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Rank-Free Kimchi?

If Korea were to have a national dish, most people would undoubtedly point to kimchi. With roots tracing to ancient times, there exist dozens of variations, and is the most popular banchan - or side dish - on Korean tables. Kimchi is so deeply-rooted in Korean culture that Koreans say "kimchi" instead of "cheese" when smiling for the camera. If you have been reading my blog for a while, you may remember when I wrote about Space Kimchi, which was developed so that Korean astronauts do not have to part with kimchi when in space. Heck, there is even a Kimchi Museum in Seoul! (image source) Having been born in South Korea, and raised by a mother whose Korean...

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Recipes?

I've been cooking a lot more in the past few months in order to save money. Many women say that they do not have the time or energy to cook dinner after a hard day at the office, so I guess I'm lucky in the sense that I work for a non-profit and get to leave work at 5pm every day. I usually get home, have a bit of "me" time to relax, then start dinner. By the time the food is ready to be served, J comes home from work and we dig in.   갈비 (galbi, or Korean marinated ribs) My famous linguini in in white clam sauce 된장찌게 (dwenjangjjigeh, or soy bean stew) I have the best source for recipes: my mother. I...

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Pho32 & Shabu

Last Friday a friend and I had planned to have lunch at BonChon Chicken. However, upon arrival, we were disappointed to see that they weren't yet open for the day. Walking around K-Town for an alternate restaurant, I noticed Pho32 & Shabu: It's a tiny place on 32nd St, and we wondered why we hadn't noticed it before (did it open just recently?). The decor was cute, and each table had two round heated openings for the shabu-shabu pots. I was in the mood for some pho but we ended up going for the "Land and Sea" (combination of beef and seafood) shabu-shabu instead. Yummy...

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BonChon Chicken

Last Wednesday, the NYTimes had an article about Korean-style friend chicken. The word soon spread and I read about it again and again on the Gothamist, Curbed, and other blogs I read regularly. I started salivating as soon as I read the article. See, my parents used to run a friend chicken place back when we were still living in Korea. My sister and I used to walk there every day and pig out, probably making a big cut in their profits. Since then, we've always craved Korean-style chicken - our mother's garlic sauce slathered on the hot, crisp chicken, with a side of cool, refreshing moo (pickled radish) was just unbeatable. Needless to say, I had to check out...

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