nanoomi

S’mores!  The combination of graham crackers, gooey marshmallow and chocolate is an American classic that has found so many sweet applications, like cupcakes, bars, shakes, etc.  So it’s only natural that I try my own take on s’more for an easy sweet-tooth fix…

…and you are probably not surprised I made rice cakes with these ingredients.  Gyeongdan (경단) is a quick and easy kind of rice cake made by boiling small balls of sweet rice flour dough, a.k.a. glutinous rice flour (despite no gluten in the flour…so confusing).  They are often rolled in sponge cake crumbs or toasted bean powder (콩고물 – kong go mul) which only enhance their already cute looks and flavors. Read the full story

I almost never go to Italian restaurants in Korea.  Why?  Because so many Italian restaurants in Korea are overpriced, have small portions, and mediocre food.  Seriously, if you hit all three of these notes, you fail as a restaurant in my book.  With this one place I hit up recently, I knew I’d at least get my money’s worth in terms of quantity.  The gimmick at this particular chain is that as long as everyone in your party orders a pasta dish you get unlimited pizza for free.

I actually had a free green salad coupon that I used during this particular visit. The salad comes with kiwi dressing and it was pretty uninspiring.  I would’ve been pretty upset if I paid 9,000 for it.  The bread they start you off with however, was really good.  It comes with an olive oil and balsamic dip, but it was still good on its own as it was brushed with butter.  The texture was crispy on the outside with just the right amount of chew to it.  Unfortunately, they don’t give refills on the bread.

For the pastas we ordered the olive oil-based anchovy, fresh mozzarella spaghetti and the cream sauce-based crab meat spaghetti.  Both were totally underseasoned and bland.  We had to ask for salt which really helped the other ingredients shine.  It brought out the sweetness in the crab meat and the bright notes from the cherry tomatoes in the olive oil pasta.  Overall, both pasta dishes were really nothing special.  Also kinda typical of Italian joints in Korea is that all pasta dishes are spaghetti here, except for maybe one or two fettuccine dishes.  No penne, ravioli, tortellini, etc.

For the unlimited pizza, they usually give you three different kinds.  From what I’ve checked out in Korean blogs they always give you margherita and formaggio.  The third one can vary by the day and it’s either pepperoni, potato, or sweet potato. It was sweet potato the day we went (*groan*), so I told the servers not to even bother bringing it.  The pizza slices were really small and super thin.  2-3 bites and it’s done.  I had around 6 slices for myself and I definitely could’ve eaten more.  Taste-wise they were just okay.  I like the salty cheese they used.  I definitely liked the margherita better, but the formaggio really surprised me.  Instead of tomato sauce under the cheese, this one comes with honey on top.  I thought I’d hate it, but the salty cheese really provided a nice savory contrast to the sweetness of the honey.

The free pizza is the real saving grace of this restaurant.  Most Italian joints in Korea will charge you around the same price for the same skimp bowl of mediocre pasta WITHOUT the free pizza.  Nothing here will impress anyone, but at least you will leave this place full.  You can visit their website if you wanna check out their different locations.

Merry Christmas!

Today, I present my Christmas rice cake to you.  Although I started with a grand vision of creating a whole Santa’s village, after a tree and Santa, I came to me senses and accepted the lack of my skill, patience, time and space (on the cake to place a whole village).  Still, in keeping with the spirit of this blog, it is made with natural ingredients and coloring – green from green tea powder, red from a grated beet, yellow from a grated carrot and white from..well, just plain white rice flour mix.  The base cake is pecan seolgi (설기; steamed cake made with short-grain rice powder) covered with sweet potato puree.  All around the base cake are mini rice cake morsels usually reserved for patbingsu (팥빙수; shaved ice with red beans) and finely chopped pecans.  Santa’s eyes are black sesame seeds, and his beard is slightly melted marshmallow.  Of course, as is typical for rice cakes, no butter was used for the cake, but a good dose of picture editing was used to make it look all warm and soft. Read the full story

Throughout Korea, it’s fairly common to see Egg Bread (계란빵 / gye-ran-bbang) served in various street stalls. Egg bread is made by using a mixture that is similar in taste to American pancakes. The batter is then poured into a mini loaf and baked. Then an egg is added.

To learn more: http://wp.me/p1hnjj-1c8

When you’re out and about and have to feed that sweet tooth, what snack to you get?

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On cold winter days, I like to heat things up in the kitchen by making kimchi jjigae (김치찌개). While it’s cheap to get this on the street, it’s just never enough for me – so I take matters into my own hands and do it at home… the easy way!

Get the whole story here: http://wp.me/p1hnjj-1bn

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When out walking the streets of Insadong and at various festivals, it’s common to see crowds forming in front of stores selling 꿀타래, or Dragon Beard Candy. Here’s what Wiki has to say.

In Korea, the treat was a favorite of the Royal Court and made predominantly from honey (꿀).

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I haven’t visited St. Louis in 18 years, and I certainly don’t remember the city for its Asian food. So it was a treat to eat at a Korean restaurant there during a recent 20th high school reunion trip to rural southern Illinois.

St. Louis is the nearest major metropolitan area with a sizable airport to my little hometown, located more than an hour east. After a long flight, my husband and I were hungry. On my asking about nearby Korean restaurants, the hotel clerk directed us to one about a mile away in the suburb of St. Ann.

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The Liège Waffle originated in the Belgium city for which it is named. They were invented by a chef during the 18th century as an adaptation of brioche bread dough. It is now the most common type of waffle sold in Belgium.

What’s your favorite snack to go with afternoon tea or coffee?

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Tucked between buildings, The Banana Tree stands out with its bright yellow walls.

When I first heard about this cafe, it was a request from a member of U-Kiss, saying we should all check out this cafe’s Facebook page and like it. Like a faithful Kiss Me, I did as suggested. However, when I looked at the facebook page, I was enchanted by the quaint looking cafe, and intrigued, because the cafe offered a food I hadn’t had in a long time.

Their specialty is pudding. Banana pudding.
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Recently, Jo and I ventured down to Songtan (송탄) to meet up with a good friend and enjoy a little all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ. Here’s our trip in just under 2 minutes! While Meat Restaurant (미트홈) is not a popular chain in Korea, there are several unlimited BBQ places across the nation.

To see more, read the blog: http://wp.me/p1hnjj-18a

What’s your favorite BBQ place?

Meat Restaurant aka Meat Home (미트홈)
Address: 314-14 Sinjang-dong, Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do
Phone: 031-611-6678
Hours: 12p-10p
Franchise Website: http://www.gajogsarang.co.kr/

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