Nothing Beats Home-Cooked Meals

Because we eat out so much in Korea (Dad doesn't want Mom to be too tired while prepping the food), I don't appreciate Mom's cooking enough. But mind you, she is a phenomenal cook. I only hope I have endowed at least some of her good cooking gene...haha.

For our last supper as a whole family this month, we decided to forego dining at a fancy steakhouse for a good, healthy home-cooked meal. Mom made so many different delicious banchans that I thought the dining table was going to break!

Her "Tofu jorim," or sliced tofu cooked in a pan with chili paste, garlic, scallions, onion, and beef, is to die for. It tastes similar to mapo tofu except without MSG, much less sodium, and not as liquidy. Also the tofu is sliced bigger rather than into tiny cubes that just disappears in your mouth. Mom lightly pan-fried the tofu beforehand for that crispy surface. The tofu is als sprinkled with chili powder, which added extra spice to the dish. The tofu was a bit too salty to eat by itself, but it made a stupendous banchan with rice. Nom nom nom. I must remember to ask her to cook this again before I leave!

This is sort of a "specialized" dish that only a few people (i.e. someone like me with odd diet/appetite) would enjoy. In fact, Mom modified the original recipe to cate to my taste. These are different vegetables marinated in soy sauce. Clockwise from top are onions, peppers, mushroom, garlic, and lotus root. Traditionally, Koreans add beef to the dish, called "Jangjorim," and put lots of sugar to the lotus root to make it sweeter. But I am not a fan of beef or sweet stuff. The lotus root is crunchy and I love that texture. The mushroom is chewy, while the onion and the garlic have been marinated in soy sauce so they lost their bitter/spicy flavors when eaten raw and instead has somewhat of a sweet taste.

Mom also oven-baked mackerel, which Dad said was too dry, kimchi, and other "red" dishes. Thanks Mom for the wonderful dinner!