My 2011 New Year's Resolution…

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    • #49944
      oksipak
      Member

      Last week I found Maangchi’s Korean Recipe Site. What luck! I’m hooked!

      So now I’ve made it my resolution to make at least one Korean dish every week from Maangchi.

      Weekending January 16: Kimchijeon 김치전, Mandu 만두, & Japchae 잡채.

      Weekending January 23: Pasanjeok 파산적.

      ********************************************

      Any followers who want to join me on my Maangchi cooking quest? Just list what recipe dish you made for that week. This is a good way of logging all the recipes I have tried and recipes I have yet to make. :)

    • #54475
      oksipak
      Member

      Ok, today I got my Internet shipment of Korean Red Hot Pepper Powder, Red Pepper Paste, and anchovies. So today I made Kimchi and Kaktugi. And on Tuesday dinner was Bulgogi jungol and boy did my husband love it. I don't know what I'll make next week but I'm studying Maangchi's recipes.

      Funny thing is that I met customers at work who cooks Maangchi's Recipes too. It was quite amazing as this is a small town and I just had mentioned it in a conversation.

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    • #54476
      oksipak
      Member

      Today 1/29/11, Saturday, I made Mandu Soup (Oh was it delicious!), meat mandu and vegetarian mandu (with this one the mandu skins were made from scratch since my friends were vegetarians and they don't eat eggs).

      Had the soup for lunch today…um, um, um good. And for dinner I had a bowl of hot steaming rice with the kimchi.

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    • #54477
      mokpochica
      Participant

      I’ll join you. I generally make several Korean side dishes a week (several from maangchi’s site), but I don’t always try new dishes and don’t make as many soups/stews as I would like.

      On Friday my husband made yangnyeom tongak, but I guess I can’t count that, huh? I made kaji namul, kong jorim and kamja jorim from the site today. I love making lots of side dishes on Saturday or Sunday and then having them to eat all week long. I feel so happy every time I open my lunch box :)

      I made nabak kimchi and kosari namul today too, but those were my own recipes. I’ll post pictures when I get a chance—I’m no great photographer, but the food tastes good¡

    • #54478
      oksipak
      Member

      Hi Mokpochica,

      Your husband must be a great cook! I still have yet to make yangnyeom tongak, 고사리 나물, GoSaRi NaMul, kaji namul, and kong jorim. I hear ya, making lots of side dishes on Saturday or Sunday and then having them to eat all week long makes me happy too. I just can't wait to have a smorgabob-style lunch and dinner. :)

      Photos make me salivate and makes me want to make some. Here's my dinner tonight. My Caucasian husband tries everything once. He loves Mandu and Bulgogi which are his favorites.

      Thanks for joining and I can't wait to make some of the dishes you've made already. I'd like to make 고사리 나물, GoSaRi NaMul soon, only if I could get the main ingredient.

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    • #54479
      mokpochica
      Participant

      YUM! Here are my pics of some of the side dishes I made and a pic of the kids enjoying them.

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    • #54480
      oksipak
      Member

      2/1/11 Tuesday: You’re photos turned out great and the food looks inviting. Kids are enjoying their dinner and happy. Thanks for sharing your meal with me. :)

      Dinner tonight is Japchae 잡채.

    • #54481
      oksipak
      Member

      2/1/11 Tuesday: I'm kind of screwed up in my dates and days and so today I made Kimchi Kimbap (too tired to make my original intention). Sprinkled a little sesame/kim seasoning on top. DELICIOUS!

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    • #54482
      oksipak
      Member

      02/03/11 Thursday: Happy New Year!!! Year of the Rabbit. Tonight I made Soybean side dish
      Kongjang, kongjorim
      콩장, 콩조림, It turned out so good! Thanks to Maangchi's recipe.

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    • #54483
      oksipak
      Member

      2/6/11: Superbowl Sunday started early with lots of cooking…

      Eggplant side dish / 가지나물 / Gaji namul

      Soybean side dish Kongjang, kongjorim 콩장, 콩조림

      Spinach side dish Sigeumchi namul 시금치나물

      Soybean sprout side dish kongnamul muchim 콩나물 무침

      Cabbage and soy bean paste soup Baechu doenjang guk 배추 된장국

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    • #54484
      mokpochica
      Participant

      YUM! It all looks great. :) My husband makes great chapchae, so I haven’t attempted it yet. Actually, I don’t know that I ever will, because I still want him to cook sometimes too…and if he thinks I can cook everything then he might not cook at all.

      I also made shigeumchi namul 시금치나물 today. The other dishes I made were Uhmook bokkeum 어묵볶음 and Gamja jorim 감자 조림. They all turned out really well. I’m going to try and make pare (roasted kim) tonight if I am not too tired. We still had a few things left from last week too, so I will have a full lunch box tomorrow regardless.

      We cheated and went out to lunch today and had Korean food. One of the local restaurants makes the best kimchi chigae ever and even my baby was gobbling it up today. We had bibimbop too.

      My husband went out and bought ingredients for mujigae ddeok. It is my baby’s 2nd birthday this Friday and my plan is to make it Thursday night after the kids go to sleep. I asked him to get kkaenip too, but I guess they were expensive and looked dry, so sadly no kkaenip kimchi this week. I LOVE that kimchi and it is surprisingly easy to make. I’ve got some hot peppers that will be great for twaynjang chigae though…

    • #54485
      oksipak
      Member

      Hi Mokpochica,

      Hope your week went smoothly. Can't wait to try uhmook bokkeum that you made, so that's on my list still. We live near the Pacific Ocean so you would think we have local fresh fish sold at markets but they export them instead, what a shame.

      Weekending 2/13/11: Made Sujebi, both kinds and enjoyed them immensely. My husband didn't try them as he was not in the mood for soup but he did eat the Japchae.

      Since finding Maagnchi's recipes and trying something every week, I don't really miss the Korean Restaurants anymore. Though it would be nice just to go out for the night and try other Asian-style cooking. There is really no culture here so it's very difficult unless we go on a long journey 8 hours away for authentic Asian cooking.

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    • #54486
      mokpochica
      Participant

      The Sujebi looks fantastic. I’ve never had kimchi sujebi, but my mouth is really watering for it right now. I made the non-spicy sujebi with maangchi’s recipe before and I loved it.

      I know what you mean about not missing Korean restaurants. Maangchi says somewhere on this site that home cooked meals are really the best and I absolutely agree. Healthier and you have peace of mind that you know exactly what went into them. After my husband and I have learned to cook more and more foods we have said that we don’t feel like going to a restaurant when we know we can make any and all of the foods they serve there.

      My plan was to make mujigae ddeok last night or tonight and it’s not happening because my husband bought the wrong kind of ssal karu. We are having the real birthday party for my baby (who turned 2 today!) next weekend, so I guess I will make it then. Or maybe tomorrow if I feel really ambitious.

      I did make pare (roasted kim) this week and it was fantastic! I can’t believe how quickly we ate it.

      I think my goal for this next week will be to make sun dubu chigae. After kamja tang and kimchi chigae, it is my favorite. I used to make it quite often, but I think my recipe was too bland, so I want to try maangchi’s recipe. It will be too spicy for the kids, so I will just throw together some miso soup for them.

    • #54487
      oksipak
      Member

      Happy Birthday to your 2-year old.

      I know what you mean about the husbands (cooking-wise). My husband cooked all the time, he said it was more for survival but he sure is a great cook, Caucasian food though. He did attempt making Americanized kimchi for me last year because I had missed Korean food so much after moving here 5 years ago. What a sweetheart!

      Let me know how your sun dubu chigae turned out. It sounds great and I keep on watching that video which means it’s going to be made very soon. :) I’ll just have to make more kimchi soon.

    • #54488
      mokpochica
      Participant

      I’m curious–what was your husband’s Americanized kimchi like? Milder than the average kimchi? That is very sweet because making kimchi is very time-consuming, especially the first time you make it.

      I didn’t make sun dubu yet (instead I made kongnamul guk), but I did make mujigae ddeok. It wasn’t a perfect result, but it tasted great!

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    • #54489
      oksipak
      Member

      The cake looks fantastic! The kids look so happy to be eating it. I would love to make that cake but it just seems a lot of work.

      The Americanized Kimchi was made from…you ready? My husband began with a jar of sauerkraut, added red pepper powder, and don’t really know what else he added. That was it. Just the thought he would attempt to make kimchi for me was a treat. It tasted good (I love kraut because that’s what I grew up with in Minnesota).

      Weekending 2/20/11: It’s Friday, 2/18/11, and tonight was Ground-soybean stew (kongbijijjigae) for dinner. No, my honey didn’t try it but it tasted good. I may not have ground the soybeans enough as it was “pulpy” in the stew.

      What dishes did you have time to make for this week Mokpochica? :)

    • #54490
      oksipak
      Member

      Feb. 20, 2011, Sunday: Ojingeojeot (Fermented Squid), after waiting a month prep., it sure was worth the wait. The little rice section has the squid on top of it. Don't think the squid is going to last a month as it's going fast! (Photo of BEFORE and AFTER)

      Stuffed cucumbers (Oisobagi kimchi) are so delicious too. If you look at the plate of banchans, no wonder Asian people stay slim, that does not include me because I'm VERY Americanized!

      Made some soups from Maangchi's Recipes this past week too. It's been a regular staple lately because it's been so cold here with rain, hail, wind, snow, lightening, and just darn chilly.

      :)

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    • #54491
      mokpochica
      Participant

      My mouth is watering! Not over the Americanized kimchi though ;) Your food looks fantastic! The ojingo looks fantastic and so do the oisobagi. I want to make both now.

      I made doenjang guk (shilgari guk is what my husband calls it). I also made kosari nameul (My daughter, Haneul loves it and we are always trying to get her to eat more veggies). I made mujigae ddeok again for my son's family birthday party. It turned out even better this time. My husband and I went to Chicago over the long weekend and went to jjim jil bang (Kim's Spa). We went without the kids, so it was very relaxing. We had maeun tang (with cod, yum!), soon dubu chigae and yuk gae jang while we were there. We also bought a bunch of food at a market in Chicago and wanted to buy much more, but thought better of buying too much frozen fish since we would have to transport it.

      I have a snow day tomorrow, so I will be making kaji, kong nameul muchim and maybe nabak kimchi if I feel ambitious. We have so much kimchi right now and so many dried persimmons that I see sujunggwa and kimchi chigae in my future too!

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    • #54492
      oksipak
      Member

      You're making me want to make mujigae ddeok but just can't get the gumpshion (my own made-up word) to start. It looks fluffy and delectable but I'll wait for a holiday party time to make it. :)

      Just the word, spa, always sounds relaxing, huh? Glad you two got away for awhile. Busy people need a respite too.

      Your children are very cute and your dinner table has a good mix of food for everyone to enjoy. The only thing about all the good food is doing all the dishes afterward, ha, ha.

      Beginning of this week I made cod and the new Green Chili Pancakes. Boy, was that good! Had it for breakfast this morning with egg and fermented squid. Mmmm, mmmmm, good! Have a great week.

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    • #54493
      mokpochica
      Participant

      YUM! I so want to eat the gochujeon. I don’t think I’ve ever had gochujeon, but I love haemul jeon and bindae ddeok. I remember eating those on rainy days in Korea with makkoli.

      What sauce did you serve with the cod and jeon in your third picture? It looks like it has gochu jang in it? My mouth is watering!

    • #54494
      oksipak
      Member

      Weekending 2/27/11: On 2/26/11, Saturday, for lunch I made Spicy Fermented Cabbage Stew (Kimchi Chigae 김치찌개) and a Bean Sprout Side Dish (Kongnamool Muchim 콩나물 무침). Kristi (from Korean Food Fan Profile) kept on talking about Kimchi Chigae and I can see why it's one of your favorite dishes. I remember eating that in Japantown (San Francisco) very long ago. It sure is delicious! I have not been disappointed at all with any of Maangchi's recipes. Every recipe made just brings back lots of memories, food-wise.

      I made the sauce with a little bit of soy sauce, sesame oil, tad of white vinegar, and sprinkle of Furikake Seasoning (I love this stuff). That Poblano Green Chili Pancake is just great! You guys would love it too. I added 1/2 chopped Jalepeno and it really makes a difference. I have one more Poblano Pepper so guess what I'm making tonight? ;)

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    • #54495
      Maangchi
      Keymaster

      You guys are so cool! I don’t know how to encourage you more. All I can say is that i’m very impressed and all your dishes look terrific! Someday you could meet each other!

    • #54496
      oksipak
      Member

      Hey Kristi,

      How did you like soon dubu chigae at the restaurant? Well, I’m going to make some this coming week (no promises) because I ran out of homemade kimchi.

      You want to hear something funny? When I lived down in Cotati, CA, there was this Asian market that made fresh kimchi pancakes(during lunch-hour), so I would frequent the market practically twice a week, if not more; and each time I would ask myself how do they make that. I even shipped some to my Caucasian Mom UPS overnight with some dry ice. Now with Maangchi’s recipes, I don’t have to wonder anymore, I can make it myself and eat it anytime, thank goodness!

      Needless to say, this is what was for dinner tonight…

      P.S. Thanks Maangchi. I can’t tell you how much joy you brought into my life, in sharing your family recipes and the Korean food traditions. I have waited a long time to find authentic Korean recipes to try, and you brought that to me. Guess the Internet should get some credit too (without the Internet, I would have never found Maangchi)! :)

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    • #54497
      mokpochica
      Participant

      Thanks Maangchi! This site also brings me a lot of joy. I never would have thought that I would be be successfully making the foods I am making now–and I feel like I am becoming more adventurous all the time. It definitely would be great to meet some day. Who knows?–maybe after my husband graduates law school we will end up in California. Or maybe even New York.

      The soon dubu at the restaurant was tasty, but not really like I remember it in Korea. It wasn’t spicy enough. I know that any food can vary with the cook, but I feel like soon dubu varies the most of any Korean food I have eaten. Anyway, I got around to making soon dubu on Friday. It was very good and the kids ate it, so I guess it wasn’t too spicy for them after all. Of course I did make it on the mild side.

      I just finished making jang jorim. YUM! This weekend I made miyeok julgi bokkeum for the first time and turned out great. I also made kong jorim, kosari and my hubby made spinach (sigeumchi nameul). We had Yubu chobap and doenjang guk today. Looking forward to a week of yummy lunch boxes!

      I was going to make gochu jeon today and then my husband told me it isn’t his favorite jeon and he only bought enough peppers for the jang jorim, so I couldn’t make it. I think I need to stop for some peppers on my way home tomorrow and make it anyway. ;)

      Kristi

    • #54498
      oksipak
      Member

      Hi Kristi,

      Weekending 3/6/11: During the week I made Kimchi, soybean sprout side dish (kongnamool, and the delicious rolled egg dish. It’s been raining all week here but that never kept me from cooking.

      I’m so hungry for miyeok julgi bokkeum that you made. Hmart is unable to ship “refrigerated” items such as the seaplant stem. We spent time playing with our dog at the beach and during that time, I saw seaweed at low-tide so I told my husband I’m going to use what we have (abundantly) in our ocean and try using the kelp. I’ve been Google-ing trying to figure out how to prepare (sanitize) the local seaweed. It’s free, fresh, and readily available in the Pacific Ocean. If you don’t hear from me, you’ll know what happened! Just kidding.

      Let me know what fantastic meals you made… :)

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    • #54499
      oksipak
      Member

      Sunday 3/6/11: Eggplant Side Dish (Gaji Namul), Breaded Cod Fillets (Daegujeon), and Soybean Side Dish (Kongjang, Kongjorim) are the items I made this weekend and they will hopefully last during the work week. I really really really like eggplant!

      Currently I’m trying to figure out whether the Mugwort I got from the Internet is the same ingredient for Rice cake Gyungdan 경단. I desperately want to make it but gathering all the ingredients is kind of difficult. So my goal is to have it all so that by July 4, 2011, I can make it for that holiday. :)

    • #54500
      mokpochica
      Participant

      The Gyungdan on this site are so photogenic, and delicious too I am sure. I’ve wanted to make them too. I hope you can get all of the ingredients.

      I also made gaji nameul today and I have kongjang in the fridge still. I always make a double batch because the kids love them. I finally made oi sobaegi and they turned out great. I hadn’t made them before because I remember thinking it was too salty when I lived in Korea and I think I had the impression it would be difficult to make. Not at all, and they are delicious. My husband was so happy. I also made the beef/radish soup that is posted with them and it had my son saying “MMMMM..MMMMM” while he has eating it. It is great to find another simple soup that I can quickly make to go along with panchan.

      I made soondubu again earlier in the week and it was definitely better this second time, but I still haven’t made it faithfully following the recipe (each time I haven’t had beef). I’ll make it again this week because I have all the ingredients now. I have nabak kimchi on my list of things to make this week too. I don’t really feel like making it, but I know I will feel like eating it when it is fermented just right. :)

      We went to the huge Chinese market near us today because they have Asian kaji and none of the other markets seem to. I bought a large bag of baby bok choy and cooked that up tonight in a ginger/garlic sauce. It is really good–and the first time I’ve cooked bok choy although I’ve loved it for a long time.

    • #54501
      oksipak
      Member

      Hi K,

      A week ago today, we were packed and kept away from our home for 10.5 hours…Tsunami Warning Evacuation. It was very scary and stressful; however, we learned a lot on “how to be more prepared for emergencies evacs.” All is well here now so back to cooking recipes.

      How did your 3rd try of Soondubu turn out?

    • #54502
      oksipak
      Member

      March 20, 2001 (Sunday): All the leftovers have been eaten so made some fresh batch of Dumplings Mandu (만두), Kimchi, 김치, and Soybean side dish Kongjang, kongjorim (콩장, 콩조림), Spinach side dish Sigeumchi namul (시금치나물), and this morning purchased some Green chili pepper pancake to make some Gochujeon 고추전 later today to eat for the week.

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    • #54503
      mokpochica
      Participant

      Wow! I’m sure evacuating your home was very scary. I am glad all turned out well. The people of Japan have been very much on my mind. I have been looking at some of the stories about Indonesia 5 years after the 2004 earthquake and tsunami and I know that Japan will be just as successful rebuilding, if not more. Of course the loss of human life is the great tragedy.

      Yum! You inspire me to try making mandu. I still haven’t made gochujeon! I need to get my act together. How did your kimchi turn out? Have you altered the recipe to your taste at all? I add a bit more sugar usually and I omit the squid/oysters.

      Last weekend I made large portions of bibimbop namul and meat to eat throughout the week and it was great. I also made gaji namul and nabak kimchi (water kimchi). This past weekend was too hectic too make much panchan with sick children. I made roasted seaweed in the pan and beef radish soup. I also made doenjang chigae with a really spicy jalapeño, but it was delicious. I love it with enoki mushroom. I also made some rest stop potatoes from this site http://aeriskitchen.com/2011/02/rest-stop-gamja/#more-8969 They are my husband’s favorite rest stop food, so it brings back a lot of memories from our time traveling in Korea.

      I plan to make mu saengchae, more roasted seaweed and the chwi namul this week. I am excited to see how that turns out. I don’t think that I’ve had it in Korea…that I remember. The dried aster scaber is cheaper than kosari, so I wanted to try them.

    • #54504
      stanford
      Participant

      Looks like a mandu party is in the works!

    • #54505
      oksipak
      Member

      Hey Stanford,

      Is that Stanford, CA? Local Bay-Area-nite, hehehe.

      Welcome. Yes, my husband doesn’t want me to give away anymore Mandu to our friends because he wants to eat them all. I keep them in the freezer so he can cook them anytime he wants. He used to buy frozen pot-stickers but now he no longer has to shop for them. Not only that we are saving lots of money. ;)

    • #54506
      oksipak
      Member

      Hi K,

      I received the following in my email but was surprised that it didn’t post in Maangchi’s Forum? Maangchi was doing some recent site upgrades so maybe your post got caught in the midst of the change(?).

      Anyway, I’ve pretty much been taking turns crying and being happy every time I see the devastation and then hearing of a life being saved in Japan. I feel for them…it’s too tragic what they are enduring.

      Try not to take your sick kids to the doctor or hospital right now because there’s a “superbug” virus that’s been spreading and it doesn’t sound good at all. Hope your kids get better soon.

      Making mandu the very first time seemed to take a long time for me, but now the 2nd batch went quite smoothly and quickly. I made some for the soup but mostly for steaming and frying. Oh and the 2nd batch of kimchee turned out so much better than the first as it fermented more to my taste. I don’t add the squid/oysters because they are not fresh here. Let me know how your scaber turns out. I’m going to grow them in our garden this season so I can try the recipe. :) The baby potato recipe looks good too so that’s going to be on our menu for tonight.

      ***************************************************

      Reply by: mokpochica 3/22/2011 6:32PM

      Text: Wow! I’m sure evacuating your home was very scary. I am glad all turned out well. The people of Japan have been very much on my mind. I have been looking at some of the stories about Indonesia 5 years after the 2004 earthquake and tsunami and I know that Japan will be just as successful rebuilding, if not more. Of course the loss of human life is the great tragedy.

      Yum! You inspire me to try making mandu. I still haven’t made gochujeon! I need to get my act together. How did your kimchi turn out? Have you altered the recipe to your taste at all? I add a bit more sugar usually and I omit the squid/oysters.

      Last weekend I made large portions of bibimbop namul and meat to eat throughout the week and it was great. I also made gaji namul and nabak kimchi (water kimchi). This past weekend was too hectic too make much panchan with sick children. I made roasted seaweed in the pan and beef radish soup. I also made doenjang chigae with a really spicy jalapeno, but it was delicious. I love it with enoki mushroom. I also made some rest stop potatoes from aeriskitchen.com/2011/02/rest-stop-gamja/#more-8969 They are my husband’s favorite rest stop food, so it brings back a lot of memories from our time traveling in Korea.

      I plan to make mu saengchae, more roasted seaweed and the chwi namul this week. I am excited to see how that turns out. I don’t think that I’ve had it in Korea…that I remember. The dried aster scaber is cheaper than kosari, so I wanted to try them.

    • #54509
      oksipak
      Member

      Weekending 4/3/11, Sunday: 불고기 (Bulgogi) is my husband’s favorite so made this couple times during the week.

      Today is 4/5/11, Tuesday, and bulgogi is freshly marinating in the fridge for tonight’s dinner. Had some last night too. He just loves this stuff! :)

    • #54510
      oksipak
      Member

      Weekending 4/10/11: Friday, 4/8/11, marinating meat for Bulgogi dinner tomorrow. :)

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    • #54511
      mokpochica
      Participant

      Yum! I posted about a week ago, but it didn’t go through for some reason. Anyway, your bulgogi looks great.

      This week I have made the cooked radish side dish, soybean side dish, miyeok julgi bokkeum and spinach side dish (sigeumchi nameul). I also made sundubu chigae (quick and dirty style though–not a faithful rendition of the recipe here) and dubu kanjang jorim. I’ve been cooking quite a lot this week because I have been on spring break, but not all of it has been Korean food.

      I made peep sushi and tons of vanilla extract so I can give it as Christmas gifts. The peep sushi was very cute and VERY sugary–it uses peeps, rice krispie treats and fruit by the foot. You can imagine the happy faces of my 3 little sugar fiends and my 13 year old niece. :)

      Hope you are having a great week. The weekend is here!

      Kristi

    • #54512
      mokpochica
      Participant

      Oh–and I made shikhye. YUM!

    • #54513
      oksipak
      Member

      Saturday, 4/9/2011: Ran out of kimchee so made some more today but this time tried 막김치 / Mak kimchi. One big head of cabbage fits nicely in this one big jar.

      After watching the Shikhye Video, it looks like a lot of work? How long did that amount last you Kim? I'm going to try it anyway because the end result appears thirst-quenching. Aah, it brings back memories…I just told my husband if I were to ever visit Korea, I would try all the flavors of Korean food!

      Christmas? Can't imagine thinking about THAT holiday now. Bet your kids and niece had a wonderful time. I used to love Rice Krispie Treats. :)

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    • #54514
      mokpochica
      Participant

      Yum! That mak kimchi looks delicious. My husband found 총각무 today at the Korean grocery store, so I guess I will be making chonggak kimchi this weekend. I thought I would be making 나박김치 again, but slight change in plans. 식혜 is really easy to make. Our family of 5 has been drinking it for three days–and that is with everyone drinking more than one serving a day. It is delicious. I bought more malt powder at the store today so I can make it again soon.

      I was talking with my younger sister on the phone today and she told me that she had the best seafood pancake at a recent trip to a Korean restaurant and that inspired me to make 해물파전 today with maangchi’s recipe for yachaejeon. Mine didn’t spread thinly enough and so it wasn’t cooked exactly right, but it was still very good. My daughters loved it. I will try again tomorrow. I love 전 and bindaeddeok too. We’ve been having rainy and overcast weather lately in Michigan, so it fits the times.

      I got Korean 한글 stickers for my computer keyboard today and I’m trying them out. My spelling needs work :)

    • #54515
      oksipak
      Member

      You got 한글 stickers? That’s so wonderful. I have not memorized nor understand the Korean I read so Google is my friend.

      The 해물파전 looks very appealing. I would love to see your photo of 나박김치 when you make it. I love those little things. Every summer I grow radishes, but this year I’m going to try to grow the little Asian radishes.

      This morning I tried my hands at making Gyungdan. I used Maagnchi’s Recipe but didn’t make the black sesame coated ones. The Mugwort from a herbal online store was not the finest (I think it’s prepared for tea) but used it anyway, not bad. The best one was the Roasted Soy Bean Flour coated rice cakes. I already had 3 of them nice and warm and sweet! April 10, 2011

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    • #54516
      mokpochica
      Participant

      I bought the stickers from amazon and stuck them on my computer that the school issues all teachers (a Macbook). Hope they will peel off well when I have to give the computer back!

      The 경단 looks fantastic! That is another one I have been wanting to try, but it looked time consuming. I have leftover frozen rice flour from making mujigae ddeok for my twins’ birthday and I was thinking of making the rice cake that has the same texture, but no food coloring and just has raisins added to it. I don’t know what it’s called, but I think it would be really easy to make. Basically the same as mujigae ddeok but without the trouble of making colored layers.

    • #54517
      Maangchi
      Keymaster

      yes, the gyeongdan looks amazing! The photo makes my mouth water now. : )

    • #54518
      oksipak
      Member

      Weekending 4/17/11: Today is Friday, 4/15/11, and this is what I made…this was my second attempt at it and I filled them with double quantify of sweet red beans. The first batch I was conservative with the beans because I didn't want them to burst. I find that if you make the rice cake dough softer, it's more pliable and thus more accepting of larger qty. of bean paste..

      Can you believe we used to buy commercially made pink and green rice cakes from an Asian store all these years? Now if I get hungry for them, I just whip out Maangchi's Rice Cake / 경단 / Gyungdan Recipe and make as many as I want. The texture is so chewy, gooey, and sweet—I love these things!

      on 4/14/11 another batch of mak kimchi was made and it's fermenting. This time I used two head of cabbages so it made two big jars of kimchi. The 1-jar batch of kimchi from last week only lasted for 3 days (gave 3/4 of it to our friends) and it fermented perfectly. We also had Spinach side dish Sigeumchi namul (시금치나물) along with Bulgogi(불고기) and steamed rice.

      Let me know how your rice flour with raisin concoction turned out. It sounds interesting. Seafood pancakes? It makes me drool for some. :)

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    • #54519
      oksipak
      Member

      Saturday, April 16, 2011: Guess what we are having for dinner tonight? Ok, I improvised but the essence of Soft tofu stew Soondubu jjigae(순두부 찌개) is the dish.

      I could not find soft tofu so substituted it for block of firm tofu, added asparagus, scallops, fresh cod and Beef Tri-Tip. The soup base I followed faithfully to Maangchi’s Recipe. It is SO GOOD.

      Did you send the rain to us Kim? It’s been raining all day and yesterday too here in “sunny” California. ;)

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    • #54520
      mokpochica
      Participant

      Guess what weather is expected here tonight? SNOW! I hate snow in April. So, maybe I did send some rain to you, but you know what they say about payback. ;)

      The soondubu looks yummy! Sometimes the best foods are created when you just throw something together. I love asparagus, but I never would have thought to put it in soondubu. And cod–also love it. We had soondubu this weekend too. I’ve decided that I don’t like the brand of fish sauce I’ve been using and I think that is why some of my recipes haven’t tasted like I want them to. I’ve been having this problem with miyuk gook too. So I bought the 3 crabs fish sauce today.

      I really want gyungdan right now. Time to make it! I haven’t made my dduk yet. I kind of forgot about it. I have dried cherries now too, and I think that would taste awesome with it. I’ll have to get on it.

      I made kamja jorim, spinach namul, mak kimchi, chonggak kimchi and roasted kim for sides this weekend. I also made kimchi chigae, miyuk gook, soondubu and kimchi jeon. I am jeon challenged. I haven’t quite got the batter right yet, but the taste is good. I’m still working on getting them crispy enough–when I was making seafood jeon it kept being too watery. I didn’t have that problem so much with kimchi jeon, but it still wasn’t crispy like I wanted. I will have to experiment more.

      One of my daughters really loves cooking with me these days. She mostly made the spinach namul today and was so proud when her appa said that it tasted especially good today. My other daughter told me after that “I’m going to help you make kong namul Mama” Cute!

    • #54521
      oksipak
      Member

      Your children are so darn cute on Flicker. Your Korean food photos look great too, of course. I know, when I start out, I’m not very hungry but when I see the photos and read the ingredients, I have the urge to make the dish!

      You’re daughter is growing up and it’s so nice that she wants to learn and help cook. THAT’S FAMILY QUALITY TIME WELL SPENT!

      I know what you mean about the kimchi or whatever pancakes you make. The kimchi pancakes I used to buy regularly at the Korean Market (Asiana Market in Cotati, CA), they were not crunchy either but I truly enjoyed the flavor. I would like to see if I can make them “crunchy” too. My husband likes crunchy stuff so if I can perfect them, he would eat them frequently. I on the other hand eat it no matter what!

      The Soondubu is so delicious. I had some for lunch over rice today (April 18, 2011, Monday) and now there’s only one more serving left—what a bummer!

      My 3rd batch of kimchi turned out just as great as the 2nd batch. I think the more you make kimchi the better one gets, what do you think?

      I’m so grateful of the computer generation (in the 80’s it was the information-age) and now I call it the internet-generation-age. Don’t know how accurate that is but without computers, I would have never found Maangchi’s Recipes. I am enjoying the Korean food traditions that I have longed for and always wondered what ingredients were in the recipes. Now I know. Wiping tears from my eyes.

      Have a great week. Rain on Wednesday and then it’s all sun. It’s funny…we expect a freeze on Wednesday though. Glad I didn’t transplant my Asian seedlings over the weekend yet. :)

    • #54522
      oksipak
      Member

      Weekending 4/24/11: It’s Saturday, 4/23/11 and I just had to post a picture of my blue cover glass jar filled with kimchi. It’ pretty, huh? Also today I ordered via online dried eggplant because we are still unable to buy fresh eggplants in our grocery stores (I just don’t get it!).

      OK, no snow arrived the past week; however, we did get some drizzles but I truly think the time has come for summer. I can’t wait for summer so that my Asian plants can give me some fresh vegetables. :)

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    • #54523
      Maangchi
      Keymaster

      yes, it looks adorable! : )

    • #54524
      mokpochica
      Participant

      It does look pretty. I love those kinds of jars. Reminds me of my paternal grandparents who gardened and canned foods into their late 80s. Not kimchi though ;)

      Spending time cooking together really is family time well spent. My kids enjoy cooking so much–I think they already know more about cooking that I did when I was 12! They impress me with their imaginative kitchen play. They really know their ingredients and say things like, “Stop! That needs more fish sauce!”

      I agree that kimchi gets better with more practice. And the process goes so much faster too. I wish I had known that making kimchi and cooking Korean food was so much easier than I thought because I would have been making it long ago. My chonggak kimchi turned out quite well after fermenting. I will just make kaktugi next time because it is easier, but I am glad to have tried chonggak kimchi and I’ll make it again.

      I didn’t have time to cook over the weekend, so I’ve been making most of my food during the week. My good news is that my miyuk gook turned out great. I started using the 3 crabs fish sauce and now it tastes the way it should. I’m excited to make kimchi with this fish sauce now and see if it makes my delicious kimchi even tastier.

    • #54525
      mokpochica
      Participant

      That is great looking kimchi. I do think kimchi improves as you learn more about making it. The process seems to go faster each time too. We still have chonggak kimchi left, but no mak kimchi. I guess I will have to make kimchi during the week–or buy it.

      I made a bunch of Korean food over the weekend. My miyuk gook turned out great. Using the 3 crabs fish sauce did the trick and made it taste much better. I am excited to see how the flavor of my kimchi might change since I’ve never made it with 3 crabs. I should have known to buy that fish sauce a long time ago because the ajuma at the Korean market recommended it for making pa kimchi years ago. And then I saw it is maangchi’s favorite too.

      I also made kongnamul gook, kong jorim, kosari namul, uhmook bokkeum, roasted seaweed (pare), the 2 dubu side dishes and shikhye again. Nothing new this week, but a lot of crowd pleasers.

      I hope that you will have lots of delicious Asian plants in your garden this year. I wish I could get kkenip to grow in my container garden, but I’ve never had much luck. Plus, now I have a son who would sabotage my efforts. Maybe we’ll try for some tomato and pepper plants though. We’ve had good luck with those.

    • #54526
      oksipak
      Member

      It’s Monday, 5/2/11 and I was too busy over the past weekend to really cook, got the red beans ready for the rice cakes though. Saturday and Sunday we got to enjoy our very first sunny and beautiful weekend by hiking with our dog (the rain and cold weather finally ended). Planted some Perilla, Burdock, Korean Radish, Thai Peppers, Chinese Leeks, Cilantro too. There’s more to plant during the week.

      So weekending 5/1/11 (May Day), I made some Rice cake soup / 떡국 / Ddeokguk and eating the fantastic kimchi over hot rice along with some fried mandu.

      When I came home for lunch today, an H-Mart package was at my doorstep, oh I was so excited! My dried eggplants are now soaking in water! I’m going to try to make Eggplant sidedish / 가지나물 / Gaji namul with it. :)

      P.S. Thanks Maangchi for your support. :) :) :)

    • #54527
      oksipak
      Member

      Weekending 5/8/11, Sunday: When I visited our local Asian market, I inquired as to which fish sauce was the best. The one shopper recommended the bottle that had a photo of the three crabs on it. So I hope it made a difference in your recipes after that change Kim.

      This past week consisted of Gaji Namul, Kimchi Fried Rice and some kind of Soy Bean soup. They were all delicious. The dried eggplant didn't work out so great for the Gaji Namul, but just as I got the dried eggplant shipment, our local grocery store started supplying the fresh eggplants so I made another batch from them. Nothing beats fresh eggplants!

      It's sunny and the Asian plants are soaking up the sun. Yeah! :) By the way, what is "kkenip?" I tried searching via Internet but was unsuccessful.

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    • #54528
      mokpochica
      Participant

      kkenip is perilla leaf (sometimes called sesame leaf too I think). That was my best effort at romanization of how it sounds to me. :) I love perilla leaf. My favorite kimbap is when they put perilla leaf in. I also love the flavor when eating Korean barbecue and in kamja tang. And kkenip kimchi is awesome. It is a very strong flavor. Are you going to grow it in your garden this year? What are you growing?

      Kimchi bokkeumbap looks great. My son goes crazy for kimchi bokkeumbap. I should make some tonight, but I am out of kimchi! I actually made emergency kimchi last week (양배추김치). It turned out well. I didn’t have napa cabbage and didn’t feel like taking the kids out to the Korean market, so I just bought some cheap cabbage at the grocery on the way home. My husband really enjoyed it.

      I’ve been making the same things quite a bit lately, but I did finally make ginger cookies 매작과. I made them with my kids, which ended up taking a really long time, but they turned out really well. I didn’t put enough ginger in them though. Next time I will add quite a bit more because I love the flavor of ginger with cinnamon.

      I almost made gyungdan, but we were out of town for Mother’s Day. My daughters watched the video with me and want to make them, so probably next weekend we will make them.

    • #54529
      Maangchi
      Keymaster

      Great! Your family love yangbaechu kimchi! When my kimchi runs out, but don’t have time to go shopping to a Korean store, I make emergency kimchi as you did. Cheers!

    • #54530
      oksipak
      Member

      Weekending 5/15/11: Today is Saturday and after spending several hours gardening before the rain comes, I am whooped!

      In April the Perilla Leaves were planted along with Chinese Leeks; Korean Radish (TWO KINDS); Korean Minari – Flamingo Water Dropwort; Japanese Mugwort; Chrysanthemum Greens; Thai Peppers; Fushimi Green Peppers; Yardlong Bean, Purple; Oriental Spinach; Oriental Spinach; Chinese Chives; Chinese Coriander.

      Today the Gigantic Pumpkins, Chinese Snow Peas, Dill, and some other herbs (can’t remember because I’m so exhausted from planting, digging, watering, and weeding all day PLUS I stink like manure).

      The Korean Rat Radishes are coming up so I’m quite excited as Radish Kimchi is in the future unless it gets consumed right out of the garden! ;)

      HAPPY BELATED MOTHER’S DAY! HOPE YOUR FAMILY SPOILED YOU ROTTEN! :)

    • #54531
      oksipak
      Member

      Weekending 5/22/11, Sunday: My Asian plants are peeking through the ground nicely. The Korean Rat Radish and other radish varieties were the first to peek, beans and peas are the second plants to break through the dirt, Perilla leaves have sprout leaves, can’t wait but slow to burst. Burdock looks promising. Chinese Leeks and Chinese Chives are so so. It’s been sunny so far so I think we’ll have a better garden season this year.

      During the week I made Spicy fish soup Maeuntang (매운탕), Kimchi, Kimchi Pancakes, and Japchae. DELICIOUS!

      :)

    • #54532
      mokpochica
      Participant

      Oh–I am so jealous that you will have perilla leaves and minari! I’ll have to get my husband to tell me his recipe for minari. It is delicious and has a gochujang and vinegar base and he puts fresh squid with it.

      I really hope you post pictures of your plants. There are a lot of names I don’t know. I’m excited to see what you make with all of them too. I can taste the perilla leaf kimchi now. YUM!

      I’m hungry after reading the dishes you’ve recently made. I LOVE maeuntang. I had something similar to maeuntang at a market in Chicago in February. It was awesome and even had the fish eggs in it (cod eggs I think).

      I made gochujeon this week. Finally¡ It was so good. I’m planning on making it again today or tomorrow. One of my daughters ate it happily with me and the kids all tried it. I think if I make it a few more times they will all be eating it. I also made maejagwa again (the ginger/cinnamon cookies). Those are a hit with everyone. I want to make gyungdan, but my husband says he likes maejagwa better.

      Other than that, the old standard side dishes…mak kimchi, kakdugi kimchi, roasted seaweed (parae style), soybean sprouts, kosari namul. I did make miyuk naeng guk (instead of oi naengguk) though–finally we’re having some warmer weather.

      As soon as school is out for summer, there are some blue crabs at the Korean market with my name on them. The kids go crazy at the Korean market looking at those crabs and I have been wanting to make ggotgaetang for a while now. And now a patbingsoo recipe is upcoming. Whoo hoo!

      In other news, I taught a Korean lesson to my Spanish students for World Cultures week last week. They loved it. I present them with hangul and the sounds and have them try to match up English words spelled in hangul with the actual English word, type up all of their names in Korean, watch a funny video that has funny Korean phrases (I love you, etc.) and watch a Pororo video (the little penguin show that is very popular with the 3 year old set). I always have a few who say, “Why are we learning Korean?” and then they leave saying, “I wish that Korean was offered here.” I love it! I’ve had a few students (one was a Korean adoptee) who kept on studying Korean on their own online.

    • #54533
      oksipak
      Member

      Weekendng 6/5/11: Saturday 6/4/11…Been so busy just trying to get this season's gardening going that I've been remiss on cooking Korean (just eating the kimchi). To make up for that the garden is 90% Asian. Hehehe.

      So glad your school is open to cultural events and teachings. I sure do miss that here in our tiny town. 100,000+ tourists arrive every year and despite that the town (the locals, that does not include me) is just so non-cultured! Oh well. :)

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    • #54534
      oksipak
      Member

      Here's my other parts of the Asian garden for this summer…

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    • #54535
      oksipak
      Member

      Sunday, June 5, 2011: Ok, broke down and craved kimchi so tried making the Emergency Kimchi today.

      I think the Perilla Leaves are coming up along with the Mugwort, but can't be sure until another week of sun, I hope. :)

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    • #54536
      mokpochica
      Participant

      Your plants and emergency kimchi look great. I have never heard of rat radish, so I had to look it up. I’m pretty sure I’ve never had it, so I would like to hear how you prepare and eat it. And edible mums! That garden is going to bring you a lot of joy this summer.

      My summer vacation is off to a great start. I finished teaching on Friday and went to an art exhibit and the zoo with the fam on Sunday. It’s going to be a busy summer, but I think a lot of fun. The weather is fantastic here right now too, so that helps (after a horrible spring, we deserve it!)

      Have you ever seen Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution? I hadn’t even heard of it until recently, but I’ve watched some episodes on hulu now and I’m hooked. Watching that show makes me even more determined than ever to keep cooking Korean food. I’ve been thinking a lot about the kinds of cafeteria meals I ate in Korea when I worked in a middle school(delicious and healthy for the most part) versus what is served here (unhealthy, expensive and often disgusting). I’ve also been thinking about what kind of environment my daughters will be entering in about a year when they start school. We have a new school garden at the h.s. where I work and I think that I should volunteer and grow some veggies there in the fall (at least I could plant some lettuce and spinach) and then do another Korean cooking class.

      As for recent items on our menu…we have been up to our ears in cucumber dishes! I still am on the hunt for a oi muchim recipe that comes out tasting as good as my Mother-in-law’s. We have been having oi naengguk a lot. And just eating cucumbers and bell peppers with dwayn jang. Yum!

      My husband make chicken porridge 닭죽 that was delicious too. And I have made several attempts at getting my kimchi jeon and haemul jeon to turn out crispy and delicious–and in one piece. Right now I am blaming it on my horrible (previously non-stick) pan. I think I give up until my husband gives me the go ahead to get a new pan.

      Hope that you and your garden are enjoying great weather and everything is well with you and yours.

      Kristi

    • #54537
      oksipak
      Member

      Weekending 6/19/11: Yesterday I made cod pancake recipe (daegujeon). Now we're getting from our friends fresh Cod and fresh King Salmon so we decided to buy a Pressure Cooker (Canner). It's Saturday 6/18/11 and we just got done canning (jarring) our first batch of fresh King Salmon-broth veggie soup. Neither of us have ever canned before but to our amazement it was quite fun and easy & we had 100% success rate.

      What I want to know is if canning Kimchi is allowed? We're concerned about the fermentation part and whether that would affect the canning process? We're still researching…and all the different ways to can Korean dishes such as the radishes and fresh veggies from this summer's bounty (ok, I'm counting the eggs before they hatch). :)

      Jamie Oliver's show is fantastic, saw it couple of times and he's doing wonders for the health of the next generation of children. Teaching good eating habits, growing a community garden, learning where food comes from, getting back to healthy basics, truly saves time, expenses, medical bills, etc. The children will be better for it when they become adults.

      Cont…

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    • #54538
      oksipak
      Member

      Cont…

      Spinach and lettuce contribution sound great for your fall crop! I haven't tried Chicken Porridge but I'm glad to know you guys enjoyed it which makes me want to try it now. Hmmm, wonder if that can be canned? So my husband's work is also preparing the soil for a community garden. The only requirement though is that all seeds must be heirloom seeds and organic. So the home garden (organic also but not heirloom) will be mine, and his will be the heirloom-organic community garden. We're going to compare the two types of garden veggies.

      Non-stick pans just don't last long like they should no matter how much care you put into it (at least for us). Have a great summer… :)

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    • #54539
      mokpochica
      Participant

      The thing that gets me about non-stick pans is that they say they will last much longer than is actually the case. The last one I bought said 25 years if used properly. Ha! Does that mean they use it just once a year?

      I wonder about canning kimchi too. I like kimchi best when it is first made. It is tempting to try and can it to see if you can preserve that taste longer. I wonder if it would effect the good bacteria that grows as it ferments though. Have you seen the previews for the PBS show “Kimchi Chronicles”? In one of the previews they show a dish made with 4 year old kimchi. I think the family I lived with in Korea had some that old. I remember them giving me fresh kimchi and old kimchi to taste test and I couldn’t believe how sour it got. At the time, I didn’t like the flavor, but I think I would now. I remember opening up their kimchi refrigerator once out of curiosity to see how much was in it. It took about 20 minutes for the smell to clear out of the room!

      All of your canning and gardening sounds so great. I would love to have a garden and can. My parents will have a garden, so I will get some fresh produce from them. My dad’s parents were always big gardeners and my grandma canned up until about 2 or 3 years ago, so I have enjoyed many wonderful home grown, home canned foods in my life. I would love to carry on that tradition once we live in a place where we can have a garden. My mouth is watering thinking about the heirloom tomatoes that your community garden will have. And the salmon soup and Cod. I love cod!

      I have been cooking a lot this week–first of my summer vacation. I made bibimbap (so I made lots of extra portions of side dishes) and them we made kimbap today for a picnic (samgak kimbap and regular kimbap). I also made pat for pat bing su. I made my own vanilla extract back in March and the pat tastes so good with it. I think it made the best pat bing su I’ve ever had.

      To think that only a few years ago I really thought I would never be much of a cook and had almost no interest in learning. And now I find so much fulfillment in preparing my own food and teaching my kids about food. We used to have a container garden on our patio and I look forward to when we can do that again (without the kids digging everything up). The last few days we have been spending a lot of time at the mulberry tree at the park within walking distance of our house and the kids just gobble the berries up. They are the same when we go to the apple orchard. I think that having a hand in growing and harvesting the food makes it more appetizing and more fun. It’s great to see that more people are getting back to that.

      Have a great week and happy growing and canning!

    • #54540
      mokpochica
      Participant

      I just re-read all of our posts from the beginning to now. We have really made a lot of food these past 5-6 months. And I have to say, the conversation is quite fascinating even the second time around. :)

    • #54541
      oksipak
      Member

      June 14, 2011, Friday: Made Easy Kimchi today after work…for some reason it took couple weeks to round up all the kimchi ingredients.

      Thanks for introducing me to the Kimchi Chronicles. Loved it. I subscribed to it on YouTube. I don’t really long to visit my birth country but watching the Kimchi Chronicles may change my mind.

      Mulberry tree? Don’t ever recall tasting Mulberries. We have tons of wild Huckleberries in our area, in the woods during our hikes the trails are lined with Huckleberries. We also have Salmonberries, Thimbleberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, and Blackberries. We have yet to take the time to seriously collect, but after buying the Pressure Canner couple weeks ago, it made us think about picking berries this year and maybe can them (Hot Water Bath Canning of course).

      The summer coastal fog is rolling in which doesn’t help the vegetable garden, but I got my fingers crossed something comes to fruition this year. I love vanilla extract…we use it in our homemade whipped cream which ends up in our morning espresso coffee. I think it’s exciting you make your own vanilla extract.

      Take it easy…

    • #54542
      oksipak
      Member

      Made this today, June 26, 2011, Sunday. :)

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    • #54543
      oksipak
      Member

      Weekending 7/3/11: It's Saturday 7/2/11 and the only thing I can show for this week is my Korean Rat Radish harvest…

      Pretty cool radishes! I have more to harvest in a few days, planted some more replacement seeds, and also I have the other daikon radish type which will probably ready in 3 weeks as they are nice and fat too. The Edible Mums will be ready around the same time. It's so exciting! I'll take photos of that harvest.

      What have you been up to this summer so far? We've been on vacation this week and sure enjoying the outdoors (we pretty much hike and camp or spend our weekends in the wilderness as much as we can no matter what rain, snow, sleet, hail, wind, thunderstorm or shine.

      My husband also designed my new Avatar. :)

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    • #54544
      oksipak
      Member

      Didn't post for last week so I'm catching up and posting today, Monday, July 19, 2011:

      It's Asian Garden harvest time, been mostly sunny, then a touch of rain fell over the weekend so the garden was loving it! My Edible Mums were aching to be cooked so here is the garden photo and what I made from it. Made the Mandu yesterday and the soup today for lunch and it was so good, I made it for dinner too.

      Hope Maangchi sees my recipe (it's in the Asian Garden Post) so she can name it in Korean of which I would be very honored.

      The Burdock is doing fantastic though some bugs love chomping on its huge leaves, Mugwort is growing nicely, Snow Peas are bearing tender pods, Bush Beans have little beans growing, Chinese Leeks are slow to grow but it's 3" high, so overall, this season isn't too bad. :)

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    • #54545
      mokpochica
      Participant

      Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been working like a madwoman trying to organize my house during summer vacation and have been out and about trying to get the most out of summer with my family. I haven’t had so much time for cooking, but I’ve made some of the usual: oi naengguk, emergency kimchi, nabak kimchi (water kimchi)… The kids have been loving chamchi jeon too. I’ve memorized several recipes on this site because I cook them so much, but I need to try some new things too. Seeing your edible chrysanthemums in your mandu guk reminds me that I want to try making mandu. Right now, I’m really trying to lose some weight though, so it will have to wait a bit. My 35th birthday is coming up in October and I want to give myself the present of dropping a couple of clothing sizes and give my family the present of a healthier & happier mom and wife. Luckily, I have access too all kinds of healthy food already because Korean food has so many great options. I am thinking about switching to brown rice though… I mentioned that to my husband and he said, “but brown rice isn’t delicious”. Guess I’ll just cook up a big pot for myself and keep it in the fridge.

      Do you know, I lost 35 pounds living in Korea and eating almost all Korean food. (I was also doing taekwondo 4 times a week). This was back in 2001. After 3 kids and living the American lifestyle I am back at the weight I was when I first went to Korea, so I think I need to go back on my all Korean diet :)

      What is your plan for your mugwort? I know people put it in soups with fish quite often and it is powdered to use in dduk. I bought it at the grocery store once by mistake (I thought it was minari–Korean watercress) and didn’t quite know what to do with it. Your rat radish looks great. Are you going to make ponytail/chonggak kimchi with it? The chapchae looks fantastic too. Just looking at the picture makes me feel like I can smell and taste it!

    • #54546
      oksipak
      Member

      Weekending 7/24/11:

      Glad you're back Kristi! Thought I had lost your virtual friendship. But apparently you're just busy with life in general, hehe. Hope you got your summer cleaning done and having a grand time with your family. Quality time and spending time with family is the most important thing in life.

      It's Friday, July 22, 2011, and I've been busy trying to cook Korean Food with this summer's Asian garden harvest. Yep, made ponytail/chonggak kimchi and here it is…Also made Zuke Pancake for dinner last night and boy was it delicious! That flower is Mum Flower and edible, yep, it's been consumed too. :D

      Speaking of dieting, you heard that South Korea won the bid for 2018 Winter Olympics? It will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. So maybe it will be a good excuse for you to visit Korea to help lose the weight you want? ;) Hope you obtain your birthday wish. To visit Korea for the first time would be fantastic (for me, of course). How many times have you been to Korea? At least you speak Korean. I don't…guess it's time to start, huh?

      Summer is almost over so have fun… :)

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    • #54547
      mokpochica
      Participant

      Yum Yum! Your chonggak kimchi and hobak jeon look fantastic! I’ve never eaten a flower and I really want to reach into the screen and eat that beautiful mum.

      I did hear that Korea won the bid for Olympics, but I hadn’t really looked into it, so I just assumed it was the summer Olympics and had no idea what city it would be in. I should know this–shame on me! I would love to be at the Olympics in 2018. I think we will be in Korea next year one way or another. My husband graduates from law school in Dec. and takes the Bar in Feb. and we will move in June. Top choices now are New York/New Jersey area or Seoul. It will be hard to leave my job here, because it is stable and pays well, but I am excited for him.

      Well, the good news is that I am down 13 pounds/6 kilos. I haven’t gotten on an all Korean diet yet, but I am eating a lot of Korean food.

      We had a dinner party a week ago Saturday and hubby and I made tons of Korean food. I took a picture of the spread, which I will post here later. I made: mak kimchi, perilla leaf kimchi, kkakdugi, spinach namul, soybean sprout namul, the potato side dish (kamja jorim), and shikhye (rice punch). Hubby made a mushroom side dish, kimbap, and doenjang guk (soybean paste soup). The food went over very well and impressed both American and Korean guests alike. We also had homemade pat bing su that day, but I didn’t make enough to share with guests, so dessert was store-bought apple pie. The apple pie and marinated chicken and pork were the only things that weren’t Korean. It was a Korean cooking fest and we just finished the last of the leftovers!

      I am trying to spread my love of Korean food. This is the 2nd time I’ve cooked Korean for friends this summer. Not surprisingly, everyone loves it. Speaking of spreading the word about Korean food…I just checked to see if kimchi chronicles will come to the PBS station in my area, and sadly it won’t. I guess I will have to wait for the DVD arrival in December. Or hope that someone will upload it to youtube, but of course that would be illegal.

      And now I am madly working on curriculum and grad coursework to get ready for school to start after labor day. I was chastised by one of my co-workers for not having much done so far, so I guess I’d better get back to it.

      Kristi

    • #54548
      oksipak
      Member

      Weekending 8/21/11: Friday 8/19/11…Wow Kristi, if you move to NY, you'll be Maangchi-Land. :) But if you're in Korea, well, you'll have all that Korea has to offer. I wish you the best in your choices and pre-congrats to your husband. As for you, your co-workers seem to support you if they are chastising you…that only means they care about you and your future goals. :D

      Yea, we don't get Kimchi Chronicles either. But that's ok, we're making our Kimchi Chronicles in our home by just making it every time we run out. ;) Your husband must be a fine cook to be cooking for the visiting guests. It's really nice to know guys can cook, just like my honey (well, he doesn't cook Korean but he does cook anything 80% of the time and he's great at it).

      So here is my garden that's doing great this year (think it's the rabbit turd that I added this year). The only disappointment for this year's garden was that my Perilla plant never came up. I will try again next year.

      Made Roasted Soybean Powder Injeolmi one day, ran out, then the next day made Mugwort Injeolmi and ran out of that too because they were so good! Shared them with my co-workers too. Edible Mums love our area so I have LOTS of them growing. Made Ssukgat Namul and it was excellent especially topped over tofu. It's probably great with rice too. Haven't done anything with my garden fresh Mugwort yet but I will once all the ingredients are available for one of Maangchi's recipes.

      Summer is almost over. Take care. :)

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    • #54549
      oksipak
      Member

      …continued from previous post…photos of my Asian Garden…Edible Mums doing fantastic…Edible Mum Ssukgat Namul…essentially the BEFORE and AFTER photos. Yum! :)

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    • #54550
      Maangchi
      Keymaster

      oh my god! My mouth is watery now! “Before and after” all look great! : )

    • #54551
      oksipak
      Member

      Weekending 9/4/11: It’s Friday, 9/2/11 and for dinner I made Spicy fish soup Maeuntang 매운탕 with freshly caught Pacific Ocean Kelp Greenling (aka: Sea Trout, “poor man’s lobster”). My husband went fishing today and brought home the lovely fish. From the garden came the fresh radish and Edible Mums, used spicy-type of leaf lettuce (taste like radish) since my Minari has yet to grow. The soup was delicious!

      The Edible Mum photo is from 8/18/11 shot but I picked a fresh harvest for the soup recipe. The mums just grow fast and furious in our area. :)

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    • #54552
      mokpochica
      Participant

      I love mae-un tang. I’ve been jones-ing for it since we had it in Chicago back in the winter. I need to get on it and make some already! I did make the mackerel/radish side dish that maangchi just posted and it is awesome. That has always been one of my husband’s faves and mine too. So good! We all gobbled it up, even the kids. We rarely hear that something is too spicy anymore–and even Haneul who used to complain that kimchi was too spicy, eats kimchi without complaint now. We’ve indoctrinated the children well. ;)

      Love that you used rabbit turds for the garden. Do you have a rabbit or several? Natural fertilizer is best. And all that organic produce! I am so jealous. Has your minari come up yet? I need to get my husband to write out his minari recipe. It is delicious. He makes it with squid and red pepper paste among other things and it is served cold. It is delicious. Minari is also good with nabak kimchi (water kimchi). I know that people use it in soup that has fish too. I’m really sad for you that your perilla leaves didn’t make it this year. Our local grocer has been selling perilla leaves that they grow themselves. It’s $2 for a pack of about 40 leaves and they are organic (yu-gi nong). Whenever I see produce labeled that way at our Korean market, I know that means that they grew it in their back yard. :)

      I made kimchi today and shared it with our Korean friends. They have a 6 year old, 19 month old and 2 month old. Obviously the mom has very little time to make food, let alone kimchi, so they were happy to receive it. They brought us pat jook (red bean porridge) that the husband had made. They are really lovely people. I’m really glad to have met them—the husband is the same age as my hubby and they have become fast friends. I had the soybean sprout side dish, spinach side dish and perilla leaf kimchi on hand, along with the mak kimchi and mackerel side dish, so it made for a tasty meal. I’m sure my husband would say that we needed some soup to make a complete meal, but nothing was lacking for me. I’ve been serving all the side dishes with brown rice and it has gone over well with the kids. The girls say they like it better because it is chewy. I don’t think my husband will ever prefer it, but he will eat it.

      Still living more healthfully and have lost 15 pounds since mid July. I’m jogging now too and am aiming to run a 5K race in October. I have fantasies of my husband and children at the finish line smiling and yelling “Yay Mommy!” The race will be in an apple orchard, so it should be fun and hopefully not hilly.

      Summer is over. Michigan apples are already in the stores and I hope to go to an orchard and pick some fresh tomorrow. In Michigan we love to have apple cider and donuts together.

      What are your favorite fall foods? I love anything pumpkin. I really love hobak jook (pumpkin porridge) and I have some butternut squash that would love me to make it into hobak jook tomorrow or Monday. We are supposed to have 65 degree temps on Monday, so I think it would be a great Memorial Day treat.

      Enjoy your 3 day weekend!

    • #54553
      mokpochica
      Participant

      Hi oksipak. Hope all is well with you! Are you still harvesting veggies from your own garden? My latest adventure is making my own soymilk and tofu. I received a soymilk maker for my birthday. Today I made black bean and black sesame seed soymilk that tastes great. I still haven’t perfected the flavor of regular soybean soymilk–I think many people add malt to make it taste more like commercial brands, so that is my next idea. My husband says the tofu is much better than commercially produced tofu. The tofu takes so much soymilk to make though, so I’m not sure I’ll make it as often.

      Hope all is well with you and you are relaxing and eating yummy food this fall weekend! I completed my first 5K in 10 years last weekend. It felt great!

    • #54554
      Maangchi
      Keymaster

      You guys are really serious cooks! Great!

      I hope you can share your homemade tofu recipe with us!

    • #54555
      oksipak
      Member

      Hello Mokpochica, hope you recouped from the 5K, bet you are in great shape now. I've gone the opposite, gained 10lbs not because of Korean food. I've been trying other ethnic recipes and having fun. :D Wow, making your own Tofu. What a feat! I LOVE TOFU! I can eat the entire 16oz in one sitting! Way jealous! Homemade Tofu must be a true treat for your husband.

      Made Mandu and Bulgogi for my honey for his birthday dinner this week. The photo is a collage of the Mandu stages. Also tried a recipe from scratch of Chocolate Ganache, put some fresh Raspberries and one candle. Yum…

      One of my New Year's Resolution has been fulfilled for 2011 due to Maangchi's Korean cooking videos. Now I can make Korean food without hesitation (our main favorites: Mandu, Kimchi, Japchae, Bulgogi and among others) and there's so much more to try still.

      It's 42 degrees and very sunny these days. No rain in sight. Catch you later…P.S. Fall food favorites: Spaghetti, Chili over Macaroni and Cheese, lots of soup (mainly Cabbage and Soybean Paste of Maangchi's). Anything heat hot and hot pepper stuff. :)

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    • #54556
      Maangchi
      Keymaster

      Hi Oksipak and Mokpochica,

      Oksipak,

      “One of my New Year’s Resolution has been fulfilled for 2011 due to Maangchi’s Korean cooking videos.“

      You won’t believe how much I’m impressed by this. Now you can make Korean food without hesitation. This is great news and makes me very happy. I’m sure everybody who has been reading your Korean cooking experience was so excited about your completed mission. All I can say is: “congratulations to you!”

      Re: Mokpochica,

      “I completed my first 5K in 10 years last weekend. It felt great!”

      You make me feel great, too!

      Congratulations!!!

    • #54559
      oksipak
      Member

      Weekending December 16, 2011: It's Friday and tonight I made a batch of Spicy fermented cabbage and spicy fermented radish / 김치, 깍두기. Also during the week Rolled omelette (Gyeran malyee: 계란 말이) was on the breakfast menu. Only 2 more weeks until the New Year 2012! Where did the time go?

      Thanks for the Congrats Maangchi. :)

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    • #54560
      oksipak
      Member

      Merry Christmas Maangchi and Mokpochica and all who are Friends of Maangchi. :) Yesterday I had some kimchi for a snack, then for Christmas I had some more kimchi for snack. Tomorrow I have to go shopping and buy cabbage and radishes to make more kimchi! :P

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    • #54561
      Maangchi
      Keymaster

      Thank you oksipak! I love the photo of “Merry Christmas!” You are eating kimchi for snack now. : )

    • #54562
      oksipak
      Member

      It's Thursday, December 29, 2011, and only a few days before the new year! So what do I do? I tried making dakbokkeumtang (https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/dakbokkeumtang) and boy was it delicious. It's been raining cats-and-dogs here and comfort food like this recipe was much needed. I refrained from making a pig of myself by eating the entire pot in one sitting! By the way, I only made 1/2 the batch, for 2 servings, so if I ate that it wouldn't have been that bad. Right?

      This will most likely be my last Korean recipe I try before the New Year 2012 arrives and what a way to end 2011. See you all in the new year to try some more new recipes from Maangchi. :D

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    • #54563
      mokpochica
      Participant

      Hi oksipak! I was just thinking of you because I watched the mandu video. I’m going to either make mandu or jjimbbang mandu during my vacation from work. I’m also reminded by your post that I’ve been wanting to make bulgogi stew. I’ve been watching the Kimchi Chronicles (got the DVD for Christmas) and it was featured on there. And I think on Jamie Frater’s food fan page he said it was one of his best dishes, so I’ve been wanting to try it since then.

      All of your food looks fantastic. I just ate a big dinner, but it still is making my mouth water. I love chocolate cake like the one you made. I don’t think I’ve actually ever made a cake like that. I should put that on my list too. The mac and cheese with chili sounds awesome and I’m not usually that into mac and cheese.

      I definitely have gained a lot of confidence in my cooking skills over the past year. I know what you mean about “making Korean food without hesitation” I didn’t make Korean food for a long time after my husband thought I couldn’t even make ramen noodles well after an unfortunate overcooked ramen noodle incident, but I’m so glad that I finally gave it a real go. I still need to use a recipe for most of what I make, but I’ve even gotten to a point where I can make many simple panchan/ side dish recipes from memory.

      We’ve also been enjoying some delicious Korean food lately. We had braised chicken with vegetables last week and tonight we had kongnamulbap (soybean sprouts bibimbap). My hubby has taken over with the kimchi making for the most part, which has been nice. I have been making yogurt, homemade bread, and soymilk so we won’t have to buy any of those anymore and so we can eat less processed stuff. I also make tofu quite a bit.

      I’ve lost 25 pounds now, but I am stuck. One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to keep the house stocked with side dishes so I can eat Korean food more often. I’ve been eating so much salad lately and I’m tired of it. It was o.k. for a while, but especially as the weather has gotten cold, I need something heartier and warmer and Korean food is it for me. Satisfying and healthy.

      Happy New Year! Hope that you and your family will have good health and find happiness in all your endeavors this year. And I hope to keep up our online friendship. It’s been great reading your inspirational posts. I’ll try to post more pictures of my food in 2012. How’s that for a resolution? :)

    • #54564
      mokpochica
      Participant

      Maangchi–Thanks for the comment about my 5K race. I’ve run 2 of them now. I think I’m going to try for a 10K in June, because I need a goal to work toward. These days I’ve been swimming too, but it is so hard!

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