postcards from korea

I'll be wrapping up my Korea posts this week...2 months later. -_- (that's my Korean emoticon for a sheepish face)

Restaurants and bars line the streets in Seoul. I love all the little decorations, themes, and details each place had to set them apart from the place next door...

Korea's greenery is so lush, vibrant and colorful. My mom is always noticing and noting pretty flowers on walks at home; I found myself doing the same in Korea.

We had galbi-jim for our dinner in Seoul, courtesy of our friend James, who currently lives in Seoul and maintains a website of great eateries. Check it out here for the details of this restaurant and other tasty recommendations.

My favorite street food in Korea--Ddukbokki (rice cakes in a spicy sauce). The key to good ddukkbokki is the rice cakes. Good rice cakes should be chewy; not too hard, which means they are undercooked; and not overly soft and mushy. The ones I had in Korea never failed. I imagine this to be so satisfying on a cold winter day. You can find these served piping hot at the Pojangmachas that line the streets.

Shopping is everywhere in Seoul. Feels like each neighborhood has a unique style of shops and some sort of specialty. One of my favorite neighborhoods was Hongdae; had some great meals there, took some interesting walks, and purchased the most comfortable pair of hand crafted heels from this store called Piacere.

Variations on a theme.

More food. My goodness. Dessert waffles and brick honey toast (not pictured) are a must!

leftovers

Not the most appetizing food picture (better one here)...this was my kimbap leftovers after being in the fridge overnight!

Kimbap is best eaten within a few hours of it being made; very best when eaten right after it's made with hot rice and a crisp seaweed sheet. I've been craving this a lot these days, but I always end up with leftovers...which are hard to save and eat the next day. Stick it in the fridge, and the rice gets hard; leave it out and the marinated veggies will start to turn.
Anyways, these delicious little things will never have to go to waste again thanks to this 'recipe,' courtesy of my big sister currently living in Korea.

1) Beat an egg in a bowl with some salt and pepper. Soak the kimbap one at a time in the egg mixture.


2) Lightly grease a pan and cook kimbap for a 1-2 minutes on each side. Depending on how much oil you put in you pan, you might have to roll the sides on the pan to cook evenly.

3) Rice has its integrity once again...and eggs are just good. Enjoy!

subway stories

I met an old man in Korea. And by met (in this case), I mean watched/stalked on the subway. Everything about him made me so curious...and he reminded me of Mr. Fredricksen...so I kind of couldn't take my eyes off him.


Imagine...

He wears large square glasses and a pouty mouth--one that looks like he'd been fighting a smile his whole life. He wears a neatly pressed gray suit, black shiny shoes, and a blue tie that matches the bright bakery bag that he clutches closely to him.

He takes out what looks like a slender cake box from his bag and looks at it admiringly, examining it and silently praising its perfection. He gently puts it back in the box.

He pulls out a comb out of his jacket pocket and brushes the neatly combed white hair on his tan, slightly freckled bald head.

The subway doors open and people start to fill in. An unsuspecting, elderly lady takes the seat next to him. He scooches over (annoyed), peers suspiciously from the corner of his eye and clutches his blue bag a little bit closer...


I snapped a picture when the moment was right.....

...or maybe not. Looks like he's looking right at me now. ack!

My mind started to wander at that point...whose this man and what's in that bag?

fun summer nails

Korean people love their polish. And these colors are so fun...I'm copying this idea. Happy weekend!

Korean holidays

{variations of Pocky--the Japanese version of Pepero}

Something random I learned in Korea

February 14: Girls treat the boys

March 14: 'White Day' where boys treat the girls

April 15: 'Black Day'--the day when all the single folks (and all those who don't do anything on 2/14 and/or 3/14) go eat 자 장 면 (Jajangmyun), the black noodles mentioned here.

November 11 or 11/11: Pepero Day
People exchange boxes of Pepero, long, thin biscuits dipped in chocolate or yogurt flavoring, on this day. Why 11/11? Pepero's long, stick shape looks like the date--thus a holiday was born.

I heart Seoul: Reason #354

Delivery Korean style Chinese food--anytime, anywhere. Food is delivered fast and hot (those delivery guys drive with no fear and somehow seem to bypass all traffic laws). They even pick up the dirty dishes afterwards. So green and so efficient! If in the Sadang-dong area, this place is great:
자금성 (Ja Geum Sung)
525-2399
581-2199

It's apparently Korean tradition to have Jajang Myeon (thicker noodles with black soybean sauce, veggies, and usually meat, pictured on the top right corner) when you move to a new place. Fitting for today since we just moved in some new furniture to my sister's place...tasted extra delicious for that reason. If you do order from this place, make sure to get the 깐 자 장 면 (Ggan Jajang Myeon) which gives you the meat peices instead of ground. Yum.