Kale Kimchi Omurice and a kind Korean Ahjussi

Today I walked around downtown to do some exploring and spend quality time with myself. Who stays cooped up inside when the sun is shining and its almost 70 degrees in January? Not me!

Look at that beauty of a day!

After my adventures,* I decided to get more adventurous with my food. With an hour of exercise and three hours of walking in the sun later, I worked up an appetite. Though I drank a delicious green drink packed with kale, spinach, broccoli, apple, etc that I picked up at the Farmer's Market and my typical daily fix of a Kind bar,  I still figured I better eat a good evening meal. As usual, I didn't have much food and will need to go grocery shopping soon, so I made something up with the random foods I had. I came up with a rather fun and tasty kimchi and kale omurice! It probably exists somewhere, but I'd like to think I created something for once!! I come up with great ideas --more like yours truly reinventing the wheel. Hey, at least I can find how to best cook up what creative idea is brewing in my head if I need help bringing it to fruition.

About the kimchi and kale omurice...

I tossed extra special "sprouted" brown rice in the rice cooker....don't ask. I bought it at HMart and it was triple the price of any other rice on the shelf. I was looking for brown rice and the package says sprouted is healthier for many reasons. I don't know. Better go ask a Korean to find the legit reasoning behind it. Basically it's good for health and solves some of life's problems? Sounds good to me!

While that was cooking, I made the egg. I mixed up two eggs in a bowl (add a bit of milk or water for fluff and texture). After greasing up the old pan, cooking up the egg and placing it on a plate, I moved onto the fried rice fixins.

I started with the kale. I used the last half of an older bunch of kale. I cleaned, cut, and cooked the kale, much like the blanching you do with spinach, and set that aside.  Next, I fried and cooked the kimchi. Once that was cooked I added the kale back to the pan. Oh yeah! I snuck some carrots in and attempted to add garlic after realizing it was a bit too old. You can add more veggies, meat or whatever leftovers are in the fridge. In the future, I'll be sure to have meat protein lying around. With some sesame oil and the kimchi veggie mix, I finally added the rice! Cooked it all up and placed it in the egg!
Finally, choose the sauce. You can add ketchup or gochujang on your omurice delightful creation. All I had was sriracha as you can see in the pic below. After taking the picture, I garnished it with leftover avocado. You can never have too much avocado in any shape or form and it goes great with omelettes. The kimchi kale omurice was a lot of yumm in my mouth and quite a bit of food!
PLUS! It had kale. As far as I'm concerned, anything with kale is healthier. It's a super food! Right? Heck! You can argue the whole thing is healthy. Kimchi, kale, sprouted brown rice, egg, and sriracha. The only thing not so healthy is the sesame oil, but you've got to throw some in for the sake of having oil and that extra flavor!

Here's the creation::

Enjoy~~

Wanna try it? Make your own rendition and let me know how it works or tastes for you!

Have fun!

*Because this blog supposedly touches upon Korea related things, I'll add the part of my day where I met a Korean man (definitely ahjussi status!!) on my walk. He has lived in the US for quite some time but is originally from Daegu! Crazy! [I have this weird thing with ahjussis and boys/people from Daegu. I love Daegu dialect and happen to be able to find or attract random people from Daegu.] As I was walking, I noticed a cute dog that reminded me of my family's childhood dog. I stopped to ask the breed of his dog not knowing he was Korean...and a friendly one at that!  His dog is a maltipoo (Maltese/Poodle mix) and our childhood dog was a Bichontese (Bichon Frise/Maltese mix). They look very similar. My!...he was friendly. I knew he was nice based on the conversation with previous onlookers, but just how....I didn't know.  He asked me to sit next to him and take a picture with him and the dog. I politely declined!  He then asked if I was Korean. Apparently he could tell. I said, yes. He started speaking in Korean. Not that I needed to, but I did explain that I was adopted. I really hate when people, especially older people make assumptions and project their expectations wanting me to act culturally appropriate or speak perfect Korean. Sometimes I think by telling you I was adopted it will mitigate any strong expectations or predispositions. Who knows.

Once he found out I was Korean AND adopted he again asked me to sit down right next to him and talk. "Please!! Dear," he pats his hand down on the bench next to his lap and dog, "have a seat next to me and let's talk!" Again, I politely declined. I knew I'd be stuck there if I sat down. He is married folks! Nothing like that! (or so I hope!) He has a Caucasian wife and was giving a Korean friend and her child visiting from Korea a tour of various parts of California. They were off whale-watching while he was holding down the fort and taking care of the dog. He really wanted me to sit there and chat him up for another hour, so I could meet the woman and her 8 year old kid. Supposedly the woman spoke really good English. I talked with the ahjussi for a little longer [interesting guy] and I decided to carry on with my own day. As much as I'd love to meet more Koreans, I needed to get going.  I also love Korean kids and listening to them speak in Korean. Part of me wanted to meet them. I love the sound of the language. If not to communicate with my Korean family, I'd learn Korean to speak Korean with my future kids!  I must admit, I love having lots of older Korean friends with kids. As I walked further, just a minute later, I saw a Korean family with a very cute daughter under the age of 5.  My heart melted when I heard the daughter speaking to her mother.Too bad kids have to grow up so fast!  I might have stopped to "observe" them for a minute while stepping aside to avoid photobombing three Korean girls taking pictures of each other by the water.  : )

The dog:

K. End.


~HK~

nourishment

BEWARE: Random tangents and lots ...

On Friday night I considered going to Busan. I wanted to meet with others, but their plans were not solidified. Regardless, something needed to happen. I wrote down a list of some touristy and site-seeing destinations I wanted to visit (and never got to more than two of them, which is fine, fine).

i had not yet seen the fall colors, something i miss dearly after spending some high school years on the east coast, and needed some time to refresh. Although I considered Seoul again, it was time for a much needed break. I longed to be away from everything here and in the presence of the creator. I longed to feed myself in more than one way.

soo...despite not knowing what my friends were doing, I was Busan

bound alone. 1 bus to the bus station --> 1 hour+ long bus ride to Daejeon --> 40 minute bus ride to the bus terminal in daejeon, and a --> 3+ hour ride brough

t me to Busan.... the loooooooooooong trip WAS GLORIOUS, indeed.

on this journey, my eyes and soul were fed. I was so thankful^^ that I was able to see the beautiful mountains and trees, catching the last glimpse of Autumn colors as the leaves fell from the trees and winter began to blow its way in with a chill. (IT WAS FREEZING this weekend!)

My spirit was fed.

On Saturday.... I read 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galations, and Ephesians +. I began to dig in and cherish a word of comfort and encouragement. I've been so torn up about my decision to stay in the same shigol/city until summer that I haven't slept at night. the kids at school are getting crazier and there is a lot of uncontrollable frustration and tension... Sometimes I

live in the WORLD, living up to someone else's expectations and letting my heart and patience go. While talking to my K scholar again tonight, we considered giving

up if we weren't working together in the future.. but NOOO. That's not the point. "I suck" (as some koreans say when they feel they are bad at something) in a lot of ways. Life away from our comforts and norms is not easy, but these are the test and trials we are to endure as we build strength to build up others. I came to love and share the light I'm given. instead of becoming hard and angry with my students, i must remember what it is to love. because i was loved , i can love..... . (Please help me love the child that I'd rather ask to leave and never come back for she, too, is hungry and broken; please let the light shine through. ---For he who said, "Let your light shine out of darkness", made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Back to the story: during my travel, I discovered that friends were heading in the same direction. so.....another 45 minute subway ride brought me to 자갈치 , the huge fish market.

and so my stomach was fed! We had the most delish, fresh

seafood for lunch. ...so fresh it was moving as we scorched it over the fire bringing it to its final seconds of life. ) :

then we ate pho. The best pho in Korea.

Then, we had waffles...

Then, we had 찜질방 food. Satisfaction at its best.

We landed at a decent 찜질방 (a lot of people come through here?) near the area we spent most of the time shopping and eating.... it had a fantabulous view and refreshing baths... (and Angella got an amazing pic of the bridge that lights up with different colors at night.)

After a short sleep, I woke up at 5am to someone's obnoxious alarm and decided to rise in awe of the night lights. As dawn approached, the ships headed out to 'sea' one by one and two by two, more and more they came. I watched the clouds roll in and out and...

dark become light... and night become day.... (cell phone pics) :

~some of them went out to sea on on ships, they were merchants on the mighty waters~

~where morning dawns and even fades, you call forth songs of joy~

if i rise on the wings of the dawn, if i settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me

해운대

~he has made his light shine upon us~

Then retracing my travel, back I came the next day. The real world!!

As the week progresses, I will continue to find meaning in life and my purpose here despite the obstacles in our way.

Peace