2010-06-09 15:31
“After all, mother’s breakfast is the best”[Star cooking]
I opened my eyes much later than usual, but, I want to stay more time in bed. I feel hungry, but don’t have an appetite. When I have such a saggy day after work at late at night, I really want someone to forcefully wake me up and set a fresh ‘table’ with a delicate flavor spreading the entire room. I giggled about my useless imagination in bed. After all, it is the same result as usual. “I’m going to eat out today.”
I have a few dishes which I’m good at making, but I’m so used to eat out, so I often lose my appetite. No matter how good the quality of the restaurant is, it can’t be compared with those of the table which was filled with the love of families. Expectations of the fine dining and joyful surprise of the special taste have their own merit. But I think that the simple and humble house dishes might be the foundation of my energy like simple daily life has a big meaning. Most of my life should have been filled with simple dishes at home.
I hadn’t realized it when I was young. I only concentrated on my favorite dishes, and I wasn’t interested in how the food was made before it came to the table, and how the person went through to make it. Suddenly a yearning which has been long forgotten rushed in.
No matter how hard it was, and how difficult it was, usual worries and concerns disappeared like smog when we sit around the table with fresh foods. It gave us strength. When we covered our whole body with the blanket to express our anger, we were hearing, “Eat first, and go to sleep.” That was the love of mother telling us not to skip the meal. I remember that there was a mysterious power in the food.
“The power of food is the best.” I wasn’t even happy to hear that, because it sounded like only eating is the center of our lives, nothing else. But now I’ve been living alone more than ten years, I agreed with it. Shik Goo (食口), eat together; it is another name for family.
I left my house in my twenties, but i wanted my parents to live more comfortably. But I think I wasn't a good son because I couldn't give them little, simple bits of joy. So these days, I ask them for favors here and there every once in a while.
So now I make complaints about how I didn't get opportunities to do a lot, and my parents deliberately punish me and yell at me for saying these like that. Thankfully, it seems like my parents like that we now exchange banter and love.
Bae Yong Joon Personally Reveals Two Traditional Cuisine Recipes[Cucumber Kimchi Learned from Mother]
Preparation Ingredients
10 Cucumbers, dash of salt, Seasoning (1 Tbsp diced garlic, 200g of chives, 100g each of “short” green onions and onion, 4 Tbsp Korean chili pepper, 2 Tbsp anchovy paste, 1 ½ Tbsp sugar, dash of salt).
Directions
1. Clean cucumbers in running water, cut both ends, cut each in half, then in the middle of each half cut a “cross” slit so that there is a opening in the middle with both ends in tact to put in the seasoning in the opening.
2. In a large bowl, put all the cut cucumbers in and add 2 Tbsp of salt sprinkled on top and let it ferment for 2 hours and then rinse them off and drain in a colander.
3. Cut the chives, “short” onions and onions in 1cm dices, then put the Seasoning on top and mix well.
4. Put appropriate amounts of the seasoning in each of the cucumbers, then put it in a jar outside for a day to let it continue the fermenting process. Then after the fermenting, put it in the fridge to eat it cold.
[My own kimchi Pancake]
Preparation Ingredients
Kimchi, 1 Cup each of the “sauce” in the kimchi and flour, 1 squid, 1 onion, 1 egg, ¼ cup of water, 1 tsp of soy sauce, 1/3 tsbp of salt, a little canola oil.
Directions
1. Clean off excess on the kimchi and cut them in 0.5cm dices.
2. Cut off the head of the squid and take off the skin, then cut in 0.2cm x 0.3cm dices, cut off the suction heads and then dice the legs in 0.5cm lengths.
3. Clean the peeled onion, drain and cut in a fine dice.
4. In a bowl, add everything you just prepared, egg, flour, water, and “sauce” of kimchi with the salt, soy sauce and make the appropriate seasoning to your taste.
5. In a heated pan, drizzle in the oil and put in spoonfuls of the ④ mixture and cook in medium heat until crispy and golden brown.
Bae Yong Joon’s ‘Journey to discover the beauty of Korea’..Humble traveler, Bae Yong Joon wrote about the various cultural and scenery of Korea including the masters of every field, traditional culture, and areas which provide lots of attraction with his warm smile. Actor Bae Yong Joon described the atmosphere of Korea delicately with his tender hearted feelings and it is the characteristics of this book.
Bae Yong Joon introduces the oldies, which are easily forgettable and left behind, and traditions, which look unfamiliar and old because they aren’t modern, profoundly and deeply.
Writing and pictures were extracted from Bae Yong Joon’s ‘Journey to discover the beauty of Korea’
Authorized by the Seedpaper publishing company 02-3446-1512
Edited by Park Mi Hyeon, ‘Editor of The Woman DongA aammy1@naver.com’http://news.donga.com/3/all/20100609/28976708/2
