be a superstar korean chef

i guess from the sounds of my title, i am saying that i am a superstar chef and that i can teach you how to become like me. sorry if that's the impression you got. i am no superstar chef, especially not a korean one. ( i do have the awesome caucasian people i cook for fooled though.)  BUT i do hold the most basic of all korean recipes, from which millions of korean dishes are born.

the picture up top is your secret to korean cooking success. it's red pepper paste. every korean family has one of these in their fridge. my little tub is 1kg. (2.2 lbs) and i'm pretty sure the one in my mom's fridge is 5kg. that's a lot of fermented soybean, rice, and mashed up red peppers. this can be bought at any asian/international food store. for those in the east valley: pretty much anywhere along dobson rd.

also to be found in every korean household are the following ingredients:

sesame oil, soy sauce, crushed garlic, and of course the red pepper paste. and some sugar (the brown stuff int he middle.) these are the 5 ingredients you need to make the sauce for the million aformentioned korean dishes.

all you have to do is scoop and pour out as you please. i usually do about 1-2 heaping tablespoons of the paste. a teaspoon of garlic. a tablespoon of sugar (white suage is fine). a good drizzle of the soy sauce and sesame oil. mix it all together and give it a taste. it should kinda look like this:

you can add a bit of water to make the sauce spread out more. and add more sugar or other ingrdient that you feel is kinda lacking. more paste if you need more bite. more sugar if you have too much bite. more soy sauce if you need a bit more tartness. you get the picture. you kinda can't go wrong with these five ingredients.

then you add your meat.

here i used chicken leg quarters. you can add ANYTHING. i really love ribs in this sauce. you can do pork, beef, squid, or octopus. (i know i lost some of you land-locked arizonites just now. but that's what we korean-surrounded-by-water folk like to eat. and it's cause it's DELICIOUS!) you can also add 'rice cakes' (not the 'Quaker' kind you buy at the store. i mean korean sticky rice 'cakes'), potatoes, carrots, zucchini, even some old kimchi if you got it (which i had so i did.) 

cook your meat till it's done. with my chicken i did about 15 minutes on one side and 10-15 on the other. covered. but my chicken pieces were pretty big and not completely thawed out.

when you're done, get your rice, throw your meat on top, and voila! a korean meal! 

i make mine pretty not-too-spicy cause the kids eat it too. i'm so proud of my little half-korean babies and their ever-expanding palette for different foods!

this may have seemed like a complicated recipe but i assure you it's not! otherwise i wouldn't use it. ever. the sauce takes one minute to make if you have all the ingredients on the counter with you. the only thing that is time consuming is the cooking of the meat itself. this is sersiously so very easy. try it. and love it. and tell your friends you are a superstar korean chef.