Saturday, August 21, 2010

Korean Cooking Adventures

This past week I finally jumped in and started to try out some Korean recipes. That started with a trip to H Mart - the Asian Grocery store near us. It was a nice, smaller grocery store. The produce had terrific prices! I was quite impressed. And it was fresh! Then I had to start weaving my way through the store looking for ingredients but also just having fun looking until....(this is where I admit my clumsiness and great luck) - I dropped a glass bottle of dressing on my foot. I only mention the glass b/c it makes it heavier (it didn't break which is a blessing). Not only on my foot but it landed with all it's weight on just 1 toe which is now broken. So H Mart was fun but not entirely what I expected.
I did limp out of there with all the ingredients I needed to make 2 dishes this week and I have successfully made both of them!

Thursday night we had Kimbap (think Korean Sushi). Brian and I both liked it a lot. B said it was "a little good" (translation: he can choke it down without whining). G whined and wasn't a huge fan. Oh well. She's 3, what do I expect?!?

Tonight I made Bulgogi, rice, and salad with ginger dressing (we're not huge fans of Kimchi here, I'll continue to try it when we're out but I'm not making it at home). I also got some rice wine that is pretty strong and not really to my taste but it was fun to try.
The verdict - YUM! 8 thumbs up! All 4 of us loved the Bulgogi! Bap (or rice) is always a hit in our house and we also liked the ginger dressing (that broke my toe) a lot. :)

Below is the Bulgogi. I wish I had though to take pictures of the Kimbap but oh well.

8 comments:

  1. yum, yum! Love trying new foods, especially korean!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Way to go on the first Korean cooking experience!
    I'm so glad the dressing bottle didn't BREAK in H-mart!

    ReplyDelete
  3. lol- sorry about your toe! I love being back in Texas but miss living near DC for the vast choices in Asian/Korean specific markets (having lived in Korea for nearly 7 years I am truly spoiled!). I must say- what you made is more "Galbi/Kalbi" than bulgogi, but it DOES look tasty!
    Jeongah (uhhhm, she is Korean- I mean American if you ask her!) and I LOVE Kimchi and it is pretty much a daily staple here BUT, it does NOT taste nearly as it did in Korea and I cannot make it anywhere near "edible" let alone palatable! lol
    You are brave for trying to cook Korean and I admire you...I think I would try more than I do (I am a pro at kimchi bokembap, kimchi jjigae, dwaenjang jjigae, bulgogi,and a few others but am terrified of trying japchae, and some of my favorite side dishes and I won't even try kimbap (of which I LOVE to eat!!).
    Anyway- congrats!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sorry about the toe, but kudos on the cooking adventures. I love to read about how you're preparing for the arrival of your little one. Thank you for sharing all this with us. And keep posting pics of your culinary accomplishments. Fun to see!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good for you in making such a yummy Korean meal! I'm not a kimchi fan either, so I bought a little tub of it at the store and I try to have a tiny bit with each Korean meal I make(and with some other dishes too) to see if I'll acquire more of a taste for it and I don't hate it anymore, although I still don't love it!

    I tried japchae from Aeri's Kichen (blog) the other day and hubby and I both LOVED it, and hubby even commented on how pretty it looked! I'll have to try bulgogi soon, it's always a favorite at restaurants so I should try it at home!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I was just telling my husband that we need to get a Korean cookbook. We have a great Simple Chinese one that we use, but I would like to try some Korean food recipes. Thanks for the suggestions!

    ReplyDelete
  7. OUCH! Well, I guess a broken toe is a small sacrifice for such yummy new food. I love bulgogi, but haven't found a good recipe to make it at home...you should post yours!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sounds yummy! I love cooking new things. So sorry to hear about your broken toe.

    ReplyDelete