Tag: western cooking

  • What is it, Bones? It’s Kimchi, Jim!

    We had a good three day weekend. Mostly it’s just Eun Jeong and me sitting around and watching TV. We alternate between Korean and English language TV. We cooperate a lot more in this department than we used to.

    The big news this week is that we have a new supervisor. This person is here supposedly to fill in the gap left by Roberta when she left for the States, since her sister Leia can’t speak English well, or rather, refuses to communicate much with us.

    When she actually started, people started questioning what this would mean for me. I’m still technically the manager, even though the new person, Carol, is above me. It seems other people are more concerned with my status than I am. In the long run, it’s more important for me to get the school’s content management system (LiNo Info Zone, or LIZ — and not intentionally named after anyone we know) up and running. This on my resume and in my portfolio makes a bigger difference in the future than my title here. My duties are still the same. The thing I’m keeping a watch on is Leia trying to cut my salary, which violates the contract.

    So again I’m playing office politics to get LIZ made public and official. Leia had sensed my grumpiness this week, mostly suspicion about her actions. She pulled me into a classroom for a talk to assure me that nothing big was happening. I’m still keeping my eyes open.

    The battle was Friday when Leia gave us all forms all in Korean to fill out at the end of the day, detailing what we did and what we needed. I was upset because I had spent a month of my free time creating a system to keep track of that with a lot less work. You just click, click, click, and you’re done — no filling out of forms in KOREAN.

    So I started persuading Carol that we already had a system in place, in English and Korean, that was better and preferred by the teachers. They actually had told me they liked the simplicity of the system. I showed it to her, and she liked it and went to Leia to change her mind. Of course, she didn’t change her mind because, according to her, she’s not computer friendly (even though she surfs the web all day at the front desk).

    Then my good friend Injoo pulled the classic Injoo line while sitting in the teachers’ room and looking at the form for the first time.

    “Oh, I like this better than the computer. It’s in Korean.”

    “Injoo — shh!”

    I haven’t figured out Carol yet. I like her, and we can get along. She already is starting to do the thing where she excuses strange behavior and regulations as “being Korean,” even though Eun Jeong, Injoo, and other Koreans I know would disagree. She also shows up for work at noon and leaves as soon as her last class is over, around 4 or 5. That’s ironic since Leia was recently complaining that Injoo was showing up at 11:30 to teach afternoon classes.

    Friday evening, we made spaghetti. Well actually, Eun Jeong insisted on making it on her own this time. She did a great job. With the spaghetti was a green salad and another side dish that was a great example of the Korean cooking psyche. When I have leftover fried chicken, I usually let it sit because I’m trying to figure out a way to make it into a new main course since it’s meat. A Korean would just take the meat off the bones and make it a side dish. That’s what Eun Jeong did.

    Later that night, Seoul Cough slammed me with a head cold. I had a headache, and my eyes were burning like crazy. It was still bad Saturday morning. Eun Jeong took me to a clinic to get me checked out.

    Earlier that week, Lars and I had gone to Immigration to apply for our Alien Registration Cards. In order to process them, they take away our passports. We are completely without ID for ten days or so.

    This posed a problem at the clinic. They needed some ID for me. Somehow Eun Jeong talked them into taking me in.

    Even though the waiting room was packed, the wait wasn’t long. There was a great amount of efficiency and a virtually paperless environment. The doctor was pleasant, and he checked me out in a way I wasn’t used to back at home. At home the doctor would listen to me with a stethoscope and scratch his head, leave the room, come back twenty minutes later, do something else and then tell me what’s wrong while scribbling out a prescription on a notepad.

    The Korean doctor had me sit in what I thought was a dentist’s chair. Eun Jeong even checked the rooms closely before we entered to make sure we hadn’t walked into a dentist’s office. As soon as I sat down, a nurse took my temperature in a flash with an ear thermometer. The doctor asked me to open my mouth as he procured what looked like a dentist’s water pick. He sprayed something in the back of my mouth and checked it. He then used a device to look up my nose and stuck another metal device in there to suck out the mucus. (I wish I had one of those things at home.)

    He then typed my prescription in the computer, which the front desk printed out. Before leaving, he had me sit in front of a hot steaming machine and breath with my mouth next to a tube for three minutes.

    The pharmacy next door instantly filled my prescription in to tiny little dosage packets. I had no insurance yet, and the entire visit and prescription cost a total of 21,000 won. I’m pretty sure that’s cheaper than what I can get in the U.S. WITH insurance.

    So, I’m feeling better now. The weather is getting cool quickly.

    I saw Eun Jeong drooling over some kimchi jjim on TV on Sunday. That evening, we were trying to figure out what to have for dinner. I told her to just stay there, and I’d take care of it. I had never made kimchi jjim before, and there were no English recipes on the internet. Yet I had eaten it a few times before. It’s a good drinking food. It’s basically sweet and sour smothered kimchi served with slices of tofu to balance the sting. And it’s one of the best things to eat with tofu.

    So I improvised a kimchi jjim in the kitchen, guessing the ingredients by my memory of its taste. I also made cheese deokbokki, or rice cakes stuffed with cheese simmered in a hot sauce.

    Eun Jeong was greatly impressed with both dishes, and I’ll post the kimchi jjim recipe on here when I get a chance. It did turn out better than I thought it would. It tasted better than what I had in the restaurant. And it’s easy to make and, again, it’s a great drinking food.

  • Hockey and Red Beans and Rice

    Seoul Cough still present, if anyone’s taking score.

    Last Sunday, a whole gang of people including Derek and Brant came down to my area for a hockey game at the stadium next to my place. I still can’t believe the luck I have of living not only next to a beautiful mountain but being conveniently next to professional sporting events, even though I’m not a big sports fanatic.

    The game was a home game for the Anyang Halla (I think it’s Korean for ‘polar bear’) and a team from near Seoraksan. They have cool uniforms, and a few Americans and Canadians are on the team.

    I’m no expert on hockey. When I was growing up in Alabama, my dad would take me to college hockey games for the University of Alabama in Huntsville Chargers. When I saw a puck fly out of the ring and hit this poor old lady in the face, I knew right away that it was my favorite sport. It’s not because I got any pleasure out of watching an elderly person getting hurt. It was that this was a spectator sport with an added element of danger.

    To me, it seemed that the Halla weren’t so good at controlling the puck, but they were an aggressive team. We saw a good share of fights. We had seats above one of the goals, and many of them happened right underneath us. The puck flew in our direction a few times too. Even though we’re protected by a net, there’s enough slack in it so that the puck will knock you in the face pretty hard before landing back in the rink if you’re in the front row.

    This was great entertainment for $6. Even though they scored the first goal, the Halla lost. There were Canadians sitting behind us making fun of the American on the other team. I don’t know how it happens, but I always end up sitting in front of the most obnoxious hecklers at sporting events.

    After the game, Jeremy and Liz met us. We all walked down to the Dong Dong Ju Place for another round of boribap, beautifully smoked chicken, and that sweet alcoholic nectar of the yangban, dong dong ju. We all had a good time, and I always feel good after eating there. Again, it’s a rare thing to go drinking and the drinking food is actually healthy for you.

    We then headed to the Beomgye Station area, which was a long walk for many in the group, where we saddled at the Atlanta bar. I’m not sure if I mentioned much about this before, but it’s Lars’ new favorite bar in Anyang. It serves popcorn from a classic movie popcorn machine. It plays music video DVDs on a large screen. And it has a large and fairly reasonably priced international beer selection. We also noticed that it’s a favorite hangout for Anyang foreigners, and they seemed a lot more sophisticated than the losers I remember from Habana in Ansan. (Oh, dem’s fightin’ words!)

    The week at work seemed slow. No major events happened. I just was fighting the Seoul Cough throughout the week.

    Thursday was our monthly field trip, and we went to some botanical park at the foot of the mountain in Anyang. It was great because we were the only group in the park. At one point, we had to cross a stream that was flowing over the path. I jumped in the stream like a child jumping in a puddle.

    This idea had consequences.

    The children all rushed towards the stream and jumped in it, splashing and having a great time. They went further and further out into the stream and started playing King of the Hill on a rock. It was then that I decided that we should call off the fun before someone got majorly hurt. So we spent a good thirty minutes or so wringing out clothes and trying to dress each child. We then carried each one over the stream on the path back so as not to tempt them to go back in.

    We had a picnic outside the park, and it was nice. The parents supply the teachers with food on field trips at this school, and it’s fascinating to see what home cooking they come up with. It’s usually different kinds of kimbap and fruit. I was happy to have some fresh peach slices in the mix and a half-frozen ice coffee. Unfortunately, one of my favorite students got stung by a bee, and I held her close and put a bottle full of frozen pear juice to her head to stop the swelling.

    The major event for the week, I guess I can talk about here because it’s now very public knowledge.

    I got a call from SJ Tuesday night saying that Brighton was begging her to substitute for a few classes.

    Why?

    Jeremy, Liz, and the two Newfies left the school all of a sudden. They pulled a midnight run.

    It was a great shock, and I called around to get more information. I was very worried that something had happened to them. I now know that they had to leave for a major personal emergency. I’m glad they’re okay, but I’m very sad to have them leave. I was surprised at how sad I was. They were really close friends, some of the closest I’ve had in years. And it kills me that they are no longer in Ansan. We can no longer hang out together. I have officially lost my last connection to Brighton and my old life in Ansan.

    I have been trying to take good care of myself culinarily this week. I’ve been making and eating a lot of Ssam bap — rice with vegetables wrapped in lettuce. The main reason for this is that I have found this really good soybean/pepper paste at the grocery store that is rice, chunky and stinky like a rich sinful cheese. It’s called Samgyeopsal Ssam-Jang, which means that it’s to be used with samgyeopsal. It is so good that I have been just sticking my finger in it and licking it off. It’s so nasty it’s good.

    This has been an important weekend in Seoul. An ancient canal has been in the rebuilding stages through the middle of downtown. This weekend, they released the waters. This is significant because not only had that canal been there a long time, it was filled in by the Japanese during the occupation. So it was another day affirming Korean independence and healing a scar that many of us have a hard time understanding.

    We’re having another three-day weekend this weekend. But this is our last holiday until Christmas. Eun Jeong has stayed over this weekend, and it has been nice with a steady rain from Friday to Saturday. We are getting along so much better all the time. I’m scared to type that because I know it’ll jinx us.

    We have been cooking together a lot more, and our meals turn out to be true fusion cuisine. Friday night, she was badly craving my spaghetti. I taught her how I make the sauce, and she added her own mixture of green peppers, onions, and mushrooms. I also successfully improvised a minestrone using Korean neangmyeon stock as my base and a rare can of stewed tomatoes I found at a grocery store.

    Saturday night, Eun Jeong made her first recipe from the first cookbooks she bought, which was seasoned rice wrapped in bacon.

    Today we ventured out to other parts of my neighborhood to explore the shops. I found something for my mother at a cool little clothing shop. We also came across a guy selling wares from a truck that we in traditional English would call a “tinker.” He sold these wonderful antique chests of drawers and vases, but his specialty was selling and sharpening knives. If I had more money, I would buy a crapload of knives from him. They were gorgeous. Instead, we got a deal on a marble mortar and pestle for 10,000 won.

    After we bought it, Eun Jeong again experienced the annoyance we foreigners have with children following us and talking about us like we’re zoo animals. These young kids were following us, and every now and then this slightly older girl on rollerblades would come next to us and say, “Miguk saram (American person).”

    I said, “Yeah, yeah, Miguk saram.”

    We stopped, and the children got brave enough to approach us personally. One of the children showed me a clear plastic egg container he had with a freaky yellow mottled spider inside. I asked him about it in Korean and then told him it was a “spider” in English.

    “Oh, spider! Spiderman!”

    They were overjoyed. The girl on rollerblades asked Eun Jeong if I was American or Korean because my Korean was so good.

    My Korean really isn’t that good, but Koreans seem so surprised to see that foreigners can adapt to their language and culture. That’s my impression.

    We ventured so far out, that I think we were near Christina’s place, around two subway stops away. We found a place that sold whole ducks for 8,000 won each. Instead of the duck, we picked up some shrimp. I was in the mood to do a Cajun dinner for the evening.

    Eun Jeong loves my shrimp boil. She’s loves my cocktail sauce even better. So she suggested a different way of cooking the shrimp — Se-u Sogum Kui — Salt-grilled shrimp.

    When we got home, she lined a pan with aluminum foil and covered it with a thick layer of salt. She then turned the gas on high and lay the shrimp down on the salt and covered it. This really was something we should have done outside. The smell was intense, but it reminded me of the ocean. With later batches, we experimented with putting Old Bay seasoning on top of the shrimp.

    While Eun Jeong took care of the shrimp, I made red beans and rice. I was happy to find a store that sold canned kidney beans. I had to introduce Eun Jeong to this Cajun classic. I also wanted to see if I could mimic the dish in Korea. I grew up on Popeye’s fried chicken with red beans and rice and was disappointed to not see them on the menu at Popeye’s in Korea. The thing with beans in Korea is that they are mostly used as an additive to rice, a holdover from the rice scarcity during the Japanese occupation.

    I added some of the German bratwurst to the red beans for extra protein and to entice Eun Jeong some more because she is addicted to the Costco bratwurst.

    Like the Coq au Vin, she felt the dish was very exotic for her taste. Nonetheless, she ate a lot of it. The shrimp turned out great, and the cocktail sauce was very hot with wasabi. Eun Jeong has gotten me used to the idea of eating shrimp with the shells on. If cooked correctly, shrimp shells are perfectly edible.

    We ate and watched “Iron Chef America” while Iron Chef Bobby Flay again screwed up another match as he burned stuff and dropped stuff all over the place.

  • Rocky Top Anyang-shee

    I am in the third week of my semi-annual Seoul Cough. Any time it switches from winter to spring or summer to fall, I get this acute bronchitis. Many foreigners and Koreans get this. So far, it hasn’t developed into anything more serious. It’s just lingering, lingering, lingering.

    Despite the Seoul Cough taking form, I joined Lars, Injoo, Brant, and friends on a hike up the mountain behind my place. Ironically, if you can make it completely to the other side of the mountain, you end up in Sillim, my old neighborhood in Seoul.

    We all met at Beomgye Station and took two taxis to a place at the foot of the mountain. We learned that there’s a rule about only getting in on the right side of taxis because one of them started driving off as Brant was getting inside. You would think that if you’re not supposed to use one side of the taxi they’d lock the door. But again, that would make sense.

    We were unloaded at the front of a high school that was just letting out. I thought to myself, “Oh, great place for a group of foreigners.”

    As I dreaded, we were barraged by a sea of “Hellos.”

    We weren’t sure exactly how to get up the mountain, so we took a path that led through lush gardens. We figured we were on the right path when we passed a tent selling hiking gear.

    The mountain behind my place is beautiful. I love looking at it every day when I go outside. It was also the largest thing I’ve ever attempted to climb. And the group tolerated my complaining and sarcastic self-affirmations of “This is fun. This is fun. I’m having a good time.”

    We made it to one of the peaks. There was only a kilometer or so to go, but I had seen and gone enough. I figured that the difference in the view from here and the real top of the mountain couldn’t be big enough to be worth it. Brant stayed with me as the rest of the group went to the top.

    Brant and I sat on a large rock and caught up with what’s going on in our lives. He and his girlfriend are starting to get serious, and he seems happier than I’ve ever known him.

    We had a great view from the rock. The usual complaint about modern Korean architecture is that each apartment building looks as if it was stamped out of a factory. But looking at them from a high vantage point, they create this sort of Warhol-ian splendor on the landscape.

    The sun started getting hot, so we walked back down to a grove of trees for shade. The others met us soon after.

    We walked down the mountain taking another trail and stopped at a stream. After the stream, we found a picnic table and unloaded our goodies, two baguettes, three wheels of brie and camembert and three bottles of wine. It was all gone in no time. And we were still hungry.

    Fortunately, part of our plan was to take this mountain trail to the Dong Dong Ju place that I love so much. Brant was okay that we had changed the plans from eating dog meat since no one in our group knew where any of the good restaurants were located. And we went through a surreal lush green landscape and small lake before reaching the old farmhouse restaurant.

    The rest of the group was greatly impressed by the place. In fact, they didn’t show up at the table for a while because they were busy taking pictures. We had a feast of smoked chicken and boribap, rice and barley mixed with vegetables and soybean paste (it sounds weird, but it is damn good and healthy at the same time), and bowls and bowls of smooth sweet dong dong ju, that wonderful rice liquor.

    Everyone walked back to Beomgye Station. I left the group at the turn to my apartment, where Eun Jeong was waiting.

    Eun Jeong and I had a nice quiet weekend. I was getting sicker, and she treated me out to VIPS Steakhouse for their buffet. VIPS is a Korean franchise, but they do very well on their salad bar and buffet, and I can’t believe I actually miss steakhouse buffets. It had tacos, smoked salmon, pasta, and many exotic fruits and vegetables, including leechees which we shelled ourselves.

    That week, I experimented with making another western food using Korean ingredients — Coq au vin. It turned out surprisingly well. The taste was a little exotic for Eun Jeong.

    The content management system I’ve been developing for the school has been coming together and is basically ready for launch. I’m also redesigning the school’s web site to link it all together and make it look snazzier.

    Last weekend was Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving, the biggest Korean holiday of the year. By an unfortunate timing of the moon, it fell on a weekend, so we only got a three-day weekend out of it. I was planning on spending each day relaxing at home watching movies and catching up on TV shows before the new seasons start. But I was called away each day. I’m not regretting it, though.

    Saturday, Brant called me to meet him and Derek at Sh-wing. We were the only people available, it seems. It was drizzling outside, but we had a nice time. I was up late Friday night watching TV shows, and for some reason, I couldn’t sleep in on Saturday morning. So I was going on three or four hours of sleep. Combined with the beer and hot wings, my short-term memory flew out the window. I was telling Brant about the previous weekend mountain hiking, and he said, “Joe, remember– I was there.”

    After Sh-wing, I wanted to try the place next door because I heard good things about it on Dave’s ESL. But one look at the prices on the menu and we politely left. I still wanted the gelato I had last time. This gelato place in Apgujeong, Gusttimo, is challenging to order. They only have two languages for the flavors, Korean and Italian. And they serve it to you in triple scoops. I got banana, tiramisu, and their new spicy flavor, Diablo. The cashier asked if I had a club card, and I did. I looked in my wallet for it and couldn’t find it. I put down the wallet and checked my pockets and realized the card was at home. The ice cream was melting in the cashier’s hands, so I had to pay quickly. I felt my pockets for my wallet, turned to Brant and Derek and said, “Uh, guys, I left my wallet.”

    But it was right in front of me. We left the gelato place, and I was having fun like a kid slurping my melting ice cream in the rain while Brant and Derek made fun of my slippery memory.

    Sunday, Injoo’s mother invited me over for dinner like she did last year. It was a great dinner, with steamed pork, Chinese seafood soup, and many fresh and fermented vegetables from their garden. They had me try what they called “really old kimchi.” It was potent stuff. Tasted like alcohol.

    Despite the ventures outside, I still was able to catch up on a lot of TV. It sounds sad, but I think a lot of quality shows have come out recently. Too bad their ratings aren’t great. You know, Americans are always complaining about the poor quality of TV. Yet when something of quality comes on, they’re too stupid to watch it and instead catch the latest episode of some trashy shallow reality show.

    Oh well…

    Korean TV isn’t much different, but at least it’s amusing in its surrealness. Eun Jeong and I were watching a Korean drama. During the commercials, she broke out laughing.

    “What is it?”

    “They said, “Because Koreans have slanted eyes, they are good at I.T.”

    “What does that mean?”

    “I don’t know.”