Microwavable quick and easy Korean food

Have you ever had a hankering for a quick fix and some microwavable savory, yet somewhat healthy Korean food? I've found the college student's quick Korean food fix dream come true! Last week, I meandered into H Mart in San Diego with my friend.  We are usually slammed by the smell of the fishy items like in many Asian markets and the aroma from the carby-licious bread goods from Paris Baguette. This is a Korean market with lots of fresh produce, fish, meat, and all the good Korean foods you could ever want. There are plenty of ramen options, too! : ) 

Walking through the store on the weekend you will hear from all corners, "SAMPULL, SAMPULL, TRY A SAMPULL..." In the most Korean ahjumma accent you can imagine. To me, they quickly begin speaking Korean. After all, I am a Korean / Asian face. In most cases I'll start out speaking English because I want to set the foundation for being American and then attempt to spat out some broken Korean when trying to get a point across or confirm something. 

My friend and I discovered bibimbop and japchae bowls. They were on sale for pretty much dirt cheap. By now, the sale price is likely no longer valid, but I'd still recommend checking out these bowls. They're not that bad! The sample assistant persistently challenged us to sample both foods as well as have me snap a quick picture of them. She was inviting and friendly explaining that college students bought baskets full of these pre-made meals. Well...sorry, lady! We are not college students, but we won't pass up a good sample! I'm gluten-free and therefore had to refrain from any food potentially doused in soy sauce. 

Japchae

Lady modeling Bibimbop bowl, but not wanting to show her face!

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~

I want to learn Korean! How? Why?

Haven't I always wanted to learn Korean? How do I go about learning Korean?

I made it a goal to learn and study Korean this year!  I started my journey to learn Korean several years ago on my first trip to Korea. I said I would learn. I did ... a little... I was able to get by, to read, to greet, and text or write basic emails. While in Korea for the one year between 2009-2010, I devoted a significant time to study Korean grammar and the basics. I had no choice but to learn if I wanted to travel in Korea. And suddenly out of nowhere I had this Korean family and relatives I never knew existed. Learning was necessary. I read books, watched Korean dramas, and talked to friends. I went from very little comprehension to being able to understand my fellow Korean teachers speaking at and to me.  Then...I came back to America.


After returning, I found myself lost in a land of no Asians or Koreans.  My focus remained on job searching and exploring other professional opportunities. A part of me was resistant to studying or learning because I knew it was my duty to learn to communicate with relatives and friends in Korea, but I hadn't fully processed my experience. Nor had I understood on a heart level the urgency to bridge the cultural and physical gap by learning the language like I understand today. I slowly phased myself out of watching dramas, as well.  Soooo..... as the saying goes, "if you don't use it, you lose it". It's true! Some lost. BUT NOT gone forever is the Korean I learned.  Once I got back into the Korean community in San Diego, I beat myself up over not remembering everything.I was ashamed to read and hear conversations that I recognize all the words and grammatical structures to and do not remember the meaning of!  I know it's there.  That is a journey of overcoming and forgiving in itself still in process. This next phase of study and review is going to need some careful extraction and nurturing back to life!

After some time meeting those interested in learning, feeding off their passion, and finally beginning to process some past experiences I had suppressed, I knew it was time... time to study. Time to learn.

I am ready!

I originally attempted to enroll in a Korean Language course at a university in San Diego, but the cost was too high and conflicted with my current work schedule. Instead, I registered for an evening class taught through an independent program. I promise to study several times per week outside of the two class sessions each week. Even if I learn nothing big or new in the class, it will be a great refresher and hopefully a confidence booster in the department of speaking. Unfortunately my speaking and writing skills are down the drain. We shall see where the class takes us.

Now that I have met many other friends or students trying to learn the language, I have stumbled upon many different resources and sites to learn Korean or to communicate with others that want to teach their language in exchange for another language.  My favorite way to learn and share culture is face to face where I can see expression and observe body language, but I realize that wasn't always easy for me and it's not going to be easy for people in other countries wanting to make friends in the target language and culture.  As part of my study, I will explore these sites and expand my understanding of human interaction through online relationships and educational websites.   Recently, I became interested in the online dating phenomenon. Many of my friends have found themselves in a whole new world of online dating as they seek life-long friends and partners. Though I haven't registered to online date or plan to do so, I believe that nourishing my hunger to learn Korean language through internet resources will give me a better understanding of what it means to build relationships with strangers through a common interest of learning and sharing online. I really desire to learn as much as I can about human interaction and thought processes.

Some weekly challenges I want to hold myself accountable to doing:

I WILL:

• Challenge myself to meet others, to learn from them and share with them. 
• Be willing to be vulnerable, make mistakes, and ask questions for my own learning.   This entails being confident in the shoes of a learner and not being afraid to ask questions. Curiosity is a precursor to knowledge and understanding. The more we ask, the more we learn. This is a mountain for me to climb because I am always shy to ask for help or even to ask too many questions.  I am always willing to offer others help in their times of need, I will do the same myself. 
• Be curious! Mentioned above, but it needs its own bullet!
• Study at least 10 hanja per week.  Hanja is the name for the Chinese Korean characters that you see on old Korean texts and on Korean newspapers. Learning hanja is helpful because it builds vocabulary. Many Korean words have roots from the Chinese characters. See future posts on hanja. 
• Learn a set number of vocabulary words.  Looking for resources to find and learn vocabulary words at the moment.
• Try to watch at least one or more episodes of a Korean drama during the week.  Okay, so this isn't a tough one for most people that probably devote hours to drama, but I haven't had as much time or interest in recent dramas due to the length of time I spend outside of home. Dramas will sharpen listening skills and observation of social interactions.  
• Find an article to read and dissect. 
• Practice speaking by talking to at least one friend in the target language. We can practice English conversation and pronunciation afterwards. : ) 
• Write at least one or two diary entries per week. I agree, this should be more, but I'm trying to make a habit of learning to do this in English first!  I will increase the numbers as I go. Don't forget folks, let's not overwhelm with too many goals. 
• Listen to kpop or kballad. Oh no!  Can't get sucked into that world again...but it's just another avenue into the language and culture.  
• NOT give up!

So why the sudden change? You can probably infer from the gibber jabber above that I did some thinking and reconciling with my own thoughts.

Motivations to learn:

1. Graduate school. I am interested in international-ly related fields.
• second or third languages are a requirement for graduation and for jobs. 
2. Communicating with friends.  They already say I comprehend a significant amount and pronounce words well. It's that word extraction part that I have trouble doing in English and my second or third language.
3. Building a relationship with relatives or family and other friends in Korea.
4. Make sure my brother doesn't surpass my Korean ability if he ends up staying in Korea for much longer! ; )
5. Learn my mother tongue! 

Let's keep growing and going!  I hope that by posting these goals and motivating factors I will be held accountable and you will too!

Something new... I love the sound of music.

Yes, I love the Sound of Music and much much more..

---

Listening to the OST of the Korean drama called Secret Garden (시크릿 가든) .   I really like the songs, simply for the voice of the singers themselves. Listening to foreign music is a great way for me to connect to friends of  other cultures and to learn to respect  other genres of music. Also a great tool for studying foreign languages.  I may not understand the lyrics, but I can enjoy the sounds and voices of some very talented and sometimes not so talented artists.

Baek Ji Yong (백지영) sings at least two of the songs in Secret Garden. She has a large range, reaching notes most people only dream of, and wonderful control. These aspects make for a beautiful voice.  I really like her songs That man (그남자) and That woman (그여자 ).  Some of the lyrics are a bit much in regards to the romantic ballad nature. That aside,  here is "That Man".  What do you think of her voice?  

Hyunbin has a voice! Secret Garden also stars a great Korean actor, Hyunbin (현빈).  Girls swoon over every move he makes. Not that I can say the same myself as much as I love cute dimples and his sweet smile.  Though, I did fall for the guy while watching Kim Sam Soon (내 이름은 김삼순). It was one of the first dramas I watched all the way through. Anyway, Hyunbin sang a version of That Man and it's not that bad. Supposedly it's topping charts. I hope Hyunbin's voice will develop more. Looking forward to what else is in store from this sensation.

Here's the song.  

Any preferences?