The Girls in Hanbok Dresses

My uncle bought Soso a beautiful hanbok last year when we were in Korea.  We also received one for Peanut from her foster mom. I’ve been meaning to take professional photos with the girls dressed up since last year.  I finally got them done over the Memorial Day weekend.

Hanbok is the traditional Korean dress worn before Western clothes became popular in Korea.  Hanbok consists of jeogori, a blouse/jacket like top and chima, a long full skirt for the women and baji, baggy pants for the men.  There have been some changes and variations over the years, but the essence remains the same.

Hanboks, especially for the upper class are very colorful and usually made of silk or other luxurious material.  Aside from ceremonial dresses, hanbok is plain, usually white and made out of cotton for the commoners.

Hanbok can be embroidered or decorated with other accessories to represent wealth and status.

We tried to kill two birds, Peanut’s 2 year photos and the hanbok photos. We sweated buckets trying to get the girls to pose together and smile at the same time while looking at the camera. Fortunately, there were some great shots. Unfortunately, I don’t have jpeg files to post here.

I took these outside the studio while we were waiting for our professional photos.  The mean manager wouldn’t let me take, not even one shot, inside the studio.  I was buying the professionals anyway, would it have killed her to let me take one shot???

Trying to get Peanut to pose for more pictures was hard.

Trying to get her to smile?

Fuhgeddaboudit.

Cheeeeeeeeese.

I finally decided to get individual shots.

Still could not get that girl to crack a smile!

If I ever managed to scan the professionals, I’ll post them, but for now, these will have to do.

Thank You #91 Apricosa for Kimchi Inspiration

Erica from Apricosa is an American who not only loves Korean food, but she cooks Korean dishes.  Not just the typical dishes like jap chae and kalbi, but really authentic Korean food like fermented soybean paste stew.

She has been inspiring me recently with her kimchi recipes.  Not enough for me to make them myself, but to run to H-Mart to buy the ready-made kimchi.  Ajummas make them fresh at the store and the kimchis are quite good.

The other day, she posted photos of baby radish kimchi (yeolmul kimchi) she made and I started salivating. Well, I finally made the run to H-mart and got “young” radish kimchi (chonggak kimchi) The radishes are little bigger so the taste is a little different.  They are still yummy!

A funny story, at least to a Korean.  The Korean word for a hick or a country bumpkin is chon nom.  When I was young, I would mistakenly call these chonnom kimchi and my mom would laugh and laugh.

Chonggak kimchi are are my favorite kimchi.  I love the radish, the green, I even love the juice.  I could probably eat this entire container in one sitting with just plain steamed rice.

Thanks Erica for the inspiration!  I could barely wait until lunch time to eat them.

 

Vegan Tofu Patties

Tofu has such a bad rep in the U.S. Whenever I mention tofu, I usually get a variation on responses such as “It’s bland. It’s tasteless. It’s weird. It’s gross.”

Weird? Gross? I think sausage is weird, but I eat it. I think cottage cheese is really weird, but I’ve tried it. I find baby-backed ribs in barbecue sauce slightly off-putting. I find the idea of deep-fried Oreos/Snickers/Butter (yes, a whole stick of butter!) gross, but I would never say it to your face. I mention tofu and people feel no compunction in disparaging a major food component of my life to my face.

Personally, I love tofu. Certainly the taste is mild, but to a discerning palate, there is a slightly nutty taste. Especially with fresh tofu.  Also, the beauty of tofu is that it absorbs a great deal of flavor from the other ingredients. If you’re eating tasteless tofu, perhaps it wasn’t cooked right.

A family favorite is the pan-fried tofu, but it isn’t the healthiest dish.  With the flour and egg batter, the frying requires quite a bit of oil.

While shopping at H-Mart, I came across a sample station serving tofu patties using this mix below.  After tasting a few patties and with encouragement from Soso, I grabbed a package to try at home.

The mix was easy to use and the tofu patties cooked quickly, with much less oil.  While using a packaged mix is easy, I wanted to replicate the mix from scratch for two reasons.  Even at a 20 – 25 minute drive, I don’t get to H-Mart often.  Also, I wanted to come up with a vegan recipe in case I ever needed it for our vegan friends.

The basic ingredients required for the mix is salt, pepper and panko breadcrumbs.  I’m not sure if regular breadcrumbs can be used.  I thought the Panko crumbs’s coarser texture would bind the crumbled tofu better, especially since I wasn’t using any egg.

Other ingredients may vary, depending on what’s on hand or the flavor you want.  Want an Indian feel?  Add a combination of cumin, coriander and turmeric powder.  Want some spice, add paprika or chili powder. Want an Asian taste, throw in some soy sauce or teriyaki sauce.  Want an Italian taste, add some garlic, parsley, oregano, basil, etc.  You get the picture. Mix it all together well, form patties and pan-fry lightly.  Without the egg, smaller patties work best.  The bigger patties tend to crumble during flipping.  I’ve wondered if baking or broiling would work, but I haven’t tried it yet.

By the way, if you go to a store like H-mart, the choices can be overwhelming.  I’ve tried all the major brands and while I’ll eat them all, I like Pulmone Organic Firm Tofu the best.

Here, I served it with steamed rice and green beans sautéed in garlic and olive oil.

Print

Vegan Tofu Patties

Prep time: 10 mins  Cook time: 15 mins

Serves: 4

*The following list of ingredients is my “go-to” mix for a slightly “oriental” flavor. Feel free to experiment!

Ingredients

1 package (14 – 18 ounces) firm tofu, drained and gently squeezed to remove excess water
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs (more if needed)
2 tablespoon fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, chives or scallion), minced
1 clove garlic, minced fine or grated (1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
1/4 teaspoon grated ginger (1/8 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt or to taste
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Directions

In a medium size bowl, mash tofu lightly with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well with hands (I wear food preparation gloves). Form small patties to your preference.

In a large non-stick frying pan on medium to medium-high heat, add enough oil (canola, peanut, olive oil) to coat the pan. When pan is hot, add patties without touching. Fry both sides until lightly golden.

These can be made ahead of time and re-heated.