BusanKevin says, “It’s summer in Japan and 7-11 convenience stores are carrying a lot of Korean-themed food. I tried a kimchi chain onigiri. that is a kimchi fried-rice rice ball. I thought it was pretty good.” The Japanese 7-Eleven’s serve up Bae Yong-joon designed kimbap to their customers and now they get some TVXQ and Girl’s…
Koreafornian recipes for National Onion Month
August is National Onion Month, an invented excuse to eat lots of the bold bulbs. Raw, sauteed, caramelized, boiled or baked, any onion is a good onion. However, a light touch with the flame will help your onions retain more nutritional value in the final dish. American columnist Elizabeth Robins Pennell wrote: Banish [the onion]…
Celebrate Liberation Day: Dak jjim recipe video
Today is Liberation Day in Korea, which commemorates their liberation from Japanese rule (1910-1945). In Korean, the holiday is called Gwangbokjeol. In the States, it is referred to as Victory in Japan Day, or VJ Day. In honor of the 66th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan, Take notes on this cooking video I found…
Review: VIP Restaurant (영빈관), Anchorage, Alaska
On trips to see family in Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage, I make it a point to visit VIP Restaurant at least once. It’s located in the Valhalla Center, a retail and office building amid the Korean business cluster along West Northern Lights Boulevard. There are a few other Korean restaurants in the city, but I…
What’s the difference between spicy chicken dishes dakkalbi and buldak?
Korean language teacher BusyAtom JB of Korean Every Day asked me via Twitter: Could you explain the difference between 닭갈비 and 불닭? I couldn’t answer that in 140 characters or less. I broke my reply into two parts. Reply No. 1: 불닭 (fire chicken) is much spicier than 춘천 닭갈비 (chuncheon dakkalbi). Buldak literally means…
Korean Food Foundation Presents “Angelo Sosa Goes Korean” Party
The Korean Food Foundation and Chef Angelo Sosa (of Social Eatz) hosted a party on July 20, 2011 showing New Yorkers how they can incorporate Korean ingredients into familiar American foods, such as tomato soup and mini-burgers. Menu items included Blackberry-tini Sweet and Spicy Tomato Soup Bulgogi meat balls with Asian Pear salad Chillled buckwheat…
Yonhap feature: ‘Culinary connoisseurs crave kimchi crocks’
My first article for Yonhap News Agency posted today. I interviewed Adam Field, an onggijang (kimchi crock potter) based in Durango, Colo. He hand-produces onggi for customers eager to make their own kimchi with the same methods Koreans have used for more than 5,000 years. Adam Field lives in Durango, Colo. He took this photo…
Study: Seaweed beats milk as most nutritious food
The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, which is published by the American Chemical Society, recently published a meta-analysis of nearly 100 scientific studies that found seaweed may become a more important source of bio-available peptides than dairy products. Seaweed, raw or lightly sauteed, makes a wonderful, healthful salad. (Tammy Quackenbush photo) Bio-available peptides are…
Army Base Camp Soup-Budae Jjigae (부대찌개)
Chris asks, “What does a poor, hungry Korean do with a pack of hotdogs, spam, bacon, and baked beans? Add hot pepper sauce and make Soup! Budae jjigae (literally: Army Base Camp Soup) comes from the Korean War times. American Soldiers gave food to the hungry Koreans, and this is what they made with it!…
Review: Trader Joe’s Bibimbap
The lastest of several prepared Korean dishes introduced recently by Trader Joe’s, a Monrovia, Calif.-based chain of grocery stores, is a frozen version of 비빔밥 bibimbap. This is what it looks like before it’s microwaved. The bright orange carrots are a promising sign. (Tammy Quackenbush photo) This “mixed-up rice” dish — the meaning of the…