This weekend I made ojingeochae-muchim, yeongeun jorim, and mechurial jorim.

Posted my first try at banchan last weekend, but I guess you guys wanted to see the bulk and not tiny servings haha.

Made some more squid (this time with proper type of squid strips and fresher gochujang paste), some soy sauce quail eggs, and braised lotus root.

The lotus root was my absolute favorite side dish in Korea, but I guess I messed up a bit. I thought the recipe called for corn syrup, but it wanted rice syrup (which I didn't have on hand) and I may have over-reduced the sauce. It ended up being a bit too salty and didn't have a light pleasant sweet taste. I added a spoonful of honey at the end, but I think that threw it even more off. Maybe it will mellow out or transform after a few hours in the fridge. It was by and large the most intensive of the recipes taking about 2 hours after skinning, soaking, blanching, boiling, and sauteeing. Still tolerable, but not what I'd hoped for!

All in all a lot of fun and I'm really excited to have quail eggs and squid strips in the fridge. Should've bought more eggs though, my fiancé and I (and our dogs) already had most of them 😅

Any recommendations for future banchan to try to DIY? I'm thinking of doing some myeolchi-bokkeum as that is probably my second most favorite side dish I've ever had. Couldn't source any dried anchovies at the store today though.