Sarah Ahn

Here is how to make fresh kimchi, called geotjeori in Korean. Unlike classic napa cabbage kimchi, it is meant to be eaten right away, so it is enjoyed more like a salad than a classic fermented kimchi. Hence, why the cabbage is cut much larger and more irregularly. It’s a very good kimchi, one that wows people but requires much less work and time. Ingredients: 1½ lb (680g) napa cabbage ½ cup fish sauce (we use Three Crabs) ⅓ cup (50g) cooked white rice 1½ Tbsp (30g) fermented shrimp (saeujeot) ¼ cup Korean pear juice 1 oz (28g) Chinese/garlic chives, cut into 2½-inch pieces ¼ yellow onion (85g), thinly sliced 2 green onions, thick parts halved lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces 1 Tbsp plum extract 2 Tbsp (30g) minced garlic 5 Tbsp (40g) gochugaru 1 tsp (8g) minced ginger 1½ tsp granulated sugar 1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds Instructions: 1. Split the napa cabbage in half and discard the core. Stack the leaves and cut the cabbage into irregular pieces about 3–4 inches long. Leave the smaller inner leaves whole. Transfer to a large bowl. 2. Rinse the cabbage twice. Shake off excess water and let drain for 5 minutes. 3. Working in 3 batches, pour fish sauce over cabbage, distributing it across the leaves. Mix thoroughly to coat the cabbage evenly. Cover and let sit for 1 hour, flipping the cabbage halfway through. 4. Meanwhile, blend the cooked rice, fermented shrimp, and pear juice until smooth. Set aside and prepare the remaining ingredients. 5. Transfer the cabbage to a strainer and drain off excess fish sauce and water, leaving the cabbage still moist. Return to large bowl. 6. Add the blended mixture and the remaining ingredients. Gently toss until evenly coated. Add sesame seeds. Toss. Optionally, set aside for 30 minutes to 1 hour and mix again. Serve immediately or refrigerate and enjoy. #kimchi #easyrecipes #koreanfood #spicyfood #cookingtips

Everything we had for dinner last Tuesday night. It wasn’t a typical dinner as we had more than usual to celebrate Seollal (Korean Lunar New Year). You can find the majority of the recipes shown here in our cookbook, UMMA at link in bio. Pages below. Japchae: pg. 295 Rice Cake Soup with Dumplings: pg. 230 Cut Radish Kimchi: pg. 115 Radish Kimchi: pg. 118 Pickled Garlic: pg. 147 Green Chile Pickles: pg. 150 Multigrain Rice: pg. 288 Stir-Fried Anchovies with Gochujang: pg. 84 Happy Lunar New Year and hope everyone has a happy, healthy, and wealthy year. :) #koreanfood #noodles #kimchi #lunarnewyear #dinnerideas

Here is MayBee's updated nighttime routine featuring her little brother, Mr. Chicago. We're slowly teaching him to follow in her footsteps, starting with @Open Farm Pet’s kibble and her nighttime routine that he still doesn't really understand yet. Get 20% off your first order with code AHNEST at link in bio. #openfarmpartner AD #dogsoftiktok #grooming #poodle #dogfood

Here is Umma's updated skincare routine since bringing home a puppy, Mr. Chicago. Puppies are a lot of work and her skin has been affected so she's been applying the PDRN Reju 5000 Cream in the morning and night for extra care. Here, I showed the night time routine. Get this PDRN Cream at the link in our bio. AD #DrAltheaPartner Night routine:  1. Wash face 2. Cold compress 3. Red light mask (not shown) 4. Toner and/or serum 5. Moisturizer 6. PDRN Reju Cream  7. Retinoid (Tretinoin 0.05%) #glowyskin #prdn #aginggracefully #koreanskincare

This is my mom’s favorite dessert drink: sikhye (Korean rice punch), a special drink Koreans had in the new year when they had access to white rice. Arguably more refreshing than Coca Cola, but no carbonation involved. Just fermentation and a rice cooker that does most of the work. Full recipe in our cookbook, Umma, pg 358 at the link in bio. But summarized below: INGREDIENTS: 
10 oz (28g) malted barley, cracked 1 1/2 cups (312g) short or medium-grain white rice 1 1/2 cups (298g) sugar, divided 1 1/2 ounces (43g) ginger, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick 3 (15g) cinnamon sticks INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Add malted barley in a triple layer of cheesecloth and tie securely. Submerge in 12 cups water in a large bowl and set aside.
 2. Cook rice in rice cooker with 1¼ cups water and cook on the standard setting. When the rice switches to “Keep Warm,” gently fluff with a moistened paddle or spatula. The rice should be slightly drier than usual. Keep on “Warm” if necessary, but don’t let it sit there for too long. 3. Bring 3 cups water to a boil and pour into the bowl with the barley to create warm water. Submerge and massage the bundle, rotating and squeezing for about 5 minutes, until the liquid turns milky. Lift and squeeze out as much liquid as possible; discard the barley.
 4. Stir ½ cup sugar into the warm rice. Pour in enough warm barley milk to reach the rice cooker’s “max” line (about 6 cups total), breaking up clumps. Cover and let sit on “Keep Warm” for 4 hours. Reserve the remaining barley milk.
 5. Transfer the mixture to a large wide pot. Stir in the reserved barley milk (including any settled sediment), ginger, cinnamon sticks, and the remaining 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove ginger and cinnamon. Cool to room temperature, refrigerate until chilled (about 1 hour), and stir before serving. Garnish with floating rice and/or jujube flowers. Keeps refrigerated up to 1 week. #koreanfood #fermentation #dessert #ricerecipe #sikhye

Jujube (or daechu) is known for its calming and immune-supporting properties. We use it in braises, soups, and teas. This is the tea we drink everyday. It’s so concentrated with jujube, you can feel its effects almost immediately, esp. the calming one. For a honey version of this tea that doesn’t require an Instant Pot, check out our cookbook, UMMA, at link in bio. Ingredients: 250g dried Korean jujube, rinsed 16 cups water, divided 100g peeled, chopped ginger Instructions: 1. Soak dried jujube in 8 cups water in Instant Pot chamber until soft, about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Dont discard the water. 2. Snip jujube into thin pieces and put it all back in the water. 3. Pressure cook in for 20 min. 4. Add ginger and remaining 8 cups water. 5. Click sauté, cover until it boils. Once boiling, continue to boil using sauté function for 30 min, covered. 6. Discard ginger and place softened jujube in strainer that fits over a large bowl. 7. Press on jujube with back of a wooden spoon, pouring some of the jujube tea (in the instant pot) over it to extract jujube pulp. Repeat until you’re left with just jujube skin. Press on jujube skin once more and discard. 8. Combine all strained tea together and mix. Serve warm and refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container. Be sure to mix jujube tea before serving. #jujube #ginger #koreanfood #tea #glowyskin

no bc we’ve been obsessed with Benito post Benito bowl 😭😭😭 @Bad Bunny #benitobowl #badbunny #calvinklein #reaction #halftimeshow

Everything Umma eats in a day, busy edition! The foods we enjoyed are from @Kfood Korean Food. You can find them on the official K-Food Amazon store at the link in our bio. Use code YUMMYK2026 for an extra 10% off valid until 2/18, and don’t forget to stack it with the product coupons too. They're great because they carry newer/artisan items that haven't hit the Korean markets yet, a sweet little way to celebrate (or gift) for Lunar New Year. #kfoodpartner #lunarnewyear #koreanfood #whatieatinaday #koreanfood

I stayed in my childhood home for nearly my entire life (excluding college that was nearby), and it was one of the best decisions I could have made. Living with my parents gave me the chance to truly understand them and to befriend my mom as I grew into adulthood. I’m really grateful I stayed home for as long as I did, and I encourage it under the right conditions, which I know sometimes just isn’t possible. But when I turned 30 last year, my mind changed where I just knew in my gut it was time to move out. Here’s why. I’ll still be very close to my parents (actually conveniently close for all of us) and nothing about Ahnest Kitchen is changing, only evolving for the better. #movingout #newchapter #firsthome #apartment #30s

Last night for dinner we had Honey Garlic Butter Chicken, a protein dish we have been enjoying for over a decade now. It’s inspired by the viral Honey Butter chips that was a big hit in Korea in 2014. Anyone else remember that? Recipe is also in our cookbook, UMMA, on page 195, and full recipe below. Cookbook at the link in bio. INGREDIENTS 3 pounds chicken drumsticks, trimmed 2 1/2 cups milk 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon fine salt, divided 1 teaspoon black pepper, divided 1/4 cup honey 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar 2 tablespoons sugar 6 tablespoons (87 grams) finely chopped garlic 2 1/2 tablespoons salted butter INSTRUCTIONS (slightly summarized to fit here): 1. Rinse and drain chicken. Toss with milk in a bowl, fully submerging. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. 2. Drain and rinse until water runs clear. Dry bowl. Cut 4–6 slashes per drumstick to the bone. Pat chicken dry; return to bowl. 3. Toss with oil, ½ tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to overnight. 4. Whisk honey, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, remaining ½ tsp salt, and remaining ½ tsp pepper; set aside. 5. Toss chicken in settled oil. Stretch skin over meat and place skin-side down in a 12-inch nonstick skillet. Drizzle remaining oil over top. Cook over medium-high, turning occasionally, until spotty golden, ~10 min. 6. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook, turning occasionally, until chicken reaches 185°F, ~20 min. 7. Spoon garlic into pooled oil between drumsticks; cook until fragrant, ~30 sec. Toss chicken to coat. Add sauce, scraping browned bits. Increase heat to medium-high and baste continuously until thickened, ~2 min. Stir in butter until glossy, ~30 sec. Serve. #chickenrecipes #dinnerideas #easyrecipes #koreanfood #kimchi

Everything Umma packed for my dad who works up to 12 hours a day including @Nature Made #partner. My dad is an exterior painter, and lunch is the meal that keeps him energized and nourished throughout those long days. †These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. #koreanfood #bluecollar #kimchi #lunchideas

Here is everything my mom buys from the Korean grocery store and total cost. The gochujang, dasida (beef MSG), and sesame oil were honorable mentions — we didn’t buy these foods on this grocery trip since we already had some at home. As for selecting Korean radish and napa cabbage, here is the full description of what to look for, found in our cookbook UMMA: Korean Radish: Try to select medium-size radishes that have as much of that vibrant green color as possible and are more rounded and oval shaped as opposed to long, skinny, and vertical. As with any radish, if it’s soft, that means it’s old. There’s a lot of nutrition in the skin, so after washing it, only peel away any blemishes or discolorations. You may see this radish year-round, but its flavor is noticeably the best in the late fall and winter. Napa cabbage: Called baechu in Korean, this is the cabbage most commonly used in Korean cooking, whether in kimchi, soups, stews, or meat dishes. Look for medium-size cabbages (about 4 pounds) with vibrant green and white leaves and a clean white stem end. Avoid cabbages with outer leaves that have very thick white ribs, as well as those with yellowing leaves or browned bottom cores— these are signs that the cabbage is old. Sometimes the leaves are yellowish and the bottom core appears white; this may indicate that the browned bottom core was trimmed to make the cabbage look fresher. 📍Grocery store: Hannam Chain Super Market (Buena Park, CA) #koreanfood #kimchi #groceryhaul #groceryshopping #umma

Everything Umma made for my brother and sister-in-law. This time, we drove to them to drop off the food. Aster scaber rice seems to make a continuous comeback. It’s one of my favorites. Had a family meeting afterwards and went home on a good note. All recipes in our cookbook, UMMA, wherever books are sold! Radish Kimchi: pg. 118 Cut Napa Cabbage Kimchi: pg. 115 Braised Pork Back Ribs & Kimchi: pg. 174 Aster Scaber Rice: pg. 271 #koreanfood #mealprep #doctorsoftiktok #kimchi

The holidays have always looked a little different for us. It’s either Korean style or American style or a mix of both, where we enjoy both culture's foods. But one thing never changes: the drive to the grocery store with Umma. And this year, we’re doing all our holiday grocery runs in the #KiaSportageHybrid to stay cozy and warm. #ad #SXPrestige #koreanfood #groceryshopping

ABC^2 drink haha. The base is always the same: carrot, celery, and apples. We juice the carrot and celery, but blend that juice with the apple. Steamed beets is every other day, blended as well, not juiced. My mom adds parsley and olive oil, I personally don’t. Be sure to add lemon juice though. It helps mask any taste you may not want. Base (makes 4 servings): 1500 grams large carrots 470 grams celery sticks Per one serving, made fresh everyday: 1 gala or Fuji apple (130-150 grams), cored, roughly chopped 12-15 grams parsley (optional) Half handful steamed beets (every other day) 1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (optional) Shelled hemp seeds 1. In a juicer, process carrots and celery. Divide into bottles and refrigerate. 2. Per one serving, add 1 cup of carrot-celery juice and apple to blender. Add steamed beets and parsley if using. Blend until smooth. 3. Transfer to serving cup. Add lemon juice. Optionally, add olive oil and/or hemp seeds. Mix and enjoy. #mealprep #breakfastideas #koreanfood #oliveoil #healthyrecipes Juicer: @Breville Blender: @Beast Health