The Street Markets of Korea

I have a fascinations for markets, especially outdoor, wet-type street markets. In the Philippines, wet markets are called palengke. And it is aptly named as the central feature of the said market would be the fish stalls where it is predominantly wet from all the water used to water, clean and slosh the fish in order to further its freshness. I could get lost wandering in a market for hours. I like looking at the produce, seeing what's new and sometimes people-watch as well (some of the most interesting people I have found out are market vendors).

Here in Korea, street markets are scheduled every week, and happens every 5 days. Here in Janghowon, our street market is on the 4 and 9 days of the week (4, 9, 14, 19, 24, etc.). In Ichon city (about 30 minutes away by bus), their street market is on the 2 and 7 days of the week.

Hubby needed new shoes and suggested we go to Ichon for it. So we headed to Ichon and I was crossing my fingers that it was market day (I forgot the schedule). It was! So after picking up his sneakers at the local Nike shop, we headed on down to the walkway of shops and boutiques and soon came upon the street market.


Being a mushroom lover, I couldn't resist taking a picture of these shitake and oyster mushrooms. I didn't buy any since I just had my fill of button mushrooms these past few days.


Would you look at all those chestnuts? My mother told me that she was craving for chestnuts when she was pregnant with me that's why my skin is chestnut brown all over. *rolls eyes*


No self-respecting korean street market would be complete without its tteok vendor. Tteok is basically rice cakes in various form and sizes. Here you can see steamed tteok with potato inside and the more common ones (green and pink ones) containing ground sesame seeds and sugar.


And we have various salted, pickled stuff ranging from brined shrimp to leeks, ginseng marinated in fiery gochujang (red pepper paste) sauce and even salted fish.


Like in the wet markets of the Philippines, korean street markets always have an abundance of dried fish/seafood vendors. See the dried octopi slices in the wooden measuring box? I have always wondered how one can fix that in a recipe.


Would you look at that glistening veggies? I can almost smell the heady scent of the bell peppers. And love that purple sheen on those japanese eggplants.


Here's a friendly butcher with his goods. I was taking a picture of the various cuts of meat when he told me not to take a picture of his "samgyeopsal" belly (samgyeopsal, meaning 3-layered pork belly, the layers meaning fat LOL). I obliged him by taking his picture too.


I was thrilled to find these sea creatures sold at the market. They are called palatak in Filipino (mimicking the sound when they snap to get away from predators). I think it is commonly called the sea scorpion or something like that. I wanted to get some but balked at the price of $28 per kilo. I'd rather buy steak for that kind of price.


Bill commented on how nice and tiny the cherry tomatoes are. We had to get a basket of these lovely goodies. Hubby likes to add them to his ramyeon noodle stir-fry. I love them marinated in fish sauce as a side dish to my adobo and rice.


There were more produce being sold plus various household items and even lingerie and pillows and mattresses. But my post is long enough as it is. I leave y'all with this parting shot of Billy as we explore another alleyway that we haven't been through, here in the street market of Ichon City.

Barbeque dinner...

This is the barbeque dinner that we served for our guests, Julia and Cindy (Bill's co-teachers at his tutorial school).


I always fix some sort of salad to go with our barbeque dinner. Here I cut up some carrots, bell peppers, white onion and a hard boiled egg. For the greens, I just tore up a head of iceberg lettuce.


I don't usually fix potato salad since I am the only one who eats it in our family. But when we have guests over, I get to fix my very own version of the potato salad. Mine has a simple mayo, mustard and egg yolk dressing. And I just add minced onion and salt and pepper to the cooked potatoes. Simple but very tasty.


Now we go to the meat of the matter. Here are the rack of baby back ribs that I grilled (but marinated with Bill's special Kentucky barbaque marinade).



I also bought a huge slab of pork that I cut into thick slices and added to the marinated ribs.


Since I still had a fire going on the grill, I tossed several duck sausages that I got from our local supermarket. They were ok, with bits of green chili pepper mixed in the stuffing.


A regular in our dinners is the garlic fried rice. This is very Filipino as we usually serve it for breakfast (accompanied by a savory meat like bacon, fried fish, spam, etc.) This was Cindy's favorite and she was very happy there was garlic fried rice in the menu.


For dessert, I made strawberry shortcake which I cheated. I bought store-made chiffon cake and dressed it with strawberry syrup, whipped cream and marinated sliced strawberries. This I drizzled with the remaining strawberry syrup. Sorry, I didn't take pics of that dessert.

Having Friends Over

As far as I can remember, my parents always enjoyed inviting friends over for a sumptuous lunch or elegant dinner. Now that I'm married (and to a great cook, too), we have continued this tradition by inviting our friends over, usually for a barbeque feast prepared by Bill.


When Bill prepares his famous Kentucky Barbeque, I am usually tasked to make the sides. Usually I fix garlic fried rice, sauteed brussel sprouts (when I can find them), some sort of salad greens, potato salad, fries, grilled hotdogs, etc. For drinks, I serve the usual Coke, Cider (which is actually a korean version of 7-up) and homemade ice tea.


Here are some of the guest that we have had over the years... our good friends Dan and Angela.


Filipinas married to koreans who I've met here. Most of them are based in the Muguek area of Korea. I regularly meet up with them usually during the holidays and this year (2008) we've hosted the New Year's Party at our house.


My best friend, Catherine Kim. She's a poultry vet and one of the nicest I've ever met.

Sometimes we have Bill's kids (the ones he teaches at his school) over for lunch. See how they eat spaghetti with chopsticks? Hey, it's kinda neat, I do it too.


When Jai was still here, he would invite his best friends over for lunch and spend the whole day playing computer games in our house.


And last night, we had Bill's co-teachers over for a barbeque dinner. That's Julia on the farthest right, me and Bill and Cindy. It was Julia's first time over to our house while Cindy has been over several times now. In my next post, I'll detail the dinner that we had.

Chicken Inasal (Grilled Lemongrass Chicken)

This recipe is dedicated to Michie, my favorite cousin's wife. Hope you get a chance to get a taste of this wonderful smoky, vinegary chicken soon Michie.

Ask any person from Bacolod about Inasal and they will shout "Manukan Country!". Manuk or manok is chicken in Filipino. When I was in high school, we lived in Bacolod city, about an hour's plane ride away from Manila. There, we had a chance to discover the joys of eating in Manukan country, a 2-3 block long outdoor grill restaurants.

When you order chicken inasal, you have a choice of pa-a (which is a leg and thigh quarter), pecho (breast and wing together), pakpak (about 3-4 wings), bituka (intestines) and puso ( about 8 to 10 chicken hearts - our family favorite). All of these items are skewered in about a foot and a half long bamboo sticks. Sides to go with your grilled items are freshly blanched and shucked tiny oysters called sisi and steaming hot rice topped with toasted garlic bits and chicken fat colored brilliant orange with annato seeds. To make your sawsawan (dipping sauce), on the table, you have an array of soy sauce, cane vinegar, bird chilis and calamansi halves. I usually mix everything except the bird chilis which are wicked hot.

I am fortunate to have the recipe for Chicken Inasal as my brother married a girl from Bacolod. And instead of buying costly lemongrass, a key ingredient in the recipe, here in Korea (3-5 stalks cost $5!!! *gasp), I had Bill bring over about 10 bunches of lemongrass which my Dad picked from their backyard. These I froze and just thaw out as I need. And if you really can't find lemongrass, just zest 2 lemons and add that to the marinade. It's a good enough substitute.



Chicken Inasal (Grilled Lemongrass Chicken)

Ingredients:

4 pounds chicken cut into serving/grilling pieces
juice of 2 lemons
1 cup white vinegar
1 medium ginger, pounded with skin on
4 stalks of lemongrass pounded slightly
SALT to taste.

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients & marinade for 3 hours. Skewer the chicken with bbq sticks and grill over hot charcoal fire until done. Brush with chicken oil (chicken skin FRIED IN OIL & then strained) when chicken is nearly done. This will make the skin extra crispy and lock all the juices inside.


*SERVE WITH DIPPING SAUCE (mix together)
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
juice of one lemon
chopped chili peppers (if you like the heat)
1 tsp Sugar

Pork Afritada

I come from a province influenced greatly by the Spanish Galleon trade. Hence, the native language in my city, Cavite, is pidgen Spanish or Chabacano in local dialect. The influence has not only extended in the language but also to the cooking as well. Here is a family recipe, handed down by generations of cooks and mothers, called Afritada (basically tomato stew). It is usually cooked with pork but is is versatile enough to be made with chicken (less stewing time) or beef (more stewing time).

Like great stews, Afritada gets better over time. But in my family, we usually fix a lot so that we can eat it as soon as it is cooked and then have enough leftovers for tomorrow. :)

Pork Afritada

2 lbs. pork chunks (with some fat and skin on some pieces)*
2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks 2X2 inch
2 potatoes, medium sized and cut into chunks
1 large bell pepper, cored & seeded, cut into strips
1 onion, cut into chunks
1 large tomato, cut into chunks
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small can of tomato paste
1/3 cup of soy sauce
5 tbsp vegetable oil
water
salt and pepper

1. In a large wok add the oil and heat until hot. Add the pork cubes and stir-fry until all the pieces change color (not bloody anymore). Take out the pork and set aside in a large bowl.
2. Add bell pepper slices and stir fy them for 5 minutes. Take them out and set aside.
3. Add the minced garlic and fry until golden brown. Add onion chunks and stirfry for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and stirfry for 5-7 minutes until the tomatoes are nice and soft.
4. Add tomato paste to the wok and stirfry for 5 minutes. This is to make sure that the paste is thoroughly cooked before the meat is added back again.
5. Add the meat back into the wok (plus the accumulated juices) and the carrots. Stir everything until all are coated with the red sauce. Add water until it covers the meat and ingredients completely. Add soysauce too. Bring to a boil.
6. When the sauce starts to boil, lower the heat so that it simmers. Cover the wok and let it simmer for 1 hour. You would need to stir the contents every 7-10 minutes so that nothing sticks to the bottom.
7. Add the potato chunks and the bell pepper strips. By this time the sauce has reduced to almost half level. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are done. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve hot with rice. This is actually better served the next day since the flavors have actually intensified.

*I recommend the addition of some fat and skin since this adds to the flavor of the sauce. You can always take out the fat and skin after cooking (which I do).

Brothers being brothers...

There's something about two siblings being both boys. Sometimes it justs clicks.



Like being able to wear matching military outfits and still manage to look cool.



Or being able to build a pillow fort to guard against things that go bump in the night. Like in Discworld novels, a blankie is requisite roof material since it keeps the bogeyman away.



Or riding your favorite construction equipment and dream of the structures that you and your brother can build.



Or just teasing each other for the heck of it. LOL

Mom's Nanner Pudding

Since I didn't get to post last Wednesday, here's a favorite family recipe. When we were newlyweds, hubby asked me if I could fix his favorite dessert - Banana Pudding. Realizing I didn't know what it was, he then placed a call to his mom and asked for the recipe. Here is my mother-in-law's, Almeta, recipe for Banana Pudding or "Mom's Nanner Pudding" like my hubby would say.

Mom’s Nanner Pudding

Pudding Ingredients:
½ cup flour
2 egg yolks, well-beaten (save the egg whites for later – for the meringue)
2 ½ cups milk
1 tbsp. Vanilla powder
1tbsp. Butter
a pinch of salt
1 cup sugar

Meringue topping ingredients:
2 egg whites
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
6 tbsp. Sugar

*Vanilla wafer cookies

1. Cook milk, sugar, salt and flour together in a wok or pan. Stir over medium heat until the mixture comes together like gravy. Keep stirring all the time to prevent lumps forming.
2. When the mixture looks like loose gravy add the beaten egg yolks and STIR CONSTANTLY until thickened to pudding consistency.
3. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and the butter and stir some more. Set aside.
4. Get your Vanilla Wafer cookies (I use the Nilla wafer kind) or if you don’t have them, find your favorite vanilla wafer cookie recipe. Bake the vanilla cookies and when done set aside.
5. For the meringue topping, take a mixer and a clean bowl. In the bowl put the egg whites and beat it with the mixer until soft peaks form on the mixture. The egg whites should look white now and slowly add sugar (sprinkling it around the bowl while mixing.) Add the cream of tartar too now. Keep adding sugar while bating the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside when the egg whites look like white icing.
6. Now it is time to layer the dish. First put a layer of vanilla cookies on the bottom of the pan or dish. Then layer pudding, then a layer of sliced bananas and then vanilla cookies again. Keep repeating the process until the dish is full. Top with meringue and brown the meringue in oven (set in 375 F degrees) for about 5-10 minutes. Watch carefully because it doesn’t take long to overbrown it.

Spring has stung...

Remember a few days back when I told y'all that spring has sprung? Well, I had this crazy notion to go out walking and take some more flower pictures. Of course when you have an abundance of flowers, you will have hordes of bees. This was a pear tree growing under the window of our apartment. Well, sort of, considering we're five floors up.

Here's a close-up of a cousin of the hive denizen that stung me.


It was actually this peach tree in front of our favorite samgyeopsal restaurant that got me. I was admiring it so much that I took a couple of snaps. As I turned away to find more pictures to take, I saw something coming right at my face. It hit my left cheek and felt scratchy while I brushed it away. A few minutes later, my cheek started to itch like crazy and eventually was getting numb. I hightailed it to the nearest pharmacy and got some antihistamine pills.

It helped the itchiness and the numbness a lot but didn't prevent the nasty asthma attack that felled for me 13 hours (yes, I slept that long). But it was worth getting all this spring flower pictures.

A Kalbi Feast

One thing about koreans is their love for eating out. There are a myriad of restaurants, mom & pop places all over the with hundreds of choices for the hungry horde. One of my favorite is the Grilled Kalbi (Marinated Beef Rib). Yesterday, two of my korean friends took me and Billy with their children to this restaurant about 15 minutes away from Janghowon. We've always driven past this restaurant (which had a large jungle gym/playground for kids that you can see in the windows) but never had the chance to try it out. It's hard to stop by when you're in a bus or a cab.


Then my friends told me that we're going to have dinner in a faraway place. I was kinda amused by their description. I brought Billy with me (Bill opted to stay behind since it was raining and didn't look forward to sitting on the floor to eat). To my delight, they said that this restaurant was know for its Kalbi ribs. Would you look at that plate? The sight of that much red meat sets my heart (and tastebuds) aflutter.


Let's go on the side dishes (called banchan in korean), shall we? Let's see... we've got some raw greens on the lower portion of the picture with wrapping leaves in a basket. The latter are lettuce and sesame (perilla) leaves for wrapping pieces of meat with garlic, kimchi and whatever banchan you want and then stuffing it in your mouth. Simple but oh so good. And in the tiny saucers you've got raw garlic (good for your heart after eating all that calorie-laden meat), gochujang sauce (red pepper sauce) and tiny stewed sweet potatoes.

Now here we have small veggie egg pancakes, sauteed shitake mushrooms and water kimchi made out of seaweed (water kimchi is called "mul kimchi" in korean). I'm ashamed to admit that I hogged the mushrooms all for myself.



Next, we have some green onions marinated in goshujang sauce, some julienned cabbage with onions and carrots that you can add to your saucer of horseradish mustard sauce (belive me the combination is addictive: salty, spicy and tangy at the same time) and more of the same gochujang sauce.


Here are the banchan platters on the kids' table. We did the grilling on our table for safety purposes. On the lower bottom of the picture is the requisite lettuce salad with its large dollop of mayo-ketchup dressing (why do koreans have this affinity to smother their salads with a combination of mayonaise and ketchup?). The red clump on the upper right of the salad are raw marinated crabs in gochujang sauce - something that I can't bring my self to eat. I'm used to crabs being cooked, not raw and gooey in the inside. And lastly, the pink mound is mashed potatoes with corn topped with the same mayo-ketchup sauce. Sigh.



Let's get some grill action, shall we? Here my friend deftly lifts the beef rib with its meat trailing down to cut it into smaller, manageable pieces. Too bad the place didn't use real charcoal. Instead it had those japanese-type burners that one can see in yakitori restaurants. When I told my friends I love gnawing on the bones, they surreptiously piled all the rib bones on my plate. My hubby will roll his eyes when he reads this. I can't help it, there's nothing more pleasurable in life that holding a big rib bone and trying to eat off as much meat off it as you can. ;)


I dunno why but the soup or stew as you can call it and the rice always come halfway in the meal. Here we have, pardon the blurry picture from my phone camera, the stew in the black stone pot is Dwenjjang Jjige (fermented soybean stew with zucchini, onions and tofu). By this time, I am reeling from the amount of beef that we have eaten. And then the piece de resistance came, my friends ordered Bibimbap, a bowlful (or shall I say a small basin full of) rice topped with veggies and more gochujang and then mixed together. I begged off telling them I was full as a Thanksgiving turkey stuffed to the gills ready for the oven.

Spring has sprung

When a tropical gal like me comes to live in a different climate zone such as Korea, one thing I have found out is that you become thankful when spring has started. Winter gets long and dreary plus the bone chilling cold does not help at all. So, after three long cold months, the first sign of buds on the trees are a welcome sight.

The first time I experienced spring, it was a joy to behold. Everything seems to come alive as the earth changes her grey wardrobe to a vibrant mixtures of greens and reds, yellows and purple. When my parents came over to visit me here a few years back, my mother exclaimed out loud to my hubby "Bill, why aren't they cutting down those dead trees?" (pointing to the grove of peach trees). My hubby gently told her that those leafless trees weren't dead at all. It was just the end of winter and it was too cold for the leaves to come back. My mom sadly shook her head and gravely told him that they were dead. Imagine my mom's suprise when she saw the peach trees flower and bud. She was so overjoyed and laughed over her mistake.



So here are some of spring flowers that I have taken pictures of.