I used to buy minced garlic in a jar because it was just easy.  But I've been using this Kuhn Rikon Garlic Press, and I love it.  It's so powerful that you can even mince ginger in it!

Happy cooking!

Hey guys!  Long time no see.

I've been living in New York for almost 4 years now, and I'm getting out of touch with all the Korean restaurants in LA's Ktown!  So I'd really love to hear what your favorite Ktown restaurants are for the following categories:

1) galbi
2) dduk bossam
3) general Korean restaurants and other favorites

Thanks and Happy Father's Day!

Several people have asked me how to add links to posts like I have in the left column of this blog.  It's actually very easy!

1) Go to your "Look and Feel"

2) Scroll down to the "Custom Module"

3) Use the following html, replacing with your post links and titles.

That's it!

I don't really check this xanga and have email alerts turned off, so if you want to get in touch with me, please contact me through my personal blog.  Thanks!

~~~

I'm back from my 5 days in LA!  The time just flew by because I was so busy taking care of my parents' sick pets and running errands.  I didn't really have an appetite unfortunately because I was so stressed out, but my parents still managed to get me to eat a decent amount.  If I ate as much as they wanted me to, there would be twice as many pics!

1 & 2) fresh fruit from the local farmer's market 3) roasted sweet potato

1) kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew) with pork 2) chung gook jang (soy bean stew) with beef

1) ggeneep (perilla leaves) from Korea, 2) moo mallengee (dried, seasoned radish) from Korea 3) chonggak kimchi
of course everything is on Corelle dishes which every Korean family owns...

1) kimchi 2) mool kimchi, 3) she-geum-chi moochim (seasoned spinach)

1) kong gooksoo (soybean broth noodles) 2) ggori gomtang (oxtail soup)

our backyard (my dad built and planted everything himself)

koi pond and waterfall

My dad and uncle enjoying bbq and soju inside the hut.  My dad is the one sporting the BYC nan-neeng-goo (wifebeater).

Peppers drying on the hut roof.

Some flowers and plants in the backyard...

Dweji galbi (spicy marinated pork ribs) and galbi (marinated beef spareribs) grilled on aluminum foil straight up Korean style.

1) my homemade carne asada tacos & hot sauce 2) raw garlic (which I ate a ton of since Mr. Bee didn't come with me!)

1) ddukboki (spicy rice cake) 2) ojinguh (dried squid) from Busan, Korea (as fresh as it gets!)

The main course: jindos.

Jack (the black one) is Coco's dad.  They're truly inseparable and are such smart, good dogs.  I miss them already!

1) junbok jook (ababalone porridge) 2) t-bone steak & baked potato w/ A1 & soy sauce w/ gochugaroo (red pepper flakes) as dipping sauces

1) diy california rolls w/ miso soup 2) ee myun soo (fish)

1) seaweed from Korea 2) live octopus 3) haesam (sea cucumber)
ps - I didn't eat the octopus or sea cucumber.

 
video of the live octopus (it moves), plus al jjigae (fish roe soup) and soondubu (tofu stew)

Everything above was homemade... this is some food I ate out...

1) Mongolian bbq 2) mool nengmyun

1) crab fried rice 2) papaya salad

ce fiore yogurt with mochi, strawberry & kiwi (similar to pinkberry)

And dun dun dun.... the dreaded boyak. I have to take this for a month for my many ailments.

Fin!

I wish I could retire from weddingbee and focus all my energy on this blog (yes I'm serious!). One day soon I hope!

Anyway I haven't been to LA in awhile, my aunt is visiting from Korea, and it's my mom's birthday, so I'm headed to LA next week!

My appetite has been horrible lately, so I can't wait for some good ol' Korean home cooking!  When it comes to food, I'm totally an LA girl at heart!  They have the best Korean food of course, but also the best ethnic food around - from Mexican to Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Ethiopian, etc.  New York just can't compete!

My parents always ask what I want to eat (for Korean parents, feeding = showing love).  So I'm making a list - I only have 5 days, but I'm going to try my best to eat everything on this list! 

• kong gooksoo


• mool nengmyun


• bibim nengmyun


• ojinguh bokkeum (no one makes it spicy enough for me except my mom!)


• ggotgae (crab) jjigae


• al (fish roe) jjigae (I love seafood and fish but never cook it myself)


• uni (I don't like that much sushi but I love uni!)


• soondubu


• chung gook jang (soy bean paste stew... only for the true ajummahs)


• paht bingsoo


• dweji kimchi jjigae (my favorite food - always taste better when someone else cooks it for you)


• jjajjangmyun/jjambbong


• my dad's roast beef


• my dad's homemade chicken soup


• dungeness crab


• carne asada tacos (you can't get good Mexican in New York)


• backyard bbq - steak, galbi, ribs, hot dogs, samgyupsal

What else would you add to this list?

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you had some lovely dduk gook to kick off the new year.

This just in - there's a Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota!

There's also a yearly Spam Jam festival in Waikiki, and a Spamarama in Austin, Texas - both every year in April.  Waikiki is where I first discovered the spam musubi (Hawaiians love spam as much as Koreans do).

I could go for some spam musubis right about now.

Bahm (Chestnuts)

When I was 3 and my brother was 2, my parents moved to America without us to set everything up before we were to join them. In the meantime, my brother and I lived with my aunt and her family in the total she-gol (countryside) of Korea for a couple of months.  Our neighbors had cows, pigs, horses... but one of my favorite memories were the chestnut trees that would be bursting with chestnuts come winter.

Though I love them roasted on an open fire , steaming chestnuts is probably the easiest way to cook them.  Simply wash the nuts.  Place a small amount of water in a pot, put in a metal steamer with the chestnuts.  Place a lid on the pot and bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and allow it to simmer for 30 minutes.  You'll have super soft chestnuts that you can just bite right into.

Sorry for all these sucky noncooking posts!  I just got back from LA where my parents' jindo had puppies!  Read about that here.

I work a lot so I just don't cook anymore, but this week I'll be making some al jjigae.  I think that would be called Pollack Roe Stew?  Stay tuned!

Wow long time no see.  You know the same sorry story - busy as a bee.

Guess what I bought last night?

I'm eating a pink one right now...

I always crave mool nengmyun on hot summer days, so last weekend Mr. Bee and I went to Yu Chun on 35th St.  I got the mool nengmyun...

and he got the bibim nengmyun.

Yum yooksoo - I love this stuff!

Their mool nengmyun was not as good as the first time I was here.  The broth was nice and slushy then, but alas not this time.  Their bibim nengmyun was actually a lot better.  When we were leaving I noticed that I was the only one in the whole restaurant who was eating mool nengmyun - everyone was eating bibim nengmyun!

I just bought a diy mool nengmyun kit from the market yesterday.  I've never tried making it at home, but will let you know how it goes!

Which do you like better?  Mool nengmyun or bibim nengmyun?  I love both so much it's too hard to decide!

I went to LA this past weekend to visit my family, and they gave me some of this frozen jjajjangmyun to take back to New York.  I had one as a midnight snack and it was so good!  At $2.99 a pop it is a bit pricey, but it's much closer to the real deal than jjapaghetti (which I also love!).

All you do is pop the soup packet into some boiling water for 3 minutes, boil the noodles for 1-2 minutes and drain, then mix the soup and noodles. 

In the future I'd saute some pork and toss in there, garnish with some cucumber, and eat it with some onion doused in vinegar/dipped in black bean paste and yellow radish on the side.  Yum!