Gam Mee Ok

Bro being in hospital unexpectedly (another story at another time) led me to have to grab late night dinner with my mom and brother in new york.  It wasn't the weekend so we were worried there wouldn't be any good places open so late but never underestimate the koreans and their 24 hour joints :)

We went to this korean restaurant "gam mee ok" because we wanted to eat familiar foods especially after being all rattled up in a hospital for hours.  we judge korean restaurants harshly because we always say we can cook this and that better at home, but this place was actually really good!

The koreans love their kimchi, and everyone has their own way of making it and their own favorite flavor, but the kimchi for each table coming in its own urn and having it fermented to perfection (according to my taste buds) was very impressive.  Big jar of kimchi and even fermented radish that you slice up with scissors. yum :)

We ordered korean bbq but not cooking it at the table.  Cooked back in the kitchen over a bed of onions.  brought out to the table and cut for you into perfect bite size pieces for making... SSAM! (literally translated as wrap?)

Lettuce, rice (optional), meat, dwen-jang (soybean paste) or ssam-jang (mix of soybean paste and red pepper paste), raw garlic, other variety of veggies, all wrapped together and pop into your mouth! it's cute when significant others make one for each other and shove each others faces :D  it's usually funny because they want to put everything in it to make it taste really good but then it ends up being too big to actually eat without breaking their jaw..

gam mee ok is known for their sul-lung-tang, a traditional korean soup made from simmering ox-bones with noodles and rice.  usually seasoned with salt, pepper, scallions available at the table.  very good hangover/after drinking meal :)

Bibim naeng-myun is the spicy version of the regular naeng-myun which is a cold noodle soup made of buckwheat noodles served in broth.  we got the spicy, no broth version which is the bibim naeng-myun.  Spicy, cold, refreshing.  

Ended the meal with the complimentary green tea ice cream. DELICIOUS!! i usually enjoy green tea ice cream but most places make it too sweet and you lose the green tea flavor.  the ice cream i had here was amazing! people may think im weird but i loved this green tea ice cream because it wasn't sweet, it was bitter. so bitter and tasted exactly like green tea should taste.  it even came with little pieces of mochi! 

now i want some green tea ice cream with all this nice weather outside... :(

This kangaroo is hopping a 5K.

So i have decided today that I will be running a 5K in 2.5 months in boston. I saw a friend's link on facebook to this event called "Color Run" which is a 5K run where people throw different colors at you at every kilometer you get to.  Link: http://thecolorrun.com/

I was never a runner, but with the 2012 resolution to be healthier and fitter, this seemed like the perfect and fun transition into the healthy lifestyle. The ColorRun isn't a serious 5K race because it's not timed, but since i'll be running with some friends who are runners, i would like to be able to keep up! So training for the next 2 months! 3.1 miles? pshhh let's go! maybe i'll even eventually run half-marathons and marathons one day :)

Homemade

Random post. pictures of food that can easily be made at home.

Pesto Egg White & Pastrami on Multigrain Ciabatta

scramble some egg whites (i already mentioned that i don't like yolks in my previous post) and right before they're done, add a dollop of pesto (storebought or homemade) and cook throughout.  layer on pastrami or any deli meat.. scrambled pesto eggs and sharp provolone.  I have a panini grill so i pressed my sandwich for a few minutes to melt the cheese.  i only put one slice of pastrami in my sandwhich which is why the pastrami layer may looks a little lame in this pic. sandwich still tasted awesome! :)

DDukbokki

with a side of fried homemade dumplings

Pretty easy to make.  Dissolve some red pepper paste into some water and heat up in a deep pan.  Add some sugar if you like.  Once boiling, add the rice cakes (we used slices this time but more often seen with the tubular rice cakes).  Just before the rice cakes and fully cooked through, add in your vegetables (onions scallions shredded cabbage etc) and tempura (aka fish cake) and just let it all bubble together merrily until the rice cakes are a nice chewy texture with no bite in the middle.  I love dipping eggs and dumplings in the sauce  :D yummmm! ddukbokki is goes very nicely with a simple soup (miso soup, udon soup, beef broth) to balance out the spicy.

Eggplant Parmesan

Take an eggplant and slice into discs and cover with flour.

Egg wash and bread crumbs (mine seasoned with a garlic & herb seasoning)

Pan fry (or deep fry) until a nice crust is formed.

To get rid of my hardening ciabatta rolls, i made an eggplant parm sandwich :)

Enjoy the pictures!

New Haven Food Trucks

I love foods from food trucks. So simple yet so delicious! I'm lucky to have a food truck pow-wow so close that I could drive over when I can't decide that kind of food I want to eat.  I didn't take too many pictures this time because I was too hungry and just went straight for the Vietnamese food cart.

Yes they have pho there, and from what my friend tells me, it's pretty good! I'll have to get it next time because there are no decent pho restaurants in the area.  My co-worker got the pho with steak.  It comes in a large plastic soup container and it a decent amount of food.

I got the grilled chicken vermicelli.  A bed of lettuce and veggies, rice noodles, grilled chicken, peanuts, and doused with fish sauce.  I had mentioned in my last post that I don't like fish that smell fishy.  And fish sauce is the fishiest you can get. But for some reason, i LOVE fish sauce! call me a hypocrite but oh well. fish sauce is the one exception to my rule.

the one picture i took of the alleyway of food trucks in front of yale hospital.  I should have taken advantage of this more often when i volunteered there. blegh.  missed opportunity.

There are probably more than 30-40 different food carts (i guess i wouldn't really call them trucks.. eh same diff.)  You could probably go around the world with the ethnic foods available walking through this alley.  Definitely coming back again.  Maybe ill try the "ethiopian/italian" cart :D