Domestic Goddess

Takuan - so that's the korean name for pickled radish. I always forget what it is whenever I order gimbap. I wanna tell them to leave it out. LOL

Milady - unfortunately, cream is something I don't have access to where I am at. I am intrigued with the 12 eggyolks + 1 cup milk. And the baine marie method using my turbo-broiler. Hmmm... I see an experiment coming up. I will test this ratio and method of cooking plus the tip about dissolving the sugar before mixing the eggyolks. I'll posts the result this weekend.

Milady - first time it was too coarse. Then I steamed it and found out that water seeped into the custard tray/dish and it became waterlogged, drowned leche flan. My ratio is 12 egg yolks, half a cup of evaporated milk, half a cup of condensed milk and I think 1 cup sugar. I know, it's a very sweet flan. My mom's flan is so dense, rich and smooth (because of that recipe). The texture is so silky on the tongue. So far, I haven't been able to replicate it. You said it Gastro, we go through 1 bottle in about a month. I swear. Billy would drink it if I let him. Heck I'd drink it if I let me. LOL

It's traditional for students to eat this before a big test, so answers will "stick" in their minds. ← Wow! I didn't know that Nakji. Thanks for the interesting bit of trivia! I almost forgot - here's what we had for supper tonight. Remember the Ginisang Giniling the previous night? The ground pork saute is now resurrected as Fried Torta for supper. Here are kids' plates. I thawed some pork tinola soup (boiled pork soup) to go with their meal. Ketchup is the preferred condiment for torta by the kids. I like mine with soy sauce and vinegar. Or Maggie seasoning.

Dejah - here's the actual page where I wrote it 29 years ago. Yes, I still have the notebook. Lumiere - aaah, you just named my waterloo - Leche Flan. I can never make this Filipino dessert (my brother and my mom makes leche flan that makes my hubby wanna cry). I have tried several times to make this luscious egg custard but failed miserably everytime.

Nikkib - the site removed the page. It said "We can't find the page you are looking for. We just had a spring clean, so your page may have been removed."

These look so good! What's inside them, especially the big whitish cube in the centre? ← Kimbap usually has spinach, julienned carrots, scrambled eggs, strips of ham and the white cube in the middle is actually pickled radish. Now I have a confession to make, I usually poke these radishes out before I eat a kimbap slice. I just don't like the crunchy, sweet taste with the savoury stuff. I do eat the radish cubes after I have eaten all of the kimbap.

Today is the 9th and again it is Street Market Day! Today's street market was bigger (on account there was no rain and the weather was a bit warmer). Here are more street scenes and cultural pic. A friendly japanese cake vendor. These round cakes are filled with sweet red bean paste. This grinding facility is not in the street market but on the way there. I want to show you where most women get their gocharu (ground red pepper powder) and barley powder. The entrance to the street market. These vendors are selling capiz pearl oysters (that's what it's called in my country). We use these shells to make jewelry, lanterns, household items and even decorative fixtures. Catfish sold in basins. I've always seen this old woman make this half-moon fried pastries. I still don't know what it is. Local bakery selling fried and baked products. Beans, grains and legumes sold by scoop or wooden container. Korean clowns clang their huge candy scissors to attract customers to their yut cart. Yut is kinda like a hard nougat candy, very sticky and very sweet. These clowns actually stop people and accost them to the cart. I saw two old ladies buy a pack just to make them stop. LOL One of my favorite carts - the roasted chestnut vendor. The chestnuts are roasted with tiny black ceramic balls heated by a burner. Chinese medicinal products - roots, dates, seeds and dried bark & herbs. Fresh fish cake vendor. What do we have here? Fried chicken! Ginseng and dates for stuffing in samgyetang chicken. Savory bean pancakes being cooked for hungry customers at the back. A friendly vendor shows grandma how to tie a scarf. Bamboo products for basically every need in the house. Lacquered wooden products gleam in the afternoon sun. I buy trinkets and hair products here for my nieces in the Philippines. Spiny sea cucumbers and naked ones nestle in their water-filled plastic bags. Oysters are in the blue plastic bags. You wouldn't guess what these are. They're charcoal-filled frames to hang in your house - they serve a double function. As a decorative frame and an aircleaner. Something for SheenaGreena - sundae! Yes, it's the famous blood and noodle filled sausage. Salted fish hang by their yellow ties, waiting to be bought. These fish bundles are favorite gifts during Chuseok (Thanksgiving) and can cost up to $30 per bundle. My street market report is done and my dogs are barking. Now I'll sit back and relax while I massage my aching feet.

Miladyinsanity - they actually do. I can't figure out the filling though, I know the sesame seed covered one has red bean paste. There is one that has like a date filling in it and another with sweet potato. And they're so chewy! (Quite a tummy filler, too).

KentD - I never thought that this blog would make so many hungry. My family and friends kept telling me that they had to stop reading and find something in the fridge. My simple light lunch today: Plain kimbab and Keranmari Kimbap (egg wrapped kimbap - Keran means egg in Korean). Dessert was more multi-colored rice cake snacks.

Yes! The dough is better fried (for taste) but I bake it (for convenience and for health). The turbo oven is very versatile. It's what I used to bake my cakes, cookies and pies too. Hmmm, I can buy into that too. LOL Carrot Top - Nobody has called my eggs sexy before. ROFLOL

Kim Shook! I saw your ham and crab salad in a croissant. Two of my son's favorite things to eat. I never thought of combining those two food items. We just goble up the ham and crab salad like it was nothing. LOL Thank you for crediting it to me, I must confess I got the idea from a local Italian restaurant here in Seoul. Hey, that turbo broiler oven costs about the same here, $84. Geesh, without the discounts, it would cost terribly expensive. Lunch today is something light (unlike the feasts that I have been partaking the past several days). I'm gonna buy gim bap from a popular gim bap restaurant.

This recipe tutorial is for my former college ed-in-chief - Grace with Fire. Hotel Scrambled Eggs You start off by assembling your ingredients - 2 eggs, whole milk, butter, salt & pepper. Take a big bowl and break the eggs into it. Add about 2 tablespoons of milk. Whisk vigorously for a minute or two. In a pan, heat up some butter over low heat. Spread the butter evenly all over the pan. Add the whisked eggs and immediately start scraping gently from the edge of the pan towards the middle. Remember to keep the flame on low heat and to be very gentle in handling the eggs. Patience is a virtue when it comes to scrambled eggs. Continue scraping. Scrape, scrape, scrape (don't even stop for a second or two). Within a minute you will see everything come together. Turn off the heat now and continue stirring and scraping (the leftover heat will continue to cook the eggs). If you like your eggs runny like mine, turn them on the plate now. Season with salt & pepper. Here is my hotel-scrambled eggs, fluffy, tender and oh so good. Now wasn't that easy as peas?

Djah- I have been writing most of my life. It started when I was 8, sitting on the counter of my mom's burger stall stools (we owned one burger joint in Dumaguete city, Philippines during the 70's). A college student saw me writing a poem in English on a notebook and asked if he could see it. He then asked if he could published my poems on the Honor Society paper in the prestigious Silliman University (an American run university in Dumaguete city). He couldn't believe I was writing poems like that in an early age. Thus started my love affair with writing. My mom had loyal burger customers, Silliman college students and professors who would stop by to have a snack. They would encouraged and teach me the principles of writing during these breaks. It was funny, I remember getting into writing and prose arguments with them. Me, an elementary student debating on the subject of life and death and prose with these grown-ups with Eagles music blaring in the background. I decided I would write for a living. I got a degree in Advertising and Journalism and worked my way from copywriter to PR associate to eventually becoming a Marketing Manager for an internet company in the Philippines. That was my last job before I left for Korea to become a full-fledged Domestic Goddess.

Amapola - Here is one of those eggs on my son's breakfast plate this morning. The whole fried egg could fit in the palm of my hand (and I got tiny hands! LOL). Chufi - I never had First Laid eggs before. This was a very nice treat.

Gastro888 and POntormo - that is one awesome recipe! Definitely making that this weekend. Thanks! Littlemissfoodie - see above fore garlic fried rice recipe. I usually make it fresh in the morning (insert long suffering smile here). It's just gotten to be a habit and I love it when Jai wakes up with a smile on his face, becase he smells the garlic I'm toasting in the pan. I usually have Filipino or chinese meals for lunch. I don't know if I mentioned this but I don't usually eat breakfast, if I do I eat my breakfast around 10:30 to 11:00 am. My typical lunch would be wonton soup, gyoza with noodles, sinigang with rice, fried fish with vegggies, chop seuy, etc. MomofLittleFoodies, handmc - Thank you. Pontormo - yes that recipe is authentic, I remember eating that meal for breakfast fixed by my grandmother. Aaaah, those crunchy salt bits! Now I'm having a trip down memory lane.

Priscilla - thank you! I have shared my garlic fried rice recipe in the eGullet Recipe section. But here it is for you to copy. Garlic Fried Rice 2-3 tbsp minced garlic 4-5cups of cold cooked rice* 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp veg. oil *Best to use leftover rice. Freshly cooked rice does not make good fried rice. 1. In a non-stick pan or wok add the veg. oil and turn the heat up to medium, add the minced garlic and cook over medium heat until golden brown. 2. Add the cold rice and stir, mash and mix in thoroughly with the garlic and oil. Keep folding the rice over the garlic, making sure it gets evenly mixed. 3. Continue stirring and mixing until the rice becomes a uniform golden brown color and the garlic has been thoroughly mixed uniformly throughout the pan. 4. Serve hot with bacon, ham, scrambled eggs, etc. (PS. you can do this recipe even with just a cup of cold rice, just adjust the ingredients). Just a tip!

Gastro888 - thanks for the tip. Now I have to find me a good recipe for pasta carbonara. Care to share your recipe?

How about several scenes of pork pies and a glass of sherry before a lit fireplace?

Tubs of whipped cream, eaten before a flickering tv set.

I decided to give Catherine some artisinal gifts for taking me out for lunch these past few days. I made more strawberry shortcake and a package of shrimp and pork dumplings for her and her family. Catherine is a poultry vet by profession and is married to a poultry farm scion. Their poulty farm has about 100,00 hens and produces half a million eggs a day. Guess what she gave me today? Two trays of freshly laid eggs from first time hens. Apparently, koreans treasure the eggs that a hen lays for the first time. The difference? The eggshells are harder and thicker and the flavor is a bit more intense, especially the eggyolks. These eggs are tiny, a little bit bigger than a golf ball.

Karen - Billy liked hearing the dial clack-clak its way back into place when he dialed a number on the ancient phone. The sung yung drink was mildly sweet. It has a fresh light taste to it, to my pleasant surprise. With regards to the green plants as gifts to new restaurants, I actually found out that any new business that is opening up is given green plants for luck. So I guess the answer is yes. The deer antlers supposedly have curative powers in it. They actually shave thin disks of the antlers and boil them and drink it as a tonic. I must confess it tasted like boiled root and chemicals to me when I tried a sip.

Wow! What an extensive food report, Caitlin. After seeing all those pictures, I have decided that I wanna visit Vietnam and Cambodia for a food-tasting tour.

Bavila - I am glad your liking my eherm, extensive research on the vast array of korean delicacies, too! Tonight's supper: Turbo-Roasted Spicy Chicken with baked potatoes (topped with sauteed bell peppers and onions) For the kids and I, Ginisang Giniling (Tagalog word for ground pork saute) with sunny-side up egg. Dessert was chocolate strawberry shortcake (thanks to Torakris for the inspiration).

Part 3 of the Tofu Restaurant experience. HOW TO WRAP SSAM.. 1. Take a piece of cabbage. 2. Add a piece of tofu. 3. Top with a piece of pork. PORK.... hmmmm... 3. Add you choice of seasoning (spicy radish, kimchee, salty shrimp sauce, garlic, etc.) Here's one that has oyster on it. 4. Hold it firmly in your hand. 5. Take everything in one big bite. It was a splendid meal and Catherine and I had a chance to chat and have some girl time. Then when we couldn't eat anymore, we got up to pay the bill. While Catherine was busy chatting with the manager I got busy with my camera. The restaurant has a lot of indoor plants lined up against the walls. These tall jars (almost as tall as Billy) has wild mountain ginseng and deer's antlers with dates in it. Can you see the antler in the jar? It was another wonderful korean lunch and I am glad to do it for the sake of eGullet and research! LOL