Cycle 13 - Item 95

10 (Sun) April 2022

Smörgås Jordnötssmör och Sylt

3.5

by me

at home

-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea-

solo

Korean-Swedish Culinary Exchange (24) (see all posts on KSCX)

In continuation of our previous exchange, GK again used various items from my care package to make doenjang jjigae.

For my part, I'd planned on making a fresh vegetable salad/medley, but a spur-of-the-moment idea resulted in a dish that I'll present here instead.

BY ME

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich, aka PB&J, is an American dish.  Typically involves a pair of sandwich bread slices, with a layer of peanut butter and a layer of jelly (e.g., grape) or jam (e.g., strawberry) in between.  Especially popular with kids.

Turns out that peanut butter, and PB&J by extension, is distinctly American.  The internet is replete with websites lamenting the unavailability of PB across the world, even in "advanced" countries, including Sweden, where supposedly they prefer leverpastej instead (see "10 Countries Where It's Nearly Impossible to Get Peanut Butter").  While imported American peanut butter is sold in Korea, I'm not sure what locals do with it, since I've never seen Koreans eat PB&J.

Sylt Lingon from IKEA.

Though never a huge fan of peanut butter, I keep a jar in the fridge - force of habit from growing up in suburban California, where PB&J was the standard after-school snack for latchkey kids.  These days, I've begun appreciating PB&J as an easy meat-free sandwich option, since I don't eat cold cuts anymore (e.g., ham), also experimenting with PB as a spread with fruit (e.g., apples).

For no reason, I typically spread the PB first then the jelly/jam directly on the PB, but did so separately here just to show them apart in the photo.

Though well aware of the theory for layering PB on both pieces of bread, with jelly/jam in between (i.e., to prevent the bread from getting soggy), I never do so because (a) I don't like too much PB, and (b) I always eat the sandwich immediately.

I'm confident that serving the sandwich with milk is authentically Swedish.

On a whim, I substituted lingonberry jam for the standard strawberry jam.

I loved it.  The tanginess of the lingonberry jam provided a better counterpoint to the richness of the peanut butter.  This is now how I will always do it.

BY GK

[The comments below are GK's own words, with minor typographical edits from me.]

I did the doenjang jjigae today, and it turned out wonderful.  I followed this recipe, although in the future I might try some other recipes in the numerous Korean cookbooks I already own.

1. I started by making some anchovy broth from the packets I got from you (this was the first time that I used them).

2. I cut up the various veggies + the tofu + the pork according to the recipe.

3. I started by sautéeing the meat + doenjang (된장) + gochugaru (고추가루).

4. I added the anchovy stock + radish. In hindsight, I could have added less to fit in more veggies in the pot.

5. I added the rest of the veggies sans the scallions (these were added just at the end of the cooking process).

I poured an enormous crown on the beer since I knew it would annoy you.

6. I served the finished stew with rice + cucumber namul (오이나물).

7. To drink, I had some "Easter ale" (Påsk ale), or more generally "Easter beer" (Påsköl). I have mentioned this before, but in Sweden we often drink special beers around Easter and Christmas that traditionally are heavier/darker, in order to fit better with the traditional fare eaten during these holidays. The slightly bitter taste fit well with the heavy + slightly spicy taste of the doenjang.

I had some leftovers which I will finish with some more broth + veggies tomorrow.

I will definitely cook it again!

CONCLUSIONS

On my effort:

    • I'm assuming that Smörgås Jordnötssmör och Sylt is not really a Swedish thing, but I'd like to think that it's how a Swede would make a PB&J.
    • Thanks to KSCX, I've found a way to upgrade a classic that had seemed impervious to improvement.

On GK's effort:

    • I am so pleased that GK is continuing to put the stuff that I sent him to good use.
    • The doenjang jjigae, at least in the photos, looks the most authentic of all the dishes that he's made thus far.  Great job!!
    • I appreciate the addition of gochugaru, which made the broth look beautifully red - though I'm wondering how spicy the broth must've been, as that brand of doenjang is already quite spicy.
    • With the chunks of pork, the jjigae is a fully realized meal in itself.
    • I'm beginning to like pairing bold ales with Asian food (see for example 13.011 Yam Wun Sen), which I'll explore more in future posts.
    • Nice try, but big heads of foam on beer don't bother me per se, just the idea of paying for it (see 12.305 Fried Mushrooms).

NEXT STEPS

I am still looking for a fresh vegetable salad/medley that I can add to my Swedish table d'hôte, preferably something that doesn't involve cream and/or potatoes.  Suggestions would be welcome.

Now that GK has used the ddukbaegi to make gyeran jjim, bibimbab, and doenjang jjigae, I would be keen to see it used to make a brothy bulgogi (e.g., Maangchi's bulgogi stew in an earthenware pot).

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)