Domestic Goddess

Alan, I have a friend who's grandmother has been teaching me how to make kimchi, doenjang jjige, etc. They have asked me if I wanted to learn how to make doenjang but I haven't taken them up on that offer. I'll see if I can get the information to you and the recipe as well.

I agree with Kat Tanaka, the best rice is fresh rice. I used to prefer Jasmine rice (my Dad would buy that for the family in the Philippines when I was growing up), but now I love the Icheon rice here in Korea. It is short, sticky, sweet and very fragrant. And surprisingly makes good fried rice too (once you've put in in the fridge overnight).

We, as a family, love, love, LOVE Crispy Pata (maybe that's why we all have high blood pressures). We can fix crispy pata (my mom and brother makes the best CP), but we have a suki (favorite vendor) in a small little town in Laguna, Philippines which makes the crispiest Crispy Pata with the juiciest meat and fat inside. (I'll tell you where for a price LOL) Anyway, our family recipe is almost the same as Nora Daza's posted above by Jumanggy. The only difference is that we use pork legs (the trotters + a bit of the pork leg), we don't cut slits into the pork legs and no marinating. We clean the pork legs (razor blades are your friend) and then throw them into a pot with cold with garlic, onion, bay leaves, pepper corns, beef bouillon cubes, a little salt, vinegar and msg (yes msg). We boil the legs for about an hour and a half, take the trotters out, let them cool and dry overnight uncovered in the fridge. Then the next day the dried out trotters are fried, submerged in hot oil and once they're golden brown, they're ready baby! Goodness, makes me want to go out and get some pig legs and make some tomorrow!

Guatam - those pots with the fitting lids, they're cast iron. I have seen how they made this. They take the pot mould (made with packed sand) and pour the molten iron into the mould. Then they break the mould open when the iron has cooled off a bit. They rub ashes on the still-hot pot (and lid) and brush the ashes off with a bunch of twigs (of what tree I don't know) and give it a thorough brushing. After that comes the oil wash. In the program, the potmakers christen the lid by cooking samgyeopsal (fatty bacon pork slices on it).

V.Gautam - I see these sold in the street market everytime. I'll try to get the information that you need. One thing I can tell you is that I see these type of stoves in travelling snack food trucks and restaurants (the ones that set up tents in fairs and festivals). Anything that needs portable cooking and prolonged cooking use these puppies.

Here's a pic of the japchae noodle packs. They're usually about 2 feet in length (ok, maybe 1 1/2 ft). You can see most them on the right side of the pic, with yellow on their packaging. I think the koreanword for it is "Dang Myeon". Myeon means noodle in Korean.

If they became translucent it is probably rice noodle. Korean potato noodles are brownish in color (uncooked) and will turn golden brown-translucent when they are done (cooking). They have a nice elasticity to them, which makes it hard to cut with your teeth, you would have to eat the whole strand. To fix japchae noodles, soak the bunch in warm water for about 5 minutes. Drain and add to your wok. Add about a cup of water and cook until all the water gets absorbed and keep adding water if it doesn't look like it's enough. You can also boil it before stirfrying but the lazy wife version is just to simmer in the wok/pan that you are using until they are done. Will post pics of japchae noodle packs later for clarification.

Peter, those pickles brought a smile to my face. Just remembered my late family members who would pickle eggs and pearl onions. I treasure those jars of pickled goodness.

"He always falls for that one." You're evil, Peter (but in a good way). More on the black chickens. From what I gathered from my Korean friends, this breed has been here for centuries. It was a favorite "medicinal" soup for the royal family who's feeling under the weather. Lately, because of "well-being" reasons (Koreanized version of Healthy Foods), the black chicken samgyetang and baekjukk (both are stuffed chickens with rice, garlic and ginseng inside) have become popular summer foods. That's the only recipe I have found for the black chicken here in Korea. Well, the only one I've encountered. I found out you cook it like you would for a stringy native chicken or a rooster. It is quite gamey but the stock is quite full-bodied. I prefer a normal chicken, really. More research has uncovered that these ebony chickens are raised in the US and Western world as pets, not for food. And they are called fluffy chickens or hairy chickens because of their fine feathers.

Peter - oh cool you have a picture of the black chickens that Paula and I have been discussing. (I'll be directing her to this post) I thought you had a picture of the dog meat parts in the offal section. I guess they didn't have it then. Great pics of the market, BTW. My husband has promised me that next time you visit, he will fix his famous Kentucky Barbeque ribs. It has made expats travel from Seoul to our place everytime.

For us here in Korea, it's about $500 -$600. I guess more of the latter. That's for 2 adults and 1 8-year old.

Peter, I have. But I waited until the tentacles stopped moving. It was plain raw squid tasting, with a hint of sweetness. I wish they had soysauce and wasabi in the restaurant. I thought it was a better pair to the fresh tentacles rather than the staple red pepper paste.

Peter, I think it was sickchangeup who posted the pics. But Billy and I also demolished a similar looking crab when I found that Hanaro supermarket was selling one of this monsters for 10,000 won. They cut it up for me and I tossed everything in my wok (with a steamer insert). Half an hour later, Billy and I were attacking it with crab scissors and dunking the sweet flesh in vinegar (the way Filipinos eat crab).

I started shucking oysters when I was maybe 14 or 15 years old. No gloves and with a crappy dull paring knife, and only because my Dad wasn't fast enough to open the oyster for me. No cuts, no stabbing and I quickly became a fast oyster shucker in the family. I guess you can call it greed. LOL But most Filipinos would open an oyster with their bare hands and a short knife (usually handmade).

PeterBWolf - that would be me too. My hubby would use the towels over and over again and by the time I get to them I would go "This towel is icky!!!!"

Our table (given to us by a family who was moving out of the apartment) has a glass top on it. So no table cloth or placemats. When we entertain, I take out our only table cloth (made out of banana fiber and emboiredered around the edges and the middle) and put in on the table. That's when we use placemats.

Hi, I've been making homemade pasta for a couple of years now and I've always used whole eggs. I found the recipe on an italian family's site and it has never failed me. I have not had a chance to use just the yolks. The pasta I make has a great flavor, color (like golden wheat) and rolls out very well (as thin as I like it to be).

We have a dining table that also acts as the kitchen table. There's a tiny island but it is by the doorway so that holds: our banana tree with half a bunch of bananas a crystal candy keeper a small tray that has bottles of fish sauce, thai kick sauce, chick toothpick holder and maggie seasoning. our trusty turbo broiler On our kitchen table, we have: today's newspaper Memo from my son's school (in korean) my glasses (have contacts on) Some bills that have been automatically deducted from our bank account empty drinking bottles my hubby's backpack (actually on the chair, but that's where he usually deposits it) my celphone A roll of paper towels A roll of toilet paper (which I use like tissue since we're out of boxes of tissue) In the mornings, I usually all the lot except for the paper towels. Then the whole table seem to magically attract the same lot above by the end of the day.

Thank you John. I always looked forward to your writings and posts.

You point and say what you want in English and use a god-awful amount of body language. Works everytime for us.

I like mine on a hamburger bun with a light smear of catsup and a smear of mayonaise. My mom used to own a burger shop and offered this for vegetarians and students on a tight(er) budget. I loved it so much that my mom's helpers would fix it for me before I even asked for it. Yes, the yolk was unbroken but had enough liquid to ooze out when you bite throught it. Hmmmm.

First of all, did you buy fresh banana blossoms or dried? The dried ones are used in Spanish stews like the paksiw. The fresh ones can be used for soups and salads. To make a pickled salad, you cut the blossoms crosswise and blanch them with boiling water. You can blanch them with brine water and then rinse and squeeze out the excess water. Then you add coconut milk, vinegar, slices of ginger and a little salt. Makes for one tasty salad.

Posting some of the meals that I had lately... I bought a boxfull of mushrooms and made omelets, fritatas, stir-frys and with a burst of inspiration - made adobo with them plus first eggs (eggs laid by hens for the first time). Edited to add the mini tortas (I fix a bunch for my son's daily boxed lunch) And with veggie scraps that I scrounged from the fridge, I made Shanghai Fried Rice with the canned ham that hubby bought.

Yay! Peter's back and he's got penis worms pics. I love those crusty, warty crabs. Billy and I could demolish two crabs in a heartbeat. And the flesh is sweet and succulent as long as you don't overcook them.

Mrs. Fink, my brother makes a mean plate of sizzling sisig. It's so good paired with rice too. My brother squeezes a calamansi lemon over it and adds a tangy depth to it. The best sisig for me is one mixed with brain in it. Hmmm, creamy.