SheenaGreena

I have a similar problem as the OP of the thread. I go to class during the day (usually from 9-5) and I don't feel like paying extra for lunch when I can just take something from home. As nakji suggested, onigiri are a great idea for lunch. I make mine the day before (sans nori) and eat them at school the next day. I pack the rice and the nori separately. Also if you don't have an ice pack, may I suggest freezing a bottle of water, juice box, or some other form of liquid and packing it with your perishables during the day? By the time it's lunch your food will be safe and your liquids will be ice cold. One of my favorite sandwiches (from a local place) has goatcheese, arugula, shredded carrots, sliced red bell peppers, avocados, vinagarette, all on whole grain bread. That would be a great and nourishing idea for you

I will join in, although my digi cam isn't hooked up and uncompatible with this particular computer. I don't know what I will make, but I'm sure I'll try my hand at some sort of japanese or korean pickle. I won't be able to start till this weekend though. Yesterday I did something incredibly lazy. I had leftover brine from bread & butter pickles so I tossed in some baby carrots...yes I know that I'm lazy and awful

wow that pictorial looks fascinating and reminds me of the method my grandmother uses to make dwaengjang paste (korean version of miso). I don't know or remember if she ever made homemade soy sauce though. My mother drives an hour and pays about $50 for a gallon (possibly $50 for 2...can't remember) of homemade korean soy sauce. I wonder if I told her about your method that maybe she could make her own and sell it to other korean women? Then again maybe I'll do that and sell it to every asian person within the area. There's a lot of chinese people in the area...........

Some things I noticed: the family from n. carolina and great britain scared me - whats with all of the processed foods? They also eat a lot of meat!!! They egyptian family had a lot of delicious looking vegetables and fruits (and a HUGE family). I want the polish family to invite me over for their family recipe. The family from germany is very neat and orderly. I wonder if their pantry is as organized as their photo is and what is up with spending $500.00/week to feed 4 people? Anyone else spend that much per week?

are shirataki same as konnyaku products? if so than I don't think shirataki is made from tofu (unless it says so on the packaging). oh and they are mainly eaten in japan in oden.

what a good tip, military bases always seem to have good ethnic restaurants located nearby. I grew up as an army brat (my father is retired now) and we always found really really good korean food near the military bases- yes even in korea. These restaurants were always frequented by the military men and women mostly during lunch. I think they liked these places, because they reminded them of their posts and stays overseas. mmmmm kopchang - I throw in extra intestines and stomach

fascinating thread. I'm almost half way done reading it, but I'd figured I would post anyway. I think its wonderful that in Korea they have restaurants specializing in only one or two dishes. This means that if I want korean bbq, bibimbap, or something else I have to go to separate restaurants. Since these restaurants specialize in only one dish it means that the quality is very high, food comes out quickly, and is always very very good. However here in the US, korean restaurants specialize in pretty much everything and it really affects the quality of the food. I have yet to find a korean restaurant in boston or maryland that does one dish really well, unless you count the chinese-korean place in college park, md. Also these korean places that specialize in one dish here in the us (very very rarely will you find one) are only frequented by korean people. If americans had the opportunity to try this type of eating, I think they would quickly move past bibimbop and korean bbq

I noticed that I didn't give any good recipes or suggestions to you. Instead of making what you'd usually make with dwanejang paste, I suggest making bossam. Bossam is one of my favorite winter dishes and is basically a steamed pork belly dish wrapped in lettuce (my family wraps ours in salted chinese cabbage) and eaten with raw oysters and kimchi. I think the oysters are used in the kimchi and one oyster is placed in each bossam package - at least that is how my family and I eat it. I found a really good recipe for it on this webpage http://mykoreankitchen.com/2006/12/11/stea...ssam-in-korean/ however there are a few things I would change like what to wrap the pork in and the type of kimchi used. I would either use a really really sour (very old) cabbage kimchi, or oyster kimchi. I can find the oyster kimchi at my local korean grocer in the panchan section so hopefully you can find that too

ohhhhhh what are you making?

yep rice vinegar and I believe the garlic is raw

This show started showing on Monday of this week (sometime in the afternoon) and it's about this chef going around Britain in search of good local food. I really like the idea of the show and the recipes look absolutely delicious - especially the crispy pork belly from yesterday. Anyone else enjoy this show?

i've seen jellyfish used in korean cooking, but I have only had it sashimi style dipped in chojang. Actually come to think of it, it was probably parboiled as opposed to raw.

I was thinking the same thing last night. Where was the marbeling? It looked like a regular steak you can get at your local grocery store.

bumping this post because its almost summertime and I'm still looking for that schwelmer pislner equivalent. I noticed after drinking quite a few pilsners that I'm looking for the ultimate eastern european pilsner. I tried zyweic and a handful of other easther european ones...any other suggestions?

I just wanted to say that even though I said earlier that you can use korean "mother sauces" in chinese and japanese cusine...now that I come to think about it I can't think of a way to incorporate them into japanese cusine. even though dwanejang and miso paste have been compared to each other, I find that it's almost impossible to substitute one for the other. However I can substitute chonggukjang for natto in dishes like stews. I also can't find an equivalent for gochujang in japanese cuisine. Despite the similarity between korean and japanese food... both are very different.

Cool! I've been using gochujang and toban jian interchangeably for years now, so it's nice to know I'm not the only one. ← what's toban jian? I can't remember if its dwanejang of jajang? I use gochujang and dwaenjang in my own rendition of mapo tofu, so that is a good example of using korean ingredients in chinese cooking.

really? I still like marcel better than stephen....marcel is clueless but lovable. Stephen on the other hand is just an all around asshole

very well said. I also said this somewhere in another post...but growing up chojang (gochujang + vinegar + some other ingredients) was way too spicy for me to dip my boiled squid tentacles in so my mom gave my sister and I some ketchup instead of chojang. The colors were the same and worked really well. basically dwanejang can be used dwanejang chigaes and also as a flavouring agent in water to boil some bork belly in (good for making bossam). Gochujang is used in pretty much everything and jajang is only used in jajangmyun or used as a dipping sauce for thickly sliced onions (plus vinegar) and takuan eta: this is not traditional at all, but I substitute dwanejang, and gochujang for ingredients used in japanese and chinese cooking

someone should cancel season 3. I want to see season 1 compete against season 2...much better television

Im watching the "top chef all star" right now (I have dvr, so I can press pause) and as soon as I saw marcel say "blah blah blah egg blah blah foam" I busted out laughing. I guess it doesn't help that I am watching and drinking champagne at the same time. also what is up with ilan looking like arsenio hall?

hooray for cute kids with great parents that expose them to different cultures (and good food)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! when I have kids, I'm going to make them eat everything

I think I'm going to buy a package of gizzards, fry them up, and eat them with some white rice. Hearts are good too, but not as chewy as the gizzards

maybe they were coated in corn starch or rice flour? that always makes a really crispy coating when deep frying

what all did you pack into one?

Im originally from maryland (baltimore area) and to tell you the truth I don't really care for crab cakes. I would much rather have some crabs to crack open with an ice cold beer. However the crab cakes I do like are the ones that fall apart as soon as you dig in with a fork and they must be made with an ice cream scooper