배 고프니 ? (Bae Go Pu Ni? / Are you hungry? )

I love Korean food and learned to cook a few dishes this weekend. My half-Korean classmate had a birthday party on Saturday. Her mother, who owns a Korean restaurant in Hong Kong, flew in and hosted a food-fest for us. I asked if I could get there early to learn how to make a few dishes. We ended up preparing Galbi-jjim (Short Rib Stew), Gimbap (Rice Wrapped in Seaweed), Japchae (Mixed Vegetables with Noodles), and Bulgogi (Barbecued Beef). I'm not going to post the recipes here unless there are any requests. Some comments though. For a short-rib stew, the Galbi-jjim was pretty clean. Fat was trimmed off and skimmed off the top. But the flavor was all there, and the ribs were nice and tender. Gimbap is made pretty much like Japanese rolls except for the ingredients. The rice has a bit of vinegar but no sugar. For flavor, hondashi, sesame oil, and sesame seeds are mixed into the rice. For filling, we used blanched spring onions, pickled radish, Bulgogi, scrambled egg, and hotdog. Although we learned to make Bulgogi, we didn't eat it by itself. We just used it in the Japchae and the Kimbap. I ate so much and ended up feeling like a 돼지 (dwaeji / pig). Next time, we'll learn to make Kimchi!