Breakfast This Morning

Courtesy of my Korean mama:

Round slices of rice cakes, Korean yaki mandu (more commonly known as gyoza in Japan or stuffed dumplings) in a egg drop broth with scallions.

While I stuck with the soup, Andrew had a bowl AND eggs and bacon for breakfast, cooked by my mom. He is getting very spoiled and I'm afraid it's going to be tough for both of us to lose our "live-in" cook when my parents move into their new place.

Julian vs. Korean Food

Another thing that occupied my time this week? Dinner with our friend Julian on Monday. You may recall Julian from this post but may not recognize him without his "kit" on.

Poor Julian had biked over to our new place the week before but neglected to tell us he was coming over. His surprise visit was truly a surprise for him as well, when he pulled up to our house and realized we weren't home! After calling us to express his surprise (in true Julian fashion), we made "official" plans to meet, with the goal of 1) having Julian try Korean food for the first time and 2) see the inside of the house (after having ample time to examine the exterior on his own!)

Thus, I give you my photo montage which I think adequately shows Julian's personality and reactions to dinner at Apgujung (dialogue supplied is my own creative thought, just imagine thought bubbles over his head).

"What?! There's no fork on the table? How heck do I use these things? And where did that camera come from?"

Here, Julian realizes that salad is tough to eat with a fork but he learns that he does like the Asian ginger salad dressing:

"What the heck are all these small dishes? Am I expected to try them all?" To his credit, he was brave enough to try a piece of kimchi:

Finally, Julian happily eating his entree of chicken bulgogi and rice which I had helped him choose as an extremely safe choice for his first Korean meal:

The verdict? I think Julian could be persuaded to eat Korean food again. And most importantly, he liked the inside of our house as much as outside and seem particularly enamored of our three season porch.

Korean Japchae for Breakfast

One of the things I always enjoy most about being home is having access to my Mom's Korean cooking for every meal of the day!



Monday morning was no exception - on top of everything she already made for us (lumpia, kimchi, my favorite miso soup), my Mom whipped up a large amount of japchae, a Korean noodle, vegetable and beef dish.

When I say large amount, I mean a massive tub of it:

This means Andrew had his first taste of japchae for breakfast:

Finally, a shot of japchae plated for my Mom to bring into work for a Thanksgiving potluck meal:


You would think Andrew would be tired of all the Asian food he's eating (Korean for breakfast and dinner, Japanese for lunch) but he seems to be surviving admirably. :)

We've Arrived!

After a 25 hour journey from door (Boston) to door (Camp Zama, Japan), we've finally arrived.

I know I'm truly home when my Mom starts pushing massive amounts of delicious food towards us.

Tired from our trip and tired of airline food, Andrew and I were glad to be greeted with my Mom's cooking:


This includes lumpia (Filipino egg rolls) with sweet chili dipping sauce, tons of white rice, Korean spinach and bean sprouts, mu (radish) kimchi and Korean kalbi (marinated beef short eye ribs):


We may be jetlagged but our stomachs are happy!

H-Mart Is Here!

Having made the mistake of buying a new brand of rice the last time I was at BJ's, which ended up being horrible (yellow, having many discolored grains, tasting slightly salty and worst of all - not cooking sticky), I finally was motivated to brave the crowds at H-Mart in Burlington:

Saying this place was crowded was an understatement - they had three cops I could see directing traffic in the parking lot and cars were parked in every available legal and illegal space!

Calling this place the Asian Mecca would not be understatement - H-Mart was swarming with loads of Koreans (as it's a Korean grocery chain from the NY/NJ area that I first experienced on a trip in August) but also with many nationalities - the aisles were as packed as the parking lot:

I have to admit, it was just too crowded for me to be motivated to check out all the aisles - but I did love the corner devoted specifically to kimchi - they had ladies on hand making fresh kimchi:

There were so many options available that it was hard for me to make a decision:

I walked out with two 20 lb. bags of rice (I decided to save the 50 lb. bag of rice for when Andrew's with me to lift it into the cart), marinated chicken bulgogi for dinner, three different types of kimchi, vegetable gyoza dumplings, and most importantly - Korean ice cream! I was excited to see that H-Mart carries one of my and Amy's favorite childhood ice cream bars (chestnut flavor) as well as the ice cream cones that Andrew likes.

In true Korean fashion - as I remember supermarkets in Korea doing when visiting my parents - shoppers were given a free gift when exiting H-Mart. I think it depended on how much you spent, but my purchase qualified me for a free five pack of Shin ramen (only the best and most famous ramen from Korea) and a package of roasted chestnuts, which looks interesting:

I highly recommend checking out H-Mart, as it is HUGE, has reasonable prices and most importantly, carries a wide selection of items that I haven't seen outside Korea. It kicks Super 88 in the butt, there is simply no comparison. Just make sure you go on a weeknight, as I don't think this place will ever be calm on the weekends. I intend on going again soon to check out the food court and bakery when it's a little calmer.

What Would You Do For Korean Ice Cream?

Almost anything, if you're half Korean and have spent most of your childhood living on Army bases in Korea (well, technically right off base), eating Korean popsicles.


On our way to Me bar, we passed a Korean grocery store named H Mart and I made the mental note to check it out after dinner. After we said our goodbyes to Jay, Camie and James, Amanda and Andrew humored my request to check out the store.

After I walked in and saw this freezer stocked with Korean ice cream, I went a little crazy and everything's a blur:


I remember tossing tons and tons of ice cream and snacks into a basket (which I had told Andrew to grab once I saw the freezer above) and using all the cash in my wallet to pay for it (over $30). In fact, I paid, noticed boxes of French pies by the register, and bought them as well, to the amusement of the two male Korean cashiers who were wondering why the heck I was I was so excited by everything.

Here's a breakdown of the ice cream I bought - to be truthful, the only ice cream I actually ate as a kid was the B-B-B bar (what my family calls it) which is a delicious red bean ice cream. I know it sounds gross but even my Dad, who shuns a lot of foreign food, eats it. Although, Andrew took one bite of it and declared that he didn't like it. The rest were just different versions of ice creams I had eaten before and the only quality assurance I needed was that they were Korean. I also love the fact that some of them sported their Won prices on the label:



As for the snack foods, Amy and I had eaten all four time and time again as kids. In fact, the onion ring chips were served at our birthday parties. And my all time favorite, the food that my parents would send me in care packages when they lived in Korea three or four years ago, is the apple french pies:


The packaging has changed and Haitai has gotten cheap, as there's only one pie in each package instead of two:


But it's still the same messy, sugary, flaky goodness on the inside with dollop of apple jam:


It was totally worth the hassle of buying a cooler and ice to drive the ice cream back up to Boston. And also worth the look on Amy's face as she saw some of our old favorites.

Korean Breakfast

I typically have a Kashi bar and a yogurt for breakfast at work.

Which is why it's nice to have the day off from work and have breakfast ready for me the minute I wake up.

This is what I had this morning, starting clockwise in the left corner: Cucumber kimchi, miso soup with tofu, white sticky rice, sauteed zucchini with sesame seeds and nori/kiem (seaweed). Definitely a Korean breakfast that only my Mom could make!