Korean home cooking basics

Jipbap means a home-cooked meal, typically rice with a soup or stew, kimchi and a few banchan. It is not about fancy cooking but about comfort and care, so the word is often used in restaurant names and advertising. The meal a mother sets out in a K-drama is the classic picture of jipbap.

Rinse short-grain rice two or three times until the water runs mostly clear, then add water so it sits about one finger joint above the rice. Soaking it for around 30 minutes before cooking makes it softer. The right amount of water depends on the rice and the cooker, so follow the markings inside your rice cooker if it has them.

The core pantry is soy sauce, doenjang, gochujang, gochugaru, minced garlic, sesame oil, sesame seeds and green onion. Add sugar or rice syrup, vinegar, salt and pepper and you can make most everyday dishes. If you are just starting, buy soy sauce, gochujang, sesame oil and garlic first and build from there.

Guk-ganjang, or soup soy sauce, is lighter in color but saltier, and is mainly used to season soups and namul. Jin-ganjang is darker and slightly sweet, used for braises, stir-fries and bulgogi marinade. Swapping them one for one can make a dish too salty, so add soup soy sauce a little at a time and taste as you go.

Remove the heads and guts from large dried soup anchovies, then put them in cold water with a piece of dried kelp and bring it to a boil. Take the kelp out once the water boils, simmer the anchovies about 10 to 15 minutes longer, then strain. This broth is the base for doenjang stew, noodle soups, tteokbokki and much more.

Rolled omelet, kimchi fried rice and doenjang stew are often recommended because they need few ingredients and are hard to ruin. Simple banchan like seasoned spinach or soybean sprouts are also great practice. Follow the seasoning ratios in a recipe exactly at first, then adjust to your own taste once you are comfortable.

Chop well-fermented, sour kimchi and stir-fry it in oil, then add cooked rice and fry everything together. Season with a little kimchi juice or soy sauce and finish with a drizzle of sesame oil. Top with a fried egg and some crumbled seaweed or sesame seeds. Many people also add ham, Spam-style luncheon meat or canned tuna.

Dissolve doenjang in anchovy broth or rice-washing water, add potato, onion and zucchini, and simmer. Then add tofu, green onion and chili near the end. Doenjang brands vary in saltiness, so add it gradually and taste. Clams or a little beef make the stew richer.

Soak dried sea mustard in water, cut it into manageable pieces, then sauté it in sesame oil with beef or seafood. Add water, simmer well, and season with soup soy sauce and salt. Dried seaweed expands a lot when soaked, so start with a small handful.

Beat eggs with a pinch of salt and mix in finely chopped green onion, carrot or other vegetables. Lightly oil a pan over low heat, pour in a thin layer, and when it is half set, roll it up from one side. Pour in more egg next to the roll and keep rolling to build a thick omelet.

Blanch a vegetable such as spinach briefly in boiling water, rinse it in cold water and squeeze out as much moisture as you can. Toss it by hand with soup soy sauce or salt, minced garlic, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Soybean sprouts are boiled with the lid on and seasoned in a similar way. Dried namul such as bracken or bellflower root are soaked and stir-fried.

In Korean recipes, one keunsul (tablespoon) is 15 mL and one jageunsul (teaspoon) is 5 mL. One cup usually means 200 mL, which is less than a US cup of roughly 240 mL, so adjust if you use American measuring cups. Many home recipes also measure casually with an ordinary dinner spoon.

Gochugaru is ground dried red chili, giving a clean heat and red color, and is used in kimchi and stews. Gochujang is a fermented paste made from chili powder, glutinous rice or other grains and fermented soybean powder, with a sweet, spicy and deep flavor. Many dishes use both together.

Ssalddeumul is the cloudy water left after rinsing rice. Many Korean cooks use it instead of plain water for doenjang stew and soups because it is thought to make the broth a little smoother and nuttier. People usually discard the first rinse and save the second or third. Plain water works fine if you skip it.

Mix soy sauce with sugar or honey, minced garlic, sesame oil and black pepper, then add grated Asian pear or onion to tenderize the meat and add sweetness. Marinate thinly sliced beef for at least 30 minutes and stir-fry it with onion and green onion. Adjust the sweetness and saltiness to your taste.

Basics like gochujang, doenjang, gochugaru and soy sauce are often available at Asian grocery stores, large supermarkets and online in many countries. Hard-to-find vegetables can usually be replaced with similar ones. If you buy ingredients in Korea to take home, check the import rules of your destination country.

The easiest way is to cut the gochugaru and gochujang to about half of what the recipe says. For color without heat, mix in some mild paprika. You can also start with dishes that are not spicy to begin with, such as soy-based bulgogi, japchae or steamed egg.

Leftover rice is perfect for fried rice or rice balls. You can also crisp it in a pan to make nurungji, then simmer it with water for a nutty, comforting drink-like porridge. Freeze rice you will not eat soon in single portions and reheat it in the microwave. Avoid leaving cooked rice at room temperature for long.

Seasoned vegetables are generally best eaten within two or three days in the fridge, while braised and stir-fried banchan keep a little longer. Store them in clean airtight containers and use dry utensils when serving. If something smells or tastes off, throw it out, and see a doctor if you feel unwell after eating.

Korean rice cookers often have Korean-only labels. Chwisa means cook, bo-on means keep warm, baengmi means white rice, japgok means mixed grains and kwaesok means quick cook. Usually you choose a menu, then press chwisa to start. Models differ, so check the manual or voice guide on the cooker in your accommodation.