For any student living away from family for the first time, it’s understandable that – despite calling your mum at least five times a day – you’re still missing home.
Trust me, we’ve all been there.
In fact, the best way to alleviate those pangs of homesickness is to cook some good food. Food encapsulates so much cultural and personal meaning. So, making a dish — or at least, an interpretation of a dish — from your childhood will help you feel connected to your family and quell your yearning for your home. To hopefully motivate you to get cooking, I’ve compiled a list of recipes inspired by the flavours of East Asia that I tried out at university. I decided that if I couldn’t go back home, I would bring home right to me
- Kimchi Okonomiyaki
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Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) is a popular street food originating from Osaka, Japan. Although most versions of the recipe call for the use of Japanese long yam (Nagaimo) or mountain yam (Yamaimo), it’s possible to omit this ingredient if you aren’t comfortable handling it. I’ve also altered the original recipe by adding my own special twist: kimchi.
Ingredients:
Batter:
● 100g of okonomiyaki flour
● 100ml of water
● 1 egg
● 400g of sliced cabbage
● ¼ cup of chopped kimchi
● ¼ cup of tenkasu tempura flakes
● 10g of chopped green shallot
● 1 tbsp of olive oil
Toppings:
● Meat/seafood toppings of your choice (I suggest thinly sliced pork or bacon!)
Garnish:
● Bonito flakes
● Aonori
● Pickled ginger
● Japanese mayonnaise
● Okonomiyaki sauce (you can easily find this at any Asian supermarket!)
Instructions:
1) Mix the okonomiyaki flour and the water together and set aside.
2) Chop the cabbage, spring onion, and kimchi into very fine pieces and add them to the batter mix.
3) Add the tempura flakes into the batter.
4) Add the egg and mix until everything is evenly combined.
5) Heat up a frying pan with a little oil on medium heat. Pour the okonomiyaki batter into a round pancake shape in the centre of the pan. This will take around 2-3 minutes.
6) Once the bottom of the pancake is cooked, place your meat or seafood of choice to the top and flip over to finish cooking.
7) Garnish your pancake with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, bonito flakes, aonori and pickled ginger.
- Tamagoyaki (Japanese Egg Roll)
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This protein-packed dish was definitely my favourite meal during university – especially in the moments when I needed something quick to fill my stomach before rushing out to attend class. Tamagoyaki comes in various forms; I personally like adding as many vegetables as I can so that I can hit my daily fibre intake!
Ingredients:
● 2 eggs
● 1 tbsp of chopped carrots
● 1 tbsp of chopped scallion
● 1 pinch of salt
Instructions:
1) Beat the eggs in a bowl.
2) Chop the carrots and scallion into fine pieces and add them to the eggs.
3) Add a pinch of salt. Mix until everything is evenly distributed.
4) Heat up a frying pan with a little oil on low heat and then pour in ⅓ of the egg mixture.
5) Wait until the edges crisp up. Then carefully roll up the egg to one side and pour in more of the egg mixture. Continue adding small amounts of the egg mixture while oiling the pan each time in between until you have used it all up.
6) Remove from the pan and wait for the tamagoyaki to cool before slicing it up into thin pieces.
- Kimchi Jjigae
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For me, the ultimate comfort food comes in the shape of kimchi jjigae. The best part about this dish lies in the fact that it’s very low maintenance: just throw all the ingredients into a pot and wait for all the flavours to fuse. This recipe is perfect for those busy evenings when you don’t feel motivated to cook but are craving something substantial!
Ingredients:
● 400ml of water
● 1 cup of chopped Kimchi
● 1 pack of tofu
● 200g of thick pork belly
● 2 tbsp of sesame oil
● 1 tbsp of Korean chilli flakes
● Scallions (to garnish)
Instructions:
1) Slice the pork belly and kimchi into bite-sized pieces.
2) Heat up a pot with a little oil on low heat and fry the kimchi for 3 minutes.
3) Add the pork belly and 400ml of water into the pot and boil the mixture on low heat for an hour.
4) After 30 mins, add the Korean chilli flakes.
5) Before you turn off the heat, add the sliced tofu. Wait for the stew to boil one more time then remove the pot from the heat.
6) Garnish the soup with chopped scallions.
Whenever I’m feeling homesick, these recipes always make me feel better and I hope they do the same for you!