Korean beef stew a la Kimchi
The korean beef stew recipe in my archive (published in August 9, 2005) was a second or third, and most successful, attempt at making a dish that was popularized in the Philippines by a fast food restaurant called Kimchi. The few attempts were not republished after Pinoy Cook was reconstructed following a massive technical problem that brought all my blogs down in December 2005.
A week or so ago, a reader e-mailed me lamenting her disastrous attempt at cooking korean beef stew. She described the ingredients she used and how the cooked dish looked. The culprit was the soy sauce.
When I specify dark soy sauce in my recipes, I am referring to the most common kind of soy sauce produced in the Philippines — the ones like Silver Swan, Datu Puti and Marca Piña. Light soy sauce, on the other hand, refers to the likes of Kikkoman. Dark soy sauce is not the same as soy paste which you can buy in many Chinese specialty food stores.
The inevitable question is whether it isn’t possible to substitute light soy sauce or soy paste for dark soy sauce. It is possible — why not? But you will have to adjust the rest of the seasonings and spices because the base flavor of each kind of soy sauce differs. You will also need to adjust the amount. For instance, the korean beef stew recipe calls for 3/4 cup of dark soy sauce. If you substitute light soy sauce, you will need more than 3/4 cup. If you use soy paste instead, you will have to use much less than 3/4 cup.
You will also need to adjust the amount of sugar because light soy sauce and soy paste are generally sweeter than the common dark soy sauce.
We had korean beef stew for dinner a couple of nights ago. And I tried a different kind of substitution. See, I had siling haba (green finger chilis) in the frudge but no siling labuyo. I thought about using siling haba but it does not have the kind of sharp hotness of siling labuyo. So, I decided it might not be such a good idea.
What I did have was a bottle of dried chili flakes.
One teaspoonful of dried chili flakes in place of 3 to 4 fresh siling labuyo. It did the trick.
See, any recipe can be tweaked. Add, subtract, substitute… never be afraid to experiment. And you have to trust your instincts. If you used 3/4 cup of soy paste instead of 3/4 cup of dark soy sauce and the broth looks too dark and thick, add water — quick — to dilute it. The only disaster that can’t be remedied is burnt food. You can hide the burnt texture but you will never be able to hide the burnt taste.
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Now I want to make that korean beef stew. Looks so masarap
By the way, my mom and I have been looking for chili flakes forever. Where did you buy yours, Ms. Connie?
Thanks, thanks
hi connie, is it ok not to put any sesame seed on this recipe? can’t find any..thanks
Shopwise, Concep.
apple, it won’t taste the same but i’m sure you will still enjoy it.
Naku, makatakbo ngang Shopwise mamaya
Thanks again, Ms. Connie!
Connie,
Do remember in the old forum we talked about beef stew? Did i ever give you the recipe that used apples in the korean beef stew?
No problem, Concep.
Peterb, apples? No, I don’t remember… And I have so much utang sayo. Haven’t been able to login sa forum kasi nawala password ko after I reinstalled OS X. Naka-cookies lang kasi sa browser.
The first time I googled for korean beef stew and your site came up, it became one of my family’s favorite recipes. I mix light and dark soy sauce because I find the local soy sauce too dark and I also lessened the sugar. Now I often use the same recipe and just adjust the taste to have more liquid and make it into beef noodle soup whenever I feel tamad of cooking. I just put everything into my pressure cooker, boil some noodles and blanch some vegetables. It is really a hit! Parang galing daw sa Chinese resto!
Made this recipe tonight for dinner. Had all the ingredients except the Marca Pina brand soy sauce which I bought specifically for this recipe and am using for the first time. I used the beef short ribs. Dumped everything in the slow cooker after boiling the meat first to remove the scum. Came out perfect. No need to change a thing. Thanks. I will make this again. So easy to do.
Your korean beef stew looks yummy. I will surely try this! (Because I also love their Beef Stew) Have been wondering how Kimchi does it coz I can’t get same taste. But I was able to make a better Beef Sukiyaki than what they have (using instant Sukiyaki sauce , hehe).
Re dark soy sauce. You try the brand coconut, it tastes better than the regulars ones in the market and has a lighter color, too. My aunt uses it for her pork asado.
Your blog is always very useful whenever our tired minds doesn’t seem to work and can’t decide on what to feed the kids after a long day. It is also an answer to my cravings for the tastes of local foods that I can’t seem to find here in the West.
I remember eating this korean stew, which I will always remeber as ‘kimchi’, back then in Makati Square a long time ago, with bean sprouts (togue). A good thing to spice up the presentation of the soup.
ah basta ako, all time fave to sa mini-catering business ko here in kuwait. Thanks ms. cons! all your recipes are trully amazing and wonderful!
hi connie,
sobrang natuwa ako nung nakita ko tong recipe na to. kuhang-kuha ang lasa. miss ko na ang beef stew ng kimchi so i decided to try this tonight. tamang-tama kasi we had dinner guests who specified that they can’t eat pork. at dahil confident ako sa mga recipe mo, ito ang niluto ko with baked chicken ala sinigang (another all-time favorite from your site). patok na patok. ang sarap nga naman and they all thought i’ve been slaving over the stove the whole day. hahaha! kung alam lang nila kung gaano kadali lutuin to. i didnt have to change a thing kasi i always have these ingredients dito sa bahay. this will definitely be included in our menu rotation.
maraming salamat sa uulitin. more power to you!
Hi Connie,
The Kimchi Beef Stew is one of my all-time favorite comfort food (right up there with Trellis’ Sisig)! I’m glad to find your recipe for it – I will try it this weekend!
Thanks!
(BTW – I was very excited to find out that your hubby Speedy works with my dad – Benjie Mendoza. My brother Micki was the one who made the connection while we were talking about blogs and I mentioned yours. My dad said that you helped write the presentation for his birthday – thanks so much!)
cel, ewan ko nga ba sa mga tao na decorate nang decorate nang pagkain for hours and hours eh hindi naman nakakadagdag sa lasa yung decoration. most times, the most delicious dishes are the easiest to cook — basta cooked with love.
Tessa, hello!!! Yes, Speedy mentioned you… finally, I can say hi personally. I heard your dad was teary-eyed after hearing the presentation.
Yes, my dad really appreciated it :0)
I cooked the beef stew today and my hubby and I loved it! I followed the recipe to the letter, with the exception of adding a bit of sesame chili oil at my mom’s suggestion. I used the red pepper flakes too.
I have a new dish to add to my cooking repertoire for dinner guests. I tried your lengua and baked macaroni recipes last Christmas and they came out great.
If you ever come up with a Pork Sisig recipe a la Trellis or Pampanga style, please do let me know!
Thanks again !
PS-I posted photos of my first beef stew attempt here: http://tessacruz.multiply.com/journal/item/81
Tessa, you even served it with the mung bean sprouts! Kumpleto!
i tried making your korean beef stew recipe too… mine turned out to be good, expect that it didnt taste korean, it tasted more chinese. my suspects are either the bayleaf or the garlic– i used this huge leaf of bayleaf and i used peeled cloves of garlic. whatcha think?
hard to tell, mika, since i personally didn’t taste what you cooked. the important thing is that you liked it.
hi corrie, in your recipe, you stated whole garlic, sorry for the ignorance, but do you peel off the skin at all or do you just put the whole garlic in the broth? thanks!
Corrie? Who’s Corrie?
Hi Abril, if you meant me — CoNNie — you just drop the entire thing, unpeeled, into the water. You’re going to remove the whole garlic and onion afterward before serving the stew.
i tried making the beef stew the other night. sold out siya, i was hoping na may tira for my husband to bring to work pero walang natira. i like this recipe, very easy to prepare and cook. thanks and more power to you! btw, i frequent your site regularly, keeping an eye of any recipe that i can make when the urge arise to make something different.
Sold out ba, ai133n? LOL That is good to know.
cant seem to find the recipe for this…please, may i have it? tnx
There are three links in the entry, issa.
salamat po, got the recipe na!
connie,
..where can i find this recipe?
li fernan, there are three links in the entry; the first one is right in the first sentence.
where is the recipe? i dont see it!
OK,i found it. whew. Just super excited cause I haven’t been backed to the Philippines in 8 years and I told my husband if i was going back home, it was for kimchi’s beef stew.
Have fun, Pam. May the beef stew bring back happy memories.
Hi Ms. Connie, can I also substitute beef back ribs instead of short ribs? I am cooking it right now but my husband bought back ribs instead of short ribs…will it make a difference?
Thanks!
They’re not as meaty as short ribs, Pia.
Thanks Ms. C!
I still love how it turned out!!!
I’ve been a fan for years ever since I came here to the States, I linked your recipe in my blog, I hope that’s okay…
Hi Ms. Connie! Just cooked your version of Korean Beef Stew (my 2nd attempt actually…). Both times it tasted quite alright…my only question is how the sauce could be a bit thicker…. From my experiences eating at Kimchi, I remember the sauce to be a little thicker. Mine came out soup style talaga heheh.
Cornstarch solution.