milgwimper

Peter, Waffles! Oh how I much love waffles, and the waffles here in germany are so good, but so far I have only found them in the festivals, and no street vendors or shops so far that sell my waffles. But your waffles from korea look so tasty! It made me crave them so very badly. I had to laugh about the impaled soap. I saw that the first time about 8 years ago, and it threw me for a loop. Hmmm now you have done it either I have to find me some udon noodles or I need to get the ingredients for Kare rice. Darn you! Congrats on you losing weight. I love going to korea for that reason alone, but you know it is all about the food. Well I am glad you made it safely back home! Edited to delete butterfingered smilies.

Yup I just moved here recently from California so everything is new, exciting, baffling, fustrating, and wonderful wrapped up into one ball. I love seafood! I guess I really shouldn't feel too bad eating sushi here although I just can't figure out what place has good sushi. So it will be trial and error for now. I can't wait for your next report! Thanks.

YAY! Can't wait to see more Peter!

I think this is why I have four cans of coconut milk... I can only find Mae Ploy at my asian market, so I buy more every time I go. And buy more, and more. To those who think this a "normal" stash, I'm in a one person household, and one curry dish lasts for ages! Guess you have to live here to find this amusing! ← We have a two person household and DH says I store and squirrel away things for a family of 15. But he never goes hungry. It is nice to know I am not alone!

This is funny because when I was getting ready to move I had the same thing. I had cans and cans of coconut milk and there is only 2 people in the house. Now though I have one Chaokoh left, and lamenting I can only find goya and some other brandI can't remember. No Chaokoh or mae ploy in sight.

Hiroyuki, I am so hungry now! Thanks for the report, now I wish I could teleport there. I am a little afraid to try sushi here in Southern Germany, but maybe sometime soon I will gather my courage and try. WOW your son does have a large appetite, but then again he is a growing boy. I might have to make some chawan mushi. Yum.

I always tell myself I am going to plan a menu and then shop, but that rarely happens. There are times when I want to make a certain recipe and will shop for those items, but usually I get seduced by the produce, and sometimes by the protein. Most of the items get used but then there are the items that just get bad. I usually look to see what I have and plan around those items but then either something comes up, or I forget we have something, and it rots. Like this lovely chicken we got from the farmers market last week. I had planned to roast it, but DH had so much studying to do we had been eating in the next town so DH could study at the library. I zoned out about the chicken and well by the time I realized it was languishing in the frigerator it had gone bad. My problem is overshopping. I still shop like there are four to five people in the house and there is only DH and I.

Domestic Goddess, Umm I will pass on the silk worm larvae. Funny enough I can get that here, but I outgrew the taste of them a long time ago. Even my mother can't seem to choke them down anymore. But a stone ware bowl would be really nice! Don't be a rush to send it out though your box will take me a while to get it out to you. It takes me while to get anyones carepackage together, but it will get to you! We are so on for a date for Yookhwe and whomever wants to come and enjoy the festivities! Yum! Don't know when but I can't wait! Peter, I had to laugh at the boxing thing. I bet he was surprised he couldn't even touch her score! I never liked beer until I came to germany. Now the only beers so far I like are the hefeweizen, krystall, dunkle, and there is a dark beer here called kings something or other that is pretty tasty but I had it only once and can't remember the name. The beers here in germany tend to be much higher in alcohol than the states. I had forgotten is the alcohol content of the beer at the microbrewery in Korea high as 12.5 percent? The crab looks good, but then all crab looks good when you can't get them here, or of you can it is mighty expensive. Puldak so yummy looking. I wonder do people ask if you can handle the heat? The problem I had in Korea, once in awhile people would try to water down the spiciness of my food. They didn't think I could handle the heat and then I would have to ask them for more gochujang or gochugaru to make it spicier in Korean. It didn't happen most of the time but when it did... Usually they say that foreigners can't eat spicy. They should come and eat at my house I would incinerate their lips But luckily it hasn't happened in a long time.

Doddie, I am willing to send you some sausages. The smoke variety shouldn't be a problem, and they do have some canned stuff here too. I will have to do some looking around. Is there any type of sausage you prefer? It will take me a while to get a box together, but when it is ready I will let you know. I don't think I want any more cans of the perilla mom sent 25 cans and I have only cracked two so far. I Think I am good for that. Give me some time to think about it and let me know. Thanks! Oh yeah DH doesn't like the fact I LOVE yookHwe! LOL It is another dish Mom and I eat only together. If I ever come back to Korea we will have to go for yookhwe together Dodddie! Yum! Peter: I am blown away by the food pics from the chefs. They are beautiful. I love foood festivals! Gopchang! YAY! The gopchang looks pretty good. Was the gopchang marinated or just placed on the grill with the other vegetables? Well it wasn't or was marinated the gopchang looked good. Yeah DH doesn't like gopchang either, but I get a hankering for them sometimes!

Hey, don't fret. This is what threads are for! We just got back from Cookin' Nanta and then beers at Platinum. A great show. Yoonhi's now scared of what sort of mess I'm going to make in the kitchen when we get home. Here's the trick for booking! Get a Korean friend (or a concierge or whoever) to book the tickets for you online. That's the only way to prebook. Or, show up at the ticket office 1 hour before, and there's a very good chance that there'll be open seats. Tour operators are block booking seats (primarily for the Japanese), and these get released just before. If you want to be chosen to go up on stage, sit on the aisles. And be prepared to fend off flying things. Cheers, Peter ← I will have to remember your advice about prebooking. It was terrible trying to get tickets the last time we were there, so DH ended up taking me out for some hwe. DH didn't eat any and couldnt bear to see me eat it but I did. He as of last year or so started to eat raw fish. Still won't eat raw crabs. ut just leaves more for me!

Hey Porkfat? Hows the rest of that cookbook? ← Glorfied: I like this cookbook. Now I don't cook much out of it mainly because I was taught so by my mother, and use it for reference or inspiration. I have cooked a little bit from this book and enjoyed them a lot! This book has a lot of ingredients per recipe than a lot of korean cookbooks out there, because of this a lot of people dislike this book. I think this book is better off with people who don't mind using 12 ingredients and prepping them. There is very few photographs, and less so of the food, and they are not in color. Which turned off a lot of folks who were just beginning to explore korean cooking. So if you don't mind the extra work and no pics, the cookbook I think is pretty solid. I also like the book because it is fun to read. I think this comes close to a favourite korean cookbook, but I like them all for different reasons. Phage: I think you can keep the gochujang outside for awhile if it is commercially made. But how long I am not so sure. It might discolor on top but it is still good. We have in our family scraped away any mold that grew on our gochujang and ate it, but it was homemade, and well we haven't died yet. But now my parents have two frigerators one for everyday most used stuff, and the rest for gallons of kimchi, dwenjjang, gochujang etc. I may be in your boat in a couple of months as my mother sent me a gallon of gochujang and I have a small frigerator myself. How big is the jar of gochujang, and how much can you feasably place in your fridge in smaller containers? I have left out commercially prepared gochujang for month or so, but not so much after that. Sorry if I didn't quite answer your question.

Oh thank you Doddie I appreciate it, but I do have some seeds currently. Now if they are viable I will have to see. If they don't sprout could I ask you send me some seeds?I will know sometime by next week. I live in germany so if you want something please let me know! I am willing to make care packages with food! I told my husband that Peter's pictures of the perilla leaves were making my crazy, and I needed some, so this weekend I'm gardening. I have a whole bunch of the canned seasoned perilla from my Mom. She knew how crazy I would be without some in my life. I wonder if perilla have some kind of addictive quality to them? Will I need to sign up for a 12 step program? I never want to be cured! Dinner today will be jangjorim (beef in soy sauce), gaennip (season perilla) some chinese pickles (dont have any kimchi but the pickles are good. ) and kamja jorim or kamja dwenjanchiggae haven't decided yet. Dessert will be banana bread with chocolate chips. (p.s. I ate this for lunch too... ) Sorry Peter for hijacking your thread.

Thanks, Milgwimper! This one was a mystery. But, what would we do with poison ivy???? Cheers, Peter ← LOL yeah it would be a little bit crazy to use poison ivy. Well I looked it some more, and it is the lacquer tree. It is apparently used for medicine, and some other things Korean use it for but I cna't decifer. Sorry, that is about all I can tell you, other than that there is research on this plant for cancer research. The BBQ pork looks really good, and thanks for the beautiful picture of the Perilla leaf. It took me a while to find the scientific name of the plant so I could get seeds (this was 10 years ago). Then I realized most places only sold the japanese green kind which to my taste is milder, but now I have a lot of seeds and only a balcony now. I love the fact that Korea has all these streets with food, and side streets with food, and street stalls with food. Hmmm wonder if their facination with food is due to history of famine? Anyways I am happy. I love Korea tv because 1/2 of the shows have to do with food. Even the drama shows have food pics... Oh the Golbaengi Rocks my Socks! Yum, although I am used to a lot more veggies and no noodles, but was it good? Although I think the toughness has to do with how long they are cooked. But it is all good. Still wondering if you had a chance to try the rice paddy snails. No pressure!

I have always wanted to make one and taste one! *sigh* I havn't found a source for concord grapes here in germany.

Sorry I am still new to Egullet so I don't know how to speparate the posts or post between the quotes, so I will try to make it clear as possible. Anyways...On the unknown herbs : The one that says "clothes"Namool = I found it to be Rhus verniciflua Stokes, The lacquer tree. I looked it up on a korean website herbmart. Sorry I don't know what the policy is for linking here but I am sur eyou can find it fi you look. But one of my korean dictionaries says it is poison ivy, and the other has other words for poison ivy. ARGH The other listed keeps telling me I am misspelling it in korean, and I have no idea what is is in english or latin. I am thinking it is crysanthemum because of the sook. Anyways I hope it helped and not made the confusion worse. The food and Company! I have to agree that I don't like the dabang for coffee but I do love the teas! Thanks for reminding me that I need to get some bori, and oksusu for tea. I am running low myself. The marinated crabs! Yum in our family none of the males will touch it, but my mom and I chow down! I love this too, but my favourite has to be the raw crab mucchim with spicy paste... I loved the picture with Doddie, Billy, Serena and yourself, too bad Yoonhi wasn't in the pic. It looked like everyone had a great time. Doddie you look so pretty and I love you hair! The pics are awesome and I want to be there! Wow I haven't seen that many banchan on the table in a long while. Thanks for posdting the pics it almost made me feel as I was there! *sniff* The chokbbal looks so delicious! Yum Yum! I miss the seafood the most though. I do get some seafood but not the variety that your pics show...not even the variety I used to get in california. *sigh* The Korean pears! I love the korean pears nice an cold on a warm day. I love the chame (yellow melons) too. Talking about perilla I told my husband we had to start growing it indoors starting tomorrow. Nanta! I so wanted to see that the last time I was in Korea, but getting tickets was pretty impossible task. I don't know why they make it so hard for people. I just found there phone number for reservations if anyone is interested. I hope you enjoy the show!

I am so sorry Sheena about your chongak kimchi. HUGZ I really do feel your disspointment. Maybe the radishes were a little old? You did say they were the size of your thumb? Hmmm That is strange thati t came out chewy and not crisp... How did the gori (tail) of the chongak come out? Your ggakdugi came out good then maybe try it with the big radishes. Just split the big radishes into large pieces the size of the chongak pieces. Then add the radish leaves to the mix, and se how it goes. Don't give up!

you like perilla? me too. Every summer when I visit my parents, I like to go in the backyard and eat whole kkaenip leaves by the fistful. You have to be careful, cause bugs like to sneak underneath the leaves and hangout. the last time I was in korea I ate like a fat ass. I ate so much food, eating at least one meal a day out for a month and I ate my fair share of street food and korean snacks. I thought I was going to gain 50 pounds, but I lost almost 20 lbs. It was probably all of that walking around in the hot summer sun all day. peter, isn't it funny how everything korean is good for you? My mother always forces me to eat all of the pork fat on my pork. "Sheena, eat your pork fat, it's healthy kind and good for you" since when was pork fat healthy? ← I love Perilla! When living with the parents I had several plants growing every year in the back yard. I would go out there to see if the plants were big enough to start picking from. LOL well There has been a couple plants that didn't fare too well with me around, but man I love the stuff. My Emo Halmoni's family owns a farm, and one of the crops they grow is perilla. So, one of my favourite childhood memories is waking up very early in the morning and heading out to the field (well on a side of a hill) and smelling the scent of perilla in the air. Man it brings back memories. Sometimes when the plants are too small to pick from I will gently rub a leaf between my fingers to smell the lovely scent. I never grew enough of the plants to scent the air. I had to laugh about the pork fat! my mom used to say the same thing, but now I am trying to lose weight she tells me to eat it in moderation.

Oh you should try sour candies with salted popcorn... ← I can tell you from a semi-recent PMS experience that sour cherry hard candies and cheese popcorn taste better together than they sound. ← Oh my favourite is the strawberry sour tapes with salty buttery parmesan cheese popcorn ...But any sour candy and salted buttered popcorn will do in a pinch...I will have to try the sour cherry candy and cheesy popcorn. Any brand recommendations?

Your jams are beautiful! They have me licking my lips. the spice combination sounds lovely. I wish I could get muscadine and scuppernong here. Actually I would be happy with some concords too!

Peter: Thanks so very much! I am now cleaning off my keyboard...*sigh* What wonderful pictures. The duck reminds me of my Korean grandmother's cooking. Hmmm the bark like thing will most likely remain a mystery. Unfortunately I had the same experience too when asking about chinese herbs placed in food. YAY ddeokbokki! I love ddeokbokki! Your picture of the ddeobooki looks really good, and spicy. Was it sweet? The dak kalbi looks scrumptious! I love the fact they put perilla in with the dak kalbi. I love that stuff perilla. So much so I had vision of myself with wads of the perilla leaves as pom poms...okay now that you all know I'm a little touched in the head lets move on... Domestic: Either Peter and has family are gifted with really great metabolism or maybe they are walking a lot? The last time I was in Korea DH said I dragged him to all the street food stalls and restaurants in korea. Well he was exaggerating but not by much. I was a little afraid to see the scale when I got home but I had lost 7 pounds from all the walking. Hmmm wonder if we can market the eat walk in korea diet. Where everything is healthy!

Maybe you can do a tasting with a couple of spices and grapes or even store bought jam and see which ones may be the combination you like? I think cardamon is lovely as well as basil but thats just me. Another friend likes cinnamon and nutmeg. So play around a little and see what you like.

LOL yeah my friend can laugh about it now but when it happened she was so upset! I use glass jars but have never had a jar explode.Never crossed my mind that it could explode, but I have never left out kimchi in 90-100 degree weather, and tightly sealed. You are so welcome to any little tidbits knowledge I have stored in my brain. I needed advice too when making the first couple of batches of kimchi. So, if I can be of any help let me know! Ohhh Pics...I always love pics, but no pressure. Actually I just finished up the last bit of my kimchi too, so I should be making some kimchi sometime this weekend.

Oh you should try sour candies with salted popcorn...

Peter: I just wanted to let you know that the samgyupssal pics are killing me here! But please keep posting! Domestic Goddess: LOL wow I haven't had ddeok and ketchup in a long time! Thanks! I sitll haven't gotten any ddeok in my pantry yet. *sigh* I wonder if they still set Poke (not the hawaiian type) I think it was sugar abd baking soda or powder in liquid hot form. I know they sell it by cooling it and imprinting designs on it, but when I was a kid they used to sell it in a ladle all hot a bubbly and you ate it with one lone chopstick.

Oddly enough, the word grape is only mentioned once in the entire thread. Thanks though. ← Here is a simple recipe from the Ball Blue Book for grape jam. Rewritten in my words. I would say it was parahrased but I tend to make it longer not shorter... GRAPE JAM Makes 3 pints. 2 qts. stemmed Concord grapes 6 c. sugar Separate the pulp and skins of the grapes. You can chop the skins in a blender or processor, then add about 1/2 cup water to the skins into a kettle just enough to keep it from sticking. Cook the skins gently for 15-20 minutes. Cook the pulp without any water until soften then sieve out the seeds. Combine pulp, skins, sugar and slowy bring it up to a boil stirring to make sure all the sugar dissolves. Then bring the mixture to a rapid boil about 10 minutes or so almost to the jellying point. Keep stirring so that the mixture does not burn or stick. You may have to skim off some foam it if developes. Pour into hot sterilized jars with 1/4 inch head space, cap and process 15 minutes in a BWB. ← You can play around with the flavours a little. Some have added alcohol, lemon juice, different fruits, spices or you can make a grape chutney? You can infuse some thyme, lemon verbena, or how about basil (whatever herbs would go with grapes) into the grape jelly, by taking 1/2 cup of boiling water and some sprigs of the herb of choice and letting it steep for 30 minutes. Take out the sprigs and use the 1/2 cup for the pulp in the original recipe. You can add cardamon, or allspcie, nutmeg, anything that gets your fancy. If you add fruit you may have to adjust the sugar or add pectin etc. Good luck, and hopefully some out there can help you better than I!