We are Back!!!

Having been away from my beloved HelloHallyu blog for almost four years, I now return to a Korean entertainment scene that has not only evolved dramatically, to say the least, but also to a new era where a new generation of new stars and Kpop groups have emerged.  I am definitely looking forward to sharing with you my views and thoughts about the efforts and achievements of these new artistes in furthering the reach of the Hallyu wave.  That said, I am heartened to see that veteran artistes are going as strong today as they were in 2010.

Despite the long absence, where our daughter came along (in 2010), I have maintained my love for all things Korean.  Indeed, rarely a day goes by without me coming into contact with something Korean.  Be it food, music or drama, I continue to get my "K-fix" as often as I can.  If anything is to go by, there's is always a punnet of Korean strawberries in my overloaded refrigerator.  Hmmmm, I still wonder how Korean farmers manage to grow such sweet strawberries throughout the year.

Anyway, I really have to thank the drama My Love from Another Star for rekindling my passion to once again post here and share my thoughts about all the things I love about the Korean culture and entertainment.  

My Love from Another Star

So, here I go again!  Sit back and enjoy the ride!

Food Review: Kobayashi Hangul

What would cheer up a pair of wet, sodden and cold couple who's into Korean stuff? Well, a nice hot Korean meal would certainly hit the spot. Yesterday, as we trudged along the rain soaked Somerset Road to Cathay Cineleisure, our sole aim being collecting our tickets for the movie "My Girlfriend is An Agent", we decided that a nice hot meal would be a great way to start off the evening.

None of the food places caught our fancy since they are mostly the run of the mill foodcourt stalls, fastfood restaurants and the franchised Japanese restaurants. By this time, we were ready to tuck into anything that will satiate our growling tummies when we chanced upon a resturant by the name of Kobayashi Hangul.

Upon closer inspection of the restaurant's menu, we were happy to realise that it served both Korean and Japanese food. What better way to start off the evening than to have a Korean themed dinner before catching a Korean movie.

Scanning through the menu, I decided to try their barbequed chicken hotplate with kimchi set while Yupgi ordered a seafood kimchi jigae set.

Yupgi's seafood kimchi jigae in the background and my barbequed chicken kimchi hotplate is in the foreground.

Presentation wise is 'ok'. Taste wise is really disappointing.

The food looked not too bad when I collected it from the counter, the restaurant being a self-styled 'fastfood' Korean/Japanese  restuarant. However, we were both sorely disappointed when we started eating.

Having eaten Korean dishes from various places, foodcourt stalls to expensive restaurants, the food at Kobayshi Hangul is really poor. My grilled chicken tasted just liked a plate of chicken that have been stirred fried with kimchi. It doesn't taste anything like the Korean food that I have eaten at other places. If Korean food is simple adding kimchi to the recipe, than this  restaurant would have passed with flying colours. Needless to say, I didn't enjoy the substandard quality of the this dish.

Yupgi shared my disappointment with her jigae. Her 'stew'was simply a mis-mash of kimchi (again), seafood, and fish fillet (those you find in Macdonald's fill-o-fish). Simply put, it doesn't taste like anything that a respectable Korean would serve on their dining table.

On a scale of 10, the food we had is simple a poor rating of 4. The only saving grace for this place, if we can even consider it as such, is its rather reasonable pricing, ranging from S$5+ to around S$8 per item. However, given the poor food quality, this would be the first and the last time I ever eat at this restaurant.

Makkoli

Without a doubt soju one of the cultural icons of Korea. It helps when almost all dramas include a scene, or many, showing Koreans toasting each other with a shot of this iconic drink poured from the by now classic green bottle from Jinro, if the brand can be seen in the first place.

While I am not much of a wine/liquor connoisseur, I know that soju holds a special place in the Korean society. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised when I happened to catch a short clip on Singapore's Channelnewsasia showing the other Korean drink - makkoli.

Distinctly different from the soju, makkoli is a cloudy white rice wine which was commonly consumed by Korean farmers after a hard day's labour. This drink is apparently good for the health and is gaining popularity amongst Koreans and further afield in Japan.

Although I have this large unopened bottle of Jinro's soju in my larder, courtesy of my recent trip to Korea, I am more than game to head down to the supermarket to get myself, a 'packet' of makkoli off the shelves. Yep, it comes in packets!

Will post about my experience with makkoli once I try it, provided that I stay sober enough to put up a post. :)

Jajangmyun with an Italian twist

Most readers would know by now that we at HelloHallyu, love our Korean food as much as the dramas. Over the years, we have experimented, with some measure of success, in whipping up Korean dishes at home. I guess growing up in families which prepares Chinese food helps a lot since Korean cuisine, being an Asian cuisine, shares certain commonalities in preparation methods and ingredients.

Putting on our aprons again after our adventure in preparing kimchi chigae some months back, we felt a tinge of excitement of the challenge in preparing the almost 'venerable' jajangmyun which is more or less customarily consumed, or should I say "slurped" up, by stars in most Korean dramas.

Our 'journey' on preparing this dish started with the discovery of another Korean supermarket off the beaten track along Bencoolen street. The Shine Korea Supermarket (located at 175, Bencoolen Street, #01-10/11, Burlington Square) is well stocked with all manner of spices, condiments, and foodstuff that would make any Korean happy. It is so well stocked that I wondered why we even bothered lugging loads of Korean goodies back to Singapore from our recent trip there. Our only consolation is that the big bottle of Jinro soju that we bought for US$7 would probably cost 3 times that amount back in Singapore. :)

In the supermarket, we bought ourselves a pack of seaweed snacks, which is absolutely yummy, we also bought a box of Maxim cafe mocha sachets and a box of the black bean sauce/paste, which is the key ingredient for preparing the jajangmyun.

As our fridge are mostly well stocked with fresh greens, we are all ready to cook up a storm! Read on for the ingredients as well as the preparation method. The italian twist comes in the form of using angel hair as the noodles. And trust me, it still tastes great! :)

Jajangmyun (serves around 4
persons)

Ingredients
1 onion
1 medium sized potato
1/2 a
zucchini
1/2 a carrot
200-300gm of minced pork or beef
10 small fresh shitake mushrooms (can also use
the dried ones for more flavour)
Black bean paste - 2 tbsp (add another is
the taste is too bland)
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Rice wine - 1 tbsp
2 cups
of water
Starch water (Mix of starch 2 tbsp +water 2 tbsp)
Noodles/Angel Hair (a type of spaghetti)

Preparation
Rinse the pork
in cold water.
Add the pork marinating sauce onto the pork. Mix them well.
Cut the onion, potato, zucchini and carrot into small cubes.
Cut the
cabbage into medium sized pieces.

Cooking
1. Heat up the
wok.
2. Add some vegetable or olive oil and stir fry the onions, carrots,
mushrooms, zucchini and potato.
3. Add the minced meat and stir fry.
4.
Add the black bean sauce, ensure all the ingredients are properly mixed with the
sauce.
5. Add the starch water into the wok to thicken the
sauce.
6. In a separate pot, cook the noodles.
7. Rinse the noodles in cold water.
8. Put the
noodles into a bowl or large plate.
9. Add the jajang sauce on top of the
noodles.
10. Mix the sauce and the noodles well.
11. Enjoy!