Yangpa Jangajji (Korean Pickled Onions)

Moving on from sharehousing to living just with The Boyfriend has been so much nicer than I anticipated. I knew that I would enjoy it but I didn’t know that I would enjoy it this much. When we first moved in I would just walk from room to room to remind myself that, yes, you really do have all of this space! Our furniture has trickled in gradually and using our new dining table for the first time, after 5 years of eating in front of the TV, felt pretty spectacular.

These pickled onions are an attempt the replicate my favourite side dish at my favourite Korean restaurant, Madtongsan 2. Their pickled onions blow my mind and I was determined that they would be mine. Another reason to love pickles (like I need one?) is how long they will hang out in your fridge for, just getting better with age. You can also use the pickling liquid as a spicy dipping sauce for Korean pancakes or any other dippable savouries in your life.

Yangpa Jangajji (Korean Pickled Onions)

Adapted from Korean Pickled Onion: Yangpa Jangajji Recipe over at Asian at Home.

1 3/4 cup water

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup sugar

1 cup white vinegar

1 lemon

2 1/2 white onions

1 large red chilli

In a medium saucepan over high heat combine the water, soy sauce, sugar and white vinegar.

Stir to dissolve the sugar and bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and squeeze in all the juice from the lemon, set aside.

Peel and cut the onions into bite sized pieces and slice the chillies.

In a large airtight jar (mine is about 1L) alternate layers of onion with the pieces of chilli until used up.

Pour the warm pickling liquid into the jar with the onions until they are covered (if you have left over pickling liquid you can use it as a dipping sauce for Korean pancakes).

Cover tightly with the lid and allow to cool completely on your kitchen counter.

When it’s cool, place in the fridge for 1-2 days before eating (you can eat it straight away but I like them really pickled before I go to town on them).

Mu-Pickle (Radish Pickles)

Get ready for an influx of Korean recipes, I’m working my way through Maangchi’s book. I’ve even bought it for my step-dad, who seems to have fallen in love with Korean food (an interesting dalliance for an Irishman). If you are already a fan of Maangchi’s videos and recipes then this book has some content that isn’t on her website. Hard to believe considering the variety and number that are already available on the web. If you can get a few banchan (side dishes) under your belt then every night will feel like a feast.

These pickles pair well with spicy food, they cool your mouth down and give you a break from the burn. As you may have guessed from the picture, I didn’t cut my radish exactly as small as the recipe says. This wasn’t a problem, I just let the radish pickle for 2 days before I went to town on it. I found the radish at a Korean supermarket but I think Japanese radish would work in a pinch. I used 2 Korean radish (radishes? radishii?) but you proably only need one Japanese radish because they are waaay bigger.

Mu-Pickle (Radish Pickles)

Recipe slightly adapted from Maangchi’s Real Korean Cooking.

1 1/3 cup caster sugar

1 1/3 cup white vinegar

4 tbsp coarse sea salt

3 cups water

900g Korean radish, cut into 7mm cubes

Mix the sugar, vinegar, salt and water in a small bowl until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved.

Place the radish in a glass jar and pour over the prepared liquid (make sure that the liquid covers the radish completely).

Refrigerate for at least 24 hours before eating.

Can be kept in the fridge for up to one month.

Strawberry and Lime Marmalade

When I first started making jam I would follow recipes to the letter, add pectin and all that jazz. As I’ve got more practice and relaxed a little bit I’ve found that jam is very forgiving and you can get great results without all of the worrying. I never time how long my mixture simmers for anymore and I add a lot less sugar than most recipes call for. The usual weight ratio of fruit to sugar is 1:1 which results in a classic super sweet jam but I don’t find that very appealing anymore. That’s where this jam/marmalade comes in. There is just enough sugar to balance the lime juice, resulting in a very tart and refreshing final product. Most people that I have fed this too have commented on how much they enjoy the sour hit from the limes and the fact that it’s not too sweet. The original recipe calls for lemons but limes are my spirit food so I used them instead. Once when I was low on limes I substituted in some orange zest and it worked beautifully (I wouldn’t substitute orange juice for the lime juice though, unless you wanted it to be less tart). There is no pectin in this recipe so when you refrigerate it the marmalade will be soft set but still hold it’s shape on a spoon. I call this a marmalade because of all the lime zest but it is so small that you’re not chewing on bits of peel like a traditional marmalade (which I prefer).

I got the chance to make this because we spent a night at the farm of a friends parents and her step-father was nice enough to tip me off to a local strawberry grower with great prices (Thanks Glenn!). I picked up 1.5kg of strawberries for $10 and I knew that this marmalade would be the first thing I made with them. If strawberries aren’t in season in your part of the world then experiment with other fruits while you wait, or even go for frozen strawberries if you can’t be patient.

Strawberry and Lime Marmalade

Inspired by Lindsay and Taylor’s Strawberry and Meyer Lemon Marmalade over at Love & Olive Oil.

2 1/4 cups chopped strawberries

1 cup caster sugar

zest of 6 limes

1/2 cup lime juice

Mix the strawberries and sugar in a large saucepan, allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Add in the rest of the ingredients and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, cook until the mixture reduces by about half, approximately 30 minutes.

If you would like smaller pieces of strawberry in your marmalade, mash with a potato masher until it reaches desired consistency.

Sterilise two small jars and transfer the hot marmalade into them.

Screw on the lids and allow to cool at room temperature, if you hear the lids pop then they have sealed and your jam will keep for around 3 months, if you don’t hear the lids pop then keep in the fridge and use within 3 weeks.