This time our Korean Food Fan is David Norman, who lives in Wilton New Hampshire! Some of you may be familiar with his id “ddnorman” from the forums, where he’s well known for his kimchi made with his homegrown napa cabbage, radishes, and perilla leaves! Everything he grows looks to be of the best quality: fresh, beautiful, and clean. He’s also a hardcore Korean food fanatic! So let’s hear about how he came to be so crazy about Korean food:
What is your name and where do you live?
My name is David Norman and I live in Wilton New Hampshire.
Me and my garden, korean radish second planting, kkaetnip, leeks and arugula in background
Tell me about the first time you ever tasted Korean food. Where were you, and what did you eat?
The first time I tasted Korean food was at a fantastic family owned Korean/Japanese restaurant in Nashua NH called Shira Kiku. The family who owns it is Korean. My wife and I were already fans of Indian, Thai and Vietnamese food and wanted to try Korean food. The only thing I knew about kimchi was the phrase “I’m in deep kimchi” which is not very flattering.
Now I’m growing my own Korean vegetables and using them in Maangchi’s kimchi recipes! Of course at the restaurant I ended up having kimchi pancakes, bulgogi, kimchi jigae and grilled croaker. The meal started out with banchan which was about 8 different types of homemade kimchi including sweet potato, cucumber, mung bean sprouts, soybean and some kind of small dried fishes. I loved it at first taste! Spicy and flavorful, just the way I like my food.
Then for dessert, they had fish ice cream. I had no idea what it was so I had to order it just to see! It turned out to be fish shaped ice cream with red bean sauce wrapped in ice cream cone. I get them at the Asian market now for home. We are now good friends with the family that owns the restaurant, but that’s a story I’ll have to tell in another post! ^^
How often do you cook Korean food following my recipes?
I’m only a novice in the kitchen, but I have jjajangmyeon at least 3 times a month. Also I frequently put my home made kimchi on hamburgers and hotdogs. I have also made tteokbokki and gimbap once as well. All from Maangchi’s recipes.
What are your favorite Korean dishes? Choose 3, please!
I don’t know if I can limit it to 3 but I will say Jjajangmyeon (Maangchi’s), Kimchi Tofu Jeyook Bokkeum (Kiku) and Kimchi Jigae (HMart food court restaurant). Note: it goes without saying that baechu kimchi and kkakdugi (Maangchi’s) are at the top of my list, which is why I don’t list them.
What’s your best Korean dish, the one that everybody compliments you on when you make it?
Without question it is the baechu kimchi and kkakdugi! Even my Korean friends said it tastes good!
gimbapwith kkaetnip garnish
My first attempt at a Korean dinner included Manduguk, Easy Bulgogi and Kimchi Bokkeumbap with kimchi & kkakdugi banchan. I shared the kitchen with my sister-in-law who is a big Indian food fan. It was all a big hit. My sister-in-law took half the soup home and my brother-in-law and his girlfriend loved the Bulgogi with lettuce & ssamjang and Kimchi Bokkeumbap!
Hello.
I was in Namhae South Korea, now i am back home in VT
Nothing like fresh home grown items! Everything looks delicious. Where can I see more of your garden and Korean food creations?
Hi MissKim!
Nice to hear from you over here! ^^ I will be posting more pictures here and I have a Google+ account that I plan on putting some pics & posts to so feel free to add me to one of your circles. I’m already following you over there! I’m somewhat new to this social media stuff so I still have to figure out how to use it properly. I know, pretty sad for a software engineer, eh?
Dave
Hi Barbara,
Thank you for the compliment! ^^ How cool…another Korean food fan right here in Wilton! This was my first shot at growing 깻잎. I actually grew them from seed. I ordered the seeds online from the Kitazawa Seed company. I ended up planting the garden late (end of June instead of Memorial Day) due to a crazy work schedule. I actually was not expecting it to do so well. But good soil, lots of sun and an automatic irrigation system did the trick. BTW…my Korean friends get seedlings @ HMart in Spring. They told me they need a lot of sun and warmth. I will be making more 김치 soon. I have made 김치 찌개, 김치 전, 김밥 and 짜장면. Now I see that Maangchi has a recipe using Collard greens. I still have some in the garden so if they are still viable I’m going to try that.
My wife and I love Tanglewood Gardens. Also I would definitely recommend trying Shira Kiku. Go on a Friday night if you can. The atmosphere is comfortable and fun and the food… 맛있어요!
Have you posted any pics of your dishes? I need to do a better job with mine…except I’m usually pretty hungry by the time I take them so I don’t set up a nice shot!
Dave
David, Hi from another Wilton Korean food lover. Your garden looks great! Where do you get your perilla plants? I tried growing them from seed a couple of years ago, but it didn’t work. This year I bought plants from Tanglewood Gardens in Bedford. They just had the purple variety, which looked beautiful in my herb garden until the frost, and I also still have a couple in pots. I never got around to cooking with them… I’ve made my own kimchi and love making bi bim bap and being inventive with Korean pancakes. I haven’t been to Shira Kiku yet, but have eaten in the Hmart food court.