A Fusion of Chinese and Korean Cuisine

Jajangmyeon's Procedures

Last week, our class just had an astonishing experience, as we all dedicated in creating a cuisine that is originated in a Gonghwachun—the Chinatown of Incheon, Korea.

To have a better perspective of Jajangmyeon, it is a fusion of Korean and Chinese cuisine—a noodle dish mixed with thick Chunjang sauce, diced pork and vegetables. Despite the fact that the cuisine originally shaped from Chinese culture, the essence of Jajangmyeon gradually evolved to become suitable for the Koreans.

Dated back in 1905, Jajangmyeon has been re-created with multiple variations; thus, it is not necessary to make an ideal Jajangmyeon dish that follows a specific list of ingredients. Understandably, these are the ingredients that our class had chosen:

Korean/Chinese black bean paste

• Chinese Noodles/Udon/Ramen 
• Scallion (150g, 5.3 ounces)
• 5 large cucumbers (550g, 15 ounces)
• 600g (1.3 pounds) diced pork
• 5 sprinkles ground salt
• 5 sprinkles ground black pepper
• Korean black bean paste
• 200g (7 ounces) lard (or 12 Tbsp cooking oil)
• 1 cup water

Preparation:

• Rinse the pork in cold water and pat it with dry kitchen towel. Slice into small pieces. Add the pork marinade sauce onto the pork and mix up for 15 minutes.
• Julienne cut the cucumbers.

• Dice the scallion into small cubes.

Cooking:

• Boil water and add the noodles in when the water is completely boiled.

• After 3 to 5 minutes, take the noodles out and rinse in cold water and drain.

• Put the noodles into serving bowls.

• For the chunjang sauce, toss up black bean paste, cooking oil, scallion, salt and pepper together, and then add starch water and stir it. 

• Add the black bean sauce on top of the noodles and serve it with pork (additional) or cucumber slices.

And this is the final result, enjoy! 

Original link to the YouTube video of our class creating the dish: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTpP990xOfc

Tyson Nguyen

A Harmony of Flavors

Vietnamese Avocado Cabbage Salad 

Green Cabbage (Left); Purple Cabbage (Right)

Hanoi in spring, coats on a picture of blooming cherry blossom, families purchasing goods, and markets filled with flamboyant flowers, and ingredients. Spring is also the time when Hanoi citizens celebrate their long-lasting culinary traditions and cultural values. As an illustration, Chung cake—a traditional Vietnamese rice cake, with pork meat and green beans, wrapped in bamboo leaves—is considered as an indispensable Lunar New Year’s cuisine. However, besides having those traditional Vietnamese cuisine, as a vegetable-lover, my grandma always prepares for the whole family her own entrée—Vietnamese avocado cabbage salad.

Avocado Purple Cabbage Salad

Grandma’s avocado cabbage salad was a simplified version of the traditional Vietnamese Avocado Zoodle Salad Bowl—a salad bowl, which consists of avocado, zucchini noodles, tofu and cabbage. With the same concept and ingredients, the Vietnamese avocado cabbage salad was simplified by removing the tofu and zucchini noodles and replacing the original vinegar dressing with yogurt-base dressing.

As written in my grandma’s cooking notes, the recipes listed: ½ of unsweetened yogurt, ¼ cup of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, ½ teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of sugar, mozzarella slices, garlic, pepper, and dill, together with two avocados, 2 green and red pepper each, and 8 ounces of cabbage. The preparation procedures of the dish are quite simple and straightforward. To begin, the first step is to slice the avocado and the chili peppers lengthwise in ½ inch slices. The next step is to separate the cabbage leaves and put all the main vegetables in a bowl. Then, whisk together yogurt, white wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt, sugar, garlic, pepper, and dill in a small bowl in order to create the salad-dressing. The last step is to pour the salad-dressing into the vegetables and gently toss up the ingredients.

Avocado Green Cabbage Salad

Embedded with the sweetness of yogurt, sourness of white wine vinegar, spiciness of chili peppers, and balanced out with cabbage and avocados, Vietnamese avocado cabbage salad is certainly a harmony of flavors. Within approximately 15 minutes of preparation and 10 minutes of cooking, the salad is the dish that can be served for dinner and lunch entrée, or even as a road-snack. The salad is not exactly a traditional Vietnamese food; however, it is something nostalgic that evokes the memory of celebrating Lunar New Year’s Eve with my grandma when I am now 6000 miles away from home.

Nutrition Facts

Tyson Nguyen 

Hi! Greetings from Vietnam/Seattle

Hi, my name is Tyson!

Coming from a country of over 6000 miles away, I am currently a Vietnamese boarding student, studying in the Northwest School in Seattle, Washington. I am already a senior at the Northwest School, and I can’t wait to continue my education journey in one of those universities, which it consists of an environment of different culture and diversity. I have friends coming from as many places in the world that I could remember, and I am extremely thrilled to become friends with all of you! Getting to know more about miscellaneous culture, knowledges and stories from different regions of the world and from you guys, are the things that I hope to find out! In regards of my personal interests, I have been passionate about playing piano since I was 6; I have been practicing dancing since secondary school; I am fascinated to explore different regions of the world; and I love to create spectacular photographs to post on my social-media :)

Here are some pictures of myself!