Below are some recipes to try. Just click on what interests your appetite.

• Pibimpap
• Haemul Chon-gol (seafood stew)
• Chon

Raw eggs are used in Pibimpap, which are cooked from the hot ingredients

• 1/4 lb. chopped or ground beef
  
• 1 t. medium soy sauce
  
• ½ t. sesame oil
  
• pinch black pepper
  
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced into rings
  
• 1 clove garlic, crushed and finely chopped
  
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced into 1-inch rounds, sprinkled with a little salt
  
• ½ large carrot, sliced into matchstick size pieces, sprinkled with a little salt
  
• 1/4 lb bellflower roots (toraji in Korean), soaked in warm water until soft and shredded, sprinkled with a little salt *
  
• 3 large shiitake mushrooms, shredded, sprinkled with a little salt
  
• 2-3 t sesame oil
  
• 1/8 lb bean sprouts (soy bean is usual), sprinkled with salt, sesame oil and a small amount of finely chopped garlic sesame seeds
  
• Red pepper paste, to taste **
  
• 1 egg per person
  
• 3 cups raw rice, steamed ***
  
• 4-6 whole Romaine or green leaf lettuce leaves

Have all the ingredients cut, soaked, and seasoned ready for cooking. Prepare rice by steaming. While rice is cooking prepare the rest. Mix together in a small bowl 1 t. medium soy sauce, ½ t. sesame oil, pinch black pepper, 1 green onion, thinly sliced into rings, and 1 clove garlic, crushed and finely chopped. Add beef and mix together. Let stand. Heat a deep, heavy skillet, or wok until hot. Add 1 t sesame oil. When hot add beef and stir fry quickly. Set aside. Heat 1 t sesame oil in hot pan. Add cucumber slices. Stir fry quickly: cucumber should retain its color and remain crunchy. Remove from pan and set aside. Add 1 t sesame oit to hot pan and stir fry the carrot sticks the same way. Remove and set aside. Cook bellflower roots an shiitake mushrooms sequentially in the same way. Remove and set aside. Fry eggs in same pan, sunny side up. Keep warm. When ready to serve, place lettuce leaf in individual serving bowls. Place a mound of hot cooked rice on the leaf in the bowl. Place small mounds of beef, cucumbers, carrots, bellflower roots, shiitake mushrooms and bean sprouts. Sprinkle sesame seeds on bean sprouts, or any other ingredient you like. Place cooked egg on top. Serve at once, while hot, with small bowl of red pepper chile paste. To eat, have ready a long handled Korean spoon. Add as much pepper paste as desired and stir the whole all together. Do not be shy, mix well. Add more pepper paste to taste.

Serves 4-6

* Dried bellflower roots can be found at Korean grocery stores, or from specialized mail order houses. If you cannot find them, omit or try slicing daikon (large Asian radish) into matchsticks and season in the same way.

** Red pepper pastes can be found in many Asian markets, or by mail order. Do not use hot Mexican or Southwestern-style sauces!

***Koreans prefer short or medium grain rice that is cooked until slightly sticky.

An important ingredient for Haemul Chon-gol

Haemul Chon-gol:

• ½ lb Nappa cabbage, sliced diagonally into shreds
  
• 1/4 onion, sliced into thick strips
  
• 1/4 lb. green onions, sliced diagonally
  
• 1/4 lb. bamboo shoots, thinly sliced
  
• 1/8 lb mushrooms, thinly sliced
  
• 1/4 lb squid, cleaned, scored, and parboiled*
  
• 1/4 lb octopus, cleaned, cut into 2-inch pieces, and parboiled
  
• 1/4 lb. fresh scallops, score against the grain
  
• 100 fresh oysters (meat, not shells), cleaned
  
• 4 medium sized clams (meat, not shells), cleaned
  
• 1/4 lb chrysanthemum leaves**
  
• 3 cups chicken or beef broth

Seasoning Sauce:

• 2 T. chicken or beef broth
  
• 1 t. ginger juice (or 2-3 slices fresh ginger crushed an finely chopped)
  
• 2 T. garlic, finely chopped
  
• 2 T. red pepper powder
  
• salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

Prepare vegetables and seafood. Arrange the vegetables in the bottom of a large, heavy pan. Add broth and bring to boil. Add seafood and seasoning mixture to taste while boiling. Add chrysanthemum leaves. Reduce to simmer and cook for about 5 minutes, or until all the ingredients are heated through. Place pan in middle of table and allow each diner to serve themselves.

Serves 4.

* To score squid, cut shallow grooves on the interior of squid in opposite diagonals, so that diamond shapes are formed. To parboil, heat enough water to cover in a pan. Then plunge squid into water for about 30 seconds, no more than 1 minute. Remove from water and drain.

** Chrysanthemum leaves are available in Asian markets. If dried, soak until rehydrated and soft.

Chon, pan-fried vegetables and seafood.

Chon

Chon or Jon is a category of battered and fried foods, something like pancakes. Pajon means green onions pankaces, Hobakchon are zucchini pancakes and Saengsonjon are battered, fried fish filets. Vegetable pancakes , or Chaesochon, are served at many meals any time of the day and are absolutely delectable.

• 1 cup flour (Koreans use white wheat flour, cornstarch, mung bean flour and other varieties)
  
• 1 cup cold water
  
• 2 eggs, beaten
  
• 1 T. salt
  
• Extra flour
  
• 1-2 "Japanese" eggplants (these are long and thin), sliced into 1/4- inch thick sticks
  
• 1-2 small zucchini, sliced into 1/4- inch thick sticks
  
• 1-2 medium carrots, sliced into 1/4- inch thick sticks
  
• 1 large Russet potato, peeled, sliced into 1/8- inch thick slices
  
• 1 large green pepper, sliced into 1/8- inch thick slices
  
• 2-3 green onions (green part only), sliced lengthwise into 1/8- inch thick strips
  

Cooking oil (canola or peanut oil is best)
Beat together 1 cup flour and water and beaten eggs until smooth in a wide-mouthed bowl. Set out flour on a plate. Dredge vegetables in flour and then in batter. Meanwhile heat 1-2 T. oil in a large heavy skillet until hot. Place battered vegetables in hot oil and fry over medium (not high) heat until batter is tan-colored on the outside. Cook each vegetable in sequence beginning with the potatoes. As each batch is done, drain on paper towels and keep warm. Add more oil as needed. Test potatoes for doneness by probing with fork. Eggplants are done when batter is tan-brown and zucchini is done when it turns bright green.

This is good with a sauce called yangnyomjang.

• 1 T. medium soy sauce
  
• 1/2 t. sugar
  
• 1/4 t. vinegar
  
• 1 t. red pepper powder
  
• 2 t. chopped green onion
  
• 1 t. sesame oil
  
• 1 T. toasted sesame seeds
  

Mix all ingredients except sesame seeds together in a small bowl. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve sprinkled on chon.