Tag Archives: Korean Food

18Nov / 2024

Korean Airlines – HNL –> ICN

I’m back! Just got back on Tuesday and wow jet lag is real. Moreso like, I haven’t been able to sleep even though I am severly lacking in sleep! The trip was very nice and I really enjoyed meeting all of Chan’s family members! I relied a little bit too much on Chan and his Korean skills, woohoo. My favorite part of the trip was definitely in Chan’s hometown of Hamyang. The homecooked meals were amazing – best Korean food I ever had in my life.

Weather was a bummer, I was hoping for 40’s or at least 50’s but man it was basically high 60’s all the time. We brought cold weather clothes with us but it wasn’t needed and I was so sad. This happened last year in Japan! Same kind of weather in DECEMBER. Well Koreans must be like the Japanese because a lot of folks were dressed in puffy jackets, heck if I know why. Chan and I was basically walking around with a tee and jeans on. Chan said they tend to dress for the season and not the weather, I say…the weather report is there for a reason!

Anyway, first post will focus on the food on the flight over. We rode in Korean Airlines and wow, it was wonderful. Sorry to say this but it was much better than Japan Airlines. Here we go!

Seared Tuna Slices with Oriental Sesame Dressing

The salad was good, but too much ruffage for me. I just ate the cucumber and tuna. Gotta focus on the good stuff you know.

Korean ‘Bibimbap’ offered with minced beef and seasonal vegetables, accompanied by sesame oil and ‘Gochujang’ (Korean hot pepper paste)

Their famous dish! I don’t know what was up with me but I was not at all hungry. It was such a waste, I ate maybe 2 bites and stopped. I felt awful but I wasn’t feeling that great so I didn’t want to continue and get sick you know? I even passed on dessert and went straight to sleep but that worked in my favor because…

Ramen with Side Dishes

I could wake up hungry and order the ramen! I never get to try the side snacks so I was happy I was able to this time! It was good, nothing spectacular. It’s honestly just Shin Ramen. But I ordered their cookies along with this and she asked if it’s okay that they heat up for different times. Yes…sure?

Fresh Cookie

I understood why she told me the heating times now. The cookies took WAY longer. But MY OH MY was it worth it. They are freshly baked. FORREAL. Like so soft, ooey gooey and melt in your mouth. I don’t even usually like the plain cookies but I gobbled up all three. It was that good. I was dreaming of this cookies after the flight. I guess they used my cookie order to bake up a whole batch of cookies cause I saw them offering cookies to the rest of the passengers.

Salad and Bread Selection

Second meal starter. Oops, I got two breads. I picked the regular roll at first and then noticed there was a taro roll and asked for it too. LOL. The pineapple dressing was not good.

Grain mustard sauce with braised beef served with pasta and vegetables

Chan’s main dish – he enjoyed!

Seafood pasta with herb cream sauce served with broccoli and cherry tomato

Another risk for me, a cream sauce seafood pasta dish. I was fine tho! And it tasted good! I didn’t eat the tomatoes lol. Nice final meal.

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18Oct / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Buldak Fried Rice | $7.99 (on sale)

My brother loves buldak noodles so when I saw this in the Longs ad last week, I had to get em! At first I was disappointed because I kept looking around the oriental aisle thinking this was just like a powder seasoning I add to my own rice to make the fried rice.

Just by chance, I went to the freezer section and it’s actually the whole dish there! You just gotta heat it up on the stovetop or microwave. It comes with two individual packets inside.

Sorry, but I think the portion is kind of small. This is actually both packs heated up. It was enjoyed, also wasn’t that spicy but that’s according to my brother.

Homemade Bossam

Odeng!

I love Sundays with Chan. Sometimes we plan meals on a whim and on this Sunday, I told him I felt like odeng but odeng with the fish cakes on the skewers (just like you see in the Korean dramas). So we made our run to Hmart and got the kit and also picked up some fixings to make bossam! Bossam looks nice and seasoned yeah? It’s all thanks to Chef Chan’s skills. What a delicious dinner! Have a great weekend folks!

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11Oct / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

7eleven Kibun Sesame Tofu Noodle | $4.19
new, ready-to-eat tofu noodles with delicious sauce packet included. the noodles, made from tofu, are very simliar to somen noodles but lower in carbs and 0 cholesterol. healthy with only 110 calories and 7g of protein. can be eaten cold or warm by heating in the microwave for 1 minute.

I saw this at 7eleven last weekend and just had to try it. I was so curious how the noodles would taste. I almost didn’t get it because let’s be real, $4.19 for this little packet didn’t seem worth it. But something told me just go for it.

I opened the cellophane and drained out the water. I ate it cold with the sauce packet. Doesn’t look like much in this picture but bugga was GOOD. It really does taste like regular noodles. How do they do that! It was so good, but dang, I wish they would sell this in bulk at Costco or Sam’s so I can get a better deal. I would absolutely get this again.

When I sent a picture of this to Chan, he mentioned he had it in Japan before and really enjoyed it! They finally brought it over to us! Give it a try!

Sushi Robot Breakfast Bento | $5.00

I’ve talked about Sushi Robot before, they are located in the food court of Kaheka Don Quijote (the indoor one not the outdoor one). They used to be outdoors. Well, they are the only ones who open super early which helps me since I do my shopping early. They open at 6 but when they have some foods ready, they just open at 5 something.

I was actually staring from outside to see if they had food out but didn’t have…was about to leave when the lady waved me in. I reluctantly went in and she said she can make whatever I want. I said I wanted the portuguese sausage omelette bento. I didn’t know the real name but they knew exactly what I was talking about and put this together fresh for me! They already had all the different components cooked and ready to go. And yes, $5.00 total…this is with tax. Where else can you find prices like this???

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13Sep / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Yummy’s Korean B-B-Q Bibimkooksoo | $16.95

Oh the pricey. So pricey. But so good. I get this one from the Ala Moana food course and I order it spicy because I am trying to prove to Chan that I am the Spice Queen (I’m not). I think they give a lot of veggies and meat and a good amount of noodles so it’s worth it for me. I’m always up for a nice good cold noodle dish.

Chinese Roast Pig!!!

Look at that thing! It’s funny to look at, I guess I’ve never seen the pig chopped up and put back in like this? It’s good they were willing to chop it up though! When we get our pig for bai san – we gotta chop our own. Not sure where this is from, was good but not super great. I thought the skin was too hard and not a light crispy, you know?

First Round

The roast pig was part of our UH Football Viewing Party. Chan and I brought Chun Wah Kam Ginger Chicken Fried Rice and Orange Chicken. Was delicious. Then I thought there was a pot of chili so I made my own chili nachos but learned it was baked beans. LOL, was good anyway. Have a good weekend everyone!

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06Sep / 2024

Mixed Bowl Friday

Ahjumma XL Ramen | $7.99 (sale price)

Haha this is gonna be one short post. Yup, something I saw on Tiktok that I found at Hmart that I had to try. Well, the brothers and I tried it. It’s exactly what it says, XL ramen.

I see folks on tiktok trying to eat this themselves. Well as you can see, this is like 4 huge servings of ramen. Kind of disappointing that it’s not one huge brick of noodles and just four regular ones thrown in haha.

Threw in some red hot dogs because why not? It was a nice ramen, just your typical spicy Korean ramen (much like Shin ramen). It was fun to try and eat together from one container but once was good enough. Have a great weekend folks!

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30Aug / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

Glutinous Sweet Potato Bun | $9.99

Good lord, this was $10? This shows that I go blind shopping because I was waiting for these to come to Hawaii for MONTHS. Saw it on social media and was intrigued because it looks like a mini sweet potato but it’s actually a dessert. So it’s actually a mochi filled with sweet potato. I didn’t want to airfry so I heated it up in the microwave. Tasted okay, the outer layer mochi is a bit salty, maybe to balance with the sweet potato? I wasn’t a fan. And dang I paid $10 for 3!

Sorry, not trying to gloat but just wanted to thank Chan for the beautiful birthday flowers. Glad I got it the Monday after my birthday so I can enjoy it all week!

Chan’s birthday present! Isn’t this keyboard so pretty and dreamy? And he knew I wanted a creamy keyboard and this one is just that. He even got me other key options if I decide I want to change things up. I love it! I keep taking typing tests all day long to hear the keys…

This is an intended brag. I need to get better! Have a great weekend!

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14Aug / 2024

Hangang – Ala Moana, HI

When Hangang first opened, they were touted as a high end Korean BBQ place. The reviews were all over the place, a lot of people complained of the price and service so I laid low. I had the pleasure of trying Hangang for dinner one night with friends and it was delicious! Then I saw Kat and V’s lunch visit and that made me want to return! My coworker loves kalbi and naengmyun so this was the perfect reason to go.

Complimentary Banchan

I only talk about my love of banchan all the dang time and it doesn’t end here. Hangang is giving Frog House a run for their money on the banchan. I loved every dish!!

Cold Noodle Combo with Kalbi | $ 26.95
1 arrowroot cold noodle with short ribs BBQ

LOOK AT THIS. I am salivating look at it. My friend and I actually ordered this combo and a noodle ala carte ($15.95) because we are dainty ladies who shared the kalbi. LOL…nah nah not dainty but it was like the perfect amount of food. And sounds pricey but given the price of kalbi alone nowadays, I think this was a great deal!

They offered to cut it and we accepted. Good thing I got my noodle shot beforehand! Never seen tomato slices in naengmyun before but what was interesting was that the tomato slices are pickled. Very interesting (in a good way). No gray ring of death on the egg yolk. They serve up hot mustard and vinegar on the side which I have never used. Great meal! Would definitely return to try their other lunch specials!

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05Aug / 2024

Frog House – Honolulu, HI

I’ve written about Frog House so many times already. It’s always going to be winnas food. You can search for frog house in my old posts but it’s always the same. Oh by the way, I am blogging ahead of time because guess what? I struck gold. I got covid. Oh yes. I don’t know how or who I got it from, I woke up on Sunday with post nasal drip symptoms which is something I get here and there. I felt a bit better Monday morning and got ready to go to work, got to work and on a whim decided to take the covid test. Kapow, positive. Came straight home and decided to test again on another test brand, kapow, positive. So yeah, I’m going a bit stir crazy at home. I am very thankful it has been mild thus far, I haven’t had a fever at all. Dry cough and runny nose. I heard it’s going around again so I hope you folks all stay safe. Let’s hope I get some good antibodies out of this round.

Kimchi Pancake

Complimentary Banchan

The best.

Soft Tofu Stew

Can you just feel the steam and bubbles from this picture? Yum, what a great stew.

Stirfried Octopus with Pork Belly

Chan introduced this dish to me and it has been my favorite ever since. I even got my friend hooked on it. Oh man, if you give me some rice and this dish, I would ch-row down. So good!

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05Jul / 2024

Mixed Plate Friday

I gave it my all. I tried my best. I wasn’t drinking coffee for a while and well, it didn’t work. I get so tired during the day. I also wake up super early, like 4AM early. I don’t set any alarms, my body just hates me and wakes me up at that time. So yeah, I get really tired by the time the afternoon hits. I’m going to have to start drinking coffee again. Been lazy to get that going so I pick this up when I stop into Don Quijote. I like that it’s lightly sweetened and get milk inside too. It doesn’t give me the jitters and the sugar level is not crazy high. This bottle can last me like 2-3 days (lol). Just wanted to share!

Jersey Mike’s Subs Turkey and Provolone (Regular) | $10.95
Miss Vickie’s Spicy Dill Pickle Chips | $2.05

Saw this on TikTok a long time ago. I like when people give their specific sandwich orders so I can try it myself. So I got the regular turkey and provolone on their Rosemary Parmesan bread. I then let them put all their seasonings on it and add all the jalapenos and stuff in. It’s a great sandwich. I also wanted to try the pickle chips, was good!

Sukhee Haesoo | $6.99

I saw this on social media so long ago. Have you seen it? These bottles are made special so that you can screw directly onto Korean soju bottles and it infuses the soju with the syrup but it is also like a hangover cure! Hawaii finally got it, but specifically Palama Supermarket Makaloa. I was able to get it at $4.99 cause it was on sale when we went. Tried one so far, pretty good! Makes the soju super sweet and well it’s dangerous cause you feel like you’re drinking juice. There are currently five flavors you can get from Palama. Check out the video below, it’s so neat!

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28Jun / 2024

Carversteak – Las Vegas, Nevada

Final dinner and final post for Las Vegas. It has been nice salivating for the last two weeks but I am pretty pau with these posts already. This last one is a doozy, PLENTY food as you’re come accustomed to. Oh man, this wrapped up a week of just eating everything. Carversteak was a recommendation from Chan’s colleague and it was a great pick!

Everything Spiced Brioche | $6.00
with blue cheese

Oops, I thought this was complimentary. It’s listed on the menu so I guess not. It was a dang good brioche and yes, you can definitely taste the blue cheese in the bread. Nice butter with sprinkles of salt too. NICE.

Jumbo Prawn Cocktail | $32.00
espelette dijonnaise, horseradish cocktail sauce

When they said jumbo, they weren’t kidding. I love shrimp or prawn cocktail and this was delicious. Yummy!

Korean Glazed Pork Belly | $24.00
pickled mustard seed, scallion

Nice sweet gochujang type glaze, it worked really well. This was a nice starter.

Green Beans | $18.00
slivered almonds, lemon butter

We did not order this side dish and as they dropped it, I told them so that they could just take it back. The waiter told us it can be complimentary. That was very nice of him. The dish sucked (LOL), sorry I didn’t enjoy it.

Potato Gratin | $19.00
layered potato, parmesan cheese, chive

Asian person’s nightmare, look at all that dairy! Tasted good though. I usually prefer a mash with my steak.

Roasted Mushrooms | $19.00
madeira, parsley

Good, not memorable.

Asparagus | $22.00
simply roasted, lemon, olive oil

Haha I just remembered thinking, how come my asparagus is naked lol. Like why did they peel it. It was fine, nice and tender.

Beer-Battered Onion Rings | $15.00
smoked chipotle aioli

Nice and crispy. It was enjoyed by the table!

Striploin (14 oz) | $77.00
wet aged 21 days / creekstone farm

Filet Mignon (8 oz) | $72.00
Add Black Truffle Butter | $6.00
allen brothers / chicago

I can only really comment on my steak and here it is! I got it rare and it was good. They cook it right and it was melt the mouth tender. I don’t think I need to add any truffle butter next time.

Rib Cap (8 oz) | $88.00
Add Black Truffle Butter | $6.00
snake river farms / eastern idaho

Chan was told to order the rib cap, I never heard of that cut before. Chan enjoyed it a lot!

Assorted Sorbet | $10.00
mango/passionfruit and yuzu/lime

Cheesecake | $14.00
strawberry gelee, graham sable, strawberry cremeux

I didn’t have room for dessert but I didn’t want Chan to eat dessert alone (lol, I know you’re thinking that’s an excuse). It was a nice tasting dessert but seriously I couldn’t eat more than a bite. We had a lot of leftovers from this dinner.

I’ve been to Vegas a handful of times and I think this was my favorite visit yet. I had a really good time, my only complaint was of course the hot weather. Just gotta go when it’s not summer time and it would be perfect. Thank you Vegas, see you next time!

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