Ajumma's Simple Korean Recipes

Put cooked rice on a plate and top it with spicy-sweet bean sprout bulgogi. Thinly sliced pork belly and soybean sprouts coated in gochujang (Korean red chili paste) sauce make a simple bowl that goes well with rice. Thinly sliced pork belly cooks quickly. Soybean sprouts stay a little crunchy and release a bit of moisture that softens the seasoning. You do not need a long simmer for this rice bowl. Why Pork Belly and Soybean Sprouts Work Together The fat from the thinly sliced pork belly helps the seasoning coat the soybean sprouts while keeping them crisp. A little moisture from the sprouts softens the spicy-sweet sauce so it mixes well with the rice. That is why this combination tastes good without making a separate broth. ⏱ At a Glance Servings: 1 Estimated time: about 10 minutes (rice cooking time not counted) Extra prep: Cook the rice the way you usually do Difficulty: very easy Equipment: skillet Flavor: spicy-sweet bulgogi seasoning with crisp soybean sprouts 🛒 Ingredients Bas...

Rolling kimbap (Korean seaweed rice rolls) with a rolled omelet gives you two filling rolls even with few ingredients. If you cook the egg well, you can make it without trouble even the first time. The rolled omelet is soft, and the rice and seaweed add nuttiness. Finishing with toasted sesame oil brings out the aroma. The order is simple. Make the rolled omelet, put it on the rice, and roll it in the seaweed. The rolled omelet makes two soft rolls Cooking the egg in a thin layer and rolling it up gives a soft texture. The rice and seaweed add nuttiness, and toasted sesame oil brings out the aroma. Adding carrot or pickled radish gives a crisp texture, but it is tasty enough without them. ⏱ At a Glance Servings: 1 (2 kimbap rolls) Estimated cooking time: about 10–15 minutes for the rolled omelet and rolling (cook the rice separately as you usually do) Extra prep: cook rice, prepare eggs Difficulty: Easy Equipment: frying pan Flavor: soft egg, nutty seaweed and rice 🛒 Ingredients...

Mix drained canned tuna and ssamjang (Korean seasoned paste) into rice for a one-bowl meal. Adding lettuce and an egg makes it savory and satisfying. Lettuce gives a crisp texture, and the egg adds softness. Finishing with toasted sesame oil brings out the nuttiness. The order is simple even the first time: mix the tuna and ssamjang into the rice, top with lettuce and egg, then drizzle with toasted sesame oil and mix. Tuna and ssamjang create savory depth Drained canned tuna keeps its nutty flavor. Mixing in ssamjang adds the taste of doenjang (fermented soybean paste) and gochujang (Korean chili paste) for the savory depth typical of Korean food. Lettuce provides crisp texture, and toasted sesame oil adds nuttiness. The egg brings a soft richness. ⏱ At a Glance Servings: 1 Estimated cooking time: about 5–10 minutes for prep and mixing (includes frying the egg if you choose that option; cook the rice separately as you usually do) Extra prep: trim lettuce, drain tuna, cook rice, pre-...

Fry Spam with scallions for a sweet, savory aroma, then stir-fry onion and eggs and finish with mayonnaise. Serve over rice and mix—it brings together a salty, nutty taste in each bite. You don’t need many ingredients. Spam, scallions, onion, eggs, mayonnaise, and soy sauce are all you need, and one pan is enough. Frying the Spam with scallions brings out their aroma and a little sweetness, while the onion softens as it cooks. Even if it’s your first time, the order is simple: fry the Spam and scallions first, cook the onion and eggs, mix in the seasonings, and spoon everything over the rice. Spam, scallions, and mayonnaise make it savory Spam browns and becomes richer and saltier when fried. Adding finely chopped scallions lets their aroma soak in and brings out a gentle sweetness as they cook. Mixing in mayonnaise softens the richness, while Korean soy sauce and Korean cooking wine balance the seasoning. Onion loses its sharp edge and turns sweet as it cooks. The eggs add a savory ri...

Today I’m making tteokguk, Korean rice cake soup. It’s thin slices of rice cake in a clear broth. You don’t need to simmer beef bones for hours. One beef stock cube is enough for the broth flavor. The cube melts in hot water and makes the stock. If you only simmer the beef, you get meat flavor but the broth stays thin. The cube carries the stock taste. Sear the beef first in the same pot, leave it there, then add the water and cube so everything cooks together. Toppings are egg crepe strips, seasoned gim (Korean roasted seaweed), crumbled, and Korean large green onion (daepa). If you don’t have 30 g of Korean large green onion (daepa), use 30 g of scallions (jjokpa). Match by weight, not by stalk count, because thickness and aroma differ. The cube makes the stock, the beef cooks with it This tteokguk is rice cakes in beef stock. Put one beef stock cube into 500 ml water and bring it to a boil. Sear 80 g of beef in sesame oil first, then leave it in the pot. Pour the water and cube into...

Today I'm making janchi guksu, Korean party noodles in a clear broth, with chicken stock. I won't simmer a whole chicken. I'll use a chicken stock cube. A cube becomes broth once you boil it in water. Add 100 g Korean radish (mu) and Korean large green onion (daepa), then lift them out. Of the 50 g green onion, use 40 g in the broth and keep 10 g for the top. If you don't have daepa, use 50 g scallions (jjokpa) in the same split. They differ in thickness and aroma, so match the weight, not the stalk count. Don't cook the noodles in the broth pot. Boil them separately, drain them, and pour over the broth after the radish and onion are out. Broth with radish and green onion This is janchi guksu served in chicken broth. The 100 g radish and 40 g broth onion go in from the start, not only as garnish. Once they've given their flavor, lift them out. The 10 g garnish onion goes on at the end. Without daepa, split 50 g scallions the same way: 40 g for broth, 10 g for th...

Today is a spicy squid rice bowl, ojingeo-bokkeum deopbap. Cleaning squid looks fussy, so I will show you the easy way. Peel the skin, score the squid, then stir-fry the squid with the vegetables and seasoning on high heat for a short time. Spoon the stir-fry over rice and you have one bowl. This is a home bowl with the seasoning clinging to the rice, not a saucy stew. Cleaning is half the dish Squid sizes vary, so weight after cleaning is more reliable than counting squid. After the skin, innards, and quill are out and the squid is drained, you want 150g. Rub the surface with coarse salt and the skin slips off. Score the inside in a crosshatch, then cut bite-size pieces. The cuts help the seasoning cling and shorten the cooking. Cook the onion and Korean large green onion (daepa) before the squid. When the vegetables soften, add the squid. When it turns white and curls, add the seasoning. Squid can turn tough if it fries from the start, so it goes in later. ⏱ At a glance Servings: 1 E...

How about a clear bowl of clam kalguksu today? Purged clams matter. Clams that still hold sand make the broth cloudy and muddy. If they are already purged, do not soak them in salt water again. Rub the shells and rinse them. When the shells start to open, the clam liquor runs out. You do not need a separate stock for a clean, savory broth. The meat is chewy against the noodles, and the broth is light enough to finish the bowl. Use store-bought noodles, or mix dough, roll it, and cut it. If the dough feels like too much, start with store-bought noodles. The broth order stays the same. Only the noodles cook differently. Dried, fresh, and hand-cut noodles do not cook in the same pot Do not drop dried noodles into the broth pot. Boil them separately. If you pour that water into the broth, the flour water clouds it. For 2 people, use 200g dried kalguksu noodles and 2L boiling water. From about 7–8 minutes, lift one strand and cool it a little. If the center has no hard core and the noodle i...

Sweet and savory bulgogi is a classic Korean home-cooked dish, pairing naturally with a warm bowl of rice. While it is often stir-fried in a wide skillet until lightly caramelized, simmering thinly sliced beef with dangmyeon (Korean sweet potato glass noodles) in an earthenware pot creates a comforting, juicy topping that turns any meal into a satisfying rice bowl. Because the beef is sliced paper-thin, it cooks up tender in about 10 minutes without requiring long braising. Bringing the beef, fresh vegetables, and glass noodles together in a single pot and ladling them over warm rice gives you a complete, hearty one-bowl meal without needing many side dishes. By watching how the beef cooks so it does not turn tough, and taking the pot off the heat before the noodles absorb too much of the broth, you can make a moist, tender bulgogi deopbap at home. Simmering Bulgogi with Rich Broth in an Earthenware Pot Unlike dry-fried bulgogi, a classic ttukbaegi bulgogi requires a generous amount of...