Cooking Korean

Having my in-laws in town this week has proved to be a very delicious experience. My mother-in-law has been cooking Korean food nearly every evening and I've been learning a little bit in the process. Hopefully walking into a Korean grocery store won't feel so intimidating now that I have a handle on some of the basic ingredients. My favorite thing about Korean food is the variety in every meal, since the tradition is for everything to be served with an array of appetizers and always some sort of kim-chee.



A classic homey Korean miso-based stew with enoki mushrooms, tofu, potatoes, onions, anchovies, and scallions.



Fish cakes sauteed with garlic and scallions. Side dishes of boiled spinach with sesame oil, pickled spicy green vegetable which I don't know the name of.



In honor of Lunar New Year, the tradition is to eat a rice cake soup made from an anchovy stock with egg whites, yellows, kim-chee, ground beef, and seasoned seaweed. Side dishes of dried squid, seaweed, and pickled spicy vegetable.



Korean fried rice, usually served in a hot stone pot. This version has ground beef, carrots, spinach, shredded sesame leaves, fern root, and pickled cucumbers which are all stirred together with a spicy red pepper paste mixed with sesame oil. In the back you can see the egg-batter fried sirloin and halibut slices.