I still haven’t given up my day job to become a chocolatier. However, after my first custom-ordred chocolate bar, courtesy of Chocri, a German chocolate maker, turned out so well, I thought I’d try to create another Koreafornian chocolate bar, this time in honor of White Day. White Day is celebrated in Korea as a…
5 minute Korean chocolate mug cake
Many Korean apartments and condos do not have ovens (as many expats discover after moving to South Korea). Having to adjust to cooking without a major appliance can make it life in the “Land of the Morning Calm” difficult if you enjoy baking. This is a cake recipe you can make in your microwave in…
Recipe: Chuncheon dakkalbi
I talk about Chuncheon and dakkalbi (Chuncheon-style spicy stir-fried chicken) both in videos and on this blog, yet I’ve never posted my recipe for this iconic Chuncheon dish. When I lived in Chuncheon, I visited Dakkalbi Street at least once a month to savor this wonderful dish. There were more than a dozen restaurants in…
Sink your teeth into this Korean-flavored journal
If you’re looking for a journal to take with you on your next trip to South Korea, consider getting your hands on this journal from the Pretzels N Pumpkin shop on Etsy. After all, you can’t take your laptop computer everywhere. The 50-page journal is made from a recycled cookie box and spiral bound for…
Korean chef stunned at foreigner’s acceptance of spicy bibimbap
The JoongAng Daily ran an on-line feature article about Chef Park Hyo-nam, the executive chef at the Millennium Seoul Hilton in central Seoul. He helped President Lee and First Lady Kim host a Korea Night event during the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Jan. 28. He had to come up with a menu for…
Like a fried egg on bibimbap!
If you carry your love of Korean food on your sleeve (or know someone who does), consider this bibimbap-inspired wristlet as a gift to yourself or a Korea-phile chingu (friend). A cute way to carry your essentials, this 4″ by 4″ square pouch is perfect for the Korean food lover in your life. Just the…
Yujacha Hamantaschen
Today is Purim on the Jewish calendar, and Jews (and non-Jewish friends and family) all over the world are celebrating this holiday. The quintessential Purim food is a cookie called Hamantaschen. They are folded into a triangle and are meant to resemble either Haman’s tri-corner hat or his ears, depending on which tradition…
What is your “can’t find it but I need it” ingredient?
I found a Korean pomegranate recipe on Korea.net by Kim Yong-ja back in December 2009. When I decided to make the Seongnyu-muk (Pomegranate Jelly) recipe, I knew immediately that I’d have to make a couple of modifications to make it more user-friendly (and edible for me and my family). The first modification was the purchase…
Street vendor harrassment in California
From the video: “Taco trucks pull up to curbs and offer LA eaters everything from tofu bowls to Korean barbeque. Customers flock to them, and recently so have police officers. Truck owners report being cited for everything from parking too close to curbs to parking too far away. Sometimes officers shut them down. Why would…
JoongAng Daily and YouTube hangover soups
JoongAng Daily published a list of Korean hangover cure soups from all over South Korea. To help you make these yourself, I complied YouTube how-to videos on all the recipes mentioned in the article. The JoongAng recipes are only loose approximations of the ingredients — no portions or times. Jeonju bean sprout soup by Maangchi…