Su Je Bi for the Soul

Yesterday I was in the mood for Su Je Bi and so I decided to try making it, on my own. I went to the Grand Mart food mart and picked up some flour for the dumpling skins and kelp, dried anchovies, green pepper and a few other things for the broth. I didn't have an actual recipe to use and I didn't want to look it up so I approximated ingredient amounts.


Dumpling skins:

1 cup flour
1/3 cup water
1 tsp grape seed oil (I didn't have any vegetable oil)
Salt
Broth:

6 dried anchovies (head and intestines removed)
1 palm sized piece of dried kelp
1 TBSP garlic
2 small Korean hot green peppers (not bell peppers)
2 stalks of green onion
Salt & pepper

A drizzle of sesame oil.
First I kneaded the dough for a few minutes and then set it in a plastic bag in the fridge while I made the broth.
I boiled the kelp and anchovies for about 20 minutes and then discarded them from the broth. I added the remaining ingredients and simmered them for another 20 minutes or so before hand tearing the dough into the broth. When the dumplings where cooked through I added a tiny bit of sesame oil to the soup and ate it all up.
The soup actually tasted really good but not exactly the way Su Je Bi should taste. I realized that it was missing a few key ingredients that would have made it much better. Potato and fish sauce would have deepened the broth and made it a bit more savory. I also should have let the dough rest a bit longer. It was a little thicker than I wanted it but still quite good. Even though it wasn't perfect I was still really pleased with my results. I love the taste of the broth and I especially love how easy and quick it is to make. I'm already thinking about Matzo Ball Su Je Bi for the holidays. I'm going to be the first Jewish mother to make Su Je Bi instead of chicken soup when my kids are sick.
Here are some pics of the ingredients and final product:

Seoul Park Rose Garden

Yesterday I spend the day walking around the Rose Garden at Seoul Grand Park. The weather was beautiful and I wanted to be outside.

When I got out of the subway station (the park is about 45 minutes from my apartment) I thought I was in Paris. The road leading to the park was wide and lined with beautiful trees with bright green leaves and dark, almost black bark. The sun was peering through the trees and as usual the Seoul Mountains set the background. It was a glorious setting.

I could see that the parking lot was empty but there were plenty kids, young lovers, and of course there were Ajumas - older and married women. (I've been meaning to write a post on Ajumas but I have no idea know where to start.)

 I took a tram to the garden and as soon as I got off I could smell the roses. When I stepped through the gates into the garden I thought I was in heaven. The sprawling garden was laid out on a river bank so that the rose bush paths all led to the water. Trestled archways led to more rose paths and provided shade and wooden benches for heightened rose viewing pleasure. A slight breeze and piped in classical music completed the scene. I felt like I stepped into a Monet, and I loved every minute of it.

The roses came in every color and size and in crazy color combinations. The ones I liked the best were really big and had hot pink petals and bright orange stimuli (I'm taking a guess that that's the right name since that's all I remember from 7th grade science.) I especially loved seeing how thick the stems and how large the thorns could be. I never got roses like these. I never knew what I was missing.

After walking around and smelling the roses for about an hour I decided to take a rest and eat the snack that I brought with me - small, sweet Korean yams. I found a nice spot in the shade by the river and enjoyed the yams, the smell of the roses, the sounds of the music mixed in with the waterfalls and birds chirping, the view of the lake, and the perfection of the moment. I enjoyed it so much that I bought a rose scented after bath spray. I guess I've been converted.
Well I hope you enjoy my photos as much as I enjoyed the day.

Korean-style sashimi

While walking through the backstreets to Hongdae we decided to stop for dinner at a cute Japanese place - we're pretty sure it was Japanese. The decoration and style of the small space was definitley Japanese: lots of lanterns and pumping cat fists, but the menu was in Korean and the sashimi was served in the Korean style (Hwe).

The menu was entirely in Korean and lacking the convenient pictures that are pretty common on most menus in Seoul. With no other options we pointed to a fried croquet on a table across from ours and then ordered some drinks. While waiting we were able to read that the specialty of the restaurant was 사시미. Sashimi. We decided to order some without knowing what kind of fish it was and how much of it we ordered. We like sashimi so we didn't really think twice about it.

When it came to the table the sashimi was presented on top of the fish carcass it came from. Head and tail intact. (We've heard about this style of sashimi and have seen restaurants that specialize in it but were reluctant to try it.) M felt a bit queasy about the whole thing because our fish was alive a few minutes ago and it was staring right at him. Once we got over the initial shock of seeing the fish flesh presented that way the head and tail of the fish started moving around on our plate. Our fish was still alive! M jumped out of his seat and was scared to come back to the table. It was both hysterical and sad at the same time. Of course I realize that in order for me to eat a fish, said fish needs to die. I didn't realize that it would die on my plate as I ate its flesh. It took a few minutes of poking, taking pictures, and hoping the fish would finally stop moving before we took the "when in Rome" approach and attempted a taste.  Once we got started we never stopped. We ate the whole thing and it was really tasty and well, really fresh.

Here are the pics:

When we were done with the fish they took the carcass outside to dry it out. I'm guessing the bones will be used for some kind of stock. Our fish is the small one on the top that isn't hanging.

The fried curry croquets were delish! Golden and crunchy on the outside and crisp, curried veggies on the inside.

Hair Update

Two weeks ago I had a hair disaster. Today I'm happy to blog that I went to get my hair color corrected and I'm no longer the Ronald McDonald of Seoul! I wouldn't say I'm exactly thrilled with the results but I'm not complaining either. Now my hair is so dark brown that it almost looks black. I'm hoping that in a few weeks it will start to lighten up a bit. I can't say that i'll never go back to being a blonde, since I always do go back to it, but I'm definitley good for now.

Pics to come...

Mike's Cabin

Mike's cabin is a cool bar in Sinchon where expats and Koreans come together for drinks, darts, foozeball, great music, dancing and fun. Mike's is kind of a bar/club/lounge hybrid. It's not uncommon for darts, dancing, and relaxing to be going on all at the same time. It's also a great place to go to meet new people and to get the scoop on local events. We went last weekend and met a fun group of guys and girls from Shanghai.

Dunkin Donuts

M likes to read and prepare for his classes at cafes. (I think he's got a cognitive map of all the free wifi, decent coffee, and book friendly coffee shops in Seoul.) He's also a huge doughnut lover and so he couldn't resist trying Korean Dunkin Donuts. On one of his trips to DD's he realized that in addition to the "regular" doughnuts, the Korean Dunkin Donuts have "multicultural donuts". In other words there are multi-culti flavors incorporated into the doughnuts. Some are sweet and some are savory and a lot of them are plain old strange.

We decided to taste the savoury lentil curry croquet first. It was actually pretty good. I imagine it was supposed to be from India but it tasted more the like the golden curry puffs we get from our local thai takeout in Bklyn. Next up we decided to be bold and so we ordered the garlic glazed. It was a sweet doughnut filled with garlic that had been cooked down until it turned sweet and then glazed over with sugar. It wasn't as bad as it sounds but it wasn't that great either. There were some other strange combinations like the sweet olive chewisty, the onion and garlic roll, and of course the kimchi croquet. We'll save those for another time.

Burger B

We've been in Seoul for three months and for the most part, up until this post, I've only eaten Asian food in that time. I eat Korean food daily but I've also had a lot of Japanese and a small bit of Vietnamese food since we've been here. Since we are only here for a short time I want to take full advantage of our time and the food while we are here. Having said all that, I am truly a cheeseburger and pizza lover, (I did try Korean Pizza but it wasn't exactly what I'd call "pizza"). I decided that my birthday was a perfect time to try a cheeseburger in Seoul. After much internet and blog surfing, we ruled out a few places because of distance, and a few because of bun issues - can't have a soggy bun- and we finally decided on Burger B in nearby Hongdae. 

The restaurant has a similar concept to 67 Burger in Fort Greene (Brooklyn), where you order at the register and then you are alerted when your meal is ready. I ordered the classic cheeseburger with spicy mayo and cheddar and a side of fries. No one asked how I liked my burger and I didn't think it would matter if I told them that I prefer it medium to rare. So we ordered and waited. When the burgers came they looked fantastic. They looked as if they were on a Wendy's commercial. All plump and juicy with burger sweat dripping down the sides! After a few pictures I was ready to dig in. It certainly wasn't the best burger I've ever had - that might have been at fiddlesticks in the west village - but it was definitely good and worth the wait. My biggest concern was the overpowering amount of mayo on the burger. It took too much away from the taste of the beef and it made it very hard to eat. (The fries were fine. Nothing to write about.) All in all it was a positive experience. I do love cheeseburgers but I think I can wait until we get back for another one.
Here are some pics:

Yeouido Park

Last Sunday was a beautiful sunny day in Seoul and we decided to spend it at Yeouido park. The park is on a small island in central Seoul and it was packed because of the glorious weather. As soon as we arrived we realized that renting a tandem bike was the thing to do. We got on line and 5 minutes and $2 later we got a bike for one hour. Neither one of us had ever ridden a tandem bike so we decided that M should sit up front for the first go round. Since the park was so packed it was difficult to even get onto the bike path. The walking and biking paths are side by side but the walking path was being re-painted so the narrow bike path was chaotic with bikers and pedestrians.   M did a great job though. He was stable, quick, and was able to avoid the other riders and pedestrians. When it was time to switch I didn't do such a great job. It was really hard to keep the bike steady and I was swerving on the path. After about 3 minutes of this M told me he was scared for his life so we switched back and headed for the river. After our hour was up we walked back to the riverside where people where escaping the urban heat in the large, beautiful fountains. There were naked kids, young and old couples alike, groups of students, and of course, M and I enjoying the beautiful scenery. Have a look:

Here's our shadow on the tandem bike:

Here's the Korean version of us on the bike:

My birthday Dinner

This year was the first time I celebrated my birthday in another country, away from my family and friends. And while there's no substitutes for my dearest family and friends, I was able to celebrate and enjoy the night with new friends in my temporary home. We invited our good friends Jason and Sharon, Wannie, Dong U, and of course Yelim, my SBFF (Seoul Best Friend Forever) over for some pre-dinner drinks and then we went to our favorite Japanese tapas joint for some delicous food.

We chose the menu in advance:
grilled mackeral
fresh tuna salad over grated cabbage
fried chicken (M's favorite)
curried ramen soup
seaweed rice "pockets"
fried tofu

Of course the sake, soju, mekju (beer) and sake cocktails were flowing. 

Afterwards we went to our second favorite Japanese tapas place for a traditional Korean birthday Seaweed soup, Japanese pancake and some grilled seafood.

It was a great night but a difficult next morning.

Here are some pics :

Before the party started at our place

Singing Happy Birthday

Making faces with Jason and Sharon

So Seoul Wrong

I've often used this blog to write about how Korea does many things "so right". Sadly this post is about how it went so so wrong. I've been living in Korea for 3 months and it was time I addressed a very serious and important issue. My hair. Sure, while I've been here I've had a trim, a blowout, even a deep conditioning treatment, but that's where it ended. I've been ignoring the dark and rapidly growing halo just above "my" blonde hair. It was time to get some more blending blonde highlights or go "back to my roots" as they say.

I chose the latter. I decided that my hair has been dyed and fried for too many years. I mentally prepared to be a brunette again. (As you can imagine it took several weeks of self motivation to decide on such a life altering decision.) I decided that since my birthday was coming up and we were hosting a birthday dinner I would get my hair done the morning of the party so that I could unveil my new look at dinner - because, um, everyone else cares about my hair as much as I do.

Anyhow, I went back to Juno Salon where I've had several fantastic experiences in the past. I sat with my hair guru and, through an interpreter, discussed my hair situation to great lengths. He (I don't know his name but I like to call him Edward Scissor Hands - ESH for short) suggested that I go for a reddish brown, rather than a mousy brown, which might look muddy. I was extremely hesitant and said that I don't mind a reddish tint but that I didn't want my hair to be orange (you can see where this is going already, eh?) After pointing, comparing and contrasting, and lots of iced green tea and cookies, I finally decided to go with the reddish brown because ESH assured me it would be browner with a red tint, rather than the opposite.To make a long and painful story short, I now have pumpkin hair. My hair is Rainbow Bright orange. It’s the color of a beautiful sunset that doesn't seem to end. It's worse than the time I dyed my own hair hot pink by accident. That was at least a little "punk" even if I wasn't. This is horrible. It took me hours to stop crying and days to accept that I'm stuck with it, if only for the next week and a half before we can "fix it". I don't know if I believe there is a fix for this, at least not with the same person who turned me into the little orphan Annie of Seoul, but I have no choice but to give it a try.
Until it gets fixed I'll have to settle for looking like the best friend of the love interest in a 1980's Daniel Day Lewis film, but with better teeth. Kind of.

Here's a pic taken at our apartment before we went out for my birthday dinner: