Sea mustard soup with dried pollack

Koreans often eat sea mustard soup bon gre, mal gre. Womem eat this soup after childbirth for long time. Traditionally, this soup is one of the birthday menus.
There are a lot of iodine and calcium in sea mustard. This helps to clean blood.
According to old books, there is storty that whale ate sea mustard after childbirth.
Also we can make lots of variations with different ingredients, for example, beef, dried pollack, chicken, fish, clam and so on.
I made soup with dried pollack in this time.

Ingredients : dried sea mustard(300g), dried pollack(500g), sesame oil, soy sauce, water

1. Macerate(soak) the dried sea mustard in water for 1~2 hours.

Wash the sea mustard and cut into bite size.

2. Cut the dried pollack into bite size and soak them in water for a little while.
Squeeze them and put the pot with sesame oil.

3. Stir-fry dried pollack for 2~3 minutes and add sea mustard on them.
Stir-fry them for another 2~3 minutes.
4. After stir-frying, pour water(2~3 liters) and season with soysauce.
5. Boil it until sea mustard turns soft.

Korean vegetable salad series No. 2 - 4 types of Spring vegetable salads

There are a lot of herbs(vegetables) in Spring seasons. For example, shepherd's purse(naeng-i), wild chive(dallae), amaranth(pigweed, bireum namul), sebal namul(no English name), canola, wild parsnip(bangpoong namul), and so on.

I used 4 types of blanced salad with 4 types of seasonings using salt, soysauce, soybean paste, and redpepper paste.

Ingredients : Canola, amaranth, sebal namul, wild parsnip, crushed garlic, salt, soysauce, soybean paste, redpepper paste, sesame oil, sesame powder.

To begin with let's check the vegetables!

canola

sebal namul

wild parsnip(bangpoong namul)

amaranth(bireum namul)

 

Blanch them!

canola

sebal namul

wild parsnip

amaranth

1. Canola.
Cut the blanched canola in bite size and put 1ts of garlic, 1TS of soybean paste, 2TS of redpepper paste.(The ratio of soybean and redpepper bean is 1: 2)

Mix them well and add sesame oil!

2. Sebal namul
Cut the blanched sebal namul in bite size and put 1ts of garlic, 1TS of soysauce, sesame oil and mix them. Add sesame powder when serving!

3. Wild parsnip(Bangpoong namul)
Cut the blanched wild parsnip in bite size and put 1ts of garlic, 2TS of soybean paste, sesame oil and mix them. Add sesame powder when serving!

 

 4. Amaranth
Cut the blanched amaranth in bite size and put 1ts of garlic, 2ts of salt, sesame oil and mix them. Add sesame powder when serving!

 

It isn't hard to make salad as above, if you season to suit for your taste, I think.
Roughly, the taste of Spring vegetables is bitter. That bitter taste make your taste healthy.

Vegetable pancake

There are a lot of vegetables menus in Korean food, because Korea was farming society.
So, Spring is the start season of eating fresh vegetables while dried & fermented vegetables during Winter.
Today food is vegetable pancake using seanson's vegetables.

Ingredients : vegetables(canola, chamnamul, sebal namul), flour, oil, water
(There are special flour for pancake in supermarket in Korea, but you can use just flour.)

1. Make batter waterly.
2. Mix it with vegetables.

3. Make batter to flat on the pan in appropriate size.

4. Turn over it after one side is done.
5. Enjoy vegetable pancake with soysauce!

Flower pancake in Spring!

Tranditionally, in Spring seasons, women go to picnic and enjoy flower pancakes with spring flowers.
We call it Hwajeon.(Hwa means flower, jeon means pancake)
Spring flowers, such as azalea, apricot flower(ume flower) and garden balsam are used for flower pancake. However, due to the air pollution, I have to use edible flowers.

Ingredients : glutinous rice(sticky rice), salt, edible flower, oil, honey(or sorts of syrup)

1. Wash the glutinous rice until water is clear.
2. Put the washed rice in the clean water for 4~5 hours.
3. Put the rice in the sieve for 1 hour to get rid of water.
4. Grind and make rice flour, then sift rice flour with fine sieve.
5. Add salt a little and knead rice flour with hot water.

6. Break off rice flour paste into chestnut size and flatten it out into circle.
7. Griddle it with small oil on the low heat pan.
8. After one side is done and turnover it.
9. Paste the flower on the done pancake and take off from pan.
10. Cool down it and add syrup, Enjoy!

If you use another wild flower not from market, you should detach stamen of flower. Pollen may cause alergy.