A Belated Korean New Year Celebration

Jeff and I like to celebrate the Korean New Year each February. It's always a fun evening where we can cook together and enjoy choosing which pots we will serve with. New Year fell on February 8th, we had other commitments and no time for a trip to the Korean market. So we celebrated a little late!

This year we invited our friend and potter neighbor, Phil Pollet to join us.

We started the evening with an appetizer of pajeon (green onion pancake). This year we added a little seafood - shrimp and mussels. Traditionally, the seafood version has squid, but not everyone cares for it so the mussels were the substitute.

The main course was the traditional New Year soup, Tteokguk. A rich beef soup with mushrooms, onions, bean sprouts, and a little kimchi and rice cake. The rice cake isn't the puffed rice cakes that we are familiar with here in the US. They are a thick, dense, rice noodle. Often slice on the diagonal. They are my favorite!

Along with the soup we had bowls of kimchi, rice, shredded jicama and carrot, and a nod to the south with pickled okra. It was all very delicious and fun.......... Happy New Year!

The Year of the Goat

 Happy New Year... a day late! Yesterday was Korean and also Chinese New Year. Jeff made traditional Korean Tteokguk soup, typically served on New Years day. It's a simple but spicy beef soup with rice cake.

While the broth simmers, the sliced rice cakes are soaked in cold water. The rice cakes are so yummy. They are like a very dense noodle. They do contain wheat flour, so they aren't gluten free. When the soup is finished, the rice cakes are simmered for a few minutes in the broth.

We always have sliced cabbage kimchi on the side. I like to put mine right into the soup.

Perfectly yummy on a cold February night!

 Later in the day today, the studio finally warmed up enough to work in. I finished putting handles on small squared off bowls and gave each a few flower stamps. These were also made by altering with a board, which means there are no seams to crack. They are smaller bowls, a good size for salsa, dip, soup, or cereal. I had fun making them and  I am happy with the way they came out. I think tomorrow I will make a few more. 

Have a great night and stay warm!