Spicy Korean Rice Cakes(떡볶이), the street food of 50million Koreans

   

Everyone has their own childhood food cravings. It is the food they grow up with and it reminds you the memories of the past as you eat them. I grow up eating lots..., I mean lots of this dish. This is one of my favorite snacks when I was a teenager (I have lots of other favorites, too). This dish is called Ddukppoki (떡볶이), the spicy Korean rice cakes.

Zucchini enoki stir-fry, meet the Aliens

 Okay..... you can tell the green and yellowish chunks are the zucchini slices. 

But what in the world are those yucky brown thingy that looks like worms? 

The answer : They are the aliens from a galaxy far far away!!!

Have you ever wondered if there will be any other living creatures in our galaxy?  A planet just like the Earth, will there be another human race dwelling in? Will there be aliens? What would they look like? Will they attack us? Those were big concerns I had today. Silly me!

I would like to introduce you two different alien groups. The first ones are;

NY Times chocolate chip cookies, for my piano man

 

  Many people asked me since I began the recipe blog a month ago that if I like the "Pioneer woman",  the famous blogger.  Honestly I never heard about her until 2 weeks before I started my own. I was just browsing some food recipes via internet and came across her blog page. I liked her stories and her way of doing the recipes.

Ironically that was the way I've been thinking about how I wanted to do mine. I have been thinking about having a food blog for a long time as my personal journal. I waited a while because I wanted to improve my photography skill and my not so good computer skill. Still not quite there yet but I am so happy I finally got out of my comfort zone and do something that I enjoy doing and preserve it as a record. This is my blog, my stories, and my recipes that I wouldn't mind sharing with other people around the world.

Beef Radish Soup, when you feel blue

 The weather these days in Hong Kong is so gray, foggy, and wet, it almost forces me to feel blue.  I have not seen the bright sunlight for over 3 weeks. Come on, it's spring! 
Let there be light!!!!

 The foggy view from the 40th floor on the flat where I live is not the most uplifting scene.
So I blamed the weather for my downward mood, then went to my kitchen. 

Rice balls, the redeeming grace of leftover rice

Do you like rice? I do. 

In fact I eat too much that my every new year's resolution of getting rid of that rice belly never seems to be possible. 

Do you have lots of leftover rice in your fridge and you are thinking of getting rid of them?

Please, don't.

My mother used to say when I was a kid that each grain of rice is like each drop of farmer's sweat. They put their souls to harvest those precious grain and if you waste any, you are disgracing their job.

So, eat your rice, every single grain, to support our farmers.

My rice belly is a living proof of my support, and it is all natural! 
...and I decided to be proud of it until who knows...

Korean spring cabbage salad, the sign of spring

 

  Every country has its own salad that welcomes season of spring. I remember when there was a spring cabbage salad on our dinner table at my house in Korea, it gave me a warm feeling, even as a child, that spring finally has come. Spring creates a sense of hope and excitement.  As a child I did not like the winter at all. It was windy and dreary, too cold to play hide and seek, or other games outside. 

When the weather gets warm many young girls in our neighborhood used to get together to go an expedition on the famous Nam-mang mount in my hometown of Tong Young. We looked for spring flowers, herbs, and other edible plants to take home with us to surprise our mothers. We did not have any fancy toys like iPod, or Nintendo in the late 70th when we were growing up, but the nature was our best toys and I still believe it is to any children these days.

Lemon chicken, let's celebrate spring!

 

 I like lemons and I like spring. I would like to show you how I make my lemon chicken today but before I start, I would like to ask you to read this poem with me to get in the mood of spring, would ya?

Spring 

by William Blake

Sound the Flute!
Now it's mute.
Birds delight
Day and Night
Nightingale
In the dale
Lark in Sky
Merrily
Merrily Merrily to welcome in the Year