The recipe for a Korean feast of noodles, fritters, pickles and salad

by Jordan Bourke   –   theguardian

A few cupboard ingredients can be conjured into a simple Korean feast of chicken noodles, fish fritters, onion salad and pickled radish – greater than the sum of its parts and guaranteed to bring some color to a rainy day.

Touching down at a grey, sodden Heathrow airport on a Sunday morning after a sunshine-filled holiday inevitably awakens that “back-to-school” feeling. Luckily, my clever wife makes sure we have the essentials for a restorative and comforting feast as soon as we get home. Being Korean, and knowing how obsessed I am with the vibrant and addictive flavours of her homeland, she opts for traditional Korean fare.

The great thing about Korean cooking is most of the flavouring ingredients have a long shelf life, so they will happily sit in your store cupboard until needed. For example, gochujang – the spicy fermented soybean paste used here in the chicken hotpot – lasts for months on end and can transform a dish in minutes to something deeply flavourful and utterly delicious.

This selection of dishes will make a generous feast packed with different flavours and textures. One of my favourite aspects of the Korean meal is how it is a communal celebration of food. It isn’t split into courses; instead you are presented with a big table of small dishes, each one complementing the other. Here, the chicken, vegetable and noodle hotpot is delicious on its own, but the additional dishes elevate the meal to something greater than the sum of its parts.

Chicken, vegetable and noodle hotpot

The noodles in this dish are made from sweet potato starch and have an unusual consistency, so for this reason, we would encourage you to seek them out in your local Asian store, or buy them online from websites such as Sous Chef. If you can’t find them, use regular glass noodles. Traditionally this dish is made withoutgochujang, the ubiquitous Korean chilli paste made from fermented soy beans. However, we love the smoky heat it imparts, so we usually add a teaspoon or two to the sauce. If you have an aversion to heat, feel free to leave it out.

Serves 4–6
120g Korean sweet potato glass noodles (dang myeon)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
800g chicken (cut of your choice)
2 sweet potatoes, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 large onion, diced
2 whole dried chillies (optional)
6 garlic cloves, crushed
4cm piece of ginger, very finely grated
½ red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
½ green chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

For the sauce
5 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp honey
1½ tbsp roasted sesame seed oil
1-2 tsp gochujang or doenjang (optional)
½ tsp black pepper
700ml chicken stock or water

1 Put the noodles into a bowl, cover with water and leave to soak.

2 Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based pan with a lid over a high heat. Add the chicken and fry for 3–4 minutes on all sides, or until golden brown.

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3 Remove from the pan, then add the potatoes, carrot, onion and dried chillies if using. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4 Add the garlic and ginger and fry for 1 minute. Return the chicken to the pan together with all the sauce ingredients. Cover and bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.

5 Drain the noodles and add them to the pan with the chicken. Put the lid on and simmer for another 5 minutes until the chicken, vegetables and noodles are cooked through.

6 Serve in bowls with the sliced chillies scattered over.

Cod and courgette fritters
This is a very simple dish, best eaten straight off the pan – make sure the fish and courgette are sliced up and ready to go, so they can be fried at the last moment when all the other dishes are on the table.

For the fritters
300g firm white fish fillets (cod, snapper, sole), skinned and deboned
300g courgettes, cut into thick rounds
200g plain or white spelt flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Vegetable oil, to fry
Sea salt and ground white pepper

For the dipping sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1½ tsp rice wine vinegar
½ tsp toasted sesame seeds

1 Slice the fish into ½cm-thick slices, about 6cm long. Spread them out on a plate and season. On a separate plate, do the same with the sliced courgette.

2 Put the flour and beaten egg into two separate bowls and position beside your stovetop.

3 Add 1 tbsp vegetable oil to a large pan set over a medium heat. In batches, coat the fish and courgette slices in flour, then dip into the egg mixture, and transfer to the hot pan. Fry for 2 minutes on each side until golden, remove to a heatproof dish and keep warm while you fry the rest. Add more oil as you go, if needed. (Keep the heat at medium: if it is too high it will burn the outside before the inside is cooked; if the heat is too low you will end up with soggy fritters.)

4 In a bowl, combine the ingredients for the dipping sauce and serve immediately with the fish and courgette fritters.

Spring onion salad

10 spring onions, halved lengthways
3 tsp roasted sesame seed oil
2½ tsp gochugaru (Korean chilli powder), or chilli flakes
Sea salt
½ tsp black sesame seeds

1 Slice the halved spring onions into very thin 5cm lengths and submerge in a bowl of ice-cold water. Cover and refrigerate until they have curled up.

2 When ready to serve, remove from the fridge, drain thoroughly and pat dry with kitchen paper.

3 Put the spring onions in a bowl and gently combine with the oil and gochugaru or chilli flakes. Season to taste and serve immediately with the sesame seeds scattered over.

Quick pickled radish

200g daikon radish, peeled and cut into thin julienne strips
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 spring onion, very finely chopped
1 garlic clove, very finely chopped
1½ tsp gochugaru (Korean chilli powder), or chilli flakes
1½ tsp rice wine vinegar
1½ tsp honey
½ tsp sesame seeds

1 Combine the radish and salt in a bowl and leave to one side for 10 minutes. Put into a sieve and gently squeeze out any excess liquid. Do not rinse.

2 Return the radish to a dry bowl and combine with the remaining ingredients. Taste and adjust the seasoning with a little more salt or chilli powder/flakes if needed. This dish can be made in advance, refrigerated in an airtight container, and will last for up to 3 days.