Day One in Osan

Welcome to Korea

My first day out in Korea was marked by the smells first and foremost. They seemed to drift out from every store front, off the table tops of street vendor carts, and from the sewer unfortunately. But I didn't mind the difference between here and home. After all, this is the city and a different country. So with an open mind I decided to simply focus on the first two.
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And that is how I wound up stumbling upon yakumandu. This wonderful little dumpling snack is filled with some meat, rice, and bean sprouts before being fried. The beautiful crescent dumplings were excellent on their own but were amazing dipped in the soy sauce the vendor provided.
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Best of all was the fact that the snack was 8 dumplings only cost 3,000 Won. So it was cheap but still hit the spot when it came to my adventurous taste-buds.
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This snack led me to the market. And the market has all the fixings I will be using in the days to come. There were fish, squid, crabs, clams, poultry, beef, lamb, and eels. On top of this was the offerings of wonderful veggies and fruits of all sorts. Finally the spices and mushrooms topped off the market offerings to tantalize my imagination.
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So with my feet sore and my stomach emptied... I decided to plop down at a local eatery.
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Gogigui is the greatest way of dining ever made in my opinion. This Korean dining experience was a check mark on my bucket list. It is defined by the grill embedded in the center of the table. The meat is brought to the table raw and is then cooked right in front of you. While you wait for the meat to cook the sides are available to eat.
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Bean paste, soy sauce, and kimchi mix with the banchan to make a meal in and of themselves. Rice here is sticky so it is easy to eat with the steel chopsticks Koreans use. And all of this can be put on a leaf of lettuce to make what we have been calling "Korean Tacos".
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All and all, I am loving Korea. And this is just the start of a new chapter of foodie adventures for me and you the reader.

Squab...

Fancy For Pigeon
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Over the course of the summer I found that the smaller the bird gets the more tasty it becomes. Dove is no exception to that rule. It taste amazing...
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The only problem is that by the time you get your palette adjusted the meat is gone. So it is probably best to have more than one dove per person on hand just in case the bird is a hit.
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It's meat is tender and moist if cooked right. I found it best to keep the bird basted and cooked breast down. And whatever you do, do not overcook this little gift from the heavens.
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The last two I cooked were simply dressed with celery, onion, tarragon, marjoram, thyme, and Hungarian smoked paprika (real paprika, not the cheap stuff). As long as a little liquid is kept in the pan the doves will keep moist.
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The only warning I have is to keep in mind that the doves skin is nothing like chicken skin. It can be an off texture if you already know that you don't like chicken skin. And even if you do, remember that this little bird isn't a Cornish Hen.
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So if you can find a squab vendor give this little morsel a try.

Five Gingers in Review

From Ale to Beer
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If you have read my review of Reed's Jamaican Ginger Beer than you know that I love ginger ale. The stronger the ginger bite the better. Or so I personally believe.
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So upon arriving at Jungle Jim's it quickly appeared to me that I had somehow walked into nirvana. First there was the walls upon walls of cheese (another favorite of mine). Next the isles of meats from all sorts of wonderfully tasty little creatures. And finally the endless supply of exotic fresh produce gathered from all over the world.
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And that is why when I came across the following five ginger ales and beers I knew I had found my new favorite grocery store. Nowhere else that I have ever been had ever had as many types and varieties of ginger ale as Jungle Jim's. So with that said let me introduce you to the following labels.
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This brand, Barritts Bermuda Stone Ginger Beer, was a nice pop when served cold. However it was not really a good ginger ale. The reason I say that is simple really... it tasted more like a tangy lemon-aide than a strong bite ginger beer. And thus why I'm starting with it since it was my least favorite of the five gingers from Jungle Jim's.
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For the price however it was a good deal. The pack of six was tasty in its own unique way. But it is a low grade ginger beer at best even with the purchase value.
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Aw, Fentimans Botanically Brewed Ginger Beer... a truly odd ginger ale. A few months before having tasted this ginger beer I had tasted a dandelion beer that boasted the same .5% alcohol and same "grassy" flavor. Fentimans tasted sorta like a mouth full of flowers with a rather weak ginger bite at the end. And it was that ginger bite as you swallowed that made this number 2 in my review.
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It was an expensive drink for a ginger beer that tasted more like dandelion beer than it did ginger. The bottle looks small but supposedly has the same amount of fluid in it. And the after taste is not as pleasant as the flavor is while the drink is still in your mouth. But even with all that it was still worth a try. Who knows, you might like the dandelion like flavor?
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Regatta Ginger Beer is a much more traditional ginger ale than the two listed above. Unfortunately it exploded when I opened it so I ended up only getting to drink half the bottle. Yet in just those few drinks I was impressed. After all, I had drank the two above prior and was kinda disappointed thus far (and was drinking Reed's Jamaican Ginger Beer in between... you know, to "cleanse my palette").
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The flavor was very nice with a good ginger flavor from start to finish. The only part of this drink I didn't like was the fact the ginger bite never really kicked in. So even though the flavor was good, I couldn't get into it that much since the bite was missing.
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Old Jamaican Ginger Beer was a great ginger ale. It had the very traditional flavor and a mild ginger bite too. When drinking it you could almost imagine it was made in the same way the old handmade gingers were once brewed.
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At first this ginger beer taste rather smooth with a strong flavor. It could have a stronger ginger bite I suppose. But even with a little less bite than I would had expected it was a really nice ginger ale.
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And finally, Reggae Country Style Ginger Beer. This was one of the most uniquely flavored ginger ales I have ever had. It was flowery, earthy, and tangy all at once. You could really taste the ginger in it and yet still appreciate the multiple flavors in it. The ginger bite was still less than Reed's but still stronger than the other four beers.
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This one is definitely a ginger beer you should look for if you like ginger ale. It is not expensive at all and the taste is well worth a try.
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Zamorano Cheese

Sheepy Cheese
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Recently I started my affair with Zamorano. So far it has taken twenty bucks to get my fill of this heavenly sheep's milk cheese. And I would gladly spend another twenty... and another... and another.
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It has a very pasture like flavor when compared to cow's milk cheese. The taste of the great out doors works its way deep into the complexity of this cheese. And for being a hard cheese it is rather easy to slice and doesn't require cooking or thin slicing to get a good texture.
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I like it right out of the fridge while it is still nice and cold. Others might like to let it set out for a little while so that it becomes a little softer. But it will never be as hard or crumbly as Parmasian or other hard cheeses. Instead it is easy to slice like Manchego and never grainy in texture.
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And yet I have found that it is perfect for the kitchen too. It has that medium melting point that makes it great for a grilled cheese or something a little more challenging like a pasta dish.
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You can find this cheese at Whole Foods for around 19 dollars a pound. It is usually cut into chunks that ring up for around four to five dollars. And those chunks of cheese can go a long way when used as a snack or even in the kitchen for a supper dish.
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This cheese is worth a try. And it is a great cheese to start expanding your cheese palate.
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Black Market Produce

... An Anarchists' Answer to Capitalized Food.



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Over the years I have struggled to understand why we need more and more government when it comes to the things we eat. Over the last year I have been building a small urban farm that is growing hard to find foods. I grow Gia Lan and other oriental vegetables that are far to costly or impossible to find here in Indiana. And now it seems that government and the people who run it are making it impossible to sell those products.
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That is why I'm starting a "Black Market" for my produce. I'm simply just skipping the miles of red tape and the socialist style leadership of the local Farmers' Markets. In simple terms I'm just going to sell the produce to the consumer without government permission.
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You don't pay taxes when you buy your produce at the local supermarkets here. You don't need to ask the local Marsh if they have a permit to sell edible goods. You aren't required to see the local Meijer's insurance information to purchase your cabbage.
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That is why I'm inviting those here, north of Indianapolis, to inquire about the produce I grow. Without the need to pay local governments' insurance I can lower my prices. Without the need to pay nearly five times the worth of my crop out in fines and fees I can lower my prices. Simply put, cutting out the government and their minions, I have lower prices.
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Note, the cartoon above is not mine nor did I purchase it from its original owner... just to add to the seemingly illegal activities of the day.
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On a different note I should explain what an Urban Farm is. Its based on making a simple garden into a much more productive and much more expansive practice. In doing this I grow more than any family could consume in a given season (instead of four or five tomato plants I use sixty). This produce is then harvested not simply as needed but in much the same manner as a small farm, on set days that are put in place for days of sale.
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Every inch of unused space is used for growing edible plants (herbs, vegetables, and fruit). Every plant I raise comes from seed or root starts. And most importantly, I do not use chemicals in any way. No herbicides, pesticides, or artificial fertilizer.
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Plant foods used are all based upon decomposed plant matter or worm castings. This decreases the plants need for more and more artificial food sources which compose the mass produced chemical fertilizers. It also grows stronger and better plants while keeping the soil clean and healthy.
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I collect rain water and thus do not need to water my plants from city water sources. This practice is complemented by the practice of irrigation that mimics or reproduces the methods that have been used for centuries. Trenching and mounding is complemented even more by using old coke bottles buried in the soil where rain water goes directly to the plants' roots.
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Other methods of "organic" style farming are implemented to break up the pest insects' life spans. This keeps me from needed to use chemicals to kill the pest. I then build ecosystems that foster the growth of beneficial insects and animals. This adds to the inhospitable environment for the destructive insect populations.
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Sound like a practice you can support? Don't worry, it isn't totally illegal. It is just not the method of selling produce that the government has manufactured around here. And the produce I am growing is much healthier than anything you will find in the supermarkets.

Homemade Beef Jerky

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I love this YouTube channel. They are so awsome.