Fresh Kimchi–Gut Jul Eeh Kimchi with Raw Oysters

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving! I’m sure our dinner table isn’t much different from some of the other Korean-American dinner tables out there. For as long as I can remember we have always had Korean food on Thanksgiving. It wasn’t until I was old enough to learn how to roast a turkey that our family started having turkey on Thanksgiving. =P Now our tables look like a mix of the old and new with Korean food intermingling with American food.

One of my mom’s specialties around the holidays is a fresh gut-jul-eeh kimchi she makes specifically for my halmoni who doesn’t like the sourness of fermented kimchi. I asked my mom where she learned to cook and she told me that all of the myun-noo-ris in our family were taught how to cook by my grandmother. I now understand why the food at all the different households on my dad’s side pretty much tastes the same. My grandmother hails from a town called Andong and I was told by many people that the ladies of Andong are known for their cooking prowess.

I went to my parent’s house early in the morning to start the ham and turkey, so I was actually able to watch her make this fresh kimchi from start to finish. It is one of my husband’s favorite dishes, so I made sure to note how much of everything she used. Of course there are no exact measurements, I was able to eyeball her proportions pretty well…I think. =P

First, a small peek at our dinner table. My mom’s *famous* chong-gak kimchi (really, it’s GOOD – and I’m not just saying that because she’s my mom), kongnamool moochim, cornbread stuffing (with cranberries, apples, turkey sausage, almonds, onions, parsley, celery, and…whatever else I had on hand), fresh cranberry sauce, grilled snapper, spinach moochim, roasted ham, roasted turkey, garlic mashed potatoes and creamed corn. I made all the American food and my mom made all the Korean food. We are a good combo in the kitchen and totally know how to work around each other now.

Have I mentioned how much I love my mom? She’s my favorite person next to Munchkin. =P

Take one cucumber and chop it up like so and then sprinkle a little bit of sea salt and set aside.

Then grab one napa and start washing it and taking it apart.

Then take a knife and start slicing the napa into little pieces straight into the same bowl. My mom just holds it up and just takes her knife and slices it directly above the bowl. Then generously sprinkle salt on top and set it aside for a couple of hours.

After the napa begins to look soft, rinse the salt water out under cool water and then julienne half a moo into the bowl as well.

Add some green onions…

Add about 1/4 cup of minced garlic.

Meanwhile defrost your raw oysters. I wasn’t able to take a picture of the bag, but my mom tells me they sell it frozen in a bag and it’s usually next to the frozen fish area…

Then add about 4-5 TB of sesame seeds…

1-2 TB of sugar…(my mom uses this Korean sugar that looks brown)

Add your red pepper flakes. Depending on the type of red pepper flakes you have, you have to adjust your measurements accordingly. This is the one my MIL brought back from Korea last year and it’s very light. We tend to use a lot of more of this when making recipes because it’s not as red.

My mom then added the oysters (about 1/2 cup) and shrimp jut (1 TB). I actually asked my mom why she doesn’t chop up the raw oysters (since they tend to look pretty GROSS) and she said it’s because then it *bursts* and the kimchi tastes much more fishy.

Mix, mix, mix!

And we realized that it could use a little more color, so in went some more red pepper powder.

And voila! Fresh gut-jul-eeh kimchi. This tastes best when served within an hour or two of preparation. It will naturally ferment into kimchi as well and can be eaten when it’s fermented, but because a lot of the real steps to making kimchi were skipped, this type never tastes as good as real beh-choo kimchi. Yes, I will do a step-by-step of beh-choo kimchi one day…

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I hope you found time to reminisce your past and find many things you are thankful for. Life can throw unexpected twists and turns to you, but always remember that there is a light at the end of tunnel.

My latest scans all came back clear. My chest is free of mets and my head and neck is free of disease as well. Two years after diagnosis, I am still cancer-free. I’m sure there are tiny little buggers lurking around somewhere inside my body, but I’m hopeful that I will live to see Munchkin grow old.

Health, happiness, love and many blessings to all my readers! Thank you for having been my outlet to break down and reconstruct myself these past couple of years. This blog was truly my form of therapy. It is a small slice of space away from my real world. It’s a place I come to when I’m feeling a bit down.

Writing these posts and sharing our families recipes is cathartic. It’s a way to heal. So thank you for helping me heal.

P.S. For those of you who are curious. All pictures were taken with my Canon G11. I didn’t have my Canon 50D with me on this day.

Cow Parts

MOOOOOOO. That’s me being a cow.

Hello all! I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving break – yes I realize I’m a bit late. Anyhow, I thought I would do a short little blog on cow parts. I made beef tang no less than four times already this winter so I thought I would share some of the different parts of cow you can buy at the butcher shop so you can see what it looks like.

Knee caps. If you go to Jinju Gomtang, they have a great do-ga-ni tang - though I confess that I haven’t been there in a very long time since I’m not out and about in K-town like I was in my twenties. =P They give you kitchen shears and a big plate of knee caps with soft tendons falling off the bones. I loved eating all the tendons and dipping into their soy sauce/wasabi mix. Squeamish? Don’t be. Give it a try and you might become a fan!

This is where the marrow is. Even if you don’t use other parts, I suggest adding some beef marrow to any gook or tang you make.

Ox tails are always a favorite in tangs. I always separate my meat after boiling for a while and store it for easier access.

Beef brisket. After boiling for a few hours, I will take this out of the soup and let it cool down. Then you just take a sharp kitchen knife and slice the meat into thin strips.

Beef Feet. This is definitely not for the weak of heart, but I guarantee your gook will be much more milky and flavorful if you add some feet. Try it. I promise you won’t regret it.

I normally use all the ox tails and then use about half of everything else. Let it drain in water and then boil and throw out the water.

You can store the remaining cow parts for another time.

Remember, boil and throw it out once!

Then wash and clean all your bits and pieces and add water and boil, boil, boil. You can see the more in-depth how-to over HERE and HERE.

Hope everyone has a great holiday! We will be heading over to the Motherland again to spend Christmas and New Year’s in Seoul. And yes, food pictures from the homeland will be coming up again so get ready to salivate.

And can someone please tell North Korea to tone it down a little while we’re over there? Thanks.

Korean Food in China

LingLing and I were staring at KFC and McDonald's, both of us not wanting to eat fast food but also not wanting Chinese food either, when we noticed this new Korean restaurant right in between the two. I, for one, was really excited. I've been dying for some barbecue!

They have all the usual stuff on the first few pages of the menu: kalbi, (beef) sam gyeop sal, (thick bacon) and on the next few pages, not so usual things. I don't think I'll be ordering the Roast Chicken Stomach, Roast Chicken Heart or Sliced Ox Tongue today. I ordered bulgogi and something for LingLing as she doesn't really like meat that much.

One of the differences between here and Korea, and I didn't find this out until the bill came, but they actually charge you extra for things like the coals, 6 Kuai (about 75 cents). It's not really a big deal, but why not just add the price in with the meat. I mean, who's going to order raw Chicken heart and not cook it? Then again, this is China.

Also, and I can't see this going over well with the Korean population - you have to buy kimchi for 8-10 kuai (over a dollar) and even the leaves are not free, another 10 kuai. My favorite extra charge was 2 kuai, for the dipping sauce which we dodn't order but came with the meal. We were shocked they didn't charge us when we asked for more garlic!

LingLing doesn't really like Korean food, to be honest. I can't blame her as she's only had it a few times and for most people it's an acquired taste. However, most of the places we've tried have been Chinese Korean style, which is much different. This is the first authentic place I took her and she really enjoyed it. Notice the change in her expression when she sees the food come...

She mostly likes vegetables and so this was a nice surprise for her: bimim bap, which is basically mixed vegetables with rice in a stone bowl. It's pretty much all I ate when I first went to Korea and hence why even now I can't eat it anymore.

Here it all is. You can see that 2 kuai sauce there in front. I think the soup was free, but I could be wrong.

Despite the pettiness of being charged extra for every little thing, the food and service was very good. They came to change the grill every 5 minutes. And even with all the hidden charges the total came to much less than it would in Korea. I think we paid 75 kuai, just under $10. In Korea all this would have been around $20. I guess the way they do it just seems sneaky, but as LingLing said to me, "In China, nothing is free." I'm just happy I found such a place to get my Korean fix of barbecue. I also found a Korean fried Chicken and Hoff place, too, which I'll have to get pictures of next time I go.

Slow Down and Look at the Purple Flowers

When I was in Gyeongbokgung in Gwanghwamun one day I noticed people zipping and zooming by these nice flowers without so much as the slightest glance. Seoul people: stop! Slow down! Look around you! Look at this beauty! There's time to enjoy life and it's many gifts. Don't hurry your lives away on meaningless hustle and bustle. For what do you pass up these flowers for? Can you even remember last Thursday? How about last Friday at 6:00? What were you doing then? It's not too late to start enjoying today! Oops, look at the time. I have to hurry off to class.

Sam Gyeop Sal

Take a look at this picture of Sam Gyeop Sal smoking on a hot stone grill. This is yet another of my favorite dishes. You mix pieces of the meat, sauce, garlic, kimchi, tofu, mushrooms, or any of the other side dishes and roll it up in a fresh lettuce leave and chomp! chomp! chomp! Oh wonderful Korean food - my mouth is watering at the mere thought!

Jake the Snake

This is my friend Jake with his woman at a club called Stomper's in Hongdae. Look at him turn on the charm. Surely she can't resist!


This is my friend Jake after about 10 beers. Watch as he turns into a raging red-eye'd dance machine. Hold the mouse over the picture to find out Jake's secret thoughts...there's a new thought everyday, so check back often.


Here's my Australian friend Mark from the guesthouse. Are you having a good time, Mark? Say "Kimchi!"

The Seoul Blog - Getting Drunk Out of Your Mind

Koreans in general are drinkers. They are among the top alcohol consumers in the world. And when they drink, they tend to drink hard and fast. There is no moderation. It's not uncommon to see people staggering down the street early in the evening barely able to walk, vomiting on the streets. I'm not sure whether it's the peer pressuring system of "one shot" that requires them to down shot after shot of liqour in rapid succession, or whether it's an inherit need to quickly and completely escape the pressures of Korean life. In any event, the more you can drink here, amazingly, the more socially admirable you become. Also the bars stay open until the customers go home, and you can by booze at anytime of the day or week.


I remember the first time I drank Soju, a Korean vodka based drink. It was with my first boss, after signing the contract to work at his school. It seemed a little odd to me to be drinking with my boss, much less pounding one shot after another in some kind of competition. Needless to say I lost miserably. He put away 3 bottles without a flinch. I had about 1 and-a-half before I excused myself to go home and vomit and to get up early for my first day of work with a headache and upset stomach.


Check out this article called, The Global Hangover Clinic.


Looks like all that beer and Soju caught up with these guys. It's 11:00 o'clock and already one guy is passed out cold. His buddy across the table is engaged in singing to himself and performing some kind of bizarre dance. The other guy maintains control. He'd better drink a few more.



The passed out guy pukes on himself. He wakes up for a moment, chews the
vomit in his mouth, swallows, and falls back to sleep. His buddy across the table
stops dancing and has a look. It would be a shame to let this moment slip
into the past, forever forgotten. For posterity, I snap a picture from the shadows.