Learning How to Make Bulgogi and Kimchi

During my recent trip to Seoul, I signed up to take a beginning Korean cooking class at O'ngo . They offer classes in English, as well as other languages. The day I was there, there was a class in English and one in Japanese.

It was fun. I've been given Korean cookbooks by my Mom in the past, but never really opened. I'm not as good of a cook as my parents. I always get good food when I go home.

Bulgogi is fairly easily. But kimchi is harder. Or at least, I always thought. I have memories from when I was a young kid of my grandmother and parents making large batches of it.




My Dad said he could teach me how to make kimchi. I would like to know how they made it. It would be nice to know my grandmother's kimchi recipe.

I did not taste the kimchi that I made. We ate the instructors. It needed to sit for a day. I left Seoul the day after I took the class. But my Mom and my Aunt Youngmee's family had it. They said it was good - but they are family, they'd kind of have to.

After the class, the guy that helps run the place took us on a food tour of a local market. That was a lot of fun.

Apparently, a lot of restaurants frequent this market. They have all the necessities, including large tubs of red pepper paste. My favorite was the home-made tofu. They were stamped with Korean words. It was very different looking from tofu that comes out of a box.

I had visited another market. It was an outdoor market that had food stalls running up the middle. I grabbed lunch there. It was very crowded, with people huddled around certain stalls. Lining the sides were various restaurants or stalls selling spices, meats, fish, vegetables - you get the picture.  It was very different from the supermarkets, where there are ribbons on the fruit that is sold.

Still, at least these markets were something I could wrap my head around. There's one other way of shopping in Seoul. It's a spin of ordering on the web and having it delivered. You didn't need to go online, per se. In one of the subway stations there were photographs of store shelves - everything from detergent to toilet paper and vegetables to milk. While you're waiting, and you realize you need something, you can scan it with your smart phone. From there it will be delivered to your home. (You do need an account I imagine.). It was a hoot!