Kimchi alert! Charming comic book makes Korean cooking a snap

By Leslie Brenner

The Dallas Morning News

If you want to learn to cook Korean food and you’re starting from scratch, the first thing to do is find a very large jar. The second is to procure a copy of “Cook Korean!: A Comic Book with Recipes.”

The jar is for making kimchi, which is not only delicious (and super-healthy) on its own and an ingredient in many Korean dishes, it’s also a hugely important part of Korean culture.

The book, engagingly written and illustrated by Robin Ha, makes learning this cuisine approachable and fun. That’s because she uses her talents as a comic book artist to explain and illustrate techniques and walk you through the recipes.

But don’t worry: Even if you don’t want to make your own kimchi (which you can always buy), you can still jump in and turn out some terrific Korean dishes with Ha, who was born in South Korea, as your guide.

Are you game? You’ll also need access to a few key Korean ingredients and (if you want to make kimchi) disposable food-prep gloves. You can find everything at Asian supermarkets.

Easy kimchi

1 4-pound napa cabbage

½ cup kosher salt

4 scallions, green and white parts, sliced on the diagonal

1½ pounds daikon radish, peeled and cut into medium julienne

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into medium julienne

1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled

10 large cloves garlic, peeled

¾ cup gochugaru (Korean red chile flakes; may be labeled “red pepper powder”; see note above)

5 tablespoons fish sauce

3 tablespoons saeujeot (tiny salted fermented shrimp)

2 tablespoons sugar

Trim the bottom of the cabbage and cut it lengthwise into quarters; cut each quarters into bite-sized pieces. Rinse the cabbage in cold running water, then drain. Place the cabbage in a large bowl, sprinkle the salt over it, pour 2 cups water over it, and mix well. Let the cabbage brine in the salt water for 45 minutes, tossing it now and then for even salting.

While the cabbage brines, place the scallions, daikon and carrots in a medium bowl. Crush the ginger and garlic together, using the butt of a knife or a mallet, and add them to the scallions, daikon and carrots, along with the chile flakes, fish sauce, saeujeot and sugar. Mix well.

After 45 minutes, the volume of the cabbage has been reduced by half. Remove the excess salt by rinsing it for a long time in cold running water. Gently squeeze the water out of the cabbage and put it in a large mixing bowl.

Add the scallion, daikon and carrot mixture to the cabbage, and, using food-prep gloves mix it all together really well. Pack the mixture into a clean 96-ounce glass jar to within an inch of the top. Close the lid and put the jar in a large plastic bag in case the juice overflows. Leave the jar at room temperature for 24 hours, after which the kimchi will be ready to eat. It can be kept for up to a month in the refrigerator.

Makes 12 cups.

Korean bean sprout salad (kongnamul muchim)

12 ounces soybean sprouts

1 teaspoon salt

1 scallion, green and white parts, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds, plus additional for garnish if desired

Gochugaru (Korean red chile flakes), optional, for serving

1. Discard any brown bean sprouts, then rinse the sprouts with cold running water and drain. Put them into a medium saucepan, add 1 cup water and the salt. Cover, bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium and cook for 7 minutes. Drain the sprouts in a colander or strainer, cool them with cold running water, then drain again. Gently squeeze as much water as you can from the sprouts and put them in a medium mixing bowl.

2. Add the scallion, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce and sesame seeds. This may be served room temperature or chilled. Garnish with sesame seeds, if desired. If you like it spicy, add chile flakes to taste at the table.

Makes 2 cups

Korean raw fish salad bowl (hoedupbap)

Author Robin Ha calls this raw-fish, salad and rice bowl “one of the healthiest, tastiest and easiest dishes in Korean cuisine.” Its tangy, spicy dressing, she writes, “is the key to tying all the ingredients together.” Tobiko (flying fish roe) and toasted seaweed (nori) are available in Asian groceries. Gochujang (red chile paste), toasted seaweed (nori) and tobiko (flying fish roe) are available in Asian supermarkets, as well as select well-stocked groceries. I often find gochujang and nori in the imported foods section of my local Whole Foods Market. For the rice, you’ll need a medium-sized deep pot with a clear lid. To crush the nori, you can use scissors to cut a sheet of the seaweed into strips and then crumble them with your fingers.

1 cup short to medium-grain white rice

¼ small Asian pear, peeled and roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled

Juice of ½ lemon

¼ cup gochujang (red chile paste)

1 Kirby (pickling) cucumber

½ cup gochujang (red chile paste)

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds, plus more for garnish

4 large Romaine lettuce leaves

1 Kirby (pickling) cucumber

2 scallions, white and green parts, sliced into thin rings

½ small carrot, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks

8 ounces sushi-grade fish, such as tuna, yellowtail or snapper

1 ounce tobiko (flying fish roe)

Toasted seaweed (nori), crushed, for garnish

1. Make the rice: Put the rice in a medium pot with a clear lid. Fill the pot with cold water, and massage the rice to get all the cloudy dust out. Drain the rice and wash it in the pot 3 to 5 more times, until the water is clear. Leave enough water in the pot so it covers the rice by one inch. Place the pot on the stove over high heat without the lid and bring to a boil, then turn the heat to medium-low and put the lid on. Leave it alone and do not open the lid for 15 to 20 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the rice looks fluffy. Turn off the heat and keep the lid closed for another 15 minutes.

2. While the rice is cooking, make the dressing: Put the Asian pear in the jar of a blender, along with the garlic, lemon juice, chile paste, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sugar, and blend into a smooth paste. Transfer to a small bowl, add 2 teaspoons of the sesame seeds and stir to combine. Set aside.

3. Cut the thick, white bottoms from the Romaine leaves. Roll the leaves into a cigar shape and slice into thin ribbons. Set aside. Slice the cucumber on the diagonal into ¼-inch slices, then stack a few slices and cut them into matchsticks. Repeat for the rest of the cucumber and set aside. Find the grain of the fish and slice it against the grain into ¼-inch strips. Cut the strips into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

4. Assemble the bowls: Put half the rice into each of two bowls, and cover each with half the lettuce. Arrange the fish, cucumber and tobiko on top. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and the crushed nori. Serve with the dressing on the side, mixing it in to your taste.

Serves 2.

Braised daikon with saury (mu kkongchi jorim)

Saury is a small, mackerel-like fish, also known as mackerel pike. This recipe, which author Robin Ha calls “a good example of how Koreans use seafood in everyday meals,” calls for canned saury, which is available in Korean supermarkets. Gochugaru, or Korean red chile flakes — often labeled “red pepper powder” — can also be found in Korean supermarkets.

1½ pounds daikon radish, peeled

1 large yellow onion, cut into chunky bite-sized pieces

3 scallions, white and green parts, cut into 3-inch pieces

6 cloves garlic, minced

1½-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced

1 14-ounce can saury (mackerel pike, see note above)

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons gochugaru (Korean red chile flakes, see note above)

2 teaspoons sugar

1. Lay the daikon chunks evenly in the bottom of a large pot with a cover and distribute the yellow onion on top of them. Pour in the can of saury with its liquid.

2. Make the sauce: In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, chile flakes, sugar, garlilc and ginger and pour it on top of the ingredients in the pot, along with 2/3 cup water.

3. Bring to a boil over high heat, turn heat to medium-high and let it boil about 10 minutes, then cover the pan and lower the heat to medium. Let it simmer about 15 minutes, gently stirring occasionally so the flavors meld. Add the scallions and simmer for another 3 minutes. Serve hot, with rice if desired.

Serves 3-4.