These cooking preparation tips are short cuts for cooking Korean food. A list that works for both experienced cooks and beginners, these tips will help you save time in the kitchen. Although Korean meals look labor intensive with all the side dishes, there are many things you can do to make your life easier.
Have prepped spices and ingredients ready in advance.
Naomi Imatome YunChop onions, scallions, and ginger and store them separately in the fridge or in bags in your freezer. Mince and puree garlic and store in your fridge and your freezer. For pureed onions or garlic, you can freeze them flat in bags or first in ice cube trays and then transfer to bags when they've solidified. You can use them straight from the fridge or freezer. If you hate to chop or mince, then you can also buy pre-minced garlic and frozen chopped onions at your local supermarket. I always have these too, just in case I run out of my own stash. These ingredients are used in so many different Korean dishes, so this is a huge timesaver. The ingredients are also useful for a huge range of cuisines including Italian, Chinese, and Spanish.
Marinate meat in bulk.
If you shop at a bulk store or can find a good deal on a “family” size package of chicken, beef, or pork, then it's a good idea to marinate the meat in advance and store it in bags in your freezer. The Korean
bulgogi marinade is delicious on beef, pork, or chicken if you're marinating in advance. (I also suggest preparing a large portion of marinade and storing it in your fridge. It will keep for a couple weeks. You can then use it on meats or brush it on fish to broil). You can stir-fry the meat or chicken straight from the freezer or defrost in the microwave if you want to throw it on the grill. This is a good tip for saving time and cutting costs.
Keep Korean broth or ready-made soup stocks on hand.
Korean people love their soups and stews and they accompany almost every meal. So having a basic
beef or
anchovy stock ready in the freezer or the fridge is they key to quick and easy Korean cooking. Many Korean soups can be simmered for less than 20 minutes if you have the basic stocks made in advance. It's difficult to recreate the taste of homemade stocks, but store-bought beef, chicken, and vegetable stocks are also useful to have on hand in your pantry.
Make side dishes in advance or use alternatives.
Kimchi must obviously be made in advance, but many of the other Korean sides will keep in your fridge for a long time (pickling and salting to preserve food has been perfected in Korean cuisine over thousands of years). Japanese or Chinese sides are good substitutions, but you can also use Western foods for a meal or a bento lunch. Baby dills, chopped jalepenos, sardines, potato salad, coleslaw, fresh vegetables, and sliced dry sausage make fine sides to a Korean meal. An assortment of varied tastes with the right mix of salty, sweet, spicy, and fresh flavors can replace traditional sides. Canned tuna and Spam have become staples of the Korean pantry during the last 50 years, so don't feel bad about doing a little improv of your own.Take advantage of modern appliances.
The rice cooker is obviously the most important modern tool in the Korean kitchen, but there are a lot of other appliances that can be helpful for cooking Korean cuisine. The slow cooker (or crockpot) is amazing for braising and for long-simmered soups and stews. Most people don't have the time to watch a pot for many hours, so it's wonderful to come home from work to a fragrant house and a dish that's been cooking for hours. The microwave steaming bags found in most grocery stores are good for quick steaming of vegetables and dumplings. Indoor grills like the George Foreman deliver the smoky taste of bbq without the preparation required for grilling outdoors. Even grill pans will do a much better job on grilled meats than a sauté pan.
