Making entertaining easy

Korean BBQ the "Cora" way

The difficult thing about entertaining is that the host is often stuck in the kitchen missing the better part of the fun and frivolity.  One of may favourite ways of feeding guests in summer is my mum's take of a Korean BBQ.  

A typical table setting with communal table top grills

All the work is in the preparation of the food but your guests are invited to cook their own portions on table top burner.  It is communal eating at it's best and easiest.


Although there is no real recipe for the Korean bbq, the following is an outline of what to cook and how to prepare it and the types of accompaniments that can be served as part of the meal.


Popular proteins served are:

• Beef
• Chicken
• Salmon
• Any firm white fish
• Prawns
• Squid/calamari
• Scallops

Must have accompaniments:

• Hot sauce
• Sweet sauce
• Vegetables
• Rice

All the protein should be cleaned and cut into thinnish slices so that it will cook quickly on the grills.  Don't overload the grills with food to cook as that will slow the cooking process down and broil rather than grill your proteins.  Also make sure that the chicken is cooked thoroughly whilst all other proteins can be eaten on the rarer side.  


The fun part of eating this way is the camaraderie of sharing food, the mock arguments of who owns the nearly cooked plump prawn sitting on the grill and the teasing over the number of bowls of rice everyone is eating.  It is a progressive meal with no time constraints of food getting cold or having to eat something you don't want.  And if you are feeling a little full, you just sit back and enjoy the conversation until you feel ready to attack the hotplates again.

A close up of the cooking process......
(note the metal chopsticks which are great from a safety and hygiene aspect)

Recipe for savoury rice

This recipe is a guideline and you can adjust your quantities to taste (serves 4-6)

Ingredients:  

3 cups Jasmine or long grain rice

6 shallots (finely diced)

2 pods garlic (chopped)

2 tbs butter

Chicken stock

4 cm knob of young ginger (peeled and cut into 1 cm pieces)

Garnish: fried shallots

• Pre-wash and drain the rice.  Keep it aside to dry in a colander.
• Peel and finely dice the shallots or 1 medium onion
• Peel and finely chop a couple of pods of garlic
• Melt the butter in a wok over medium heat.  Add diced shallots and saute till golden brown.
• Add garlic, continue stirring and ensuring the butter does not burn.
• Add washed dry rice and stir for a minute, coating the rice completely with the melted butter.  Keep aside.
• In a rice cooker, measure approx. 4 cups of chicken stock (this can be adjusted to suite the rice you are cooking with) and add slices of ginger to it.  Add the coated rice to the stock and cook in the normal method of your rice cooker.  (Note:  reduce stock if you like a grainy rice)
• When the rice is cooked, remove the ginger and serve in a large bowl with crispy fried shallots mixed lightly through it.

Hot Sour Sauce recipe

Everyone has their own version of a hot sauce that goes well with this style of cooking.  My mum's version requires the green birds eye chillies.  I have never tried using normal green chillies as they normally are not spicy enough.  This sauce should be hot, salty and sour as it is the main seasoning for the proteins.

Birds Eye Chillies

Ingredients:

Green birds eye chillies

Peeled garlic pods

Yellow soybean paste

Lemon juice

Thai fish sauce

White sesame seeds (lightly dry roasted and kept aside to cool)

• Rinse and dry the chillies.
• Combine chillies and garlic in blender/chopper and pulse process to a slightly coarse paste. 
• Add yellow soy bean paste to the chilli and blend for a couple more minutes.
• Pour combined chilli paste into a bowl and add fish sauce and lemon juice to taste.
• Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top of the sauce prior to serving.

Enjoying the food together

Sweet Sauce recipe

Not everyone can cope with a spicy sauce, so it's always good to have a sweet option.

Ingredients:

1 cup Hoisin sauce

1/2 cup Oyster sauce

2 tbs Sesame oil

1/2 tsp chopped garlic

2 tbs vegetable oil

Water

White sesame seeds (lightly dry roasted and kept aside to cool)

• Heat the two oils in a medium sized saucepan
• Add chopped garlic and saute gently.  Make sure it does not burn.  When soft and golden, add the hoisin and oyster sauces.  Continue to heat through without bringing to the boil
• Add a little water if you feel the sauce is too thick.
• Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top prior to serving.

We do a Korean bbq at least three or four times each summer and find it a wonderfully relaxing way to entertain.  


And at the end of the night we are usually left with everything eaten and only the empty dishes to wash up.   


Hope you guys have as much fun trying this out as we do.