Cooking simple Korean food at home, Part One: soy egg-fried riced

For her latest introduction to Korean culture, Su-gyeong is going to teach us how to cook simple Korean dishes at home. Delicious food with little effort…

I have enjoyed introducing you to K-Culture films, Mr Sunshine and The Throne. Today, I will start to teach you the basics of Korean cooking.

Are you tired of eating the same meals every day? Do you want to try something new you’ve never had before?

Then why not give Korean food a try?

In this article, I’ll introduce you to some simple, easy-to-make Korean home-cooked meals that are common among Koreans.

We’ll provide an overview of the dishes, the recipes, and some helpful tips.

The appeal of Korean home-cooked meals

Korean dish is both healthy and delicious, using fresh ingredients and a variety of seasonings. It often includes fermented foods such as kimchi, doenjang (fermented soybean paste), gochujang (fermented chili paste), and soy sauce. Korean home-style meals are typically served with rice and a variety of side dishes and soups. However, in this article, we’ll focus on easy-to-make meals with simple ingredients and short cooking times. 

Table of Contents

1. Soy Sauce Egg Rice: Rice topped with soy sauce, sesame oil and a fried egg (or a microwaved egg)

2. Kimchi Fried Rice: A simple fried rice with kimchi and some meat

3. Samgyeopsal: Korean BBQ. Dishes of grilled pork belly

But first, egg-fried rice, the simplest Korean dish that there is. This recipe serves one person so just multiply for more guests.

Soy sauce egg rice is one of the simplest dish in this articles and a favourite among Koreans. It’s not spicy, has a savoury and mild flavour, and is usually cooked for breakfast or lunch. 

Ingredients

 1 bowl of rice, 1 egg (2 if using small eggs), 1 large tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, salt, pepper (optional), seasoned seaweed (optional)

Time required

 (rice cooking time) + 5 minutes

Method

1. Apply sesame oil evenly to the bowl, then crack 1 large or 2 small eggs into a bowl, and prick the yolks with a fork.
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Cover with plastic wrap (don’t forget to poke the plastic wrap!) and microwave for about 50 seconds (this may vary from house to house, so keep an eye on the eggs).
4. Top the rice with 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, and the egg.
5. If you like, wrap the rice with seasoned seaweed in similar fashion to a taco.
6. Sit back and eat!

Here are the steps in photo form that I just made!

How does it taste?

It’s a simple dish with a mild flavour. The egg makes it soft, the soy sauce adds a touch of sweetness, and the sesame oil gives it a nutty taste.

Tips

• Instead of microwaving the egg, you can also use a soft-fried egg.
• Soy sauce can be easily found in Asian grocery stores I use the hypermarket Asia beside Estación del Norte but most barrios have one locally) .
• Nori seaweed can also be found at Asian grocery stores.
• For the rice, use short-grain rice (usually labelled “short grain rice”), for the best texture.
• A tablespoon of butter can substitute for sesame oil, giving it a richer and more mild flavour.

So far, I introduced soy sauce egg rice, the simplest Korean home-cooked meal. With this article, why don’t you try new Korean food? In the next article, we will introduce you to a more delicious Korean home-cooked meals. Stay tuned!