Maangchi's letter to you
Hello everybody!
I went to Hannam Chain, a large Korean grocery store in Fort Lee, New Jersey, and stopped by their cafeteria and chose spicy cold noodles (bibim-naengmyeon). Their cafeteria is actually really good! It's a reasonable price, delicious, and most of all what I love about it is their big portion! After emptying this big bowl I could happily shop for all kinds of Korean ingredients such as fermented yellow corvina and minari!
New recipe: Minari-muchim
Have you seen the movie Minari? Last year there was a movie about Korean immigrants in the US, titled Minari, which was very popular and won many awards. A lot of people asked me to make a recipe using minari but I had to wait until it was in season again to do it. Now it's in season!
I blanch it and mix with simple seasonings. The aroma of minari is unique, similar to parsley. You can replace minari with spinach or watercress in this recipe.
The recipe for minari muchim (미나리무침) is here!
New recipe: Korean beef salad
A great beef dish for summertime: Pan-cooked beef salad (Sogogi chapssal-gui: 소고기 찹쌀구이). Thinly sliced tender and juicy beef is coated in glutinous rice flour before it's cooked on a skillet, so the texture changes to slightly chewy rice cake!
It’s good for summer because you don’t serve it hot, it’s best at room temperature or cold. The sauce has a great kick and you can use it in a lot of other places too!
How much better is homemade gochujang?
How much tastier is homemade gochujang compared to store bought gochujang? My reader karrotlover living in Seattle says it tastes about 100 times better! She said, "The flavor is so much more pleasant, with a complex, long-lingering aftertaste...".
I was so happy to read her comment, not only for the fact that she succeeded in making good gochujang, but also because she could distinguish between the taste of homemade and store-bought gochujang. Congratulations!
She is right! I can't imagine life without my homemade gochujang. I use it in my everyday meals. However, I still have store-bought gochujang to develop and make recipes with because I know not all of you make homemade.
My recipe for homemade gochujang is here!
A great time for ponytail radish kimchi
My readers send me their voices through many channels. It's so cool to find this photo and message on instagram. The_messy_counter is grabbing a well coiled ponytail kimchi. Who wouldn't like to try it out with a bowl of warm rice! At least me, me! : ) She says: "I love making this ponytail radish kimchi. When you season and ferment the greens attached to the radish, the textural difference is so delicious." Such fresh-looking radish and her kimchi looks so beautiful.
Ginseng Chicken Soup (Samgyetang)!
A lovely table setting from Jared Hirsch on Instagram, featuring his homemade ginseng chicken soup (samgyetang) in an earthenware pot. All these are homemade!
We Koreans have samgyetang on the hottest days of the summer to replenish our energy and help us beat the heat. According to the lunar calendar, 2 of the hottest days of the summer this year will be in July, on the 11th and the 21st, so it will be a good time to make a feast like Jared!
My recipe for samgyetang is here!
Bibim-naengmyeon!
Nic living in Ottawa showed off his spicy cold noodles. It looks so delicious and refreshing! Actually it's one of my favorite all-year-round dishes because it's very simple to make and can be prepared in minutes.
Amazing messages from my viewers & readers!
I have the best readers and viewers in the world. I am always learning, laughing, crying, and cooking with them everyday! Here are some great messages I want to share with you.
Check out Janice's question on YouTube and my reply. If you have any special home remedy for cancer, please add your reply to her question.
I have been fighting bladder cancer over 2 years and it just keeps returning and I have been searching for natural or food based options to add to my diet/treatment. Do you know of any Korean home remedy that helps with cancer, or building your immunity to fight cancer?
I said:
I wish for your speedy recovery! I don't have any special home remedy recipe for cancer but I would like to suggest you make green smoothie. And when you feel nausea, ginger tea will help you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC3TPFjyAIw Love you!!
How long have you been watching my videos? Hibs Hass left a comment that really warmed my heart!
When I started watching Maangchi years ago I was a teenager now I'm enjoying your videos with my baby son 😊🥰.
Sung Lee left a touching message on YouTube. Reading his message, I can guess he is a Korean married to a Western lady. Now she is making kimchi for him! Fantastic!
Your channel has been so helpful for me! I've been making my favorite Korean dishes and my very Mid-Western wife who has blonde hair and blue eyes, even makes kimchee for me. She can't handle spicy food, but loves me enough to make kimchee. I married the right woman!
Are you vegan but you want to make my mapo tofu recipe? Here you go, a useful tip from SeabassFishbrains to veganize it:
I just made a vegetarian version of this with some local mushrooms instead of meat like you suggested and it's phenomenal!! 😍😍😍 The mushroom flavor really compliments the smokiness of the gochu-garu (Korean hot pepper flakes), they have a pleasant chew to them and the dish pairs beautifully with iced oolong tea ❤
I've been on a long-term weight loss journey and I've been trying a lot more Korean food because of it because there is so much incredible, healthy and low calorie density Korean food out there that doesn't sacrifice at all when it comes to flavor! Plus so much of it is shockingly easy and quick to make. I've been dieting and losing weight and yet I feel like I'm eating like a king 👑
Make perilla leaf pancake!
Pancake, pancake, what-chu-gonna do~! : )
If you are growing perilla leaves (kkaennip) at home then you probably have some nice leaves in your garden right now. What to do? Like Harry says: "When your perilla leaves are overgrown you know it's time to make Kkaennip Jeon!"
Check out the recipe for kkaennip-jeon!
Gimbap picnic
Supamas living in California let me know this through email. It seems like she makes gimbap when she goes on a picnic these days, just like who? Just like me! : ) I'm sure she is thinking about me while she's having gimbap with her family. Love you, Supamas!
I have made gimbap 2 times now. My husband loves them very much. We first had gimbap at home and the second time we took them to the park for picnic.
Enjoy your summer everybody, and how about having a nice picnic? Choose one of the days, a relatively cool weekend?
My letter is sent to you only once a month, so see you on August 1st!