Good stuff at your local Asia-town! These posts are going to be about the stuff that I buy from China-, Japan-, or Korea-town, that are
- not easy to find
- or can't be found
- or cheaper
- or better
than ... anywhere else in the U.S.
This first post will be about kitchenware.
Since I've recently switched to enameled cast-iron and tri-ply pots in the kitchen, I've become particularly attuned to the wonders of even heat distribution.
Also great for even heat? Asian clay pots that can be used on a stove top.
Asian clay pots are a great cooking vessel for most liquid-based cooking, i.e., soups or broths. It conducts heat evenly which reduces the necessity of stirring, and also retains the heat very well. You can't sautee or fry anything in it, so it won't replace your other pans, but it's still a great, versatile pot to have in a kitchen. With the even, mellow heating you can cook a egg custard on low heat without scorching the bottom.
Most Asian cultures incorporate clay pot cooking, so you can probably find them at any Asian shop that sells kitchenware.
Japanese "donabes" are often very pretty, with beautiful designs painted or etched on the exterior. They also tend to be wider and shorter, so the bigger ones can be used for communal meals like shabu-shabu.
Isn't that pretty?
"Tukbagee" is a Korean clay pot. They are deeper than donabes and are usually glazed with a very dark brown color. If you've ordered jjigae (soup) in a Korean restaurant, you may have had it served to you in a tukbagee taken right off the fire, with the soup still bubbling on the table. Tongue-burning hot! That's how Korean people like their soups.
Some come with decorative ceramic lids, like this one.
Another reason clay pots are awesome is that they are not that expensive - the most you would pay for a big donabe is about $50. You could pay even as little as $2 in some places. And a tukbagee costs about $5-15, maybe up to $40 for a big fancy one.
I have a couple of small donabes, with which I can make individual servings of soon tofu, and one big one for oden. I've also got a big tukbagee that I use all the time for jjigae. I paid about $11 for it. And the jjigae really tastes better than in a regular stainless steel saucepan.
Where I bought my donabes: Utsuwa-No-Yakata and Marukai
Where I bought my tukbagee: Kitchen Plus at the Koreatown Galleria
- not easy to find
- or can't be found
- or cheaper
- or better
than ... anywhere else in the U.S.
This first post will be about kitchenware.
Since I've recently switched to enameled cast-iron and tri-ply pots in the kitchen, I've become particularly attuned to the wonders of even heat distribution.
Also great for even heat? Asian clay pots that can be used on a stove top.
Asian clay pots are a great cooking vessel for most liquid-based cooking, i.e., soups or broths. It conducts heat evenly which reduces the necessity of stirring, and also retains the heat very well. You can't sautee or fry anything in it, so it won't replace your other pans, but it's still a great, versatile pot to have in a kitchen. With the even, mellow heating you can cook a egg custard on low heat without scorching the bottom.
Most Asian cultures incorporate clay pot cooking, so you can probably find them at any Asian shop that sells kitchenware.
Japanese "donabes" are often very pretty, with beautiful designs painted or etched on the exterior. They also tend to be wider and shorter, so the bigger ones can be used for communal meals like shabu-shabu.
Isn't that pretty?
"Tukbagee" is a Korean clay pot. They are deeper than donabes and are usually glazed with a very dark brown color. If you've ordered jjigae (soup) in a Korean restaurant, you may have had it served to you in a tukbagee taken right off the fire, with the soup still bubbling on the table. Tongue-burning hot! That's how Korean people like their soups.
Some come with decorative ceramic lids, like this one.
Another reason clay pots are awesome is that they are not that expensive - the most you would pay for a big donabe is about $50. You could pay even as little as $2 in some places. And a tukbagee costs about $5-15, maybe up to $40 for a big fancy one.
I have a couple of small donabes, with which I can make individual servings of soon tofu, and one big one for oden. I've also got a big tukbagee that I use all the time for jjigae. I paid about $11 for it. And the jjigae really tastes better than in a regular stainless steel saucepan.
Where I bought my donabes: Utsuwa-No-Yakata and Marukai
Where I bought my tukbagee: Kitchen Plus at the Koreatown Galleria
