I Came, I Cooked, I Ate
So a couple of weeks ago my face started getting a lot worse, so I finally found a doctor nearby. She said that I have Rosacea and gave me a gel, but said that she'll prescribe oral antibiotics if my symptoms don't improve. I think it's all the Korean and spicy foods I had that worsen the symptoms :(
I'm thinking about visiting a Chinese herbalist after my next doctor visit, they seem to be good at improving or even curing chronic non-urgent illnesses. Mom mentioned that Alex's asthma went away completely after he visited one that my aunt recommended when he was young, so maybe I'll go see the same guy :) I've also switched my face care to a trial set of Dr. Weil for Origins since I had pretty good results with that face mask. I definitely feel better, but I doubt I would like to go out without makeup at this point. I've also started eating yogurt occasionally even though I usually don't like the stuff, but I could use the calcium as well as the other benefits of yogurt.
So I'm sure you guys would love to see what I've been eating... if not, oh well :D
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I've posted the link to Maangchi's site in my last entry, but I'm not sure if I've conveyed just exactly how much I appreciate having the recipes and video handy and being able to make my own Korean foodstuff, especially since I found that Korean supermarket and it kicks all kinds of ass :D I made a special trip out there after my grill from amazon arrived for more of their banchans and marinated meats. We had this huge Korean BBQ dinner with lots of beef and pork as well as veggies like enoki mushroom, zucchini, and napa cabbage. We were so stuffed silly :D The meats were a bit strong in flavor and we didn't have any rice, but it was great with the grilled cabbage.
I'm definitely going to make more Korean food at home now, although I'll still use bottled marinates for my BBQ meats. Thanks Maangchi!
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Hot and spicy rice cake. I tossed in some zucchini, octopus, and leftover marinated beef. Next time I'll put a bit less water in, but it was definitely tasty!
**********
Potato with soy sauce. Now every time I see Jorim in game I think of Korean food :) That's a double batch in the picture, which I won't do next time since Odi ended up with that stuff in his lunchbox for days. I tossed in some carrots since I felt bad about my lack of veggies that night, and I'm trying to use up the black sesame seeds I have in the fridge. I also made some spinach a few days before that, but I forgot to take a picture and we ate it all.
I used mom's recipe for this Asian-inspired baby back ribs, all measurements are estimates:
rack of ribs, I cut it in half for easy processing
rice wine, 2 tbsp
dark soy sauce (for color), 2 tbsp
five spice powder 1 tsp or to taste
fish sauce, 4 tbsp (if you like the stuff, replace some with regular soy sauce if you don't)
sugar, 4 tbsp
a bit of water, salt, and pepper
Marinate overnight, or toss into freezer for later. Heat your convection oven to 375F and put the (defrosted) ribs on a pan with convex side up. Sprinkle on more five spice powder to taste, bake for 30 minutes. Flip and bake for another 15 minutes or until done, then sprinkle on more salt if needed while it's still hot (yes, that means have a taste!)
Other things you can put into the marinate that still tastes good:
red pepper powder or sriracha
garlic, fresh or powder
fruit juice to replace water and some sugar
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Rice cake soup. Doesn't it look like egg drop soup? It tastes kinda like it too.
Rice cake soup, gamja jorim, kimchi from Hankook supermarket, and sautéed mushroom with soy sauce. Odi and I loved the toasted nori in the soup
**********
Spicy fermented cabbage stewThis one was definitely milder than the last attempt, and this could definitely be a stand-alone soup instead of something that you have to eat with rice. I'm not sure if I followed the recipe correctly last time, plus I used fresher kimchi this time that has only been in my fridge weeks instead of months. It's definitely tasty :) I'm not sure if it's psychological, but I'm definitely itching a bit today after eating this :(
**********
This was pretty good, but I think I'll stick with real cinnamon buns next time or use real milk instead of reconstituted.
**********
Dim Sum. The perfect foodstuff when I need to feel more Chinese :)
**********
We were doing a supermarket run this past weekend, and we first went to Whole Foods for lunch and groceries, then we stopped by the mall for that face stuff and some chocolate. (On that note, Godiva's new chocolates with the "mousse" inside are pretty good, but I'm not buying any more until I get a gift card from Costco.) We also stopped by Mitsuwa because you all know how much I love my Japanese foodstuff :) We then decided last minute that we'll try our luck with getting a table at Tanto, but when we arrived at the San Jose location near Mitsuwa we were half an hour early. We then decided to drive over to the Sunnyvale location that's right across from Hankook, and after dinner I went to get some of their (never frozen) kalbi which happened to be on sale \o/ That place is way too dangerous with all the good foods, and every time I go there I buy sliced pork belly. I used to dislike fatty pork and still don't like it without some meat on it, but I've been eating too much of this stuff both grilled and in Korean stews and soups. It doesn't help that I had pork belly for dinner too:
I like their yaki onigiri, although I'd probably prefer them with more mentaiko :)
**********
I made chocolate and peanut butter bars for dessert tonight, and I'd like to apologize to Deb... I only had organic brown rice crisps, peanut butter, and sugar at home :( I did use the milk chocolate chips that Orba got me from Hotel Chocolat and a semisweet bar of Schaffen Berger :) I'll eat it in celebration of Iowa's ruling on gay marriage :)
I'm thinking about visiting a Chinese herbalist after my next doctor visit, they seem to be good at improving or even curing chronic non-urgent illnesses. Mom mentioned that Alex's asthma went away completely after he visited one that my aunt recommended when he was young, so maybe I'll go see the same guy :) I've also switched my face care to a trial set of Dr. Weil for Origins since I had pretty good results with that face mask. I definitely feel better, but I doubt I would like to go out without makeup at this point. I've also started eating yogurt occasionally even though I usually don't like the stuff, but I could use the calcium as well as the other benefits of yogurt.
So I'm sure you guys would love to see what I've been eating... if not, oh well :D
**********
I've posted the link to Maangchi's site in my last entry, but I'm not sure if I've conveyed just exactly how much I appreciate having the recipes and video handy and being able to make my own Korean foodstuff, especially since I found that Korean supermarket and it kicks all kinds of ass :D I made a special trip out there after my grill from amazon arrived for more of their banchans and marinated meats. We had this huge Korean BBQ dinner with lots of beef and pork as well as veggies like enoki mushroom, zucchini, and napa cabbage. We were so stuffed silly :D The meats were a bit strong in flavor and we didn't have any rice, but it was great with the grilled cabbage.
I'm definitely going to make more Korean food at home now, although I'll still use bottled marinates for my BBQ meats. Thanks Maangchi!
**********
Hot and spicy rice cake. I tossed in some zucchini, octopus, and leftover marinated beef. Next time I'll put a bit less water in, but it was definitely tasty!
**********
Potato with soy sauce. Now every time I see Jorim in game I think of Korean food :) That's a double batch in the picture, which I won't do next time since Odi ended up with that stuff in his lunchbox for days. I tossed in some carrots since I felt bad about my lack of veggies that night, and I'm trying to use up the black sesame seeds I have in the fridge. I also made some spinach a few days before that, but I forgot to take a picture and we ate it all.
I used mom's recipe for this Asian-inspired baby back ribs, all measurements are estimates:
rack of ribs, I cut it in half for easy processing
rice wine, 2 tbsp
dark soy sauce (for color), 2 tbsp
five spice powder 1 tsp or to taste
fish sauce, 4 tbsp (if you like the stuff, replace some with regular soy sauce if you don't)
sugar, 4 tbsp
a bit of water, salt, and pepper
Marinate overnight, or toss into freezer for later. Heat your convection oven to 375F and put the (defrosted) ribs on a pan with convex side up. Sprinkle on more five spice powder to taste, bake for 30 minutes. Flip and bake for another 15 minutes or until done, then sprinkle on more salt if needed while it's still hot (yes, that means have a taste!)
Other things you can put into the marinate that still tastes good:
red pepper powder or sriracha
garlic, fresh or powder
fruit juice to replace water and some sugar
**********
Rice cake soup. Doesn't it look like egg drop soup? It tastes kinda like it too.
Rice cake soup, gamja jorim, kimchi from Hankook supermarket, and sautéed mushroom with soy sauce. Odi and I loved the toasted nori in the soup
**********
Spicy fermented cabbage stewThis one was definitely milder than the last attempt, and this could definitely be a stand-alone soup instead of something that you have to eat with rice. I'm not sure if I followed the recipe correctly last time, plus I used fresher kimchi this time that has only been in my fridge weeks instead of months. It's definitely tasty :) I'm not sure if it's psychological, but I'm definitely itching a bit today after eating this :(
**********
This was pretty good, but I think I'll stick with real cinnamon buns next time or use real milk instead of reconstituted.
**********
Dim Sum. The perfect foodstuff when I need to feel more Chinese :)
**********
We were doing a supermarket run this past weekend, and we first went to Whole Foods for lunch and groceries, then we stopped by the mall for that face stuff and some chocolate. (On that note, Godiva's new chocolates with the "mousse" inside are pretty good, but I'm not buying any more until I get a gift card from Costco.) We also stopped by Mitsuwa because you all know how much I love my Japanese foodstuff :) We then decided last minute that we'll try our luck with getting a table at Tanto, but when we arrived at the San Jose location near Mitsuwa we were half an hour early. We then decided to drive over to the Sunnyvale location that's right across from Hankook, and after dinner I went to get some of their (never frozen) kalbi which happened to be on sale \o/ That place is way too dangerous with all the good foods, and every time I go there I buy sliced pork belly. I used to dislike fatty pork and still don't like it without some meat on it, but I've been eating too much of this stuff both grilled and in Korean stews and soups. It doesn't help that I had pork belly for dinner too:
I like their yaki onigiri, although I'd probably prefer them with more mentaiko :)
**********
I made chocolate and peanut butter bars for dessert tonight, and I'd like to apologize to Deb... I only had organic brown rice crisps, peanut butter, and sugar at home :( I did use the milk chocolate chips that Orba got me from Hotel Chocolat and a semisweet bar of Schaffen Berger :) I'll eat it in celebration of Iowa's ruling on gay marriage :)