Foodie Vacation in South Korea 2016

Hello Foodies~!

How have you been?  It's been such a long time since I have posted any blogs.  I'm so sorry~! Please forgive me.  It's been a busy few months for me.

As you can see by all the wonderful photos I've uploaded I went a short little vacation to South Korea.  For those of you who do not know where it is, please reference the map below.



South Korea is the country that I am originally from and where I get a lot of my influences in cooking.  It was a fun filled but short vacation that I took for about two weeks to see my family that I haven't seen in 8 years~!  I had the stress of planning out each of my daily activities a few, I mean almost six months before leaving for my trip. Yay me~!
 

When I was younger there were different food items that I did not want to try because of the appearance or smell.  This time around I had to be different and wanted to try different things.  As you all know, I studied and graduated from culinary school to be a chef.  The chef in me would not let my taste buds go without tasting and experiencing all that I could.  Trying all the different ingredients helps when creating recipes and making flavor combinations.

The time I had in Korea was quite amazing actually.  I met most of my family atleast once and got to go on a family vacation with them while I was there.  The country itself has so many places for you to go visit and so much varieties of food to eat~!  I love the food ~!  I was very jet lagged for most of the trip so I managed to open my eyes every morning around 5 or 6am to get my day started. Here are some of the photos I took.  Please enjoy and hopefully one day you'll be able to visit South Korea and taste all the wonderful food~! ^^



Day 1: Seoul, South Korea
Day 2. GeoJe, South Korea


This is in front of Dong Dae Mun (East Gate).  There used to be walls which surrounded the city and there were four main entrances.  This is one of them. 



 
Cheong Gye Cheon
This place was so relaxing.  This day it was so nice and sunny and had a beautiful breeze.  A lot of people come here to take a break and get away from the stress of the day.  Couples come here for dates too.  It is so pretty and calming compared to the bustle of the city life. 



Gwang Jang Si Jang (Gwang Jang Open Market)
Tteok BokKi and NokDu BinDae Ddeok (Spicy Rice Cakes and Crispy Mung Bean Pancakes)
There were atleast a couple hundred people visiting this day.  It was so packed but we got lucky and found a spot to sit and eat.  Look at that pile of Bin Dae Ddeok~! Super crispy and yummy~!


Banana Milk and Banana Milk Ice Cream~! I love you~!!! Can't you tell? ^^



Grilled Pork and SoJu
It is common practice at a lot of restaurants to have table top cooking especially with meats.  SoJu is perfect with grilled meat. :)

 
 Chun Cheon Dak GalBi (Spicy Stir Fried Chicken Chun Cheon Style)
This dish contained Korean sweet potato, cabbage, onions and rice cake.  You can order it extra spicy per your request.  Of course I ordered mine extra spicy.  The spicier the better.

 
Wish we had this in the US. Baskin Robbins Apple Mint and Green Tea Ice Cream.  I love how light and airy the apple mint ice cream was and how strong the green tea flavor was.  The best dessert after a spicy meal. ^^


Cham E Seul SoJu and Cham E Seul Grapefruit SoJu
Staples to any Korean meal.  If you love vodka you will love SoJu~!
Thanks to my cousin, I got to try the grapefruit SoJu.

 
DonKatSu.  Everyone loves this.  This was our "bar food" that we had with the SoJu.


 
Korean Style Fried Donuts and Red Bean Donuts.  I love this stuff~!!



This is called Gae Bul.  It is a spoon worm.  This was eaten raw dipped in a spicy pepper sauce.
 
 This is GalChi Sok Jeot.  It is the salted and preserved intestines of the beltfish.  I heard this is really expensive but of course I couldn't consume it in excess.  The smell was a bit on the strong side but it was really tasty.  If you love fish sauce you will love this.
  
MyeolChi Hwae MuChim (Spicy Raw Marinated Anchovie Mixed Salad)



MyeolChi Ssam Bap (Braised Anchovies Ssam)
Did not know that there were so many dishes that you can make with anchovies.  Look at the size of the anchovies~!!!



KalChi Gui (Roasted Beltfish)
The Korean raw peppers (Cheong Nyang Go Chu) that you see sliced on top did it for me.  This fish was moist and with the salt and spicy heat from the peppers, it was perfect with the rice.  Yum~!!


I had to leave my mark here .  This place was really good~!


GwangEoh Hwae (Halibut Sashimi)


This is Nak Ji Bok Kkeum.  Its a spicy stir fried squid dish
. 
 
This is Jo Gae Tang.  Its a clear brothy clam soup.

  
This was dinner at the resort made by all the ladies.  KimChi and Pork Jjim.  Braised kimchi with pork.  Dang it was delicious~!!

   
This is called Sshi Rae Gi.  It is the stems and leafy greens of a small turnip radish which is hung and dried like this.  When you are ready to use it, you boil it first and then peel of the chewy exterior and use the tender interior.  It has a delicious and meaty flavor than when it is in the fresh form.

  
This is Dol Mi Na Ri.  Water Parsley.  Delicious and good for your lungs especially. You can eat it raw or cooked into food.  Its consumed in food as an herb or literally as a vegetable. It has a distinct flavor which helps enhance the overall taste of food and also gets rid of the offensive flavor some fish gives off in soups.

 
Dol Ha Ru Bang.  These were in the garden of a home I visited in the country.  These volcanic stone statues are generally found in JeJu Island and is a must see.

This was a great vacation and I can't wait to go back again. Maybe i'll see you there next time and we can share some SoJu over grilled Korean BBQ.^^




All photos taken by Lifestyle of Foodie.
Map Retrieved from Google.com Search Engine/National Geographic.com

MY family trip

Today is January 4th, 2016. 

I hope all of you had a wonderful and exciting holidays and a great start to the new year~! 

It's been such a long time since I've posted any blogs and photos from the places I visited. 

2016 is a great year already and will continue to be~! 

I'll keep you up to date more frequently about the food I make and more hot spot reviews~!

In my last post I mentioned posting photos from my trip to NYC. I'm so sorry that this is so late~!

I had a wonderful time with my family that came to visit from South Korea. I was very fortunate that I was able to take some short time off from work and go to NYC with them and also got the chance to visit Niagara Falls and Toronto. 

Everyone who knows me personally knows that I despise driving but oh my the driving in NYC was so horrible. 

I happened to get really sick as soon as I got there and the whole time I felt pretty miserable. But since I was the tour guide I had to move on and be cheery. Besides, how many times will I get the chance to visit NYC again? :)

After being there for two days, we drove up to Niagara Falls.  If you ever get the chance to go I highly recommend it. It might seem like nothing but the falls are so beautiful and powerful. It puts you in awe of what God has created for us to see. It was beautiful~! I would love to go there again but this time take the helicopter ride over the falls. There is a boat option as well. 

Next stop was Toronto. The quiet city looked so peaceful. The weather was gorgeous and sunny. We couldn't stay long, only a few hours but it put a lasting impression on me. I would love to live there just not during the winter. 

We drove back to the city to catch our flight back home. The drive through the Catskills was awesome. It was during May so it wasn't hot and there mountains and streams and sun. I think they got me too~! I want to go there again~! The drive and the views were amazing ~!!! 

The next destination was the Outer Banks. I've never been out that far to the east coast. I've been lucky to visit the beaches in NC but it was the farthest east I've ever gone. 

Our first destination was Kitty Hawk, where Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the first plane. There is a memorial and museum which tells you of the exact points where the flight was tested and resulted in success. 

The sand dunes were piled high and the ocean water was ice cold. It was such a beautiful day to be at the beach, seeing the ocean but not swimming in it. The water was too cold~! We also visited the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. It is the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States. 

Hope you enjoy~!

I'll be posting my food recipe real soon~! 

Take care and Eat, Talk and Dream FOOD~! 

Please like, share and follow me on Instagram, Google+ and Facebook. 

Our first view of the city

Statue of Liberty

Central Park

The Empire State Building

Our first morning heading to NYC from Staten Island

Goodnight NYC

Leaving the city

Niagara Falls

Lake Ontario

At a park in Toronto

The sun rising on our way back to the city

The first flight model plane 

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse 

Can you feel the cold?

Thank you guys for inventing planes~!

All photos were taken by LifestyleofaFoodie. 

Basan Restaurant Review

Hi everyone~!

I hope you have been well. It's been a very busy month and half with the family visiting and getting back on schedule at work. 

I know I promised to share my stories from my vacation and photos. They are coming soon~! I promise~!

I was able to get off work early today and wanted to treat myself to a really good lunch since I haven't had much an appetite lately. The problem was I didn't know where to go and I didn't have a craving for anything. I decided to go to Basan. It is a fairly new restaurant that opened up in Durham and it was about time they received a visit from me~!

So here is my review of Basan. 

It was my first visit here at Basan.  It was was a little difficult to find since its on the back side of Moes and Only Burger. You can park at The American Tobacco Campus and walk over to the restaurant. 

When you walk in the hostess stand is right in front and they have ample seating to accommodate groups as well. The restaurant has a nice clean interior with an open kitchen layout. You can see everything, all the action in the kitchen if you sit at the sushi bar. 

I asked the hostess if I could sit at the sushi bar. There was only one other person there and I felt that if I ordered sushi the service would be quicker. 

I took a seat at the sushi bar and waited for any of the servers or even the sushi chef to notice me and offer me a menu. It took about 3-4 minutes before no one came. I saw the hostess walking toward the kitchen window and asked her for a menu. I ordered the spicy pork belly donburi. It came with a miso soup and salad. The waitress asked if I wanted the house dressing but I asked for ginger. The salad that came out was not the usual iceberg, it had arugula. For those of you who know what it tastes like, you would know that it is strong and peppery in flavor. It didn't taste all that great with their version of ginger dressing. The dressing was very watery. The tomatoes on the salad looked as though they were sliced yesterday. Key rule for tomatoes is to slice them to order or right before shift. It was my first time trying a donburi. My first bite was not exciting because the visual of the pork and vegetables seemed very plain and minimal. I was pleasantly surprised after the second bite. It was pretty good. The pork belly reminded me of Korean Bo Ssam which is braised pork belly. The version that was in this donburi was super soft. If you like rich tasting food you will like this dish.  I could taste a lot of butter on the rice and vegetables which isn't a bad thing but also not the best thing. There wasn't enough meat to fat ratio in the bowl. I loved the vegetables that were cooked well and still had a bite to them. The pork belly doesn't look spicy but it does have a mild heat. The spice level is perfect for anyone who likes very mild heat. I would have liked for the dish to have been more spicy or reddish in color to for the menu to indicate that it is spicy. Overall, I would definitely order it again but I would ask for more heat. If you're a big eater, this may not be the best dish to choose because it is a small portion. Think small rice bowl with meat and veggies. If needed you may need to double the order. As for me since I have been on a "change in lifestyle" the portion was just right but it could have used a few more pieces of vegetables and meat. 

The service was not the best for being a half empty restaurant at lunch time. Maybe it's because I sat at the sushi bar. The waitress only came when she brought me my food and then when I was done eating, she refilled my water and asked if wanted dessert. The whole time I needed something I kept looking for the waitress or anyone else. Maybe it was an issue with being understaffed or not caring. The dessert menu had about 6-8 items. I would have liked to try the mango mousse cake but I had a prior engagement with Rose's Meat and Sweet Shop. :)

Well here is the photo of the "Spicy" Pork Belly Donburi. ( I was hungry so I mixed it all up before I took the picture. 

Photo taken by LifestyleofaFoodie. 

Spring Fever and a Sandwich in my Belly

Hi everyone~

How has everyone been?  I have been very busy with work and life as usual.  It's been very pleasant weather wise and sunny here in Durham. 

I must apologize for not being so active on my posts lately  but I have not forgotten about my bi-weekly reviews~!  I will try to get back on that task after June or so.  It's going to be pretty hectic for me for the next few months.  I've got family coming to visit the U.S. and lots of traveling to do. 

I'll keep you posted about my travels and delicious things I eat and see~ ^^

I was wondering if you have stopped by my Facebook page lately? http://facebook.com/LifestyleofaFoodieLOAF.  This is where I post most of my recent cooking adventures in a quick format.  I present my how-to recipes in a single frame photo with basic steps.  I started thinking about people wanting recipes for the food that I make.  I would like to eventually evolve into posting recipes with the food but there are thousands and thousands of recipes out there on the world wide web.  Everyone has different tastes and prefers different ingredients. My primary focus is to show you the basic steps so that you can make that dish your own.

If you love a variety of Korean and Asian cuisines, I am the one to follow.  :)

Follow and like my Facebook page.  Lifestyle of a Foodie Facebook

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Today feels like it's Saturday~! Well, it's actually Friday~

I've been getting some rest and relaxation by doing completely nothing until I got the sudden growl in my tummy. :)

I've been meaning to make a banh mi sandwich for sometime.  My very first experience was a lemongrass chicken banh mi that was so tender and Mmm Mmm~ delicious~!!

If you've read my previous post about the food truck rodeo, you'll see that there is a photo of the second banh mi that i've ever tried. 

It's a delicious sandwich filled with meat and pickled vegetables.

I love the taste of pungent fish sauce with the garlicky and sweet carrots and daikon.

I've noticed some banh mi's have pickled cucumber slices and I love that too~!!

Today's banh mi that I made was with the ingredients I had in my fridge and pantry.  I used a piece of ribeye steak, cilantro, Mu (Korean radish which is like daikon), carrots, fish sauce, sugar, minced garlic, vinegar, crushed red pepper, cucumbers, jalapeno, Hellmann's mayo, apple vinegar, honey wheat bread, soy sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I have to confess, my mom just went grocery shopping for dinner and also had some radish left over from making Kkak Du Ki (radish kimchi) so I just took some of her ingredients. :)

I went ahead by prepping the pickled vegetables first because they needed time to get tasty.  I used a mandoline and thinly shredded the carrots,cucumber and mu.  You can slice the vegetables any way you like as long as it's thin enough to become pickled quickly.  I made the marinade with the vinegar, fish sauce, water. sugar, garlic and crushed red pepper. The cucumber was pickled separately with salt, vinegar and a paste of the jalapeno, sugar and garlic.  I did not have any lime or lemon juice but the original recipes ask for it.  I put in a splash of the Korean apple vinegar in place of the rice vinegar for the carrots and mu pickles.  Lets just estimate it should sit for about 15-30 minutes depending on thickness. Next, I sliced some of the ribeye steak thinly on the bias and marinated it in a little bit of soy sauce, organic cane sugar, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I didn't let that sit too long, maybe about 5 minutes since the slices were thin.  I substituted fresh garlic for the garlic powder because I only wanted to use a little and the pickled vegetables already had enough garlic in them. I would have loved to add lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves to this marinade but I could only use what I had. :)

I sauteed the beef in a frying pan with no oil because the ribeye is generally a fatty cut of beef and I didn't want to add extra calories.  You can use a leaner cut of beef, pork or chicken breasts to make this dish  .  

The assembly: I toasted the two slices of honey wheat bread and put a thin layer of mayo on each side. I added a few slices of the cooked beef, topped it with the pickled cucumber, then the pickled carrots/mu and then some cilantro leaves and jalapeno slices.  I put the second slice of toast on top and sliced it in half. 

The ending result: A smile on my face and a party in my mouth~! :)

Hope you enjoy~ Let me know when you've made your own banh mi~

All photo credits:  LifestyleofaFoodie.

All photo credits:  LifestyleofaFoodie.