I'm a sucker for Korean food

Meet Che Upton

My love of Korean food started after living in South Korea. I went to teach English and ended up staying for three years. Back home I soon realised Korean food had become part of my foodie soul, as I was choosing to cook and eat Korean food rather than the South African food I'd grown up with. 

Why do I love Korean food so much? It comes down to the freshness of the ingredients — heaps of veggies, nourishing broths and rice or noodles are the staples. My favourite three basic Korean flavours are the chilli (gochu garu), fermented chilli paste (gochujang) and Korean soy sauce (gan-jang), which is lighter in colour than the Oriental soy sauces.

Koreans always share meals. One would never sit down and only eat from “your” bowl as everything is served family-style. Food is consumed with metal chopsticks and on the table you will find a box containing metal chopsticks and long metal spoons.

It's difficult to name my fave Korean dishes as there are so many, but this trio are high on my list. Jjimdak, Korean braised chicken stew; Korean BBQ; jeyuk bokkeum, stir-fried spicy pork and Kimchi, a spicy fermented cabbage relish that goes with everything. 

Kimchi is a fermented vegetable relish and is eaten with every meal in Korea. Because of the process of fermentation, kimchi is filled with probiotic bacteria that is beneficial to your gut health. If your gut microbiome is unstable, it can lead to myriad of health issues. Kimchi restores this balance by adding in and providing an environment for your healthy bacteria to live and multiply.

The famous Korean BBQ is nothing like a SA braai but is still yummy and “geselige” eating. A Korean BBQ is the experience of cooking marinated meat — pork, chicken or beef — over a hot gas or charcoal grill built into the centre of a table. While you are grilling meat you are also eating directly off the grill and wrapping your grilled meat with side dishes, banchan and sauces.

When I returned from South Korea my idea was to start a cooking school, but instead I started making the items people would have learnt to make in my classes. Kimchi is the most popular and eight years later I have the largest fermented food manufacturing facility in South Africa and ship my products nationwide.

The three top-selling South Korean products in the Che Gourmet range are kimchi, our number one selling product, followed by kimchi and pork dumplings and gochujang (Korean chilli pepper paste).

If I could choose my last Korean meal it would be a Korean BBQ in Daegu, South Korea, with my mom, dad, sister, my boyfriend and our two boys.

www.chegourmet.co.za

Korean Fried Chicken (Yangnyeom Chicken):

Serve 2-4

1kg chicken wings or drumsticks

250ml (1 cup) cornflour

Oil for frying

Sauce:

60ml (4 tbsp) gochujang (Korean red chilli paste)

30ml (2 tbsp) soy sauce

30ml (2 tbsp) rice vinegar

30ml (2 tbsp) honey

2 cloves garlic, minced

5ml (1 tsp) sesame oil

1. Preheat the oil in a deep fryer or large pot to 170°C (340°F).

2. Coat chicken pieces in cornflour and fry in batches until golden brown and cooked through, about 8-10 minutes per batch.

3. In a separate pan, mix all sauce ingredients and heat until bubbly.

4. Toss fried chicken in the sauce until well coated. Serve hot with beer.

P.S. You can't ever make enough as it is so delicious.

Tteokbokki (Spicy Rice Cake):

Serves 2

200g Korean rice cakes (tteok)

500ml (2 cups) water

30ml (2 tbsp) gochujang (Korean red chilli paste)

15ml (1 tbsp) soy sauce

15ml (1 tbsp) sugar

1/2 onion, sliced

250ml (1 cup) cabbage, sliced

2-3 green onions, cut into 4cm pieces

1. In a pot, bring water to a boil and add rice cakes. Cook for 5 minutes until softened.

2. Add gochujang, soy sauce, sugar, onion, cabbage and green onions. Stir well and simmer for 5-7 minutes until the sauce thickens.

3. Serve immediately.

Kimbap (Seaweed Rice Rolls)

Serves 2-4

4 sheets of seaweed (gim/nori)

500ml (2 cups) cooked sushi rice

1 carrot, julienned

1 cucumber, julienned

4 strips of pickled radish, (danmuji)

4 eggs, beaten and cooked into thin omelettes

Sesame oil

Salt

1. Place a sheet of seaweed on a bamboo sushi mat. Spread a thin layer of rice evenly over the seaweed, leaving a small border at the top.

2. Place the veggies and omelette in a line across the centre of the rice. Roll the seaweed tightly using the bamboo mat.

3. Once rolled, brush the outside lightly with sesame oil and sprinkle with salt.

4. Cut the roll into bite-sized pieces using a sharp knife. Serve with soy sauce or spicy dipping sauce.

Bibimbap (Mixed Rice Bowl)

Serves 1 

500ml (2 cups) cooked rice

1 carrot, julienned and sautéed

1 zucchini, julienned and sautéed

250ml (1 cup) spinach, blanched and squeezed dry

250ml (1 cup) bean sprouts, blanched and drained

4 shiitake mushrooms, sliced and sautéed

1 egg, fried, sunny side up

Sesame oil

Soy sauce

Gochujang (Korean red chilli paste)

1. Divide cooked rice into bowls. Arrange sautéed vegetables and mushrooms on top of the rice.

2. Place a fried egg on the centre of each bowl.

3. Drizzle with sesame oil, soy sauce and a spoonful of gochujang.

4. Mix everything together before eating. Enjoy hot!