Quarantine cuisine: Ramyeon with turkey spam

Sheltering at home may be boring, but your pantry stables like ramyeon (ramen) don’t have to be. Here’s how you can kick up the flavor with some fresh and shelf-stable ingredients.

Korean BBQ review: Han Bul restaurant, Santa Rosa, California

Sonoma County is well known internationally for its wine and craft beers. But the No. 1 restaurant option that locals found lacking in that part of California Wine Country is Korean BBQ.  To fix that deficiency has been a two-plus-year journey for restauranteur Han Soh.  After a round of by-invitation-only soft openings in November–December 2018,…

California Wine Country needs Korean BBQ — STAT!

It must have been a slow news day in Sonoma County when a featured story for 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning The Press Democrat on Jan. 22, 2019, was “27 things readers say Sonoma County is missing.” Number 1 on the list is Korean barbecue. A Santa Rosa restauranteur has been quietly working for more than a…

‘Gochujang’ is officially an English word

The spicy, savory red pepper paste 고추장 gochujang is one of 840 new words just added to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. Originally released in 1828, it is the oldest continuously published American English lexicon. English is like the Borg of the “Star Trek” universe. Whatever words we borrow from other cultures, we will assimilate eventually — if…

Korean BBQ review: Ijji 4, Reno, Nevada

It was a pleasant surprise during a trip to California’s top ski vacation area to find not just one Korean barbecue restaurant but four. Every time Hubby and I go on vacation, we look for any Korean restaurant we can find. Hubby and I recently visited North Lake Tahoe on a long-awaited fall vacation, renting…

5 Korean items win 2018 Good Food Awards

These specialty-food innovators from Northern California, Midwest and East Coast incorporate Korean staples such as 김치 kimchi, 갯입 kkaenip (shiso) leaves and 고추장 gochujang into award-winning drinkables, pourables and munchables.

Hidden Kimchi: Backyard restaurant, Forestville, Calif.

It’s easy to find kimchi and other Korean dishes in any Korean or Asian restaurant that wears its Korean bona fides on its sleeve. One click on Yelp, and you’re on your way. However, there’s no sense of adventure or discovery in that. When one diligently searches for and finds the best kimchi burger hidden in…