Aloha from Korea: Foodie's Guide

Aloha, everyone! 🌺 There are a lot of different ways to cook beef in Korea. Most of the time, we use pear juice and soy sauce to marinate the beef and wait at least 3 hours to tenderize it. When I make traditional Bulgogi (Korean-style marinated beef), I also wait that long for a deeper flavor. However, today, I will give you a much easier and faster recipe . You can eat this just 15 minutes after you marinate it, as long as you use fresh, good-quality beef! You can cook it on a pan or a small tabletop gridiron with a portable gas burner. I usually cook it on the gas burner right at the dining table with a regular pan. Sometimes it is even more fun than outdoor grilling! Let's try this!!! 🛒 What You Need (Ingredients) Fresh Boneless Kalbi (Boneless beef short ribs): 1.5 lbs Mirin (Sweet cooking rice wine): 2 Tbsp Shoyu (Soy Sauce): 3 Tbsp Honey (or Sugar): 2 Tbsp Sesame Oil: 2 Tbsp Minced Garlic: 5 tsp Black Pepper: A pinch Toasted Sesame Seeds: 4 Tbsp (Optional, for ga...

Aloha! 🌺 Have you tried making my Magic Sauce from the last post? I hope you made enough of it, because I have 5 more amazing new recipes you can make with that sauce! As you know, Bibimbap is a very famous and yummy Korean dish. However, cooking traditional Namul (steamed and seasoned vegetables) takes a very long time because you must cook and season each vegetable separately. Even for me, it takes about two hours to prepare all the traditional ingredients! So, here is a better, faster recipe for us. I am going to use fresh vegetables instead of steamed ones. And, no wonder, I’ll be using my Magic Sauce! Now it only takes 15 minutes to make a yummy, fresh bowl of Bibimbap!!!!!! 🛒 What You Need (Ingredients) Cooked Rice: 1 small bowl Lettuce (any kind): Shredded Cabbage: Shredded Carrot: Shredded Egg: 1 (fried sunny-side up!) For the Tuna Sauce: Magic Sauce: About 2 Tbsp (Check out my [Magic Sauce Vol.01] post!) Sesame Oil: 1 Tbsp Canned Tuna: 1 small can (oil or water...

Aloha! 🌺 If you like Korean food, you must love this amazing dish. We call it Jeon (or Jun / Jijimi). There are many different kinds of Jeon, and today I used Asian chives (Buchu) and sea mussels (Honghap). You can easily substitute the chives with green onions, and use shrimp or clams instead of mussels if you prefer. I used a ready-made Korean pancake mix because it is the easiest way for beginners to make yummy Jeon. It’s a perfectly balanced mix of flour, starch, salt, and seasoning. A lot of my international friends who tried making Jeon told me that it was really difficult to get that "right, crunchy" texture. When I first made it, I faced the exact same problem. But now, I know the secret to making it perfectly crispy every time. Let's start! 🛒 Ingredients Korean pancake mix: 1 cup (Look for the brand "Beksul" at your local Asian grocery store!) Egg: 1 Cold water: 4/5 cup (Egg + Water should equal exactly 1 cup of liquid) Asian chives (Buchu): 1...

Aloha, everyone! 🌺 You guys might be curious about the title— Magic Sauce . Although it's a bit embarrassing to say my own recipe is "magical," I promise you, it truly is! Once you make a batch of this base sauce, you can create various different dishes in no time just by adding a little roasted sesame oil, ketchup, or vinegar. My Korean blogger friends who tried this sauce told me that it was literally magical and they absolutely loved it. I hope you like this as much as Koreans do! Let's begin with the most basic and beloved Korean street food: Tteokbokki (Dukboki) . 🛒 What You Need (Ingredients) For the Magic Sauce: Gochujang (Korean Red Chili Paste): 2 Tbsp Sugar: 1 Tbsp Shoyu (Soy Sauce): 1 tsp Minced Garlic: 1 tsp Sesame Seeds: A generous sprinkle (if you have them) 💡 Chef's Golden Tip: I highly recommend making this sauce 10~15 times more than the recipe so you can store it and use it for other meals! It actually tastes much better after 24 hour...

Aloha! 🌺 It’s Jihye in Seoul. Many of my friends who want to cook authentic Korean food at home always tell me the same thing: "It's so hard to buy the 'right' Korean ingredients!" I completely understand. When you walk into a Korean grocery store (like H-Mart), there are hundreds of brands, endless types of sauces, and everything is written in Korean characters. If you can't read Korean, you might fall into the trap of buying copycat brands that taste completely different from the authentic ones. Today, I’m sharing my ultimate guide to the most reliable and famous Korean grocery brands that you can easily find in the USA and globally. I will update this list often, so bookmark this page for your next grocery run! 1. The Global Giants (You Must Know These!) Bibigo (비비고)   If there is one brand you must remember today, it's Bibigo (owned by CJ). They have taken the world by storm. They are most famous for their Mandu (Korean Dumplings) , which are absolu...

Aloha! Welcome to my delicious journey. 🌺 I'm Jihye, a native Korean living in the vibrant city of Seoul. Having spent years living in Honolulu and London, I’ve tasted diverse cuisines around the world, but my heart (and stomach!) always brings me back to authentic Korean food. Professionally, my background is in graphic design and art direction. However, to spend more precious time with my adorable child, I recently transitioned to freelance work. This beautiful new chapter of my life gives me the flexibility to pour my creative energy into what I love most: exploring Korea's culinary scene and running this foodie blog! You might wonder why a Korean blogger says "Aloha." It’s a piece of my Honolulu days that I carry with me, representing the warm, welcoming vibe I want this space to have. What will you find here? Not the typical tourist traps. I share the hidden gems where real locals eat—from bustling fish markets to premium Hanwoo BBQ spots. I also share authent...