I have officially entered the real world. I started work last Monday, and to celebrate my success, i took out my over marinated Bulgogi and heated up my grill! Perhaps it was too early to celebrate but, i couldn't help it... 
The meat have been marinating for almost 3 days, and since i am working now, i don't know if i could find time to make it. 
I planned to make my Grilled Bulgogi with some Kimchi Fried Rice, but then again, my life is never easy is it? I ran out of Kimchi... so i decided to just make it with some Shanghai Fried Rice, with the Chorizo and Egg, which turned out quite yummy! 
And then, i took out my grill... oh wait! WHAT GRILL??? I wanted to make the Bulgogi as authentic as i could, but couldn't buy the Korean Stove Top Grill anywhere... ---i know, my life sucks huh? but then again, I've always been smart enough to find alternatives... although, grilling it over charcoal, like we Filipinos do to kebab would've been my next choice, i think at that time, i was too lazy to find the grill bars? and burn up a pit fire. So, i ended up GRILLING? my Bulgogi on a frying pan! LOL...
The end result? 

looks yummy huh? it looks good, but tastes even better... this was the only good picture i took, the rest were blurred and the lighting sucked... probably because i was starving! Not to mention, i forgot to take a picture of the Shanghai Fried Rice... LOL... oh well, there's always next time right? 

this is the grill i was talking about! I seriously need it! I've been from Korean Store to Korean Store looking for this God-forsaken piece of kitchenware and i still can't find it... i wonder if i could order it online? hhhmmm.... definitely something to ponder about!






So what's next? Let's see... i still have to make some Pan fried Tofu, Japchae, Samgyeopsal gui and Soegogi gui, not mention i have to perfect my gyeranmalyee...
so many food, so little time... i hope i can find time to make all these next week... :) 

keep cooking everyone! :)

I now dub myself, "DIMSUM SAVVY"  for this month, i have totally outdone myself... i rolled kimbap, and now, made some dumplings... i thought it would be very hard at first, but was very surprised to see my first dumpling being flawless... no holes, no tears, it was perfect! for me at least... i even mustered up the courage to make the other shape for the soup...  i'm very very proud!!! LOL, call me a fool if you have to, but this totally made my week...

I made the classic shape for my fried dumplings and the hat looking thing for the soup... i remember holding my breath every time i started making one, it was nerve racking at first, but then, i started enjoying it... I was happy with how i made it, i mean, it's not as perfect as the ones you see at a restaurant, but it was definitely a "moment" for me... 

The taste? well, it was refreshing, very healthy and quite low in fat, if you replaced the meat inside with just tofu... which i didn't... LOL... i think i still have to get used to eating tofu, as i am not really a big fan... well, technically speaking, eating it with something else is alright... but alone? well, i have issues with it, but i'm definitely contemplating on it...


So, what's next on the menu? we'll see!!! :) excited much!

...So i made some... After days and days of being idle, plus the fact that i did go job hunting and i got sick... i am now somewhat recovered and cooking again... forgive my absence, i did try... 

Chicken is a staple in every ones diet (well except those who are allergic to it, which i find very sad). I love chicken, and so far, i haven't met anyone who doesn't like chicken... it's the easiest thing to cook, easiest thing to eat and it's actually the cheapest...i think... you can find it everywhere... 

So, to put some twist on the regular crispy fired chicken, i added some sweet and spicy sauce, some nuts, and some sesame seeds... it's called Dak Kang Jung or Sweet and Crispy Chicken.

But, it is never that easy for me is it? I actually had to run to the market today to make this.. i forgot to buy some ginger, and of course... i have NO chicken in the freezer!!! 
So i went to SM, went grocery shopping for about 10 mins. was shocked to see the new bags the supermarket provided... 

 I was pretty happy to see they're starting to use the brown paper bags. it's actually friendlier to the environment, plus! you can use their green bags and you get extra points on your advantage card... yay! for SM!

So anyways, i was also happy to make this dish, it gave me the reason to finally use my new found ingredients that i bought two weeks ago when i went to the Korean grocery... I already used my sempio white vinegar making the kimbap last week, and i wanted to open up the corn syrup this time. i actually bought a big bottle so i wouldn't have to keep looking for it if i ran out...

Final verdict?

it was really yummy! it was like main dish and dessert rolled into one... i had 3 of my favorite things in it, nuts, sesame seeds and chicken! I had great chicken today! I had this with just steamed rice and water, and it felt like it was one of the best dinner i had... i think i'll try it with some soup next time, i don't know what would be good... one way to find out! ...keep cooking everyone...

A closer look...

HAVE YOU SPOTTED THE CRUSHED RED PEPPER?

I've always wanted to learn how to roll sushi, and today was the day i did. It was very fulfilling i might add and definitely a dream come true. 
Ever since i was young-er... I've always admired those little rolls i had every time i eat at a Japanese restaurant. They were neatly made and looked like some dude in the kitchen spent half an hour rolling them to perfection. And today, i was that dude (or dudette) in the kitchen, and i felt his pain...
When i decided yesterday to make the "kimbap" , it kept me awake the whole night, agonizingly remembering the days when my sister and i tried making sushi...believe me, the memory still haunts me.
And so, setting aside my bad experience and putting on my game face, i woke up early, well earlier than expected, and made rice...which was a nightmare. FYI, the rice they use for sushi and maki and kimbap and whatnot, are short grain starchy-sticky rice, which helps in sticking things together for the rolls. And because the fates hate me, i had to work with long grain unstarchy-unsticky rice... i then had to Google  "How to make Long Grain Rice Sticky," which then gave me the result of "Do Not Attempt To Make Sticky Rice with the Long Grain Kind..." Why do they make my life so complicated? and so, because i was too lazy to go out, and buy some of the sticky kind rice, i used the long grain anyways, just to laugh at fates face! ha! and it worked... 
After searching the internet over and over again...it gave me the answer of soaking the rice for 30 mins. before cooking it... and that's exactly what i did... and voila! i made long grain sticky rice!!! eat that "Do Not Attempt To Make Sticky Rice with the Long Grain Kind..." 
And so, Following my dramatic attempt to make sticky rice, i now had to move on to an even greater dilemma, the rolling!
You have no idea how many times i replayed the video of maangchi (my korean cuisine mentor) rolling the kimbap.... i stared and stared and stared at the computer monitor memorizing each and every step... and i believe it paid off... The Final Verdict? I'll let you decide... 

Not one, not two... but eight! i rolled eight kimbaps continuously on my first try! I was so proud that i just had to stop and give myself a pat on the back...I feel like a Jedi Master of Rolling ( i am so lame). Okay! maybe that's taking it too far, but you have to admit, for a first timer (sushi bad experience doesn't count), i'm pretty good. It actually gets easier when you get the hang of it, and it helps that i had a video that pointed out all the wrong things we did before. 
So basically, I would conclude that i'm not an expert... I may have rolled eight, but looking at the time spent... I'd have to say, i need more practice, and practice i will do... 

Please excuse the uneven edges. That's what happens when you use a knife that can't even cut through cotton... I need a new knife.

 



Here you see a picture of my adorable grandmother eating the kimbap i made...
My ama is sooo cute...










Having rolled eight kimbaps, i had leftovers that even i can not finish on an empty stomach. 
So, i decided to bring some to my dad's office, where hungry people are waiting to be fed...LOL. I did a relocation program on the kimbaps in my handy dandy lock&lock. When i got there... it was like magic... now you see it, now you don't! My dad's office buddies gracefully returned my lock&lock  and told me to return with more kimbap! they actually loved it! 
...and i gave myself another pat on the back!

I woke up this morning went to church and prepared myself for the Lunch Date set with my friends. what I didn't prepare for, was an explanation about my current relationship status. My friend Clare told me she kept reading my blogs, trying to find out exactly what happened, and to her bad luck, there wasn't any... ---my explanation? well, I'm not one to talk(plus, i don't like dissing people on the internet...my momma taught me better than that!)... simple right? NOT! Questions after questions after questions came bombarding in... until i decided to give up... i said I'll write a blog about it (still thinking about it)... and this isn't it... I have too much good thoughts at the moment, and I had such a wonderful day, that i wont even dare taint it in crimson... <---too dramatic? i think so too...JUST KIDDING! so, let me start from the very beginning...

______________________________________________________________________

I woke up this morning went to church and prepared myself for the Lunch Date set with my friends. I have been excited about this since yesterday, when i got a tweet from Clare, telling me, Ayen, my other friend is in Cebu and we are going out for lunch... I didn't even hesitate one bit ( i guess it has something to do with the fact that I haven't been out and about for a long time...and) because I miss my friends very much... I haven't seen Ayen since March, and Clare? well, we see each other in school, and the longest sentence we said to each other was, "Good Luck for the Board..." as my poor memory recalls...

and so, at exactly 11:00 a.m., I took a shower again (from church), had my hair did and my make-up done and was all set by 12:30 (LOL). Took a taxi to Ayala and met up with my long lost friends! And after about another 30 mins. of walking around arguing where to eat (God! I was starving), we finally decided on Don Henricos (Pizzeria)... No pizza as Ayen said... and we still ended up there...

If you don't know what it's like to have six fully grown women, who haven't seen each other for ages, as table neighbors... then, you haven't been out that much! I would strongly suggest noise reducer earphones or eat somewhere else... Believe me, you will NOT have a quiet meal.

We ordered the food (which was very important at that time) and ate it (as anyone should)... after eating (this is where food loses it's spotlight) the "chickas" ---as we call it where I'm from... begins. Like any other gatherings, you talk about how everyone's been and what they've been up to... Clare and Shahana were in med school, Ayen just graduated, Jill and I are now Registered Nurses but still unemployed...and the list goes on...

Clare shared about her fellow med student who had a problem with bad body odor... one day, while they were taking a test, Mr. B.O. passed by her desk and she swore she wanted to puke...i guess the guy knew about his Odor-y problem because he gave the excuse that his Armani ran out... --- forgive the randomness, i just wanted to share...


Anyways, we ended up staying for about 4 more hours, chatting and sharing funny experiences, memories of long and winding roads... until it was time to leave (seeing the waiter's face in the corner giving us our cue), but we didn't want to say goodbye just yet, though the lunch date was over, we wanted to hang out for a few more hours (or so i thought).

We heard about our friend's business was opening on that very day (she's only 21) logically, since she's our friend, we decided to head out to her grand opening for moral support. So, while waiting for her text to arrive, we went around the mall, window shopping and chit chatting at the same time... we went into Rustans (somewhat like Macy's or Dillards, stores that sell designer labels and all that) just for fun... we looked around the make-up section (as it is my specialty, I'd like to think), the skin care section and for some reason, we ended in the ladies' BAGS section... ---I'm sorry to cut it short, but this just needs it's own BLOG!!!

so, to make a long story short... my impulsiveness got the best of me...again! i bought a bag, that was a bit expensive for me... basing the fact on, I AM UNEMPLOYED! but, it was a good investment... and i don't regret buying it.
and so, after all the rambling about in the store of temptation, we finally got the text, and we headed off to the opening. As soon as we got there, I wanted to LMAO for Ayen's sake... the sign says it all...



the day before our lunch date, Ayen had pizza...for Lunch today... she had pizza, and for our dinner? yup! you guessed it right! PIZZA!
Now, don't get me wrong... pizza is one of my favorite food in the world... but having it for lunch, and dinner on the same day? well, i was definitely baffled. Fate was definitely playing with us today. Did i eat it, you ask? well... OF COURSE! moral support remember... and i ended up being happy anyways... the food was delicious! kudos to Stephy, it was really yummy and we're absolutely proud of her and her managing this business... Especially since Food is also one of my interests... ( I was wishing I could make something like this at the moment...)

And so, this was how my day went... Lunch Date gone mad... Lunch date/Shopping Spree/Grand Opening!









Photos: all by me