Return to the Mothership

Our first sunrise in Asia, as seen from the plane as we passed over Alaska

My wife and I have made our first return to Korea in over 2 years. It is now the third day of our trip and already we have met several family members, eaten several memorable meals, and seen a lot of unique sites. There is so much to share, so its my hope to update this blog at least every couple of days. In the meantime, please check out my flickrstream which I will updating regularly.

For now here are some of the early sites we've seen so far...

Friday night crowd in MyeongDong, Seoul's fashion and general night life mecca.

Smiles all around in MyeongDong. Generally Koreans don't have a reputation for being the most lighthearted people, but I think these sorts of scenes prove otherwise

CheongGyeCheon

Victory!!!

YES WE CAN!

Gahm Mi Oak

Seol Long Tang

With longer nights, falling temperatures and the impending end of the global financial system, times have never been more appropriate for some good ol' comfort food to soothe the soul. In my case whenever I'm feeling particularly down either spiritually and/or physically I invariably turn to my gastronomic roots, and seek some good Korean food.

Among my favorite cold weather Korean comfort foods is the classic soup Sul Long Tang, and perhaps no place in the city does it better than Gahm Mi Oak in Midtown. While Gahm Mi Oak offers a handful of other dishes as well, most everyone comes for the sublime milky broth that is at the heart of Sul Long Tang. The broth is derived from the slow boiling of ox bones over the course a day. Once the broth is done, rice, somyun noodles, and slices of beef are also added. To add the final touch, each table in Gahm Mi Oak also has bowls of roasted sea salt (add sparingly), black pepper and green onions for garnish.

Of course as in nearly every Korean experience, the meal is never truly complete without the addition of kimchi, and here is another area in which Gahm Mi Oak excels. As a counterpoint to the soup, the kimchi served here is of a slightly more aged and more pungently fermented than the kind you would typically be served. To indulge in this pairing of old stinky kimchi with simple beef broth is an truly an epiphany of the Korean gastronomic experience. Thus upon making your order, your server will return to you with a large bowl of KkakDuKi (Daikon KimChi) and BaeChu KimChi (Napa), and then ceremonially cut it into more manageable pieces.

As mentioned earlier Gahm Mi Oak has a handful other menu items, and a quick visual survey of fellow diners, will reveal that the handful of other menu items (SoonDae Sausage, BoSsam, and the ever present BiBimBap, which my aunt swears by) also sell quite well. For myself and my wife a bowl of Seol Long Tang and a good helping of KimChi are more than enough, but knowing that the BinDaeDuk (Mung Bean Pancakes) here are wonderful (think Korean latkes, but made with mung beans, and filled with veggies), I had to order some as well.

A serving of Seol Long Tang makes a great hearty meal and at $8.50 a pop (24/7), a great value as well. As the weather gets colder, and world seems to become ever gloomier, order some soup, and soothe your Seoul ;)

BinDaeDuk

Gahm Mi Oak
43 W. 32nd St.
New York, NY 10001
212-695-4113

HanBat

GobDol BiBimBap

With commodity prices continuing to soar, finding a healthy and affordable meal in Midtown has gone from slight challenge to near impossibility. However for those who are fortunate enough to have easy access to Koreatown, and are willing to spend around $8-12 for lunch, can choose from among at least a dozen different delicious and fairly authentic Korean establishments.

Now as most American are still relatively unfamiliar with Korean cuisine, I find that many Korean-American restaurants, are really nothing more than Korean diners. That is to say just as the prototypical American diner has its encyclopedic menu with "served 24/7," breakfast menu, BLTs and chicken fried streak, etc. Probably 95% of the Korean joints in the US have similarly thick and generic menus, with the standards of BiBimBap, BBQ meats, amongst a hundred other variations of stuff with veggie, protein, and loads of red pepper derivatives. Yet despite this seemingly cookie cutter nature, there are places that distinguish themselves through the care with which they prepare and serve their food. HanBat among my personal favorites in K-town, is one such place.

HanBat executes standard Korean fare with a consistency sometimes lacking in some of its neighbors a few blocks south on 32nd St. Little details such as regularly rotating panchan (which btw are side dishes, not appetizers!) make each meal unique.

HanBat's PanChan

On a recent visit, my wife and I stuck with the standards, and ordered the GobDol BiBimBap and KimChi ChiGae. Both were just what we were looking for in the severely hungover state in which we were in. Again the little touches showed through, as my BiBimBap was served along with a large (complimentary) serving of SolLongTang, which is a wonderfully slow cooked beef/marrow broth and noodles. While the BiBimBap itself was composed of a wonderful assortment of various veggies, which were really just a hodgepodge of other forms of panchan. Meanwhile my wife's KimChi ChiGae (KimChi and Slice Pork Soup) had a soul full homeyness that would make any Korean mother proud.

To be sure there are places in the city, even K-Town that excel at their house specialties, like GahmMiOak for their SolLongTang, or say BonChon or Baden Baden for their Chicken, but for the best overall "Korean Diner," experience, HanBat is hard to beat.

KimChi ChiGae

As HanBat is open 24/7, anytime is a good time to go, however as the lunch specials are very reasonable, lunch is probably the best time.

HanBat
53 W. 35th St., New York, NY 10001
(near 6th Ave)
212-629-5588

Blueberry Pancakes

With Blueberries in season, and readily available across the city's GreenMarkets. Pancakes have also come back in to season in our kitchen. Not having made pancakes in a while we referred to this Mark Bittman video on the NYTimes website. Basically the recipe is super simple just remember the rule of 1's. As in:

1 cup flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1 one cup milk

To the mix we added some farm fresh berries and crushed walnuts for some extra crunch. Also the milk we used was Whole Milk from Ronnybrook Farm Dairy.

Simple and delicous!

Pasta With Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula

My wife and I saw this wonderfully easy and delicious pasta sauce in the health section of the New York Times, and just had to try it. With fresh arugula and tomatoes from the Union Square Greenmaket already on hand, we only needed to go our local Salumeria to pick up some ricotta salata.

It is also nice that this "sauce" is also no-cook, as anything to reduce the heat in our apartment these days is much appreciated. As tomatoes are now very much in season, this recipe offers a great and simple way to enjoy them.

Summer Greenmarket Goodness

Chung Po Mook

A perfect summer side dish (PanChan) as it requires no heat, Korean Mung Bean Jelly (aka NokDuMook), is very similar in flavor and texture the other perhaps better known jellies (mook) derived from chestnuts and acorns. While these "mooks" are relatively tasteless, they have a pleasant feel on the tongue and go well with certain flavor combinations, in particular soy sauce.

For the Chung Po Mook above, my wife bought a cube of mook which was roughly the size in which tofu is also usually sold. She then sliced the cube into smaller rectangles, which she then dressed with soy sauce mixed with sesame oil, rice vinegar, red pepper powder, black pepper, sugar, sesame seeds, and green onions.

Welcome SeoJun!

This past Friday, July 18, 2008 at 11:30PM EDT, saw the arrival of the newest member of the Yun clan. The little dude came in to the world weighing 4lbs, 15oz (2245g) and at a height of 17.5 inches.

Winters Gone

And he's gone...

Tomato Pesto

Saw this recipe for Tomato Pesto on Serious Eats earlier this year, and we've been making it regularly since. As its super easy to make and quite tasty, I highly recommend you give it a try.

Recipe: Pasta with Tomato Pesto

Ingredients
1/4 cup (one 6-ounce can) tomato paste, preferably organic
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon pine nuts
1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons tomato juice
2 plump garlic cloves, trimmed, peeled, and roughly chopped
1 pound dried mostaccioli, penne, or rigatoni
Freshly grated pecorino Romano

Procedure
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

2. Combine the tomato paste, olive oil, pine nuts, salt, cayenne, tomato juice, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Run the motor until you have a smooth purée. Set aside at room temperature while you cook the pasta. (You can cover and refrigerate the pesto, but be sure to bring it to room temperature before boiling the pasta.)

3. Generously salt boiling water; drop in dried pasta. Cook, according to package instructions, until al dente. Drain, reserving about 1/2 cup of pasta water. Transfer pasta to a serving bowl. Add enough of the pesto to coat noodles generously. Add a little pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if pesto seems too thick. Sprinkle with Romano, and pass more cheese and any remaining pesto at the table.

Tomato Paella

Upon reading about this recipe on Mark Bittman's "Minimalist" column in the NYTimes (See video here), HyeRyung and I both agreed it was something we had to try. However the lack of an oven-safe saucepan, late summer heat without A/C in the kitchen, crappy neighborhood tomatoes, and no saffron, our attempt at homemade Paella had to wait. Yet despite the passing of several weeks, we kept this dish in our hearts, and finally this weekend, we were able to get everything together.

Before locally grown fresh tomatoes go out of season, I highly recommend you give this recipe a try. It is easy to make and absolutely delicious!

Recipe: Paella With Tomatoes

Time: 30 minutes

3 1/2 cups stock or water
1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into thick wedges
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Large pinch saffron threads (optional)
2 teaspoons Spanish pimentón (smoked paprika), or other paprika
2 cups Spanish or other short-grain rice
Minced parsley for garnish.

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Warm stock or water in a saucepan. Put tomatoes in a medium bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle them with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Toss to coat.

2. Put remaining oil in a 10- or 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, saffron if you are using it, and paprika and cook for a minute more. Add rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is shiny, another minute or two. Add liquid and stir until just combined.

3. Put tomato wedges on top of rice and drizzle with juices that accumulated in bottom of bowl. Put pan in oven and roast, undisturbed, for 15 minutes. Check to see if rice is dry and just tender. If not, return pan to oven for another 5 minutes. If rice looks too dry but still is not quite done, add a small amount of stock or water (or wine). When rice is ready, turn off oven and let pan sit for 5 to 15 minutes.

4. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle with parsley. If you like, put pan over high heat for a few minutes to develop a bit of a bottom crust before serving.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Anthony Bourdain Gives Props to Astoria!

I can never say enough to promote our hood -- Astoria and the entire QBoro, but there's nothing like a little external validation ;) I'm also particularly happy that he choose the Kabab Cafe as Astoria's showcase; I can think of no better person than Ali El Sayed to represent us.

"I am insanely jealous of people who live in this neighborhood now..."
Anthony Bourdain

Happy 231st America!

After having neglected the blog once again (I have a few half done posts in my draft box, I swear!) -- I am finally back with some pics from last nights fireworks display . This year HyeRyung and I decided to try our luck viewing the fireworks from the Manhattan side of the East River (last year I saw them from Long Island City in Queens).

Our goal was to make it all the up to the river somewhere on FDR Drive where traffic was closed and the road opened for public viewing. We nearly made it early this year, however we made it to about 1st Ave and 23rd St by the time the first volley of shells were launched. It was quite a scene to be in the midst of the excited crowd -- as people of all ages, etc began to hurriedly rush as we all heard the first BOOMs. HyeRyung and decided to setup camp just short of FDR, and we were lucky to have caught most of the show as well as find a nice spot where I was able to setup my tripod and capture a few nice shots -- including...

For more please visit my July 4th 2007 Flickr Set!

"All Over You Like Egg on a Bowl of BiBimBap.."

In another sign of the Mothership's increasing influence on global pop culture -- Stephen Colbert throws down in a battle against Korean pop icon Rain.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Rain Dance-Off
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

Red Rope Screening

If you're around NYC, and have some time tomorrow evening , please come by the "Red Rope Screening," at the Tribeca Cinemas. You'll have a chance to see some great films, and show your support for some great artists. Per the Tribeca Cinemas website:

The Red Rope Screening will assemble more than 200 leading filmmakers, producers, musicians, artists, designers, and local celebrities, to celebrate highly acclaimed yet still relatively unknown films and offer ideal networking opportunities.

According the press release by Red Rope Productions, the screening will feature:
2007 "A Nick In Time," by Be Garrett; Sundance/Tribeca/Cannes selection
2007 "First," by DB Woodside/Nick Sivakumaran; in festival circulation
2007 "Spread The Love," by Matt Lilly a.k.a NewguY
2005 "No Menus Please," by Edward Shieh; 20+ international selections
2000 "Mutual Love Life," by Robert Peters; Oscar finalist
2006 "Our Time is Up," by Rob Pearlstein; Oscar nominated

Followed by our networking after-party with DJ Tabu and Stretch Armstrong.

Adidas will also showcase short student-filmmaker documentaries about New York graffiti art for their "End to End" sneaker collection designed by internationally reknown graffiti artists (www.endtoendproject.com).

Two FREE screenings by RSVP ONLY @ 7:30pm @ 9:00pm
Limited seating available.
10pm After-Party.

Wednesday, May 16th, 2007
Tribeca Cinemas, 54 Varick
(and Canal Street)

2/3's of Chai, Matt & Phil

Most exciting for my peoples representing Pittsburgh , is that our friend and filmmaker Matt Lily will be having his film "Spread The Love: A Day In The Life Of Allen Valentine, Freelance Entertainer," screened at this event. And as if having one former yinzer represent on the silver screen wasn't enough -- the soundtrack to the film also includes the song "PB & J" (click for clip) by our boys ChaiBaba, who will also be coming through the city to come see the movie.

For some earlier Matt Lily & ChaiBaba collaboration check out Matt's video from ChaiBaba's Slow Brewed CD release party shown in the YouTube video below.

If you can go, please remember to RSVP for the movie at Red Rope. And Spread the word!!!

Der mensch trakht ur got lahkht

Need to keep the blog chuggin' along -- so just posting some photos that I just uploaded to a new set on Flickr (click LES, to see the whole set). These were taken just yesterday afternoon, on a trip HyeRyung and I took down to our friend's Matt and Mara, who live in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. As we live in Queens, and work in Midtown or sometimes further downtown, it isn't often we get to hang out in this part of town. Also Matt and Mara have access to a roof which has some of the most incredible views of the city I have ever seen. Next time I'll be sure to take my camera over at night, but until then, check these photos out.

HyeRyung & Mara checking out the view

Midtown

The last holdouts in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood

Here comes progress!

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce

Marinara Sauce inspired by Lidia Bastianich's Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen as adopted by Serious Eats

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 8 garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 pounds ripe fresh plum tomatoes, peeled and seeded, or one 35 ounce can Italian plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano), seeded and lightly crushed, with their liquid
• Salt
• Crushed red pepper
• 10 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

Procedure

1. Heat the oil in a 2- to 3-quart nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Whack the garlic with the flat side of a knife, add it to the oil, and cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes.

2. Carefully slide tomatoes and their liquid into the oil. Bring to a boil, and season lightly with salt and crushed red pepper. Lower the heat so sauce is at a lively simmer, and cook, breaking up tomatoes with a whisk or spoon, until sauce is chunky and thick, about 20 minutes.

3. Stir in the basil about 5 minutes before sauce is finished. Taste sauce, and season with salt and red pepper if necessary.

Steamed Acorn Squash with Cashew Nut Dressing

HyeRyung found this simple dish in a Korean Vegan cookbook she recently picked up online (송학운 김옥경 부부,의 자연식 밥상, Song Hak Uhn and Kim Ok Kyung's Natural Dinner Table)

The squash are simply chopped and steamed for about 20 minutes or until fork tender. The Cashew Nut Sauce(the book actually calls it Mayonnaise) contains the following:

- One Lemon
- 60g Cashew Nuts
- 25g Onions
- 4Tbspns Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 5Tbspns Honey
- 1tspn Sea Salt
- 1/2tspn Minced Garlic

Once you've assembled the ingredients, just throw them into a food processor and blend until smooth. As with anything, follow your instincts and make any adjustments to the ingredients accordingly.

Resistance is futile...

Edited from a piece originally written in response to the article "Killer Reflection," on Salon.com.

While we continue to search for explanations for the inexplicable acts of Seung-Hui Cho, one thing should be kept in mind. This was the work of an individual who felt obviously felt no connection to any sort of community. From the evidence we have been presented with it seems clear that Cho was completely alienated from his classmates, friends, and family -- Asian, American, or whatever other imaginary construct we would like to assign to him. This being the case, I do not think it is particularly relevant that the accused is of Asian extraction.

I too felt fear that this incident would fuel the flames of the latent hatred and discrimination against Asians in America, however so far I believe the mainstream media has been relatively restrained in this case. Of course the right-wing blogosphere has given us its usual dose of venom, but this is no different than what you would usually find on such sites. What I do find equally abhorrent is the reaction amongst many in the Asian media (especially the Korean Language based media), which I think has been too quick to react to a backlash that has yet to manifest itself. I am not even sure that I know what the Asian community is, and it sure is news to me that we have ever been members of a united community of common values and ideas.

Many news outlets have reported that the Korean-American community feels partly responsible for the actions of Mr. Cho. Well my wife and I also members of the Korean community in New York and while we are certainly loathe to acknowledge that a fellow “Korean,” might be capable of such unspeakable violence, we certainly don’t feel any more responsible than any other member of American society. Even if the peculiarities of the “Korean-American” experience might have contributed to Mr. Cho’s psychosis, many other people including those who fit in the vanilla mold of “Typical Suburban White American Male” certainly have their own issues, and the vast majority has not committed acts of mass murder.

In other words, I feel as though we (whatever that means), in the Asian-American community are simply using Mr. Cho’s acts as an opportunity to air whatever misgivings about we might have about American society, and the minority experience. This has happened to such an extent that many have lost sight of the immediate tragedy.

This is not say that there are not valid issues that need to be addressed; but, perhaps what is most disturbing to so many of us, is that despite all of the indignities that we may have faced as the result of discrimination, we too are just like everyone else, we too are just regular Americans. Seung-hui Cho has done what so many of us have asked for so long. He has shattered the mythology of the model minority. We have been assimilated.

Spring Finally Comes to New York

After enduring an April that has been largely wet and unseasonably cold, it seemed as though spring would never come. Interestingly enough on 4/20, the weather finally began to turn around and by today (Earth Day) it seems as though the planet has finally awoke. It was almost as if the all inhabitants of the city, floral and faunal had suddenly burst forth from their dormancy. Crowds of people filled the streets, parks, bars, restaurants, and whatever other public place would accommodate them. Daffodils,plum, and cherry trees have begun to bless us with their blossoms. Such a time truly enlivens the spirit, and inspires us to live.