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Showing posts from 2008

Wanted: The Korean Ajumma

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The Korean Ajumma, wanted in connection with pushing shoving, bad fashion, and the nasty glare. Originally from the Dowlerseoul files. It's a great blog about a family's life in Seoul. Check it out here.

Bread Recipe from Allrecipes.com

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Allrecipes.com has been redesigned and I really like how they've added an ingredients calculator. You just plug in the number of servings you would like to make and it will recalculate it for you. Check out the site here. www.allrecipes.com Simple Whole Wheat Bread SUBMITTED BY: Nita Crabb PHOTO BY: MommyFromSeattle "Simply a great-tasting and easy-to-make whole wheat bread." RECIPE RATING:

Meet up- TBS efm and Seouleats

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Hey everyone, I would like to invite you to a New Year's Eve event that TBS efm is hosting. The radio station is hosting a party that is open to all- especially foreigners in the city. It is going to on Wednesday, December 31 from 7-10pm-so it would be a great place to pregame before heading out to another New Year's Day party. It is going to be held at Nam San Gukakdang (Classic Korean Music Hall) in Nam San Korean village. Directions are below. They will have live music, free T-shirts, and lots of free beer. Yes, you heard me correctly: free beer. And they will be giving away 10 iPods! I think they'll be giving other things away too. There is going to be an after party and lots of cool bands. Kim Yong Woo, Lee An, Kim Mok Kyung, Windy City, Mithy Mouth, The Choi Chi Woo Band, We need Surgery, Fan Death, New Town and Achtung and Dynamic Duo will be performing. It's going to be a totally rocking Christmas Eve. The registration period is over, but I have been given a bu

Posh Nosh

This is an amazing cooking show featuring two very saucy hosts. It has a biting sense of humor and it has sarcasm verging on the surreal. It features Simon and Minty Marchmont. I found them caustic at first, but their little anecdotes and witticisms made me warm to them. One of my favorite scenes has a blindfolded Simon trying to find the best olive oil or as he says it, "I am looking for that exra virgin purity. He says this as he tastes the first one, "that's been around the block a couple times." As for the second he says, "The common old tart. What mummy would have called a vile little hussy." And for the final one, "Oh heaven. That's an absolute Brittney." They throw in little quips alluding to their wealth and their dysfunctional marriage and family. Here is episode 3 where Simon makes fun of Minty's pronounciation. I love her phrasing such as, "interrograte the mussels," "tumble the paella," and "join us ne

Traditional Korean Cooking Class

This School has closed. If you are looking for Korean cooking classes, please go to www.ongofood.com Traditional Korean Cooking Class 잡채 JABCHAE (potato starch noodles, stir-fried with vegetables) 약식 YAKSIK (sweet rice with pine nuts, chestnut, jujubes, honey) 2009, 19th January, Monday, 10:30 am-01:00 pm Participation Fee: 10 000 won Address : RINAI ACEDEMY, Line 2, Hongdaeibgoo Station (239). (Meet at the Itaewon∙Hannam Global Village Center at10:00am) 5F Hannam Bldg., 737-37 Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul 140-893, Korea Tel: 02-796-2459~60 / Fax: 02-795-1154

Response: Where to get fresh herbs

Dear readers, Recently, a reader who shall stay anonymous asked wrote this: Anonymous said... great pics! i've really been enjoying this blog ever since i stumbled upon it a few weeks ago .. you guys seem really knowledgeable in the realm of food & s. korea ... so if it's not too presumptuous, i have a question ... where the heck can you get fresh herbs in korea?!!!!!!!!! i'm dying for some fresh thyme and rosemary and cilantro and .. etc .. :) First of all, thank you for reading my blog. I am flattered. E-mart usually has basil when it is in season. I'm not sure if they have it now since it is so cold. Usually they'll have fancy (curly) parsley. I've found that in Itaewon, the Foreign mart will almost always have cilantro and they often have basil, mint, and rosemary. They also have fresh kaffir leaves, Thai bird chili peppers, and lemongrass. Hannam Market is also pretty reliable for herbs and I have even seen fresh thyme there, but the prices are often r

Bon Juk in Atlanta!

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(Patjuk from Bon Juk) Readers living in Korea are familiar with Bon Juk, a popular and reliable chain restaurant which serves up a tasty selection of 죽 (juk, rice porridge). Although there are some Bon Juk locations on the West Coast, previously there were none in Atlanta, until now that is! A Bon Juk recently opened in Atlanta, conveniently located next to the H-Mart in Duluth. According to their website, two more locations will be opening soon in Doraville, and John's Creek. Atlanta has lots of Korean restuarants, but they are mostly barbecue or tofu houses. It's nice to have a place exclusively for juk. I think it's a sign that the Korean population in Atlanta is getting big enough to support places that specialize in one particular kind of food instead of offering a wide selection. I hope it's also a sign that interest in Korean food is growing as well. So far Bon Juk in Atlanta has been getting good reviews, and was featured in the AirTran inflight magazine thi

More Pictures

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Bananas, Coca Cola, and Chocolate. The best Korean restaurants have lots of Taxi drivers because they are all very particular. Here is one in Haebangchon next to Taco Taco Chili Chili. Black Garlic. It's good for health. Pumpkin Rice Cake Lotus Tea Donut Radio Here is a Swedish Spoon Fork and Knife.

Quick Pics

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Chicken and potatoes dish from Black Sheep in Hongdae Another shot of the chicken dish from Hongdae Salmon and Linguine from Black Sheep Cool kids in Hongdae Okonomiyake from No Sides in Hongdae Club Evans

Merry Christmas Everyone! AND Welcome Amy!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas. Yesterday I spent the evening making lemon bars and persimmon bread. The lemon bars were not as good as before- the crust just wouldn't set hard enough so it ended up like a lemon brownie. It didn't really matter though because everyone ate them all. The lemon curd was quite awesome thanks to my microplane. Hubble just got a haircut and he is cold because it is winter. He is curded up on my bed basking in the sun. He looks normal again and I've vowed never to groom my dog again. Other things. If you get a chance, listen to the Steve Hatherly show on TBS eFM radio. You can listen to it online at http://tbsefm.seoul.kr His show is on from 2-4 everyday. On Thursday, you might even catch me on his show talking about food. Today I talked about baking, restaurants in Itaewon, and Hotels. One tip I did mention was that you can substitute maple syrup for vanilla extract. You can and it works really well. Here is a website that I fou

Dinner and Night-Skiing

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This past weekend I went to Phoenix Park. My friends and I went to the Castle Pines "Western Restaurant" at The Hotel. Though I opted for lighter fare, my friends had DELICIOUS seafood pasta stuffed with mussels, clams, oysters... ohhhh they had to stop me from eating all their food! If you find yourself at Phoenix Park this winter, I suggest the Castle Pines restaurant. The pasta will only run you 13,000 and a drink (which they are also good at) will be about 6,000. They have really good wine and my Manhattan was lovely! Here's some pictures: The wonderful seafood pasta Me with my delicious (and very alcoholic) Manhattan! It even had an olive--I was excited. haha. This is what every new snowboarder needs: a hearty meal, and a good drink to make the pain go away. I ended my night with an Irish Coffee which is a very funny story. I asked the waitress for an Irish Coffee and hinted at the Bailey's I saw on the counter. After watching her pick up a bottle of Ir

Make Christmas Cookies Tonight!

Merry Christmas! Like me, most of you are probably working today -- boooo!! On the bright side, a little pre-planning and a trip to your local grocery store can give you a Christmas Eve that's bright and merry! Want to make sugar cookies tonight? Simple--all you need is some main ingredients and voila! Toaster oven: Can't make cookies without this staple item. I got mine from Gmarket.co.kr, but you can get yours at E-mart, Lotte, or any big department store. A good one will run you about 50,000+ but you can get a pretty decent one for about 30,000. My school bought mine and it's a Tefal "Cook 'n Toast." I DO NOT recommend this type of toaster oven. Why? It has a strange feature of a cooktop. Normally multitasking items are a good thing but the drawback is the heat is leached out through the top (plus there's a gaping hole where the cooktop sets on top of the oven itself). It's difficult to regulate and takes a little more cookie-sitting comp

Quick Pics: Edamame, Jjimddak, and Sandwiches

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More Christmas Dinners

Here are some Christmas events held in Hotels. For expats, having dinner in a hotel is still considered high class in Korea, so if you have a date and you haven't made plans yet, then you better get cracking. Dan These were originally listed in the Korea Herald For families Hyatt Regency Incheon: Restaurant 8 is on the vanguard of going all-out Christmas, with its "live Christmas market dining," available on Christmas Eve from 6 to 11 p.m. and on Christmas Day from noon to 10 p.m. It is designed for the entire family to enjoy a range of Italian, French, Asian, Korean and Japanese dishes along with European dessert. By walking through the scrumptious selection of cuisines, customers can also interact with the chefs and watch them cook. There will be live music: piano, guitar and saxophone, while entertainment for kids includes, what else, a magic and balloon show. The market dining is priced at 100,000 won for Dec. 24, 80,000 won for Dec. 25 and 50,000 won between 3 p.m.

Rocky Mountain Tavern Christmas Dinner

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From 3-6 on Christmas Day. 40,000 won

Surviving Seoul: Living Tips

In this first part of Seoul Survivor I want to go over some helpful tips that I think will help make your lives a little easier. Instead of talking about just one subject, The first part of Surviving Seoul is going to cover a variety of different topics. In the second part of Seoul Survivor, I am going to talk about how to take import your pets overseas. Here we go. If you have received gifts of kimchi this year from friends and it is simply sitting in the refrigerator in a large Tupperware container, then I suggest you take the kimchi out and turn it over for a bit to let the spicy kimchi juices re-hydrate the top layers of kimchi. Contrary to popular belief, kimchi can go bad; but if you keep it hydrated, it can last for a long time. If your parents or friends are trying to send you gifts from America, they will save a whole lot of money just using regular international shipping from the postal service versus a commercial service such as UPS or DHL. Now this might also be from other

Los Amigos

Here is a review that I wrote for Eloquence magazine. I tried to be nice in my review but I have to admit, it's not the best Mexican Restaurant in Korea. If I were to rank the best Mexican Restaurants in Korea I would rank them like this: 1. Dos Tacos 2. On The Border 3. Taco Taco Chili Chili 4. Los Amigos 5. Choi's Tacos 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. ... 99. Casa Maya 100. Panchos I'm going to make it over to Tomatillo's at some point. Because SeoulSteves keeps raving about it. Here is the review: A restaurant is more than just food. It is the environment, the personal service, and the introduction to a different culture. Often the best cultural ambassadors are the chefs. Now when you meet someone from a different culture, there are often compromises that have to be made. For example, take the flavor of cilantro. It has an herbaceous, anise, and earthy flavor that I've found many Koreans really don't like. I hated cilantro when I was young, and yet now I won't consider s

Pogue’s Photography Tips and Tricks

I thought this was very enlightening and awesome. I love the lampshade trick and the shaky picture trick. Here's the permalink. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/technology/personaltech/18pogue-email.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink Dan December 18, 2008 From the Desk of David Pogue Pogue’s Photography Tips and Tricks By DAVID POGUE It's a crazy time of year to be finishing a book. But in between present wrapping and tree trimming, that's exactly what I'm doing. It's a book on digital photography, which, as you probably know, is among my favorite hobbies. As I write, I keep coming across these important tips and saying to myself, "Man, this is what people REALLY need to know. I should pull them out into a special list at the back of the book called, 'The Best Photography Tricks of All Time,' so people can't miss it." So that's exactly what I'm doing. Thought I'd send you the list as it stands today, so

Learn Photography from the guru of photography: Metropolitician

The Metropolitician is an amazing photographer and he wants to give the amateur or aspiring tips on buying cameras. Photography in Korea, Part 1: Buying a Real Camera (a DSLR) I've been trying to do this post for a long time , but kept getting bogged down by other things. I get asked so often, "What kind of camera should I get if I want to get more seriously into photography?" that I felt it time to definitively answer the question. And I'm going to be blunt and partisan about it, but it's still the best answer I think to that particular question. If you are a Nikon fanboy, or don't agree with my recommendations, you can make a comment here or write your own post about it on your own blog; but these are the best recommendations and answer to that question I can think of, and I think people want a straight answer to questions like this, instead of hemming and hawing. Because it's a pretty stressful question. So here's are some issues and an

Menu Console Computer for Ordering Korean Food

From The Korea Herald The Seoul Tourism Organization has unveiled an electronic menu device allowing local restaurants to better serve expatriate customers. The organization yesterday launched a test run of the device, called "Menu Console" at five traditional Korean restaurants in Seoul. The multilingual Menu Console is a touch-pad 7-inch Ultra Mobile Personal Computer, or UMPC containing information on taste, ingredients, history and how to eat each item on the menu. The languages provided are English, Chinese and Japanese, as well as Korean. The gadget also offers several basic Korean expressions that one may need to use in restaurants such as to ask for more water or to make an additional order. The device will enable customers to make easy orders without risking miscommunication with staff, the organization said. While Menu Consoles are manufactured in the form of UMPC for the test-run, they can also be produced as a PDP, LCD and other devices depending on the restaurant

Lightning Review: Macaroni Market

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Here is my partner in culinary crime- Sara Kim AKA the most fabulous host on TBS 101.3 efm Close up on the Prosccioutto, Mango Salad The Steak Sandwich was awesome! It had Sour cream, watercress and wasabi 14,000 Lemon Tart 6,000 Chocolate Tart 6,000 Pork Belly with tomato chutney and watercress. The place is spacious and upscale. I love the glass balcony that you can sit on and oversee the wildlife below. The place has great baguettes: crispy and full bodied. They also have inventive sandwiches and menu offerings. The desserts look awesome. It has a little bit of everything, which I call the bibimbap factor. They are going for the high end, niche market and their competive edge seems to be high end ingredients and using an inventive fusion approach. I had the Spicy Pork Belly, which was perfectly cooked. The skin was crackling good because the chef seared the top and then slowly cooked it in the oven for hours and hours. The meat just dripped off. The fat had rendered into soft butter

First Impressions: Macaroni Market

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So what's in a name? Is it a market that sells macaroni? Well, they do have macaroni and cheese on the menu and the market has lots of high end teas, wines, and chocolates. Friendly Service. Interesting Menu. Too bad they misspelled Sandwiches^^ Prociutto Rocket and Mango Salad. Meh. The Mango was frozen so it didn't pair well with anything. It would have been good if they were thawed. And it wasn't really a salad. It was basically 3 different things put on a plate that were asked to play nicely with each other. (12,000) Spicy Pork Belly with Tomato Chutney. Awesome. It fell off the bone. It was delicious. 14,000 2F Hannam BLDG 737-50, Hannam 1-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Korea