Cooking authentic Korean dishes with extra virgin olive oil

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and to celebrate we will be adapting recipes from Asia with olive oil.

Von Janey Lee

One of the fastest-growing markets in terms of olive oil consumption in Korea, where EVOO now accounts for over 21% of the market share, surpassing both canola and sesame oil consumption.[1] This reflects a similar trend across the Asia-Pacific market as a whole, where industry analysts expect the olive oil market to grow by 4.2% by 2025 [2]. Experts believe that one of the driving factors behind this growth is an increase in global travel and greater exposure to the Mediterranean diet, which is consistently recognized as one of the healthiest eating habits.

The increase in olive oil consumption can be observed both in gastronomy and in domestic cuisine. The signature dish of Korea's most popular fried chicken chain is "olive chicken," fried in olive oil.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/782825/south-korea-cooking-oil-type-of-using/

My mother, who immigrated to the United States from Korea in 1977, switched to olive oil for cooking about 15 years ago. It's the only cooking oil she has in her house other than sesame oil (which she only uses for flavoring). Why did she switch? For health reasons. Like other Koreans, she firmly believes that food is medicine, and for this reason, she added olive oil to our family's diet.

But let's get to the cooking! For today's post, I enlisted my mom to share her recipe for jun (aka jeon), which is fried food coated in a soft egg batter. Jun can be prepared with fish, meat, or vegetables. This simple recipe requires no special ingredients and is easy to make at home.

Korean Fried Zucchini Slices (Ho Bak Jun)

ingredients

3 zucchini

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs

1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt

directions

Cut the zucchini into rounds about 1/8" thick

Beat two eggs and season with salt

Mix the finely chopped garlic with the eggs

Put 1 cup of flour in a bowl and set it next to the eggs

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Roll the zucchini in batches in flour and then dip them in the egg wash solution.

Put in a pan and fry for a minute. When browned, flip and cook on the other side for 1 minute.

Add more olive oil between batches. Repeat until all zucchini slices are done.

This basic recipe can be used to prepare other types of jun.

Use thinly sliced ​​fish fillets to make saeng sun Jun. prepare

Butterfly Shrimp for Sae Woo Jun

Make Meatballs to Wan Ja Jun. close

You can serve it with a dipping sauce. Mix the following ingredients

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon of water

Chili pepper flakes (for heat, optional)

Sliced ​​spring onions (optional)

[1] Statista.com [2] Mordor Intelligence More recipes: Maangchi Korean Recipes with Olive Oil

Posted in: Olive Oil Recipes