Ingredients for your K-kitchen

Here are 12 common Korean ingredients.

Kimchi: The national dish, it is prepared by fermenting Chinese cabbage, radish, scallions or cucumber

Gochujang: A savoury and pungent condiment made by fermenting red chilli powder, glutinous rice, soybeans and salt

Doenjang: A thick paste made from fermented soybeans eaten as condiment and seasoning

Ssamjang: A thick, lightly spiced paste made by mixing doenjang and gochujang

Ganjang: A soy sauce made from fermented soybeans. Japanese soy sauce is saltier, but may be a good substitute if 2/3 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of honey are added to two cups of Japanese Kikkoman soy sauce

Miyeok: Dried kelp or miyeok is a seaweed used to season and colour soups and broths.

Sesame: The seeds need to be dry-roasted. For sesame salt, roast seeds, add salt and grind to a powder when cool. The oil has a unique flavour and aroma.

Dashida: An instant beef stock powder used as seasoning

Sticky glutinous rice: Used almost exclusively to make desserts

Noodles: Buckwheat noodles, thin, dried wheat noodles, udon and cellophane noodles made from sweet potato starch are used in soups and stir-fries.

Anchovies: Select Asian supermarkets sell salted and fermented anchovies used in Korean dishes.

Chicken: It is a great vehicle for spicy flavours.

All ingredients can be found at A-Mart on Shaikh Zayed Road (055 882 9920), Hanarum in Karama (04 336 8022) and 1004 Mart in Barsha (04 323 4536). Some can be found at Carrefour and Spinneys.