#Korean style baked potatoes

[rabbitcruiser]

National Dumpling Day

Celebrate the joy and deliciousness of everything related to these tasty little balls of dough with National Dumpling Day!

History of National Dumpling Day

When people think of dumplings, their minds may conjure up a variety of images depending on where they hail from. Chinese filled dumplings such as dim sum or bao (which are steamed instead of boiled) might be what comes to mind. Other people might think of dumplings that are in soup, while still others might have their mouths watering of Czech dumplings that seem more like a slice of bread than a dumpling.

The origination of dumplings in China was probably by a medical practitioner during the Eastern Han Dynasty which lasted from around 200 BC to 200 AD. Not long after, the first written recipe for dumplings seems to have appeared in Roman culture in a cookery manuscript referred to as Apicus that is believed to have been written around 400 AD.

Made out of dough that is some sort of starch base, like wheat flour or potato starch, dumplings often act as a blank slate upon which other flavorful meals and tastes can be built.

How to Celebrate National Dumpling Day

Consider some of these ideas for getting involved with National Dumpling Day:

Enjoy Eating Dumplings

Head out to a restaurant and order a big pile of dumplings in honor of National Dumpling Day! The best bet for finding dumplings on the menu might be to choose a restaurant that offers Chinese cuisine. But they can also be found at American restaurants that serve southern-style home cooking, like Cracker Barrel.

Grab some friends to take along and order a variety of different types and styles of dumplings to compare and determine which ones are the best!

Try Making Dumplings at Home

Part of the fun of National Dumpling Day might be engaging in the process of making them. First, choose the style of dumplings to make and then search for a recipe. The easiest dumplings to make are probably the kind that are dropped directly into soup, but other options that include rolling, wrapping and stuffing might be an extra fun challenge.

Learn Some Fun Facts About Dumplings

Don’t forget to tell friends about National Dumpling Day! Perhaps it would be fun to work it into conversation with some of these clever bits of trivia about dumplings:

More than 25 styles of dumplings exist. While many people think of Asian dumplings, most cultures in the world have some version of this, including Indian, Italian, Korean and more.

Dumplings can be savory or sweet. While many people think of dumplings as a main dish, they can also be filled with delicious sweet flavors like grated coconut, cane sugar and even chocolate.

Chinese legends say that dumplings were originally formed in the shape of little ears by a doctor who created them for people to eat to prevent getting frostbite on their ears.

Dumplings can be prepared in many ways: frying, boiling, steaming, baking and simmering are all methods used for making them.

Source

[lovelyprincessn64]

Thanksgiving Day request event

Gobble gobble that's right this is the month of feast in the middle of the cozy autumn and this year is something special for the middle of November welcome to the Thanksgiving request event everything evolving around food and all kinds of crazy things that go bumping in the middle of fall.

Step right up and don't be shy but most importantly watch out for the Black Friday apocalypse and here is today's menu for a special month of the turkey.

1. Shopping for ingredients

2. Black Friday chaos

3. Cozy nights

4. Turkey day

5. Hunting for turkeys

6. Your ocs (Thanksgiving theme or your choice of picking)

7. Arts n crafts

8. Cooking for dinner

9. Cookbook

10. Thanksgiving Massacre

11. Leftovers

12. Thanksgiving specials

13. Clean up party

14. Animal Crossing

15. Horror themes

16. Decorations party

17. Room for dessert

18. Charlie Brown

19. A new day A New Hope

20. Day off from work

21. Food fight

22. Hungry night

23. Babysitting kids

24. A special toast

25. Raking up leaves

26. Wholesome love

27. Commercials (fan made or references as long if it's good)

28. Parodies of laughing

29. Mischievous Pranksters

30. Sweet as honey

31. To do list

32. Pumpkin harvesting

33. Getting ready for Christmas

34. Order up

35. A day with family

36. Freebirds

37. Break from school

38. Day of madness

39. Japan Thanksgiving theme

40. Delicious goodies

41. Crazy cinnamon day

42. Yuffie's birthday

43. Baking bread for days

44. Jammed up

45. Rosalina's birthday

46. Any type of Thanksgiving theme

47. Thanksgiving prompts

48. Bakery fun time

49. Brightful smile

50. Lovely picnic

51. Sandwich crazy

52. National Men's Day

53. Deep fried days

54. Redraws

55. Nostalgic November

56. Good old times along with old days

57. Delicious evening

58. DIYs

59. Pie of your choice

60. Chilling in cabins

61. Sleepy hibernation

62. Lazy days

63. Aesthetics of choice

64. Craving for tea

65. Dancing dinner table

66. Lame rainy days

67. Fairy tale story time

68. Doodle skits

69. Making scarecrows

70. Playing with board games

71. Biking in forest

72. Hiking through nature

73. Magical Library

74. Ready for vacation

75. Turkey chasing

76. Egg Fest

77. Feeling dozy

78. AUs

79. Parade or Festival

80. Overcooked burnt

81. Busy Chef's Kitchen

82. Love for autumn

83. Retro style of dinner

84. thickgiving

85. Going nuts

86. Writing a wish list

87. Don't beef with me

88. Disney themed of Wonder

89. Are we there yet

90. Sneaking in the kitchen

91. Nostalgic wave of feeling

92. Non-stop Marathon

93. Teamwork friendship

94. What can possibly go wrong

95. Chores of pain

96. Creative mind of Art

97. Starbucks yummy

98. Where's the turkey

99. Hungry appetite

100. Dinner is served

101. Early bird gets the worm

102. Some Creepypastas

103. Wishing for December

104. Wishing on a shooting star

105. Some errands to do

106. Hellish consumers

107. Butter up too exotic

108. Cranberry Harvest

109. Cheesy macaroni

110. Vegan options / alternatives

112. Satire / joke arts

113. Mustard or ketchup

114. Mashy potatoes

115. Too much stuffing

116. pumpkin pie crazy

117. Setting up the table

118. Stayed in bed

119. Too big of sweet

200. Eating up a feast

201. Crazy competition

202. Kawaii seasoning

203. Leafy collection

204. 1950s style

205. Thankful in grace

206. Lumberjack season

207. Jocks around

208. Spicy Danger

209. Exploring the abandon

210. Determination of heart

211. Bacon alive

212. Wildest imaginations

213. Horrific pilgrims

214. Hunting for shinies

215. Best of variety

216. Apple cider bar

217. Enjoying the sunrise

218. Creamy peaches

219. Dead plate

220. Juicy apples

221. Apple cider day

222. Marmalade sky

223. Food wars

224. Mai Valentine's birthday

225. Mai Valentine dressed in lingerie

226. Cake for my Minnie Mouse

227. Minnie Mouse’s Birthday

228. Gifts for my Mickey

229. Mickey Mouse day

230. American Thanksgiving 

231. Cozy childhood hideaway

232. Diner aesthetic

233. Goblincore

234. Golden hour / hours

235. Korean cozy beige

236. BakuCamieVember

Disclaimer: unlike normal requests you have to request on November theme / Thanksgiving theme also if you prefer something Halloweenish feel free to go to the Halloween request event.

Note: I'll be adding and updating the list if I come up with something creative be on the lookout for that also be sure to read the rules before sending me requests please be understandable and thank you and have a great Thanksgiving one more thing have fun~🍗🍖🍳🍽

If you like feel free to send me a suggestion to add on the list of the prompts list I am now opening to suggestions to what to add on the list that is considered match to the theme leave them down in the comments below if you got a very good idea or possibly for a future adding to a different one.

[siamesephoenixrandomideatank]

Ideas for Gravity Falls-Themed Yoshoku Dishes Idea.

Dipper Chicken Torikatsu with shoyu-syrup-lime juice based sauce

Brief Description: Chicken Cutlet that is double-fried lightly, inspired from Korean Method. Topped on rice with light sauce mainly composed of shoyu light syrup, and lime juice with some aromatic herbs. Sided with Salad

Mabel Varieties of Decorative Tempuras and Shaped Korokke

Brief Description: Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura decorated in edible glitter of gold and silver, along with Korokke shaped into mythical creatures, shooting star, sweater, and so-on. Served with confetti and “Mabel’s Fortune Sembe”

Wendy Steak with miso-Momotaro Tomato Puree sauce

Brief Description: Meat of choice that you can choose the cut, and doneness(if it is beef). Marinated with miso-based sauce, before topped with tomato-shoyu thick sauce. Served with potato salad.

  Stanley Fish Hambagu

Brief Description: Fish-based Hambaku patty, filled with cubed squid and shrimps. Served with dollar-decorated seaweed sheets over bowl of rice. Topped with Nanban Cream Sauce, or Sour Salad Dressing as choice.

  Ford Napolitan Pasta with including of Tantantem seasonings

Brief Description: Napolitan Pasta based on Italian version, but drier, more garlicky and spicy. Plus, Tantanmen Seasonings’ peppers is based on Sichuan & Korean ingredients.

  Soos Okonomiyaki with umami bomb

Brief Description: Kansai-Style Okonomiyaki packed with mushroom, dried seaweed, grilled meat stripes, seafood broth, and herbal blends.Topped with “?” mayo, as well as bottles of various sauce to flavor it your way.

Pacifica Spicy Spam Curry Doria

Brief Description: Underneath varieties of oozy cheesy blend, lay the curry with extra spicy twist, cubed spam, and chopped vegetables. It’s sided with either baked loaf of bread and butter, or Japanese rice.

McGucket Creamy Natto Spaghetti

Brief Description: Sound unlikely, but instead of taming Natto, it is adapting Natto in Carbonara Spaghetti. Raw egg also topped on it, as well as some spring onion, and mustard on side. 

  Gideon Themed Bento of his vibe

Brief Description: Six onigiris with different tastes united as star-shaped, amulet-shaped wakame pile, and fried rice with egg decorrelated into his face. Served with Sashimi, shoyu, and wasabi.

Robbie Cream Stew blackened with seaweed and squid ink

Brief Description: Creamy stew with rice on the side, but both is blackened. Stew is with ink and seaweed extract, making it dark and umami, going with with seafood and parmesan. While the unprocessed rice is mixed with five legumes and other grains. 

Bill Omurice-Onigiri Fusion

Brief Description: Onigiris with tamago sheet on the outer layers, which having 6 of them. Each 6 of them focus on different flavor; sweet, sour, savory, bitter, salty, and pungent. In addition, there are 6 mini-side dishes, and six furikake to coat the remained rice with.

[a-captions-blog]

[Image descriptions: The first image shows the cookbook cover. The book is titled ‘The Sad Bastard Cookbook: Food You Can Make So You Don’t Die’ and is by Zilla Novikov and Rachel A. Rosen, illustrated by Marten Norr. The cover shows a vase of red flowers, a floral tissue box, and a small plate with a rectangle of dry ramen noodles next to a plastic fork. The quote at the top says, “Technically most of the food in this book is edible, and some of it even contains nutrients.” – Rohan O’Duill, author and professional chef. The rest of the images are screenshots of the table of contents. Long transcriptions follow (page numbers omitted).

Table of Contents Content notes: Mental and physical illness, disordered eating, and dark humour throughout, as well as occasional mentions of alcohol, swearing, and political references. If you have specific food triggers, some recipes may be unpalatable to you. Recipes which have vegan core ingredients are marked with a [circle with a V in the centre.] Table of Contents [a handwriting-style note points to this entry and says, ‘We’re so meta that we include the Table of Contents in the Table of Contents. Lev would approve.’ Introduction Ramen Variations Part 1: Classic Ramen (vegan) Ramen Variations Part II: Instant Noodles on Plate (vegan) Ramen Variations Part III: Apocalypse Ramen (vegan) Kinda Like Pad Thai (vegan) Pasta Variations (vegan) Literal Depression Cooking Pasta in a Rice Cooker (vegan) Eggy Pasta Paste with Homemade Tomato Sauce (vegan) Pasta with One (1) Actual Vegetable (vegan) Spaghetti Aglio e Olio (vegan) Mac & Cheese Rice Variations Part I: Cook the Rice (vegan) Rice Variations Part II: Add Stuff to the Cooking Water (vegan) Rice Variations Part III: Add Stuff to the Cooked Rice (vegan) Another Rice Variation: Black Beans & Rice (vegan) Rice Variations Part IV: Fried Rice (vegan) Fried Noodles (vegan) Couscous Variations (vegan) Potato Variations Part I: Baked (vegan) Potato Variations Part II: Boiled (vegan) Potato Variations Part III: Mashed (vegan) Potato Variations Part IV: French Fries (vegan) French Fry Variations: Now What? (vegan) Spring Rolls (vegan) Hangover Bubble and Squeak (vegan) Roasted Vegetables (vegan) Pancakes (vegan) Korean-Inspired Pancakes (vegan) Oatmeal Variations (vegan) The Humble Egg Chinese-Style Eggs & Tomato Eggs & Bread Variations Bean Salad (vegan) Lentils in a Pot (vegan) Cheater Chana Masala (vegan) Can of Soup (vegan) Dumplings (vegan) Pierogi (vegan) Peanut Butter on a Spoon (vegan) Peanut Butter Balls (vegan) Apple Slices Yes (vegan) Grapefruit No (vegan) Eat a Dill Pickle Out of the Jar While Standing in Front of the Fridge (vegan) Popcorn (vegan) Eddy No (vegan) Chips (vegan) College Guacamole (vegan) The Fastest Nachos (vegan) Quesadillas & Pumpki-dillas Part I: The Basics (vegan) Quesadillas & Pumpki-dillas Part II: Variations (vegan) Wraps (vegan) Toast Variations (vegan) Crackers and Stuff (vegan) Fancy Cheese and Crackers Hummus (vegan) Garlic Bread (vegan) Tostadas Con Tomate (vegan) Grilled Cheese Sandwiches “Pizza” (vegan) Tanzanian Braised Coconut Cabbage (vegan) Bag Salad (vegan) Cabbage Salads (vegan) Ants on a Log (vegan) Fried Plantains (vegan) Smoothie Variations (vegan) Ice Cream (vegan) Moroccan Oranges (vegan) “Baked” Apples (vegan) Banana Frozen Yogurt “Parfait” Chocolate Pudding (vegan) Core Ingredients to Keep in Your Kitchen Zilla’s Shopping List & Weekly Menu Rachel’s “Three Meals a Day Are Cognitive Overload" Shopping List & Weekly Menu Thank You to Our Contributor: Message from the Authors Not an Index \End description]

[Reblog plain text: Spread the word this is fucking god tier oh my god, sometimes I have spoons sometimes I don't but no cookbook offers levels in their recipes this one does! \End PT

People with low spoons, someone just recommended this cookbook to me, so I thought I’d pass it on.

I always look at cookbooks for people who have no energy/time to do elaborate meal preparations, and roll my eyes. Like, you want me to stay on my feet for long enough to prepare 15 different ingredients from scratch, and use 5 different pots and pans, when I have chronic fatigue and no dishwasher?

These people seem to get it, though. It’s very simple in places. It’s basically the cookbook for people who think, ‘I’m really bored of those same five low-spoons meals I eat, but I can’t think of anything else to cook that won’t exhaust me’. And it’s free!

[alphonseelriic]

Hi Sofia! ❤️ How is it going? Sorry I'm a little late! So much to do and so tired recently 🥲

Hope you enjoyed a bit of your free time!! When are you done done with finals? 👀

Gonna confess, Im a glutton for food so always happy to hear people talk about their fav food too 😆. I know pannettone!! But I've only tried the Italian version, not sure how different they are (but I'm also sure the homemade ones are always the best!). Do you cook/bake too? :O I love empanadas too but I think I only know the fried ones! I had to Google the other two, BUT Locro looks so hearty to have omg and the alfajores looks so soft and good?! I wanna try them! 🤤 Just talking about it makes me so hungry right now... I do hope you'll get to eat all your favs this holiday season!!

Hmm I like a lot of different food too! And trying different countries food is always exciting to me so I like a little of everything. My favs is usually Japanese dishes or asian ones but specifically—I LOVE duck (the chinese ones in particular but also the seared foie gras), grilled meat 😅, sushi, udon (noodles are usually always a win), korean fried chicken or karaage. Randomly, I also like al pastor tacos, a good sandwich (roast beef is my go to ^^ ), samosas, hot pot, most potato things, cheese in general esp. gouda or goat!... I'll stop now hahaha. Btw do you have any favorite drinks?

Aww Im glad you enjoyed getting to where you are now! Asjdkkdd I'm not sure if my field fits me, there's definitely times I question it but it's what I do for now 😂😭.

The books—I'm familiar with the first few (jane austen books we had to read those in school!) but not the rest so I'll have to look it up sometime!! I had no ides howls moving castle was also a book! I'm sad to hear reading for uni took away reading for fun 😭. I honestly haven't picked up a book in ages so I feel this tho. These days I just read fanfics, I wonder if you were ever into those? 👀

Ahhh please!! I too love a lot of the scenes you picked as a fav! OMG AL 😭 you make me want to do a rewatch again of fmab...and the train scene with ed/winry and that line he says totally has my heart. AND THE MOB PARTS!! When the OST came on for both of those scenes? It was the most perfect beautiful ones and that song is one of my favs! That's when I knew I /loved Mp100 haha. HQ ahh so many good moments right...hinata growing is always so heartwarming, but so are the rest of them 😭. Honestly I want to rewatch hq like at least every year LOL... the sxf ones too, I love bond and I didn't expect to love Damien but it's growing. You picked such great favs ahh, let's see what Santa can do with those. 😉

Btw I haven't mentioned this yet, but went through your edits and you have such pleasant sets. So I want to ask! Do you have a favorite kind of style either that others make or that you lean towards? What inspires you to create?

Thank you for indulging me again and talk soon!!

- Animanga 🎅

So nice to see you again, secret santa ❤️ please don't apologize!! I hope you're doing well despite everything you need to do :')

My last final was the 6th, so I'm already on vacations for a while! I'm actually with my family at the beach rn hahahaha

Heh I totally get you! I honestly have no idea if there's a difference between italian panettone and the one we eat here 🤔 Empanadas can be either fried or oven baked!! They have a lot of variations between each southamerican country, in places like Colombia for example they always eat them fried, but here it's more common to have them baked as far as I know! Yeah locro is really comforting, carefully crafted to eat during winter >:) the tradition is eating it on may 25th, one of our two patriotic dates. Alfajores are heavenly!! I'm pretty sure they aren't very easy to find in other countries but if you ever stumble upon them and you're craving something sweet, I couldn't recommend them enough!

My mom is a baker that works from home (studied it professionally and all) but I admit I'm not much of a baker/cook myself 😅 I do enjoy cooking and if I'm given a detailed recipe there's a good chance I'll do mostly good, but for some reason I'm not very drawn to the kitchen. I do want to start cooking more tho, I just don't have much initiative. What about you?

Ooohh I think I've never tried duck now that I think about it 🤔 I want to try it now!! I haven't had the chance to try a big amount of asian dishes but I loved the ones I did try <3 i also love sushi and noodles!! Ohh korean fried chicken sounds delicious! I went to a korean food fair a few weeks ago with some friends and my favorite were the tteokbokki and the bulgogi 🤤

Oh I also adore tacos and anything with potato and cheese in it LMAOOO honestly idk if i have favorite drinks, I mostly like cappuccino and hot cocoa. When it comes to cold drinks, I'm fine with water or diet coke. I also like freshly squeezed orange juice 🧡

Oh you read Jane Austen for school?? Lucky you! We didn't read anything remotely similar in my high school, and then in uni my english literature teacher didn't like her books so we didn't read them 😭 I ended up reading pride and prejudice for another completely different class later on, and now I'm reading sense and sensibility by myself!

Oh I do read some fanfics from time to time, but definitely not with the consistency most people on fandoms do. Once in a blue moon I get obsessed with a character or a ship during like one evening and then spend the rest of the night searching for fanfics. I have bad luck at finding ones that actually catch my attention so I don't do it often.

HAHAHA I'm glad you liked the scenes I chose! Resisting the temptation to rewatch fmab is a constant struggle really 😖 same for Haikyuu! Oh yeah mob's soundtrack also takes the cake, wouldn't be the same without it 💕 Damien also grew a lot in me! His crush on Anya is so adorable. Can't wait to see what Santa does ;)

Awww thank you! My edits mean a lot to me so I'm very happy you like them 🥹 ohh that's such a hard question!! I find all editing styles or technics to be great on their own right, but I personally lend more towards gifs and graphics with soft colors, with subtle patterns and textures, carefully put together quotes and well placed panels! Maybe my explanation is a bit abstract so these are some examples:

https://at.tumblr.com/alphonseelriic/romancegifs-romancegifs-10k-followers-celebration/u4wogp3dgfbe

https://at.tumblr.com/alphonseelriic/meqistus-look-at-me-i-will-never-pass-for-a/gbfxrdxw73fz

https://at.tumblr.com/alphonseelriic/mazusu-assassination-its-the-family-trade-we/6o0wy6grzd58

https://at.tumblr.com/alphonseelriic/suzouyas-grand-king-oikawa-tooru-%E5%8F%8A%E5%B7%9D-%E5%BE%B9-for/891elmqmjv49

Obviously this doesn't mean I don't like sets with stronger or vibrant colors!! As long as there's harmony between them, any color combos will be great :') I also love gifsets with big, clear and crispy gifs! You see a lot of them now that tumblr has updated their size limit lol

What inspires me to create is mostly the process, which I usually enjoy a lot (unless I'm creatively stuck, then not so much hahaha). I also love looking at other's creations and seeing if I can make something as beautiful! The challenges from animangacreators are also very helpful when I wanna make something and I don't know what ;)

That was a very nice talk!! See you again soon, my santa ❤️

[hotdogsandsoup]

The Idaho is another weird one. I googled and it’s not really a thing anywhere in Idaho that I could find. Hot dogs in baked potatoes are more of a novelty, and there’s several recipes for it online. But the Idaho potato website suggests “potato dogs,” which are closer to Korean corn dogs with fries. Eh, we'll get to that style soon enough.

But, however, there is the Super Tuber. The former Idaho Senator Larry Craig (of airport bathroom scandal infamy) submitted this recipe to the Congress Cooks! Website. Carve a hole into a potato, stuff a hot dog into it and bake. Add mustard. Consume.

I’m making the baked potato version and the Super Tuber. Here’s the baked potato:

It was okay. I ended up pulling out the hot dog then mixing the other toppings back in. Really a novelty lmao. Now here’s the Super Tuber:

It’s a lot harder to cut a hot dog sized hole into a potato than I expected, but granted, I was working with a vegetable peeler and a paring knife. And the hot dog refused to go all the way through from either end, so I cut it in half and put it in that way. Senator Craig must’ve taken out a lot of his closeted gay frustration on creating potato dogs like this. I followed his instructions from the recipe above, wrapping the Super Tuber in foil before it went into the oven. Then I consumed it with mustard, as directed.

It was… okay. I preferred the baked potato version to this, tbh. That one was much easier to put together and eat too. And there’s one article that describes this as a “wonderful grab-and-go snack, perfect for the airport traveler”. Were they trolling? Or using smaller potatoes? This was awkward to eat.

[chrishangry]

Happy Friendsgiving! I am grateful to have people to cook for and eat around a table with! I am blessed.

The spread: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, Korean style candied yams (맛탕) with marshmallows, roasted veggies, cranberry sauce, spam musubi, salmon carpaccio, sushi bake.

Not pictured we also had charcuterie and deviled eggs for apps and corn for a side. There was alcohol involved so we definitely didn’t get pictures of the cheesecake and apple pie dessert!

[manasseh]

"if you can't beat it, eat it"

— is a common phrase to hear from foraging people and i love it, so I'm 'helping' my brother by trying different ways to use the ground elder that's taken over his backyard. I'm hoping to learn to use many native edible plants in the future!

I had trouble finding anything nice besides the overused pestos, teas and quiches they recommend for every edible plant at first, until I thought to search in Korean and to my surprise found a very similar plant grows there too! It's the cuisine I'm used to and the people still forage a lot more, so there's a lot of great recipes to source.

I tried a couple of different recipes so far, - almost all a couple weeks ago on one day of hanging out and cooking and tasting small dishes all day with my family/friends at my brothers place. I will share the keepers as reblogs!! Hoping to try some more, or a different plant, soon.

Coming up are at least 산미나리무침(sweet fresh salad side dish), 산마리 탕(a clear soup), and maybe a few others. Starting with 한단미나리전 (savoury fried korean pancake) under the cut ↓↓

한단미나리전 / savoury fried Korean pancake.

First I made this simple 전, because it's one of my favourite type of dish with alcohol :) Jeon is any type of dish where something either covered or mixed in with batter and pan fried, like a fritter or in this case like a crispy savoury pancake. Some popular ones are made with green onion (파전), kimchi (김치전), or seafood (해물전), but you can find most anything. Fritter style jeon are often things like courgette, fish and crab sticks,- in this case the mix is usually mixed with egg as well.

This recipe I saw, from a KBS show, uses only two ingredients, the minari and 부침가루 (jeon pancake mix).

I don't know if the mix is available premade like that where I live but I prepped some based on this recipe from GEE (@/jieworld)'s naver blog.

----

You can find the original recipes in Korean by clicking the links. Here's my translation with some edits:

■ Korean pancake mix (just combine all) 1 cup (240ml) flour // 1/4 Cup (60 ml) Potato Starch // 1/2 teaspoon baking powder // 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder // 1/2 teaspoon sugar // salt and pepper // If you have it, add onion powder, 2 tablespoon glutinous rice powder. I didn't :')

■ Minari Jeon 1 bunch(?) of ground elder // ±100ml cold water // 6 big tablespoons Korean pancake mix (부침가루) // cooking oil

1. Slice the ground elder to pinky finger length. 2. Add the ground elder, cold water, and the pancake mix into a bowl and mix. ※ About 1 parts water to 2 parts pancake mix! ※ Mix until the mix and the leaves are tangled together! 3. Put 5 rounds of cooking oil on a pan heated over high heat and preheat until bubbles form. ※ Put enough cooking oil to cover the bottom of the frying pan! 4. Reduce to medium heat, add alll the dough at once, and fry for about 5 minutes. ※ Put the dough in the pan and press it into flat shape ※ Do not touch it. Don't. ※ After adding the dough for a minute, add a bit of cooking oil to the edges ※ If it moves gently as a whole when you shake the pan, it's time to flip ~ 5. Flip the pancake, add some cooking oil to the edge, and fry it for about 3 more minutes. ※ Press it slightly after flipping so that the bottom isn't floating.

----

This was a a favourite! Everyone enjoyed eating it a lot and I was asked to send over the recipe. Like any it's crispy and make for a very satisfying snack with some alcohol. The simple fresh taste of this wild plant makes it a little lighter and more textured than other options. I love jeon in general but haven't made many since I moved back - definitely will now. Next time I want to try it with this sauce by the same guy.

obsessed that this herb is called 'seven-leaf' in my language bc it has seven leaves but then in English it's called Ground Elder like i've just cooked some great wizard's soup

[oni28]

July 2022 Recipe_Cream Stew 2 Set

※ Need Recipe Pack Mod Latest Version (22.07.05 version) ※

[Recipe Information]

Cream Stew With Salmon

BGC

1/4/8 serve

Category : Meals

Home Style Cooking Level_02

Lactose free. It's a cream stew with potatoes and salmon. Eat with freshly baked bread. It is made of mighty plant milk and contains no lactose.

Required Ingredients for 1 serve : Mighty Plant Milk(1), Salmon(1)

Required Ingredients for 4 serve : Mighty Plant Milk(1), Salmon(1), Potato(1)

Required Ingredients for 8 serve : Mighty Plant Milk(1), Salmon(1), Potato(2)

Lots challenge 'Simple Living' Compatible.

Group Cooking Compatible.

Cream Stew With Chicken

BGC

1/4/8 serve

Category : Meals

Home Style Cooking Level_02

Lactose free. It's a cream stew with potatoes, broccoli, chicken. Eat with freshly baked bread. It is made of mighty plant milk and not contains lactose.

Required Ingredients for 1 serve : Mighty Plant Milk(1), Any Vegetable(1), Wrapped White Meat(1)

Required Ingredients for 4 serve : Mighty Plant Milk(1), Any Vegetable(2), Wrapped White Meat(1)

Required Ingredients for 8 serve : Mighty Plant Milk(1), Any Vegetable(3), Wrapped White Meat(2)

Lots challenge 'Simple Living' Compatible.

Group Cooking Compatible.

All ingredients are optional

[Language]

Korean (by_oni)

English (by_oni)

📌T.O.U

-Don’t re-upload

(Latest patch compatible)

DL(Patreon)

[rabbitcruiser]

National Dumpling Day

Celebrate the joy and deliciousness of everything related to these tasty little balls of dough with National Dumpling Day!

History of National Dumpling Day

When people think of dumplings, their minds may conjure up a variety of images depending on where they hail from. Chinese filled dumplings such as dim sum or bao (which are steamed instead of boiled) might be what comes to mind. Other people might think of dumplings that are in soup, while still others might have their mouths watering of Czech dumplings that seem more like a slice of bread than a dumpling.

The origination of dumplings in China was probably by a medical practitioner during the Eastern Han Dynasty which lasted from around 200 BC to 200 AD. Not long after, the first written recipe for dumplings seems to have appeared in Roman culture in a cookery manuscript referred to as Apicus that is believed to have been written around 400 AD.

Made out of dough that is some sort of starch base, like wheat flour or potato starch, dumplings often act as a blank slate upon which other flavorful meals and tastes can be built.

How to Celebrate National Dumpling Day

Consider some of these ideas for getting involved with National Dumpling Day:

Enjoy Eating Dumplings

Head out to a restaurant and order a big pile of dumplings in honor of National Dumpling Day! The best bet for finding dumplings on the menu might be to choose a restaurant that offers Chinese cuisine. But they can also be found at American restaurants that serve southern-style home cooking, like Cracker Barrel.

Grab some friends to take along and order a variety of different types and styles of dumplings to compare and determine which ones are the best!

Try Making Dumplings at Home

Part of the fun of National Dumpling Day might be engaging in the process of making them. First, choose the style of dumplings to make and then search for a recipe. The easiest dumplings to make are probably the kind that are dropped directly into soup, but other options that include rolling, wrapping and stuffing might be an extra fun challenge.

Learn Some Fun Facts About Dumplings

Don’t forget to tell friends about National Dumpling Day! Perhaps it would be fun to work it into conversation with some of these clever bits of trivia about dumplings:

More than 25 styles of dumplings exist. While many people think of Asian dumplings, most cultures in the world have some version of this, including Indian, Italian, Korean and more.

Dumplings can be savory or sweet. While many people think of dumplings as a main dish, they can also be filled with delicious sweet flavors like grated coconut, cane sugar and even chocolate.

Chinese legends say that dumplings were originally formed in the shape of little ears by a doctor who created them for people to eat to prevent getting frostbite on their ears.

Dumplings can be prepared in many ways: frying, boiling, steaming, baking and simmering are all methods used for making them.

Source

[mostly-mundane-atla]

So what kinds of food would Aang and other Air Nomads be able to eat during visits to the Water Tribes? Assuming that their brand of vegetarianism allows for animal products like milk and eggs, but no fish or animal fat or anything that would involve killing a living creature.

Naturally, some of these will be seasonal, but this really depends on if you want only pre-contact circumpolar ingredients and cooking methods

If you want some inspiration from purely traditional foods, and can imagine a way they'd collect unfertilized fish eggs:

Wild bird (ptarmigan, grouse, corromant, etc) eggs, raw or boiled. Chicken broth could be replaced with a tea of birch bark, fireweed leaves, or tundra tea leaves to make something similar to an egg drop soup.

Roots like those of masru/eskimo potato and wooly lousewort, raw, boiled, or roasted. Could be fried in theory, but as the only fats available would be attached to animal flesh, this would violate vegetarian dietary restrictions.

Fish roe (eggs) on their own or ground up and whipped into akutaq.

Greens like sourdock, mountain sorrel, and wild celery, dressed in unsweetened syrups of fireweed blossoms or berries instead of the traditional seal oil.

Berries such as wild cranberries (lowbush and highbush), blueberries, cloudberries, wild raspberries, and crowberries, fresh or as jam (unsweetend and probably unpleasantly messy with nothing to eat it on) or akutaq.

Fireweed shoots, roasted and could be served with unsweetened syrups like the aforementioned fresh greens.

Young puffball mushrooms, eaten but not very commonly from what I can tell

And, of course, what the entire fandom was expecting: seaweed. With the lack of any proper substitutes for sessame oil or garlic, however, i'm not sure you could get something resembling a Korean style seaweed soup.

Now, if you want to include things that would have to be imported and cooking utensils and methods that aren't traditional, then you'll see foods that look a little more familiar.

Traditional foods can be stirfried in woks and served over rice or used for noodle dishes.

Here's where things like hotpot and congee are possible.

Flour can be used for doughs and batters or combined with butter to make pastry for frying in plant based oil or baking in ovens to get things like frybreads, cakes, and pies.

Milk can be added to foraged eggs to make custards which can be flavored with local berries and eddible flowers.

Mushrooms and tea can be used to replace meat broths for hearty soups.

Vegetables like cabage and onions can be added, as can protiens like beans and tofu.

And seasonings like ginger, pepper, garlic. And other ways to alter the flavor like soy sauce and vinegar (which also allows pickling). Sugar means syrups, jams, and akutaq can be sweetened, and now that bread is an option, can be eaten in combination with more foods.

This also has me wondering if other aspects than food would be given special attention to align with Air Nomand customs. Would they light lamps with plant-based oils instead of animal fat? Would they be sure to have utensils carved of wood rather than antler, bone, or ivory? Would it be seen to that sleeping mats be made of woved grass and stuffed with mosses and lichens instead of the typical skins?

Anyway, if you want to browse through common tundra plants and like two fungi and Inupiaq uses for them, check out this site

[daretosnoop]

What you should eat based on game vibes

Don’t know if someone has already done this but here we go:

SCK/SCK Remastered: PBJ sandwich, grilled cheeses sandwich, deli sandwich, soda in a can by day and glass bottle at night, chips, pigs in a blanket, cheeseits, an apple, milk in those paper cartons, crinkle fries with ketchup mustard mixed

STFD: fruit platters, coffee in a white mug ndwith a 90s logo, sautéed asparagus, stuffed mushrooms, NY pizza ordered late, gyro, sparkling water, strawberry shortcake, NY cheesecake

MHM: meat with a sweet glaze with mashed potato and boiled veggies, Chinese takeout ordered late, apple cider, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, ginger beer, stewed tomatoes

TRT: fondue stand, smoked ham, cebu lechon, pumpernickel bread with brier cheese , jam, jam cookies,hot cocoa, apple cinnamon tea, apple pie, toasted nuts, glazed carrots

FIN: popcorn, taffy, chalk candy, boiled peanuts, roasted corn, red liquorice, unbranded soda, peanut brittle

SSH: fruit platters, fruit drinks in watermelon and papaya, salsa, green salsa, avocados, grilled fish, lemon chicken, rotisserie, tortillas, lemonade, bean soup, barley and chicken in bell peppers, green tomatoes (in any form)

DOG: whiskey, stacked sandwiches (scooby doo style), pickles, banana peppers, fried fish, hot dogs, peach cobbler, blueberry juice, unidentifiable meat in a can stewed slowly over a fire, bread and butter with coffee in the morning

CAR: roasted corn, grilled seafood on a stick, boiled peanuts, cotton candy, ice cream, seafood medley, butter lobster, peach cobbler, aspirin, poutine, fish and chips, vinegar onions, korean corn dogs

DDI: clam chowder, seafood pasta, lemon butter pasta with lobster, steamed clams, rice porridge, blueberry muffins, sherbet, mint tea, coffee in a thermos

SHA: kidney beans stew, steak and potatoes, those tarts your get at bakeries, eggs and bacon with bread to sop up the yolk, hamburger steak with egg, hash browns, diner coffee, pancakes, grits with cheese

CUR: English breakfast, tea, vegetables with no seasoning, stewed chicken,mushy peas, cold cheese deli meats on bread, lamb chops, a ceramic jar of cookies kept just out of reach, hot milk before bed with a chocolate, ale

TRN: ratatouille, glazed veggies, pasta with a rue sauce, béchamel, fruit cocktail, gin and tonic, roasted potatoes, garlic bread, cherries, peach cobbler, smoked meats, fried chicken

CLK: peaches and cream, coffee with biscotti, illegal champagne, ribs, fried eggplant with marinara sauce, biscuits in gravy, rye bread, cherry tomatoes, crisp lettuce, grilled zucchini, stewed tomatoes, soft pretzels, apple pie with vanilla ice cream, iced tea

CRE: fish baked over a fire wrapped in banana leaves, pineapple salsa, grilled veggies on sticks, shrimp, any type of rice dish (jallop, pulao, spanish rice, fried rice etc.), citrus soda/lemonade, upside down pineapple cake, poke bowls

DAN: hot croissant with jam on one side and butter on the other, crème brûlée, mint tea, lavender cake, champagne, onion soup, charcuterie board, coq au vin, spinach soufflé, lobster bisque

ICE: honey cake, pancakes with maple syrup, grilled salmon with a maple syrup glaze served with wild rice and green beans, dijon mustard on bread, cranberry sauce, roast turkey, sweet potatoes

CRY: grilled seafood with cajun seasoning, beignets, doberge cake, couche couche with hotsauce, oysters, gin fizz, cognac, sherry, cafe au lait, dulce de leche, trout, seafood pie, crawfish, jambalaya, gumbo, red velvet cake

VEN: cappuccino, pasta with garlic and parmigiana, Neapolitan pizza, olives and capers, anchovies over bread, fried eggplants (no batter) in olive oil, rosemary and thyme infused oil with bread,

HAU: potatoes in every which way but especially roasted and mashed with butter, shepherds pie, mint tea, boiled peas, lamb chops, bread dipped in fresh buttermilk, Irish stew, sweet bread, Irish breakfast tea

RAN: cut fruit and grilled fish in a hallow pineapple, wild rice, ham or poultry with pineapple glaze, crackers, flatbread with grilled shrimp curry, coconut based curries, rotisserie style poultry, chutneys, apricot jam, jelly

WAV: croissants with orange marmalade and butter, mutton curry with jasmine rice, saffron rice with creamy chicken stew, sushi, seafood pasta, fruit bowls, overnight oatmeals, loaded potatoes, late night peanut butter snacking

TOT: Wisconsin cheese, vinegar pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, (all the pies from the Waitress), scrambled eggs with coffee, buttermilk soaked fried chicken, steak and potatoes, cornbread, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate dipped orange flavoured ice cream, steak and kidney pie

SAW: green tea, soba noodles, clear soups, pickled veggies, salmon on wheat crackers, roasted chestnuts, coffee spiced with oranges and cinnamon, sesame crackers (sweet and salty both), and yes, ramen

CAP: deli meats, assorted bread, honey mustard, butter, romadeur, dumplings, hollandaise sauce, fried potatoes (different styles), sausages, drumstick, cheese sticks, blanched vegetables, green apple sauce, custard, black forest cake

ASH: confetti cake, angel cake, BLT sandwiches, Caesar salad, lemon pasta, dill pickles, potato salad, quesadillas, steak, BBQ, deep dish pizza, carrots in ranch, chips, banana split

TMB: shawarma, falafel, cucumber salad, tahini, humus, garlic pita, grilled veggies, rice and spices baked in an earthen pot, kabob, grilled seafood, saffron rice, baklava, pistachio ice cream, date milkshake, beer

DED: vinegar chips, ice cold water, coffee from a dispenser in a styrofoam cup, stale snacks from a vending machine, peanut butter crackers, cheese crackers, baked goods in the morning, pad thai, fast food pizza, salad bar, trail mix

GTH: pecan pie, peach cobler, ground nuts, fried chicken, cheesy garlic bread, pimento cheese, chewy meat, BBQ, lemonade, sherry, gin, crawfish, pulled pork, rolls, soul food

SPY: haggis, mutton chops, Danish pastries, salmon with dill, pheasant, dundee cake, clam chowder, shortbread, coffee, Lincoln logs, smoked meats, clotted cheese, crackers, oatmeal with raisins, ale, whisky

MED: sushi, lemon grass tea, wheat grass shots, roasted sweet potato and yams with spices, pumpkin and squash stews, broiled veggies, rutabaga mash, rhubarb pie, steamed clams and mussels, truffle pasta

LIE: feta on bread with honey drizzle, greek yogurts with fresh cut fruit, fresh mozzarella over chicken salad, gyro, lamb rotisserie, shawarma, collared greens, pan fried seafood, steamed fish with lemon, carrot salad, pickled veggies, kefir, rice pudding

SEA: seafood buffet cooked every which way, skyr, salmon and haddock boiled with potatoes, dried seafood on bread, mutton soup, rice pudding, clear broth, veggie stew, mashed potatoes

[nymphadorathetemplar]

10 people you want to know better

tagged by : @wickfur @hiromiikunn

Relationship status:

never dated nor married

Favourite colours:

blues & oranges & black/white/grey-scale

Favourite foods:

Korean & Japanese cuisine, Asian or French style confections (i can't stand super cane sugary american sweets and high fructose corn syrup, i like light, creamy, and honey like sweets), potatoes

Song stuck in my head:

so many, i have an infinity radio playing in my head since the day i was born collecting more and more songs the longer i live. currently; a majority of the repeats are Vivid BAD SQUAD songs and/or covers

Last thing googled:

mousou dairinin

Time:

14:12

Dream trip:

no thanks. but if i had to travel somewhere i guess i like Japan, especially the classic Kyoto tourist attractions. or Edinburgh castle in the capital of Scotland.

Last thing read:

these questions. last story read; Project Sekai Colorful Stage (feat. Hatsune Miku) Scramble Fan Festival event episodes

Last book enjoyed reading:

Re-reading once again A Study in Scarlet (probably my fave Sherlock Holmes adventure) Last book enjoyed reading that wasn't a re-read; The Iskari Trilogy by Kristen Ciccarelli, read it all at once so it counts as one book for me

Favourite things to cook/bake:

idk probably pancakes, french toast, omurice

Favourite craft to do in free time:

whatever inspiration hits in the moment

Most niche dislike:

idk what's considered niche or not; having to rank my faves or pick a single "best/most favourite" i don't like having to quantify and decide precisely which makes me more happy. i only have broad categories of; 1) Fave! serotonin~ 2) Enjoyed would do/read/watch again 3) Fun but not doing/reading/watching that again 4) no thanks (for this same reason i don't rate shows/books on numerical scoring scale, such as MAL)

Opinion on circuses: never been because fuck animal cruelty i personally am creeped out by clown aesthetics and don't care to be around them (the clowns themselves are usually nice people tho) otherwise, the people who willingly perform, i think it's very impressive and cool to watch from clips of tricks i've seen online or how it's depicted in movies

Sense of direction?

almost always the designated navigator for my group when going out. like a video game map that starts out blank and fills in areas you explore, my mind makes an overview image as i move. and i mentally mark a few spots that i can return to like a homing pigeon. no matter how many turns i take i remember the compass direction of the mentally marked location.

Tagging: idk just claim i tagged you if you want to do it (seriously feel free to @ mention this blog if you do it, i like reading various answers but it's troublesome to think of others to tag and i'm lazy)

[love-takes-work]

THE “OH MY GOD I CAN’T BELIEVE SHE ACTUALLY WENT THERE” COLLECTION

These are the recipes that I had to invent something weird, come up with a bizarre solution, or go to unusual lengths to make a Steven Universe dish. Photo evidence of kitchen weirdness after the jump. List of recipes:

Three-Way Sub from “Say Uncle”

Clams, Peanut Butter, and a Side of Fresh-Cut Grass from “Bluebird”

Crystal Lizards from “Lion 2: The Movie”

Donut Box from “Sadie Killer”

Everything Pizza from “What’s Your Problem”

Pizza Bagel & Fantastic Fries from “Restaurant Wars”

Gem Harvest from “Gem Harvest,” including 3-tier Wedding Cake

Off Colors Graduation Cake from “Little Graduation”

Alien Thorax from “Jungle Moon”

Jungle Moon Fruit from “Jungle Moon”

Korean Lunch from “Steven’s Dream”

Pizza Burrito from “Bismuth”

Cool Kids Potluck from “The Good Lars”

Giant Strawberry from the strawberry battlefields seen in “Serious Steven”

Together Forever cake from “Together Forever”

Zoo Fruit from “The Zoo”

Three-Way Sub from “Say Uncle”: I baked an actual three-prong bread that didn’t even properly fit in my oven. It is all one piece and homemade from yeast rise to egg wash.

Clams, Peanut Butter, and a Side of Fresh-Cut Grass from “Bluebird”: I don’t eat clams (or any seafood) so I made clam-shaped CANDY. The shells are banded white chocolate painted on the inside with white chocolate, made from a mold, and the insides are homemade vanilla cremes. I also bought edible easter grass. (It exists.)

Crystal Lizards from “Lion 2: The Movie”: These are homemade from scratch white chocolate lizards dusted with sprinkles and green rock candy for the crystals!

Donut Box for the Cool Kids from “Sadie Killer”: Yes, I made multiple different donut recipes (plus jelly donuts) and even a Dog-Nut to put this box together. Donuts are from scratch, all of them.

Everything Pizza from “What’s Your Problem”: Since (again) I don’t eat fish, I made a fish out of BREAD in a special fish-shaped pan and also made fake sardines and fake shrimp from tofu cut into shapes, in addition to all those other ridiculous toppings. The pizza is also made from scratch--the dough is homemade.

Restaurant Wars food from “Restaurant Wars”: Yes, I got ketchup inside the fries. Yes, it was super messy. No, I don’t recommend it.

The entire Gem Harvest from “Gem Harvest”: My friends helped me make the whole feast, and it’s a homemade chicken, corn on the cob, homemade mashed potatoes, homemade bean casserole, homemade yeast rolls from scratch, and I made an entire three-tier wedding cake from scratch including frosting and white chocolate spouses, because of course I did. The cake was chocolate on the bottom tier, lemon in the middle, vanilla on the top.

Four-tier Graduation Cake from “Little Graduation”: Yep, four chocolate cakes with three layers and three kinds of homemade frosting, plus fondant models I made of the Off Colors and cake accents made of fondant or specialty paper.

Alien Thorax from “Jungle Moon”: Made of a Tofurky Roast and legs made of plantains, with a pretty disgusting purple gravy.

Jungle Moon Fruit from “Jungle Moon”: This giant pear thing is a complicated cake flavored with ube flavoring and sugar plum extract. I made it in a sports ball cake pan and created my own vegetarian mirror glaze for the frosting. The stem is a stick of licorice candy.

Korean Lunch from “Steven’s Dream”: This consisted of Korean sushi (gimbap), noodle soup (naengmyeon), dumplings (mandu), and pickled radish (danmuji). I made the gimbap from scratch and bought all the ingredients from a local Asian market, but I must admit the naengmyeon was from a noodle pack (which I added my own ingredients to, like the egg, the fake bacon for beef, and the korean pear), and the dumplings were frozen and steamed to softness.

Pizza Burrito from “Bismuth”: Pizza was made from scratch, and burrito was added with potato chips sprinkled on top. Rolled into large burrito and later eaten in slices because I cannot eat it baby bird style like Amethyst.

Cool Kids Potluck from “The Good Lars”: I made the Snack Sushi (avocado and cheese puff sushi), which itself was an endeavor, and then on top of that I customized my soda, made Fish Stew Pizza boxes for pizza (I used frozen pizza this time), and managed to gather the exotic fruit--no small task considering one of them was the famously smelly durian. (The others are a pineapple and a dragonfruit.) The episode does not include them actually preparing and eating the fruit but I did that too.

Giant Strawberry from “Serious Steven” and others: I made a strawberry cake from real strawberries and made it look like a giant strawberry from the fields. The frosting and the chocolate seeds were all homemade too, with mint leaves grown in my kitchen.

Together Forever cake from “Together Forever”: Made with real strawberry batter swirled into vanilla batter, and homemade frosting in three colors. I’m not very good at piping so this was a big deal for me to make a replica of Steven’s ill-fated proposal cake.

Zoo Fruit from “The Zoo”: This is a vegetarian recipe that isn’t jello. Made with agar-agar, water, and juice, they turn firm after several hours of refrigeration.

(Some not-pictured honorable mentions that were weird and required creativity but weren’t particularly difficult or impressive include Guacola from “Drop Beat Dad,” birthday cakes and a pie for the Gems from “So Many Birthdays,” the pizzas Bixbite prepared in “Guidance,” homemade cereal I created for cereal dust in “Greg the Babysitter” and fruit loops in “In Dreams,” homemade Chaaaaps from “Monster Buddies,” a cloud made of meringues because Amethyst ate some cloud in “Steven the Sword Fighter,” good old Cookie Cats from “Gem Glow,” corndogs from “Too Short to Ride,” marshmallows from several episodes, durian juice, Fish Stew Pizza, the breadsticks and shrimp appetizer from “Fusion Cuisine,” Lion Lickers, mooncakes mentioned in “Little Graduation,” homemade onion rings from “Garnet’s Universe,” homemade oyster crackers for Sadie, Amethyst’s pile of food from “Reformed,” protein bars and pine tea from “Gem Hunt,” pumpkin bread shaped like a pumpkin and the ube roll from “The Good Lars,” and Amethyst’s gross tuna burrito from “So Many Birthdays.”)

This kind of crap is why no one can think of something I haven’t made

[iwillhaveamoonbase]

Love at First Bite

Rayla is taken by a client to eat at the Italian-Korean fusion place in town and falls in love with the food, and later, the chef.

-------------------------------------------------

Rayla smiled at her client as they waited for their server to come.  Her boss had told her that they had to keep the contract with the client’s company no matter what, and if that meant going to a Korean-Italian fusion restaurant that would probably be too spicy for Rayla’s Scottish, fried-food-loving taste buds, so be it.  The client, Ms. Danvers, had been hyping the restaurant up all evening.  “You said you like potatoes?  This place as amazing kimchi-style potatoes and potato pancakes.”

Rayla nodded.  “My grandmother is Irish and there are always potatoes cooking in her house.”  Rayla subtly looked around the dining room. The walls were mostly white with a few panels a beautiful red.  There was artwork on the walls, ranging from sceneries to portraits.  They all looked to be done by the same artist but Rayla couldn’t place a name to them.  The air was warm and smelled of spices and herbs and cheese.  Rayla could see a row of cheeses on one of the shelves.  “Do they use a lot of cheese here?”

“Korean food pairs wonderfully with cheese.  There’s a rumor that all the vegetables here are from the local farmer’s market as are most of the cheeses.  It’s fusion, but it’s as domestic as possible, too.”

“You’ve really been talking this place up.”

Ms. Danvers flushed.  “It’s my favorite restaurant.  I come here for lunch once a week and get take-away whenever I’m having a bad day.  This place is known for Korean-Italian fusion, but they make a delicious Thai laksa and a vegetarian Tom Yum that is to die for.”

“Really?”  Rayla didn’t know that much about Asian food, but she knew that Tom Yum was common in Thai eateries.

“The chef is a quarter-Thai and a quarter-Korean, his grandparents being from Thailand and South Korea.  He knows the flavors well and plays with them, but when he goes authentic, he’s the best in town.  He will also make almost any dish vegetarian if you request it.”

“How accommodating.”

A server came up, a smile on their face.  “Good evening and welcome to Sarai’s Place.  Any wine to start this evening?”  Rayla shook her head, surprised when Ms. Danvers asked for Thai iced tea for the both of them.  “And what can I get started for you?”

“Ms. Burrows?”

Rayla looked down at the menu again.  “Hmm.  I’m not sure what to get.  I don’t have a very high spice tolerance.”

The server nodded.  “Scale of 1 to 10?”

“Maybe a three.”

“Do you like kimchi?”

“Never had it.”

“Then I recommend trying the kimchi potatoes, if you like potatoes, or the risotto, which features chopped kimchi, sesame oil, and garlic.  The chef makes two kinds of kimchi, one mild and one spicy, so he’ll use the mild for you.  For the main dish, if you enjoy cheese, a pasta dish that has mussels, a Korean chili paste and tomato sauce, and fresh parmesan.  Everything that can be local, is local and if you eat vegetarian, the mussels will be taken out and instead you will get mushrooms.”

“My grandmother is Irish so I’m very snobbish with my potatoes.”

“I would rate his potato pancakes a ten.  He takes the traditional Korean recipe and adds parmesan cheese and some rosemary and its cooked with the house chili oil, so when you cut into it, it’s cheesy and subtly spicy.  The house chili oil is made with both gochugaru and the type of dried chilis usually used to make olio di peperocino.”

“I’ll go with the pancakes and the mussels pasta you suggested.”

“Excellent choice.  And for you?”

Ms. Danvers smiled.  “Did he make Tom Yum or laksa today?”

“Laksa.”

“I will take a bowl of laksa while Ms. Burrows is eating her pancakes and I will also take the mussels pasta.  Can we also get an order of garlic bread?”

“Of course.  I’ll get your Thai iced teas ready.  Anything else today?”

“What’s the dessert of the week?”

“Since it’s summer, mango pudding, Thai coconut pudding, and strawberry-lime cheesecake.”

“We’ll each take a slice of the strawberry-lime cheesecake.”  The server nodded and walked away after reading back the list.  “I hope you don’t mind me ordering dessert for you, but he only makes that cheesecake when the strawberries are in their peak season and it’s worth it.”

Rayla nodded.  “No problem, Ms. Danvers.  I wouldn’t really know what to order otherwise.”

They chatted while they waited, pausing when the garlic bread came to the table.  Rayla had been expecting the kind of garlic bread Americans seemed to adore, buttery and almost artificially garlic-y.  Instead, they got small, fresh loaves that had pieces of roasted garlic and thyme baked into it, served with the house chili oil and garlic that had been cooked until it spread like butter on the bread.  Rayla was impressed with the flavor and how the pieces of garlic were not overpowering.

When the potato pancakes came, Rayla could smell the spice but trusted the server had not led her astray, eyeing her glass of Thai iced tea just in case.  One bite and she was in heaven.  The cheese and the heat from the chili only enhanced the potato flavor as did the light smattering of soy sauce and vinegar-based sauce.  Rayla almost ignored Ms. Danvers when the pasta came, inhaling the dish.  At the end of the meal, once the excellent cheesecake had been finished, Rayla was in love with the food.  “Well, Ms. Danvers, I suppose I should be thanking you for introducing me to my new favorite restaurant.”

Ms. Danvers chuckled.  “It’s good, isn’t it?”

“I would marry the chef in a heartbeat if I got to eat like this every day for the rest of my life.”

-----------------------------

Rayla brought all her clients and her coworkers to Sarai’s Place in the following months.  She tried almost everything on the menu, though she was still mildly terrified of the spiciness of the laksa if the smell alone was anything to go by.  Every Monday and Thursday, she got take-away and ordered the dessert whenever she ate in on Saturdays.  She was thankful she was single or else she would have to come here every week with someone and she liked dining alone in the quiet restaurant.

Sometimes, they played classical music, other times K-pop, and Rayla would always remember the night they had played an opera medley when several people with the Katolis Opera Company had dined that night.  The chef seemed keenly aware of who came to his restaurants at what dates and times and played music to fit their tastes but also made sense with the theme.

It was a popular spot with not only Foodies and high school kids, but a lot of Asian-Americans dined there.  Rayla had looked up the reviews and had seen it was highly recommended by the Katolis Korean and Thai communities, the Katolis restaurant circles, and the Commission for the Promotion of Local Ingredients and Farmer’s Markets.  No one said anything bad about Sarai’s Place without at least ten people defending the restaurant’s choices.

And now Rayla was sitting with her boss, Ahling Patel, and having to stop herself from inhaling the food in front of her.  The risotto was so satisfying and paired with chicken breast stuffed with kimchi, perilla, and ricotta.  “What do you think, Mr. Ahling?”

“It’s delicious.  I’ve always felt that fusion was a gimmick, but I’m sold by this young man’s food.  Young lady,” Ahling called the server, smiling good-naturedly when she nodded at him and finished up with her current customer.  When she came up to their table, she greeted them again.  “Is there anyway we can speak to the chef?”

The server blinked before nodding.  “I’m sure I can arrange it.  Dinner service is almost over and there are only you and two other tables.  Can I bring you dessert while I’m talking to him?”

“What do you recommend?”

“Our pastry chef made yakgwa, which are little honey pastries made with pine nuts, ginger, and sesame oil and they also made a yuja polenta cake and a play on Italian lemon cake, but with yuja.”

Rayla ordered the yakgwa and Ahling got the polenta cake and waited for the news.  Rayla couldn’t recall having ever seen the chef even though she came there at least twice a week, closer to three.  She hadn’t seen any pictures of him, either, surprisingly enough.  He was said to keep to himself and shunned the limelight, which is why he never made TV appearances.

A few minutes later, it wasn’t their server, but a man who looked be about 26 arriving with their desserts.  His green eyes were striking, as were his cheekbones and sharp jawline.  He gave them both an awkward smile as Rayla noticed his ring finger was bare and didn’t seem to have a tan line.  Was this the chef?  His coat would seem to say so.  “Nice to meet you both.  I’m Callum Evans, the owner and executive chef here at Sarai’s Place.”

Ahling smiled.  “It’s nice to meet you, young man.  I’m Ahling Patel and this is my employee, Rayla Burrows.”  Rayla nodded her head in acknowledgement.  “Your food is delicious.  How on Earth do you even think of this?”

The young man flushed, looking down at his feet.  “Um, I’m not that special.  Many people before me found that Korean and Italian food go well together.  Most of my recipes are riffs on family recipes and all my Thai dishes are family recipes.  I was originally going to go traditional Korean or Thai but there were no fusion places in the area and I’m part Irish and German on top of being a quarter-Thai and a quarter-Korean.  It felt…right, I guess.  I’m mixed and grew up with a variety of food cultures in my house, so why not do fusion?  Korean and Italian just made the most sense, so…”  He looked embarrassed at the praise, rubbing the back of his neck.

Rayla leaned forward a bit.  “I’ve eaten here at least twice week for the past six months.  I can tell you, without a doubt, it’s my favorite place to eat.”

“Thank you.”

Ahling cleared his throat.  “Are you single, Mr. Evans?”

Callum flushed even deeper.  “Ah.  Yes.  Being a chef requires long hours and running a restraint requires even more.”

“You need a good partner to help you find balance in your life!”

Rayla remained quiet as she watched them talk.  The only thing going through her mind was ‘I’m going to marry this man for his food.  I’ll eat well for the rest of my life.’  She stayed when Ahling said good night and while the restaurant emptied out.  Callum stayed at the table, fidgeting under her gaze.  “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“A date.”

Callum blinked.  “We have a sticky rice made with dates-”

“No.  A romantic excursion.  An outing.”

He gulped, looking her up and down.  “A date?  Really?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I fell in love with your food almost immediately after I tasted it and would like the chance to know the man who cooks it.”

Callum blushed.  “OK.”  They exchanged info and Rayla smirked as she left with his number in her cellphone.  There was no way she would be letting this one go.

------------------------------------------

After four months of dating, Rayla could confidently say that she was now just as in love with Callum the man as she was with his cooking.  Learning that his restaurant was named after his mother who died when he was in high school had endeared him to her, as had the knowledge that all the art on the walls were his paintings.  Was there anything he couldn’t do?

They were currently in Callum’s kitchen, him developing a new recipe while Rayla took down notes for him.  Even on his days off, he was always thinking about what he would do next and Rayla admired his passion to his craft.  When he brought her up to try the dish, she groaned.  “I will marry this man if it’s the last thing I do,” she muttered.

“I can hear you, you know,” Callum chuckled.

Rayla raised a brow.  “Then why haven’t you accepted my proposal?”

“Because you proposed to my food?”

“I hardly see the difference.”  Callum laughed at her, shaking his head.  “Hey, move in with me.”

“We’ve been together for four months.”

“Is that a problem?  Too short?”

Callum stared at her.  “You’re serious.”

“I told you; I fully plan on marrying you to eat your cooking ‘til the day I die.”

“So, it’s my cooking you love?”

“When have I hidden this?”  Rayla reached for his hand, pulling him closer.  “I’m serious.  Move in with me.”

“Why?”

Rayla shrugged.  “I’m happy when we wake up next to each other.  I like the idea of coming home to you or you coming home to me.  I don’t like sleeping alone, and, for the past month, the two of us have been alternating sleeping at each other’s places and it doesn’t make sense to pay rent on two places when we could be happy together?”

“That and I’m the only person willing to put up with your stubborn ass.”

Rayla gave him a mock offended looking, giving his arm a playful smack.  “You love my stubborn ass.”

“I do.”  Callum leaned down and captured her lips, letting her taste the dish he had been working on for the past hour.  When they pulled apart, he looked down into her eyes with his bright green ones.  “I think I love you.”

“That’s good, because I think I love you, too.”

Rayla would take that for now.  And in two years, when she would be standing next to him in front of their new house, matching rings on their fingers, and a very pregnant belly, she would remind him that he had his food to thank for their relationship.  “I fell in love with your food first.”

“I’m glad you did, because you kept coming back.”

“Lucky you.”

“Lucky me.”