Kimchi, Bibimbap, and Metal Chopsticks

Living in Fairfax, Virginia has many advantages. Not only are we close to several metropolitan areas that have great restaurants, we also have a few of our own. Fairfax especially has a great Korean culture (though not as great as neighboring Annandale). So after living here for over four years it was about time we tried Korean for ourselves.

Try 26 New Foods:

1. Bison
2. Ethiopian Food
3. Oysters Rockefeller
4. Shark
5. Escargot
6. Frog legs
7. Chicken and Waffles
8. Hemp Vodka
9. Uni 
10. Beef Tongue
11. Amaranth
12. Bibimbap
13. Kimchi

I discovered Meega Korean BBQ through my close and personal friend, Yelp.com. Otherwise I probably never would have ventured into a restaurant that was in a strip mall next to an abandoned-K-Mart-turned-hooligan-hangout. It was my first time trying Korean, so luckily we were there with a friend who'd had it before. He recommended either the bulgogi or the bibimbap. Having recently entered a phase where I'm obsessed with runny egg yolks, I went with the latter.

Bibimbap is a rice dish usually topped with vegetables, chili paste, sliced meat and a fried egg. You mix the ingredients together before eating and the egg and chili paste create sort of a sauce. Mine was served in a hot stone bowl which kept it hot and delicious throughout the entire meal.

The taste was what I had been hoping for: full of that savory umami flavor. The ingredients are fairly simple on their own- delicious roasted veggies, nice tender beef, rich egg yolk. The chili paste is quite spicy but you can use your own discretion when mixing it in.

I also enjoyed the presentation of the meal which started with the presentation of many sides to share at the table. Most of them were kimchi, which I always thought only applied to cabbage but can apparently mean any fermented vegetable. I will admit that I did not like possibly any of them, but I enjoyed the opportunity to try so many different things. Some were unexpectedly crunchy or cold or hot- we just had no idea what we were trying. And that was half the fun.

If I had one complaint it would be the metal chopsticks! I understand that this is the traditional way to eat Korean food and read up on some reasons- more hygienic; lack of wood in Korea; I even read one article that claimed it started as a way for royalty to know whether their food was poisoned (as certain metals would react to certain poisons). I'm sure it would just take some getting used to, but I found them slippery, hard to use, and adding a slight tang to the food. Not to mention I kept leaving them against my hot stone bowl which meant they were hot when I picked them up again.

All in all I would definitely eat bibimbap again, and perhaps go back to try some other dishes. Although just thinking about all that MSG is making my heart race already.

Meat-Less Mondays: Sriracha Peanut Butter Tofu

Maybe tofu isn't the most carnivore-friendly food for those transitioning into eating less meat. But if you are adventurous enough to try tofu for the first time, this is a great recipe to do it with. The texture of the tofu is crispy and fluffy, and the flavorful sauce would taste good on really anything.

Sriracha Peanut Butter Tofu

(based on this recipe)

Ingredients:
14 oz. extra firm tofu
1 tablespoon peanut oil
4 garlic cloves, sliced lengthwise
Piece of ginger root, sliced
1/4 cup diagonally sliced green onions
2 cups cooked rice

Sauce Ingredients:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons vegetable stock or water
1 tablespoon Sriracha (more or less to taste)

Instructions:
1. Drain and blot the tofu to remove as much water as possible (further instructions here). Cut tofu into lengthwise strips about 1 inch wide.

2. Whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, peanut butter, stock, and then add the Sriracha Sauce. Whisk thoroughly until peanut butter is mostly incorporated.
3. Heat you pan. Then add the peanut oil and heat about 30 seconds more. Add the sliced ginger and garlic and cook just until they are fragrant and slightly golden (about 30 seconds); then remove and discard. 

4. Add tofu pieces to the hot oil. Lower heat to medium high and cook, flipping occasionally, until the tofu is brown on both sides, about 7-8 minutes. 

5. When the tofu is done, add the sauce to the same pan and turn heat to low. Cook until the sauce thickens slightly and coats the tofu. Remove pan from the heat, transfer tofu pieces to a plate and pour sauce over the tofu and the rice. Garnish with green onion slices. Serve immediately.

It was so good I forgot to take a picture before taking a bite: 

White Noise, & Writing from the Sentence Up

You know that feeling you get about an author or from reading the synopsis of a book where you just know you are going to like it? And you know that feeling you get while reading said book where you keep thinking, there's something about this that I love, even though I can't quite put my finger on it? That's how I felt about this book. Somewhat like Tender is the Night, it was a little slow to get through, but there was just something that clicked with me.

(#1) Read 26 Books
1. Firestarter by Stephen King
2.World War Z by Max Brooks
3. Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer
4. Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman
5. A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs
6. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
7. Open House by Elizabeth Berg
8. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
9. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
10. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
11. White Noise by Don DeLillo

We saw Don DeLillo speak at the National Book Festival. Admittedly I had never heard of him before and we were just there waiting for Margaret Atwood to come out (as I will describe in greater detail in my Margaret Atwood entry, coming soon!). But what a firecracker this guy was! In his late seventies, still gallivanting about the country to speak about his novels to readers who were surprisingly enraptured by him.

Many, many people stood up at the microphone (a feat DeLillo himself was unable to do, instead sitting and having a mic held up for him) and testified about how White Noise, Cosmopolis, and Underworld had changed their lives. Seemingly all were able to make clever inside jokes that drew harty laughs from  DeLillo and other fans.

I had to join this world.

So, a few days later at the library, I browsed under Don DeLillo and found White Noise. There was almost no description on the jacket, just a series of pictures that appeared to be about chemical spills and planes crashing. So I picked it up.

One thing I remember DeLillo saying in his interview, which I think really helps explain what this book is like, is that he writes from the sentence up. He has written whole books inspired by one really good sentence.

What this means for his novels is that if you pause and read each sentence slowly, carefully and thoughtfully, you will enjoy some excellent writing. The flip side of course being that this novel took me a really, really long time to read.

Still, I enjoyed the sardonic, almost Vonnegutian (ALMOST being the key word) postmodern humor of this story, centered around Jack Gladney the Hitler expert who doesn't speak German. It's about the modern family, made up of children of different marriages and the scattered trail of ex husbands and wives. Its about chemical spills and technological advances and simulations replacing reality.

Mostly, though, its about death. White Noise deals with death in an obsessive, frank and fascinating way. It acknowledges that death has a way of taking over life. And that none of our technological advances will ever be able to beat it.

Obviously when I say this novel is all about the sentences, I have to produces some examples. So I'll leave you with this one. If you're intrigued, this book is for you.

“I've got death inside me. It's just a question of whether or not I can outlive it.”