This isn’t a typical mother-daughter Korean recipe, but since a handful of friends have been asking for my apple cider vinegar dressing recipe, here it is! All salads should have a balance of flavors and textures – soft, chewy, crunchy, crispy, and my kale salad is a crowd-pleaser. It’s one of the foods our friends who just moved to Hawaii said they’ll miss eating! I haven’t experimented with other leafy greens yet, but it is my favorite salad dressing for kale salad (see what else I put in my kale salad under notes). Print Apple cider vinegar dressing recipe for Kale Salad Recipe by Esther ..read more

Looking for an easy japchae recipe? Here is how to make my mom’s authentic Korean glass noodles. My husband, Jacob, used to love Japchae until one day, he told my mom he loved her Japchae. And then, on every subsequent visit, my parents would bring over a Costco-sized tray. Never tell an Asian parent you love their dish unless you’re prepared to eat glutonous amounts any time you see them. Now that it’s been many years that we’ve lived away from my parents, I’m starting to add it back into our recipe rotation. What is Japchae or Korean Glass Noodles? Japchae (잡채) is a sweet and savory sweet po ..read more

Budae Jigae or 부대 찌개 literally means army base stew, and it’s such an easy recipe that anyone can make it. We like to make it at home when we have a group of friends over and treat it like a hot pot night. It’s not a particularly healthy dish, and since my husband is watching his cholesterol per the doctor’s recommendations, we only eat this at most once a month. What is Budae Jjigae or Korean Army Stew? Korean Army Stew was born after the Korean War during a time of post-war impoverishment. They took whatever ingredients they could scrounge from US military bases along with Korean staple ingr ..read more

Haemul Pajeon (해물파전) or Haemul Buchujeon (부추전), is a popular dish to order at restaurants among both my Korean and non-Korean friends. It’s a crowd-pleaser and a great introduction to Korean food for newbies. People order as an appetizer, side dish, or anju (food you eat when you drink). This recipe is super easy to make and can be made exactly as is in the directions or you can pretty much substitute with any leftover veggies you have on hand. What is Haemul Pajeon? Haemul Pajeon means Korean seafood pancake made with scallions. If you want to learn a bit of Korean, here’s the breakdown: Hae ..read more

Radish Kimchi or Kkakdugi (깍두기) in Korean is a type of kimchi made of cubed Korean radish. I always preferred this over napa cabbage when we’re eating it as a side dish (banchan). Since we can’t seem to find decent kimchi or kkakdugi at the store in Vegas, we’ve resorted to making our own. My mom tried a few times to add seasoning to fix the ones we purchased to no avail. When is the best time to make Korean radish kimchi? Koreans like to make this radish kimchi from mid to late fall. My mom says the fall radish is much sweeter and summer radish is bitter. You can add more sugar to make up for ..read more

We ended up modifying this Korean abalone porridge recipe a few times until it was just right. While living in LA, there were a few Korean restaurants that we frequented, one of which was Mountain Cafe. Before they opened their bigger location, their creamy Korean abalone porridge was the best we’ve ever had. Even though it’s been a little while since I’ve had their porridge, my mom and I ended up modifying her recipe until it was the way I remembered it from Mountain Cafe. Korean abalone porridge or Jeonbokjuk (전복죽) is made of abalone and white rice. It’s a specialty dish from Jeju Island, w ..read more

My mom made her homemade Korean mochi while they stayed with us last fall. My dad was craving it, and I hadn’t realized until now how my dad had an enormous sweet tooth. I also had no idea she knew how to make mochi! When my dad was growing up in Korea, he became really ill to the point of near-death. He remembers eating red bean mochi as he regained his health and had a chance at a second life. He still reminisces that time as he eats this from time to time. When I was a child, apparently my mom used to make them for us at church, but I have no memory of it. I grew up in Iowa where Korean gr ..read more

This Kimchi fried rice (김치 볶음밥) is one of our easy go-to recipes when our kimchi gets too ripe to eat as a side dish. This is super easy to whip up especially if you want an easy, lazy meal. Although we’ve made our own version of it over the years, this year, I had my mom show me how to make it her way (which I hate to admit is infinitely better). What is Kimchi Fried Rice? It’s a type of fried rice where the main star of the dish is kimchi (see our kimchi recipe here). Use mature kimchi vs fresh kimchi to have the best tasting kimchi fried rice. You can make it with any meat of choice or even ..read more

Today we’re sharing mom’s (떡국) tteokguk recipe. This is the first year we plan on making it for the new year. Tteok is rice cake and guk is soup in Korean. It’s one of the recipes I asked my mom to teach me before she left for Atlanta. What is Tteokguk? Tteokguk is a soup made up of sliced rice cakes in a beef broth. Koreans eat this rice cake soup on Seollal (Korean New Year’s Day on the lunar calendar). Since we live in the US, I plan on making it on Jan 1st but depending on how nice Jacob is, maybe I’ll make it again for the Korean New Year. Fun fact: Did you know the white oval shape of th ..read more

I said goodbye to my parents this morning. They’re currently driving cross-country back to Atlanta. I was sad to see them go, which surprised me since normally I can’t wait to leave after spending too much time with them. After my gallbladder surgery last month, my parents drove from Atlanta to Las Vegas to make sure I was eating and recovering. I wasn’t able to eat much other than porridge or oatmeal and didn’t care to eat since I had no appetite. My mom kept insisting I eat Dongchimi or Mul Kimchi to help with digestion. I ate it growing up, but I didn’t realize it’s a food that people eat ..read more