Buchujeon Pancakes are simple and easy to make. The secret is the batter which should be made with half buchu powder and half glutinous rice powder. Of course you could do this with buchu powder and regular flour which would add more crispiness. To make the mix you add ice cold water to the mix and stir till it has the consistency of yogurt. I mean regular yogurt, not Greek. You cut up the buchu, the green onions into a 4 centimeter length and then mix it in with the yogurt consistency mix. Add oil to a pan and then fry till crispy. I like to add an egg on top and then flip it to add a bit of body to the pancake but you can skip that if you'd like. Serve it with a sauce made with 1/2 vinegar, 1/3 soy sauce and some red pepper powder.
So adventures in fatherhood continues. My lovely wife and I have become food snobs because of a few recent disasterous food delivery events. I ordered 7th Street Pizza thinking it would be like New York-style pizza. It wasn't. It had sweet sauce and the dough was made of 11 different grains that made it soggy and purple. Pizza is not supposed to be purple. We also did some Kyochon Chicken which was mostly bone and dry. So...we have decided that I would cook. Usually I do a Mediterranean style meals with salads and brown rice but my wife wanted some pasta. So I decided to do some ziti with pork meatballs.
The best part was that this entire meal came to under 15,000 won (about 12 usd) and it was actually enough for about 6 meals and it only took about 30 minutes. At the store I got about 6,000 won worth of ground pork. Ground pork in Korea is quite high quality so I knew it wouldn't be too gamey and it would cook up nicely.
To soak up the extra moisture in the meat balls and to add some flavor I made a mix of Parmesan, oregano, salt, a little pepper and just the egg yolk of an egg. I mixed it in to the pork and then put the meat in the fridge and let it rest for 20 minutes. Normally I would do this for a few hours, but I didn't have the time. After letting it rest I shaped them into balls and then pan fried them to get a crust on it.
Then I threw them into the microwave for 3 minutes to get the inside cooked and then I finished it off in some tomato sauce. I bought the Ottogi brand sauce that cost me about 5,000 won for a big bottle. It wasn't the best one and if they had canned tomatoes I would have made my own. I served this with a salad topped with red wine vinegar and some olive oil. I would have served garlic bread but...I am trying to cut down on carbs. I served it for my wife over pasta but I had the meatballs with brown rice.
It worked out quite well and my wife was so surprised since I made it all from scratch without breaking the bank.
Guys, next time you need a quick recipe that will get you kudos, this is a good dish.
So the other day I back to eat at the first Indian restaurant I ate at in Korea: Ganga. It has remained what it was at the beginning an expensive novelty that quelled that desire for Indian food. I mean at first it is fine but then you realized you dropped 50 dollars on 2 curries and some naan. When I was in college Indian food was filling and cheap (for I had no money). For good Indian food full of spice that doesn't break the bank I go to Everest. There is one by Dongdaemun but I found one also by Yeongdeunpo Station. Here I got some awesome chicken masala and palak paneer for only 20,000 won. Not bad and it is a good stop in place.
IOS as an operating system is not quite ready for prime time, the battery takes forever to charge, its heavy, and its multitasking functions are handicapped. It will need another couple reiterations before its ready for real work. So...for right now I have a very nice entertainment tablet with a pen that will allow me to e inner artist thats in me in the future (I could have done this just as easily with a decent sketchbook and an array of pencils.)
Sigh...
It's not a complete waste. The tablet is fast and some tasks on it like going through my Flickr account is much faster. For note taking apps with the pencil, its just gimmicky. I want to like it but I can't really justify the high price for something I used to accomplish with paper and a pen.
Also, the IOS versions of Movies and Garageband are stunted as well and I'm just not used to using them yet. Maybe I will be able to find some workarounds but I just need to get stuff done and I don't have time to try and find a new workflow.
Wait...games and Netflix are awesome on this tablet with its amazing screen but its not what I bought this for. It was to replace my aging computer and I didn't want to buy an non-upgradeable but new macbook pro. But it looks like now I will have to buy another computer like a macbook air and maybe I can use the macbook pro as a second monitor.
Having a kid makes you have to cook at home. Babies don't want to travel to some restaurant and then sit as adults gab and eat chow. Yeah, they are not into it. So...I cook at home and now I cook more healthy stuff. I am all about the brown rice these days and I've been doing healthier meals that are fast and convenient for myself and the misses.
Last week I was lucky since my buddy Chad made some bacon. He cured and smoked his own bacon therefore he is AOK in my book. My Korean wife finds that it is a bit too salty so more bacon for me.
So with the bacon I decided to make a fast bibimbap with some kimchi, egg and bacon.
Bacon Eggs and Kimchi
It was pretty simple to make and I did it with minimal oil. I cooked the bacon first and then used the bacon fat to cook the onions and egg. I added kimchi to the pan to heat it up.
Korea has been a trip and I think the big adventure is about to get started. 11 years ago I came to Korea with less than $500 dollars in my pocket, a mountain of credit card debt, a dream and not much else. I came to Korea because I had the urge to travel the world. After graduating university from the awesome University of Delaware I had school loans out the wazoo and no real plan on how to pay them. I tried to get a "corporate job" but I was rejected because I had "no experience." For a few months I lived as a hippie artist writing and working as a barista at the Brew Ha Ha! Then when the bank loans kicked in I started working 7 days a week morning and night as a waiter, cook and barista at a number of different places because I was determined to pay off my school loan within a year. It was about 15,000 USD and I would go into the bank once a week reeking like coffee, grease and sweat dropping $300- $1000 dollars, whatever I could. I wasn't going to let debt stop me from what I wanted to do.
After the last payment was done, I worked a while longer...but I should have worked more...and saved up enough for a 1 way ticket to Gyeongju, South Korea. I guess that's where my adventure began. But seriously...I was poor when I came and I had no idea about what I was doing here. I had a tiny one room apartment that was on top of a roof and I could easily hear my neighbors' TVs. If I wanted to use the internet I had to go to the smokey PC room to rent a computer for 1 dollar an hour. I worked and I saved and I sent money back home to pay off my credit cards and even saved up a little money to buy an Apple iBook computer. From there I started to write, blog and invest in stocks. I did pretty well and later moved to Seoul. I worked, I saved and had fun. Maybe I had too much fun. I didn't have much direction then and I was looking for the next big adventure. That came in the form of marriage and now having a kid.
Being a father is an amazing thing. Each day I wake up and I have this smiling, growing child in our lives. It gives life purpose and it quiets all the other distractions in life. Each day that I talk and interact with my Hazell, it has an impact and I see her grow and develop each day. Speaking of which. I should get back to work so I can make sure she has food in her belly and that I can get home in time to play with her.
Bye for now and I wish you all a happy new years and thanks for reading!
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Daniel Gray is a Korean-American Adoptee that returned to Korea in 2005 to rediscover his roots. He is a Korean food expert that has appeared on Bizarre Foods, Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain and more. He does food tours, events, and consulting in Seoul and owns two restaurants: Brew 3.14 and Brew 3.15 in Seoul.
