Picture of Success

So lately I've been craving curry like craaazy. So Mark, being the amazing guy he is, looked up a recipe to make it for me.

He found a recipe online and wrote it out. It looked like this...

No big deal, he just found a recipe entirely in Korean, wrote it all out and translated it to English.

And then proceeded to make the most delicious curry ever -- proving his translating skills were spot-on. Wish I had taken a picture of the final product, but I was too busy scarfing it down.

Cooking class

Last week for our Sogang field trip, everyone in Level 4 went to a cooking class in 홍대.

The place was really cool and we got to prepare 안동찜닭 (chicken and veggies in a spicy soy based sauce), 해물 파전 (seafood and green onion pancakes), and 김밥 (Korean version of sushi rolls).

When we arrived, we put on aprons. The cooking area was really nice and there were tables with ingredients for each class. There were a total of 6 Level 4 classes.

Here I am with my classmate Chika. She is Japanese and actually loves cooking so much that she is currently enrolled in 2 cooking classes. After she finishes up at Sogang, she heads to cooking school. Needless to say, she was invaluable as we sliced, diced, sauteed...

The ingredients were mostly all laid out for us, we just had to cut them up and cook them.

Here's the seafood plate. It's kind of odd, because when I first came here I couldn't stand squid, but little by little it's grown on me. I am still not at the point of eating dried and buttered squid as a snack at the movies, but in various dishes it's actually pretty good.

We added the cut up seafood to this green onion batter.

Then we fried them, and TA DAAAA... 해물 파전! This is seriously one of my favorite things to eat lately with 막걸리 (Korean rice wine).

We also rolled up some 김밥. Mine is on the far right. These Korean rolls are filled with rice, carrots, cucumbers, sesame leaves, picked radishes, crab sticks, and more. Amazing.

And finally, here's the 안동찜닭 cooking.

And here's our final product! The best part of the day was that we could eat our creations together with our class. The place also provided us with kimchi (because what is a meal without it), and oranges.

And before we left, we were all given a recipe (in Korean no less) so we can try to make some of these dishes on our own. Any requests?

Off the subject

K: I just have to share since I think this is the best thing ever... and it once again proves I'm completely domesticated.

In an earlier post, I wrote that Mark and I are trying to save money by not eating out. Well, we've cheated here and there (it is hard), but are doing our best. The hardest thing about eating at home all the time is that you can only eat the same things so many times. There are only so many ways to cook pasta and stir fry (that we knew of). We were in a food rut.

So then I found this website (endorsed by Oprah, so you KNOW it's gotta be good): The Six O'Clock Scramble. Each week you receive 5 recipes in your email inbox, which includes a grocery list (so helpful). The recipes are healthy, simple, and only take about 30 minutes to cook! We tried out the sample recipes last week which included:

1. Asian Turkey Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries*
2. Lighter Macaroni and Cheese
3. Warm Chicken Salad with Mixed Greens*
4. Roasted Halibut with Balsamic Marinade
5. Spinach Burritos*

The only one we didn't make was the roasted halibut (who knew halibut costs $11/pound!), but every other recipe we cooked, we were obsessed. We subscribed immediately.

So, looks like there won't be any more boring meals at the Johnson household. Give us a call whenever you're in the area, you're more than welcome to swing by for dinner! :o)