Greetings from lovely Jeju-do, South Korea!
I've managed to knock out a few things since my last update:
1. I'm in Jeju! (3-5)
2. I had two straight weeks of weight training twice a week. (6-3)
3. I watched a foreign (9-5) documentary (9-6) about the shamanistic rituals of the women divers of Jeju, as well as traditional Korean carpentry.
4. I finished Iris Murdoch's Under the Net, which is off the TIME Top 100 Novels list. I also started (and finished) a Japanese novel that I'm considering adding to the list at the cost of a boring dead white guy (3-3).
Anyway, the exciting thing is: I'm in Jeju! In the space of two days I've accomplished nearly everything I wanted to, so the next two days are wide-open for adventure. The most exciting thing? I've kicked a major item off my bucket list: I've finally visited a lava tube.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Foodie Friday: Vegan Burritos
I'm not a vegan or a vegetarian, but due to my aversion to handling meat a lot of the stuff I make ends up being vegetarian by default (and too much cheese to be vegan).
I was never much of a tofu fan before I came to Korea, but once I had properly prepared tofu I fell in love. I still think it's a terrible meat substitute; instead, what tofu does best is act as a vehicle for sauce. In Korea, it's often soy sauce.
These burritos are vegetables and tofu fried in soy sauce for filler. Choose whatever veggies you want; the most important part is how to prepare to the tofu.
First, you should press the tofu. Leave a book or something else kind of heavy on your block of tofu for ten or fifteen minutes. This gets the water out and allows the tofu to absorb more sauce and therefore more flavor. It goes without saying you should set this up so the water doesn't spill everywhere: put the tofu on a towel, on a plate in the sink, whatever.
To make the burrito construction process easier, I crumbled up the tofu while I fried it (think of ground beef). It ended up looking like this:
I was never much of a tofu fan before I came to Korea, but once I had properly prepared tofu I fell in love. I still think it's a terrible meat substitute; instead, what tofu does best is act as a vehicle for sauce. In Korea, it's often soy sauce.
These burritos are vegetables and tofu fried in soy sauce for filler. Choose whatever veggies you want; the most important part is how to prepare to the tofu.
First, you should press the tofu. Leave a book or something else kind of heavy on your block of tofu for ten or fifteen minutes. This gets the water out and allows the tofu to absorb more sauce and therefore more flavor. It goes without saying you should set this up so the water doesn't spill everywhere: put the tofu on a towel, on a plate in the sink, whatever.
To make the burrito construction process easier, I crumbled up the tofu while I fried it (think of ground beef). It ended up looking like this:
And my other ingredients:
First of many, many burritos. These are folded wrong, but the subsequent ones (not pictured) I folded correctly.
I also added some gochujang for flavor, because I can never get enough gochujang.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Music Monday: Ben L'Oncle Soul
This is courtesy of my friend and former coworker Kelly, who has a knack for finding awesome cross-genre covers.
And here's one of Ben L'Oncle Soul singing in his native French:
Sunday, July 22, 2012
101 in 1001, Round 2: Volume 1
The passing of my birthday last month meant that, in addition to being another year older, my first 101 in 1001 list had expired. All told, I accomplished about half of the items on it. This time around, I'd like to have a better success rate. I've taken a lot more time to think about these goals. As a result, even though I've been working on the list since July 1st, I still have twenty-odd slots to fill.
Here's my new list, which I hope to have much better luck with this time around. Already I've managed to knock three items off of it! For a more organized version of my list, read more after the jump.
Join me, won't you? Every Sunday, you'll get another update! I've been updating in other blogging communities, but I thought it would be worth sharing over here as well.
Here's my new list, which I hope to have much better luck with this time around. Already I've managed to knock three items off of it! For a more organized version of my list, read more after the jump.
Join me, won't you? Every Sunday, you'll get another update! I've been updating in other blogging communities, but I thought it would be worth sharing over here as well.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Foodie Friday: Shakshuka
I missed the last Foodie Friday. I have no good excuses, except I was busy.
Busy making Shakshuka!
This is a really easy recipe. Really. It takes ten minutes, maybe longer if you like your eggs quite dry. There's precious little cleanup involved, too. It's a great anytime food. And did I mention it's delicious?
In short: this is going into my forever repertoire, and it should go in yours, too.
I found the time to photograph it, but not to write about it. So you get it a week later.
I first found this recipe on Pinterest, from Shiksa in the Kitchen. It's easy-peasy, but I'm lazy so I make a few alterations.
The most notable one is that I blend an onion with gochujang (using my life-saving stick blender) instead of just slicing an onion. I'm just lazy, really. Also, in lieu of spices (my spice rack is non-existent), drowning something in gochujang adds flavor just as well. Egg and gochujang make an excellent pair, to boot.
Anyway, while onion-gochujang concoction warms up on the pan, I dice a couple of tomatoes and get my pre-diced peppers out of the fridge.
Load them up on there, and finally I crack a few eggs. The Shiksa's recipe calls for five, but I cook for myself so I just use three. This meal usually lasts me about two or three dinners.
I also add cheese, which The Shiksa doesn't. Haters to the left, bow down before cheese.
Go on, give it a try!
Busy making Shakshuka!
This is a really easy recipe. Really. It takes ten minutes, maybe longer if you like your eggs quite dry. There's precious little cleanup involved, too. It's a great anytime food. And did I mention it's delicious?
In short: this is going into my forever repertoire, and it should go in yours, too.
 |
| This is The Shiksa in the Kitchen's Shakshuka, not mine. |
I found the time to photograph it, but not to write about it. So you get it a week later.
I first found this recipe on Pinterest, from Shiksa in the Kitchen. It's easy-peasy, but I'm lazy so I make a few alterations.
The most notable one is that I blend an onion with gochujang (using my life-saving stick blender) instead of just slicing an onion. I'm just lazy, really. Also, in lieu of spices (my spice rack is non-existent), drowning something in gochujang adds flavor just as well. Egg and gochujang make an excellent pair, to boot.
Anyway, while onion-gochujang concoction warms up on the pan, I dice a couple of tomatoes and get my pre-diced peppers out of the fridge.
Load them up on there, and finally I crack a few eggs. The Shiksa's recipe calls for five, but I cook for myself so I just use three. This meal usually lasts me about two or three dinners.
I also add cheese, which The Shiksa doesn't. Haters to the left, bow down before cheese.
 |
| Not as pretty as The Shiksa's, but she's had more practice. |
Monday, July 9, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Foodie Fridays: Lazy Ramen Sequel
Ramen. That budget food of college students and poorfolk everywhere. The East Asian staple. I can't get enough of it.
I never ate that much of it while I was in college. I only got started on ramen when I moved to Korea. Now I always have a big five pack of Shin Ramyeon in my cupboard for days when I get a ramen craving, or when I'm too lazy for a real meal.
The only problem with ramen is that there is always way too much broth. However much you need to cook the noodles is way too much to eat with them. But it's just so wasteful to dump it down the drain!
Solution? Save the broth, add some rice for later! (Also pictured: onions, bell peppers, American cheese). If you're a lazy bum like me, it's microwavable instant rice.
This might be healthy because instead of slurping the broth and its 95% RDA of sodium down in one go, you're stretching it out over two. Or it might be unhealthy because you're using all of the broth instead of dumping it down the drain. Jury's out on that one.
I never ate that much of it while I was in college. I only got started on ramen when I moved to Korea. Now I always have a big five pack of Shin Ramyeon in my cupboard for days when I get a ramen craving, or when I'm too lazy for a real meal.
The only problem with ramen is that there is always way too much broth. However much you need to cook the noodles is way too much to eat with them. But it's just so wasteful to dump it down the drain!
Solution? Save the broth, add some rice for later! (Also pictured: onions, bell peppers, American cheese). If you're a lazy bum like me, it's microwavable instant rice.
This might be healthy because instead of slurping the broth and its 95% RDA of sodium down in one go, you're stretching it out over two. Or it might be unhealthy because you're using all of the broth instead of dumping it down the drain. Jury's out on that one.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Project Rae Meta-Hint #1:
Think about hints number two, five, and eight together. Get as punny as you can with hint number two, in all possible ways.Project Rae hint number two: BuffaloNerdProject's "pie oh my!" tie.
Project Rae hint number five: original inspirational image from Rae.
Project Rae hint number eight: giant safety pins from creativeARTifacts.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Music Monday: Mynta
This was an album I picked up at the local thrift store years ago. I don't know why, I guess the cover art grabbed my interest?
I was hooked from the first track. This is "world music" at its finest. Enjoy.
I was hooked from the first track. This is "world music" at its finest. Enjoy.
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