one English or the big Korean ones. To salt them add 1/4 Cup of course sea salt. Toss them to coat. Toss every ten minutes for a total time of thirty minutes.

After thirty minutes rinse them to remove the salt. Taste one, it should be bland. If its salty soak your slices in water for five minutes to pull out more of the salt.

Cucumber kimchi in a bowl
Kimchi ready to eat fresh or ferment.

After removing the slices from water add the seasoning mix and coat the cucumbers. After one hour your Oi-muchim will be ready to eat. It is best eaten within a few days.

Another version of cucumber kimchi in a bowl

This version was made using one Korean cucumber and the same recipe for the seasoning mix. Due to the size the cucumbers were cut in half. This keeps the slices bite size.

Finished cucumber kimchi in a bowl. This is a pin for Pinterest

The sodium count in the recipe will be off. Most of the salt used on the cucumbers gets washed off but still goes for the sodium count.

Finished cucumber kimchi in a bowl
Print Recipe

Korean Spicy Cucumber Salad oi-muchim 🥒

A very simple vegan recipe for a Korean side dish or banchan.
Prep Time1 hr 30 mins
Cook Time1 hr 15 mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Korean
Keyword: kimchi, korean food, oi-muchim, Vegan
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 3kcal
Author: James Strange

Ingredients

  • 1 each English Cucumber Any thin skinned cucumber
  • 1/4 Cup Sea Salt

Seasoning Mix

  • 1/4 Cup Chives Korean, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Korean red pepper flakes Gochugaru
  • 1 clove Garlic Finely minced
  • 1/4