Holy crap, it’s cold. On one had I’m glad that it’s finally cold as it should be in this time of the year, but still, it’s pretty uncomfortable. But when Lucy invited me over for her banchan special dinner last night, for that moment alone, I pretended to b impervious to the weather.
When it’s freezing out like today, I always want Korean food. Banchan is all the small dishes of food that dresses up the rice, a staple in Korean meal. It’s usually smaller than a ‘side dish’ and a little more elaborate than ‘garnish’. If you’ve been to a Korean restaurant, it’s all those small dishes that comes before your order arrives that non-Korean people think are either snacks or appetizers. The thing is that making a single dish of certain types of banchan takes as much labor as making a main dish, but it’s served in tiny sizes, and in restaurants, people demand a lot of variety, so it’s really a pain in the ass to make. So I often use the quality of banchan as a gauge to judge the restaurant.
I adore Lucy’s cooking because like myself she loves all kinds of food, and she always makes things in ways that I would never think of. She said stocking up on banchan was her way to save up. Usually the ingredients are simple, and when stored properly it stays good for a week or so. And a little bit goes far, so dedicate a little time, and you’re set for the week. I guess it’s kind of like how the French keep different types of cheese in the fridge and eat a little bit of each with bread, or whatever. I think it’s also her love of the Spanish tapas that’s gotten her into the banchan kick, but in any case, I can’t appraise her enough. She managed to whip up 7 different kinds of banchan, all amazing, and I only just realized that there was no kimchi!
So I wanted to talk a bit about basics of Korean food, and also give a preview of what’s to come around here.
In case you’re looking at the picture about going, “What the hell are these things? Sculpy creations?”, Here’s the list: Starting from the yellow thing in the center going clockwise, rolled eggs; pan friend marinated potatos (gamjajorim); chui namool (wild aster) with mushrooms and walnut topping; watercress with lime; veggie meat balls; black and short grain rice blend with ginko nuts, peas, and chopped scallions; stir fried dried squid strips; bindaedduk with corn by J, and sir fried zucchini. Above that is Lucy’s watercress, and the liquid in the cylinder is just some Medoc. My contribution? I “arranged” the freesia to the right, and cracked the walnuts!*
Read more about banchan:
Banchan on About.com
*These links take you to general recipes for the each dishes. Everything from last night was her own creation.
