Look! I spent all day in the kitchen preparing this beautiful Bibimbap for dinner! Okay, I’m lying. These vegetables and marinated pork belly came in plastic containers, courtesy of a neighborhood Korean mega store. God bless them.
Although Korean cuisine tops as one of my all-time favorites (I would say my favorites are ① Japanese, ② Korean, and ③ Italian, in that order), I know nothing about how to prepare any of the dishes. The pungent spices used in Korean dishes are so mysterious to my taste buds that I can never decipher what is what. The fermented soybean pastes aisle at a store alone has rows and rows of selections (which makes my head spin) so I can imagine the complexity, depth and uniqueness of each of ingredient.
Learning a thing or two about how to cook Korean food definitely sits on top of my culinary “to do” list for 2008. I grew up eating Kimchi and Gulgogi but our family never made them at home so I’ve decided that I’m going to be the first one in the family to make my own kimchi! I found a kimchi recipe in a Japanese lifestyle magazine called Esse (I would say it’s a Japanse equivalent of Real Simple), and although it’s not Korean, I trust this recipe will deliver an authentic result. I’ll keep you posted 🙂
Lavender and OliVE 
it’s time we find some nice korean friends-homemade kimchis are where it’s at. let’s hit all the kimchi makers on myspace and invite ourselves to their homes with empty mason jars!
since i work in torrance, i discovered some hardcore korean superstores in gardena. their deli section is even bigger than most stores on western in koreatown. i’d love to take you there when we do the torrance day.
i got this deli kimchi in a big plastic case for $3 and lasted me for a month, and you know how much i eat. and there’s some tare (spices) leftover so i used it up to marinate chicken. the rest, i’m either going to bath in it or shoot it in my vein for an extra high 🙂
oh, and there’s a great zun tofu place in torrance all under $10. one of the best in town. (the one on sawtelle and western are not too shabby either).