Vegetarian Lunch at the Moga Museum Restaurant

When I went to the Moga Museum in Yeoju City with Sally and her friend, Jennifer, it was a very relaxing and peaceful tour around the grounds. All the walking and browsing around made us all very hungry by lunch time and it was fortunate that there was a restaurant in the middle of the Moga Museum site. This was a vegetarian restaurant, since the museum primarily showcases Buddhist art. Jennifer ordered a set meal for all of us.


One of our appetizers were this crispy, fried seaweed sheets. This was wonderful and my favorite of all the appetizers. It had a delightful crunch to it and the taste was light and with a hint of saltiness. I delighted in dunking pieces of it in soy sauce, making it even more salty.


We also had some mixed greens that had a light, spicy dressing on it. Everything was so fresh and had a pleasant crunch to it. All of us were grabbing chopsticks-full of this delightful salad.

We also had acorn jelly salad that had strips of kim (seasoned dried seaweed wrapper). It also had spinach, chives and julienned kimchi strips that gave a tangy flavor to the salad.


Here's another favorite banchan or side dish of mine - the Biddendeok Pancake (ground mungbean pancake). This one was plain and simple with just some chives mixed in with the batter. Wonderful when doused with soy sauce and eaten while it is fresh from the frying pan.

Next, the waitress brought out our soup, Dwenjjang Jjige (Fermented Soybean Paste stew). Our stew was loaded with handmade dough chunks, spinach, daikon radish cubes and slices of hot green chilis. This made me sweat with the heat and the spiciness.


It was a good thing they brought out the rice, because my mouth was really burning with the soup. The rice was served in individual stone pots like this and was really very good. Each rice kernel was soft and cooked to perfection.

I was pleasantly surprised to see sauteed spinach in the bottom of the pot when I mixed it.


Here are more sidedishes that were brought out for our meal. A quartet of veggies ranging from mugwort stems, doraji strips, daikon strips and some green leaves that I have no idea what it's called.


A pair of pickled peppers that I didn't pick to eat. My mouth was hot enough. Jennifer, on the other hand, seem to really enjoy munching on this fiery pickles.


Oooh, these braised berries were awesome! Braised in soysauce and God-knows-what, these berries make a delightful popping sound in your mouth when you crunch on them and your tongue gets a burst of flavor. Sigh, I love this wonderful appetizer.

I think this sidedish were made out of chili pepper leaves. If not, they're some form of wild mountain greens that the restaurant staff regularly gathers for the vegetarian dishes on the menu.


We also have stalks of some kind of leafy plant, also braised in soysauce. Everything, such as the soy sauces and chili sauces, in this restaurant is homemade.


We also have fried tofu slices and tea with our meal. It was a very savoury meal, even for a carnivore like me. I can eat like this once in a while, but not everyday. But after indulging in a lot of red meat and fatty dishes, this vegetarian meal has made me feel like a good girl.

Moga Museum in Yeoju

Almost a month ago, my good friend Sally invited me to go to Yeoju City to visit the Moga Museum and the Yeoju Ceramic Festival. So one sunny Saturday afternoon, Sally met me at my apartment and we drove merrily along to Yeoju which was about 30 minutes away.


Here's my friend Sally. She's the school nurse at Gamgok School where I teach English to all the elementary grades. She has studied English with me before and has been a good friend since. We're waiting for her friend, Jennifer, to join us in our trip to the museum. After a few minutes, she arrived and a quick stop to the optical center (I forgot to bring my sunglasses so I bought another pair), we were off!


The Moga Buddhist Museum is devoted to recapturing the beauty of traditional Buddhist art and exploring its place in modern society. Established in 1993, the country's only museum exclusively dedicated to Buddhist art holds more than 10,000 artifacts -- many of which date back to the Unified Silla Dynasty (668-935) and Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392). It was during these two dynasties when Buddhism flourished. (excerpt from buddhisttravel.com)

(More from buddhisttravel.com) The museum holds traditional Buddhist culture classes and annual exhibitions for the development of Korean culture. It also introduces Korean Buddhist materials and invaluable data on woodworking crafts to the public. It has many projects planned to restore Korean traditional arts. Here is Jennifer, a Yeoju resident who loves visiting this museum.

Here are some sculptures, in various form, that we found all over the museum grounds.







These trio of statues were huge. I would guess they are over 2 stories tall. They're quite imposing and all visitors who enter the museum gates are immediately gravitated to it. The huge urn in front of it almost comes up to my chin. They are quite resplendent especially when the sun hits the rays of the middle statue's halo.


We came across a pair of these Jeju Island stone figures. They are reminiscent of their huge Easter Island brothers but these stony statues provide a unique service to childless couples. It is said that when a woman rub the statue's nose, like what my friend Jennifer is doing, she will soon have a baby boy. Jennifer invited me to rub the statue's nose but I politely declined as I already have two boys. :)


Here are more charming buddhist art that we saw all over the grounds...





Throughout the museum property were several temples where devout buddhists can pray and make offerings. Jennifer takes this opportunity to pray by touching her forehead to the ground three times.

There were other forms of prayer too, like this one involving a prayer wheel. It is said that pushing the wheel to a complete revolution is a whole prayer sent to the heavens. These men were part of a tour group that came in buses.



These huge intricately carved wooden mural is almost 15 feet tall.




A traditional korean drum with dragon paintings all around it. This drum is actually bigger than me.





We then went into the white-clad Avalokitesvara Boddhisattva, a colossal three-story pagoda.The main attraction, located on the second floor, showcases more than 200 items, such as palanquins, wooden drums and statues, that were recovered from the ruins of Buddhist temples. Many of the artifacts date back to the Silla, Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties. Unfortunately, cameras and picture-taking were not allowed inside this part of the museum.


On the second floor, there was a door leading out to a veranda with these stone figures. Notice there are piles of stones on top of the heads of the stone figures. Koreans love to do this all the time, in rivers and on top of mountains. Everywhere you go, you'll see a pile of rocks stacked neatly on top of each other. I sneaked a picture 'coz no one was watching.



And I did a tiny pile of my own. If you have read my post on the picnic that we took a couple of weeks ago (where hubby broke his shoulder in a bad fall), I taught Billy how to stack flat river rocks on top of each other. I didn't do too well with this pile since the wooden statue's head was cockeyed.

After walking around the 3-story structure (and buying some souvenirs), we decided it was time to take a break and have lunch. Jennifer suggested the vegetarian restaurant that was right in the middle of the museum grounds. I took one last shot of the Moga museum buildings and took in the serenity and tranquility of the site. This was definitely one beautiful place on earth.


Next stop, my vegetarian lunch at the Moga Museum Restaurant.

9 Years and Still Going Strong

more cat pictures

Nine years ago to this very day, Hubby and I walked down the aisle. I was the last to get married (and the eldest of four siblings and one that my family has given hope of ever settling down). Well, it has almost been a decade and with 2 wonderful sons, our marriage is still going strong.


One fact, I must confess, I always forget our anniversary. Year after year, it is always the same scenario. My eyes bug out and my head darts to the calendar to confirm my worst misgivings, I once again forgotten our anniversary. Hubby has tried to remedy this by greeting me on the 19 of every month of each year. And it is the same case, I have successfully blocked it out of my mind. Good thing hubby is a good sport and laughs about it. My mom was right, I married the right man.

Happy Anniversary Honey!


more cat pictures

Kimchi Stew

I belong to a food forum group called eGullet.com. There I am known as Domestic Goddess (originally I wanted to be Domestic Diva but it sounded too snobbish). One of the threads I frequently post is the PMS Cravings thread. It's a thread where boys/men are outlawed and PMS-suffering women can vent or confess their cravings or what they just stuffed themselves with.

Well, it's that time of the month again and the craving for salty food has begun. For me, one of the perfect PMS-comfort food is Kimchi Jjige (Kimchi Stew). It's a spicy-sour-savory stew with lots of kimchi slices and fatty pork slices. The stew can be as simple as just kimchi, Spam slices, garlic and water. It can be as extravagant as clean-out-your-veggie-bin stew.

I was fortunate enough to have a good friend show me how to cook Kimchi Stew like her grandmother does it. Some recipes on the internet just calls for dumping everything in a pot and let simmer. I believe my friend, Pippi's, recipe brings out the best flavor in the stew.

Kimchi Jjige (Kimchi Stew)
2 cups of sliced kimchi, strips about 1x2 inch wide
1/2 cup kimchi juice
1 head garlic, minced
1/2 pound fatty pork, cut into thin, wide strips
1/2 tsp. salt
1/e tsp. MSG
2 cups water
2 tbsp. cooking oil (I use corn oil)
1/2 zuchinni, cut into half and then half-moon slices
1 cup tofu, cut into 1x1 inch cubes

1. In a flat, bottom stew pot, add the cooking oil. Set the heat to medium and when the oil is hot, add the kimchi slices. Saute for 3 minutes until the color has changed.

2. Add the minced garlic and saute for about a minute. Add the kimchi juice and pork. Let simmer for a minute and then add the water. Bring to a strong simmer and let cook for about 20 minutes. Add salt and msg.

3. Add the zuchinni slices and tofu cubes when the water has cooked down to half. Let simmer for a couple of minutes and serve the stew in bowls with freshly cooked rice.

Chicken Noodle Soup for Hubby's Soul

When it is a rainy day and your hubby feels like this (see picture above), it's time to make Homemade Chicken Noodle soup. I make everything from scratch, from the chicken broth to the pasta noodle.

For the chicken broth, I usually collect about 10 chicken backs and necks in the freezer (when hubby cuts them out from the chicken when he makes his Famous Kentucky Fried Chicken). I defrost the chicken parts, rinse them well and add to my huge stock pot. In goes a whole onion, a whole carrot, some potato peelings, a celery rib and some whole peppercorns. Let boil and then simmer for an hour. When you make chicken broth, remember to skim the scum (brown, white to blackish foam that comes up when the soup starts boiling) off from the soup. It makes the soup clearer and prettier.

For the pasta noodles, I usually just use a cup and a half of all purpose flour. Dump it in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center of the flour. Break a couple of eggs in middle of the flour and with a fork start mixing up the eggs. You will see that mixing it up with catch some flour and soon you will incorporate all the flour in the egg mixture. When it resembles like wet dough, use your hand to gather all the mixture in a ball and start kneading. Knead vigorously till the dough becomes somewhat smooth. Cover with a bowl and let rest for 5 minutes. Continue kneading until dough is smooth. Form into a log about 3 inches round. The dough at this point should weigh about 1 lb. 8 ounces. The color of the dough should look like a golden field of wheat ready to be harvested, and the dough should be very dense. And it should be a soft as the flesh on your earlobes. Roll out thinly and cut into strips.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

To assemble the soup, you should have the following:
2 carrots
2 potatoes
2 celery ribs
1 white onion
4 cooked, chicken breasts
5 cups of chicken broth
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil



1. Dice up the carrots, onion and celery. In a large soup/stock pot, add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add the diced carrots, onion and celery. Saute this trio for 10 minutes, yes I said 10 MINUTES. This will brown the edges of the carrots, caramelized the onion and make sure that the celery has soften and cooked.


2. While your veggies are sauteeing, dice up the chicken breasts into cubes. You can shred them into strips or even fat strands. Add the cubed chicken to the pot and stir for about 2 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth and set the heat to medium high and bring everything to a boil.


3. While waiting for the soup to boil, peel and dice up your potatoes. Do not add these to your soup yet as you don't want it to overcook and get mushy. When the soup starts to boil, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the carrots are cooked.


4. In another pot, bring about 4 cups of water to a boil. Add about a teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Get your handmade noodles and dump it into the boiling water. Cook for about 5-7 minutes. It doesn't take long to cook freshly made noodles. Drain and set aside.

5. When the carrots are done to your liking, add the diced potatoes and noodles. Let cook for 10 minutes more. When the potatoes are done, sprinkle minced celery leaves or chopped parsley to add pretty green flecks to your soup.



Ladle into bowls, serve hot with crackers or crusty bread. Don't forget to sprinkle ground black pepper before you take your first sip. It's homey comfort in a bowl.