A recipe from the head chef at Waiheke Island restaurant The Shed and a delicious giveaway to celebrate the move to level three in Tāmaki Makaurau.
This year, Chuseok (추석) or Korean thanksgiving fell on September 21. One of the biggest and most important holidays in Korea, it’s a time for family members to come together to share food and stories and to acknowledge their ancestors.
While lockdown restrictions meant celebrations looked a little different this year for Aucklanders, the Korean Consulate of Auckland, alongside art collective Satellites, has created a limited-edition banchan box giveaway named 가자 / 과자! Gaja / Gwaja.
They’ve already given away around 60 boxes through their Instagram page as a way to celebrate Korean culture and, specifically, to mark Chuseok in classic lockdown style – delivered to your home and shared with your bubble. Additional batches of gamja jorim and kongnamul muchim have been prepared for Piritahi Marae on Waiheke Island to support whānau in need.
The collective also has a box to give away to one lucky Spinoff reader. Head to our Instagram page before midnight tonight and tag a friend you think deserves a treat, and we’ll choose one winner to send the box to. All they’ll need to do is prepare rice to accompany the dishes.
Each box contains six banchan (side dishes) prepared by chef Yutak Son, head chef at The Shed. These are: ojingeo-jeot (오징어젓, salted squid), kong jorim (콩조림, braised soybeans), gamja jorim (감자조림, braised potatoes), kongnamul muchim (콩나물 무침, marinated soybean sprouts), mumallengi muchim (무말랭이 무침, marinated spicy dried radish) and myeolchi bokkeum (멸치볶음, stir-fried dried anchovies).
This year, the focus is on banchan, which Son describes as “your own gourmet storybook”, with his selection including dishes representing his hometown, Suwon, and his childhood favourites. Below he shares the recipe for kong jorim (콩조림, braised soybeans).
RECIPE: KONG JORIM (콩조림)
Kong jorim (콩조림) is a classic banchan made by braising soybeans in a sweet and savoury sauce. It’s a popular side dish and snack and is easy to make. Serve warm or cold.
- 100g dried black or yellow soybeans
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1⁄2 tablespoon sugar
- ½ tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Rinse the beans in cold water a couple of times, then soak in a bowl of water overnight.
Pour the beans and the liquid they’ve been soaking in into a pot and bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn down the heat to medium and simmer for a further 10-12 minutes. Stir every now and then so the beans don’t stick to the bottom.
Add in the soy sauce, sugar and rice wine vinegar. Keep on medium heat until the liquid is mostly evaporated, and keep stirring during this time.
When the liquid is mostly evaporated, add in your honey and garlic and cook for a further 3-5 minutes.
Drizzle in the sesame oil and garnish with sesame seeds.
Keep refrigerated. This is best consumed within a week, but will also last longer than this.
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“Lockdown has been hard,” says In-taek Kim, consul general to the Korean Consulate in Auckland. So this is really a way to say thank you by giving “something special to those who’ve played their part to keep New Zealand safe”.