What was your lunch today?

I guess you can say this is very traditional? (except that we didn't have any meat banchan). Ha.

You are supposed to have different color and different kinds of banchans. We had anchovies fried banchan Myulchi Bokkeum, mung bean sprouts salad Sookju Namool, radish Mu Kimchi, cabbage Baechu Kimchi, Yuchoy salad with soybean paste Yuchae Namool.

With a bowl of rice and a bowl of spicy pork soup (I didn't take a picture) I had nice nutirious 'gluten-free' breakfast.

I didn't  know exactly what 'gluten-free' foods were...sorry for my ignorances...but I went to  Natural Products Expo East 2011 last Thursday and saw variety of organic and 'gluten-free' products. Very interesting! I also found out that most of Korean foods are gluten-free anyways! Now I'm very interested in 'gluten-free.'

More to come about that expo.

What was your breakfast today?

We didn't try cooking with it yet, but so far we like the taste and the price. Hopefully they don't take it out from inventory. We will definitely go back for more!

Here's the back label for you to see.

Red Pepper Paste GoChuJang on eBay

Korean Red Pepper Paste (Gochujang) 200g (Medium Hot) US $8.08

Korean Red Pepper Paste (Gochujang) 500g (Normal Hot) US $11.95

Korean Red Pepper Paste Gochujang Midium Hot 500g + 200g in Plastic Container US $12.63

I liked this Bon Bon Orange Juice better than Lotte Sac Sac. I haven't tried grape ones for a long time so I don't know which one I like. I think people over at the BBQ were saying Lotte Grape is better and Haitai BonBon Orange is better. I'll try both brands soon.

I found several old commercials...couldn't find any new ones...

I don't know if they make anymore commercials?
Anyhow it's still fun to watch the old commercials.

Scroll down & enjoy!

8First one was made in 1990. Kim Min Jung (actress) is in it. If you know her, you'll see that she looks the same. Ha ha.

This one was made in 1991 and animated. Ha Ha.

Perfect for the lazy afternoons. I wanted something spicy and sweet but didn't want to eat the hot noodle soup like last time, so I decided to play with this differently (I rarely cook ramyun plain. What's the fun in that?...ha ha).

Got my ramen out.

Cooked it.

Washed it with cold water and drained it so it won't stick to each other and stay chewy.

Made spicy sweet bibim sauce-Cho Gochujang (meaning vinegar added red pepper paste..the one you use for bibimbop or Korean Sashimi). I added red pepper paste, gochujang, sugar, vinegar, and little bit of red pepper flakes. Try mixing them and taste it to see if it's good enough for you. I love vinegar so I always tend to put lots and lots and less sugar. So you be the judge. OR just buy the pre-made one from the store! I found some on eBay too.

Just make sure it has enough vinegary taste to it! That's the key to this noodle. Vinegar!

Korean Red Pepper Paste (Gochujang) 200g (Medium Hot) US $8.08

Korean hot pepper paste gochujang sweet sauce bibimbab 해찬들 소고기 볶음고추장 US $.99

KOREA HOT PEPPER PASTE / BIBIMBAP GOCHUJANG 200g / FREE SHIPPING US $8.98

KOREA HOT PEPPER PASTE /BIBIMBAP GOCHUJANG 500g / FREE SHIPPING US $15.95

Prepped veggies. You gotta have some fresh vegetables to have some crunchiness with the chewy bibim noodles.

I steamed bean sprouts, washed, and drained. You must steam soybean sprouts. Mung bean sprouts that you get for pho can be eaten fresh but soybean sprouts...please don't...LOL

I chopped cabbage into strips..and will eat it fresh...but I cut it too wide...next time I've got to cut it very very thin.

We love these mini peppers from Costco...! They have lovely colors and they are sweet little things. Ha Ha. Chop Chop Chop them up too!

Put them altogether and you are ready to eat!

Mix mix mix and Enjoy!

For homemade dressing we mixed olive oil, red wine, Dash, soysauce and vinegar.

It's healthy and tasty but I need to grab something more to eat. I've been starving too much in the morning. Maybe I'll make some kimchi fried rice.

Then we wanted to play with it so added kimchi to make kimchi kimbop.

Later I mixed a canned tuna and Red hot pepper paste and used that to make Tuna Kimbop too. Pretty good with sesame leaves too.

I think it would taste pretty good to use Spicy Tuna Recipe in Kimbop.

Seaweed laver (Kim)/Sushi nori on ebay

100 Sheets Roasted laver Seaweed Sushi Nori Gimbap US $15.70

Korean Roasted Kimchi Seaweed Laver Nori 12 Packs Lot US $9.99

Kimbop roll mat on ebay

BAMBOO SUSHI MAT Makisu Roll Asia Chinese Japanese 9.5" US $2.77

Bamboo Sushi Mat ~ Brand New~ Lowest Start Bid~ US $.01

Helen's Asian Kitchen Sushi Mat & Rice Paddle Kit US $5.89

2 LARGE BAMBOO SUSHI MATS NEVER USED!!!! US $.99

First, you need some steamed rice...
If you don't have a rice cooker it's okay! Follow how to cook steamed rice in a pot steps.

Then, let's steamed the bean sprouts...
(This is not the mungbean sprouts you get for pho...)

Just get a pot of water and put bean sprouts in and cover the pot. Bring it to boil.

Make sure you cover it and don't open it too often. My mom says that prevents a strong odor from bean sprouts and keeps the taste fresh. When it starts to steam just don't go too far and turn your sprouts mushy. It should still be crunch enough.

Now the sauce...

soy sauce
sesame seeds
chopped scallions
red pepper flakes
drops of sesame oil

Don't put too much soy sauce...it's too salty...when you mix them in taste it and adjust accordingly to your personal taste.

And just mix them up!

Enjoy!

It's supposed to show Korea and the cuisine and how to cook it back at their kitchen in13 episodes...sounds interesting and a good opportunity to learn little more about Kimchi and Korean food recipes...

I think there are recipes I'm not familiar with too...'momgook'...?????never tried it...

Not sure exactly when it premieres...I thought I saw H-mart website saying it premieres on May 8th, but I couldn't find any further information anywhere else....and Kimchi Chronicles.tv website says "coming soon..." Hmmm....

Hopefully they post full episodes online.

Does anyone know the exact premiere?

In case you didn't see the preview...

****UPDATE***
It's airing in July!

I am a pho addict. The pho restaurant I go to, they know us (my pho buddy June too) now...so they come right away to take the order.

The depressingly rainy and windy days yells out for a nice hot bowl of pho to warm up your stomach at least...(but I go during nice hot summer days too...hmmm) And today was 'Pho Weather Day' if you know what I mean...

I had this crazy craving for a bowl of pho all day...so I had to improvise with what I had...hey we have Ramyun...

So...this is my pho version ramyun...

I felt lazy and just wanted to eat something nice and warm so just added onion in the soup...nothing really different besides that...

Just added mung bean sprouts. I had to let it go about changing the soup itself...I was hungry...but hey, I got the soup spoon out!

Spoons on ebay:

World Market Ramen Noodle Bowl Chopsticks/Spoon NIB US $24.95

Asian Soup Saimin Ramen 100 Spoons BUY 3 GET 1 FREE Plastic 4.5 in. Spoon US $8.88

...Samyang Ramen to be exact. My family can't handle the most popular Shin Ramen...too spicy for us.

I always order side of onion to eat as a side for pho. I've been repeating this but...kimchi with rice, Jjajangmyun with Danmooji (Pickled radish), and sushi/sashimi with pickled ginger...perfect pairings I think. So I sliced some and drenched them with vinegar and a sprinkle of salt. Love this. Onion, onion, everywhere~! Just be careful when you talk to someone afterwards.

And pho is all about these two sauces...I think. Sriracha and Hoisin Sauce. I just started dipping those ramen noodles, onions, and sprouts and it satisfied mycraving for pho...for some hours...

I finally ended up going to that pho place with June again, but hey I got to enjoy that pho more in relaxed manner than I would've without this 'pho' ramen. Ha ha...

Do you improvise your ramen soup?

More of Anna's versions to come....

For all the pho addicts out there...

Sriracha Sauce on ebay:

SRIRACHA Red Shirt US $13.00

SRIRACHA Red Shirt US $13.00

Iron Chef Mu-Shu Hoisin Sauce 15 oz US $7.99

Roland Hoisin Sauce (no Msg), 5-Pound Can (Pack of 3) US $28.51

And just to enjoy...