Wednesday, August 10, 2011

My Lunch

I made my lunch to take to work, and I thought....this is a weird lunch. But it sure does look delicious.

I just made some pickles, and after about a week in the fridge, we opened them up. I actually like them. They taste fresh, not like sandwich pickles. I also made my quail eggs this morning.
I put the hard boiled eggs in a 1/2 cup of water, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 2 tablespoons soy sauce and simmered until the sauce was absorbed. Then I put a teeny bit of sesame oil and sesame seeds on them. Yummy.
And of course, some delicious cherry tomatoes.

Don't forget the vitamin water.

Monday, August 08, 2011

Popeyes Chicken in Maseok, South Korea

We went to Maseok for a friend's birthday party, and was pleasantly surprised by there being a Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen in the Lotte Mart. Now, I know that Korea is not lacking in fried chicken joints, and this ain't no Go Chicken Go, but I really wanted to much on some southern style chicken! Plus the question....do they have the sides of biscuits and red beans and rice?

As I waited, if not a little giddy with antici.....pation, for my order, I looked at the menu and YES, they did have delicious biscuits, but NO red beans and rice. No matter. I ordered a small order of delicious chicken nuggets and seasoned french fries, which are hard to come by in Korea.

My order was called, I jumped up out of my seat and bounded to the counter to collect my hot tray of Louisiana fried goodness. And LO!
They drenched my nuggets in a sweet yet WAY too spicy hot sauce!!!!!
Whaaaaa??????
WHY?????? WWWHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYY????
M'BAERE??????? NOOOOO!!!!!!

I was really sad.
I tried to wipe off the sauce with a napkin, but to no avail. In the end, Anthony had to help me out by eating all the parts of the nuggets contaminated by the hot sauce. This is what he gave me to eat.

The hot sauce somehow soaked into the chicken, so even the delicious white meat was contaminated by spicy sweet sticky sauce. Next time, I will say "Ani (no) Saw-suh (sauce)".

On a side note, we did see some interesting flip flops in the market. Balloon shoes are very popular here. This is taking it to a whole new level. Is this in the States? Scary....





Oven baked pork ribs


I made some pork ribs in the oven a couple days ago. A grill or smoker would have done better, but you work with what you have. Another problem... You always want to cook pork low and slow. The lowest setting on my oven here is 160 C or 320 F. Ideally, you'd want to cook at 225-250 F.

In any event, here are the racks. And the Cass Red beer I usually drink.


Here is the bone side.



Ribs have a membrane attached on the bone side, so I cut that off by working a sharp knife between the meat and the membrane. I hear that it's easier to just score the membrane with a sharp blade. I'll try that next time.

After getting rid of the membrane:



Time for the rub. From far left then clockwise: brown sugar, onion powder, seasoned salt, cinnamon, celery seasoning, paprika, dry mustard powder. Basil and fine black pepper are in the middle.



To help the rub stick, and to give the meat a baked-on crust, mix one part water and one part mustard. Mop the ribs.


Raw but rubbed.



Add water to the pan to keep the oven moist.

After about 35 minutes, pull out the meat and give it a mop. I've tried tomato based mops in the past, but this mustard/vinegar one was tastier.

half cup water, half cup cider vinegar, 3 tbsp yellow mustard, 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp cayenne.



I wait about 30 minutes between mops. After the first mop:



After the second mop:



After the third mop,



After the 3rd mop, the ribs go into some tin foil to retain moisture.

About 35-40 more minutes, and you're good to go.






Leave tips here if you've got 'em.

The Candy Man


We went to Insa-dong a couple days ago. We saw this candy maker putting it together in front of a crowd.



The sweets are tasty... He mixed a cereal-like grain (kind of like Kix cereal) with sugar and other seasonings. The end result is mildly sweet, crunchy and a little chewy. Good stuff.

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Sanasa Temple



A few photos from the beautiful Sanasa (사 나 사) temple in Yangpyeong. From the Yangpyeong subway station you can grab a cab to get out there.







































Yangpyeong Market

Yangpyeong is famous for it's outdoor markets. We lucked out and came to town while it was going on. Here are a few shots.



The fishmonger.



A stall selling bibimbap. It's a bowl of rice topped with egg and mixed veggies and spicy pepper paste.


Is that a carp?



These are our wonderful hosts from the Opirus pension. I bought some jalapenos (front right) and they make the lady give me an extra handful of peppers. A steal at 2,000W (less that $2).


Dried fish waiting for the chopping block.




The baby in the stroller was having a staring contest with the baby hanging on the string.


Dried shrimp, grains and rice noodles.


The bean sprout guy was really popular.