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Jungsung 정성
After this outpouring of love and care from all of you, it’s fitting that this week I’m writing about jungsung. In July of last year, Kwang and I presented at the Skirball Center for a Los Angeles Public Library event and did a cooking demo for dotori mook (or muk). I’ve been meaning to share this recipe more widely and talk about the key ingredient for this dish, and all dishes really — jungsung.
Jungsung is sometimes translated plainly as sincerity, truth or heart. But as with many Korean words, there is no one English word that quite captures the depth of this concept. If I had to use just English words to describe jungsung, I would say that jungsung means the meticulous care and attention that is borne out of love.
We say that you can taste the jungsung in a dish when it has been made with this meticulous care and attention that is borne out of love. Sorry, I have to say the whole phrase because otherwise, you lose the beauty that is jungsung. The emphasis is first on meticulous and the final emphasis is on love. The attention to detail and the painstaking care in a dish is palpable. You can taste the love.
And the critical point is that these two things are inseparably connected and both must be present to have true jungsung. You cannot have jungsung with just exacting attention to detail. That dish would be too cold, feel robotic and too often is just redolent of ego. And jungsung is not only about love, because it is the love combined with painstaking care that floors you, humbles you.
The classic example of jungsung is a Korean mother’s cooking for her family. A proper, traditional Korean meal is extremely time consuming and labor intensive to make. There will be a homemade soup or stew and perfectly steamed rice. A grilled fish or meat perhaps. And of course you must have several—sometimes up to nine— banchan or side dishes on your dining table. My mother, along with many Korean mothers of her generation, spent hours a day preparing a multitude of banchan so that the table featured an array of colors and cooking techniques. Every day. That is jungsung.
When you go out to eat, the difference between your favorite mom-and-pop restaurant and the faceless corporate restaurant is jungsung. As restaurant owners, our main challenge is making sure that our dishes have that magic ingredient. This is what we worry about when we think about opening our second restaurant and not being at Shiku, our first restaurant, every day. This is what makes us wonder if we should just open a tiny counter instead of a larger new restaurant. It was much easier to ensure jungsung permeated each dish at old baroo and baroo canteen when Kwang or I touched every single dish. But that was also incredibly not easy in many other ways. So we think about jungsung a lot and are constantly working on creating a culture in our kitchens that can send out dishes that taste of jungsung.
I’m sharing a recipe for Korean acorn jelly or dotori mook because to me it embodies the principle of jungsung in its on-the-surface simplicity and laborious demonstration of care and love.
There are only a few ingredients in dotori mook: acorn starch, salt, sesame oil and water. You mix acorn starch with water and let it sit for a time. Then you cook the mixture very carefully while stirring it slowly and continuously for thirty minutes. The mixture must not stick to the the bottom of the pan or go lumpy; you must stay vigilant. You want to have a completely smooth jelly at the end. Then you let it cool at room temperature for just seven hours before putting it in the fridge.
I find the methodical stirring of mook meditative and this is where you are infusing the dish with the meticulous attention and care that is borne out of love. Because let’s be honest, only someone who loves you would take the time to make this dish for you. If anyone has ever made this dish properly for you, treasure them.
xx mina
Dotori Mook
makes 30 slices
1 cup Korean acorn starch (dotori garu)
6 cups cold water
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 Tbs roasted sesame oil
Whisk starch + water together in large bowl and let rest at room temperature for 30 mins. (for 6x, let it sit for 45min)
Mix liquid with salt and sesame oil and pour into large, wide bottomed pot or wok. On high heat, bring to “boil” (starts to bubble), stirring constantly so it doesn’t curdle or stick to the bottom. The mixture will thicken up significantly and quickly.
Reduce heat right after it starts bubbling and stir very slowly and constantly for at least 30 mins. As you stir, the mixture will go dark in color and become very thick. It’s no longer a liquid but like a thick batter.
Pour into a glass or plexiglass rectangular pan and let cool, uncovered (or it will form a gross skin) on a cool countertop for seven hours. Then refrigerate. Keeps for up to four days.
When ready to serve, cover the pan with a cutting board, flip all together and place the board on the table or counter. You should be able to easily lift the pan and have the jelly still sitting on the board. Cut into thirds in one direction and tenths in the other.
Plate each serving and spoon the dressing over each serving. You can garnish with greens like chrysanthemum greens or frilly lettuce, micro greens (like micro perilla or amaranth) or julienned scallions.
Dressing
240g soy sauce
80g maesil chung (Korean fermented green plum syrup)
40g filtered water
15-30g cane sugar (to taste)
30g garlic (minced)
90g scallions (minced)
1/4 jalapeno (minced and seeded)
30g sesame oil
30g roasted sesame seeds
30g gochugaru (Korean finely ground red pepper powder)
Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Spoon over each serving right before eating.
NOTES:
On measurements - This recipe is a little odd in that the mook measurements are in cups and the dressing is in grams (which is my default way of measuring for recipes). The recipe is really about having 1 part starch to 6 parts water, so I find it easier to remember this recipe in cups.
Serving size - For a tasting or individual side dish, we typically serve 3 slices per person. But in my family, two adults and a voracious toddler can eat much more than that.
Acorn starch can be found at Koreatown supermarkets like HMart, HK Market or the Galleria.
Korean green plum syrup or maesil chung can also be found at Korean supermarkets and adds a lovely, complex tanginess along with sweetness. You can substitute honey if you don’t have the syrup.
Make sure to buy the Korean red pepper powder that is finely ground. You will see two kinds at the supermarket - fine and coarse. The coarsely ground red pepper powder is for making kimchi.
We usually like to eat this jelly with greens (lettuce, perilla leaves, chrysanthemum greens etc). We toss the greens in the dressing and then serve with the mook.