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Report from the New York meetup

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

By Maangchi

Hi, everyone,
Here’s what happened at the June 20th meetup last Saturday:

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It was a great success even though the weather was rainy.
I was surprised to see many people appeared on time, around 12:00 pm at the Sony Plaza in Manhattan. As I said, nothing could stop us from meeting!

As usual, I didn’t have to worry about finding people because they recognized me first!
“Hi, Maangchi!”
My answer was:
“Yayee!” : )
We hugged each other just like old friends.

At about 12:30 pm, we started eating and toasted with rice wine I made! Home made rice wine, called “makkoli” in Korean, was my surprise gift for all of us. Someone whispered to me, “We shouldn’t say this is rice wine, because we may get in trouble if a security guard hears this. Having alcohol in public place is illegal,” so we called the rice wine “rice milk.” Isn’t it funny?

Tangsuyuk and makkolli

Tangsuyuk and makkolli

“Are you going to get some more rice milk?” I poured it into someone’s empty cup.

We had white rice, multi-grain rice, LA style beef ribs, tangsuyuk (by Joon, guest star of my tangsuyuk video), japchae, omelet rice, 3 kinds of kimchi (geotjeolee, stuffed cucumber kimchi, and young radish kimchi), sigeumchi namul (spinach side dish), gimbap, gyungdan (rice cake balls rolled in roasted black sesame seeds), fruit cake (pear), and hwajeon (flower pancake).

3 kinds of kimchi!

3 kinds of kimchi!

Check out this hawjeon!!!

hawjeon (flower pancake)!!!

Handsome rice cake, isn't it?

rice cake balls rolled in roasted black sesame seeds!

Omlette rice isn't from my recipes but still pretty good lol

Korean style omlette rice

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Michael's specialty - pear fruitcake

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This gimbap was perfect!

After lunch, we voted for the best dish. The first, second, and the third place received some prizes I brought, mostly Korean ingredients.

The first place went to Michael and Sujin who brought japchae, a spinach side dish and cake! They got a package of dried anchovies, a bottle of sesame oil, and a box of hot pepper paste. They live outside of New York, and said  “we were going to stop by a Korean store to buy these things on the way home back.”

Michael and Sujin

Michael (the future Korean Iron Chef) and Sujin

They even brought roasted sesame seeds to sprinkle on the sigeumchi namul just before serving so that the sesame seeds would be crispy!

Also a nice surprise was that the Korean Cultural Service in New York sent me a big box of Korean books and CDs to give to my viewers. Everybody got at least one gift, which was pretty cool.

All the dishes looked fantastic! Beautiful hwajeon made with real fresh flowers, gyungdan rolled in black sesame seeds, omelette rice for lunch box, sweet, sour, and crispy tangsuyuk, tuna gimbap… amazing! All the dishes looked very familiar! Why? Because a lot of them followed my recipes!!!

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Kyna

Kyna was a real big help for me, I really appreciated it

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I had a great time! It was so wonderful to meet so many of my viewers and readers. It went so fast, I wish I had more time for longer conversations.

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I will definitely have another meetup in the future. I hope you’ll all come back and do it again!

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Posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 9:00 pm. Last updated on April 22, 2011.
Tagged: , , , ,

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26 Comments:

  1. Donnainohio& has 2 comments
    Posted September 9th, 2009 at 8:13 pm |

    Hi Maangchi,

    Maybe it wasnt bulgogi maybe it was Japchae. Is Japchae and Pajeun the same thing?

  2. Twistie& has 1 comment
    Posted August 30th, 2009 at 9:53 pm |

    Hi,

    I saw your web and love it as I can learn to cook more korean food now.

    I love to eat kimchi but my concern is too much salt involved in making kimchi….I was told to us coarse salt which is better in making kimchi by my korean friend….CAN WE DO WITHOUT SALT ? What purpose of adding salt to fresh kimchi before adding kimchi sauce….is there any healthier salt to use if it a must in making kimchi…

    Awaiting your advise.

    Thanks!
    Fan from Singapore.
    Twistie Ng

  3. XiolaBlu& has 2,255 comments
    Posted July 13th, 2009 at 2:43 pm |

    Maangchi!
    I’m sorry I could not make it to your meetup; I was still jetlagged from my Korean trip, but I hope to make it next time (I live in central NJ!).
    The food everyone made looks amazing!!
    By the way, please give us the recipe for makkoli and/or dong dong ju sometime~~~~!! ^^*

  4. rv65& has 47 comments
    Posted July 7th, 2009 at 9:48 pm |

    How about a San Diego meetup. I would totally do that.

  5. bluebaby137& has 2,255 comments
    Posted July 2nd, 2009 at 12:41 am |

    Hi Maangchi,

    I wish I couldn’t been there; but I was all the way in L.A.
    (the other side of the country~)
    However, I am happy to know that your meeting was a success.

    Cathy

  6. Jenneida& has 4 comments
    Posted June 29th, 2009 at 2:26 am |

    All the food was so good making it so hard to judge. The cake was amazing and super moist. The Meetup was really fun and it’s a good thing i didn’t open the hot pepper paste from the bubble wrap because it’s really hard to find ingredients in the Dominican Republic. I only know of one Chinatown on the whole island, and I won’t be back in New York until the end of August. It’s a life saver or shall I say Food Saver ^_^.

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 11,616 comments
      Posted July 1st, 2009 at 9:31 am |

      Jenneida!
      OMG! My hot pepper paste is in Dominican Republic with you now! Have a nice trip there and think about me whenever you eat the hot pepper paste! : )

  7. James Louisiana joined 6/09 & has 1 comment
    Posted June 27th, 2009 at 8:28 am |

    Looks like everyone had a great time. To bad I could not make it.

  8. Lesly& has 2,255 comments
    Posted June 26th, 2009 at 6:52 pm |

    Hi Maangchi
    Omg all the food looks so delicious I’m so hungry now. I didn’t know u were in manhattan I’ve would of gone cuz Im Mexican n I never tried Korean food before which I would loveeeee to eat. also I would of loved to meet u n maybe share some recipes.

  9. josh& has 28 comments
    Posted June 26th, 2009 at 6:14 pm |

    omg maangchi!
    im so jealous of all the people that live near you! :p
    the food looks super deliciouso!

    if you ever do a meetup near seattle
    ill totally come! :]

  10. Kathy& has 2,255 comments
    Posted June 26th, 2009 at 5:53 pm |

    wow my hwajeon looks so beautiful in the picture O.O Maangchi all of your food was delecious! please teach us how to make makolli!

  11. joon& has 2 comments
    Posted June 26th, 2009 at 11:11 am |

    that makolli killed it! so good! please teach us how to make it!

  12. yoyoloveT& has 2,255 comments
    Posted June 24th, 2009 at 4:54 pm |

    Hi!! Maangchi!!

    I didn’t know you’ve moved to NYC!! I have just move in, too!!!
    I hope someday I can meet you!!

    Love,
    T.

  13. Michael and Sujin& has 8 comments
    Posted June 23rd, 2009 at 1:42 pm |

    Maangchi,

    I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say….

    THANK YOU (감사합니다) !!! ^_^

    The time, effort, prizes, and all the yummy food you made to make the meet up so wonderful is certainly appreciated. Sujin and I had a great time and we hope there will be another one soon.

    Thank you also to everyone who voted for our dish :)

    -Sujin and Michael

  14. Becky& has 2,255 comments
    Posted June 23rd, 2009 at 12:04 pm |

    Hey Maangchi, when will you do a meetup in Toronto? Looking forward to it.

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 11,616 comments
      Posted June 26th, 2009 at 3:30 pm |

      I’m sorry about late reply. To tell the truth, I have to go to Toronto soon for my dental treatment. I don’t think I can find time to plan meetup in Toronto this time due to my busy schedule.
      Some other time, Thank you very much Becky!

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