Tag Archives: South Korea

Angry Shrimp

Funny story….we thought these shrimp were really ANGRY after we cooked them one night last week. Yes, so much so we thought we had food poisoning from these bad little as$ suckers. No bueno! After a reallllyyyyy rough weekend we Bees are recovering slowly but surly.

I felt like Monday morning came way to fast and way to early today. I picked myself out of bed and went to work all responsible like, only to find out my co-worker came into the office incredibly ill and showing the same symptoms that we had over the weekend. AHH! Attack of the angry shrimp? Nope, he didn’t have any of our angry shrimp. Ohhhh noooo even worse, STOMACH VIRUS! Yep! Ew!

Well now that I’ve been living on toast, tea, slowly transitioning over to soup and graduating onto a grilled cheese sandwich, I think it’s time to share the angry shrimp recipe with all of you. Not to mention that it’s a little victory to even be able to fathom the very thought of anything food related after this weekend.

Pair with a nice cool simple cucumber salad and keep those hands washed!

Enjoy!

Angry Shrimp
Slightly altered from: Epicurious

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons pepitas
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3/4 cup diced white onion
1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped
2 teaspoons chipotle powder
4 teaspoons chopped garlic, divided
1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 cup Triple Sec liqueur
20 ounces low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 pounds medium-large shrimp, peeled and deveined, thawed if frozen
1 tablespoon orange zest
6 cups leafy spinach, chopped
3 cups cooked brown rice

Instructions:

In a small pan over high heat toast the pepitas until lightly brown, 1 to 2 minutes. In a food processor or chopper, puree raisins and 1/4 cup water 1 minute. In a large pan over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add onion and cook about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in raisin puree, cherries, chipotle, 1 teaspoons garlic and cumin; cook 1 minute. Add in Triple Sec and cook, stirring, until alcohol is cooked out about 1 to 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. In a separate bowl, dissolve cornstarch in 1 tablespoons cold water. Slowly add in cornstarch mixture to broth mixture to thicken. Reduce heat and simmer mixture 10 minutes. Add in shrimp and cook about 5 minutes, or until pale white. Stir in fresh orange zest; season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer shrimp to a covered bowl and set aside. Lastly, in a pan, heat remaining 1 tablespoons oil. Cook spinach and 3 teaspoons garlic, make sure to stir until spinach starts to wilt, this will be about 3 to 5 minutes. Strain all spinach juices and combine in with brown rice. Plate rice mixture and top with those angry shrimp.

Backpackbees

Uncle Tomato and Turkey

I know what you are thinking, first what in the world is on that menu? Doesn’t rice ball flying fish spawn sound delightful? Ha-Ha! Second, I’m not really seeing tomatoes, Uncles, or Turkey in these photos. Okay, maybe one tomato in that salad. Hmmm… You’re correct.

The restaurant that I enjoyed a dinner date at with my dear friend Mary is called, Uncle Tomato. The restaurant offers a decent sized menu and quaint atmosphere. You can order anything from pasta, pizza, steaks and salads. There was something for everyone and in Korea that sometimes is the challenge. We kept pondering why didn’t we go here before?

Unfortunately and fortunately Mary and her family are moving to Turkey in the next few days. Now the puzzle pieces are coming together. I say unfortunately because this woman has become a sister to me and the selfish thoughts of loosing her, her friendship, love and family all currently and conveniently within a quick stroll down the road, is going to break my heart. I say fortunately because TURKEY!!! Come onnnnn the food, travel, meditation lifestyle! I’m so there! Making my plans as we speak, of course after I was extended the invite 😉 (Thank you Mary and family!)

More fun and special moments shared….

Not only have I watched these two beautiful children grow, you have too! Can you believe how grown up the are already? It really puts time into perspective. Eek! I miss them already! Guess I better keep saving those coins for my Turkey trip to see them again soon!

Backpackbees

Uncle Tomato
719, Jihaeng-dong 2F-#201, Pine Hans Bldg., Dongducheon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
031-865-0999

Weekends

Weekends….If my bathing suit asks, tell it there’s only been carrot sticks and fruit smoothies for this gal. HA HA.

Mr. B’s Uncle, Kelsey’s father, and Kelsey’s close friend Meghan were in town this weekend. Kelsey’s been playing tour guide around Seoul and asked if we all could meet up at Kervan for a late lunch, followed up by a stop at Passion 5 and Softree for a sweet treat, then onto adult beverages at Reilly’s Taphouse. Of course we gladly accepted the offer.

We all had a blast chatting the evening away. A storm that was brewing most of the afternoon finally made its appearance, but even that didn’t put a damper on our fun!

(Kervan) Serving excellent turkish cuisine. Every dish was favorable and delicious! Check out that balloon bread! The service was fast and brought almost all of the food out together. I swooned over the beautiful lanterns and the tiles on the wall, red and turquoise blue. It wasn’t terribly busy when we arrived so we were seated rather quickly while we waited on the rest of our group.

Mr. B’s Uncle opening the door to Passion 5 with the huge Harry Potter like chandelier hanging in the back. I love that thing! It looks like it is floating in mid-air in the evening.

The service at Passion 5 however not so fantastic this time around. Let me digress, the bakery was rather busy, but we felt that we were looked over continuously because we were foreigners. The biggest turn off was when we finally were assisted with picking out the desserts we wanted, the young woman wouldn’t make eye contact and had a curled lip the entire time she was pulling each mini pie or cake out of the display case. When we asked for everything to be packed up to go as well as forks because there was no seating available, we weren’t given a bag and asking for forks was as if we had asked for her first newborn. Don’t worry this experience didn’t kill our spirit either.

(Softree) This was my choice for dessert. I opted for the classic honey chip this time.

(Rileys Taphouse) This was the first time we went to Rileys, we got there just in time too. We were seated at a nice hightop table perfect for people watching. Side note, can I ask when the high wasted shorts and midriff tops and neon glasses without lenses came back? Meh, what do I know? I am certainly no Fashionista. I just cannot get down with this recent fashion craze. We enjoyed a round of cider and ales and playing around with my new camera. We absolutely plan to go back!

Happy weekending to you too!

Backpackbees

Locations:

Kervan
Website

Reilly’s Taphouse & Restaurant
Website

Passion 5
Website

FFE

FFE= Fuss free and easy! Two items that we Bee’s look for in a recipe after a long day of work. We’ve been on a fish kick lately. I must confess, I have been loving every savory second of it too. Mr. B is getting quite creative with seasoning and such. I mean honestly, does anyone else out there not ever get sick of fish?

Cod. Eh, cod doesn’t come across as a fancy pants fish, right? Wrong. Cod can delicious served simple or jazzed up with all sorts of fun ingredients. Tonight we jazzed up our cod by poaching and using ingredients such as sassy saffron and white wine.

Poached Cod with Tomato and Saffron
Recipe Adapted from: Bon Appétit

INGREDIENTS

2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Cloves minced garlic
1 Teaspoon Aleppo pepper or ½ crushed red pepper flakes
Chopped handful of fresh vine ripened tomatoes and fresh cherry tomatoes, boiled down
¼ Cup dry white wine
2 Bay leaves
Pinch of saffron threads
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 5-oz. Skinless cod fillets
2 Tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Instructions:

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and Aleppo pepper and cook, stirring often, until fragrant (garlic should not take on any color), about 3 minutes.

Add chopped fresh tomatoes, crushing with your wooden spoon as you add them, wine, bay leaves, saffron, and ½ cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until flavors meld and until tomato skins peel off while string gently. Season with salt and pepper.

Reduce heat to medium-low; season cod with salt and pepper and place in skillet. Cover and cook at a bare simmer until cod is opaque throughout and beginning to flake, 5–7 minutes (thicker pieces will take longer to cook).

Gently transfer cod to shallow bowls and spoon poaching liquid over.

Backpackbees

You Asked For It

Did you know that dopamine levels rise in your brain when you try new foods? All the more reason to broaden your inner foodie horizons, right?

Someone mentioned in passing that they missed out on seeing what we’ve been concocting in the Bees kitchen lately. Yes, I admit…there has been a teeny bit of neglect with blogging since getting back from Malaysia. To be fair, I blame summer and the evening walks we’re taking advantage of before monsoon season really settles in. Nevertheless I’ve been taking photos of the delicious foods and things we’ve been up to, just purely neglecting to go the extra mile to upload them and write a post. I know you’ll forgive.

Boy do we have a treat to share from one of our favorite blogs. So let’s get on with it and kick off the very middle of this week the right way!

www.greenkitchenstories.com. Check them out!

Warm Cauliflower ‘Couscous’ with Green Peas & Herbs
Recipe by: GKS
Ingredients:
1 head of raw cauliflower
2 handfuls mixed parsley and basil
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
A drizzle cold-pressed olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
2 cups frozen (thawed) or fresh peas
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

Bring a saucepan with water to boil. Meanwhile coarsely chop the cauliflower and place the florets and stem in a food processor or blender and process until fine couscous- or rice-like texture. Do it in batches if you have a small food processor. Pour the cauliflower into the boiling water, lower the heat to simmer and cook for about 3 minutes. Meanwhile finely chop the herbs, toast the pumpkin seeds in a skillet on low-medium heat until golden. Drain the cauliflower ‘couscous’ in a sieve and place in a large serving bowl. Add herbs, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and combine everything. Add peas, pumpkin seeds, crumbled feta cheese and toss until mixed. Garnish with sprouts or micro greens. Serve warm or chilled. Keeps for a couple of days in the fridge.

Eat the “couscous” on its own, or it makes a very nice paring to some homemade breaded cod. Just curious, what do you think? Do you think you will try the recipe? What do you think you will pair the dish with?

Stay tuned for some more delicious recipe ideas.

Backpackbees

Sandy Oasis

I may be the only one that feels this way, but what is it about the ocean that just makes you chirpy? We spent the past weekend in Busan at the beach, celebrated Mr. B’s birthday in style, hopped aboard the never-ending Busan city tour bus, feasted on some rather delicious celebratory foods and adult beverages. Relaxation all around. (Minus our amature booking the wrong hotel location snafu..oops). Check out that beach crowd, looks like we weren’t the only ones with the idea to escape to a sandy oasis for the weekend.

Cheers to sandy toes, salty hair and smiles all around!

(Pardon my unintentional gang signs, I was caught off guard with the kimchi fingers)

(Scary bus)

(We learned whipped cream potatoes literally is whipped cream…who would have thought)

(AKA Creeper Mode)

We’d love to hear from you, any fun summer adventures planned?

Backpackbees

Busan Addresses:

Busan City Bus Tour
Tour price: Adults (ages 19 and up)-10,000 won, children and teenagers (ages between 4 and 18) – 5,000 won

Phone reservation: ARS +82-1688-0098 (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese), TEL +82-51-464-9898 (Korean, English) * Receive your ticket from the bus driver on the day of the tour.

(Please note that you may have to wait an hour or two to board bus at each stop you get off)

Haeundae Beach 해운대해수욕장
Jung-dong, U1-dong, Haeundae-gu, Busan-si
부산광역시 해운대구 해운대해변로 264 (우동)

Zennin Restaurant (Highly recommended by we bees)

EENIE MEENIE MINIE MOE 해운대 (Best Potbingsu yet!)
Busan (Pusanshi) Haeundae (Heundegu) middle sinuses (Chundon) 24 Paredo~ushizu Commercial Street No. 1-7 or Address 부산시 해운대구 중동 24 팔 레드 시즈 상가 1-7 호
070-7360-9513
Hours:12:00pm to 10:00pm

Burger & Pasta
수영구 광안동 193-4번지 대우아이빌 102호
Busan, South Korea
051-751-6631
Hours: 11:00am to 2am

Kuala Lumpur Day 5

Gosh dangit already on Day 5 of the Memorial Day getaway. Well, we trucked around center city Kuala Lumpur on our last day with Luis. We checked out Brickfields also known as Little India, China Town or known as peddlers ally, and the Central Market.

We ate the local eats, such as durian fruit (AKA hot trash) and ais kacang or known as ABC (acronym for Air Batu Campur, literally meaning “mixed ice”). The ABC reminded me of S.Korea’s potbingsoo but cracked out. There was so much on this thing my mouth was totally confused by all of the textures and flavors that were going on inside of it. I am talking about crazy flavors like palm seed, red beans, sweet corn, grass jelly and cubes of agar agar, aloe vera, cendol, ice cream. A final topping of evaporated milk, condensed milk, or coconut milk drizzled over the mountain of ice along with red rose syrup and sarsi syrup.

Perhaps I am bias, but I will always hold such a dear spot for our beloved original potbingsoo. It’s good to be back in the graces of Potbingsoo’s again. Cheers!

Many thanks to you Luis and showing us your Malaysia. It was a dream!

Curious, would you dare to try the local eats such as local eats, such as durian fruit or ABC?

Backpackbees

Kuala Lumpur Day 1

For Memorial Day weekend we Bees hopped a flight to visit a friend in Kuala Lumpur. It took us 6 hours in total and we flew Malaysian Air. I was a bit uneasy at first when I realized we booked with the airline, however in the end we arrived safe and sound at KUL -Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It didn’t take much time to clear customs and grab our baggage before we met up and were greeted with a welcome sign from our friend Luis.

We loaded our baggage up in the car, the car with the steering wheel on the right side I might add. We three giggled about that car the entire time we were there. For only being there for a few months, Luis quickly got acclimated with driving on the opposite side of the road from S.Korea and the US. It was comical to watch Mr. B’s reaction sitting as a passenger on the left side of the car and not the right. At times it often feels like the car beside you is going to turn into you, or you see the passenger on the left side where we are used to seeing the driver absolutely not paying attention and you think, “Oh lord they are going to crash that car! Pay attention!!” Then after your short moment of panic you remember that the driver is on the right side and not the left. whew.

It took us about 40-45 minutes to arrive at Luis’s home in Damansara. Damansara is a central commercialized hub that houses several affluent residential areas. His home was located within walking distance to two large malls and multiple shopping complexes. Very convenient! We arrived just in time to see his neighborhood in the daylight and to watch the sunset from his balcony and gorgeous tall windows.

We got all settled in and decided we needed to grab dinner and drinks. We talked about our travel plans for the duration of the trip, as well as caught up discussing whats been going on in all of our lives. It was so peaceful sipping on our margaritas and people watching from an outdoor balcony that overlooked a twinkle light lit marketplace. I just sat back and took it all in! “So this is Malaysia,” I thought to myself feeling so excited that we were actually here.

Backpackbees

Do you have any plans for Memorial Day weekend?

Delicious Post-op

What a delicious post-op we had this weekend in Gangnam. Surprisingly after living here over three years, we’ve never really ventured out in Gangnam. Kelsey met us before our eye appointment with plans to grab lunch together afterwards.

The weather was just beautiful! A perfect Spring day! After getting an all clear on both of our eyes we strolled around the main and back streets of Gangnam, with our shades on of course. There were just so many delicious choices! Eventually we settled on Indian.

Mano is an Indian restaurant with some Korean fusion. I think the photos below say it all. Spicy and delicious! We’d defiantly will go back in the near future for more. Plus I’m lusting over their collection of Le Creuset serving dishes. Just gorgeous! (On my wish list)

We had to take Kelsey to experience the cutesy Ann House Cafe. Her only request for this weekend was to enjoy Potbingsu before leaving on her holiday to Japan. We all ordered different versions of Potbingsu, butt spoons and all. Can you guess who ordered what?

Until our next post-op adventures.

Backpackbees

Directions:

Mano

By subway: Gangnam, outside Exit 4 of Sinnonhyun Station. The restaurant is on located on your left. 2F of 619-18 Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Phone Number: 02-568-2007.

Deliveries available: http://www.머노.com

Easter Sunday & Herb Island

What A big, beautiful weekend! Strawberry picking, tIme shared with Kelsey, dyeing Easter eggs with the twinkies, an Armenian Easter feast, celebration of new beginnings for dear friends and a trip to Herb Island. I hope you all had a fantastic, laughter filled, delicious weekend too (just check out the food below)! Happy Easter, Happy Weekend friends!

Silly Herb Island fun….

Backpackbees

Address:

Herb Island
35, Cheongsin-ro 947beon-gil, Sinbuk-myeon, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do
경기도 포천시 신북면 청신로947번길 35

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=1051901