Thursday, October 13, 2011

Kimchi Chronicles

Korean food is some of the most flavorful and distinct cuisine in the world. I realize that this may sound hugely biased, and you may be correct. I LOVE Korean food. But I *promise* that I'm not the only person who believes this. Mark Bittman, food journalist, author and NY Times columnist, says this: The instantly recognizable profile of Korean food, comes not from obscure ingredients but from the relatively mainstream ones: sesame (both seeds and oil), garlic, soy sauce, garlic, rice vinegar, garlic, sugar and scallions. And garlic. I’ve more than once called Korean food “Japanese food with guts,” not as a slight against Japanese food (wonderful in its own right) but as an endorsement of Korean cuisine’s vigorous, muscular, completely unsubtle flavor profile. Korean food’s aggressive seasoning is really just right for grilling. I think that pretty much sums it up.

Kimchi (kimchee) is arguably the national dish of Korea. This dish is a pickled, fermented vegetable. Most often it is done with cabbage, but it can be made out of almost any vegetable. I've heard people (half) joke that Koreans will pickle anything!

There is a new series on PBS called Kimchi Chronicles. If you haven't seen it, I can highly suggest you check it out!! www.kimchichronicles.tv I just watched Episode #6 and my mouth is still watering!!!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

The first edition

Today starts the official planning of our trip to Korea. We've been talking a trip to Korea, the land of our children's birth, for almost 2 years. The penny pinching and price watching has paid off. Ticket prices dropped over the weekend and I took it as a sign to BUY. Stacy & I will be taking our kids, Jeong hui and Hyeon Su and my niece, E!!! I'm SO happy I can hardly stand it!!!