Note: The following is an essay from “Festive Maryland Recipes,” posted here with the original recipe from the community cookbook. “Festive Maryland Recipes” contains an adapted version of this recipe.
After the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 removed discriminatory barriers to moving to the United States, Maryland gained a new population of Korean-born citizens. Naturally, these newly-minted Marylanders brought their celebrations with them. In the 60s and 70s, newspapers began to report on the festivities. A 1970 Lunar New Year event held at the Korean embassy in Washington, D.C. attracted Korean-born Marylanders from around the state. Helen Giblo, a reporter from the Annapolis Capital, described for readers the galbi and “kimchie, a dish that is a way of life in the Land of Morning Calm.” Also served was “dduk guk,” Rice Cake Soup – a Korean New Year essential.
The Bethel Korean Presbyterian Church of Baltimore was founded in June of 1979, with a parish made up of seven families. “Everyone was on the same boat, sometimes literally,” Pastor Billy Park told the Baltimore Sun in 2002. By then, more than 1,700 people were attending Sunday services at the church.
The “Ladies of the Bethel” did not include a recipe for Rice Cake Soup in their 1986 eponymous cookbook. Perhaps the authors felt that the rice cakes were too difficult to acquire or to make. The recipes in the book often reflect the constraints of limited access to ingredients, and provide a contrast to today’s vicinity around the church (which moved to Ellicott City in 1987), an area now strewn with multiple international grocers such as H-Mart.
The book does contain many other traditional recipes, with the intention, as Susan Y. Park, the cookbook chairperson wrote, “to introduce as many Korean recipes as possible to those who are accustomed to Western food.”
Japchae is one of the most popular Korean dishes for holidays. The recipe in “Ladies of the Bethel” (spelled in the book as “Chop-Chae”), is clearly written by someone with a love of the dish, and its instructions read almost like a monologue.
“After you fry onion and scallion, do the beef so that the spicy flavor can soak into the meat from the pan. Store cooked ingredients in a large bowl so that you can mix them with the noodle all together. Cut up the noodle crisscross a couple of times with scissors to the desired length. Mix all ingredients in the bowl together and add the seasoning to your liking. Sesame seeds or sesame oil should be added at the end to enhance the flavor. Serve when warm. ”
Note the serving suggestions at the end. Although we may never know her name, the recipe’s anonymous author commands our attention. As evidenced by an errata sheet at the front of the book with such corrections as “dash of cinnamon” to “½ teaspoon” and “1 tsp salt” to “1½ tsp salt,” it was important to the “Ladies of the Bethel” that cookbook users experience the recipes at their very best.
Recipe:
CHOP-CHAE (Noodles with Beef and Vegetables)
- 1 lb. tender, lean beef
- 2 sticks carrots
- 3 stalks celery
- Mushrooms (fresh, well-drained canned or dried)
- 8 oz. Dang Myun (Chinese noodles)
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1 T. sesame seeds
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- 1 head onion
- 4 stalks green scallions
- 1 stick fish cake (kamaboku)
- 3 T. soy sauce
- 1 T. sugar
“Cut up all ingredients in thin finger shapes about 2 inches long and keep them separate. If using dried mushrooms, soak them at least 4 hours before cutting. Soak the noodles in hot water for one-half hour and boil over high heat one minute (it turns clear when cooked); then rinse with cold water thoroughly until it is cold and not sticky. Then drain well. Pan fry (stir-fry) vegetables separately on high heat. Heat the pan with a little bit of oil before putting vegetables in. Sprinkle some salt and pepper while frying. After you fry onion and scallion, do the beef so that the spicy flavor can soak into the meat from the pan. Store cooked ingredients in a large bowl so that you can mix them with the noodle all together. Cut up the noodle crisscross a couple of times with scissors to the desired length. Mix all ingredients in the bowl together and add the seasoning to your liking. Sesame seeds or sesame oil should be added at the end to enhance the flavor. Serve when warm. You can freeze this dish and heat it up in a pan or microwave oven for later usage. The above ingredients will make at least 4 servings. You can buy the noodle, fish cake and dried mushrooms at the Oriental grocery store.“
Recipe from Ladies of the Bethel, Women’s Fellowship of Bethel Korean Church, (Baltimore/Ellicott City), Morris Press. 1986.
