melonpan

its no secret that kimchi making intimidates me. after one failure (and it was horrible) i gave up. i never really wanted to make it. i have mothers and other ajumas and ktown to supply me after all.... but i do feel inadequate.still, i dont know if it is legit or not. and frankly i dont care if its legit. i mean, i know some korean friends who swear that adding 7up to their bulgogi marinade is a wonderful secret. is that legit or not? i say its moot. the question REALLY is: how does it taste? looks mighty fine though... canicomeover?

we go out to eat korean once a week or once every two weeks. we don't go out to eat kalbi. we LOVES our kalbi, but we can't afford it. same with steak. we LOVES our steak, but we cant afford that either. we have kalbi and steak just about once a year. truly. okay. ill think back and list the places weve gone out to in ktown the last several months.<blockquote><ul><li><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=%22yu+chun%22+los+angeles&ie=UTF8&ll=34.075412,-118.250313&spn=0.12939,0.234146&om=1">Yu Chun Chic Naeng Myun</a> (cold buckwheat+"chilk/chic" noodles) <li><a href="http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&lr=&q=seoul+soondae&near=Los+Angeles,+CA&radius=0.0&cid=34052222,-118242778,9486343620786783618&li=lmd&ie=UTF8&om=1">Seoul Soondae House One</a> (blood sausage) <li><a href="http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&f=l&q=jinju+korean+restaurant&near=Los+Angeles&ie=UTF8&om=1">Jinju Korean Restaurant</a> (oxtail stew) <li><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=%22la+omogari%22+Los+Angeles,+ca&ie=UTF8&om=1">L.A. Omogari</a> (<a href="http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=70871&st=0&p=1177069entry1177069">kimchi jjigae - kimchi stew</a>) <li><a href="http://www.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=en&q=guimok&near=Los+Angeles,+CA&ie=UTF8&om=1">Guimok</a> (sam gyeopsal + kimchi gui = grilled pork belly) + kimchi <li><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=3551+Wilshire+Bl,+Los+Angeles,+CA&ie=UTF8&ll=34.063041,-118.302155&spn=0.016176,0.043259&om=1">Bonjuk Korean Traditional Porridge Restaurant</a> <li><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=3557+west+3rd+street+,+Los+Angeles,+CA&ie=UTF8&ll=34.070294,-118.293142&spn=0.016175,0.043259&om=1">Wah! Jokbal/Soondae</a> (<a href="http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=70871&st=0&p=1230385entry1230385">pigs foot</a> / blood sausage) <li><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=el+pollo+bailador+los+angeles,+ca&ie=UTF8&om=1">El Pollo Bailador Restaurant</a> (tongdak = roast chicken) <li>Keumsan Samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup -- i am disturbed that i could not find the link or the address. it is located on western, south of olympic on the east side of the street in a strip mall called "sejong plaza", right next to hans appliances)</ul></blockquote>at ALL of the above places we each get one dish that costs between 7-10 usd. so we usually spend $20 or less for the two of us. korean food is not "mind bogglingly expensive" for us. but it isnt something we can afford every day either. i have lived here in la for three years. i have yet to try some of the more "famous" korean places. i never really thought about it until this thread came along, but we dont go to general korean places. we only go to specialty houses. we are of the opinion that the general restaurants make everything mediocre. to get something worth a night out, you have to first choose exactly what you want to eat before going, and then pick your restaurants. for the list i gave above, i can think of at least one alternative specialty place (usually two) for all the dishes except for the porridge place but i would not be surprised if there is another place that also serves only korean porridge. maybe this is the insular attitude of which jason speaks, but i dont see a need for korean food to become mainstream. hawaiian chains are doing their part to spread the wisdom of overly salty/sweet kalbi plate lunches and kimchi. plate lunch has a place in my life, but i dont need to see korean restaurants turned into a commodity in the way low end sushi joints or the local chinese take out place are. ill have specialty places or nothing. * * * * * in los angeles, the one thing that i really crave for, but cannot get, is a cheap bulgogi burger.

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occasionally we make it a point to try random places and last night we found wah! jokbal * sundae wow! pigs feet * blood sausage 3557 west 3rd street (at new hampshire) los angeles, ca 90020 213 386-3231 wow! pigs feet might be hidden to most people, esp if they don't read korean. its a small place, set up just right for maybe 20 people to sit down, but i am sure they do their share of take out too. we saw two take out orders during out half hour stay... it has a run down yet homey feel, is clean and the two people working there were also friendly and efficient. the two of us were feeling greedy so we got the pigs feet sampler (modeum jokbal) for $20 which includes all five of their pigs feet offerings: * pigs feet (jokbal) - $10 * pigs feet terrine (jokbal pyeonyuk) - $10 * pigs toes (balgarak) - $10 * five spice pigs feet terrine (o hyang jokbal) - $13 * spicy grilled pigs feet (jokbal yang nyeom gui) - $13 their other specialty is blood sausage and they only sell them in two ways: plain blood sausage (sundae, small and large, $6 and $10) and blood sausage soup (sundae guk) - $6.50. we will have to return to try these. their other five dishes we probably wont try since its not their specialty (call us odd), but they do offer other comfort dishes like potato soup (gamja tang) and kimchi stew (kimchi jjigae) for those who have been dragged there reluctantly and cant seem to bring themselves to eat either pigs feet or blood sausage. the sampler came with a kettle of well chilled barley tea (boricha) and small sides of: soybean paste (duenjang), shrimp brine (sae-u jeot), sliced garlic and jalapenos, and pickled radishes and jalapenos. i went there mentally prepared for freezer burned pigs feet. i have gone to several dimsum establishments where the chicken feet have terrible freezer burn. i cannot abide kamaboko, eomuk, odeng, chikuwa and the like for the same reason. as much as i love the taste of all these dishes, (and i do!) its just gag-inducing awful for me when theres freezer burn, which there is 90% of the time. but it seems that theres no freezer burn taste to any of the dishes there. and if there was any in evidence, i couldnt taste it! yaay! and not only was there no freezer burn, but it was ALL delicious! my favourite was the spicy grilled pigs feet (not too spicy, but just right!), closely followed by the five spice pigs feet terrine. my husband thought the best was the plain pigs feet, with the pigs toes coming in second. there should be something for everyone's taste in the very generous sampler. half way through dinner, we felt that there should be some rice, which the host provided right away along with some kimchi. neither were very good, but they werent bad either. okay, the kimchi was actually kind of subpar, but we werent there for the kimchi (go to l.a. omogari for that!). we also found out at the end of the meal that the rice and "kimchi" came gratis so i really shouldnt gripe. we were very full after eating our way through half the sampler and there was still enough to go through for lunch today, with a tiny bit leftover still. not bad for $20! HIGHLY recommend. there are some cons: 1) it is hard to find, esp if you cant read korean. the place is small and in a tiny strip mall with difficult parking (friday night we had to drive around three times before we found anything nearby). it is also not listed clearly in english. the strip mall does have a sign for "el pollo bailador" -- which is also a good place to get, of all things, korean rotisserie chicken (el pollo bailador is aka dori dori tongdak). 2) i dont think anything in the restaurant is in english (which is why i translated most things and provided prices). and i dont know if the people who work there speak any english. but PLEASE, if you want a treat that cant be easily found outside l.a., dont let this stop you! 3) they dont serve soju or any other kind of drinks other than sodas and boricha. but you can take out and eat and drink at home! :-D

have more faith in your parents! sometimes they know what theyre talking about!!

thems gizzards

do not confuse malt powder with "misutgaru".two different things used for different purposes

i am tempted by the mukka, but i think i want a steel mokapot instead. however i am concerned bc i cant find info about replacement parts. i looked around on the bialetti site and didnt find anything. perhaps you don't need to replace parts for steel pots? or perhaps the aluminum parts fit the steel pots? ive also been interested in other makers (alessi and vespress) but can't seem to find info about replacement parts for those steel pots either. anybody have any experience, knowledge about this? thanks so much in advance

i also want to hear a review of a neighbors special blend!

http://www.onmyplate.org/images/saigon_coffee.jpg Any Vietnamese restaurant for ca phe sua da. ← agree. ca phe sua da at any vietnamese joint. but you must like it sweet and creamy to appreciate this. good luck finding some!

thank you for these tips. knew the trick about sugar and cold foods, but didnt about gelatin.we bought our fair share of jello pudding pops. i had NO idea that they came and went. <a href="http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:Axg1wvfMxuAJ:www.journaltimes.com/articles/2004/07/31/local/columns/iq_3018116.txt+why+pudding+pops+discontinued&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=10">apparently theyd been gone since 1993</a> but came back <a href="http://www.icecreamusa.com/products/ind_product.asp?upc=77567-02023&brand=Popsicle">2004 under a different company</a>. just had one. i think they seem a bit more soft, less rubbery. since they were gone for more than 10 years, a <a href="http://groups.google.com/groups/search?hl=en&q=pudding+pops+recipe&qt_s=Search">lot of people looked around for recipes</a>. i will have to try simply freeing some jelly pudding, which is what a lot of people seem to have done. maybe extra sugar and an extra packet of gelatin. course i dont have any molds. shall i go cheap and buy none? use paper cups or even plastic cups with some chopsticks and plastic wrap to hold them in place. yes, we did this with dixie cups growing up! but mom had a set of <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6268821886&category=82">plain jane cones</a> too that we used with plain orange juice. no extra sugar or gelatin but i do not hold that against mom. however, i must ask myself, why go cheap when you can have pops with some style like <a href="http://www.modernmotive.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=209&idcategory=5">the tovolo rocket molds</a>. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=nb_ss_k/002-2566470-6789636?url=search-alias%3Dhome-garden-aps&field-keywords=pop+molds&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Go">amazon</a> has them orgainsed rather nicely. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009V4CC/002-2566470-6789636?SubscriptionId=0GKY5T9AP29X0E3X4XG2&n=284507">cusipro</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000064842/ref=pd_sim_k_2/002-2566470-6789636?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=284507">donvier</a> both have pop molds on amazon but i cant really see the images too well for either product.... <a href="http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=popsicle+mold">ebay has a random assortment of course</a> there are <a href="http://www.bacheloretteparties.com/penshappopma.html">penis ones</a> for bachelorette parties. and while searching, i saw <a href="http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0809/">this idea to add gummis</a> to your popsicles. brilliant!

i always have to heat up milk in the microwave for the moka... i went to the site and watched the video. this sounds so nice; i hadnt heard of mukka express before. im tempted to get it now. as if i dont have enough equipment.but it wouldnt hurt to get this... its so small

i know that this q was posted ages ago, but id like to say that i dont pull the rubber gasket out. to rinse that is. i just leave it there. i figure the time i pull it out is the time i replace it.anyone pull it out regularly to clean?

seriously silly.i will do it over christmas with the family.

actually, no, not for brewing. i was thinking about making <a href="http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=51168&st=0&p=1198892&">a korean malted beverage</a> and just as a fun exercise i thought it might be fun to try to make the drink from scratch.the malt powder that i usually use from the store comes in two forms, one with the hulls and one without. now im wondering if i have confused chaff with hulls. they are different arent they. anyway, now ill know where to begin. with whole barley. i plan to use the method outlined here: <a href="http://byo.com/feature/284.html">http://byo.com/feature/284.html</a>. the article cautions that the amount of enzymes in home made malt is typically much lower (maybe only a third) than store bought malt. if i succeed in malting, ill have to keep that in mind. what are ways to increase the amount of enzymes produced? is this purely a function of the percentage of grains you are able to sprout? or does this have to do with the quality of sprouting? maybe home germinators arent able to provide as optimal an environment for sprouting as commercial malters? has anyone ever tried this at home? i plan to do just a small amount. maybe a kilo or half a kilogram. i suspect not a whole lot of people out there try this... in any case, i wanted to thank people here for their kind and very quick responses! thank you susan, cdh and mr tongo.

thank you. i thought that that might be the case.

yes! you can definitely eat it! it should be chewey. personally, i like the slightly chewey texture to the silver band. that being said though, you _don't_ have to actually eat it if you dont enjoy it. its optional. i dont know if braising it longer will make it more tender. maybe. maybe someone else here knows better.but ive never cooked them longer to find out. and i always serve them. at our house we leave nothing behind but white bone. and dont get me started with how clean the oxtail bones look after theyve been through us.

i am sorry that this is a bit off topic. i was also going to ask on <a href="http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=85326">another interesting thread</a>, but... but here i am. has anyone ever malted barley without the husks? i mean has anyone ever malted pearled barley? is it possible to germinate without the husk or is it vital? i am not sure anyone who can answer this will find this question in this thread, but ill put it out there anyways....

has anyone ever malted barley without the husks? i mean has anyone ever malted pearled barley? is it possible to germinate without the husk or is it vital? i am not sure anyone who can answer this will find this question in this thread, but ill put it out there anyways....

a good friend of mine has bought for herself a very good set of knives. but only uses the paring knife to slice/chop/whatever everything. it was awkward just watching her struggle. there wasnt enough room for the fingers when she chopped her onion with that paring knife. i ask her why not use the proper chef knife to do this or that and save the paring knife for *gasp* paring, she said that she was saving her larger knives for an occasion. i dont understand that kind of thinking. you have perfectly good equipment. just use it.

thank you. this is a proper post. the only problem i have is with the last three words. if youre going to go and tell it like it is, dont sissy it up like you did at the end.

good luck, hiroyuki, on your new endeavour.everyone has already said so, but imagine that you only ever ate ramen. and then one day you decided to learn to cook. you need a good knife, a good pan, a good pot, some spoons, a rice cooker... and these are just the non-specialised things... they add up. even if you buy used or buy very frugally. it all costs to begin.

i would like hayashi pleaseactually that sounds good. i will make some hi rice tomorrow (thats what we call it at our home)

i must be a cranky guy because i cant stand ice cream vans. i used to live in a neighborhood in where the trucks would visit every night after work. and on top of that of course they would come once or twice on saturdays and sundays. they are a noisy nuisance. if you want ice cream, ask your parents to take you to the grocery store where you will get more bang for your buck. banning them for any reason is good

i think ill try to carry around my own utensils for a while. i need my metal chopsticks and my spoon. a fork would be good too. ziplock baggie. i think the hard thing will be remembering to take them out of my purse. its a pain. i think disposables are here to stay unless theres a major cultural shift. 200 pairs of chopsticks a year huh?