JaJangMyeon uses thick noodles made from white wheat flour.
- Use:
For JaJangMyun or Udong- Storage:
Dried Noodles: Keep in the cabinet.
Fresh Noodles: Keep in the refrigerator or freezer.- Types:
Dried Noodles, Fresh Noodles from refrigerator or freezer- Short Korean lesson:
JaJangMyun (자장면)=Black Bean Paste Noodle
GukSu (국수)=Noodles
- Use:
For Korean Pancake (Jeon)- Storage:
Keep in the cabinet.- Short Korean lesson:
BuChimGae (부침개)=Korean Pancake
GaRu (가루)=Powder
Cellophane noodles (also known as Chinese vermicelli, bean threads, bean thread noodles, or glass noodles) are a type of transparent Asian noodle made from starch (such as mung bean starch, potato, or canna starch) and water. They are generally sold in dried form, boiled to reconstitute, then used in soups, stir fried dishes, or spring rolls. Cellophane noodles are generally round, and are available in various thicknesses. Wide, flat cellophane noodle sheets called mung bean sheets are also produced in China. Cellophane noodles should not be confused with rice vermicelli, which are made from rice and are white in color rather than clear.
In Korean cuisine, glass noodles are usually made from sweet potato starch and are called dangmyeon (당면; literally “Tang noodles”; also spelled dang myun, dangmyun, tang myun, or tangmyun). They are commonly stir-fried in sesame oil with beef and vegetables, and flavoured with soy and sugar, in a popular dish called japchae. They are usually thick, and are a brownish-gray color when uncooked.
- Use:
JapChae, Dumpings, Frying Snack, and so on- Storage:
Keep in the cabinet.- Short Korean lesson:
DangMyun (당면)=Cellophane Noodles
- Use:
To make frying batter- Storage:
Keep in the cabinet.- Short Korean lesson:
TwiGim (튀김)=Frying
GaRu (가루)=Powder
- Use:
New Year Soup, Ingredient for main dish- Storage:
Keep in the freezer.- Short Korean lesson:
TteokGuk (떡국)=New Year Soup
Tteok (떡)=Sticky Rice Cake
In Korea, glutinous rice is called chapssal (찹쌀), and its characteristic stickiness is called chalgi (Hangul: 찰기). Cooked rice made of glutinous rice is called chalbap (찰밥) and rice cakes (떡=ddeok) are called chalddeok or chapssalddeok (찰떡, 찹쌀떡). Chalbap is used as stuffing in samgyetang.
- Use:
Sticky rice cakes, Batter- Storage:
Keep in the cabinet.- Short Korean lesson:
ChapSsal (찹쌀)=Sweet Rice
GaRu (가루)=Powder
Shin RaMyun, a spicy (辛) noodle soup produced by food company Nong Shim, originated in South Korea and has been exported abroad to over 80 different countries worldwide. This type of noodle has obtained a cult-like following by lovers of its spicy flavor. Its unique taste was developed in the company’s research labs and from there, it has since became the No. 1 selling noodle in an already saturated market.
- Use:
Ramen Noodles, Ingredient for RaBokKi- Storage:
Keep in the cabinet.- Types:
Cup Shin RaMyun, Normal Shin RaMyun- Short Korean lesson:
Shin (신, (辛, Chinese))=Spicy
RaMyun (라면)=Ramen Noodles
There are hundreds of different kinds of Tteok (떡) eaten year round. In Korea, it is customary to eat TteokGuk (떡국) on New Year’s Day. This special type of rice cake is for that soup.
Short Korean Lesson:
Slowly add 1½ cups of water, stirring it gently.
The rice flour will be crumbly.
Prepare a wet cheesecloth. Place the cheese cloth in a steamer.
Add the rice flour on top of the cheesecloth.
Once the water starts to boil, steam the rice flour for about 20 minutes on high.
In a bowl, add 1½ cups of cold water and 1 tsp of sesame oil. If you don’t like sesame oil, you can use normal cooking oil instead.
After 20 minutes, the rice flour will be cooked.
Wear cotton gloves before placing the plastic gloves over your hands. This will help prevent your hands from becoming burnt. The dough will be hot!
Use a bread machine to knead the dough. I used the pizza dough setting for 25 minutes. It is very important to knead the dough thoroughly for the gluten to fully develop and become sticky, so I do not recommend taking any shortcuts with this step. =P
If you don’t have a bread machine, you can make the sticky rice cakes with 1½ cups of rice flour and 1½ cups of sweet rice flour instead of 3 cups of rice flour. Hand-knead the dough for at about 10 minutes. Rice cakes made this way will be inferior to using a machine; hand-kneading does not make a good texture for the rice cakes.
When you handle the dough, cover your hands and the board with a little oil and water so that the dough will not stick to things. Take some of the dough and round it. Roll it on a board with your hands until it becomes about half an inch in diameter.
For tteokbokki or tteokggochi, cut it into 2 inch pieces.
For tteokguk tteok, roll the dough into a 1 inch diameter, and leave it at room temperature for one day before you cut it.
If you put some water on your knife, it makes it easier to cut. After waiting one day, slice it diagonally into ¼ inch pieces.
Put the rice cakes in freezer bags and store them in the freezer.
