Monday, November 23, 2015

Essential Ingredients for preparing Korean foods


Robert P. Givens is the president of RPG Consulting LLC, where he offers strategic planning, operations process development, and corporate leadership development. Having traveled around the world, Robert P. Givens enjoys eating and cooking a variety of cuisines, including Korean. Like most cuisines, Korean food relies on several essential ingredients. By stocking up on these items and learning how to use them, a cook may prepare many tasty dishes.

The first essential ingredient is sticky short grain rice, also known as sushi rice, which is used daily in Korean meals. A good Korean pantry also will have two soy sauces on hand: a dark soy sauce known as jinganjang and a lighter, saltier soy sauce called gukganjang. Either will work in recipes, but the lighter sauce also can be replaced with fish sauce or a combination of the darker sauce and salt. Another essential Korean ingredient is a fermented soy bean paste called doenjang, which is used in many dishes as well as dipping sauces. Good doenjang smells earthy and has a light color and should be stored in the refrigerator upon use.

Other essential ingredients include hot pepper paste, hot pepper flakes, toasted sesame oil, fish sauce, and toasted sesame seeds.