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771 recipes

Torantang (taro soup)

Torantang is the soup of Chuseok all over Korea: taro is dug up just as the harvest moon festival arrives, and its name, 'egg of the earth', makes it a natural thanks for the year's crops. Elders also say it settles the stomach after days of rich jeon and rice cakes. The broth is clean and gently beefy with a sea-sweet depth from kelp, and the taro turns silky and creamy, almost like a soft potato. Serve it piping hot with rice, kimchi and the holiday jeon. Chef's tip: wear gloves when peeling taro, which makes bare skin itch, and parboil it before it goes into the soup so the broth stays clear.

75 minKoreanSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gotgam-ssam (walnut-stuffed dried persimmon rounds)

Sangju in North Gyeongsang is Korea's dried-persimmon capital, and in Andong and across the region gotgam-ssam is a sweet for Seollal and Chuseok tables and for welcoming guests in winter. Soft dried persimmons are opened out flat, rolled tightly around a row of walnut halves and sliced, so each round shows a pattern like a flower. They are chewy and honeyed from the fruit, with crunchy, slightly bitter walnuts in the middle. Serve them with sujeonggwa, the cinnamon-ginger punch, or with a cup of roasted barley tea. It is naturally egg-free: the sticky dried fruit is its own glue, and a short chill firms the roll so it slices neatly. Chef's tip: wrap the roll tightly in cling film and chill it before slicing; the common mistake is slicing it straight away, which squashes the rounds and lets the walnuts fall out.

19 minKoreanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Quinotos en almíbar (Argentine kumquats in syrup)

In Buenos Aires and the river provinces of the Litoral, kumquat trees ripen in the middle of winter, between June and August, and the fruit goes straight into jars of syrup. Grandmothers' pantries held quinotos for the whole year, brought out for birthdays and long Sunday lunches. Each little fruit turns glossy orange and translucent, with a soft, bittersweet skin and a sharp, juicy centre. Spoon them over vanilla ice cream, serve them with a slice of fresh cheese in the style of postre vigilante, or eat them straight from the jar. Many bar menus offer them steeped in spirits; this version keeps only the syrup. Naturally egg-free, the quinotos rely on sugar syrup to preserve them, while pectin from the peel gives the syrup a light, jammy body. Chef's tip: blanch the fruit three times from cold water; the common mistake is skipping this, which leaves the skins tough and bitter.

120 minArgentinianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hwayangjeok (colourful skewers)

Hwayangjeok, made across Korea for Chuseok and Seollal, means something like 'flower-bright skewers': strips of seasoned beef, shiitake, carrot, yellow pickled radish, cucumber and egg are cooked separately and threaded side by side, so each skewer shows the five traditional colours (obangsaek) that stand for balance and good fortune on the ancestral table. Every bite mixes savoury, sweet soy beef with crunchy, tangy radish and soft egg. They are served at room temperature as part of the holiday spread, with rice, soup and other jeon. Chef's tip: cut every ingredient to the same length and thickness before you start; that is what makes the stripes look sharp.

60 minKoreanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gochu jeon (stuffed chilli pancakes)

Gochu jeon bring a flash of green to the jeon platter that Korean families fry together, often for hours, before Seollal and Chuseok, when jeon are laid out for the ancestors and then shared by everyone. Long, mild green chillies are split and filled with a pork and tofu stuffing, so each boat is half crisp, sweet-grassy pepper and half juicy, savoury filling, with only a little warmth. They hold well, which is why they are made ahead for the holiday. Serve with a vinegar and soy dip, steamed rice and kimchi. Chef's tip: choose straight, mild chillies (Korean green chillies, Anaheim or long Turkish peppers); curly hot ones are hard to fill and too fierce for a platter.

40 minKoreanSnacks & Starters
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Yeot-gangjeong (nut and sesame bars in rice syrup)

Yeot-gangjeong is a traditional Korean hangwa made all over the country, especially in the weeks before Seollal and Chuseok, when trays of these bars are given as gifts and set out for visitors. Toasted nuts, sesame seeds and puffed rice are folded into hot rice syrup, pressed flat and cut into bars that are crunchy, nutty and only gently sweet, with a faint malty flavour from the syrup. Serve them with green tea or sikhye, the sweet rice drink, or pack them for a lunchbox. They are naturally egg-free: rice syrup, heated until it bubbles, acts as the glue and sets firm as it cools. Chef's tip: cut the slab while it is still warm. The common mistake is waiting until it is cold, when the bars shatter instead of slicing cleanly.

25 minKoreanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Turrón de maníPeanut nougat

On an Argentine Christmas Eve, after midnight toasts, the 'mesa dulce' appears with pan dulce, garrapiñadas and turrón de maní: a chewy white nougat of honey, sugar, whipped egg white and roasted peanuts, often set between two sheets of rice paper. Families make it in the days before Nochebuena. The egg white is cooked by the hot syrup. It is gluten free if you use gluten-free wafer paper or none. Chef's tip: work fast once the syrup is in, as the nougat stiffens as it cools and gets hard to spread.

60 minArgentinianDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Dasik (Korean pressed tea cakes)

Dasik are small pressed tea cakes stamped with patterns of flowers, characters for long life and good fortune, made across Korea for Chuseok, weddings and the tables set for ancestral rites. Powders of roasted grain, black sesame or yellow pine pollen are kneaded with honey and pressed into carved wooden moulds, so a single plate shows contrasting colours. They are dense and melt slowly, tasting of toasted nuts and honey, and they are always served with tea: green tea, or a tea of jujube or citron. This version makes two colours, roasted soybean and black sesame. They are naturally egg-free: honey binds the powders and lets them hold the fine pattern of the mould. Chef's tip: add the honey a teaspoon at a time; the common mistake is too much, which makes a sticky dough that blurs the pattern and won't leave the mould.

35 minKoreanDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Surichwi-tteok (Dano wheel rice cakes)

Dano, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, was once called surit-nal, and the green surichwi-tteok of Gangwon and the rest of Korea carries that name: the cakes are pounded with surichwi (Korean mountain aster) and pressed with a cartwheel stamp, since 'suri' was read as 'wheel', a wish for the year to roll on smoothly and for good health as summer heat sets in. The leaves give a grassy, faintly bitter scent and a deep green fleck, and the steamed rice is pounded until it turns chewy and bouncy. If you can't find surichwi, mugwort (ssuk) powder or dried mugwort works well; the flavour is a little more herbal and the cakes are just as traditional in spirit. Serve at room temperature with cold omija hwachae or barley tea. Chef's tip: pound the rice while it is still steaming hot; once it cools it tightens and will never go smooth.

120 minKoreanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pyogo jeon (stuffed shiitake pancakes)

No Seollal or Chuseok table in Korea is complete without a platter of jeon, and pyogo jeon are among the prettiest: shiitake caps packed with a filling of minced pork and tofu, then fried in a thin egg coat so the dark mushroom edge frames a golden centre. Mushrooms were prized offerings on the ancestral (charye) table, and stuffed jeon show the care put into the holiday meal. They are juicy and savoury, with the shiitake giving an earthy, meaty bite. Serve warm or at room temperature with a soy and vinegar dip, alongside other jeon and a bowl of tteokguk; the last step gives an all-tofu vegetarian filling. Chef's tip: dust the gills with flour before stuffing; it acts as glue and stops the filling popping out in the pan.

40 minKoreanSnacks & Starters
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Saeu jeon (shrimp pancakes)Prawn pancakes

Saeu jeon are a celebratory addition to the jeon platter for Seollal and Chuseok in homes all over Korea; prawns, with their bent backs, have long stood for a wish to live until you are old and stooped. Butterflied and pressed flat, each prawn turns into a neat golden fan with a pink tail, sweet and tender inside a soft egg coat. Children love them, and they disappear faster than anything else on the table. Serve with a soy-vinegar dip, japchae and rice. Chef's tip: make a few shallow cuts across the inner belly before flattening; it stops the prawns curling up in the pan.

25 minKoreanFish
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kkaennip jeon (stuffed perilla leaf pancakes)

For Chuseok and Seollal, Korean kitchens turn out tray after tray of jeon for the ancestral table, and kkaennip jeon are a fragrant favourite: whole perilla leaves are folded like a half-moon around minced pork, tofu and vegetables, then fried in egg. Perilla tastes of mint, anise and basil all at once, and its scent cuts through the richness of the holiday spread. Each little parcel is soft and juicy inside, with a thin, golden shell. Serve them with a soy-vinegar dip, rice and soup, or tuck them into a lunchbox the day after. Chef's tip: lay the leaves shiny side down so the matt, rougher side holds the flour and filling.

40 minKoreanSnacks & Starters
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Omija hwachae (five-flavour berry punch)

Across Korea, Dano marks the start of the hot season, and a bowl of hwachae is the old way to cool down. Omija means 'five flavours': the dried schisandra berries are sour, sweet, salty, bitter and pungent at once, and steeping them gives a ruby-pink drink that is tart and bright, said to refresh the body against summer fatigue. Honey is the traditional sweetener; sugar syrup keeps this version vegan and entirely alcohol-free. Float thin pear flowers and a few pine nuts on top and serve it beside tteok or yakgwa. Chef's tip: steep the berries in cold water only, because hot water pulls out their bitterness and the colour turns murky.

30 minKoreanDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Poolaki (Isfahan saffron sugar discs)Saffron caramel discs

Poolaki are the glassy, coin-thin sugar discs of Isfahan, sold in tins in the bazaar near Naqsh-e Jahan square and served with tea in Iranian homes, especially at Nowruz and when guests drop by. Instead of stirring sugar into the glass, you hold a disc on your tongue and sip strong black tea through it. They snap cleanly, then melt into a light caramel scented with saffron, sometimes with cardamom or a scatter of pistachio. They are naturally egg-free: sugar syrup cooked to the hard-crack stage sets as clear as glass the moment it is spread thin, and a little vinegar stops it from turning grainy. Chef's tip: do not stir once the syrup boils; swirl the pan instead and wash down the sides with a wet pastry brush. The common mistake is stirring, which makes the syrup crystallise and turn cloudy.

25 minPersianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Včelí úlkyNo-bake beehive biscuits

Včelí úlky ('little beehives') are a classic of the Czech Christmas cookie plate (cukroví), which families build up through Advent with a dozen or more kinds. They need no oven: crushed biscuits, ground walnuts, cocoa and butter are pressed into beehive moulds, filled with a smooth egg-yolk cream and sealed with a disc of biscuit. Traditionally a little rum is added to the dough; this version uses milk, and adults may add 1 tbsp rum. The cream is cooked to 71 °C so the yolks are safe, though anyone pregnant or vulnerable may prefer pasteurised yolks. Chef's tip: chill the filled hives before unmoulding, or they collapse.

70 minCzechDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

OblátkyChristmas wafers with honey

In Slovakia the Christmas Eve supper (Štedrá večera) opens with oblátky: large, paper-thin wafers stamped with a nativity pattern. The head of the household marks each person's forehead with a cross of honey, and everyone eats a wafer spread with honey, often with a sliver of garlic for health, before the cabbage soup. Families buy them from the church or bake them on a patterned wafer iron; this recipe also gives a pan method for thin, crisp wafers. Chef's tip: the batter must be thin like single cream, as a thicker batter gives a soft pancake instead of a wafer.

60 minCzechDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gul jeon (oyster pancakes)

Oysters are at their sweetest in midwinter, just as Seollal arrives, and the farms around Tongyeong on Korea's south coast supply most of the country, so gul jeon are a treasured New Year treat. They are a quick, small luxury on a jeon platter that is otherwise mostly vegetables and pork, a taste of the sea brought to the family table for the new year. Each oyster is wrapped in a thin, tender egg coat, so the outside is golden and soft while the inside is briny, sweet and juicy. Use shucked fresh oysters from a tub or the fishmonger, and serve them hot with a soy-vinegar dip, a squeeze of lemon and steamed rice. Chef's tip: pat the oysters really dry, or the flour turns gluey and the oil spits.

20 minKoreanFish
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Miyeok julgi bokkeumStir-fried seaweed stems

Seaweed stems, sold salted in Korean grocers, are the crunchy, green-black banchan you find in school canteens and lunchboxes everywhere in Korea, eaten cold with rice. The stems are soaked to draw out the salt, then stir-fried quickly with garlic, onion and a few drops of soy, and finished with sesame. It is vegan and light, with about 2 g of protein per portion. The common mistake is under-soaking: too little and the dish is painfully salty, so taste a piece before you cook. Chef's tip: blanch the stems for 10 seconds after soaking; it sets their bright green colour and removes any fishy-sea smell.

27 minKoreanSidesVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

SsambapRice wrapped in leaves

Ssambap means wrapped rice, and in Korean homes it is the lazy, happy dinner of high summer, when the garden is full of lettuce and perilla: a basket of leaves, a bowl of rice and a pot of thick ssamjang go on the table and everyone builds little parcels. Steamed cabbage leaves are added in winter. It is a light meal of about 360 kcal, with roughly 10 g of protein a portion from the rice, doenjang and walnuts, so it is not a high-protein dish. The usual mistake is overfilling the leaf; a parcel should be one bite, so use a small spoon of rice. Most gochujang contains wheat, so it isn't gluten free. Chef's tip: lay a perilla leaf on top of the lettuce before adding rice; its minty, anise flavour lifts every mouthful.

40 minKoreanRice & GrainsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kkaennip jjimSteamed seasoned perilla leaves

Kkaennip jjim is a homely banchan made in Korean kitchens through the summer, when perilla grows like a weed in back gardens, and it is eaten by wrapping a single soft leaf around a mouthful of rice. The leaves are stacked in pairs with a spoon of soy, garlic and chilli seasoning between each layer, then steamed until they soften and drink up the sauce. Many versions add anchovy stock; this one uses water, so it is vegan. Each portion has about 2 g of protein. The common mistake is steaming too long: the leaves should be tender but still green, about 5 minutes. Chef's tip: seasoning every second leaf rather than every one keeps the stack from getting soggy and salty.

26 minKoreanSidesVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mumallaengi muchimDried radish strip salad

Mumallaengi are strips of Korean radish dried in the autumn sun, and dressed this way they become a chewy, sweet-spicy banchan that families across Korea keep in the fridge all winter for lunchboxes and weeknight rice. The strips are soaked briefly, squeezed and massaged with chilli flakes, garlic, soy and syrup, often with dried chilli leaves. Many cooks add fish sauce; this version uses soy alone, so it is vegan. It is a side with about 2 g of protein per portion. The common mistake is soaking the radish too long: it loses its crunch and sweetness and turns watery. Chef's tip: make it a day ahead; after a night in the fridge the strips soak up the dressing and turn glossy red.

25 minKoreanSidesVeganSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pa muchimSpring onion salad

Pa muchim is the tangle of sharp, spicy spring onion that arrives with barbecue in restaurants all over Korea, from Seoul to Busan, and it is just as good at home beside grilled tofu, mushrooms or a rice bowl. Spring onion is shredded into long, thin threads, rinsed in cold water to tame its bite, then dressed at the last moment with chilli flakes, vinegar, soy, sugar and sesame. It is a light, vegan side with about 2 g of protein per portion. The common mistake is dressing it too early: after 10 minutes the onion wilts and weeps. Chef's tip: soak the shredded onion in iced water for 10 minutes before dressing; it curls, crisps and loses its harsh raw heat.

10 minKoreanSidesVeganSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Beoseot deulkkae tangMushroom and perilla seed soup

This creamy, nutty soup is cooked in Korean homes and temple-style restaurants all through autumn and winter, when the first wild mushrooms arrive and people want something warming and gentle. Ground perilla seeds and a spoon of glutinous rice flour turn a plain broth thick and pale, with mixed mushrooms and soft tofu simmered through it. With the perilla and a block of firm tofu, a bowl gives about 24 g of protein, making it a proper main course with rice. The most common mistake is adding the perilla powder too early and boiling it hard, which makes the soup gritty and bitter; stir it in near the end. Chef's tip: buy perilla seed powder that has been skinned (it is paler), for the smoothest, creamiest soup.

30 minKoreanSoupsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gaji naenggukChilled aubergine soup

Gaji naengguk is a midsummer cold soup from Korean home kitchens, made in July and August when aubergines are cheap and nobody wants anything hot. The aubergine is steamed until silky, torn into strips and seasoned with garlic and soy, then dropped into an ice-cold, tangy broth. It tastes clean and refreshing, with a soft, almost slippery texture. Each bowl has only about 2 g of protein, so pair it with tofu or bean dishes. The usual mistake is cutting the aubergine with a knife after steaming: torn strips soak up the seasoning far better. Chef's tip: let the steamed aubergine cool completely before mixing it with the broth, or it warms the soup and loses its bite.

20 minKoreanSoupsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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