Oh Happy Day!

Yes, this picture pretty much captures my joy and excitement at being back in Korea! I'm here in Seoul for just one week to get my Thai work visa processed and to spend time with some dear friends who I've missed so much! Food, friends, and weather 15 degrees cooler than Chiang Mai... what else can I ask for?

As soon as I got off the plane, I hopped on the train to get into Seoul, and instantly started taking pictures of evvvvverything!

I don't speak much Korean, but I love being able to read some signs! Above is a pharmacy, pronounced "yak," which I know must come from Chinese, because it's "yaa" in Thai, so I assume they have the same root. Yeah, yeah, boring side note you may say, but I'm so into languages, and every time I learn more about one, it enhances the way I learn about another one. I'm fascinated!

A typical kimbab restaurant. Open 24 hours a day, usually just about $1.50 per roll (rice and veggies rolled inside a sheet of seaweed, and sliced into little rounds). I felt a little like a tourist, taking pictures of all these everyday sights. But the truth is, it feels so good to be back here, and I just want to capture the things that make me know I'm back in Korea and cause me to smile. Thailand has bits of Korea all over the place (K-Pop playing in the mall, influences from Korean fashion, Thai girls talking about how cute Korean guys are, some Korean restaurants, tourists who are unmistakably Korean, etc.), so this country and all the great memories I have are never far from my mind. I knew I missed Korea, but it wasn't until I was plopped squarely back in that I realized how great it would feel to be back!

This week I'm staying with my friend Mipa, vegan baker/blogger/businesswoman extraordinaire. (Click here to see her blog, or here to see or order from her online vegan bakeshop.) She gave me a warm welcome back to Seoul, taking me on an outing around her neighborhood to see the markets and have lunch at a vegan buffet. Here's just one of the market stalls selling fresh veggies.

The Chinese market had these fun-shaped steamed buns.  Yummm.

Here's the vegan buffet restaurant we went to: Ahn Hyun Pil Healthy Buffet. (Check this page on Mipa's blog for location and info.)

It normally costs 9,000 Korean Won per person, for all you can eat, which is a pretty good price. But we had a special "welcome back to Korea" discount. As we were walking to the restaurant, I happened to notice some colorful pieces of paper ruffling on the sidewalk - 7,000 Won! So we put that money towards our bill and each only had to pay 5,500 Won (about $5) - woot woot!

This was my first plate of food, with our shared plate of greens, cabbage, seaweed and add-ons like fermented natto bean paste and some vinegary soy beans. Everything was so fresh and simple and natural. Nice hardy purple rice, different kinds of kim chi (cold cabbage, baked cabbage, radish), mushrooms, mountain greens, tofu, and jeon (kind of like a thin savory pancake).

I realllly missed kim chi. And the stuff served here was certainly not a let down. I have to say that everything on my plate was super flavorful.

And fun too! I liked wrapping some tofu or wheat-meat along with rice and natto bean paste inside the leaves. And not only did we both go back for second plates...

... but we got a little dessert of warm bread with a sweet and nutty spread, sprinkled with soybean powder.

It was pretty good, but Mipa and I are planning to make our own homemade bread soon. We've already made a few meals together, and man, I am lovin' it! This was our scrumptious dinner that night (which I just watched Mipa make, hehe): curried veggies and tempeh, brown/purple/wild rice and kim (sheets of salted seaweed).

And for breakfast we made these awesome oatmeal banana pancakes (recipe on this blog site):

With fruit and tea on the side, eaten outside on Mipa's sunny patio, it was a great start to my second day in Seoul!

Sweet & Salty - Take 3

One day I made some black bean hummus in the morning using a one-pound package of dried black beans. I couldn't believe how much soaking and boiling it took to soften up those babies. So when I decided to make a last-minute pot of chili for an event later in the day (which I didn't end up going to!), I had no time for soaking. I ran to the grocery store and bought 3 cans of beans and a can of diced tomatoes. (I know I posted about chili the other day, but wait for it, the chili is just half of the pair....)

Leeks and a whole head (there were a lot of beans!) of garlic to start with, simmering in olive oil.

Then I added the can of tomatoes, which took awhile to break down. Next time I make chili, I'll use crushed tomatoes, or just finely chop up some fresh ones.

While that was steaming away, I picked out some spices to add. No measuring here, I basically just guess, and so far, I haven't had a chili turn out not delicious. My method of estimation is to picture how much of each I would add if it were just one can of beans, and then multiply by however many cans I'm using. This may go against conventional cooking wisdom, but I usually err on the side of adding too much flavor!

Black pepper, smoked paprika, basil, cumin, celery seeds, chili powder, parsley.  Fortunately the spice shelf is racked here - no time to harvest from the herbs on the deck today! After the tomatoes looked pretty well cooked down, I added all the beans and let it cook for over an hour.

After smelling the chili cook on the stove all that time, my appetite for savory/salty/spicy was pretty much full! So I gave the chili to the fam and pressed onward over the stove for something else I was craving...  I'll give you a hint: it went perfectly with this jar of natural sweetness:

Here's what it looked like while cooking:

No, not a mouth-less pimpled doll face. Banana Walnut Vegan Pancakes!

I honestly can't remember the last time I had pancakes... and they probably weren't vegan.  So this dairy-free egg-free batch was my dinner that night. I ate two big slightly-fluffy pancakes laden with melting bananas and chunks of walnuts, dressed with 100% sweet Pennsylvania maple syrup!

Needless to say, I didn't need any dessert after this dinner.  But, an hour later, while watching some Dog Whisperer on TV, I heated up some corn tortillas...

.. and sprinkled them with lime and salt!

Whether it's salty followed by sweet, or sweet followed by salty, this duo delivers on satisfaction.

For the pancakes, I used an incredibly easy recipe from this website. Only six ingredients; no need to have eggs on hand!

5-Minute Vegan Pancakes

1 cup flour

1 Tbsp sugar (I actually used 3/4 Tbsp agave instead*)

2 Tbsp baking powder (you can use less if you want)

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup soy milk *

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Mix up the dry ingredients. Add agave (in my case), vegetable oil and soy milk; mix.

Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto an oiled griddle or frying pan. Add your choice of fruit, nuts, or other fillings. Flip over when you see bubbles forming in the middle of the pancake, or when the edges start to get stiffened.

*The general rule when substituting agave for sugar is to use 2/3 to 3/4 of the amount called for in sugar, and to reduce the liquid in the recipe by 1/4 to 1/3. So I started with 3/4 cup of soy milk in the batter, but it was too thick, so I ended up adding almost 1/4 of soy milk, just about bringing it back to amount called for.  I guess ctually didn't reduce the amount of soy milk I used in the recipe. 3/4 Tbsp of agave is really not a significant amount of liquid to add to pancake batter.

Of course, you can add any special flavors to your pancakes that you want: cinnamon and apple pieces, blueberries or other fruits, chocolate chips, shredded coconut, pecans.... The batter is your canvas!