Manna Korean BBQ just opened up a second location in Culver City at the Westfield mall (formally known as Fox Hills Mall).  West side, rejoice!

Manna Korean BBQ - bar

Manna Korean BBQ - dining area

Manna Korean BBQ - grill

I’ve been here twice since it opened and have to say, while the food isn’t any different than the Koreatown location (read my review here), the setting is MUCH better.  Instead of sitting in a covered outdoor patio, you’re in a nice space with abstract paper mache art, high ceilings and clubby music.  It’s better ventilated so you don’t come out smelling like greasy smoke as much.

They still offer up their all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ for $16.99.  It’s a great deal if you have a large party or are hungry and want variety.  The only catch is that if one person orders it, the whole table has to as well.  I recommend going with the Jumulroc (marinated boneless shortrib, the bulgogi – chicken, beef or pork- and the samgyupsal (pork belly).  Marinated meats mean more flavor and pork belly…well…it’s like thick cuts of bacon!  It’s not the best-tasting Korean BBQ but it’s decent and for the price, awesome.

They give a nice variety of banchan.  Salad, kimchi, japchae, sliced daikon, rice paper and boiled egg seem to be the common fair.  I’ve also been served potato salad and seaweed on different occassions.  While the flavors aren’t anything to rave about, the variety and abundance is nice.

The menu also offers up some non-bbq items like dumplings, bibimbap and soondubu jigae but I haven’t tried any of this.  Based on reviews on Yelp, the soondubu is to be skipped.  I did see plates of dumplings go by on the last visit and they are quite large.  I’ll have to order up a plate next time to see if the taste is as big.

The space is large and they can easily accommodate big parties.  However, call ahead for reservations if you do bring the gang or go early.  I think the service here is also better.  They seem more attentive though be prepared to use the call button when they are super busy.  Also, it can get quite loud during peak dining hours.

The nice thing about being located at a mall is that there is plenty of parking.  Also, you can window shop to walk off the full stomach.

This location gets 4NOMS because of the nicer space and better service as well as the cost for the quantity and the okay quality of the food.

Manna Korean BBQ
6000 Sepulveda Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90230
(310) 397-9901

P.S.  Poor iPhone pics FTW…

Kalbi with Micro Shiso Korean

Kalbi Recipe

• 1 1/2 cups soy sauce
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup sesame oil
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 of a medium yellow onion, chopped
• 3 large green onions, cut into small pieces
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes
• 4-6 pounds of Korean short-ribs

Directions:

Place ribs in a large pot with lid.  Combine all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and stir for 1 minute. Pour the marinade into the pot, over the meat making sure all the ribs have been coated. Cover and refrigerate over night. The next morning make sure to place the ribs that were on the bottom on top, and vice versa. Continue to refrigerate until its time to grill.

Heat grill to medium-high heat and when the grill is nice and hot add meat. Grill each side for 3-4 minutes. Serve with a small side salad of chopped romaine, Persian cucumbers, and sesame dressing. Garnish with Fresh Origins Micro Shiso Korean.

Butternut Squash Lasagna with Petite Pumpkin Greens

Butternut Squash Lasagna Recipe

For squash filling

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 4 teaspoons chopped fresh sage

For sauce

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 5 cups milk
• 1 bay leaf (not California)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper

For assembling lasagna

• 1/2 lb fresh mozzarella, coarsely grated (2 cups)
• 1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (3 oz)
• 12 (7- by 3 1/2-inch) sheets no-boil lasagne (1/2 lb)

Preparation:

Make filling:

Cook onion in butter in a deep 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes. Add squash, garlic, salt, and white pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until squash is just tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in parsley and sage. Cool filling.

Make sauce while squash cooks:
Cook garlic in butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, 1 minute. Whisk in flour and cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add milk in a stream, whisking. Add bay leaf and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, 10 minutes. Whisk in salt and white pepper and remove from heat. Discard bay leaf. (Cover surface of sauce with wax paper if not using immediately.)

Assemble lasagna:
Preheat oven to 425°F.

Toss cheeses together. Spread 1/2 cup sauce in a buttered 13- by 9- by 2-inch glass baking dish (or other shallow 3-quart baking dish) and cover with 3 pasta sheets, leaving spaces between sheets. Spread with 2/3 cup sauce and one third of filling, then sprinkle with a heaping 1/2 cup cheese. Repeat layering 2 more times, beginning with pasta sheets and ending with cheese. Top with remaining 3 pasta sheets, remaining sauce, and remaining cheese.

Tightly cover baking dish with buttered foil and bake lasagna in middle of oven 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until golden and bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes more. Let lasagna stand 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Garnish with Fresh Origins Petite Pumpkin Greens.

Heirloom Tomato Salad with Fresh Origins Micro Mint Lime

Heirloom Tomato Salad Recipe

Arrange heirloom tomatoes (different colors) on a plate, add sliced buffalo cheese, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Garnish with Fresh Origins Micro Mint Lime.

Tilapia with Lively Lemon Sauce and Micro Buzz Button™

Tilapia with Lively Lemon Sauce

Ingredients

1 lb. Tilapia filet (about 4 filets)

1/2   Onion, chopped

8 oz. Mushroom crimini or white, sliced

Olive oil

Salt, Pepper

2 Fresh Origins Buzz Buttons™ for garnish

Sauce:

5 Fresh Origins Buzz Buttons™ (crumbled)

1/2 cup White Wine (not dry)

2 tsp Flour

1 tbsp Large Capers, chopped

1 tbsp Chicken stock paste

1/2 Lemon, juice only

Directions

1. Apply salt and pepper to Tilapia (both sides), reserve.

2. Combine all Sauce ingredients in a cup or small bowl, reserve.

3. Heat olive oil in pan. Cook onion until clear. Add Mushrooms, cook until browned.

4. Add Sauce to pan, stir until thickened.

5. Cook Tilapia quickly in separate pan with olive oil over high heat to sear the outsides. Inside will be done at this point.

6. Plate Sauce first, then place Tilapia over Sauce.

7. Garnish with 2 Fresh Origins Buzz Buttons™.

Summertime, outdoor BBQ, sunshine, cool breeze, champagne, friends, laughter, gifts, food, laying out on the grass…

All of these wonderful elements came together for my friend Emi’s baby shower that I co-hosted this summer.  I was genuinely excited to throw this bash and make it a special day for her.  Emi, wife of the chef and owner of The Curious Palate, has been my good friend since the 6th grade.  I brainstormed for weeks about the food spread for the joyous occasion.  I wanted to keep things simple and fresh, and I wanted to use farmers market ingredients that were at their summer peak. I also needed to simplify the preparation, garnishing and plating, in order to minimize my time in the kitchen and maximize my time having fun at the party.

For starters, I made a watermelon gazpacho.  I used plump heirloom tomatoes to deepen the flavors, blanched almonds to add texture, Spanish Jerez Reserva sherry vinegar to add a subtle kick, and a nutty French extra virgin olive oil to bring it all together.  Garlic and red peppers were thrown in for some underlying zest.  Garnished with edible flower petals, chopped chives and drops of basil oil that I made the night before, it was the perfect cool concoction for a hot summer day.

Roasted red and yellow beets were flavored with Jerez Reserva sherry vinegar, olive oil, ginger and slivers, zest and juice of Valencia oranges.  The snapping ginger and citrus flavors balanced out the deep sweetness of the beets, and the vibrant colors of the edible flower garnish really popped out against the crimson background.

For the main course, we decided to do the obligatory BBQ.  What’s an outdoor summer party without slapping some meat on the hot grill?  I marinated kalbi short ribs in my own secret recipe, and let it absorb the flavors overnight.  Italian zucchini and eggplants cut lengthwise were brushed with olive oil and flavored with fleur de sel.  What a sight to see 3 chicks (the 3 hosts) running the hot smoking grill in heels and summer dresses!  Sorry, no photos of the meat, it went too quickly.  They were tender, succulent, juicy and delicious.

I wanted to do something special, original and cute for dessert.  A store ordered cake with a messy ‘Congratulations’ in chocolate inscription?  Boring.  Cupcakes from Sprinkles?  Been there, done that.  After numerous revisions, I decided to make a playful plate that featured ripe summer white peaches.

I found this interesting fruit called a honeyloupe at the farmers market in Santa Monica.  As you can guess by the name, it’s a cross between a honeydew melon and a cantaloupe.  I used cookie cutters to cut the flesh into star, leaf and flower shapes, and marinated it for a few hours in lemongrass syrup.  Lemongrass syrup is easy to make- boil equal parts water and sugar in a pot with bruised lemongrass stalks for a few minutes.  You can drizzle it over ice cream or yogurt, and it marinates fruits really well.  It also keeps in the fridge for a long time.

I made a chocolate fudge sauce that I painted onto the plate with a pastry brush, and sprinkled the honeyloupe pieces along with edible flower petals and mint leaves to create a shooting star effect.  Using a cardboard stencil that took me only a few minutes to cut out with an exacto knife, I sprinkled a Valrhona chocolate powder teddy bear onto each plate.

I poached the white peaches the evening before in water and sugar with: cinnamon, cloves, black peppercorns, vanilla beans, honey, star anise, ginger and lemon zest.  To make the peach foam, I puréed some of those peaches with the poaching syrup, then added bloomed silver gelatin sheets before pouring it into my Espuma gun.  For those of you who don’t own an Espuma gun, I highly recommend getting one.  You can turn anything into foam or cream, and it’s so fun to use.  Load it with a couple of CO2 cartridges, and you’re ready to foam away.

It all came together nicely for a colorful and cute summer dessert plate.

My friend Emi had a healthy and beautiful baby boy, and I’m already thinking of the desserts that Auntie Tomo can spoil him with.

Random trivia:  Did you know that lemongrass oil enhances milk production in breast-feeding mothers?  It’s also believed that babies who drink this milk will have a better immune system, making them less prone to infections.

As I have mentioned earlier, there is a lack of Asian food in the South Florida area. There are no true Korean places in the Miami area. The closest place is in the Lauderhill area and it is worth the drive.

Gabose Korean & Japanese Restaurant (4991 N University Dr, Lauderhill, FL 33351) is probably the closest thing to a true Korean restaurant in the South Florida area. The family that runs it is very friendly and they are willing to help you in any way.

They have the traditional charcoal BBQ, gas BBQ, and a non-BBQ area. We opted to go with the traditional charcoal BBQ. We started off with the Seafood Pajun (pancake), which was crispy and filled with the seafood delights. The dolsot bimbimbap was tasty as usual. We also ordered 2 types of kalbi and an order of cow tongue. Although the banchan was not impressive if one compares it to the Korean restaurants in Fort Lee, New Jersey; it was definitely impressive for South Florida. The kalbi was well seasoned, as well as the cow tongue, which was sliced thin and tasted amazing with its sauce.

Overall, we had a positive experience and hope to come around the area again.

P.S. – No pictures right now, as my camera was “borrowed” by the folks at Mumbai’s international airport.

Paige had a lot of fun yesterday at the botanical gardens and came home telling me about all of the different things they saw. Being the girly girl that she is, she was most impressed with a tree called the Lipstick Tree. Paige excitedly told me about how they make lipstick (and other cosmetics) with the seeds of the tree and how their guide even demonstrated the color by rubbing some of the seeds on herself. Apparently it is also used as a spice and food coloring as well. Paige also came home with a bunch of mosquito bites too. Unfortunately I forgot the bug spray.

Any way, last night we had kalbi for dinner, so I saved a few slices to cook this morning for Paige’s bento. I added in a small portion of chap chae, rice, and furikake (stored in the little monkey container). The pumpkins are made of kamaboko dyed with food coloring and decorated with nori and fish sausage.

Lipstick Tree (photo from Wikipedia)

I took my brothers out to lunch, and we went to this tiny Korean restaurant right next our house that is a favorite of mine. The name of the restaurant is absolutely hilarious. It used to be called Tasty Korean BBQ, but now they changed it to Yummy Korean BBQ. I have no idea why. It only has 4 tables and is very much a mom and pop, hole-in-the-wall type of place, but I love these types of restaurants. The décor is actually very nice for such a small place. Everything was very Ikea-esque.

Mandoo with bean sprouts and broccoli

My younger younger brother got the mandoo mini plate with broccoli and bean sprouts.

Kalbi with potatoes and bean sprouts

Kalbi with kimchi, potatoes, and broccoli

My older younger brother and I both got the Kalbi. I always mean to try something else like the japchae, but I always end up getting kalbi because I love it so much. The plates come with rice, and you get to choose some panchan. I do wish that they had more variety with the panchan, but I forgive them because they are such a tiny place.

It was so yummy!

we came:

we saw:

and we conquered (kalbi tacos + kimchee fried rice w/ kalbi):

i thought the fried rice w/ kimchee was a bit too oily (though some could argue good food can never be too oily!) but the kalbi taco was awesome!
overall, good grub from marination mobile!
i’ll have to try the aloha sliders next time, heard it’s yummy.
definitely worth checking out, you can also follow them on twitter: @curb_cuisine…

My mom has a bountiful garden this summer and I’ve gotten my share of cherry tomatoes, zucchini, shishito and korean peppers, eggplants, and of course, the ever-growing korean perilla leaves.  These leaves are typically steamed then marinated or pickled and can last in the fridge for up to a year.  Seriously! – many of Korean banchan’s all about preserving and we do it well;)  Artfully shaped like cut from a snowflake, almost like a part of maple leaves…the korean perilla leaves are typically found in Asian markets and of course, Korean markets and is similar to the Japanese shiso leaves but stronger in flavor.  Perfect POW of green in color and full of minerals and vitamins, its flavor is a hybrid of mint, basil and cilantro; peppery and pungent with a lingering flavor of sesame seeds (Koreans also use the perilla leaves to extract “wild sesame oil” used to marinate veggies and season roasted seaweed (“gim”)).

So with this secret ingredient, PARILLA LEAVES (can u hear Iron Chef?) – I was inspired by several sources.  First of all, perilla leaves…reminded me of dolma, which I love love - a Turkey/Greek dish of stuffed grape leaves which can be found preserved in jars at upscale grocery stores.  I also remembered the asparagus/beef wrap from one of our fav japanese shabu shabu restaurant, Shabu Hachi .  I also realized that there’s like every country’s version of such a “leaves wrap” in my research including a recipe for bo nuong la lot (I have no idea what that means…) from blogger, Wanderingchopsticks.  Lastly,  I wanted to make it Korean and healthy!  So here’s what I did.

Kalbi marinade (this is so tasty and has come in so handy for many of my tasty creations):

- shoyu

- evap cane juice

- garlic

- sesame oil

- black pepper

Other ingredients:

- (super) thinly sliced zucchini (from my mom’s garden)

- slivered leeks

- shishito peppers (split in 1/2)

- bison NY steak (not a huge red meat eater but we all need some, i think.  And bison’s a great alternative since it’s lower in fat content, cholestrol and usually found free of hormones and all that nasty junk.  Little $$$ but you just need a little bit)

- parilla leaves

How to:

1. Lay two parilla leaves fat-end to fat-end and overlapping.  ”make a sandwich” – center a slice of zucchini at the bottom followed by bison, leeks, shishito pepper.

2. Brush kalbi marinade on top and close all the loose toppings with another slice of zucchini.

3. Roll, flip and stick a toothpick in the center to hold it all together.  Brush extra kalbi marinade over top of the leaves.

4. Bake in oven for ~6-8 min @375 and voila – you have some awesomely impressive and very savory dish with √ - protein/calcium – √veggie √ - FLAVOR.  The parilla leaves get roasted just right with a little bit of a delicate crisp meets soaky goodness.

Umami~  Let me know what you think~

Posted on oneforkonespoon

See this kimbap?  It’s been very badly rolled.  I know because I rolled it myself.  The ingredients shouldn’t be spilling into each other.  The shredded carrot, for example, is all over the place, when it should be grouped together, distinct, and sharp in contrast to the other ingredients.

(Source:fifo.sg)

But you can still see the effect that’s desired—a bright show of colors.  Black in the roasted seaweed, white in the rice, yellow in the pickled daikon and cooked eggs, orange (or red) in the sautéed carrots, and green in the spinach.  The five colors, elements, or phases of Korean (and Chinese) cooking.

(There’s also the brown of the cooked meat and the sautéed burdock root, but I will conveniently ignore that for now.)

The five elements, though, are more than colors.  They represent material elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, water.  They represent emotions, from rage to fear to contemplation.  They are associated with organs in the body and with five essential flavors, sour, bitter, sweet, spicy, and salty.

No one element is best or right.  What’s important is balance.

Related Post Here

Keep Reading HERE

So this past Saturday was the Korean BBQ Festival in Koreatown.  The husband and I had plans to meet up with friends there and eat some yummy meat.  However, while we were driving down Vermont (in horrendous traffic), our friends called up to say they were already there and that it was…well…not really worth it.  We decided that our money would be better spent going to Manna and having our own private Korean BBQ festival.

Entrance to Manna

Manna - Where's the beef?

Manna is a “restaurant” on the corner of Olympic and Gramercy that boasts a $16.99 all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ that you cook yourself at a grill on your table.  The exterior of the building doesn’t really make it obvious this place is a restaurant so it’s easy to miss.  When you walk in, you realize that you’re actually still outside; you’re just in a covered patio area.  The actual kitchen and restrooms are in the building.  Long rows of tables with built-in grills fill the space.  It’s not uncommon to have several large groups at the same row of tables.

Our group of 6 arrived early (around 6:30pm) enough to not have trouble getting a table.  However, Manna gets filled up quickly so reservations are recommended if you have a very large party or want to eat later.

We ordered one of everything for our table – bulgogi, kalbi (boneless), beef brisket, pork belly, BBQ pork and BBQ chicken.  K and I also decided to split a large Pineapple Soju.  Our drinks and banchan arrived.  Apparently, the Soju was intended for four people.  o_O  It was a rather large carafe.  However, it wasn’t terribly strong which was okay with me since I’m a lightweight and I had an extremely empty stomach.  If you are a fan of pineapple juice, this is a good drink for you.  There was also a Lemon Soju as well.  A funny quirk about Manna is that if you want water, you have to ask for it and there are signs posted on the walls stating so.

Manna - Banchan

Our banchan consisted of rice paper and daikon wrappers, japchae, shredded daikon kimchee, regular kimchee, spinach cooked in sesame oil, potato salad and a pot of boiled egg (not pictured).  There was also a salad that we noticed other tables getting so we asked for some towards the end of the meal.  It had a really nice cold ginger dressing on it. The banchan was all decent and flavorful.  The kimchee, while strong was not spicy.  I really enjoyed the spinach; it is one of my favorite banchan dishes and Manna’s version reminded me of my Mom’s.

Manna - cart o' meat!

Manna - bulgogi

Manna - plate o' meat!

Manna- beef brisket and onions cooking

One thing about Manna that I noticed is that they do not serve rice.  This allowed us to eat a lot of Korean BBQ, definitely more than $16.99 would have gotten us at a standard Korean BBQ restaurant.  When our meat arrived, it was on a cart with other tables’ orders.  The waiter immediately dumped the plate of bulgogi on the grill and then handed us a large plate of BBQ chicken and another even larger plate piled with beef brisket, kalbi, BBQ pork and a large slice of pork belly.  They also handed us a pair of scissors so we could trim down the larger cuts.  Manna is a very “do it yourself” type of restaurant.  Hey, for the price, I’m not complaining.

The bulgogi was good here though very fatty (hey, more flavor!).  The marinade was on the sweeter side, a bit sweeter than I prefer, but still tasty.  This was the table’s favorite dish as the boys ordered 2 more plates of the bulgogi after we finished off the first delivery.  I think by the time we were done, we had eaten a whole cow or what equated to a whole cow weight-wise.  The bbq chicken was good as well, marinated in the same thing as the bulgogi but the sweetness worked better for the chicken.  The beef brisket was served plain but we had two dipping sauces – seasoned sesame oil and a soy sauce-based one.  I liked to dip the beef in both and then wrap it either in the rice paper or the daikon with a little bit of the spinach.  I can’t recall anything about the BBQ pork though I know I ate some.  The pork belly was fine though unseasoned as well.  They only served one slice of the pork belly.  The kalbi was good as well.  I am used to the 3-bone short rib cut but here, they had trimmed off the bone so you only had to deal with the meat.  All the meat cooked up nice and tender which was a plus.

Each table is equipped with a bell that you can ring and the waiters know that you require service.  They’re pretty good about responding promptly.

For $16.99, Manna’s all-you-can-eat is a bargain and totally worth the trip.  You don’t even have to worry about parking in K-town because the restaurant has their own private lot that supplies “free” valet parking (tip at least $2).

I give Manna 3 1/2 NOMs.

Manna
3377 W Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90019
(323) 733-8516
http://www.mannakoreanbbq.com/

Thanks to many a crappy buffets, I find the idea of all-you-can-eat pretty unappealing. But Korean Grill House (5 locations including 754 Yonge St., south of Bloor) has got the concept down right.  It’s a do-it-yourself barbecue at your own table, so all the food is cooked-to-order exactly how you want it. For $12.99, you get an unlimited supply of Korean short ribs (Kalbi), thinly sliced beef and pork, chicken, squid, salmon, white fish and more. All these items arrive at your table raw, and you cook them over the open grill yourself.

My favourites are the Kalbi and squid, which goes nicely with the unlimited refills of rice and 6 types of panchan, including kimchi, sprouts and spicy tofu.

When you’ve got a hankering for an indoor BBQ and feel like you can pack away a whole lotta meat, there’s nothing wrong with grilling it your way, Korean style.

yesterday, i had lunch with Kana-chan over at Sanuki no Sato

昨日は、カナちゃんとさぬきの里でランチ

both of our came with the small udon.

二人のオーダーについてきた小うどん。

Kana-chan ordered the short rib plate.

カナちゃんはカルビ定食を。

and i got the Katsu-don.

そして俺はカツ丼。

too much for lunch… lol

昼食べ過ぎたね…笑

emart

So grocery shopping in Korea is quite the event. Unfortunately since I live in the “Manhattan” of Seoul, I don’t get to experience this as often as most other Seoulites. I do partake in it when I go to other burbs, but as far as Gangnam, mostly they have really small mom and pop corner markets.

Korean supermarkets are basically Wal-mart on steroids. They have multiple floors each one selling different items. You can find pretty much anything and samples of anything.

basically how the sample system has worked, based on my “scientific” research of supermarket shopping through out korea’s major cities: Seoul, Incheon, Busan, Ulsan, and Daegu, the men are dressed like chefs completely with chef’s hats. They will be stationed in the meat section and give out cuts of meat. Usually it is the same types, the typical Korean staples of samgyeopsal, bulgogi, kalbi, donkatsu, hamburger steak, and sausage.

Women of varying ages and appearance will dole out pretty much everything else. If you are looking for a quick meal and are uncertain about what to eat, or trying to save money, the Korean supermarket trip will fill both bills. Samples you can usually get are: coffee, tea, several types of fruit, veggies, tofu, mandu/gyoza/ dumplings, jjajangmyeon noodles with soybean sauce, cereals, desserts, breads, pastries, rice with seaweed, candy, kimchi, fried fish, chicken, and ham. Pretty much every option has multiple varieties for you to try.

If you still haven’t had your fill, a trip to the Korean supermarket is not complete without going to the food court. The Korean food court has a lot of traditional Korean restaurants all selling their wares. In addition to Korean food, you can find a couple places selling sweets, pastries, donuts, or ice-cream, you will also find a Chinese, Japanese, and one or two offering “Western” food.

In regards to the other floors, they pretty much sell everything you can imagine. Instead of sampling food, this time young women are hawking all different types of stuff. They will usually be young and wearing skirts, boots and well as pictured here.

Korea is a country steeped in tradition and you will usually see women in Korean traditional dress, the hanbok, selling higher end products. Korean supermarkets are a must, it truly is an all day event. The only thing that sucks is getting your groceries home.

I never crave meat, but this week all I could think about was meat meat meat.  Not just any kind of meat either – not hot dogs, not burgers, not steaks, no no no – I was really dying for some Korean BBQ, specifically galbi!!  The thought of sweet, tender, juicy marinated short ribs had me salivating like one of Pavlov’s dogs.  So for dinner, Sam and I decided to satisfy our carnivorous side without making a huge dent in our wallets by heading over to none other than our neighborhood Korean market!  One of the best things about Socal is its variety of good korean food at your fingertips.

As we browsed the aisles, I picked up a packet of beef tongue and said, “what do you think?  yum!” – His response?   “okaay, but you’re eating that ALL by yourself”.  Sadness.  I reluctantly put the tender, juicy tongue back in its place.  The same goes for soondae!  Sam also doesn’t eat green onions (and that’s in practically every single Korean dish!).  Sometimes when I cook, I sneak in finely chopped onions on purpose and he eats them right up, muahahaha… they’re good for your health!

Anyway, we eventually left the market with some good food under our belt!

Here we have kimchi, sliced radishes, seasoned tofu, and salted squid.

The salted squid is all me – nice and slimy, sluuurp.

Kalbi on the bone – on sale for $2.99/lb!

Kalbi off the bone – $3.49/lb.

It’s so fun and satisfying to eat all all this Korean food from a lap tray, sitting in front of the TV!  Simple pleasures, yes indeedy.

Posted on features.csmonitor.com

(Source:dineouthere)

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – First there were Korean cars, television sets, and semiconductors. Then came the “Korean wave” as a flood of K-pop, Korean films, and other manifestations of Korean culture lapped up on the shores of other Asian countries before drifting to the United States and Europe.

Now it’s time for Korean cuisine to get “globalized,” in the view of Korean government officials, restaurateurs, and chefs. In a world long accustomed to delicacies and their derivatives from China, Japan, India, Thailand, and Vietnam, why not Korean kimchi, beef bulgoki, and kalbi?

That’s a question that several hundred delegates tried to answer in a day-long series of seminars – and a multicourse luncheon – about popularizing Korean food in a world that tends to shrug it off as a specialty mainly for Koreans.

Please Continue Reading Complete Post HERE

in the wake of our failed attempt at the ‘lemonade flush out diet’ <http://kepani.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/lemonade-flush-out/>, i present you this recipe…which makes your stomach very very happy after fasting for over 24 hours at a time!

of all places to find an ethnic recipe…i find it on NPR. not some korean cookbook or some ‘local flavors’ book. see link below:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4793091

kalbi recipe
1-1/2 cups lite soy sauce
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup sesame oil
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
8-10 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed
6 large green onions, chopped roughly
4 pounds Korean-style short ribs
toasted sesame seeds
***1/4 cup ko chu jung***
***1/8 cup honey***

i did without the toasted sesame seeds, but added ko chu jung and honey for additional zest and flavor. i guess i can call this my own recipe? we used bone-out short rib meat (USDA prime) from costco. it turned out to be some of the best kalbi i’ve ever eaten. we marinated it for over 24 hours.

WARNING: if you don’t have a kitchen grease hood yet, be prepared to have a smelly house. we don’t have a hood that’s operational so our house smelled for a few days.

anyway, there you have it – homemade kalbi without the price of the restaurant service and preparation!