Kimchimari

  Kongjaban was my all time favorite lunchbox banchan (side dish) when I was a kid. My most happy lunchbox(도시락 doshirak) always included at least 2 of the following: Kongjaban, Sauteed string potatoes, Jangjorim, Oeji (pickled cucumbers) and  Gim (roasted sea laver). My school day mornings passed by more quickly and happily when I knew I had […]

I am actually best known for my Myulchi Bokkeum among my friends and family. And it’s probably one of the dish I make the most. So I’m not sure why I haven’t posted this before…I guess I really didn’t think that it was anything special..but then recently eating at a restaurant, I realized how the […]

Buchimgae is such a simple dish and yet the many possible variations makes it a must have in your everyday repertoire of Korean recipes. It is most delicious when it is just directly off the hot pan, freshly cooked, still steaming hot. The simplest version has just one kind of vegetable such as zucchini, chives […]

So what do these braised lotus roots (연근조림 Yeongeun/Yeongn/Yeonkeun Jorim) remind me of? It totally brings back fond memories from my high school days, eating lunch boxes with my friends, sharing our banchan (반찬 – side dish) together. And this was certainly one of my top favorites to have in the lunch box. It is […]

This Oyi Namul(오이나물) is also sometimes called Oyi Bokkeum (오이볶음) which literally means cucumber stir fry. When you saw the name of the dish, you might have thought – “What? Stir fry cucumbers? How can that taste good?”.  But you will be surprised how good this tastes – the slightly pickled cucumbers have such a […]

These jeons serve as a great side dish to any Korean meal with spicy soups or jjigaes. They are also great for lunchboxes because they keep well and taste good even when they are not warm. The only thing is that it takes a bit of effort and time to make it, and that’s why […]

This is the quickest and easiest way to make Joomukbap if you don’t have the time or don’t want to get into making the rice, etc.  My trick is to use Trader Joe’s frozen Yaki Onigiri (Baked Japanese Rice Triangle)! I posted the full recipe of the Korean Samgak Joomukbap recently so if you want […]

When my daughter was in high school, I think I made Joomukbap at least 3 times a week for her lunch. Because of her intolerance to gluten (although she tested negative for Celiac disease, we know for sure that she did not do well with gluten foods), we had to come up with lunch menus […]