Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MA_TESOL]

I want to make a big pot of chilli con carne. I need to find the right ingredients; especially spices. Have you made a successful batch? Where did you find all the ingredients?

[tzechuk]

I have made some before.. but I brought my spices from the UK...

Homeplus now has a pretty good range of spices, you can try it there.

[sojourner1]

I brought the chili powder from home and bought the cans of kidney beans, tomatoes, and tomato paste on Gmarket. Then I got the ground beef, onions, peppers, and garlic at a local store or market.

[Typhoon]

I used to make it quite a bit here. Without spices from home it is more challenging as you have to play with different ones you can get here to get the right taste. I found a combination of the really spicy green peppers and less spicy green peppers chopped finely (seeds in), mixed with some of the red pepper flakes, salt and cumin were a good start to get a basic chilli taste. In order to get the taste out of the chillies you have to cook it for a pretty long time (about 3 or 4 hours before it starts to really taste like chilli). I had to play with several different batches to get it right. I wish I could remember exactly the right amounts, but I usually just cook Chilli by feel (and tasting ). You can get a cajun spice at Costco which may be interesting to try in chilli(although I haven't). As for the rest of ingredients you can get beans, diced tomatoes and some spices at Costco and the local marts are pretty good at filling in the rest. Cheers and happy cooking!!

[Typhoon]

By the way I actually enjoyed the chilli a lot more when I didn't use spices from home . However, now I do usually use them now as I am a lazy, lazy, man.

[LostinKSpace]

2 medium onions
1 clove of garlic
olive oil
2 level teaspoons chilli powder
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin (or crushed cumin seeds)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
455gr/1 lb chuck steak, minced, or best minced beef
200gr/7oz sun-dried tomatoes in oil
2 x 400gr/14oz tins of tomatoes
1/2 stick of cinnamon
2 x 400gr/14oz tins of red kidney beans, drained

I use this Recipe from Jamie Oliver and you can find everything in the ROK, although sundried toms can be hard to come by so I just use tinned toms or tom paste, and it is a winner every time especially in the winter with a nice cold one or four.

[Son Deureo!]

I used to make chili all the time in Korea, and even though I'm in the states I kinda miss the chili I made in Korea, the tofu and Korean peppers gave it a unique flavor that I really enjoyed.

I used:

cherry tomatoes (always available, ripe, and cheap)
kidney beans
carrots
green chiles
dried red pepper
salt
chick peas
ground pork
onions
garlic
a big block of tofu

Red beans and chick peas are the only items that you can't get at a Korean mini mart or outdoor market, and even those weren't all that hard to come by.

Of course, here I can use 4 different kinds of beans, cumin, and ground beef doesn't cost a fortune, so I don't miss my Korean recipe too much.

Even more fun is making clam chowder with ten bags of chigae clams.

[cruisemonkey]

I use chili powder, cumin and oregano, all of which I brought from home.

[Kikomom]

While assembling and chopping up all those ingredients can add to the experience and nutritional value, the kids in our house never liked the veggies (onion, peppers, etc), half of them just end up getting picked out. So I concocted the 20 minute chili special. Some of you bachelors may like this one:

World's Easiest Chili

Brown some ground beef
Add:
- can of tomato soup, can of water
- can of pork and beans
- packet of chili spice
- dash or two of cumin
Stir till heated thru

[refikaM]

I bring all my spices from home every year... which include lots of chili powder and ground cumin... You could probably get buy using bay leaves, oregano, and (red) ground chili available here... in a pinch. If you can't find canned beans, I find the small red beans (dried) found in any larger supermarket are a fine substitute for pintos or kidney beans... They got 'em at Emart in the BEAN section...

[Fishead soup]

Add corn and squid tentacles and big chunks of sweet potatoe. Serve with a side order of sweet pickles