SOUTH KOREA: THE FOOD

This is the last country of 2018. I can’t believe there’s only about a year and a half left of this blog project. Clearly, I’ve run this blog longer than I’ve ever held a job (which is probably sad to say, but I really like my job now). I’ve learned a lot and ate a lot, which is truly my only goal in life. And probably make some money along the way because I’ve kind of gotten used to electricity, running water, and WiFi.

Amaaaazing! This was just the best.

And I’m ending my 2018 on this Christmas Eve-Eve with some South Korean food. The first thing I made was Gyeran-Bbang, or Korean Egg Bread. I started by mixing together ¾ c of whole milk with 2 Tbsp of white vinegar and set it off to the side (this is actually making a quick version of buttermilk, which I had no idea this was generally how it’s done). In a different bowl, I added in 1 c flour, ½ tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 3 Tbsp sugar, and ½ tsp salt and mixed it a bit. Then I added in 2 Tbsp of melted butter, 1 egg, and the milk mixture, stirring until the batter was smooth, and there were no lumps. In a muffin pan that I sprayed down with cooking spray, I spooned a little batter in the bottom of the muffin pan and then cracked an egg on top of it before spooning more batter on top of the egg. This was the point where I realized I was not using jumbo muffin pans, but the regular ones. I actually had to use mostly the yolks and less egg whites in order to have enough room to pour the second layer of batter. It worked though. I forgot to sprinkle a little salt on top of each on, but I did top it with a bit of grated cheddar cheese and some chopped chives. I baked these at 400ºF for about 18 minutes, and it was pretty much perfect. I really liked these, but the kids were leery about the egg yolk in the middle. I think these would make great breakfast muffins.

I thought this was amazing. I'd like to try it for real to see how it's meant to be made.

The main dish I made today was Bibimbap. I started this by thinly slicing a seedless cucumber and mixing it with some gochujang sauce and setting it off to the side. Then I brought about 2 c of water to a boil and blanched some spinach for a couple of minutes until it was a bright green color. I drained off all the water and tried to squeeze out as much excess water as I could; I put this in a bowl and stirred in some soy sauce, setting it off to the side as well. In a skillet, I heated a little oil up and sautéed my shredded carrots until they were soft before adding in some minced garlic and added in the cucumbers (I intentionally left out the additional red pepper flakes because my family is sadly full of wimps). I put all of this in a bowl and set everything off to the side. (Are you seeing a pattern?) I started steaming my rice at this point. Now, I thinly sliced my beef top round steak and sautéed it until it was well done and removed it to a separate bowl. And now it was time to fry the eggs. The actual recipe calls to fry the eggs on one side only so that the yolk is still runny (over easy), but no one in my family likes eggs like that, so I fried them hard. Finally to put this all together, I put some of the cooked rice in a bowl, then topped it with the spinach mixture, added in a few pieces of the beef, and then topped with the cucumber-carrot mixture before topping with a fried egg. Then I drizzled a little sesame oil on top of it and sprinkled it with some sesame seeds (all I had was the black sesame seed, which always look like fleas). My beef tasted good but got tough for some reason. And I had to reheat everything once I was ready to dip up. Otherwise, it was really good. I think there were too many ingredients for my son to really like it. But my daughter and I ate it up. 

Not quite what I thought, maybe it just needs a little salt.

Finally, to go with this I made Sigeumchi-namul, or Korean spinach. Again, I blanched the spinach by adding it to some boiling water for a few minutes until it turned a bright green color and removing it. I tried to squeeze out as much water as I could and put it in a bowl. I mixed in some minced garlic, green onion, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. It almost seems like the spinach part of the bibimbap, but just by itself. I think it’ll make a good side dish recipe for those times when you’re in a hurry. [NOTE: I was also going to make a fried kimchi patty, but I had a hard time finding kimchi. And as I learned not all Asian stores are the same, and not all kimchi is the same. I stopped by what turned out to be a Burmese store, and Burmese kimchi is NOT the same as Korean kimchi. So, I passed on this dish for now.]

This was fantastic. I'll definitely order this again. I'm such a fan of noodles in general, and this met my expectations. Well done!

One of the big changes I made this year was leaving my corporate advertising sales job for a smaller software company that works with nonprofits. It was the best move I’ve ever made. I finally feel that I’m using my skills and strengths, and the people I work with are fantastic. One of the traditions they apparently have is going to eat Korean food on the work day before Christmas Eve, which was Friday. I realized I’ve had Korean friends make food for me (it was when I first learned that Korean chopsticks are flat and not round like Japanese ones), but I’ve never been to a Korean restaurant. I ordered Chop-chae, a dish similar to bibimbap but with what’s called glass noodles. It was absolutely wonderful. I’m not sure why I’ve never been there before. But I think it’s the best Christmas tradition I’ve ever heard of. I’m glad I’ve found my people.

Up next: South Sudan