Korean Feast

My MIL and her husband were passing through town on their way north.  Since my son and his friend are going to stay with them for a week in the summer, we thought we would invite our friends to meet my MIL's husband.  My friend requested the Korean Pork BBQ recipe.  (Gratefully obtained from another friend)  Now my BBQ is a pale approximation of the way it is made by the friend I got the recipe from, but it is still yummy!  Since we were having a large gathering, I decided to try and make more Korean dishes to accompany the pork.  My friend that gave me the BBQ recipe recommended a Korean pancake to go with it,  Boochimga.  I couldn't find anything with that spelling, but I found 2 recipes for a Korean Pancake.  I made both.  The scallion one was the better of the two.  I also make some quick pickles that I LOVED! I didn't use the kirby cukes recommended, and I didn't seed the ones I did use and they were great. I did use a mandolin to make them super thin. I figured since the pork does have a bit of heat I would also make some chicken .  Since we are eating the pork in lettuce wraps, and we would have chicken too, I decided to make the peanut sauce and noodles that goes with my chicken lettuce wraps. (even though it isn't Korean)  I made some white rice and  a spicy dipping sauce and bought some kimchi to go with it. I enjoyed it all very much and am looking forward to trying more dishes in this cuisine.

 Korean Pork BBQ recipe
 Lettuce Bundle Recipe

Korean Pancake Wrap Recipe

1 c  Water
1 c  Flour
1/2 t  salt

Mix flour, water, and salt together to make the pancakes.
Heat a saute pan over medium heat and coat with olive oil.
Using a tablespoon, drop a full spoonful of pancake batter onto pan,
smoothing to a 3-4" diameter. The pancakes should be about the
thickness of crepes (thinner than American pancakes).
They cook quickly, so flip when the top starts to dry.
Remove quickly before they brown, less than a minute is needed on the
other side.
Finish all the batter, trying to make pancakes all the same size.
Serve with dipping sauce. They can be served warm or at room
temperature. (Serves 4)

Korean Quick Pickled Cucumber Recipe

4    small Korean or kirby cucumbers*
3 T  sugar
1 T  salt
1/4 c  vinegar
[Note: You can use 1 long English cucumber if you don't have access
to small pickling cucumbers, but first cut the cucumber in half, scrape
out most of the seeds, and then drain the cucumber on paper towels.  ]
1.Cut cucumbers into uniform strips or round slices (use mandoline for
thinner strips)
2.Sprinkle cucumbers with sugar and salt and toss gently to combine.
3.Add vinegar, stirring to coat all cucumbers.
4.Let sit about 20 minutes before serving.


Korean Scallion Pancake
2 c  flour
2    eggs,beaten
1.5 c  water
1 bn of scallions,halved and cut into 2-3 inch lengths
1 t  salt
Oil for cooking

1.Mix all ingredients together and let sit for about 10 minutes. Check
consistency before cooking  batter should be a little bit runnier than
American pancake batter, so that the Pa Jun cooks quickly and evenly.
2.Heat a saute pan over medium heat and coat with a thin layer of oil.
3.Pour batter to fill pan in a thin layer (about 1/3 of your batter
should fill a regular saute pan).
4.Cook for 3-4 minutes until set and golden brown on bottom.
5.Turn over with help of spatula or plate (or flip it in the air if you
are good at that) and finish by cooking 1-2 more minutes, adding more
oil if necessary.
6.Serve with soy or spicy dipping sauce.
(Serves 4 as an appetizer or a side dish)
*You can also make these using the ready-make Korean Pancake Batter
(Buchimgae) from the Korean of Asian grocery store. You just add ¾ cup
water to every 1 cup of dry mix and add whichever vegetables you wish.


Spicy Dipping Sauce

1/3 c  soy sauce
1/3 c  rice wine vinegar
1 T  sesame oil
1 T  chili pepper flakes (kochukaru)
1 T  scallions,thinly sliced
1 t  finely chopped garlic
Mix all ingredients together and use as a dipping sauce for
dumplings, scallion pancakes, mung bean pancakes, and tempura dishes.
*Can make in large batches and store in refrigerator for a couple
weeks.
**If you don't have Korean chili pepper flakes (kochukaru), you can
use cayenne pepper or sriracha sauce in the mix.