Domestic Goddess

This is my pleasure to do. Thank you, Doddie, for taking the time from doing your excellent blog to share your interest and kind words here. Unfortunately, between doing this and other things i haven't had the time to do more than lurk and read your fascinating blog. ← Doddie beams happily while eagerly awaiting more awesome pictures from Docsconz.

Domestic hubby cannot and will not eat any form of seafood (my luck, a coastal girl raised by the sea). Even the smell of fresh fish makes him sick. I, for one, can eat almost anything - various raw fish, snakes, sea urchins, duck embryos, sea cucumbers, monitor lizard, etc. But I cannot seem to bring myself to eat korean raw marinated crab (sorry Sheena).

Kim, thank you also for being with me all along the way.

Insomniac - if we had a spare room, you're welcome to crash in anytime. WE could play the eGullet games here together. CharlotteM - you're welcome. It was my pleasure. Nakji - sauna? Maybe (still have modesty issues *blush). Mul nangmyeon? You betcha! Carrot Top - your quote "Y'all come on back to see us, now"made me giggle. It reminds me of the Ray Steven's song "Wildwood Weed". "Wildwood Weed" Wildwood flower grew wild on the farm And we never knowed what it was called Some said it was a flower and some said it was a weed I didn't give it much thought One day I was out there talkin' to my brother And I reached down for a weed to chew on Things got fuzzy and things got blurry And then ev'rything was gone Didn't know what happened but I knew it beat the hell Out of sniffing burlap I come to and my brother was there and he said, "What's wrong with your eyes?" I said "I don't know, I was chewin' on the weed" He said, "Let me give it a try" We spent the rest of that day and most of that night tryin' To find my brother Bill Caught up with him about six o'clock the next mornin' Naked, singing on the windmill He said he flew up there I had to fly up and get him down He was about half crazy The very next day we picked a bunch of them weeds And put 'em in the sun to dry Then we mashed 'em up and we cleaned 'em off Put 'em in the corn cob pot Smokin' them wildwood flowers got to be a habit We never seen no harm We thought it was kind-a handy Take a trip and never leave the farm Big 'ole puff of that wildwood weed next thing you know You're just wand'ring 'round behind the little animals All good things got to come to an end It's the same with the wildwood weeds One day this feller from Washington come by And spied one and turned white as a sheet And they dug and they burned And they burned and they dug and they killed All our cute little weeds and then they drove away We just smiled and waved sittin' ther on that sack o' seeds "Y'all come back now, y'hear!" MarketStEl aka Sandy - well, if that korean store ever does close on you, you just tell me. I'll send you several packs of korean ramyeon noodles. The hotter, the better right? Bruce, a.k.a C. sapidus - If you ever fix the garlic fried rice,I want pictures! And the viand that goes along with it (you fix such delectable ones!). And my reply to your maraming salamat is "Walang anuman!" (don't mention it). Miladyinsanity - nothing to be sorry about. I just think I am unlucky with leche flan. LOL But I am lucky with other Filipino food. Start a new blog? *faints*

Bill Sr. is a true blue American Kentucky boy (well man). He has some American Indian blood hence the exotic features.

Rona - I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was a lot of work (and eating) but also a lot of fun. I was going to say I wasn't Visayan but Caviteña. Then I saw you wrote honorary Visayan and I understood. Thank you also once again.

Snack time for me and the boys. I think it should be fitting that I end my blog with Korea's favorite snack - Ramyeon Noodles. Noodles cooking away in my pot. I put slices of mushrooms, beef and a whole egg to liven it up. Billy plays with mommy while waiting for the noodles to cook. For our drinks, I served this unique aloe vera drink. At first, I balked at tasting it since I assumed aloe vera tasted nasty. When I finally did get a taste, it was suprisingly good and had little chewy aloe vera bits in it. See the aloe vera bits suspended in the liquid? And thus ends my food blog. I would like to thank everyone who has read, shared and posted with me. Your kind words, encouragement and words of wisdom I shall treasure always. It has been a privilege and an honor to be one of the eG Foodbloggers. Maraming salamat po! And if any of you are in my part of the world, drop me a line and I promise to take you on a food/culinary tour around Korea! Doddie and her men (Bill, Jai and Little Billy)

LOL, no May, I didn't. Well the Leche Flan experiment today ended in disaster. I did the light stiring (so that there are no bubbles), strained the mixture and covered with foil (so that it won't get waterlogged). Sigh, it was hard on top and watery and eggy in the bottom. Hubby didn't dare laugh because I was ready to throw the pan out of the window. Well Napoleon had his Waterloo, I have mine - Leche Flan. And no, I didn't take pictures of the accursed dessert.

Tonight's supper is courtesy of eGullet member Blether. Here is his Pork Roast with Cabbage. Plated with my eternal garlic fried rice. Maraming salamat (thank you very much) Blether! This is definitely a keeper. PS. I caught Jai licking his plate after.

In the Philippines, we woud have fried plantains dusted with sugar or caramelized plantains stuck on a stick. Like THIS. Sometimes my mom or grandma would fix champorado (chocolate oatmeal porridge), pancit molo soup or even arroz caldo (chicken porridge or jook). Most of the time the afternoon snacks were bought from the market like bibingka (Filipino rice cakes cooked with coals), palitaw (silver dollar rice cakes boiled, topped with fresly grated coconut), lumpia (spring rolls - either fried or fresh with garlic sauce). If my mom was up to it, there would be homemade pizza waiting for us.

Guess what I made today? Homemade Corned Beef. That is one of the things we miss so much from the Philippines - corned beef. In my country, little cans of corned beef can be bought in the little mom & pop stores (called sari-sari stores, "sari-sari" means myriad in Tagalog). In the big grocery stores in Manila, we have lots of imported corned beef from the US and even from Europe. Here in Korea, I have to ask my parents to send me some or if somebody was coming over to visit, to bring dozens of Argentina corned beef for us. Then hubby suggested I make some. So I called my mom (who use to make corned beef to sell to augment my Dad's income) and got the recipe from her. Here are my efforts. I marinated the meat in salt and spices for 3 days. After that, I rinse the meat and boiled it in more spices and a potful of cider. The meat simmering away... Take the meat out when the liquid is almost gone and let cool. With two forks, shred all the meat. Billy took this picture for me. 2 kilos of beef yielded this (yeah, more stuff to cram into my freezer). So for lunch, I fixed Filipino Corned Beef fry. In a pan with a little oil, saute minced garlic and chopped onions. When the aromatics are cooked and golden, add the corned beef and mix thoroughly. Stir-fry for about 3 minutes and then serve. You can serve it with rice or in a bun like this.

More scenes of Korean life and culture. There was a first full moon raffle held in the Hanaro Supermarket. The first price was a home entertainment system (complete with a huge plasma TV). The key difference with raffle draws in Korea, you HAVE TO BE physically present in the raffle to win your prize (should your name be called for one of the prizes). The raffle was held in the backlot parking yard. There were singers and dancers performing before the actual drawing of winners. Even furry friends came in to see the show. Hanaro ladies man the coffee urn, handing out free coffee to everyone. I didn't stay to watch the raffle, even though I had two qualifying tickets. They were calling out the raffle numbers in korean and I didn't have Jai to translate for me. So I headed home.

Sunday! And it's hotdogs for breakfast!

Korean architecture for Sandy and Sazji. A Korean traditional house. Here's a house with Chinese influence. A Menhir stone found in a ricefield near our apartment buildings. Billy on top of a stone turtle (the base of a stone sign).

Sandy - koreans are very particular in getting the freshest ingredients for their cooking/food. Somehow, it has rubbed on me too. That doesn't mean that I turn my nose up at the reject/old-produce-but-still-ok bin. Since I'm a stay home-mom I can afford to go to the market/grocery store everyday and YES, I make time to cook the different food properly (or the voice of my grandmother in my head berating me for not doing it right will bug me to know end). How interesting! Does your salted egg taste about the same as the Chinese salted egg or very different? Is it traditional to have the dark pink color? (I assume this is from some kind of food dye. I haven't seen pictures of a naturally pink egg before.) ← Ah Leung, Filipino salted eggs taste the same as Chinese salted eggs. The reason for the pink dye is to distinguish it from the normal fresh eggs. It doesn't add anything else (re: taste) except that garish pink color. LOL

131 Death Becomes Her -- I just remember the peanut butter, eaten in great finger-dips from the jar. You got it Racheld!

Frog, *gulp*, sashimi?

For the sweettooths in here. Korean ice cream bars and cones. Cookies and cream ice cream bar. Googoo cone - chocolate with nuts and caramel cone. Like what the name on the package said - Choco Fudge bar. Hubby's favorite - Ice cream sandwich (chocolate sandwich cookie with vanila ice cream filling). This cone is pure chocolate with chunks of chocolate - a chocoholic's dream cone. And lastly, a great ice cream bar with a chocolate fudge center, vanilla ice cream coating and then crispy rice chocolate shell.

I had a great nap today (thanks to Darling Hubby keeping the boys at bay - busy and occupied on our computers). Tonight's supper is usually a Filipino breakfast - Longganisa with Garlic Fried Rice and Salted Egg salad. Making the Salted Egg salad. Take one salted egg, about 1/4 of an onion and 4 cherry tomatoes. Dice the onion and quarter the tomatoes. Mince the salted egg. Mix everything in a bowl thoroughly. Pile up on a serving plate and serve with the Longganisa & Fried Rice. Longganisa with Fried Rice And for dessert - Chocolate Banana Muffins baked before I took the nap.

More clues: 131. Tubs of whipped cream, eaten before a flickering tv set. CLUE: The character is a fat slob of a blonde who binges everytime she sees the actress who stole her doctor fiancee. Another scene shows her opening cupboards filled with whipped cream tubs. 132. How about several scenes of pork pies and a glass of sherry before a lit fireplace? CLUE: These pork pies are gobbled up by an elderly man wearing an elf suit.

Pan - I really don't know why that particular salted fish is so expensive. I asked my korean friends about it and no one can give me a straight answer. Maybe Sheena knows the answer? I'm glad you and Dejah like my poem, too. Andie - thank you for your kind words. I am so glad you viewed my blog and liked it. I feel so honored that you find it wonderful. You are the reason why I am here in eGullet. Thank you again for inviting me here.

This is what it looks like out of our window today. Yep. It is raining and it is soooo cold. Perfect weather for Pochero (heads up Rebecca263! ) I took my trusty pot and browned some garlic, onions and the beef chunks. When everything is brown and ready, fill the pot 2/3 full and bring to a boil. Remove the scum the rises on top. Do thing everytime and you'll end up with clear and cleaner tasting soup. When the meat is tender, add your veggies according to hardness, carrots first, then potatoes, yard beans then squash after that all the leafy veggies (leeks, bok choy, cabbage). Here is what my bowl looks like before adding the broth. To make the spicy eggplant salad to accompany the pochero stew, first boil 2 eggplants in a small pot of water until tender. Peel the eggplants and add a couple of cooked squash squares (from the pochero stew). Mash the eggplant and squash together. Add 2-3 tablespoons of vinegar to the mashed eggplant, and 1-2 tsps of finely minced garlic (vary amount to the degree of spiciness that you want). Salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Serve salad beside the stew. Here is my hearty lunch. Pochero stew with Eggplant salad on the side. Excuse me while I take a nap now.

Yes they are!!! Oh boy they are. A friend took 2 years to convince me to go to one. I have, um modesty issues. In the korean public baths/spa, everyone is nekkid. I can never do that, until that fateful day when my friend kidnapped me and had me go through the experience. After few moments of extreme embarassment, I actually enjoyed it. There were different pools to soak in. Hot one, warm one, cold one, a tea pool and even a wine pool, can you believe that? There are old ladies there who you can pay $10 to scrub all over your body for about 30 minutes. I never felt cleaner in my entire life. My skin looked as pink as a baby's bottom. I also tasted tea eggs, soy eggs and iced green tea there for a light snack. And yes, we ate with our bathrobes on. IMHO I make a good one. I'll email you the recipe. ← Thanks Lumiere! I can't wait for it!

Thank God for weekends - hubby cooks breakfast so I can sleep in. Good thing also for this morning I had an asthma attack. Grated potatoes for hash brown. Darling hubby practices his hash brown flippin' technique. I can never DO that. Beautiful hash brown. Hubby cooks bacon and a sunny-side up egg for Jai. My plate with hotel-scrambled eggs, ham and hash brown. Thanks Darling Hubby! "C'mon, Mom! Not when we're eating!"

Dosconz, I am enjoying this grastrotour of Peru immensely. Thank you for doing this.