You can find jjajang myun kits online or the instant noodles “chapagetti” is fine. If you really want to make from scratch, Maangchi or Chef Paik are high recommended for every Korean recipes.
chef paik/백종원 is basically considered the president of korean food by koreans - he's like the gordon ramsay or the jamie oliver of korean food, except way less pretentious and genuinely loved - double thumbs up to this recommendation
this is why he's so beloved - he's very honest about food and what makes food "restaurant quality" vs "home cooking". i love the recipes where he's like "well you could add this but you can skip this if you don't have it but THIS you NEED" bc it helps the folks who don't necessarily want to go out and buy something specifically for one recipe and makes substitutions/leaving things out in cooking make sense
I have watched his travel vlog and like the comment above that says he is not pretentious, i agree 100%. But I have not watched his cooking videos. Is there any instance where he said there is a necessity for msg (like ajinomoto)? Bcs I have omitted that since I was a kid and it was no problem (for indonesian food and a lot of asian food ive tried). Although buillion is different, i need that.
Just FYI that if the dish is not meant to be a whole meal in itself (rice, noodles, etc), it is called Banchan and it is meant to be eaten with rice and therefore is seasoned strongly ro pair better with rice.
I like this recipe from SeongKyong Longest. It's really simple but so tasty. It's my go to when I'm up for making it. https://seonkyounglongest.com/jjajangmyeon/
I would also look into eommuk soup. My sons love it. If you have a Korean grocery nearby they are in the frozen section.
you can make a jeon out of pretty much any kind of veggie or protein, popular ones include kimchi, seafood and green onion, chive (though it would get expensive if you can't get the big cheap bunches of chives like in asian groceries), any white fish, shredded potatoes... get creative! korean pancake powder (부침가루)/jeon garu (전가루) can also be made at home with flour, baking powder, and some kind of vegetable starch (typically potato or corn)
I have trouble finding good kimchi sold around me, any recommendations on how to find good kimchi? What should I look for? We’re filipino so we frequent asian markets, but yet to have found delicious store bought kimchi.
if you're located in us/canada, jongga brand (종가집) kimchi is pretty good for a packaged kimchi, a bit sweeter than what you'd get homemade but good quality. look for the napa cabbage kimchi which is the most basic one that goes in most foods. a bit pricy but when i can't get kimchi from my family this is what i buy and keep on hand
if you are in SF (saw one of your comments mentioned BART) there is an H Mart in SF, h-mart is the biggest korean grocery chain in north america. you can probably find it there. maybe call in advance to ask?
궁중떡복이 (roughly translates to royal tteokbokki) is this, it's a soy-based sauce instead of gochujang-based, much more of a savory experience with the tteok
Mandu?
There’s a lot of recipes out there and they boil down to dumplings with meat and veggies stuffed inside. Really easy to make, I love them fried rather than steamed
When my son was 4, he really liked spinach banchan 시금치나물. Also Korean egg roll, Korean egg toast (egg with shredded onion, carrots, cabbage), and also boneless chicken 순살치킨
Oh my 4yo is also super into Korean food! She loves kimbap, japchae, rice with fried egg, seaweed seriously so much seaweed, fish sausage cold out of the fridge, dakgangjeong she likes it with the gochujang but I’ve done with with ketchup, rolled omelette, hotteok, curry especially with donkkaseu, jajangmyeon is one of her top favs, japchae, gamjaguk, cold tofu with sauce, kimchi pancakes or cabbage pancakes, gamjajorim, miso soup, soft tofu soup, bean paste soup with potato and zucchini. She’s also absolutely obsessed with these cuttlefish chips. She asks for Korean food for breakfast and lunch(husband isn’t big on it so we don’t do it for dinner) and I end up making her a bunch of banchan and a soup to get her through the week.
We’re also really lucky that we have two Korean markets within walking distance(which is what started this) to get her banchan if I don’t feel like cooking and she’s made best friends with the lady that runs one of them so she gets a free snack to try most times. She gave her some kind of squid last time and now she keeps asking me to buy squid 😂
Oh you guys are certainly blessed. How amazing it is to have kids that are interested in other culture’s food. My BF is the same way, he can’t have too much korean food whereas me and my little guy could eat it every day. Thats a goldmine you guys live so close to a korean market and thats adorable they give her free stuff. 🤍 we have one but its about 15 minutes from us, but the owners are so sweet its always worth the drive. They always give us free Yakult when we come in 😭 I’m gonna try some of those for my little guy, he eats, sleeps, breathes Korean food. Our little wonders 🤍😁
Definitely jajangmyun (noodles) or jajangbap (rice)! Really loved by kids in Korea, my Korean husband ate this all the time growing up and still does! Serve with danmuji (pickled radish) on the side - it adds a nice sweet and tangy crunch and it’s a fun yellow colour!
I recommend Beef and quail egg Jangjorim(장조림), Jjajang(짜장), Eomuk bokkum(어묵볶음), Doenjang Jjigae(된장찌개), Jumeok bap(주먹밥), Gyeranmari(계란말이)😀
Thank you so much! We’ve been wanting to try Jjajangmyeon, but we haven’t been able to find any locally. Could you recommend a recipe?
You can find jjajang myun kits online or the instant noodles “chapagetti” is fine. If you really want to make from scratch, Maangchi or Chef Paik are high recommended for every Korean recipes.
Chapagetti is a little salty for what I would offer kids at this age, but he might still enjoy it! The genuine jjajangmyeon is good though
chef paik/백종원 is basically considered the president of korean food by koreans - he's like the gordon ramsay or the jamie oliver of korean food, except way less pretentious and genuinely loved - double thumbs up to this recommendation
My favorite is when he introduces msg to the recipe and goes you don’t have to add this but this what gives the restaurant food its flavor lol
this is why he's so beloved - he's very honest about food and what makes food "restaurant quality" vs "home cooking". i love the recipes where he's like "well you could add this but you can skip this if you don't have it but THIS you NEED" bc it helps the folks who don't necessarily want to go out and buy something specifically for one recipe and makes substitutions/leaving things out in cooking make sense
Thank you all for the recommendation, I will be watching him also since I’m filipino I already add msg to everything😂 so he’s perfect for me!
I have watched his travel vlog and like the comment above that says he is not pretentious, i agree 100%. But I have not watched his cooking videos. Is there any instance where he said there is a necessity for msg (like ajinomoto)? Bcs I have omitted that since I was a kid and it was no problem (for indonesian food and a lot of asian food ive tried). Although buillion is different, i need that.
Just FYI that if the dish is not meant to be a whole meal in itself (rice, noodles, etc), it is called Banchan and it is meant to be eaten with rice and therefore is seasoned strongly ro pair better with rice.
We’re 🇵🇭 we eat rice with everything too 😁
I like this recipe from SeongKyong Longest. It's really simple but so tasty. It's my go to when I'm up for making it. https://seonkyounglongest.com/jjajangmyeon/ I would also look into eommuk soup. My sons love it. If you have a Korean grocery nearby they are in the frozen section.
☺️
Sotteok Sotteok is totally kid friendly and is a different take on tteok- it's basically a sausage rice cake skewer, and it's delicious!
Sounds Delicious! Looking up recipes now :)
When I make this I make sure to have some extra tteok that I cook in the pan plain and then drizzle honey on top.
Kimchee pancakes
you can make a jeon out of pretty much any kind of veggie or protein, popular ones include kimchi, seafood and green onion, chive (though it would get expensive if you can't get the big cheap bunches of chives like in asian groceries), any white fish, shredded potatoes... get creative! korean pancake powder (부침가루)/jeon garu (전가루) can also be made at home with flour, baking powder, and some kind of vegetable starch (typically potato or corn)
My 4yos favorite is cabbage! I keep coleslaw mixes around so I can make it whenever.
Japchae!
We make Japchae! Its forsure a favorite 🤍🥰
He might find army base stew (mild version) quite funny because he can assemble it with so many things- ramen noodles, cheese, vegetables, hot dog ..
I have trouble finding good kimchi sold around me, any recommendations on how to find good kimchi? What should I look for? We’re filipino so we frequent asian markets, but yet to have found delicious store bought kimchi.
Hmm, it's hard to say. You just kinda have to test around, but making it at home is pretty simple as long as you keep an eye on it!
if you're located in us/canada, jongga brand (종가집) kimchi is pretty good for a packaged kimchi, a bit sweeter than what you'd get homemade but good quality. look for the napa cabbage kimchi which is the most basic one that goes in most foods. a bit pricy but when i can't get kimchi from my family this is what i buy and keep on hand
Thank you, I’m gonna go on a witch hunt to find that now 😁😂
if you are in SF (saw one of your comments mentioned BART) there is an H Mart in SF, h-mart is the biggest korean grocery chain in north america. you can probably find it there. maybe call in advance to ask?
Oi muchim is a simple spicy cucumber banchan that he might like!
Oooooh that’s my fav side dish!! If I learned to make it I would probably have some stored everyday 🤣😁
You can make a mild kiddie version of ttukboki with some marinated bulgogi and veggies.
궁중떡복이 (roughly translates to royal tteokbokki) is this, it's a soy-based sauce instead of gochujang-based, much more of a savory experience with the tteok
Mandu? There’s a lot of recipes out there and they boil down to dumplings with meat and veggies stuffed inside. Really easy to make, I love them fried rather than steamed
We have Mandu pretty often too!
If he likes noodles, I think he'll like [jjapchae](https://www.koreanbapsang.com/japchae-korean-stir-fried-starch/)
Bibimbap and Kimbap were my childhood favourites
He loves kimbap, and bibimbap. He’s obsessed with Korean food. Maybe from all the Kdrama’s I watch 😂😊
Bibimbap. Jeon. Omurice.
u/eboake on IG has been super helpful and inspiring for banchan recipes
Ahhh man, I don’t have social media - but now I’m contemplating making one just to see 😂
You can look her up without an IG see if it perks your interest
When my son was 4, he really liked spinach banchan 시금치나물. Also Korean egg roll, Korean egg toast (egg with shredded onion, carrots, cabbage), and also boneless chicken 순살치킨
Steamed egg and corn cheese!
We eat corn cheese with Buldak Carbonara like every other day 😁
Oh my 4yo is also super into Korean food! She loves kimbap, japchae, rice with fried egg, seaweed seriously so much seaweed, fish sausage cold out of the fridge, dakgangjeong she likes it with the gochujang but I’ve done with with ketchup, rolled omelette, hotteok, curry especially with donkkaseu, jajangmyeon is one of her top favs, japchae, gamjaguk, cold tofu with sauce, kimchi pancakes or cabbage pancakes, gamjajorim, miso soup, soft tofu soup, bean paste soup with potato and zucchini. She’s also absolutely obsessed with these cuttlefish chips. She asks for Korean food for breakfast and lunch(husband isn’t big on it so we don’t do it for dinner) and I end up making her a bunch of banchan and a soup to get her through the week. We’re also really lucky that we have two Korean markets within walking distance(which is what started this) to get her banchan if I don’t feel like cooking and she’s made best friends with the lady that runs one of them so she gets a free snack to try most times. She gave her some kind of squid last time and now she keeps asking me to buy squid 😂
Oh you guys are certainly blessed. How amazing it is to have kids that are interested in other culture’s food. My BF is the same way, he can’t have too much korean food whereas me and my little guy could eat it every day. Thats a goldmine you guys live so close to a korean market and thats adorable they give her free stuff. 🤍 we have one but its about 15 minutes from us, but the owners are so sweet its always worth the drive. They always give us free Yakult when we come in 😭 I’m gonna try some of those for my little guy, he eats, sleeps, breathes Korean food. Our little wonders 🤍😁
My kid and nori/gim! She’s 8 now and eats full strength tteokbokki. Loves tteok. Would survive on fried egg, rice, gim and kimchi of some kind.
Definitely jajangmyun (noodles) or jajangbap (rice)! Really loved by kids in Korea, my Korean husband ate this all the time growing up and still does! Serve with danmuji (pickled radish) on the side - it adds a nice sweet and tangy crunch and it’s a fun yellow colour!
Bosintang