Crazy Korean Cooking Chung Jung One Gochujang
Gochujang is a Korean hot pepper paste that has a savoriness similar to Japanese miso and is fermented with glutinous rice, which gives it a slightly sticky texture and subtle sweetness. It’s a real powerhouse ingredient that we’ve come to rely on and consider an essential element of the Milk Street pantry. Chung Jung One's version has an approachable, mild heat level for adding to everything from tofu stew to barbecue meats.
Crazy Korean Cooking Premium Korean Stone Pot
This traditional earthenware bowl (or ddukbaegi) is incredibly multifunctional, used in Korean cooking for simmering stews or making dolsot bibimbap, a popular sizzling rice dish. Safe for stovetop, microwave and oven use, the cookware is made from fine, porous clay that retains heat well but doesn't absorb soaps, chemicals or any off-flavors—plus, it doesn't require seasoning before first use. Korean stoneware has such excellent heat retention that the bowl is actually meant to double as a serving dish, since it keeps food warm as you're eating. A matching lid and heat-insulating trivet with handles make for easy transport to the table, while the double-fired glaze looks sleek and elegant.
Crazy Korean Cooking E-jen Fermentation & Storage Container
This durably built 0.9-gallon Korean container is designed for fermenting kimchi, sauerkraut or pickles and is a breeze to use. The double lid locks tightly and is effective for containing odors, while the sturdy polypropylene construction scrubs up beautifully. The inner vacuum lid sits snugly on top of the fermenting products, preventing oxygen contact, which can lead to mold growth and spoilage; it also has a small covered valve that you can unseal to vent carbon dioxide buildup during fermentation.
Yondu Vegetable Umami
We love finding new “magic” pantry ingredients from around the world that instantly boost flavor, and this Yondu is no exception. Fermented soybeans and a rich stock made from a robust blend of vegetables—including shiitake mushrooms, onions, garlic and cabbage—yield a concentrate bursting with umami. Not only will it give you delicious savory vegetarian broth in the blink of an eye, it can also be used as a secret umami boost for everything from marinades to cooked grains. We love how it’s an easy-to-pour liquid (and not a paste, which can be harder to incorporate into dishes) and how deeply savory its flavor is compared to store-bought broths—which can taste too sweet from relying on carrots. It’s wonderfully earthy from alliums and mushrooms, yet remains balanced. And the yeast extract, a popular ingredient for boosting savoriness in vegan dishes (and for creating the distinctive flavor of Marmite), produces an incredibly rich, intensely savory character that complements the Yondu’s complex flavors perfectly.
Tofudee Tofu Press
For most types of tofu, pressing it to extract excess liquid is key to maintaining its shape when cooked and to helping it get crispy and brown every time. The Tofudee Tofu Press excels at this—and does it in about half the time while making less mess. No more wrapping tofu in paper towels, weighing it down, straining and draining. Instead, with the Tofudee, tofu is placed in a plastic box with an inner plastic liner with holes on the bottom. The top presses down with the turn of a screw handle, squeezing the tofu while water is drawn away from the block. Tofu is ready to use 15 minutes later and good for up to 24 hours stored in the refrigerator. We love the nonslip silicone handle, tension-absorbent legs and easy-latch lid; together they make easy work of pressing and straining your tofu. It’s also great for making fresh cheeses, like labneh or paneer.
Milk Street Cast Iron Stovetop Korean BBQ
Inspired by the communal style of grilling thinly sliced meats, our Cast-Iron Stovetop Korean Barbecue brings the experience of Korean barbecue to your table. Simply place thinly sliced meat on the ridged, domed center—the juices will slide down into a reservoir, where vegetables pick up that flavor as they cook. The cast-iron construction means the grill heats evenly and retains that heat well even after it’s removed from the source. It fits well over any type of burner or cooktop, including portable stoves, so you can use it just about anywhere. And besides grilling sliced meats, it’s also great for thin fish filets, sliced vegetables, flatbreads, tortillas and more—perfect for entertaining groups. Plus, two side handles make for easy maneuvering.
Grand Noodle Five Colored Noodles
Handcrafted by a master noodle maker, these multicolored guksu, or Korean noodles, are infused with clean vegetable flavor. Guksu Master Kim Hyun Kyu started his noodle operation in 1987, wanting to add flavor to basic, bland wheat noodles that only supplemented other recipe components. After years of experimenting with ratios, recipes and aging, Kyu developed vibrant, vegetable-forward twists on the classic noodle. These guksu get their distinctive color-true hues and flavor from garlic chives, sweet pumpkin, beets, and white and black rice. And the ingredients are more than natural food coloring; when cooked, the aromatic noodles impart a subtle but noticeable flavor to dishes and retain a pleasant chew. Try them in pasta dishes, Korean preparations—like bibim-guksu, a spicy noodle stir-fry, or kong-guksu, a cold soy milk soup—or boiled and tossed with oil and sea salt.
Haeoorim Jeju Korean Fish Sauce
For those put off by the typical pungency of fish sauce, Haeeorim’s Jeju Korean Fish Sauce—a milder, less funky take on the classic staple—may be just the thing. Caught in the waters off of Korea’s Jeju Island by local fisherman, a combination of young and horse mackerel marinate in salt crystals from Jeju before being expertly sealed in traditional Onggi (Korean earthenware pots) for more than a year. After the initial fermentation, a mixture of locally-grown daikon radish, sea kelp from Wando and local mandarin orange are added to the Onggi to add interesting notes of flavor, complexity and a bit of sweetness. After another period of aging and ripening, the resulting sauce is clean without the funk of typical fish sauce— thanks to milder mackerel, a less pungent option than the anchovies typically used for fish sauce, and longer fermenting—yet still full of meaty fish flavor. With a little more sweetness and a lighter touch of salt than most other brands, this fish sauce lends itself beautifully to a variety of dishes, from noodles and vegetables to sauces and marinades.
Milk Street Digital Class: Korean Street Food with Ji Hye Kim
As you walk down the streets of Seoul, you’re hit with the wafting aromas of spicy gochujang, sweet cooked rice and umami-rich fish stew. It’s a symphony of great smells—and you can experience it all from home. Join guest chef Ji Hye Kim of the celebrated restaurant Miss Kim for a pre-recorded livestream workshop all about Korean street food. First, tteokbokki is perhaps Korea’s most beloved street snack, consisting of tender cylindrical rice cakes—which you can purchase premade or make yourself according to Ji Hye’s expert instructions—in a spicy red sauce. You’ll learn about the history and current use of gochujang, the fermented red chili paste that gives the sauce its bold color. While you snack on your tteokbokki, we make kimbob. You might be tempted to call kimbob sushi, but Ji Hye will illuminate the differences, from how the rice is cooked to which dipping sauces are and aren’t welcome. Like sushi, though, kimbob is vastly adaptable, bite-sized and surprisingly easy to make with a little professional guidance. To complete a trifecta of Korean street food, we turn to Eomuk, a deeply savory dish of fish cakes—which we’ll make ourselves—bobbing in a quick broth whose rich flavor comes from anchovy, kelp and soy. Whether you make one, two or all three of these dishes, we guarantee that the smells and flavors will transport you straight to Korea.
Demisaem Korean Gochujang Sauce
Savory, spicy gochujang meets sweet plum in Demisaem’s funky, fruity Chojang-Gochujang Sauce. Made in Korea, this red pepper and plum paste is spiked with fermented plum vinegar, Korean chili powder, traditional rice syrup, garlic, ginger and sesame seeds for an aromatic, sweet-sour balance that gives off a quick hit of heat that doesn’t linger on the tongue. The smooth, deep red paste comes packaged in an easy to squeeze bottle, pairing well with noodles, rice, grilled meats, eggs, burgers, burritos, tempura, bibimbap, grilled meats, barbecue and fish. Or use it as a marinade, mixed into sauces or stirred into dressings for a spicy, tangy kick. We especially like it in place of ketchup and sriracha.
Milk Street Digital Class: Korean Barbecue with Grace Park
If you think Korean barbecue is strictly restaurant fare, thinkagain. Guest chef Grace Park, founder of Crazy Korean Cooking, is here to prove that Korean barbecue isn’t just possible at home—it’s dead simple and truly fun. At this pre-recorded Zoom livestream class, Grace will teach you her two favorite proteins for Korean barbecue: galbi (beef short ribs) and spicy pork belly. You’ll learn why marinades are the humble heroes of Korean barbecue. These bold combinations of garlic, soy, sugar, rice wine and fermented chili paste impart big flavor to meat—especially because you'll let your meat marinate for two full days. We’ll walk through the science of long marination and you’ll learn why you should never ever skip the step of putting your meat dry before grilling. Whether you grill your meat on a traditional tabletop setup or at the stove, you’ll get Grace’s pro tips on picking the right pan, keeping your meat from sticking and judging doneness with perfect accuracy. With the meats cooked and ready to go, we’ll move on to the rest of the classic Korean barbecue spread. You’ll see how easy it is to mix up a batch of ssamjang, a Korean dipping sauce that’s deeply savory and nicely spicy.Grace will walk you through the history and flavor profiles of doenjang (soybean paste) and gochujang (fermented hot pepper paste), which are two ingredients you’ll never want to be without again. And then we’ll put it all together. A crunchy lettuce leaf, a smear of ssamjang, a mound of pork belly or short ribs, and a bit of grilled kimchi: it just may be the perfect bite.