Must-Have
The triumvirate of Korean seasonings
Do you like Korean food? Are u interested in cooking Korean food at home? But you have no idea what kind of seasonings and spices you need for? I can help you what you need to prepare. If you are in DC, it isn’t hard to get these seasonings at grocery markets like Giant or Safeway. These super markets are kind to have “international section” for diverse population in DC. (this is just my thought why Giant has an international section.) I never have a problem to find them except some particular spices which are only in Asian market.
So take this opportunity. Just having them you will be able to cook unique Korean food by yourself! This will be so much fun to cook with Korean seasonings.
1. Soy Sauce
Soy sauce is made from soy beans and salt and it is fermented food.
There are different kind of brands and companies’ soy sauce that you may be confused to choose. There are different type of soy sauces such as regular (when you go to sushi restaurant you’ve seen it. The taste is a little bit sweet), less sodium (less salty), aged soy sauce (This is Korean style soy sauce. It is used for cooking soups and can be marinated. ), and mixed soy sauce(any purpose).
If you don’t know which one you need for or don’t want to have all different kind of soy sauces, then go for the regular soy sauce. It can be totally enough to use. I’m using aged soy sauce because I cook soups and marinated vegetable often.
2. Roasted Sesame Seed (or toasted sesame seed)
sesame seed is not just garnishing food but it is also a good source of copper, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorous, vitamin B1 and dietary fiber. It has rich flavor and taste. If you roast it till the color turns brown, the flavor is richer.
I remember that my mom used to roast raw sesame seeds and gave to other neighbors and friends.
3. Sesame oil
Pure and good quality of sesame oil (Korean sesame oil is usually dark brown.) is expensive but it cannot be neglected when I cook. It is very tasty when you just drip on some salad or pasta. Of course you can add for stir fried food. Because it boosts the food’s taste. Besides sesame oil is a source of vitamin E, magnesium, copper, calcium, iron, zinc and vitamin B6.
You won’t regret to have it!
So if you have all three of them, then you are really ready to cook Korean food! I hope that you won’t have a hard time to find them in super markets. If you cannot find them in anywhere, go to H-Mart online shopping.
