Kimchi gets used as a side dish, but more often than not, we usually end up frying it for kimchi jjigae, bibimbap, grilled kim-cheese sandwiches, kimchi fried rice, kimchi omurice, etc. I try to be careful about how much oil I use when cooking. If I can’t get by with using cooking spray, I’ll use the most minuscule amount of olive oil or coconut oil possible. Y’know.. the type of drizzle that doesn’t cover the entire pan and you swear you’re going to get tendinitis trying to roll the oil around so you give up and cover the rest of the pan in Pam instead? Or maybe that’s just me. So to sum up.. I don’t like to cook with oil.

What about when you cook kimchi?

NO OIL.

Really. Don’t do that to kimchi. Just don’t. Especially not sesame oil.. no matter what “but it’s Asian food!” sort of knee-jerk reaction you have.

But what you NEED to do..

USE BUTTER.Trust me, this is the best thing you can do for kimchi (unless you’re a bacon freak then bacon grease comes pretty close.. but I still vote butter). Oh, and if you’re vegan.. Earth Balance works just as well (as long as you don’t tell your husband you used a substitute and remember to hide the Earth Balance back in the far corners of the fridge). I know what I said about “No oil,” but Earth Balance has the buttery flavor that makes it the exception.And then you just add that to your bulgogi tacos..kimchi fried rice..bibimbap…and grilled kim-cheese..Seriously.. some bonus advice.. whenever you’re frying up kimchi.. throw cheese on top.. pizza is ideal for kimchi.. no? It’s ok.. baby steps..

Stacy

Graham got tickets for my birthday, and we decided to make a day of it. We took advantage of the gorgeous fall weather by spending the afternoon in Central Park, stopping briefly at Rockefeller Center on our way. We stopped by Strawberry Fields…and then decided to leave the park so we’d have enough time to walk to K-Town before the show for some dinner. We, however, ended up getting lost for another hour much to the dismay of my feet which I’d strapped into medieval torture contraptions called “high-heeled sandals.” It wasn’t all bad since we ended up at Shakespeare Garden.I’d been craving “dak galbi” for weeks, but I hadn’t been able to find a place in Philly that serves it, so that was high on my “what to do on NYC day trip” list.I really don’t know how we managed to walk to Times Square after all that food.. actually, Graham walked, I sort of teetered and limped (thanks, shoes!). It probably helped that I was easily distracted on the way there by the bright colors of the window display at Macy’s. I got super excited when we turned the corner and saw The Lyceum Theatre.. but I don’t know if the excitement was from getting to see Nick Kroll and John Mulaney or because the straps of my shoes were eroding skin at this point.The show was only in its third day of previews, so there were kinks, but honestly, it really seemed to work in their favor. We were skeptical about the premise of the show.. could George St. Geegland and Gil Faison really entertain for more than a 5 minute skit? YES.

On the drive home, we wondered why we hadn’t done more day trips to New York. Graham summed up what he learned rather nicely:

A day in New York is doable as long as we have someone to watch the dog. We can definitely do more of this if my parents are fine with Huxley. And, next time you wear heels and I ask you, “Are you going to be okay walking in those shoes all day?” and you say, “Yes, I’m fine in these shoes,” I’m going to put a pair of your sneakers in my bag anyway.

Stacy

There’s definitely no shortage of chilis, beef stews, meatloaf, root veggies, and all the other typical winter comfort foods at our house when the temperature drops, but more than anything else, there tends to be an increase in Korean dishes simmering on the stove. Usually, it’s all about the kimchi or miso-based stews, but lately, I’d found myself wanting Korean seaweed soup (miyeok guk).

I’d always left the making of this soup from scratch to the expert (aka Mom), or, if I had a sudden craving, normally, the instant packets of wakame soup from Kikkoman would usually do in a pinch. Last week though, those packets weren’t going to cut it, and with my mom 3 states away, I figured I’d try tackle the challenge of furthering my Korean domestication.Nowadays, you can find freeze dried seaweed at your neighborhood Whole Foods, which is surreal for me. I remember my family having to drive an hour away from home in our grey Winnebago a few times a month to pick up ingredients at the nearest Korean market in Kansas. It’s great to have easy access, but there’s limitations on varieties and brands. Now, Graham and I look for any excuse to make the quick trip to H-Mart located in the Korean strip mall in Elkins Park. It’s just easier for me to know exactly what I’m buying when I can read Korean labels on the products. There’s less chance that I’ll inadvertently pick up the “wrong” kind of seaweed by mistake (for this soup, koreans use “sea mustard”). Straight out of the package, not the prettiest ingredient.. the texture’s similar to kale chips… but, let it soak in water for about 20 minutes and…it unfurls into some really beautiful, pillowy greens. I love the sheen!

As far as the recipe goes, I started off using one from Korean Bapsang, but as the soup was finishing up on the stove, a quick taste test determined that, although good, it didn’t quite taste like the kind my mother makes. I did a little comparison googling and deferred to Maangchi’s recipe, since I’d often used her site for deciphering the flavors in korean dishes in the past and gotten some luck. I added a bit of fish sauce… it was perfect =)I definitely felt like i earned my “Korean cred” when I texted a photo to both my parents  and they both messaged back that it made them hungry.. ok.. so it helped that I’d sent them the photo around lunchtime and neither of them had eaten yet.

It was a simple once I had the right ingredients, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to give up those Kikkoman instant wakame soup packages in the pantry anytime soon =) Hooray for laziness!

Stacy