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Friday, August 20, 2010

Noodles!

Salsa Valentina
Who doesn't like noodles?? really it's something easy and quick to make... specially for a rainy day when all you wanna do is sit on the couch watch a movie (Like Carrie on Sex and The City while watching "Meet me in Saint Louise")...I still remember the 1st time I ate noodles (or sopa maruchan as we call it in Mexico), of course here in Mexico we add "our" very own flavours, it's commonly sold with Lemon juice, Sauce (Salsa Valentina), salt, Worchestershire sauce and crackers.... in my opinion...the BEST way to eat noodles (at least in mexico lol). Also I've made this noodles (dried corn flour) with some red chilli powder and a lil bit of lemon juice...also VERY good.

And ever since I saw an Episode of My Name is Kim Sam Soon when Sam Soon and her boyfriend go out to do the "7 things I have to do with my boyfriend" they go to this little restaurant and eat "spicy" noodles... OMG it looks so good!! everytime I go to a Korean restaurant I ask for that kind of noodles but they don't have it or don't know what I'm talking about lol...

So here's some information about noodles
Korean noodles are collectively referred to as "guksu" in native Korean or "myeon" in hanja.


Korean Noodles Variation
- Dangmyeon (cellophane noodles) - made from sweet potato starch
- Memil guksu- buckwheat noodles similar to Japanese soba noodles
- Olchaengi guksu - noodles made from dried corn flour which are eaten in mountainous places such as   Gangwon Province
- Gamja guksu- noodles made from a mixture of potato starch, rice flour, and glutinous rice flour 
- Gamjanongma guksu- noodles made from potato starch that have a very chewy texture. It is a local   specialty of Hwanghae Province
- Somyeon - very thin wheat flour noodles; similar to Japanese somen
- Dotori guksu - noodles made from acorn flour
- Chilk guksu - noodles made from kudzu and buckwheat
  .................and many many MANY more....... o_O

Stir Fried Korean Noodles (Chapchae)

Chapchae is one of the most popular noodle dishes in Korea. The foundation of the dish is the mixture of the noodles, soy sauce, garlic, and sesame oil. Because mung bean or sweet potato noodles both absorb tons of flavor, you can mix and match the vegetables or meat to your liking

Ingredients (4 Servings):


    * 8 oz mung bean or sweet potato noodles (might be called cellophane or glass noodles)
    * 1 sweet onion sliced
    * 2 cloves garlic chopped
    * 1/2 pound baby spinach parboiled
    * 2 carrots julienned
    * 3 scallions chopped
    * 1/2 cup chopped Napa cabbage
    * 5 shiitake mushrooms sliced
    * 2 Tbsp vegetable or olive oil
    * 2 Tbsp sesame oil
    * 3 Tbsp soy sauce
    * 1 tsp sugar
    * Salt
    * 6 oz. beef or pork


Preparation:

   1. Cook noodles according to package directions.
   2. In a large pan or wok over medium heat, heat vegetable (or olive) oil and 1 Tbsp sesame oil.
   3. Add onion slices and garlic and sauté for about 1 minute.
   4. Add rest of vegetables and cook for 4-5 minutes, until the veggies are 1/2 cooked and still crispy.
   5. Turn heat to low and add cooked noodles, meat, soy sauce, sugar, and the remaining sesame oil.
   6. Mix to combine and cook for another 2 minutes.
   7. Add salt or more soy sauce if needed.

There's also a variety of noodles, you can have them HOT or Cold (for summer time! hehe)
Instant noodles are called Ramyun and there's a dish called Shin Ramyun.
Shin Ramyun is a spicy (辛) brand of South Korean instant noodles produced by Nong Shim Ltd. since 1986. It is exported to over 80 different countries, and is the highest selling brand of noodles in Korea.

>.<    I think I'm hungry by now... Oh!! Shin Raymun and some Makgeolli with soda would be perfect :D

-Gisela V.

Makgeolli VS Soju

Makgeolli (막걸리) is an alcoholic beverage native to Korea. It is made from rice (referred to in English as "Korean rice wine") which gives it a milky, off-white color, and sweetness. It is made by fermenting a mixture of boiled rice and water, and is about 6.5–7% alcohol by volume. It was originally quite popular among farmers, earning it the name nongju (농주), which means "farmer liquor". However, it has recently started to become more popular in cities, especially with the younger generations. Additionally, makgeolli is used during ancestral rites in Korea.

Cute bottle like the one I got
Box Container
Commercially, makgeolli is most commonly available in plastic bottles or aseptic box containers. Traditionally, it is served in a large metal or wooden bowl from which individual cups and bowls are filled using a ladle. As it is an unfiltered beverage, makgeolli is generally shaken or stirred before being consumed, as the cloudy white portion tends to settle to the bottom, leaving a pale yellow-clear liquid on top.





 Ok as you can see that's the Definition of Makgeolli according to Wikipedia, This liquor can be found in Mexico City in Zona Rosa, there are several Korean Stores, I bought a 1 lt bottle for $150 pesos (around 12USD) but then I went to the Seoul Market (the biggest Korean store in Zona Rosa) and they have a Boc container of 1 lt aswell but cheapper... I think mine was $150 because of the bottle (because it's cute lol).
Makgeolli taste something between sweet and sour (???) by itself, but then I tried it with grapefruit soda wich is really good but too sweet... since I had some grapes I decides to squeeze some of them and throw them on my glass of Makgeolli, somehow this takes out some of the sweet flavour and ends up with a really nice drink.

So if you haven't tried it...what are you waiting for????
I would recomend to drink it on a Hot day .
Soju!! 

Soju ( 소주) is a distilled beverage native to Korea. Its taste is comparable to vodka, though often slightly sweeter due to the sugars added in the manufacturing process, and more commonly consumed neat.
Soju is clear in colour and typically varies in alcohol content from about 20% to about 45% alcohol by volume (ABV), with 20% ABV being most common.
It is against traditional custom in Korea to fill one's own glass. Instead, it must be filled by someone else at the table. This promotes a spirit of thoughtfulness and camaraderie.In Korean culture, using two hands to offer and accept items is considered an act of respect.

I got 2 bottles of Soju last year...but it's quite strong O_o and I never thought of mixing it with something
else, until I found this:

Mixing soju and beer is called somaek, a portmanteau of the words soju and maekju (맥주 - beer)

Flavored soju is also available. A poktanju(폭탄주) (lit: "bomb drink,") consists of a shot glass of soju dropped into a pint of draft beer (like a boilermaker or Irish Car Bomb) and is drunk quickly <-WARNING!! lol

I would like to try it with juice,,, or like a Cosmopolitan! I guess I will have to try it on my vacations!
(Just so I can tell you if it's good or not n_n lol)


-Gisela V.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

It's been a while............

So, it's been a while since my last post... I know *shame on me*, but my sister is back in Mexico city so we've been trying to hang out and spend more "family time" before she moves to London for ever (lol ok, maybe not forever but for a While until she moves to France, Peru, China, Africa or whatever comes to her mind O_o )
Also I can say that I've been very busy with work (ok not work but there's nothing much I can do @ the office but to read...or do actual work lol) also we've been planning our 1st Family Vacations in like...15 years!!!!!! so take 3 girls (women?, ladies?...) and have them agree on 1 place to visit, where to stay, what to eat, how to get there.... pft is the WORST thing ever!!! specially because my mom would change the plan every 2 hours haha (it's in times like these I'm glad she only pretends to read my blog.....lol) so yea, we finally have a plan (Oaxaca, here we come!!!!!!!)
In adittion to thaat I've had spent lots of time (mostly @ the office) reading blogs...VERY good blogs and I realize I am now a Blog Crazy... there's something about'em that I just love, it might be because it's "real" (not famous) people writting about stuff that you like, music, food, shoes, fashion, etc etc...
I read that in Korea around 49% of the people has a blog and 56-57% read blogs.. it's awesome how people start with a blog and end up publishing books, making movies, having their own TV or whatever, these people are called Power Bloggers :O So...on my las post I recommended a couple of Blogs you MUST follow, this week I have more recomendations (I know it's alot but they are also really good!!!-see? I told you I was a blog crazy-)
1st
http://tokyoastrogirl.blogspot.com
She is sort of like Julie's blog and I say Sort of because not only she writes about what she cooks but also about the great and sometimes the awful food she tries @ restaurants in Cali or wherever she's traveling to, wich is kinda cook because is not only food (wich I absolutly LOVE) but also traveling (wich has FOREING food that I also love...yea I'm very into food I know haha)

Thanks to TokyiAstroGirl I found the 2nd blog

http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com
Thie one caught my eye because he actually MET Anthony Bourdain and featured in an Episode in Season 3... and if you know me you know I'm a Bourdain Fan, so check this out and I bet you will have a good time reading.

There's something about some blogs that inspire you (or is it just me?) to do something,,,for me it was a movie (Julie/Julia) that made me want to read a blog, after reading this blog I wanted to cook again and so I did started by cooking things that I've never done or things i haven't cooked in a while, also started this blog and then ir turned into a "I write about anything and everything I'm into at the moment" blog. Every blog I read has something that stay with me either in my head, heart or mouth (darn food pics!!), so eventually it would be AWESOME if this blog inspires you in any way....*tear* lol

I'll try to post a few posts before going on vacations (considering that I'm leaving on Friday morning that means I have about 36 hours to do it O_o 

(P.S. I'll leave you with some pics I took when my sister gave me my 1st Photography lesson)







 -Gisela V.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

The Blogs

Hey there!!

So... I'm going trough a dry spell and I really don't know what to write about O_o (weird I know, hopefully it won't last long) ... Last couple of days I've found a few blogs I would like to recommend, this is really entretaining if you don't have anything to do or if you are bored of always find yourself checking your Farmville in Facebook......


The 1st one I would like to recommend is  

"This blog is meant to show that Korea is a modern society"

This blog has Technology, Culture, Information and is a good way to know What's going on in Korea, this blog is written by a MAN (or as we would say All XY here! 100% Genuine MALE!!!!), we will call him SS, the SS, he is Korean-American and currently is working/living in Korea so he can give us the "inside" on some of the current events in Korea. You can find a post about Football and the next one is about a Comicbook, so as you can see you won't be bored with this one.

The 2nd blog is

"Witness the growth of a young guy searching for himself"
  This blog I found it trough the SS blog, it's this young man writting about his Journey from Melbourne (or as he call it "smelbourne") to Tokyo, Japan!, I don't know what is it about this blog but I like the way he puts his feelings on each one of his blogs..... Check it out! :)

The 3rd Blog is

Easy,,,Questions about Korea?.... Ask a Korean!

I don't think this blogs need much explanation..... it has some really random questions like "Why do  you watch a Korea Drama" or "How do I attract Korean men?" (wich seems to be really popular Question among Mexican Girls), this blog will give you the answers to almost every Korean Question you have and if it's not there Just ask away!!!! 

The 4th blog is
Because we all love Our Moms (Korean or not!)
Ok ok ok... I know what you are gonna say,,,, You are not Korean!! and Neither your MOM!! I know but If you read "Rolling Stone" Magazine does that mean you are a Rockstar or a member of the Rolling Stones?...there's your answer, I found this blog a couple of days ago and it's really REALLY funny!, and weird thing is... there are lots of things there that I can relate to my mom n_n . 

Last but not Least we have....
Randomness al FULL!! <3
This is my sis' blog and i'm not posting this one just because she is my sister but because I like it (ok?? lol), I don't know WHY but you can find some posts in English and most of them in Spanish (weird...) she can post about anything and everything so stay tuned!!! 

I think that's enought about blogs for today, here you have 5 links of very entretaining blogs (besides this one of course!!!) to read while you are at the Office... ahem,,,I mean chilling at home >_< 

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!!!

-Gisela V.