My Yuk Gae Jang

Been dying to attempt Yuk Gae Jang for awhile now but couldn't be arsed to start for some reason or other.

In the end, the thing that sealed the deal for me, was the little korean shop across my office. The Lady owner was nice and smiley (rather than the usual korean shops in Singapore where the lady owners literally SCOWL at you whenever you asked for a little assistance... don't ask me what's up with that).

Anyway, it started with just a long metal soup spoon and a pair of chopsticks, all of which cost me $6.50. It wasn't even very good quality stuff but from there on, came the snacks, the Zha Jiang Mian, the sweets, the drinks, and finally... Yuk Gae Jang.

This recipe required a little Back-To-Basics reading on what a green onion was... to me the large green onion looked like a leek but the nice grocer says it isn't the same and this was called 北蔥. The hardest part of the ingredient were solved at the Korean store... Kosari (a type of mountain fern) and Hot Pepper Powder (which seems to be regular chilli powder).

This is my version of it:

1 stalk Green Onion (chop into bitesized lengths, including the top green leaves)
1 bunch Kosari (dried* or fresh) (Translation of Bunch: perhaps 20 stalks?
1 handful Yellow Bean Beansprouts (tails removed) (Translation: Whatever amount you fancy)
2 stalks Celery
2 Cloves Garlic
250gm Beef

*Dried Kosari should be boiled for 30 mins, drained (throw the water away).

Seasoning
3 tbsp Hot Pepper Powder (more if you are a fiery dragon)
Vegetable Oil
Sesame Oil
Soy Sauce
Salt
MSG


1) Boil the chunk of Beef over a low fire.
2) Whilst the beef is cooking, start chopping the celery, Green Onions and Kosari into bite sized chunks.
3) Mince the garlic.
4) In a separate bowl, mix the Hot Pepper Powder, about 2 tbsp Veg. oil & a splash of Sesame Oil and salt. Mix till slightly liquified, being careful not to add too much oil though.
5) You could opt to marinate the veggies in the sauce mixture, or you could just chuck everything into the boiling water once the beef is done.
6) By now, the beef should be done, remove it from pot, leaving pot of water boiling.
7) Throw in the veggies and sauce, close the lid and cook over low heat.
8) Slice the beef.
9) Just before the soup is done, when all the veggies have softened, throw in the beef and bring it to a brisk boil. Turn off the fire and keep the lid closed till ready to eat.
10) Serve with a bowl of steamed short grain rice

p.s. The Koreans dunk the entire bowl of rice into the soup and eat it with kimchi. You could do that or opt to fish out the veggies and beef, over mouthfuls of kimchi and soup. Totally up to the individual.