CuriousEpicurean

the Korean spread
Originally uploaded by CuriousEpicurean

I was really craving Korean food tonight. It's one of my family's favorite cuisine and when in Southern California - when we're not eating Filipino food - we're going to Korean BBQ restaurants with the hibachi for tables.

I've been making a lot of American dishes this week and went through some kind of Asian food withdrawal. heh. We have, at least, one Asian dish a week... whether it be Filipino, Chinese, or go out to get Indian or Japanese or Vietnamese. I think Jack went through withdrawal too... even though I make his lunch everyday when he's with a co-worker, he usually goes out to lunch with them. This week he's been having deli foods, burgers, and pastas. So he ate up and his mouth watered when he saw the kimchi. He loves kimchi. Believe it or not, I was the one who had to "warm" up to this dish.

I grew up with Korean friends and after school there would be this huge jar of kimchi just made and for snack, they would take the seaweed out of the oven, get rice and the kimchi. It looked so good when they ate it so I would try every single time and every single time, I just couldn't stomach it.

Jack, however, to my surprise LOVED kimchi and always had to have it with milk. I remember when we first ate Korean food together and saw this... I, of course, thought it was so cute.

Anyhoo, here was tonight's dinner with hyperlinks to recipes:

bulgogi
korean sesame spinach salad or shigumchi namul
korean bean sprout salad or kong namul
korean dipping sauce

kimchi can be bought at your local supermarket (international aisle - usually refrigerated in a jar)

how to eat:
i put the bulgogi, a little bit of kimchi, and brown rice on a lettuce leaf (i use romaine lettuce) and fold (kind of like a taco or burrito)


Click on the picture to see more photos of the dishes. :)