Cycle 12 – Item 344
15 (Wed) December 2021
Gyeran Jjim Smackdown
3.5
by me
at home
-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-
with the Family
In the comments following our recent Korean-Swedish Culinary Exchange (see 12.335 Toast Skagen), GK cited a recipe for gyeran jjim by someone else (Maangchi) – even though GMTD offers 2 recipes for the dish (see 6.143 Simple Home-Style Gyeran Jjim; 6.197 Gyeran Jjim) – and then asked if an earthenware pot that I had given him via international care package would work (yes).
This is the second time that GK has bypassed GMTD in favor of Maangchi (see also 12.280 Blåbärade).
Okay, fine, Maangchi is a professional YouTuber (with 5.78 million subscribers and almost 631 million views – as of today) (14 yrs), whereas GMTD is merely a personal food journal (the recipes are intended primarily for my own reference) (12 yrs). Admittedly, she’s fun to watch. But still.
I made both and served them side by side to see which the family likes better.
À LA GMTD
In terms of ingredients, the main difference between the recipes is that mine calls for 1/2 cup of water, compared to 1 cup in hers. Also, I add sesame oil from the start, not just as a garnish before serving.
Procedurally, my recipe first boils the water then adds the eggs, total cooking time about 6 minutes, while her recipe mixes the water and the eggs from the start and cooks for 13 minutes (according to the video).
À LA MAANGCHI
In the video, she uses 1 cup of salted chicken broth, but suggests using plain water and fish sauce as a substitute, which is what I did here.
After 13 minutes, the egg was still runny in the middle, so I put it back on the stove for an additional 2 minutes for a total of 15 minutes.
CONCLUSION
The dishes were subjected to a blind taste test. Unanimously, without hesitation, the family preferred mine – thank you very much. The winning factor was texture, mine being denser and eggier. The infused sesame oil in mine provided a deeper/richer/nuttier flavor. Anyway, both were fine.
Next time, always looking to improve, I will try adding a bit more water to increase the fluffiness, and Yeondu in place of salt.
(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)
(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)
I’m really impressed by your “scientific mindset” when going into tests like these. Cooking them side by side, electronic kitchen timers, blind taste testing.
I will let you know how my own gyeran jjim turns out. Since you have so well pointed out that you have your own recipe, I might as well try that one too!
do the simple home-style one.
Will do!
BTW, I did start out university as an engineering major, but quickly realized that was a major mistake – spending my days reading books on the grass was so much nicer than doing experiments in labs.