~my new favorite place to shop~

Last weekend, we went Korean-grocery shopping at H MART in Irvine @ the Diamond Jamboree Shopping Plaza. I've heard great things about this place, but I had to see for myself. Turns out it's HUGE, CLEAN, & they've got a great selection of everything you could ask for...not to mention the food court! This place is THE BOMB! In addition to H MART, there are TONS of other stores to shop and eat at! I think I could spend an entire day alone in this shopping center!

85 C Bakery Cafe
Ajisen Ramen
Ayumi's Japanese Grill
Balcony California Grill & Bar
BCD Tofu House
Beard Papa's with Haagen-Daz Ice Cream
Bibimar BBQ Chicken
Capital Seafood
CeFiore Frozen Yogurt
Crepes De Paris
Greek Islands Mediterranean Cuisine
Guppy Tea House Café
The Boiler
Tokyo Table

It's the perfect ASIAN shopping center!

Welcome to my kitchen.

Okay, so you all may be surpised to find out that I actually spent some hours in my kitchen cooking traditional Korean food. I was at work the other day when I decided to look up Korean recipes and was inspired to try some of my favorite dishes out. Of course, David was excited more than ever. I told him "You have to tell your mom and my mom I cooked for you so they don't think I starve you!" I've never really been a big fan for cooking from scratch but I realized that it's the only way to learn. I could've easily gotten recipes from my mom or David's mom, but they cook by experience and taste. I don't have that. So that's why I found my recipes on http://www.maanchi.com.

#1 Oisobagi (Spicy stuffed cucumber) - side dish

So I failed miserably on one of the steps where it said "add 1 tbs of sugar." I wasn't thinking and added 1 tbs of SALT! So you can only imagine the panic I went through to try to make it right. I still don't know....haven't tasted it yet. It may look tasty but looks are deceiving, you know? We'll see. http://www.maangchi.com/recipes/oisobagi-kimchi

#2 Mae woon gyeran jjim (spicy steamed egg) - side dish

First of all, there were way too many green onions.

It was okay. Probably could've used some salt (used soy sauce instead). http://www.maangchi.com/recipes/egg-side-dishes

#3 Galbijjim (Beef short ribs) - main dish!

For this recipe, I followed everything to the tee, but had to add some more ingredients (more soy sauce, sugar, & corn syrup) at the end because it was bland. At serving time, it was PERFECT!

Leftovers anyone? http://www.maangchi.com/recipes/galbijjim

#4 Vegetable Kimbap (sushi rolls)

Another one of my projects this week was making kimbap for the first time. I can't believe it took me this long to try to make one of the easiest Korean dishes ever.

I was craving this so badly the night before. It was quite tasty!

David's eyes lit up when he walked through the door and saw this on the table.

And for me, brown rice rolls. =) It's just as good! http://mykoreankitchen.com/2006/10/13/vegetable-kimbab/

Well, stay tuned until next time!

Satisfaction Guaranteed

OMG. I'm sitting at work and I've managed to somehow get access to http://mysoju.com. I'm currently watching ONE FINE DAY featuring one of my fav's GONG YOO! Anyhow, I just can't get over the idea of eating HOT, SPICY ramen right now! They eat it ALL the time on the drama and I can't stop licking my lips! Plus, it's the perfect weather for ramen because it's raining outside! OMG. What would I do for a hot bowl of ramen right now?!?!?!

Gotta have spicy kimchi to go along with it, of course.