“Ssam” in Korean means something wrapped. What David Chang serves at his Ssam-Bar is a variation on something called “Bo-ssam”, which is steamed pork belly with radish kimchi, bossam kimchi, or cabbage leaves. There are many restaurants in Korea specializing in Ssam, and the fare usually includes rice (sometimes seasoned and shaped nicely), various kinds of wrapping leafy-things, and many condiments and toppings.

When Koreans eat grilled meat, meat is not the main actor. We put small pieces of meat in the middle of red leaf lettuce or sesame leaves and top it with many kinds of sauces and other vegetables.

I cooked “ssam-bap” with tofu and grilled beef Bulgogi (marinated ribeye) for New Year’s Eve, and my friends all loved it. So here is a list of simple recipes and ingredients.

1) To Grill

Bulgogi - I got Ribeye steak and sliced it myself. You can purchase really thin slices for “Bulgogi” at Korean markets. Or you can freeze the meat 20 minutes and then slice as thin as possible. Season with salt and pepper.

Easy way: Marinade 1lb beef with 3TB soy sauce, 2TB sugar, 0.5TB sesame oil, minced garlic 1TB, chopped green onion, little bit of black pepper, and 1ts rice wine (Not mirin, but cooking rice wine or sherry or sake). Some recipes will call for more sugar, or some mirin, some chopped green onion. But this is the basic and you can adjust with what you like. (more sesame oil, more sugar, molasses, brown sugar, honey, etc. I don’t put any vinegar in my beef marinade, though.)

Fancy way: Marinade 1lb of beef with 2TB Asian Pear juice, 1 TB sugar for 10 min.

Then add to this marinade for 30 min: 1 TB cooking rice wine (or sake), 1 Tb Sesame oil, 3TB soy sauce, 1 ts sugar, 1TB chopped green onion, 2 clove chopped garlic, 1 TB honey. (Taste this and adjust seasoning. You don’t have to use all of the marinade. Originally it’s for about 600g of beef, and a pound is 450g)

For pear juice, grating Asian pear would be the best option. If not available, you can use canned juice (shown in the picture gallery) instead.

Also you can just grill small slices of your favorite steak cut with some salt and pepper.

Tofu - this is not a typical item to grill for ssam, but my vegetarian friends liked it very much. Prepare firm organic tofu. Salt and let it sit for 20 minutes. Wipe off excess water with kitchen towel. Fry in oil until golden brown and crispy.

Pork belly (”Samgyeop-sal) - you can find thinly sliced pork belly in Korean grocery stores. You just grill the sliced pieces until they are golden crisp.

Mushrooms - enoki and shiitake are very good. The “Sae-Songi” mushrooms at Korean grocery stores are really good, too. They are long and fat white mushrooms.

Green onions (2 inch long)  and onions (sliced as rings)

2) Wrapping vegetable

Red leaf lettuce, sesame leaves (you can find them at big Korean grocery shops such as H-Mart.), mustard greens, steamed cabbage leaves, etc. (Romaine lettuce doesn’t work so well, though.)

3) Sauces - you can prepare as many or little as you want!

a) Ssam-jang: 3 TB gochujang (Korean chili paste. Get Soonchang brand or Haechandel), 1 Tb doenjang (Korean fermented bean paste), 1 TB chopped garlic, 1 TB sesame oil, 1 TB sugar, 0.5 Tb corn syrup, 2 Tb chopped green onion (optional: 1 Tb toasted sesame seeds)

b) Sesame-Salt oil: 1 part pepper, 3 part salt, and 2 part sesame oil. Mix with this proportion. This mixture is very good for pork belly and any non-marinated meat.

c) Tuna ssam-jang: 1 can of tuna in olive oil, drained. Chop 1 serrano chili and half an onion. Put 1 TB sesame oil in a medium sauce pan. Put the tuna and stir fry a few minutes. Put 2TB doenjang (Korean fermented bean paste), 1TB gochujang (Korean chili pepper paste), 1TB toasted sesame seed, 1TB chopped garlic, 1/2 ts ginger juice, 1/2 TB sugar, 1/3 cup water and 1TB mirin (Japanese sweet cooking rice wine)

d) Ground beef with Korean chili paste (Yak-gochujang): Prepare 1/4 lb ground sirloin. Marinate with 1 ts soy sauce, 1 ts sugar, 2 ts chopped green onion and 1 ts chopped garlic for 10 minutes. Put 1 TB sesame oil in a medium sauce pan. Add the marinated beef and cook until about 80% done. Add 3 TB Asian pear juice and cook until the meat cooks and the water evaporates a bit. Add 1 cup of gochujang, 1 Tb sugar. Stir and cook for 10 minutes. Mix with 2 TB honey.

4) Side Vegetables

a) Shredded cabbage and onion with mustard sauce: Mix 2 Tb soy sauce, 1 ts prepared mustard (or wasabi), 1 Tb rice vinegar, a bit of sugar - add to very thinly sliced cabbage and onion. If you can find Asian chives (very thin, pungent smelling green vegetable), add some of them here.

b) Green onion salad (”Pa-Jeori”): You need to find thick green onions called “Dae-Pa” from a Korean grocery store. Slice it as thinly as possible. Make the seasoning with 1ts salt, 1 ts sesame oil, 1 Tb toasted sesame, 1 Tb powdered red chili (”Gochugaru”) and 1 ts sugar. Season right before serving.

Prepare the sauces/ Prepare the meat/ Make the side vegetables/ Wash the wrapping vegetables/ Set the table/ Grill the meat…then ENJOY!

Kimchi is probably the most well known and widely misunderstood Korean food. If you have ever tasted really good home-made, well-ripe kimchi, you know that it’s not something just smelly or awfully spicy. Most popular and widely eaten kimchi is Paechu-Kimchi made with Napa cabbage, sliced radish, and seasonings (salt, fish sauce or other kinds of seafood stuff depending on the regional taste, red pepper powder, garlic, green onion, ginger, sugar, etc.) Good kimchi is has balanced taste of sourness, crunchiness, spiciness, saltiness, and it’s very sexy! Think of it as a spicy and more glorious version of Saurkraut.

You can make so many kinds of yummy dishes using kimchi - kimchi fried rice, pancakes, noodles, and even spaghetti! I plan to write more details about Kimchi and its history some other time, but today I am going to tell you how to make a very simple kimchi soup (”jigae” or “zigae”)

Kimchi jigae with canned tuna [Chamchi Kimchi Jigae]

There are probably as many Kimchi jigae recipes as there are moms and cooks in Korea. You can make this dish with various kinds of meat (canned tuna, pork belly, canned pike, canned mackerel, clams, bacon) and different types of soup stock. Methods varies a lot as well. (Stir fry meat first and then pour water, put everything in a pot and simmer for a long time, season the meat beforehand, cook the meat with kimchi, etc.). Chong-Ga brand’s un-cut kimchi is the best you can get at grocery stores. Un-cut kimchi is made with the whole head of napa cabbage, and you should cut it yourself before eating. If you can’t find it, get the store manager’s recommendation or a pick a jar that still has some liquid in it and has a faint sour smell to it. Kimchi jigae needs kimchi that’s ripe, not too “young.” If kimchi tastes too salty without much sourness, you may add some rice vinegar. Don’t buy small kimchi jars sold at regular grocery stores as they don’t taste good and they are so overpriced.

Ingredients:

About 2 cup (400g) cut Kimchi, mixed with 0.5 Tb sugar and 0.5 Tb sesame oil (See the picture above!)

1 can of Dong-Won brand’s Kimch Jigae Tuna. You can find it at any Korean grocery store. If you can’t find it, use any canned tuna (4.5 oz) in olive oil, and use 1.5 cans/ put a bit more seasonings and red pepper powder.

1/2 Onion, thinly sliced

1 Tb Canola oil (or any oil that has not a lot of flavor. If you want some more kick, use the Korean style chili oil.)

2-3 cups water (enough to cover kimchi, but not too watery) It’s more tasty if you use soup stock made with dried anchovies and dried kombu (”tashima” in Korean), but water is fine.

1/2 organic firm tofu, thinly sliced

0.5 Tb Korean pepper powder/ 2 strips green onion, chopped/ Soy sauce or Kimchi juice (from the jar)  to taste

(Optional: 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced)

How To Make

1) Heat the canola oil in the stainless steel sauce pan (2 quart) or Le Creuset (2 quart) type of pot. Stir fry kimchi for about 3 minutes, on medium heat, until softened a bit.

2) Put water. Then put the onion and canned tuna. Close the lid and cook with medium-low heat for about 10 minutes.

3) Open the lid and cook until the onions are soft and jigae smells good. Then arrange tofu slices around the pot and put 0.5 Tb of the red pepper powder in the middle of the tofu circle. (Add garlic with the pepper powder, if you are using.) Spoon some soup over the tofu slices and gently push them down so that they sits below the surface.

4) Cook until tofu is warmed through, about 2 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning either with kimchi juice or a bit of soy sauce.

5) Put the sliced green onion and cook about 30 seconds more and then serve!

This soup with a bowl of rice makes such a quick and comforting dinner. Enjoy~ (Hmingi, I hope you like it! :))

My good friend Hmingi wanted to know how to make the chili oil I mentioned in my previous posting “Jihye’s Spicy Sesame Noodles” (http://jihyechang.com/wisdom/2009/11/27/jihyes-spicy-sesame-peanut-noodle)

Szechuan style chili oil is made with hot peanut oil and dried chili seeds or flakes. However we make chili oil with dried chili powder (”Gochugaru,” 고추가루) and garlic in Korea. Korean style chili powder is very different from “chili powder” that you would use for chili soup, so make sure you get it from a Korean grocery store! I also like to add a bit of grated ginger and salt. There are a few different methods for making the chili oil, but my favorite method is photographed above.

Here’s what you need:

1 cup oil (Canola or Sunflower seed)

4 TB Korean chili powder or powdered chili (Gochugaru), 4 cloves garlic, minced/ 0.5 ts grated ginger/ a pinch of salt

And this is how you make:

1) Heat up the oil in a small sauce pan - hot enough, but not smoking hot. I usually heat it up until the surface of the oil gets a bit shimmery. If the oil’s too hot, it will burn the chili powder. If it’s not hot enough, it will not release much flavor from the other ingredients.

2) Line a big strainer (as in the picture) with a kitchen towel. In a small bowl, mix the chili powder, garlic, salt, and ginger carefully. You don’t have to mix it thoroughly. Put the chili powder mixture over the strainer.

3) Prepare a heat-proof bowl underneath the strainer.

4) Pour the hot oil evenly and slowly over the chili powder mixture. If the chili oil comes through the strainer too slowly, wait a little bit and then pour again.

5) Cool completely and store in a glass jar.

This oil is great for making the best Kimchi fried rice and other yummy Korean foods. I will post something about Kimchi and Kimchi-related recipes soon!

This is one of Ben’s favorite snacks, especially in the summer. My mom used to make it whenever I and my brother and sister were hungry and she did not have enough time to make a full meal. Somen is very thin wheat noodle, and it’s sold usually in a large packet with 8-10 bundles each tied with paper strip. This dish is super easy to make and only takes about 10 minutes. And it is so tasty! If you have some left over rice and a can of tuna, you can serve it with some rice balls as well. (I will post a recipe for that soon.)

Mom’s Summertime Somen Noodle

Ingredients

2 sticks somen noodle (Japanese or Korean thin wheat noodle, labeled as “Somen” or “Thin noodle”)

Dressing: 2 TB Soy Sauce, 3TB seasoned rice vinegar (such as Marukan), 3/4 TB toasted sesame oil (such as Kame or Baeksul brand) - mix together. If you have plain rice vinegar, sprinkle one pinch of sugar when you mix the dressing with the noodle.

1 clove garlic, minced/ 2 stems green onion (green part only), chopped/ black pepper

How to Make

1) Boil the noodle according to the package. Drain and wash with cold water. (Swish with chopsticks while boiling in order to prevent the noodles from sticking)

2) Pour the dressing and top with garlic and green onion. Mix thoroughly with chopsticks. Sprinkle a bit of black pepper.

3) Enjoy!

Tip: here is how I cook my Somen noodles.

Boil the noodle with a pinch of Kosher salt -> put the noodle in when the water starts rolling -> when it boils again, pour some cold water -> boil again ->pour cold water -> boil again and then drain/ wash.