Aeri's Kitchen

This is another one of my mom’s recipes. Yay! When my family lived in the peaceful country, because of my father’s job (teacher), my mom used to make a lunch box and deliver it to him at school. In the morning, I woke up with this awesome smell. “Wow, mom is cooking meat balls for dad’s lunch box. @.@” I sat next to her and enjoyed watching her cook. Of course, I could sample this delicious food before my father tried it. hehe … My father also loved this food. This was a good memory for me. Do you also have any special memories from your mom’s wonderful food?

Yield: 2 Dozen Meatballs

Short Korean Lesson: *^^*

• Saek (색) = Color
• MoYang (모양) = Shape

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Fish cake BokkEum is a non-spicy side dish. Fish cake side dishes are popular in Korean lunch boxes. This food reminds me of my school lunches. Oh, I miss my mom’s food again.

Yield: 3 Servings

Short Korean Lesson: *^^*

• EomMa (엄마) = Mommy
• Abba (아빠) = Daddy

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JangJoRim (장조림) is a Korean side dish using mainly beef and soy sauce. You can also use pork, chicken, or even mushrooms (vegetarians can skip the eggs too) instead of beef. Once you cook this, you can keep it in the refrigerator and serve it with other Korean side dishes for your meal. Usually we use quail’s eggs for this dish, but if you cannot find them in the store, like me, you can just use chicken eggs instead.

Yield: 2 Quarts

Short Korean Lesson: *^^*

• SoGoGi (소고기) = Beef
• Jang (장) = Soy Sauce
• JoRim (조림) = a generic Korean cuisine term referring to dishes made of vegetables, meats, seafood, or tofu in a mixed sauce by slowly simmering

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Korean people have been eating many different kinds of rice cakes as desserts or snacks for a long time. As Westerners eat cookies, pies, cakes, and candy, Koreans eat rice cakes, fruits, and other Korean desserts. Nowadays, Korean people also eat many Western desserts; so, Korean rice cakes are eaten less than before. However, Koreans still eat rice cakes on special days such as traditional holidays, birthdays, etc. Chapssaltteok (찹쌀떡) is a Korean dessert that is mainly made with sweet rice flour and red bean paste. It is almost similar to Japanese mocchi. It will be best to make your own red bean paste at home, but you can buy a can of red bean paste from the store. This time I just used red bean paste from a can. I hope you will like this chewy and sweet rice cake dessert.

Yield: 8 Pieces

Short Korean Lesson: *^^*

• SahGwa (사과) = Apple
• SahGwa (사과) = Apologize

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There are many different kinds of Korean jeon depending on what kind of vegetables, seafood, or meat you use. Hobak jeon is one of them. Hobak means zucchini and jeon means pancake. Jeon may be called a “pancake” in English, but the taste will be a little different from what you expect because it is not sweet. You can eat this as a snack or side dish. Try this simple and delicious dish someday.

Yield: 2 Servings

Short Korean Lesson: *^^*

• AeHoBahk (애호박) = Zucchini
• SuBahk (수박) = Watermelon

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