We went to Hankook Korean Supermarket to get gochujang supplies, and had lunch there too. The supermarket is not as big as the H-Mart of my childhood, but it’s pretty good. Would recommend.
Hankook Supermarket
Gochujang recipe
There aren’t a lot of gochujang recipes online (in English). They don’t explain what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, so it’s hard to tell if it’s working. Because gochujang takes several months to ferment, I wanted to be extra sure that it would work. So I combined three different recipes with some advice from the beer-brewing community. Of course I started with Maangchi’s recipe, but I also consulted this video and Eating Korean. I’ll give you the recipe I ended up using, with some explanation at the end of what we’re doing.
Assembling ingredients for gochujang
J and I recently ran out of gochujang, a spicy fermented red pepper paste ubiquitous in Korean cooking. Since I’ve been trying more than usual to not buy things in plastic packaging, I was hesitant to buy a new container. (Although Wholly Jang offers gochujang and other products in glass, the company is currently on hiatus as they move to a different facility.) Fortunately, I discovered that you can make your own at home with just a few ingredients!!
Food from the Trash
N saved some food from the trash today as I looked on from afar.
Corn Fritter recipe
This simple recipe is from The Korean Table by Taekyung Chung and Debra Samuels. J posted pictures.
Corn Fritters (Ockssusu Jeon)
2 cups (350 g) corn kernels
1 Tbs miso
3/4 cup (100 g) flour
1/2 cup (125 g) water
1/4 tsp salt
Mix. Fry in oil ~3 min on each side. Serve with dipping sauce of choice.
Modifications
We added some kimchi (~40 g) and some finely chopped leftover pork ( ~20 g), and ate it with mayonnaise and tempura dipping sauce. The fritters were pretty good! Surprisingly sweet because of the sweet corn, but a pleasant change from eating it on the cob.
Kimchi Corn Fritters and Szechuan Green Beans
What I use to clean my teeth
As a followup to my Low-waste dental hygiene post, I’ll tell you which options I’ve chosen and what I plan to change in the future.
New Displays at the VTA Light Rail!
Mahouka
I went to see the Mahouka movie in SF with some friends. The plot of the movie was a bit questionable (as expected), but the action scenes were quite enjoyable. I would recommend it if you enjoy seeing the show’s overpowered protagonist blowing things up.
Banana Bread recipe
The recipe for the banana bread seen in J’s previous post is from the Cook’s Illustrated cookbook (not sure what year, but it’s kinda old).
Banana Bread
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup toasted, coarsely chopped walnuts
3 very ripe, soft, darkly speckled large bananas, mashed well
1/4 cup plain yoghurt
2 large eggs
6 Tb butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, walnuts). Mix wet ingredients (banana, yoghurt, eggs, butter, vanilla). Mix wet and dry ingredients together until just combined. Batter should be thick.
Bake for ~55 min (knife inserted into center should come out clean) at 350°F in greased loaf pan.