Tteokbokki for the aspiring Korean cook

All right. For those of you who were asking if I ever cook Korean food for my husband, why, yes...yes I do.  I try to be sensitive to the fact that although he has lived in the States for almost 5 years now, he still really misses home and (as he claims) the superior food that Korea offers. So, as a good little wife, I am trying to embrace the culture and cook food he loves. Here is a break down of how I cook Tteokbokki, which is how Kyoung Hee likes it. There are several different ways to do it and it all just depends on the tastes of the ones who will be eating it. For those of you who have never had tteokbokki, Tteokbokki is a delicious Korean snack food that is usually eaten from street vendors or at train stations. It is a spicy rice/fish cake concoction that is really very good, once you get used to the super spiciness. This is how I make it. You will need a deep skillet pan to cook. Take 10-15 minutes to cook. 

First....cut one onion into slices

Add one spoonful of tashida(Korean) this can be found in Korean markets. It is basically like All-spice. It just adds flavor.

Add one spoonful of minced garlic to the skillet and mix with onions and tashida. 

Add two handfuls of round rice cakes 

Add 2-3 handfuls of fish cakes--These can be fish cake balls or fish cake strips, it doesn't matter

It should look like this. Then turn the stove on med-high and begin the boiling process

My husband likes to add soy sauce and 2 spoonfuls of sugar but this is not required. He just likes it that way.  No exact measurement on the soy sauce. I just go around in two circles pouring the soy sauce into the pan. 

This is the important part. You will need Gochujang for this step. It is hot pepper paste and you can get it from the Korean/Asian market.

Looks wonky I know. Put 1-2 spoonfuls into the boiling mixture. Stir until completely dissolved. Let simmer over low heat until the rice cakes are all squishy. 

Should look something like this at the end. Happy eating! 

  

I'll bruiser you!

So last night my husband and I were watching this Korean show called Superstar K. During one of the acts a man was "popping", which is a style of dancing much like the robot, only cooler. He is suddenly spray painted from behind in purples and blues and reds that looks like he is bleeding and hurt. Go Korean interpretive dance! It's all in Korean, so I only understand maybe like 12% of what is being said. I turn to my husband and ask what it all meant. Kyoung Hee said the song was about saying goodbye to your love at an airport and how the hurt of the separation bruisers him. "Bruisers?" I repeated. "Yes, he was bruisered." K replied. "You mean bruised right?" I said. "Oh....right. Bruiser is someone from WWE fighting.....so the word is bruised?" K tried to brush it off all cool....I was laughing. It is so adorable when K makes everyday words cute. It's hard to correct him.   However...looking at the pictures makes me think Bruisering someone might be more painful.....
                                                           

this is Bruiser

This is a bruise

Communication Barrier

Sometimes my relationship with my husband makes me want to slam my head into the nearest wall. The fact that he and I speak different languages and have had to create our own common language might have something to do with it. But sometimes the barrier doesn't have anything to do with words, it is the cultural differences. Especially when it comes to food. Last night at about 11:30 we are settled in for the night and he turns to me and says "I want a soda." Being the only one with a license, this means that I would have to get up and go drive to the nearest store to purchase said soda. I am one of those people, who could probably be labeled a grandmother, that does not like to go out past a certain time at night unless it was already agreed upon beforehand(like a party or something) K is the opposite and is a complete night owl. He doesn't see anything wrong with just picking up and going to do something at midnight. In Korea he would do that all the time, he says. Needless to say sometimes love is working past the barriers in a relationship and putting the other person first. Which is to say that K totally had to wait for his soda until the next day. ;) 

Julie, Julia & Kimchi?

I have decided to start a bit of a cooking/blogging project. Once a week I will cook some Korean dish and post about it on my blog. Hopefully this will lead to my progression and betterment in cooking Korean food. We shall see. First up is Korean Spicy Pork with rice and Kimchi. Jae Yook Bok Geun is the Korean name for it. (Any native Koreans out there, please forgive my Romanized spelling!)

New Year's Resolutions

I try to stay away from New Year's resolutions, mainly because if I make a point to say my resolutions out loud or jot them down, the less likely they are to happen. Not quite sure why this is, but I am certain that I am not the only person. However, 2013 is set to be a busy, life changing year; therefore, I feel like the resolutions I put down are more likely to actually happen. 2013 is the decided year of continent hopping. By the end of this year everything will need to be in place to move to Korea. Which makes the list of resolutions a bit long this January. Usually I just have 2 or 3 resolutions.  So here they are:

• apply for a Korean Visa
• apply for a job in Seoul
• become functionally proficient in Korean
• effectively pack and ship necessary things to Korea. 
• find new homes for Calcifer and Pippa (this one makes me super sad.) 
• save enough money for this epic move
• read 50 books during the course of this year
• lose 20 pounds (gotta lose the the squishy tummy!) 
• Get K and I both checked at the doctor, dentist and eye doctor before we leave
• learn how to back stitch. 
• spend more time with family members this year. 
• get my husband and I in better health! 
• BLOG! 

So there you have it. An ambitious list, to be sure. Stay tuned and I will attempt at keeping this blog updated more frequently as the year progresses.