Gingerbread Men & Gimbahp

Last Saturday was a nothing day. A day to sleep in, buy some sweaters, walk around, and procrastinate cleaning. Seriously, some places are so tiny that there is no reason to clean them. Clothes might be all over the place, but as soon as I pick them up, there will be more.

I met Chorong at 12pm on Sunday at Geumjeong station near her family's new house in Gunpo. We walked around outside for a bit, walking in some nice, large, outdoor markets filled with various vendors selling anything from rice cakes and vegetables to seaweed and fish. Not a super big fan of smelly fish, but it smells like that in the grocery stores too. We bought some green stuff from some Ajuma on the street, Gim from the market, and then went to her house to make some gimbahp. Not the Ajuma..but chorong.

Ingredients:

Cooked Rice

Pre-cooked Ham

Processed Fish Patties

Imitation Crab

Green stuff / Sauteed kimchi

Eggs- separated

Yellow Radish strips

Gim

Sesame oil & seeds

Vegetable oil

water

Gimbahp is Korean sushi. They don't eat it with any sauce, and it can be bought for under $1 in many shops, street corners, markets, convenience stores, and/or subway stations. I personally think that there is way to much oil in this recipe, not enough vegetables, and seems to have some unnecessary steps. So, obviously, I would make my own version.

1. Cook rice and season with sesame oil and seeds.

2. Wash and boil green stuff. Rinse, squeeze out water, and season with sesame oil and seeds.

3. Cut pre-cooked ham, processed fish patties, and imitation crab into strips.

4. Boil ham and fish for less than a minute, remove, and drain.

5. Sautee ham and fish in pan using vegetable oil for two minutes.

6. Sautee imitation crab in same pan using more vegetable oil.

7. Separate egg yolk and white, making an omelet of each and cutting them into strips.

***You are now ready to assemble and roll your Gim****

8. Lay a sheet of gim over a bamboo mat.

9. Using a plastic glove, spread rice in a thin layer, covering the gim

10. Place ingredients about one inch from the edge of the gim

11. Carefully fold the gim over the ingredients and firmly squeeze, ensuring that the gim, rice, and ingredients stick together

12. Keeping a firm squeeze, roll the gim and ingredients together to make gimbahp

13. Now using the bamboo mat, roll the roll once more and squeeze with mat

***FINISHED***

That night I went to Jen's house for a gingerbread man decorating party. As usual, her house was nice and toasty. Her house smelled amazing and had nicely arranged place settings, each with gingerbread men, tall and small, as well as a ginger tree and some ginger snowflakes. There were many icings to chose from (red, green, white, pink, brown), and decorations (gum drops, pop rocks, rock candy, m&m's, chocolate chips, and more). We had a nice time together.

Fog/Smog: It's bad!!!! Well, it can get bad anyway. So bad, that you can turn around while your walking, to make sure you made the right turn, and not see behind you. The only reason I made it home from Jeongwang station some nights is just because I've flat out memorized what turns to make!! However, I have also been in Ansan when it is that foggy/smoggy, made a wrong turn, and gotten lost with no lights, cars, or taxis in sight. Never really experienced this before.