Gochujang Udon

Mom created something new (at least to me) yesterday for my dinner. She used gochujang, chili powder, soup stock, enoki mushrooms, seaweed, tofu and made Gochujang Udon! It was so good, I am having it again tonight!

I took pictures of the gochugang and chili powder I purchased from Sol Mart. There were 2 types of chili powder. One is mildly spicy and the other is more spicy. Being the adventurous type (at least when it comes to spices), I chose the more spicy version. At SGD$13.90 for 200 grams of chili powder, it was really expensive! For gochugang, there are a few varieties to choose from. In the end, I decided to get the one with no MSG. I think I paid $15.90 for a 1kg tub.
You can also buy the chili powder from Scotts Isetan's basement supermarket. They are selling it at SGD$4.00 per 100 grams. Much more civilized compared to what I paid for!

We're having a mini Korean party next Tuesday! Mom will make the spicy rice cakes again! Can't wait! ^^

苦守寒窑十八年

非常喜欢萧闳仁的这首"王宝钏苦守寒窑十八年"。

最喜欢的歌词是：
我身骑白马走三关
改换素衣回中原
我在梦中找无你
我的心已经跟你去
不知影何时返来我身边
已经不在

中原地区的人自称是汉人，而把中原地区的左边称为「番邦」，这个歌曲里所说的「西凉」就是被当时的汉人称为「番邦」。王宝钏的丈夫～～薛平贵，年轻的时候去当兵，留下太太宝钏苦守寒窑十八年。

薛平贵后来变成大将军，可是在和西凉国的时候被抓了，本来是要被杀死的，但是西凉国的公主很喜欢他，要嫁给他，所以薛平贵就变成「驸马爷」了，后来还掌理西凉国。可是他心系中原的家庭，想著中原的太太，於是从西凉，穿著素衣，身骑白马，过三关，回到中原。寻访苦守寒窑十八年的王宝钏。

Korean Spicy Rice Cakes

When we visited Seoul last year, we tried deokbokki, which is spicy stir fried rice cakes. The ones in Seoul that we tried were spicy and yet sweet and we didn't really like it very much. It was nice, but I won't eat a whole plate of it!

When shopping at Sol Mart on Sunday, we bought a packet of instant deokbokki. You just had to add water and cook. It was nice but at $7.30 a packet, just a tad expensive. What to do, we have to make our own if we want to have it regularly!

I found a recipe from My Korean Kitchen and asked my mom if she'd try making it. She said okay and I bought Gochujang sauce, a packet of rice cakes and chili powder from Sol Mart.

Mom tried the recipe yesterday and I am posting the result here. Mom tweaked the recipe a bit by adding button mushrooms and kimchi and more chili powder. It was very very nice! I think the main reason was that my mom's version is a lot more spicier than what we had in Seoul.

I love the ones my mom made and I will ask her to make them again really soon!

Where We Do What We Do

Found this site Where We Do What We Do when I was dropping by Moop. What a cool idea! The site allows you to post a picture of your workspace and I am posting mine here. My office is not much but I make it as cosy as I can! I am just glad I am not stuck in one of those typical office cubicles. I get the wall to decorate and as you can see, I placed a board and also put up some of my favorite photos and movie posters and stuff.

Bread Party

We hold bread parties once every 2 months or so and yesterday, we had one. We finished the leftovers today. Each of us will bring something to contribute to the party. I usually provide the cheese, the pasta sauce and the bread. Somebody else will buy the ham, the sausages, vegetables, salad dressing, mustard, garlic spread, butter and desserts.

Have you tried Pasta de Waraku? We love their mini salads! They used to give it to you for free if you order a main course but not anymore. When asked, our waitress told us that some people left their salads untouched and they felt that it was wasteful. Now, they will provide the mini salads only if you order a special set.

Since then, YS has been trying to find a salad dressing close to the one we enjoyed on the Waraku mini salads and yes, she found something very similiar!

The QP Wafu Salad Dressing! Buy it from Cold Storage or Isetan Supermarket! We ate a lot of salad during the bread party! Everyone loves the salad dressing!

Dutch Door Press

Checking out the handmade wares on Etsy is what I do almost on a daily basis. Etsy is disastrously addicting! You don't have to buy anything, browsing alone is also fun! I came across the Dutch Door Press while browsing and they have great looking letterpressed cards! Very colorful and striking. I love love love paper products and it is a joy to look at their creations. Take a look and enjoy!

Dutch Door Press.

Simple Sewing

I was trying to make a simple coaster yesterday. Everything was fine at first. I measured the fabric, cut it and folded it and pressed it. All I needed to do was sew it up with the sewing machine. While I was finishing up the last side of the coaster, the sewing machine's needle broke! I felt the broken part of the needle hit my face. I supposed I was lucky it wasn't my eye it hit!

I gave up after that and went to stamp a panda on my completed coaster.