Kabayo Cham Bada

Hello! I hope you all have been having an amazing week. I recently went out to lunch with a few friends to try out a new restaurant. What is special about this restaurant is that they have really fresh seafood. I love seafood so this was a special treat. For me, anything related to the ocean is fascinating and I enjoyed getting to experience this type of cooking with such fresh ingredients. Plus who doesn't love watching the food be cooked at the table.

They started off by bringing out some side dishes and salad. Which is perfect because it's nice to have something to eat while you wait for the seafood to be cooked. We also got these delicious oyster shooters. The oysters were marinated in this sauce that was made from soy sauce and few other ingredients. The taste was so fresh and flavorful. We were also given a cooked fish and some abalone to enjoy before the soup.

Then they brought out this large pot filled with fresh seafood.

Doesn't that look amazing! Everything was so fresh. It had octopus, crab, fish, shrimp, clams, etc.

The waiter was so helpful and took out the octopus and cut it up for us to enjoy while everything finished cooking.

Then he removed the clam shells and the crab shell and left us to enjoy our soup.

It was so delicious. There was plenty of food for the four of us. It had just the right amount of seafood mixed with some vegetables and broth. So good!

That's not all. Afterward they brought us this noodle soup to enjoy.

The soup was delicious and I loved the noodles.

To finish off the meal and reward ourselves with a fun treat we went to Cottonhi. Its this cute little ice cream place in Koreatown where you can get flavored cotton candy on top of your ice cream.

The ice cream was so delicious. It had brownie bites and caramel, plus I got coffee flavored cotton candy on top. So delicious!

Thank you for joining me on another food adventure. It was so much fun getting to share this with you. 

XOXO,

Rachel

Ham Ji Park

Hello! How have you been? It has been so long since I've posted and I apologize for that. Work has become increasingly busy and I haven't devoted as much time to writing and cooking as I would like. I'm hoping to get into a much better routine where I can begin writing and cooking weekly and possibly even more. Living in Koreatown is still amazing. I'm learning so much and my Korean is really starting to improve. When I feel more confident I may try writing some here.
This past Saturday I had the fortune of going to Ham Ji Park with my friend Alexandria. Ham Ji Park is one of my favorite restaurants! The dwaeji galbi is magical. It has this amazing sweet and tangy flavor. Its not as smokey as American style ribs. Its sweeter but not overly sweet. It's the perfect combination of flavors.

Don't they look amazing! I especially love pairing the flavor of these ribs with this spicy lettuce dish. I think the flavors blend well together. 

I think this side dish may be my favorite. I love the slight spiciness paired with the crispness of the lettuce. We also ordered kimchi jjigae to enjoy. 

I'm not usually a soup person but this dish is one of my favorites. It is so spicy and delicious. Maybe it's because it reminds me of Basque soup. Growing up in Bakersfield I ate a lot of Basque food. If you've never had it I highly recommend it. One of the main Basque dishes that I would eat all the time was Basque soup. It is a cabbage soup that is served with salsa and beans to add to it. While it is definitely different that kimchi jjigae it still has that cabbage and spice elements that, for me, make them similar. 

Overall it was an amazing meal. The food is so delicious and encompass all the right flavors. Next time you are in Koreatown I recommend taking a trip to Ham Ji Park. I hope you have a wonderful week! 

XOXO,

Rachel 

Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup)

This week I decided to make Samgyetang. In Korea this is considered a summer dish. They are of the mindset that you eat this hot soup to help beat the heat of summer. Sounds like an interesting concept. I personally think this is a great dish for winter. Right now everyone is getting sick and this soup sounds like a delicious way to help boost the immune system. I really enjoy cooking food that not only tastes good but that also nourish our bodies. Both chicken soup and ginseng have wonderful healing properties. Ginseng can help boost your energy and your immune system.

This week my playlist is more mellow. EXO released a special winter album on December 10th titled Sing For You. I have really been enjoying it. Normally I prefer EXO's more upbeat songs like Call Me Baby and Love Me Right but I like these new mellow songs.  Sing For You is a beautiful emotional ballad. The music video for the song takes the viewer through a couple different emotions. The video starts off with happier scenes but takes a sad turn before returning to happier scenes. The concept is interesting but somewhat confusing. The melody of the song connects well with the visuals but I'm not sure how the lyrics connect. All of EXO's music videos only contain the members. I think it would benefit them to start including women in some of the videos. I believe this would help them to better convey the messages of their songs, especially considering women are a main theme within the lyrics. The other songs on the album are more upbeat than Sing For You but are still mellow except for the bonus track Lightsaber. Of the songs on the album I think Unfair and Girl x Friend are my favorites. I love the stories they tell. I also noticed that Xiumin is more vocally present in the new songs. He's a talented singer and I'm glad he is getting more opportunities to sing.

With this recipe there wasn't as much prep time needed as with my previous recipes. The rice needs to soak for an hour but beyond that everything is ready to go.

Ingredients:

1 cornish hen (about 1.5 pounds)

1 fresh ginseng root (can be found at many Korean markets)

3 tablespoons sweet rice, soaked for 1 hour

5-6 plump garlic cloves

1 thin ginger slice (about 1 inch)

2 to 3 jujubes (dried red dates, can be found at many Korean markets)

1 scallion white part

5-6 cups of water

2 scallions, chopped, to garnish

Salt and pepper to taste

Step 1. Clean the cornish hen. Do not cut off the neck and/or tail, if they are still attached. They will be needed to keep the rice inside the hen. Use a paper towel to clean the inside the cavity to remove any blood.

Step 2. Stuff the hen with a couple garlic cloves and the sweet rice. Make sure to leave about 1/4 of the cavity free for the rice to expand.

Step 3. Tightly close the cavity with a toothpick or small skewer. Then cross the legs and tie together with kitchen twine. ( I missed the leg crossing step when making this dish, oopsie)

Step 4. Place the chicken in a medium pot and add the water. Because my pot was on the bigger side I needed about 8 cups to completely cover the chicken. Then add the garlic, ginseng, ginger, jujubes and the scallion white part. If the chicken came with a neck that had been cut off, add it in with the other ingredients. Bring everything to a boil over medium heat. Skim off any foam on top. Cover, and boil for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low and boil for 20-30 more minutes. 

Step 5. Remove any visible fat and serve hot. Chopped scallions, salt and pepper added as desired. 

I hope you enjoyed this weeks adventure! This is another amazing recipe from the Korean Bapsang. Check out her version here. I really enjoyed making this recipe. I loved working with new ingredients like jujubes, ginseng and cornish hen. The finished product turned out wonderful! After adding a little salt, pepper and scallions, it was a delicious and healthy. I hope you all have a great week!

Xoxo,
Rachel