melonpan

at the panya, saw hijiki pan, kipira pan and okara pan... they all looked kind of delicious but i didnt buy any. instead i bought some melonpan and also: <center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/05/050629frankPan.jpg"></center> note the line of ketchup that was baked on. in case anyone was wondering, yes, it WAS delicious and i was sorry that i did not buy any more. if i knew how good it was going to be (the croissant part of the frankpan was VERY flakey and buttery), i probably would have bought one more in place of the melonpan.

i hope that i will eventually feel that others will accept an explanation or a mild correction from me about certain things. i just dont feel that now.

if you know this, you should try to be more understanding of the people who say these things.I respectfully disagree with that attitude. It's all nice to be civil when faced with insulting behaviour, but that way will NOT show the offender the error of his/her ways...that those kind of remarks are hurtful.you are right, we have a difference of opinion. i am cynical. i dont think that kind of attitude can be changed easily. and if it can be changed it wont be changed without a fight and i dont have the time or energy to fight it.deep down, i believe that very few people above a certain age can change that kind of attitude... i believe that it is EXTREMELY hard to point out to these kinds of people that they are in the wrong. no matter what you say, no matter how logical you are, these people will believe that they are right. when i politely asked my relatives not to make certain kinds of remarks, their behaviour did not change. maybe i did not ask bluntly enough or persuasively enough or maybe, quite frankly, i didnt have their respect. but their behaviour did not change.i just give up on these points and move on. it sounds like you deal with more rational sorts of people. i wish my experience was more like yours, ben... i will take the example of the kimbap. so i make some kimbap and it is devoured. then people find out that i made it. suddenly they say "i was wondering why it was a little different" ("역시 뭐가 쪼금달라도 달라...") and then i insist that i am korean, that i grew up in korea, that i KNOW korean food, etc. they just say "oh, no matter how well you make it, REAL korean people like me can tell the difference" ("아, 아무리 비슷하게 만들어도, 진짜한국사람은 알아.") and then if you insist that you know the difference and they will simply insist the same ("...딱 먹어보면 알아"), that you actually dont know ("넌 먹어봐도 다른거를 잘모를거야...") you could try to point out how rude they are being or whatever, but it wont work. its just impossible and if i was in the same position, i would not bother and be smug in the fact that all my kimbap was gone. i sound like a crusty old roll... i dont think im cynical. but i dont have the motivation to try make this place a better world. not in that way at least. i try hard in other ways. now if only i could get everyone to finish my platters in real life... (i suppose im not a very good cook. )

if you know this, you should try to be more understanding of the people who say these things.focus on feeling satisfaction with the fact that people always devour all your platters. authentic or not, at the end of the day, a finished platter is a finished platter. those unfinshed are what they are.

why does whipped cream hold up better in plastic? very interesting. i never would have thought about the container.

where i am in my life i am quite a number of years away from owning a home but it certainly doesnt stop me from dreaming. i thought about the kind of kitchen i wanted and i know that i wanted <a href="http://www.cleansweepsupply.com/pictures/standard/sdvw5100.jpg">black epoxy resin</a> benches for workbenches / countertops. the kind straight out of high school chem lab. virtually indestructable, right? but wow, this takara fine enamel is something else. and what colors! the mint green and fine blue are a wonderful change of pace from high school black... wonder if they can do a nice peachy colour...

you dont have to eat everything up. a lot of times those side dishes arent up to snuff. do what we do: taste a tiny bit of everything, even the stuff that looks nasty. then ignore the stuff that tastes yukky or boring or bland to you and scarf up the rest. you never know what you might be missing, so be sure to try a little of everything at the beginning.as for all that other spoon stuff, if youre going to eat korean in md/dc/va, dont sweat it. just eat the way that feels most comfortable for you. youre not in korea, and believe you me, i am sure those restaurant staff have seen just about everything. as long as youre making an effort, i am sure no one will even blink. and arent the staff too busy to notice anyway? you shouldnt take my advice so seriously though. i am of solid ssangnom stock.

black black. and i cant get enough of ume gum. never enough...

im sorry, i dont think i understand what you want hints about... do you mean how to read korean on IE?

that is so cute... they ARE like little bojagis.

no, i think i did a good job translating it the first time. "ssam yori" means "wrapped dishes". "ssam" means "wrapped". it is the noun version of the verb "ssa da" which means "to wrap". if you add an "m" to a lot of verbs, you make it into a noun."sangchi" or "sangchu" means "lettuce". and sangchi is often used in ssam yori, so you may associate sangchi very tightly with ssamyori. lettuce wraps in korean is called "sanchi ssam". perilla wraps are called "ggaenip ssam". squash leaf wraps are called "hobaknip ssam" and vietnamese rice paper wraps (a more recent trend) is called "bo ssam", although i dont know what "bo" means. in the episode, they featured some place that featured middle eastern cuisine. there are a number of muslim koreans who love meats etc wrapped in pita breads and that was included in the ssam yori countdown. made their own hummus. they showed how the restaurant baked their own pita breads. it all looked damn yummy.

again, to confirm, in the u.s. spiciness is created using sriracha sauce. often it is as simple as mixing sriracha to taste with some mayonaise. you can skip the mayo part though and use it straight.

the flagship segment of the show is called "mat seven" or literally "taste 7" and thats where they feature a countdown of restaurants. they also have several other kinds of segments including a newer one which really irritates me: "legends of the kitchen". the actual content is wonderful, features experts (chefs, etc) talking about a particular dish for that week (like kimchi jjigae). the annoying thing is the host who wears a red coat. i cant stand the guy and ive been watching less bc of him (they started his segment about two or three months ago. ugh).other segments without the guy are really nice... "celebrity eats" and "let eat! exploring side streets". there used to be two really cute dorks (one boy and one girl) who did a segment called the "map of eastern flavours" (daedong mat jido) but they got rid of them! a great loss! it was a fun segment where they traveled all over korea and explored the more rural areas, foods and peoples. i miss them sooo much. another irritating fact about the show is that they dont want to give advertising to the restaurants that they feature, so the restaurants are identifed as "g restuarant", "k place" or "m house" and they do that pixelating effect over anything identifying. luckily they do give some of the <a href="http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/ent/delicious/tv_info/index.html">the information</a> on the <a href="http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/ent/delicious/index.html">delicious tv web site</a>. it would have been nice to include all info on the show, but i am grateful for the effort. their celebrity guests (star-eh mat jib) are also usually pretty good. some folks are cool and dig in with a lot of gusto, but others are more concerned about keeping their lipstick unsmeared while digging into a bowl of yukgyejang. they are just as fun to watch as the pigs... the main hosts are chipper, chatty with the celebrities and fun to watch. they have a great job. the <a href="http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/ent/delicious/index.html">web site</a> is generous. they give you <a href="http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/ent/delicious/vod/index.html">a pretty good archive of back episodes</a> on video on demand for a fee. looked for the samgyeopsal episode on imbcs content link for each episode (click on the clipboard image) and found your episode. it is <a href="javascript:openVOD('http://touch.imbc.com/Touchplayer.asp?id=ATCNT530&file=mms://pvod.imbc.com/pvod/TV/ENTER/ATCNT530/tv_ent_delicioustv_050423_174_c.wmv&type=ENTER&speed=300&image=&caption=');">april 23, 2005s episode</a> (<a href="http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/ent/delicious/1449822_1536.html">episode info</a> reproduced below) where the mat 7 is "ssam yori" or "wrapped dishes".<blockquote><i>음식 대격돌 맛 7 (쌈요리 편) 푸짐하고, 영양이 듬뿍~ 한꺼번에 다양한 맛을 맛볼 수 있는 푸짐한 쌈요리~!! 현미 보리 쌈밥부터 정통 터키식 케밥까지~ 각양각색~ 화려한 쌈요리 열전!! 음식대격돌 맛7!!</i></blockquote>i am 99% certain that the episode you watched is april 23rds since i watched parts of that episode last week. sounds like va/md/dc is on a similar schedule to that of los angeles'. about two months behind the original korean broadcasts. i love the show. great ideas and a wonderfully dizzying pace. now if they could just get rid of the red coat guy id be pretty happy....

isnt everybody korean?

torakris has served it with the egg/miso sauce and i also eat it lots in soups/nabes. any kind of soup/nabe is usually a good fit with konnyaku. i almost always add it to kimchi jjigaes for example.

basically, you fry until the chunks are dry... what did you think of the side dish?

unlike others i really really REALLY like konnyaku. i love it in block form or as shirataki... i love the texture and the nonflavour and i am a little sad that i have not yet had it fresh, but i am sure that day will come. anyway, the easiest thing to do with the block stuff is to pinch off or chop with a knife bite sized chunks. then fry them in a non stick pan without anything. maybe a little bit of oil. you dry fry until a lot of water boils away and the konnyaku starts to stick a little. then season with soy sauce, sake and sugar (about two spoonfuls of soy sauce and a spoonful each of sake and sugar) and continue cooking until the sauce thickens a bit. thats it. konnyaku very plain, very delicious. konnyaku haters need not attempt this dish at home as theres nothing else to mask the texture and non-flavour of konnyaku here...

might try it with some hachimitsu... or plain honey... dou-hwa (aka dofufa 豆腐花/豆花) is a kind of tofu with gingered sugar syrup, no?

i had not ever eaten bunashimeji until i moved out to los angeles, but i really like them. i add them whenever i would add any other kind of mushroom these days. that shimeji texture is soooo addicting. i wonder what honshimeji taste like. i saw the photos from the thread earlier. i will look out for them. i do not know if it is something that i can find. some of the bunashimeji i buy is labeled 'hon shimeji' but they never look like <a href="http://www.cx.sakura.ne.jp/~kinoko/00jap/honsimeji01.htm">this</a> or <a href="http://www.cx.sakura.ne.jp/~kinoko/00jap/honsimeji02.htm">this</a>. they always look like <a href="http://www.theproducehunter.com/productdisplay.asp?ID=2093">this</a>. anyway, tonight i made baked penne with a package of regular brown mushrooms and a package of bunashimeji. yummmmms. i respect people who do not eat mushrooms for religious reasons, but i cant help but feel a little sorry for them.... it is my arrogant nature... i dont like to admit i feel sorry for them, but there ive said what i feel. <center>it is PITIFUL that some people do not eat mushrooms!</center> mushrooms...

our local store was out of morinaga brand choco flake for the longest time. our other local store seemed to be out too. i am sure they both use the same vendor for morinaga snacks. i needed a fix as i hadnt had any for a long time, so i reluctantly bought nissin brand choco flakes. (note, they are choco flakes, not choco flake.) wow! what a difference! the nissin brand stuff is waxy and the chocolate taste is horrible... a pale comparison and unfortunately not a good substitute. i am always a big fan of redundancy, but this is just not such a case... is it really that difficult to mass produce these things? noticed that jacques torres has a recipe for chocolate covered corn flakes in his book dessert circus... maybe homemade is the way to go when theres no choco flake to be had. it might even be better!

theres one there and then there is the marukai 98 cent store in gardena. a bit larger than the one in little tokyo. from irvine, hrm... it may be _just_ about the same distance to get to gardena. lots a nice cheap household/kitchen plastics and ceramics. plus excellent selections of pens, some odd grocery items (although large portions are like $1.25 or $1.50), small cookbooks and okashi.wish it was closer. i really prefer shopping at the japanese 99 cent stores over the american ones.

have you tried them yet? im curious how the apricot one tastes. i dont know that ive tried anything apricot flavoured. ever. some melon soda sounds like it would hit the spot just about now.... its been just a bit humid lately...

torakris do you have a recipe for this?

i just noticed this question was originally asked back in november! wow! also, i looked back and realised i never posted a follow up on what i found out about those towers. i went (over the months) to two different places that did the plastic food towers rental. and at each place, the guys running the register said that they didnt know of any <i>name</i> of these towers of food. isnt that the weirdest thing? i guess ill have to file that away along with ochazuke packets which also dont have a name except for ochazuke. but really, there has to be a proper name for these things! dont you think? how can it be that no one knows?

its in a gated strip mall called rodeo plaza (or something rodeo. im pretty sure its rodeo plaza)anyway, it is across the street from ktown plaza and it is on western. bookchangdong tofu (aka bcd sundubu) 북창동순두부 869 S. Western Ave. #2 Los Angeles CA, 90005 213-380-5604 nice chain. the lady who owns the chain seems to be something fierce. they also give you a grilled jogi (corvina fish) for each dubu order, a very nice touch! other places dont do that... good luck finding it! <a href="http://www.bcdtofu.com/location.asp">bcd web site locations page</a> <a href="http://www.bcdtofu.com/menu.asp">bcd menu</a> (english)