[caption id="attachment_15136" align="aligncenter" width="757"] Acorn Jelly (Dotorimuk) served with sauce[/caption]

What is Acorn Jelly?

Acorn Jelly (Dotorimuk 도토리묵) is a jelly made from cooking dried acorn powder with water and then letting it cool to become like jello but firmer. Koreans slice this into thick squares and enjoy it drizzled with spicy soy sauce. The flavor of the jelly is quite mild with hints of nutty and earthy flavor with a very slight astringent taste at the end.

This wonderful Dotori (Acorn) Muk (Jelly) is a classic everyday Korean side dish and it is something I kind of re-discovered last winter during my visit to Korea. I have had it so many times at different restaurants or bought it from the stores and have just gotten used to the so-so taste of it. But it was the first time in a long time where I had one that was freshly made at home at my mother-in-law's.

Just like gochujang, I have almost forgotten how wonderful a freshly homemade muk tastes. And because you are using 100% acorn powder with no fillers like cornstarch, it was just really flavorful and yummy. The texture was a bit softer and creamier too which was a pleasant surprise.

Dotorimuk requires good Chopstick skills!

Acorn jelly is notoriously hard to pick up with your chopsticks - even among Koreans. I remember when I was little, adults would scare the kids by saying that either they learn to use the chopsticks the 'right' way and be able to eat things like noodles and muk without difficulty or that they would have to embarrass themselves and resort to using a spoon or maybe a spork (spoon + fork) even as an adult!!! 😵

The post How to make Acorn Jelly (Dotorimuk 도토리묵) appeared first on Kimchimari.

[caption id="attachment_14501" align="aligncenter" width="800"] 15 Quick and Easy Korean Salads[/caption]

The post 15 Quick and Easy Korean Salads – from Vegan to Hearty recipes appeared first on Kimchimari.

[caption id="attachment_14046" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Korean potato salad (gamja salad) side dish[/caption]

Korean Potato Salad or Gamja Salad (감자 샐러드 or 사라다) is, yes, not a classic traditional Korean dish but as long as I can remember it was part of Korean cuisine. Perhaps it was introduced to Koreans via the US Army base after they settled in Korea after the war... but it's just something that Koreans love to have - as a side dish but also in a sandwich (although it's done a little bit differently for that) as Gamja Salad Sandwich.

When I think of this dish, my memories take me back to my college days. At Ewha Womans University where I attended college, we had a huge cafeteria and their menu changed daily and I was not a huge fan of their food (as it usually goes with any college cafeteria.. haha) but if there was one thing that took me and my friends back to the cafeteria almost every day was their Gamja Salad!!!

Can you believe it?? 😂🤣My friends and I used to say..

"Hmm..just not sure what they put in the salad but it's like I am addicted to it!!"

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Korean Green Onion Salad or Pa Muchim is a must have side dish for Korean grilled meats. It is a really simple dish but it brings out the flavor of your meat while cutting out the fatty taste. Gluten free and ready in 10 minutes or less!

[caption id="attachment_11851" align="aligncenter" width="731"] Korean Green Onion Salad - Pa Muchim[/caption]

Korean Green Onion Salad or Korean Scallion Salad (Pa Muchim) is just too simple and easy to make that I almost feel embarrassed to call it a recipe. 😜 But I feel I must share it since it makes EVERY GRILLED MEATS taste SO YUMMY!! In the summer, I probably make this at least once every week because we just LOVE grilling outside in beautiful California weather.

Whether we are grilling marinated Korean meats like bulgogi or kalbi, or non-marinated plain meats like Ross Gui (로스구이 thin ribeye or tenderloin) or Samgyeopssal (삼겹살 pork belly), this salad is a must have side dish for our table. If you look at the ingredients of this Korean Green Onion Salad, you may think that it may be too bland and not tasty enough but it will surprise you how it goes perfectly with your meats by adding a slight acidity, sweetness and mild heat to every mouthful. And remember, usually Koreans eat grilled meats dipped in sesame oil + salt or other soy sauce based dipping sauce which means there's salt there too.

I have to note that my Korean Green Onion Salad recipe that I'm sharing here is a bit of an expanded version of Pa Muchim. Pa Muchim is usually a salad made from just green onions. And you can totally use my recipe below to just toss green onions only and that will be amazing as well. And I know some recipes add sesame oil to it and you are welcome to do so but because we already like to dip our meats in sesame oil, I don't add it here.

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Asian Cucumber Salad without soy sauce that's extra refreshing because it is without any pungent ingredients like garlic or green onion. Ready in 5 minutes or less.

[caption id="attachment_11628" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Quick Asian Cucumber Salad - Spicy, Sweet, Tangy without Soy Sauce[/caption]

Asian Cucumber Salad is the name because I feel it is different from most Korean oi muchim versions. I know some Korean Oi Muchims are pretty loaded with seasonings of garlic and green onions (which is also good) but this recipe has none of that but just some purple onions. You may remember my previous Korean Cucumber Salad recipe which uses soy sauce for a deeper flavor and just some green onions. If you like soy sauce, try that recipe. But you have to also try this quick Asian Cucumber Salad as I feel it leaves the cucumber full of its own flavor and crunch.

The post Quick Asian Cucumber Salad – Without Soy Sauce appeared first on Kimchimari.

Tofu Salad with iceberg lettuce, sweet corn and radish sprouts is the most delicious way to enjoy cold tofu. My sweet tangy and mustardy soy dressing works so well with the crunchy lettuce, corn and radish sprouts - flavoring the tofu in the most yummy way.

[caption id="attachment_11316" align="aligncenter" width="683"] Tofu Salad Iceberg Lettuce Sweet Corn with Soy Dressing[/caption]

Now, you may say.. what tofu salad? Can this be really good?? Tofu is kind of boring as it is and salad can also be boring...so how can the combination of 2 boring things turn out delicious? But you have to trust me when I say this is just really wonderful. So where did the idea for this salad come from? About 15 or so years ago, I was inspired to make this recipe after a tofu salad dish that we always enjoyed having at our local Tofu House restaurant.

So, would you believe that this tofu salad recipe is actually one of the first recipe that I created on my own? Way back when, before I ever imagined of becoming a Korean food blogger, I signed up to create a cookbook for our Korean church as a fundraiser for missions. Because there were so many good Korean mom cooks in the church and then there were also many young Korean Americans who wanted to learn how to cook these dishes themselves, a cookbook was a perfect way for the older moms to share their knowhow and recipes with the young singles or married couples. I sought out several good cooks and then asked them for recipes. Some ladies readily wrote their recipes and gave them to me. Some ladies, I basically had to chase them down and press them to verbally tell me the recipe and then I tried to write them down. I wrote the cookbook in both Korean and English which also took more effort. In the end it was a LOT of work but it was great fun. And I heard that some still use the cookbooks even to this day.

What Tofu works best for Tofu Salad?

As I shared before in my Tofu with Broccoli post, there are 3 kinds of tofu - silken soft (sundubu 순두부), soft (for stews) and firm or extra firm (for frying). Read that post for more info but it can be very much a personal preference but I find that for this particular tofu salad, firm or extra firm works best. 

The post Tofu Salad with Iceberg Lettuce for Asian Salad Feast! appeared first on Kimchimari.

Korean Chive Salad (Buchu Muchim 부추 무침)

Korean Chive Salad is probably one of the very first dishes I ever made after I married. As a newly wed, living in University of Florida's married housing in Gainesville, we were invited to many impromptu BBQ's arranged by other Korean student families in the same complex. And at one of parties, I tasted this Korean Chive Salad for the first time. For some reason, I don't think I had this while I was growing up in Korea.. I certainly had Chive Geotjeori but not this kind of salad.

Wow.. I can't believe this was more than 25 years ago.

I don't remember a lot of things from the past but somehow I always seem to remember those momentous occasions (😝hahaha, not sure how many people would refer to this kind of moment as such..) where I taste something really fantastic for the first time.

The post Simple Korean Chive Salad (Buchu Muchim) appeared first on Kimchimari.

Fresh Kimchi Salad with Spring Napa Cabbage is kimchi that you can make in minutes with no pickling and no need to wait for days for fermentation. Koreans call this type of fresh kimchi salad as Geotjeori (겉절이) which basically means pickling just the outside (geot 겉). In English, people call this Instant Kimchi, Fresh Kimchi, Kimchi Salad...I can't decide what is the best name for it but what's important is the fact that this is a Kimchi that can be made right before serving, just tossed with seasoning.

OK, so what is Bomdong(봄동) ? This spring cabbage is only available in the Spring = bom 봄 in Korea. There are different opinions as to whether this is a different variety of cabbage altogether or it is actually the same Korean napa cabbage that is used for Kimjang Kimchi and regular kimchi but is just grown differently.

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Korean Bean Sprouts Recipe - Sukju Namul

My Bean Sprouts Recipe will show you how to make the very popular Korean Bean Sprouts side dish called Sukju Namul (숙주나물). BTW, just to clarify, the bean sprouts in this Korean Bean Sprouts recipe are Mung Bean Sprouts and NOT Soy Bean Sprouts which is called Kongnamul (콩나물). The word Namul, according to Korean dictionary, has two meanings: 1. any herb or plant leaves that are edible 2. any herb or plant that is seasoned raw, boiled or sautéed.

Then you are probably thinking that Sukju must mean mung beans in Korean (and honestly, I almost wrote that not remembering a story I heard many years ago) but it actually does NOT!!!

Mung bean in Korean is called Nokdu (녹두) so then it should be called Nokdu Namul...but the name Sukju Namul is used.

Why???

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