Travelogue: 4 weeks at Sheena mommy's house

[SheenaGreena]

For the next four weeks, I am in Maryland visiting my family. My mother, father, and little sister all live here in the house. As some of you may know, I'm half korean so for the next few weeks I will be eating A LOT of korean food and so far I took a few pictures of what I've been eating. Due to my camera, most of the pictures are horrible and/or blurry, so please bear with me.

oh and by the way in Korea, you always call a woman (with children) her oldest child's name + mom. So since I'm the oldest, my mother is known as Sheena momma or Sheena amma by all of her friends....hence the title of the thread.

enjoy

(i'll post pics as I go along)

[kbjesq]

I'm very much looking forward to this thread! I'm heading out to Bulgaria for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, not a food trip (I'm tagging along with a bunch of musicians) and I'm not sure how often that I will have internet access. But thanks to the internet, it will all be here when I get back!

Enjoy MD and your family. I'm so delighted that you got your computer and camera problems worked out. Now let's see some Korean food!

[SheenaGreena]

My mother has 3 refridgerators, 2 pantries and a lot of jars in the backyard that store daengjang, gochujang, and other stinky (yet delicious) things.

Here's a pic of some soy sauce jars (the 3 big ones with the black lids) that are homemade. I believe each jar costs around $100 or something like that. I have no idea what the other jars are holding.

Here is the korean kimchi fridge. You can keep kimchi on one side (it simulates the act of actually burying kimchi). Sometimes my mom keeps meat on one side or veggies on one side.

I opened up the right side to see what was inside and this is what I found:

[SheenaGreena]

Before I went to Maryland, my little sister (21), her boyfriend (22), and my mother all went to korea for a month. I told my sister to try to get me something at Narita airport and this is what she got me. It contains some dried fish, but mostly has packets of peanuts and something called a "soft bean"

here are some pics of the back...maybe someone can translate for me? sorry about the flash btw

my family ate them with some soju They make great drinking snacks

oh and here is some peach flavoured mochi from japan. It tastes faintly of peach, but is kinda bland.

[SheenaGreena]

The first day I arrived in maryland (on sunday) I ate kalbi off of the grill. We like to eat it with a lot of ssam (veggies for wrapping) so this is what we ate it with. My mother picked fresh sesame leaves (korean version of shiso) from her garden, korean watercress from the garden, as well as large lettuce leaves (from the grocery store). Don't know why I didn't take pics of the kalbi and other things we ate

The following day I ate mul naengmyun and I think it was around 100 F that day so it was really refreshing. This one was garnished hardboiled egg, salted cuke, and some boiled beef.

Then for dinner I ate some bibimbap with some leftover namul (veggies), leftover kalbi, gochujang, and a fried egg. I know that a lot of korean people like to arrange their bibimbap really neat and pretty but my family just piles a ton of veggies on top and mixes it up. We aren't fancy

we only ate 3 different vegetables with it: gosari/fernbracken (brown stuff on the left), doraji/bellflower root (container with the wooden spoon), and some good ol'mung bean sprouts or koongnamul (sp?).

Blurry much? Yes I was sober when I took this photo. Here is the bibimbap before mixing and to the right of it is a bowl of bean sprout soup.

Edited July 12, 2007 by SheenaGreena (log)

[SheenaGreena]

Their is a korean grocery store in the area that also has a food court in it. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera, but I ate a lot of korean blood sausage and blood sausage soup aka soondae and soondae guk. But here's what I brought home with me from the grocery store. Green tea latte mix, konnyaku,

and some korean bakery items.

whoops, I took a pic of some soondae guk that we took home to my father to eat

Edited July 12, 2007 by SheenaGreena (log)

[SheenaGreena]

We went crabbing the next day and here are some random pics of what we caught, found, ate, and drank (nasty natty bo)

oh and we went fishing a few days ago and this is what we caught: trout and "sunnies"

[SheenaGreena]

When we came back from crabbing at around 6 pm, we ate some delicious pigs feet with korean salted tiny shrimp, aka seojut. My mother boiled the pigs feet with some ginger and then threw them in the fridge to firm up and cool down. They make a great snack with beer and it's fun to stick feet in your mouth

Then finally today for lunch we ate samgyupsal or pork belly outside in the backyard. It's hot outside, but since we ate under the shade it was really cool. We also cooked the samgyupsal with some sliced king oyster mushrooms, whole garlic cloves, and sliced onion. We used the same wrapping that we used with kalbi (lettuce, sesame leaves, watercress) and we also added some sliced jalapenos and fermented soy bean for dipping.

here's my family eating: mom, dad, baby sis, and her boyfriend (you'll see a lot of him)

[SheenaGreena]

I'm very much looking forward to this thread!  I'm heading out to Bulgaria for a couple of weeks.  Unfortunately, not a food trip (I'm tagging along with a bunch of musicians) and I'm not sure how often that I will have internet access.  But thanks to the internet, it will all be here when I get back!

Enjoy MD and your family.  I'm so delighted that you got your computer and camera problems worked out.  Now let's see some Korean food! 

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thanks kathyrn! Enjoy your trip as well

[Peter the eater]

oh and we went fishing a few days ago and this is what we caught: trout and "sunnies"

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Hi SheenaGreena:

This travelogue is a very enjoyable read, I love your "respectfully casual tone". Every one of your posts has words and/or pictures of food I have never seen before. I think I need more guk in my life, and it behooves me to mention that bucket of pigs feet - wow!

Okay, I am no ichthyologist but I would bet dollars to donuts you have there in your sink three juvenile Largemouth bass and three Green or possibly Pumpkinseed sunfish. Plus an unusual scouring pad. Do your trout there go by any other names?

[sanrensho]

The first day I arrived in maryland (on sunday) I ate kalbi off of the grill.  We like to eat it with a lot of ssam (veggies for wrapping) so this is what we ate it with.  My mother picked fresh sesame leaves (korean version of shiso) from her garden, korean watercress from the garden, as well as large lettuce leaves (from the grocery store).

Can we see some pics from your mom's garden? I remember you had some questions about the greens growing in your mom's garden, so maybe some of the members can help with identification.

[SheenaGreena]

The first day I arrived in maryland (on sunday) I ate kalbi off of the grill.  We like to eat it with a lot of ssam (veggies for wrapping) so this is what we ate it with.  My mother picked fresh sesame leaves (korean version of shiso) from her garden, korean watercress from the garden, as well as large lettuce leaves (from the grocery store).

Can we see some pics from your mom's garden? I remember you had some questions about the greens growing in your mom's garden, so maybe some of the members can help with identification.

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of course I will post some pics, I realized that the only green I couldn't identify was what she called "korean or chinese watercress." I'll post some pics of those, tomato plants, and whatever else she has in the backyard. Maybe I'll be ballsy enough to open up one of the pots of daengjang outside. I can smell it from 5 feet away. I'll do those tomorrow though, because I'm winding down now

[SheenaGreena]

oh and we went fishing a few days ago and this is what we caught: trout and "sunnies"

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Hi SheenaGreena:

This travelogue is a very enjoyable read, I love your "respectfully casual tone". Every one of your posts has words and/or pictures of food I have never seen before. I think I need more guk in my life, and it behooves me to mention that bucket of pigs feet - wow!

Okay, I am no ichthyologist but I would bet dollars to donuts you have there in your sink three juvenile Largemouth bass and three Green or possibly Pumpkinseed sunfish. Plus an unusual scouring pad. Do your trout there go by any other names?

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"respectfully casual tone" must be a nice way to say that I don't type enough....which is very true. I notice that a lot of people on egullet can go on and on about food descriptions, but I'd rather just answer questions as they come along. Is that fish really a bass? I just thought it was a trout, because thats what my sister's boyfriend called it. I don't know if trout go by any other names, but I know that some bass are called "rockfish" down here.

guk is a wonderful addition to one's diet. I love all guks, especially kal guk su...but I would rather eat that in the winter time.

thought I should add that in the following weeks, you should all look forward to seeing some pics of: spicy crab soup with the crabs we caught yesterday, beef intestines in a spicy korean soup (forget its name), and some flounder sashimi that will be prepared and eaten at home korean style. Tomorrow i'm also going to an Oriole's game so I'll try to take some pics of the stuff that you can get there that you can't get anywhere else.

Oh and if anyone wants my mother or me to cook a certain dish or korean meal, please feel free to suggest something, as long as it isn't hot soup or something like that. It's very hot here!

Edited July 12, 2007 by SheenaGreena (log)

[Endy']

thanks for posting your Travelogue, I'm excited to see how "restaurant-Korean" differs from the real thing. Also, thanks for posting a picture of your sangchu ssam so I know what it should look like

[pax]

I opened up this thread thinking you might need hints for places to eat while in Maryland, but I think Sheena Mama has got you covered.

Thanks for sharing.

[heidih]

Thank you so much doing this travel-log Sheena! I really get alot out of seeing how other people eat and it is especially interesting when they are adapting their cultural eating style to a new land. Those jars outside look fascinating. You can really smell some from 5 feet? What is the absolute favorite thing your mom makes when you go home that you can got even come close to elsewhere?

[mizducky]

Hi, Sheena--

I'm enjoying your travelogue lots already! As you know, I am a big fan of Korean food, although I feel I still have tons to learn, so I'm looking forward to learning more from this topic.

I love your mom's jars of fermenting foods out in the great outdoors. This is the second topic in as many days that has reminded me of my maternal grandmother's habit of keeping jars of fermenting sauerkraut out on her tenement flat's fire escape during the winter. Gotta love that immigrant inventiveness in translating homeland ways to new circumstances.

[kbjesq]

Maybe this should be posted under the "you know you're an EGer when" thread, but as I'm getting ready to head out to the airport (it's 3:45 am here!), I had to check this thread. You are off to a great start. Everything looks scrumptious. In fact, I'm hungry now . . . .

[sanrensho]

Sheena, does your mom cook traditional Korean food almost all of the time? Or is it because her dear beloved first daughter is home?

[Pan]

I'm really enjoying this thread. Thanks for sharing, Sheena!

[Peter Green]

Thanks, Sheena! You've already cleared up one question. We did bibimbap last night, and I'd asked what toraji was. Yoonhi's response was "it's toraji". But Bellflower root got her right back on track. She remembers her mom growing it in their garden.

The gosari has her clamouring now for yugaejang.

Cheers,

Peter

[Domestic Goddess]

What a wonderful report Sheena! Gosh, I didn't know that those huge jars cost $100. Somebody wanted to give me one and I turned her down since I had no space put it in our tiny apartment and have now idea what sauce to put in it.

[Abra]

Pictures of your Mom making a dish from start to finish would be wonderful, especially if it were a dish that we could follow along and make at home. Maybe seafood pancake or something like that, where the ingredients are easy to find?

I've never eaten Korean food in a home, only a restaurant. Does one do panchan at home? I love and adore those tiny crunchy sweet fish, and don't know how to make them. Actually, what I really don't know is which sort of tiny fish to start out with.

[SheenaGreena]

Sheena, does your mom cook traditional Korean food almost all of the time? Or is it because her dear beloved first daughter is home?

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she makes it all the time, but mostly for herself. My sister and her boyfriend usually go out to eat (I know, what a travesty) and well my father will eat what my sister cooks or leftovers...which can be korean or american food. My dad will eat anything my mother makes. He LOVES korean food. But yes, since I'm home my mother tends to cook more Korean food and usually makes all of my favorites.

Pictures of your Mom making a dish from start to finish would be wonderful, especially if it were a dish that we could follow along and make at home.  Maybe seafood pancake or something like that, where the ingredients are easy to find?

I've never eaten Korean food in a home, only a restaurant.  Does one do panchan at home?  I love and adore those tiny crunchy sweet fish, and don't know how to make them.  Actually, what I really don't know is which sort of tiny fish to start out with.

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My mother does make panchan at home. I'm sure somebody mentioned this somewhere, but koreans make a lot of panchan at one time and save them in the fridge to be taken out a little at a time at meals. Our family also doesn't do a ton of dishes out on the table like a lot of korean families. Rather my mom just puts the whole tupperware container on the table, because we LOVE our veggies and panchan. Plus this way there is less dishes to use. However once in a while my mom will put small plates of panchan out on the table. My mother never buys panchan at the store. She makes all of them herself or gets them from her friends when they make something. In fact, my mother rarely makes her own kimchi nowadays because her friends give her so much.

I think the tiny fish you start out with are baby anchovies. I have no idea how to prepare them.

I will also try to take photos from start to finish of a korean dish.

thanks everyone for all the nice comments. My mother thinks its funny that you all want to see her cooking. She actually got kinda excited and said "you should take a lot of pictures soon, because I'm having a korean association meeting at the house and I'm making lots of food." I will definitely take pics of that.

[SheenaGreena]

So someone asked for photos of my mother's garden. She used to plant a lot of korean chiles, but I don't know what happened to them? Now she grows her own lettuce - a softer, smaller, korean variety, gaennip - sesame leaves, cucumbers, tomatos, chives, strawberries, and a ton of flowers. Her garden isn't in neat little rows. In fact, the veggies are randomly placed in the backyard in pots, around the pond (man made), and wherever there is space. Here are some pics of the pond (strawberries in the front). If you notice on the left side of the pic, you can see a small bit of the laundry rack. My mom likes to dry clothes outside when its nice out.

sesame leaves and cucumber mixed together

korean watercress?

lettuce

baby poo? jk daengjang that looks absolutely frightening but tastes fantastic

tomato plants

leftovers from yesterday. I couldn't take pics of it being prepared or anything, cause my camera died My mom took gochugaru, garlic, water, salt, and some crabs and cooked them up for a few minutes. Very very simple and eaten with rice for lunch. I'm going to eat the leftovers soon

2 pics of the fridges downstairs. I have no clue what is in 80% of these jars and a lot of them have been in that fridge since I was in highschool Yes they do stink up the entire basement when I open the doors.

if you notice, my picture taking skills are getting much better. Today for lunch (in 10 mins) I'm planning on eating some kal gook su and who knows whats for dinner. Yesterday I went to an orioles whitesox game, but unfortunately my batteries to my camera died. I ate an uneventful pretzel smothered in "crab dip" and cheese at some bar outside of the stadium. The crab dip tasted like straight up mayo and the pretzel tasted chewy kinda like it had been heated up in the microwave. Oh well.....