What Are These For?

CTMike · July 5

Why would I be soaking granite bowls in a high density brine? More details to follow.

paqman · July 6

Dolsot?

Botch · July 6

Spice mortars with self-seasoning feature?

danhoo · July 6

bed pans?

Canugghead · July 6

paqman said:

Dolsot?

yup, meant to buy a couple years ago when it was under $20 each

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/gr/z21t03fgaq2k.png

paqman · July 6

@Canugghead looks like the exact same model 😳

CTMike · July 6

paqman said:

Dolsot?

Winner, winner, chicken dinner. SWMBO and I watched an episode of Beat Bobby Flay where the challenger beat Bobby by making Bibimbap, so we decided we wanted to give it a try.

The instructions for the dolsot (Korean for stone pot evidently) has you soak them in a very salty brine for 72 hours to soften the inner surface of the granite. Prior to assembling the final dish the pots are heated either over an open flame or in the oven. The rice is the first thing added so the heat in the stone gives you a layer of crispy rice at the bottom, similar to soccarat in paella I guess.

Plan on making the dish Sunday, will post more then.

caliking · July 6

Definitely looking forward to this cook.

Tandoors are sometimes seasoned with brine, so the naan can be peeled off easily. I wonder if this is a similar technique.

fishlessman · July 6

Canugghead said:

paqman said:

Dolsot?

yup, meant to buy a couple years ago when it was under $20 each

I have that bowl and it came with a cover from the Korean market we had. Makes great rice

Botch · July 6

Oof-dah!
Before I retired I had lunch every week or two at a wonderful korean restaurant south of the base (the confusingly-named Seoul Food) and ordered bibimbap half the time (their hot-n-spicy chicken was delicious too). The stone bowl was black, and I didn't know they were supposed to be brine-soaked before use, neat.
As @CTMike stated, the crusty rice that forms at the perimeter of the bowl is the best part, like paella's soccarat and Turkish "tahdig" (sp?). When I finish my bagels/lox, I need to get some "Seoul Food".

JohnInCarolina · July 6

Real Bibimbap is hard to beat. Best with a fried egg, a bit of bulgoki, and a healthy drizzle of gochujang. Fairly healthy for you too as it’s mostly rice and vegetables.

There’s a place in ABQ that serves as good a Bibimbap as I’ve had, stone pots and crusty rice included. This reminds me I need to get back to it the next time I’m there.

I’ll be following this one for sure, Mike. Looking forward to your journey.

paqman · July 6

A friend’s wife is Korean and from what I understand, she seasons the dolsot using sea salt (not a brine). She basically scrubs the pots with the salt and then heat them slowly before cooling and scrubbing the excess salt. It is supposed to be an anti-stick coating and prevents food from imparting flavor to the bowl. Maybe the brine is part of the initial seasoning? She also applies toasted sesame oil on the bowl surface.

nolaegghead · July 6

Hit those bowls with a Geiger counter, Mike!

joking…. Love to learn new things, thanks!

CTMike · July 6

paqman said:

A friend’s wife is Korean and from what I understand, she seasons the dolsot using sea salt (not a brine). She basically scrubs the pots with the salt and then heat them slowly before cooling and scrubbing the excess salt. It is supposed to be an anti-stick coating and prevents food from imparting flavor to the bowl. Maybe the brine is part of the initial seasoning? She also applies toasted sesame oil on the bowl surface.

The brine is a one-time thing. The instructions stare to rub them with a mixture of sea salt and sesame oil prior to each use.

CTMike · July 9

Followed Maangchi’s recipe. You need to start the night before as the dried bellflower root needs to be soaked for 12 - 18 hours. The dried fernbrake takes several hours in a pot or 30 minutes in the Instapot. We riffed a little in the recipe and used bok choy in place of the spinach, and added pickled red onion. Sliced up some Tri tip and made bulgogi with that. The prep takes several hours so be on your mise en place game.

Clockwise from bottom center is carrots, fernbrake, bok choy, sprouts, orange bell pepper (was supposed to be red for color but didn’t have any), zucchini, and the bellflower root. Not shown is the pickled red onion as we forgot it was in the fridge.

Also had to substitute sambal in place of the gochujang - turns out I left it in Ottawa when I made kimchi bulgogi pizzas on our recent trip up north.

All in all it turned out great - will probably add to the rotation on a monthly basis.

Highly recommend Maangchi’s recipe: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/bibimbap

paqman · July 9

Beautiful and looks delicious!

Ozzie_Isaac · July 10

Looks amazing!

Canugghead · July 10

How was the bottom crust?

CTMike · July 10

Canugghead said:
How was the bottom crust?

It was great in my wife’s bowl, mine not so much as evidently the bowls heated unevenly.

caliking · July 10

So much awesome right there. Well-executed, and beautifully presented. Bravo!

PS - I could likely spend several months cooking Maangchi's recipes, and not get bored.

CTMike · July 11

caliking said:

So much awesome right there. Well-executed, and beautifully presented. Bravo!

PS - I could likely spend several months cooking Maangchi's recipes, and not get bored.

Agreed, there are several other recipes I want to try.

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