Today I didn't get breakfast, I overslept.
I did have a free period before lunch period, during which I had rehearsal, so I decided to slip out and get myself some kim chee. All I wanted was kim chee.
I found parking on the Ave right by Yummy Bites, Ichiro, and University Teriyaki, all of which are Korean-owned, serving Korean food. I was closest Yummy Bites, and when I got out of my car, I realized it was just a 3 minute spot. Whoops.
So Yummy Bites it is. The interior is warm and hip, the menu is asian university chic; there is teriyaki, korean dish, hamburgers and fres, quesadillas...
I figured I had three minutes, and my goal was kim chi. So I ordered pork katsu. Wait, what? Isn't pork katsu Japanese? Yes, it is, but it was on the 'korean dish' part of the menu, so I figured I could get kim chi with it. Mmm, pork katsu with kim chi! So I ordered "pork katsu."
The young woman looked at me and then typed it into her monitor. Does that come with panchan?
No, she says, salad or miso soup. What? What's a korean dish without kimchi? What ever. I asked for miso soup, and watched her punch in an additional miso soup.
Boo, I thought.
Well, I sat around for about 10 mintues, then stood at the door, watching for Parking Enforcement. I was very annoyed, VERY ANNOYED that the people who came in after me got their yakisoba before I did. There were three people in the kitchen cooking, and not one of them seemed to have been cooking my katsu! What's going on!
After a few minutes, I watched the grill cook put a broiled mackeral into a box. The cashier girl took her own sweet time, tying and retying the plastic bag, and finally she handed it to me.
Thanks, I said as I grabbed it and started out the door in one motion. I ordered pork katsu and got broiled mackeral, and there wasn't even any kim chi!
I ate my broiled mackeral in the faculty lounge, it was delicious.
But it wasn't kim chi, so after work I crossed the bridge to Pal Do World in Lake Hills. I love that place. Usually it's filled with Chinese people, but this time there were some Mexicans. I ordered kim chi chigae, and got kimchi chigae. It was so delicious.
The panchan were soybeans in syrup, radish kim chi, mashy potato salad, bean sprouts, some kind of sweet greens kimchi.... I can't believe I've forgotten already. There were eight, and I ate all eight of them. One of them was little chunks of meat, breaded, fried and sauced with a sweet sauce.
What's this? I asked the owner lady. She answered "beans" and then turned around and said, oh, that's chicken... or pork.... I'm not sure.
It's funny to me that she didn't know what the panchan was, and also that she seemed wary of people asking about the soybeans in syrup. I knew what that was! It was like natto, but not as slimy.
Anyway, my dinner was delicious. Korean broths are really complex. The first time, honestly, I had kimchi chigae, I sighed, thinking oh great, pork and cabbage in spicey pickle juice. It took a while for me to get used to it, but now I'm addicted. I am addicted to kimchi chigae!
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Apparently A is not inviting me over tonight to watch "What Not To Wear."
Hmph! What ever will I do?
This is the mool naeng myun I made from a packet. I chilled the bowl, froze the broth, added thin sliced brisket, pears, cucumbers, and hard boiled egg. And a dash of sesame seeds (but I don't think that's right).
And here's some kim chee fried rice I made, with more of the same thin-sliced brisket.
Mmmm.
I had my 30k tune up today. It was too much money, but it keeps my warantee in place.
Chinese class was good, we did all of pinyin and tones today. Tomorrow we start characters. I'm gonna try to walk to class tomorrow morning; we'll see.
Heat wave in Seattle.
Hey readers! .... all three of you!
I am disabling anonymous comments because of some cheap shots taken by an anonymous commenter on a post that no one has read in years.
Basically, has a beef against Dr. Mary Lou Ridinger of Jades SA of Antigua, Guatemala. Is the beef legitimate? Who knows. Maybe! But the commenter posted anonymously, and rather than accusing her of anything, the anony-mouse insinuated that Dr. Ridinger was hiding information, and that her product was junk. What a coward. This is the internet, man. If you've got something to say, then say it. "Dr. R is a crook because of X, Y, and Z." It's a question of cojones. Especially if you're gonna be anonymous; if your position is so weak that all you can muster is an anynomous insinuation, then maybe you should ask your mommy to give you a pillow, so you can lie down and cry into your pillow.
So for the moment you all (all three of you) will have to get blogger IDs if you want to leave a comment. What if ass-nonymous just gets a bogus ID? Well, I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.
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Today there was a crazy freak rainstorm, with hard, crazy rain and wind. More wind, and ten minutes later it was sunshine and blue skyes. More wind, and the ground was dry.
I finally went to the secret Korean restaurant for mool naeng myun. It was a converted highway Denny's just off the freeway. So it wasn't much of a secret. But when I went in to the (very nice) dining room, there were only two other customers, both Korean. It's a family establishment, and the Mom brought me a nice salad before my mool naeng myun hit the table, with six panchan. It was good! With shaved ice! But they forgot to put in the meat.
Afterwards, I discovered Pal-do Korean Supermarket and bought two packs of ice cream novelties. One is a sweet coffee-and-creme push up, and I don't know why I have to go to a Korean supermarket to get such a nice dessert. The other ice cream novelty is like a dove bar. Yum!
Later, I met S and company for happy hour drinks and tapas at Peso's. I had a mojito. We sat there and yapped in Spanish for hours, as beautiful people came and went. L's friend P theorized that the waitresses were hired for their looks, since they didn't have a lot of chops as waitresses. In fact, he went as far as to suggest that they were exotic dancers. P is a bartender himself, at a pretty prestigious martini bar for old people and stressed out financial advisors who come to him for their martini lunch of shame.
Came home, ate some potato salad from Pal-do, practiced my guitar, .... reset my blog to disallow anonymous comments. And now it's time for bed.
Another anonymous commenter called this blog a scatterbrained vanity website, which is not so far off the mark. It's my journal, and I am the thematic thread. So what? I don't write for a wide audience, although a wide audience is certainly welcome to read. But please do remember, kiddies, you don't have to read.
You love to. Admit it!
Here's J's thesis on Korean-style Chinese food.
In Seattle, Korean restaurants can be sorted into two categories: teriyaki restaurants, and Korean enclave restaurants.
The teriyaki restaurants are most often bulgogi and cater to white folks--i.e., saucy, cheap, and huge portions. These restaurants are all over the place. Mexicans love bulgogi. Did you know?
The restaurants in the Korean enclaves are more mysterious to me, because they tend to be way out in the sprawl, or in Tacoma, so I don't get out there often. There are a few Korean grill places; I don't get to go to those usually unless I get a group together, which invariably means my parents. They might be secretly Korean.
I spend my days also looking for a Korean lunch counter like Steve's in Ass Arbor. I had a cold, cucumber soup once there that I still dream about.
