Korean Buffet Suggested by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Korean Buffet Suggested by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Korean grilled bulgogi beef and grilled chicken dak gu yi are becoming well-known in the United States thanks to the boom of Korean restaurants across the country.

There are several dishes in Korean cuisine that lend themselves to a buffet for a discussion of business opportunities in Korea and the political situation of the two Koreas vis-à-vis the US and other countries. 

Bulgogi and dak gu yi both need to be served warm and are rather expensive.  The following dishes can be part of a cold or room-temperature buffet.  They are from the Korean cookbook entitled Growing up in a Korean Kitchen: A Cookbook by Hi Soo Shin Hepinstall:

Chilled Buckwheat Noodles

You can cook this dish ahead of time and serve it chilled.  The noodles are sautéed with green onions, Asian pear cubes, cucumber rounds, hard-boiled egg slices, sesame oil, cabbage kimchi, and rice vinegar.

Sweet Potato Noodles with Meat and Mixed Vegetables

This dish is cooked ahead of time and served at room temperature.

You need to sauté green onions, garlic, sesame strips of chicken and beef, mushrooms, soy sauce, sesame oil, Napa cabbage hearts, spinach leaves, and Korean peppers first.

Then, you boil and drain sweet potato noodles.  Add the sauté mix to the sweet potato noodles.

P’an Ch’an and N’amul Selection

P’an ch’an are pickled vegetables made with garlic and spicy, red peppers.  N’amul are boiled vegetables that are dressed with soy sauce, a little garlic, and sesame oil.  The sesame oil gives this dish a nutty flavor.

Both p’an ch’an and n’amul usually accompany bulgogi (grilled beef) and dak gu yi (grilled chicken).

N’amul Suggestions

-cucumber salad

-chilled radish salad

-seasonal eggplant

P’an Ch’an

-cabbage kimchi

-eggplant kimchi

-cubed radish kimchi

Noodles with Meat and Mixed Vegetables

Sauté green onions, sliced chicken breast, sliced beef tenderloin, mushrooms, soy sauce, sesame oil, cabbage hearts, spinach leaves, and Korean peppers together.

Boil and drain noodles.  Add sautéed vegetables and top with egg slices.

You can prepare this dish in advance and serve it at room temperature.

Pan-fried Potatoes

Make a batter for the potatoes with chives, salt, and pepper.

Bake the potatoes after dunking them in the batter on a baking sheet.

The chives give the potatoes in the batter on a baking sheet.

The chives give the potatoes a slight onion flavor.

You can keep the potatoes warm in a chafing dish.

Mushrooms with Steamed Rice

This is a dish made of mushrooms that have been sautéed in oil with garlic mixed with cooked rice.

You can make this dish ahead of time as well and keep it warm in a chafing dish.

The Koreans make a beer called Hite, a barley-and-corn tea, and Soju, a rice spirit similar to the Japanese sake.

There are several items on this suggested buffet that would appeal to many different kinds of diners.  The cookbook has the details and other dishes listed.

Another Korean cookbook that is more oriented towards bar culture is Koreatown: A Cookbook by Deuki Hong.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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