Joon

I'll second you on this Soup - Korean food is probably the least sweet of all east Asian cuisine, at least in my experience. Yes, a few dishes, specifically the BBQ meats lean toward the sweet side, but for most other dishes there's usually very little sweetness. I too have noticed that some restaurants are switching to sweeter flavors these days.

When I was a wee lad growing up in Seoul, my mom used to take me to Lotteria after swim practice...I remember loving one of their burgers that had like a teriyaki/bulgogi sauce on it. Mmm. The last time I was there was 2000 and remember noticing how awful the air was as soon as I stepped outside the airport. I wonder if things have gotten better or worse since then?

Gam Ja Tang is not a Korean Potato Stew. This is a frequent mistake that many people make, as most establishments use some Potatoes in Gam Ja Tang. Gam Ja Tang is a "Gam Ja" bone stew - which refers to the spine segments of a pig that connect to the ribs (mid section of pig spine). 감자탕이라는 명칭이 붙은 것은 감자(채소)가 많이 들어가서가 아니라, 사용되는 돼지 뼈다귀 부위가 소위 '감자뼈'라고 불리우는 척추뼈의 한 부분이기 때문입니다. 뼈 속에 노랗게 붙어있는 힘줄을 '감자'라고 부른다는 것입니다. 감자탕은 돼지 사육으로 유명했던 삼국시대 지금의 전라도 지방에서 농사에 이용되는 귀한 '소' 대신 '돼지'를 잡아 그 뼈를 우려낸 국물로 음식을 만들어 뼈가 약한 노약자가 환자들에게 먹게 한 데서 유래된 음식입니다. This is (supposedly) true, but the stew nontheless contains potatoes. It would be most accurate to call it a spine and potato stew though I guess.

My mother says they used to make it on her farm all the time...and she used to make it for large parties even in the city. She says it's pretty easy and I'm pretty sure she hasn't killed anyone yet..

Makkoli is normally not carbonated, but I'm seeing more and more that are. I personally like it not-carbonated.

We shall eat no kimchi before its time.

That recipe does look excellent...but I would definitely substitute oyster for squid. IMO a little oyster is a must for amazing kimchi.

Another thing that might be worth trying - Occasionally I'll take the frozen tuna from costco and just eat it raw. It's not the best but it's actually really not bad. Or you can get the piece from WF and save what you don't need for something else. I mean at the prices WF charges, even a 30$ piece doesn't get you too far.

You're killing me...that looks SO GOOD!

Looks amazing powerplantop. Which meat did you prefer? I think some kind of round cut is actually traditional for yuk whe. I think something like a strip steak might work well too.

My mother grew up on a farm in Korea, and she was telling me their family used to make gigantic barrels of this stuff for all their workers. She says it's actually pretty easy to make, but I guess she already has the experience and know-how. I'm trying to convince her to start a makkoli brewery here (NJ).

There's an HMart that will be opening in the next few months in Edison, they should have decent sushi tuna. If there are higher-end supermarkets like Whole Foods or Wegmans near you, they should also have some sushi class tuna.

Woo Jung is too small for 20 people. So Moon Nan Jib might be able to do it, but I would probably go with Hanil Kwan for a party of 20.

I woulda figured SheenaGreena would be all over this. Found a couple recipes online: http://www.hannaone.com/Recipe/gaejang.html http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070412094822AAFhsAa I used to HATE soy gae-jang (LOVE the spicy version) but I finally started to like it! Love mixing the rice into the gunk in the crab back.

For me, Galbi is never the same without some scallion salad. (sliced scallions, vinegar, salt, red pepper, sesame oil) And I like minced garlic in my ssam jang