Jodi’s Korean Family’s Recipes

These recipes are courtesy Ms. Sue Hong Vanderburg!

Mondu (Korean egg rolls)
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb lean ground pork
1/2 bag (the kind you pack them in at the grocery store) of bean sprouts
2 big palmfuls chopped green onions
1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic (you can buy the pre-minced, it’s easier)
1 pkg firm tofu
seasoned salt
soy sauce
tabasco
black pepper
square egg roll wrappers
two egg whites

Brown the meat, then add garlic and green onions. Add a few shakes of seasoned salt and some soy sauce (I’m going to guess it’s about 1/4 cup?). Stir in and crumble tofu. Add bean sprouts last, and continue sautéing whole mixture until the bean sprouts are slightly wilted. Remove from heat and season with Tabasco and black pepper. Taste the mix and season accordingly. Let it cool, then roll in egg roll wrappers, sealing w/egg white. Fry in oil (veg or canola works best) until golden brown. Transfer to plate lined w/paper towels to drain off extra grease.

Cucumber salad
2 “English” cucumbers (the long ones without big seeds)
garlic flavored rice vinegar
sesame oil
minced garlic
chopped green onions
red/cayenne pepper
seasoned salt
black pepper
toasted sesame seeds

Thinly slice cucumbers and put in bowl. Add vinegar until it’s about 1/2″ deep in the bowl. Add some sesame oil (I’m guessing about 2 Tbsp, maybe a little more), about 1 Tbsp garlic, and a big handful of green onions. Season with the seasoned salt, red pepper and black pepper, and then add sesame seeds (I like a lot, but you can pretty much add whatever you want). Again, taste it and adjust the seasonings to what you like.

Tempura
sweet potatoes
carrots
fresh green beans
(zucchini or yellow squash if you want)
Tempura batter mix

Prepare the mix according to directions — you’ll want to stir it until it’s smooth, but DON’T! It should be thick and pretty lumpy. Slice up the veggies — whatever veggies you want, the biggest you want the pieces to be are about the size of McDonald’s french fries. A little at a time, dump a mix of veggies into the batter bowl and then, with tongs, put a “clump” into hot vegetable oil (it’s easier if you have a deep fryer or you make the oil deep in a dutch oven or stock pot). Fry until brown, remove and put on paper towels. Salt and eat!

Bulgogi
5 lb lean top sirloin (buy a “roast” — all one big hunk of meat, or you’ll have a hard time slicing it…you can get it at Sam’s)
1 overflowing cup soy sauce
3/4 c sesame oil
4 small pears (the soft kind or asian pears)
1/3 c sugar
1 heaping cup chopped green onions
1 small palmful minced garlic
1 heaping tsp black pepper
1 wad of ginger (peeled and grated)
1/3 c toasted sesame seeds

Trim all visible fat from meat, and cut into slices no more than 1/4″ thick. Lay out on butcher block and pound with meat tenderizer until very flat, thin, and tenderized (the pieces will get bigger as you pound, so don’t cut them too big). Put all tenderized meat into a big bowl and add sugar. Peel and grate pears and add to mixture. Mix with hands until thoroughly combined, cover, and put in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes — while you’re getting everything else together. After 30 minutes, add the rest of the ingredients and mix very well with hands. Cover and marinate at least 3 hours (can do it overnight). Cook on a HOT grill (about a minute on each side).

Korean Dipping Sauce

Not sure what it’s called in Korean, but it’s the sauce we put on everything. I have no idea what the real proportions are, but if you start mixing it and taste it, you can figure it out.

Soy sauce (this is the base — use more of this than anything else)
Splash of white vinegar
sesame oil (only enough to flavor it — you should see it thinly floating on top if you let it separate)
handful of chopped green onions
Tbsp of minced garlic
cayenne/red pepper
black pepper

These recipes are courtesy Ms. Sue Hong Vanderburg!

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