Cookbooks
When it comes to understanding Korean cooking, Maangchi is really tops. Her recipes are cogent and adaptable, and her videos are fun to watch. With two cookbooks, Maangchi’s Real Korean Cooking and Maangchi’s Big Book of Korean Cooking available on Amazon, and her website, the possibilities of exploring Korean cuisine are endless.
Kitchen Appliances
To have the Korean barbeque experience at home, we rely on an electric Chefman grill from Amazon, which is completely smokeless, and easy to clean. The temperature controls are sufficient for cooking most meats to perfection. Just fill the drip tray with water, and you’re ready to get cooking!
Doubling down on the at-the-table dining, we use a NuWave induction burner from Amazon with cast iron cookware. It emulates Korean dining and allows for fine temperature adjustment, in a fast amount of time. We use a large cast-iron wok to cook stews and dishes like dak galbi on it.
We don’t own a kimchi fridge or kimchi containers, instead we rely on a Mortier Pilon kimchi jar, now available on Amazon, which holds about ½ a head of 3lbs napa cabbage. The water seal is nice, and the kimchi is ready in about two days at room temperature.
Somehow our waygook hands have an issue rolling quality gimbap. Instead, we take a cheat code and use the Sushedo, available on Amazon. Put a generous amount of rice on either side, then Korean fillings, extrude the roll onto gim (seaweed paper), and roll with a sushi mat for a near-perfect emulation of gimbap.
Ingredients
- Gochugaru
Red pepper flakes vary in scovilles from brand to brand, but botongmat is usually milder, and maeunmat is usually spicier. We’ve tried many over the years, with no clear winner for our palettes. I’m sure Koreans have their tried-and-true go-tos, but we settle for spicier, coarse, and pricey at H-mart.
- Gochujang
Finding certified gluten-free ingredients can be a bit of a problem in another language. Using our inferior Korean skills, we’ve ascertained that the OFoods brand of gochujang does not contain wheat or gluten, but I wouldn’t say it’s 100% celiac friendly for sure. OFoods gochujang can be bought on Amazon.
- Soy sauce
Soy sauces contain wheat as the second or third ingredient. Tamaris are generally gluten-free, always check the label. The San-J brand is certified GF, and comes in an organic variant on Amazon.
- Sea salt
Kimchi sea salt needs to be coarse, and with the bittern (gangsu) removed. On the back, it will be labeled jang sogeum or jeolimyong, for salting vegetables.
- Duenjang
Duenjang is the base for several stews, soups and sauces, and is essentially just fermented soybean paste and salt. It comes from the process of making soy sauce, it’s the mash that’s left over. If you can find it without wheat added, then it should be sort of gluten-free.
- Sesame Oil
Toasted, sesame oil, not just sesame oil, is the preferred ingredient preparation in Korean cooking. The ingredients should read “sesame seeds”, not “sesame powder,” which is just a weak version.
- Rice vinegar
Rice vinegar is milder and less acidic than white vinegar. It imparts flavor and helps with preservation. Rice vinegar is available in both white and brown varieties.
- Rice syrup
Rice syrup, made with rice and barley malt powder, gives dishes a touch of sweetness and glaze. Like many Korean condiments, it can be made at home, with just those two ingredients and water.
- Gaba rice
Of the fancy rices, the Gaba brown rice is extremely hearty and has a nice mouth feel. It touts itself as being high in fiber and low in glycemic index, and is available at Korean grocers like H-Mart, and Amazon.
- Dangmyeon (Potato noodles)
Sweet potato starch or acorn starch noodles are preferred for japchae and other dishes, and are sometimes called glass noodles. They’re naturally gluten-free.
- Gim
Dried seaweed sheets used for rolling gimbap or as a snack are called “gim,” or “nori” in Japanese. It can be toasted, with oil and salt.
Trader Joe’s
Korean food is really hitting its stride at Trader Joe’s, with new offerings popping up every few weeks. Look for:
- Tteokbokki (frozen)
- Rice cakes (frozen)
- Korean Pancake (frozen)
- Vegan Bulgogi (frozen)
- Bulgogi Rice (frozen)
- Bulgogi (frozen)
- Bul-kogi (meat section)
- Korean Short ribs (frozen)
- Kimbap (frozen)
- Jumeokbap (frozen)
- Japchae (frozen)
- Kimchi (fresh)
- Gochujang sauce (staples)
- Gochujang (staples)
- Yangnyeom sauce (staples)
