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...

Koreans have a term when eating soup like this hot and spicy soup. We say it's 'shiwon-hada' which literally means 'it's cool' (Shiwon-cool).

Rather than focusing on the temperature of the soup, the term describs how it tastes and feels once the food goes down your stomach... if you know what I mean. For example...I don't it's the best example...but, if you were eating a hamburger and you drink coke to wash the greasy food down or coffee afterwards. That feeling? Lol and Koreans love to have that feeling with hot and clean soup. It doesn't always have to be spicy though. Bean sprouts clear soup is the popular 'shiwon' soup. This term is used usually for clear soups like this hot pot or bean sprouts soup.

What's your 'shiwonhada' soup?

Ddukgook, Rice cake soup usually cooked with Mandu/Dumplings (Called Dduk Mandu Gook then).

Garnished with egg yolk and whites strips, roasted seaweed, meat ripped into strips after making the broth for the soup.

***Koreans count the age from the year you were born, so New year means another year older (no matter when your birthday is...so we count 2 ages...one in general by birth year alone and by birthdate too..getting complicated eh?)***

Koreans say you become 1 year older when you eat this soup. Don't know why.... but that's what we say...Ha ha...

Sometimes I get "Triple Delight" dish which is not a soup but has 3 different kinds of meat over the vermicelli. It's good with fish sauce that comes with it. But most of the time I usually get this D12...( I just love hot soup soooooooo much)I'm not a big fan of any other meat in the soup. But there are all different kinds to choose from. I prefer it simple. Some put the hot sauce in the soup to make it spicy. I eat it as it is.

It's interesting to see people eating one simple noodle soup all different. Next time you go, see how others eat it. You can get creative with this dish.

These veggies comes with the noodle soup. I squeeze out lime (cleans out the smell) juice, put sprouts and turn the noodle over to 'cook' sprouts in the soup, and put some cilantro in. Thai Basil is little too strong for me still but others put couple leaves in the soup. Your choice.

*Anna's Tip* I love to wrap sprouts, onion slices, sprouts with two sauces (Hoisin sauce and Hot Sauce-Sriracha) on the table with the meat slice in the soup. Try it it's good! Use your Asian soup spoon like the one following to lay a slice of meat then other veggies with sauce and eat it altogether. Yum~

Asian Spoon on eBay

ASIAN AMUSE BOUCHE APPETIZER SERVING SOUP SPOON ~ WHITE US $3.95

And this a side of onion is a must for me everytime. We eat it like Kimchi for Pho. I put some in the noodle soup and leave some to eat like Kimchi by mixing it with hot sauce.

Pho leaves some strong aftertaste (not just your mouth but on your clothes too LOL) so I always go to Starbucks to get a cup of Decaf as a finishing touch.

As for their service...well, it depends on who you get. Most of them are nice but couple of them just looks angry and rarely come to serve you. But most of the time, I liked their service and I go there so often that some people are starting to recognize me. Hah hah;;;;

Pho Dat Thanh
9400 Snowden River Pkwy # 125, Columbia -(410) 381-3839

Pho instant noodle on ebay:

Instant Noodle Sampler Udon Ramen Pho Chow Mein Pad thi US $13.50

CASE 12 ~VIETNAMESE INSTANT (ADD WATER) PHO NOODLES SOUP IN BOWL ~ BEEF FLAVOR US $22.95

Restaurant Reviews:
Jong Kak Korean BBQ Restaurant in Baltimore, MD
Allgreen Market Food Court-Poongnyun , MD
Sushi King Japanese Restaurant , MD
Niko Japanese Restaurant, MD
VietGoel/LightHouse Tofu House Korean Restaurant , MD
Tian Korean-Chinese Restaurant, MD

Kimchi Recipes:
Traditional Whole Napa Cabbage Kimchi
Quick 'n Easy version Kimchi

Pour out the packaged mix and hot water.

Classic way to wait for your noodle to be cooked. Chopsticks hold down the flap.

This is the end result I got. I didn't know what to expect. Smelled different from what I am used to but it was ok. Noodles I love...soup...not really.

TOO MUCH black pepper for me to handle...I couldn't finish the bowl only because of too much black pepper starting to bother my stomach. cough cough....

So I ended up eating something else to fill my hunger...sigh...I might try the garlic one next time but I wouldn't buy this one next time...

But that's my taste...I've seen some good ratings for this too...let me know how it was for YOU.

I give it 2 stars...

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A bowl of steaming hot soup during cold winter, especially this year, sounds so good! I LOVE soup just for the taste, but it happens to have some health benefits too!

Soybean sprouts are known to have 'isoflavone' which is beneficial for women near menopause. Also it's known within Koreans to help hangovers after heavy drinking by breaking down alcohol. So maybe next time you wanna try the Korean way to ease your hangover LOL.

Many Koreans are known to be heavy drinkers (not including me LOL) and they eat many different kinds of soup to relieve hangovers. Some spicy and some clear soup like what I am going to share today. This clear sprouts soup that I'm going to share is one of the popular ones.

However, you don't have to be a heavy drinker to enjoy this soup. I love to eat rice and this soup with Kimchi. Simple but tasty meal and healthy too!

Let's Start!

Ingredients

1 bag soybean sprouts (1lb)
3 scallions
1/2 gallon water
1tbsp salt
1tbsp minced garlic

Wash sprouts and put them in a pot with water, salt, and garlic.
Cover the pot and bring it to boil on high temperature.

After it starts to boil, cook it for another 5 minutes and then lower the temperature to about knob 6 (we have number dial) and put scallions.

Cook 5 more minutes again.

If you want it to be little spicy, you can add some red pepper flakes.

Sorry everyone...I wasn't there to take the picture step by step. Young did her best to take the picture and still get the recipe right so Yay! And I'm sure you wonderful cooks can do it okay ^^

Eat it with a bowl of rice and kimchi! They go so well!

(WHISPER: Mom...that's little too much rice there....LOL...need bigger bowl for the soup and some more kimchi please~!)

***NOTE**
Do not confuse Soybean sprouts and Mung bean sprouts!
Soybean sprouts and Mung bean sprouts usually are sold on the same section. Just make sure that you get SOYBEAN SPROUTS for this soup! Soybean sprouts have bigger and yellow head (?). Mung bean sprouts are not used for this kind of clear soup. It's good for Vietnamese noodle or for sidedish ^^
Try not to keep soybean sprouts in the refrigerator no more than a day. It goes bad real fast so eat it as fast as possible!
**********

So when you get the right kind of sprout and eat it fast, you'll get lots of health benefits while pleasing your tummy!

Enjoy!

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ASIAN PALACE PORCELAIN VASE URN BOWL FIVE PIECE SET US $12.97

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NORITAKE ASIAN SONG #7151 Set of 2 FRUIT DESSERT BOWLS US $31.99

One day I was hungry and my stomach wouldn't stop growling...I dragged myself out to the kitchen with nothing to eat...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....

My lovely mom came to the rescue! I saw her doing this and that and I don't even remember what she was doing...and Ta-da~! She whipped up this wonderful spicy fish soup in no time which tasted amazing like she spent a whole day cooking this soup (but just spent less than 30minutes..actually it felt like she cooked in 5 min. LOL)

I love you MOM! I don't know how moms do it...moms around me ( not my moms...) just seem to be at ease and their hands moving so quickly (yet precise) and present wonderful dish that seemed effortless and taste amazing! Is it the years of experience or do they get some super powers when they become MOMS???? seriously!

I wonder if I'll ever be like that if I ever become a mom...Ta-Da....yeah...right...LOL!

Ingredients (Following makes about 4 servings)
40g dried seaweed
200g beef (any beef used for stew/stock is fine)
2tsp salt
1tsp Dashida (Beef Stock Powder)
1/2 tsp ground/minced garlic
1tsp sesame oil

Ok, Let's Start!


First thing is to hydrate dry seaweed. Soak in water till it get nice and plump. Wash them first and then cut into bite sizes.

Also cut beef into bite sizes as well. This will be used to cook nice broth. If you don't like beef you can substitute with mussels or just don't put anything to make clear soup. Beef broth is usually the original birthday soup and clear soup with only seaweed is for new moms. But that doesn't mean you cannot choose your preference right? I personally like Miyuk Gook with mussels.

Get a pot and fry seaweed with sesame oil and garlic ONLY. No beef Yet!
Quickly fry so the flavor gets locked in. No need to do too much. Now pour 16 cups of water and add beef. Add salt and Dashida too. If you don't like Dashida, you can leave it out. But we like to add just a little bit to pull flavors together for better taste. Boil at high temperature.

As it starts to boil, you will see these kind of impurities (blood etc...) floating on top.

Now comes the most important step of the recipe. This cannot stay. We need to take them out.

So wait and when it seems like most of them are on top, start skimming those nasty stuff off from the soup and discard. Be careful not to get too much of soup off with it. This will help soup taste nice and clean.

When you are done discarding the impurities, turn down the heat to med (about to 5 on our stove knob) and cook for another 15 minutes.
And you are DONE!

ENJOY!

Miyuk Gook, Seaweed Soup, is known as the Birthday soup. Just like birthday cakes, it's a ritual most Koreans would follow. One would ask the birthday person if he/she ate Miyuk Gook that day.

Some actually skip a birthday cake, but still eat Miyuk Gook and the other way around...OR BOTH!

Recently it was my friend's, Gwen (Hi, Gwen!), Birthday. We happened to talk about Miyuk Gook and started to wonder about why Koreans actually eat Miyuk Gook. Why Miyuk Good for birthdays???

I guess I was very ignorant about it till now. So thanks to Gwen, I researched and is as follows:

Miyuk Gook is a birthday soup but also given to post-partum mothers who just had a child.  This is where it was all connected. So let me explain about the new moms first.

I'm not sure about other countries but Koreans must have some time for SahnHoo-Jori. SahnHoo-Jori is a break/rest new mom MUST take to recover her health after a childbirth (if you are Korean that is...) especially for her joints. Koreans consider this a very crucial step of becoming a healthy mother. During this time, usually the new mom's mother (or Mother in Law...or hired housekeeper) stays with you for about a month and takes care of you and the baby.

While a new mom is in SahnHoo-Jori period, the new mom has to be extra careful of some things:

1. She has to minize her movements and don't lift anything heavy for the sake of fast recovery. Adults say that SahnHoo-Jori will determine the health of your joints, but you still will feed your baby!

2. She needs to stay warm and stay away from anything cold. Both the room temperature and food!

3. She needs to eat soft food and nothing too hard. Oh and nothing too spicy either.  And this is the time when the new mom eats lots and lots of Miyuk Gook. People used to ONLY feed new moms with Miyuk Good but now they eat most stuff as long as it's not too hard to chew.

I might have missed some details but this is where Miyuk Gook comes during post-partum recovery period. Miyuk Gook is known to boost your metabolism, cleanse your blood, and has lots of Iodine which aids recovery of uterus (shrinking back) and stop bleeding. And since it's nutritious too, it will be also good for the infant too (getting some of this from breast milk.)

And so back to the original question...Why Miyuk Good for the birthdays?... The first thing moms ate was Miyuk Gook and the first thing WE ate through our own mom's breast milk was nutrition from Miyuk Gook. Therefore, not only are we celebrating our own birthday but this is the chance to commemorate our mom who brought us into this world!

Oh! One more thing. Miyuk Gook for the new moms are plain seaweed soup made with soysauce and salt while birthday Miyuk Gooks can be made from beef, mussels, or clam broth.

But you can always eat it whenever you feel like it too!

Click here for Miyuk Gook Recipe ...
(We were gonna post our Miyuk Gook Recipe together, but we just ran out of Miyuk (Seaweed).)

Usually Koreans celebrate the same day as Chinese New Year. We count lunar calendar also. However, since most Korean in the States get their time off during the New Year's day and not the Chinese/Korean New Year, we just started to celebrate according to American Calendar (But, we still celebrate our own little Chinese/Korean New year too.)

So back to food! First of all, this was our New Year's Day Brunch...little heavy huh?? Hah Hah.

Let me explain little bit more about each dish now. After the introduction we will post each recipe in the very near future. Alright here we go!


The main dish you've gotta eat is Dduk Gook or Dduk Mandu Gook. Dduk=Rice Cake, Mandu=dumpling or gyoza, Gook=soup/broth. So basically it's rice cake and dumpling soup. I didn't get a quite good picture...I was too hungry... and was in the middle of eating it. Korean markets sell sliced Dduk in a bag and you can always buy frozen Mandu or make your own from our future mandu recipe (I promise I'll post this year! hah hah).

Next up, Namool (vegetable salads) series. Roughly, all of them gets cooked very lightly in boiling water, get drained, and mixed with scallions, ground garlic, sesame seeds, and sesame oil. And when you just combine all these Namool, rice, hot pepper paste, and some sesame oil and you have Bibimbap! You can eat these Namool separately as banchan or as bibimbap altogether. You tell me what you like better.

Spinach salad or Sigeumchi Namool.

Mung bean sprouts salad or Sook Joo Namool.

Type of Fern sprout salad or Gosari Namool.

These are Korean style Mung Bean Jelly called Mook but it's not sweet like American dessert jelly. It just describes how it's made. It's usually for Banchan or sidedish. If you frequented Korean Restaurant you would have seen these as one of Banchans. You make the Jelly and make special sauce with Soy sauce, sesame seeds, maybe garlic, and scallions. There are many different ways to make sauces so we'll discuss them later as well.

Alright, that's the end of PART I of our New Year's Day Brunch. We have more to come for PART II- Galbi Jjim, Boochimgae, couple of traditional drinks (non-alcoholic) and my familys special Dduk that looks like Mandu but really is a dduk. Yummy!