Jang Won Korean Restaurant

Somehow when you Google "Korean Food", it shows you a gazillion pages and restaurants serving Korean BBQ. Korean food is not just BBQ meat! I love the home style dishes of Korean food like soups and stews with rice and noodles. It's so comforting and hearty! SO one weekend I was craving some good Kimchi Jjigae for lunch, so I managed to find one at Chinatown and gave it a try.

The store was very unassuming, very quiet, simple and low key, which is perfect. Family restaurants are supposed to look like that right?

The staff was Korean too, and they quickly seated us down. The menu looked great with loads of stews and soup. I already know what I wanted, which was their famous Kimchi Jjigae. But when faced with the menu, I can't help but order some Mandu (korean pork dumplings) too. Hubby ordered their Beef bone soup.

Like any Korean restaurants, they serve the banchan first. Which is a variety of side dishes. I love family restaurants banchan better because they seem to have more heart and effort in making the banchan. Many big BBQ restaurants usually just give you some kimchi and anchovies. Look at this!

I'm not an expert on korean banchan, but these little dishes are delicious! I could just eat this with a pint of beer and I'm a happy gal. My expectations for the main meal has gone up from just tasting the side dishes!

Finally our soup came! Doesn't look very fancy, but the taste was amazing!

The soup was very rich and flavourful. Perfect with some chewy korean rice. The kimchi was plentiful and the soup was warm and comforting. I'm salivating from just thinking about it now. :P Usually people would add some pork in the soup, unfortunately I could only find ONE piece. The one piece of pork was really tender and delicious, wish there was more... :(

Hubby's Beef Bone soup was out of the world. The soup was very rich and the beef was very tender. The pieces of meat was huge! So it was a pretty hearty meal.

The mandu was okay, the skin was a little too thick and chewy to our liking.

The menu had a wide variety of dishes that I wish we could try, but there were only 2 of us. By the time I finished the soup and rice, I was quite full. But it was such a satisfying meal. Maybe next time we'll try different dishes. :)

44 Mosque Street
#01-01
Singapore 059522
6532 6949

M-F: 11.30am-2.30pm; 5.30-10pm
Weekend & PH: 5-10pm

Dak-bokkeumtang Korean Spicy Braised Chicken

Gochujang paste is such a versatile condiment! I know that this paste is widely used in Korean cuisine. So once again, I look to the master of online korean cooking, Miss Maangchi. I want something hearty and spicy this time, so Dak-bokkeumtang is perfect. It reminds me of our Asian chicken curry actually. Chicken and potatoes braised in spicy gravy? Sign me up! I didn't have any chicken wings or drumlets, so I used whole chicken drumsticks instead and it is still delicious!

The measurements of the recipe is quite straight forward so I didn't stray far from it. But I wasn't cooking for a party like she was,(see original recipe) so I just halved the recipe. We don't eat green chilli at home, but she said it's a crucial flavour, so I actually bought a whole packet, used ONE, and the rest just rotted away in the fridge. :( But she's right. You CAN taste the green chilli in the stew so try not to skip that.

500g chicken
2 onions (chopped)
2 tablespoons soya sauce
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons gochujang paste
2 tablespoons pepper flakes
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 cup water

potatoes
1 big green chilli (cut)
Spring onions (for garnish)

1. Mix chicken, onions, seasoning and water together.
2. Boil without a lid on high heat for 20mins. 
3. Add potatoes and chilli and cook for another 20mins. This time with the lid on. 
4. Remove lid and cook for another 3-5 mins to thicken the gravy. 
5. Garnish with spring onions and serve!

Gochujang Chicken Stew

A few weeks ago I bought a tub of gochujang (Korean chilli paste) to make one of our favorite dish, kimchi soup. But I didn't know what to do with the remaining chilli paste, so I Googled gochujang recipe and discovered this dish. Sounds simple enough, and I have most of the ingredients, so that was dinner tonight.

I substituted or opted out some ingredients that I didn't have, but the end result was still quite delicious. Hubby preferred it to be more spicy, so next time would add more chilli! Me, I thought it tasted delicious, hearty and perfect with a steaming bowl of rice.

1/2 Portion of Chicken, about 500g
Your choice of vegetables, I chose potatoes, carrots, wong bok cabbage and some leftover brown button mushrooms.
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1 Tablespoon of Cooking Oil
1 Tablespoon of Sesame Oil
1 Spring Onion, finely chopped to garnish

Marinade:
1.5 Tablespoons chinese cooking wine
Salt and Pepper

Seasoning Sauce:
1/2 Tablespoon peanut butter
1/2 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Gochujang Chilli Paste

1. Marinate chicken pieces in wine and seasoning. Brown meat with a little oil.
2. Set chicken aside and using the same pot, stir fry all the vegetables and garlic.
3. Put chicken back in and add water or chicken stock till it covers about 2/3 of the meat and vegetables. Add seasoning sauce and stir well.
4. Boil for 15-20mins or until the sauce has reduced near half.
5. Add in sesame oil and garnish with spring onions before serving.

I love the sweet after taste of the gochujang chilli paste, but next time would add some fresh chilli to give it more kick! Anyway, definitely a keeper!

For the original recipe, see here.