Doenjang Vegetable mix with barley

Doenjang is a fermented paste regularly used in Korean cuisine. It is made from soy beans which undergo a long process of fermentation. The most common use of Doenjang is to make Jjigae (stew). Instead of a soupy dish, I make a mix with doenjang and vegetables to serve on barley. This dish reduces the salt intake and increase the nutritional value thanks to more vegetables.

 

Why is Bibimbap my first posting?

Bibimbap is probably the most well-known Korean dish after Bulgogi.  

Bibimbap is literally mixed rice. You have a bowl of rice and you mix it with something else. Voilà, you’ve got yourself a bibimbap. It can be that simple. On the other hand you can have a bibimbap with 30 ingredients or even more.

 

This is only one version of Bibimbap. I always try to prepare five different ingredients of five colours: white, black, red, blue, and yellow. These five colour composition is called Obangsaek (오방색). These colours represent five elements of universe, five organs of a body, five tastes, five…… etc. One could write a doctoral dissertation on this philosophy.

The recipe here is what I prepare today to give you an idea. The colours I mean here is not exact colours but hues, so radish sautéed and egg white for white, mushroom and meat for black, carrot for red or yellow, egg yolk for yellow, courgette (zucchini) for blue(green), red pepper coloured radish pickle for red. You can choose your own ingredients bearing in mind the five colour composition. It is fun and you are eating a whole universe in a bowl.