Kimchimari

  Kongjaban was my all time favorite lunchbox banchan (side dish) when I was a kid. My most happy lunchbox(도시락 doshirak) always included at least 2 of the following: Kongjaban, Sauteed string potatoes, Jangjorim, Oeji (pickled cucumbers) and  Gim (roasted sea laver). My school day mornings passed by more quickly and happily when I knew I had […]

The last time I took part in Kimjang (Korean tradition for making a lot of Kimchi to last through the winter months) was when I was still living at home in Seoul. Our family was quite large back then and we lived in a home where our back yard actually had buried kimchi jars. If […]

Yes.. I know.. Nov. 24th is Thanksgiving weekend but in Korea I will be making kimchi all day at my in-laws for Kimjang/Gimang. Kimjang is a longtime Korean tradition where families get together and make enough kimchi to last them through the freezing winter. It used to take 2- 3 days but now it’s usually […]

Ok.I have a confession to make. I have not made kimchi at home since my honeymoon days. Partly because I was too busy attending graduate school and raising a baby. But mainly because of one experience. Since my husband and I were both students, we had to save money whenever we could. And there were […]

Just like many other cuisines, sauces play an important role in Korean cooking. The same kind of sauce is used in many different dishes so many Koreans can make these sauces with their eyes closed. When I was preparing to write about sauces I was hoping that there would be some well organized categorization of […]

It’s only been a few days since my arrival in Seoul but I just couldn’t wait any longer to post– The last couple months have been a very exhausting but also a very meaningful time. I went through every single item (including 5 cans of WD40′s – don’t ask me why we have so many […]

Yesterday was one of those days when I really did not feel like cooking anything but still wanted to have something good to eat for lunch. And then it hit me…Kimchimari. I almost forgot how great this is! I LOVE how easy this is to make and how light and refreshing it is. I used […]

I am actually best known for my Myulchi Bokkeum among my friends and family. And it’s probably one of the dish I make the most. So I’m not sure why I haven’t posted this before…I guess I really didn’t think that it was anything special..but then recently eating at a restaurant, I realized how the […]

Buchimgae is such a simple dish and yet the many possible variations makes it a must have in your everyday repertoire of Korean recipes. It is most delicious when it is just directly off the hot pan, freshly cooked, still steaming hot. The simplest version has just one kind of vegetable such as zucchini, chives […]

Fresh sugar snap peas! Right from my vegetable garden. Last winter, I planted strawberries, sugar snap peas, spinach and romaine lettuces. None of them died but except for the sugar snap peas, all the other vegetables didn’t really grow…I didn’t consider the change of sun exposure in the winter and they are just not getting […]