Paddys day plan for Seoul

Info from here
http://www.iak.co.kr/

Korea’s Most Celebrated Foreign Festival Saved by Seoul Government

- 2009 St. Patrick’s Day Festival to focus on community spirit thanks to “rub of the green” –

First Release – To Be Updated Later – Times Subject to Change (since we’re Irish)

(Seoul, 09.02.17) With business tightening its belt buckle in the face of the prevailing global economic downturn, one of Korea’s largest and most well-attended foreign festivals has received last-minute funding to ensure its celebration in 2009. Thanks to sponsorship and assistance from Korean Air, Diageo Korea (Guinness) and the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Seoul’s 9^th Irish Festival – 2009 St. Patrick's Day Festival – will go ahead as planned in Daehangno on Saturday, March 14^th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Attracting an estimated 18,000 attendees in 2008, the Irish Festival, organized by the Irish Association of Korea (IAK), was in danger of not going ahead this year as significant corporate sponsorship was not renewed. The traditional and colorful street parade is a costly venture, and the festival in Seoul had also traditionally been accompanied with a free open air concert and fair. However, thanks to our loyal support from long-standing sponsors, this year’s festival will focus on continuing to build community spirit.

“Guess we got the rub of the green again!” joked Kevin Tobin, Chairman of the IAK. (Editor’s note: Ireland is commonly associated with the color green and good luck, particularly in North American and the United Kingdom.) “Every year we get more and more involvement and participation from Korean and non-Irish community groups and individuals, and there is an unwritten expectation in Seoul that this event will take place.

“As a group of volunteers, both Irish and Korean, we rely on the spirit of the community and other groups to make our event a success. This is what St. Patrick’s Day is about: sharing and celebrating cultural diversity together.”

The Festival will feature both Irish and Korean music and dance, including brass bands, rock ‘’n’ roll, traditional Irish music plus traditional Irish dance. The audience will be invited to participate in what has become a Seoul Irish Festival tradition – Irish folk dancing. There will be an informal parade through the streets of Ihwa-dong, east of Daehagno Boulevard, starting and ending at Marronnier Park. The IAK is calling on all Koreans and members of the foreign community to participate in and support this friendship march and to celebrate Ireland's national holiday by wearing green. The IAK will accommodate all non-profit groups into the street parade sequence.

1. Traditional Irish Concert & Fair – Marronnier Park, Daehangno, (Hyewha Station, #4 Light Blue Line, Exit 2) 11 a.m., to 5 p.m., March 14^th
2. St. Patrick's Day Parade – start @ Marronnier Park, Daehangno, 1 to 2 p.m., March 14^th
3. 'Hooley' at Dublin Terrace in Gangnam, 5 minutes from Gangnam Station, Exit 7 – from 7 p.m. to late (tickets at 50,000 won, includes free Guinness, drinks and food), March 14^th
4. 
   

Visit http://www.iak.co.kr for up-to-date information about the 9^th Irish Festival in Korea

(or www.seoulshamrock.co.kr).

Editors Note

The festival commemorates Saint Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint. It is sponsored by Ireland’s No.1 beer, Guinness, to promote the festival in Seoul alongside similar festivals in countries from Ireland to the USA, Canada, Australia and Japan. People visiting Marronnier Park, Daehagno on the 14^th are welcomed to enjoy traditional Irish dance and traditional music performance, and take part or support the Grand Parade by wearing green costumes.

About the Irish Association of Korea
Founded in 1996, the Irish Association of Korea promotes Irish culture in Korea by organizing events of interest to Irish people in Korea, and that are opportunities for Koreans and other people living in Korea to experience and learn more about Irish life. Among other events, it organizes the annual St. Patrick's Day festival in which over 18,000 people participated in Seoul in 2008.

If you wish to develop a feature or interview members of the Irish community in Korea, please contact:

For English For Korean

Mr. Eoin O’Colgain Mr. Jungmin Kim

010-3160-5850 or 010-6299-1854 or

orocolgain@gmail.com kjm811022@hotmail.com

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Lentils

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lentil

I stoked the lentils over night then boiled them till soft but not mushy I cooked them in a little cumin and curry .I cooked the carrots and onion and garlic. A splash of hot sauce and a pot of plain yogurt. It is super tasty.

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Crab on the street

Crab off the back of a truck.
10000 won will get you two of these great crabs the king crab is 60 000 won . They are steamed on the tuck .Here is what I did . My good friend Jodie and I ate one with some melted butter mmmm. Then I took one home took all the meat off added some pepper, dill a squeeze or two of mayonnaise . Some chopped onion, some chives and some breadcrumbs . I put it back into the clean body- shell of the crab. Topped with breadcrumbs and some butter ,I wish I had some Parmesan it would go there too. Put in the oven till golden brown .
Served with some fresh salad .
Crab of the back of a truck .

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Indian in Itaewon

Taj Palace

On many peoples recommendation I visited the Taj Palace in Itaewon across from the foreign market . We went for the meal for 2 . 42000 won for
2 starters Samosa and tandoori chicken
3 curries One lamb, chicken and vegetable, Garlic naan and rice.
It was all very good my only complaint was there was a huge lack of meat the curries consisted of 3-4 tiny pieces of meat. The curries were tasty. I have had better but its was worth the visit.

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Pizza in a cone comes to Suncheon

To taste this fine product go to the bus station in Suncheon.
No ice cream to be found.

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Gori gomtang- Ox Tail Soup

Next to the office of education Suncheon there is a nice little restaurant with ox tail soup .
Description on the menu calls it Internal soup and rice(beef tail).
Its 9000 won per person .

Its a great winter cold day soup.

Recipe from here http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/416580

Ox Tail Soup (Gori gomtang)
Total prep/cooking time: Up to 5 hours
Makes 4 or 5 servings

Ingredients

Basic Ingredients

4 pounds beef oxtail
8 cups water*
1/2 inch ginger
5 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
1/2 teaspoon salt

* may use 3 cups beef broth and 5 cups water

Optional Ingredients

1 medium onion
1/4 small Daikon radish
Korean sweet potato starch noodle (glass, cellophane, or clear noodle)
salt
pepper

Basic Garnish

4 green or spring onions

Optional Garnish

8 cloves fresh garlic, peeled

Directions

Preparation

Ox Tail
If whole, seperate the ox tail at the joint.
Hand trim excess fat from the segmented ox tail. Set fat aside in a small container.
Put ox tail in a large pot and completely cover with cold water. Let soak for one hour and discard water.
Rinse thouroughly.

Garlic And Ginger
Trim the hard tops from the garlic.
Slice garlic cloves in half from top to bottom.
Slice un-peeled ginger in thin diagonal slices.

Onion if used
Cut onion in half from top to bottom.

Starch noodle if used
Soak noodle in cold water for one hour (do this two hours into the cooking).

Daikon if used

Wash well and thinly slice.
Put in a small bowl and lightly salt.
Mix well and let stand ten minutes. (Do this about twenty minutes before the end of cooking)

Cooking

Place ox tail and trimmed fat in a large cooking pot with 8 cups water (or water/broth) over high heat and bring to a boil, skimming off oil and foam as needed.
Reduce heat to medium and add salt, garlic and ginger (add onion now if used).
Simmer for 3 to 4 hours, skimming as needed (until meat is almost falling from bone and broth is a milky color).
(If used, add sliced Daikon about ten minutes before end of cooking)
Remove the soup from heat.
Remove ox tail from broth with a slotted spoon and place into serving bowls.
Using a hand held strainer, remove onion and garlic solids from soup and discard.
(if used, add noodle to serving bowls)

Garnish and Serve

Chop the green/spring onions (if used, thinly slice the garlic cloves from top to bottom).
Ladle soup into serving bowls, add garnish, and season with salt/pepper to taste.

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Chicken wraped in bacon

CHICKEN

So I have some chicken , some bacon and some frozen breadcrumbs from Christmas. Breadcrumb recipe is here. So I stuffed the chicken Wrapped in bacon and cooked in the oven at 210 for 20 mins.
I love playing around with chicken and in the past I have made Chicken stuffed with sausage meat (ground pork in Korea) Stuffing and also made chicken Kiev.
my-friends-call-it-meat-stuffed-with.html.
gwangju-news-christmas-in-korea.html
ukrainian-chicken-kiev.html

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Making an Italian sandwich

Home Plus next to my place started to sell some new meats.
So I couldn't help my self.

A little tomato and a little chicken + a lot of Prosciutto, Capocollo and salami.
It was great.

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Calling in Bo sam

I love Bo Ssam and its a great alternative to calling in Pizza. For 20 000 won you get a feast.
Including some Soon dae, Kim chi and Korean pancake(pajeon). You get the usual lettuce to make your wrap with and some garlic and chili . To call in this on in Suncheon the number is 061 721 8253.
For more about Bo Sam Look here
Bo Sam is steamed pork leg .
Lately “Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations” is titled “Food Porn. Has been talking about Bo Ssam with David Chang (chef).

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Burger Festival

Brian brings us info an this wonderful festival Check it out here.

http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com

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Food blog awards Ireland Some great reading.

Sorry no posts in a while I am on vacation and I have been slowing down on cooking .
But dont worry I will be back at it very soon.

http://awards.ie/blogawards/
Here is the short list ,If you remember I made the longlist. These five blogs are a great read for any foodie.

Best Food/Drink Blog - Sponsored by Bord Bia

• tast.ie
• thedailyspud.com
• cheapeats.ie
• italianfoodies.wordpress.com
• sourgrapes.ie

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(LEAD) Gov’t finds harmful bacteria in French baby formula

The package imported late last month will likely be destroyed, and the Korea Food and Drug Administration has been notified to check sales of products made by Vitagermine that cleared inspections in the past.

“This measure is needed since some shipments were cleared with inspectors only checking paper, but not contents,” a quarantine inspector said. He added if E. sakazaki is found, the formula may be pulled off store shelves.

From December 2007, the company exported to South Korea a total of eight shipments containing 1,492 kilograms of canned baby formula. Six of those, totaling 1,222 kilograms, actually reached the market.

The quarantine service under the farm ministry also said it is carefully checking another 135 kilogram package that arrived last week for similar contamination.

Info from here http://www.asianewsmagazine.com

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My Galbi Jim

Valentines is a coming and this recipe is special to me as it was my first date with my boyfriend 2 years ago. I consider it the Korean version of Irish stew.
Galbi Jim
Beef You should use beef short ribs I used stewing stake.
Carrots
Potatoes
Green peppers
Onion
Mushroom Shiitake
Soy sauce
Black pepper
corn syrup Mool Yut You can use honey
Sugar
Garlic
Ginger
Sesame oil
White wine vinegar or apple vinegar
you can also add chestnuts
To cook I cut up the beef added the garlic and ginger. Added a splash of corn syrup ( 3 tablespoons), pinch of sugar, a large dash of soy sauce, a dash of sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and lots of black pepper. I brown the meat on a medium low heat for about 45 minutes then add the carrots and potatoes till cooked. I added the onion, mushrooms and peppers 10 minutes before the end.

Restaurants in Suncheon with Galbi Jim
http://macs-foodkorea.blogspot.com/2008/11/galbi-tang-suncheon.html
http://macs-foodkorea.blogspot.com/2008/05/galbi-jim.html

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Beer on tap in your appartment It could be you.

Went to visit my friend Rob . He has beer on tap in his house check out his blog http://www.homebrewkorea.com/

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Some Valentine's recipes ideas

Here are some mouth watering ideas for your loved one. Strawberries are great . Searching google images for recipes with strawberries i found this lovely recipe http://laylita.com/recipes/2008/05/18/rhubarb-and-strawberry-empanadas/. No rhubarb here I had intended to use quince but unfortunately it seems to be the end of the season and I cant find any.

For pastry use this sweet pastry recipe

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbs orange juice

1/2tbs cornstarch

1 egg, yolk and white separated and lightly whisked

½ cup demerara sugar

Add cornstarch, sugar, orange juice to the strawberries for an hour. Roll out the pastry . Brush the pastry edges with egg. Fill with the strawberry mixture with the liquid removed. Cook at 190 for 30 mins .

With also made a pie which we cooked for 40-50 mins at 190.

Rob has a great easy no oven cake Robs Frozen Chocolate cake.
1 1/2 cups of biscuits
1/4 cup of butter
1/3 cup of chocolate syrup
1 cup of condensed milk
1 cup of cream cheese
1 cup of wiped cream
a pinch of coffee
To make it crush the biscuits and add melted butter. Mix and place in the base of baking tin.
Take the syrup condensed milk and cream cheese (room temperature cream cheese). Mix together. Fold in the wiped cream and the coffee. Pour in your tin and freeze over night.
Decorate with word of your choice using the chocolate syrup.
More pictures to come.


Here are some other Sweet Ideas http://macs-foodkorea.blogspot.com/2008/07/banoffee.html
http://macs-foodkorea.blogspot.com/2008/10/not-for-childrenchocolate-whiskey-cake.html
http://macs-foodkorea.blogspot.com/2008/12/strawberries-in-glass.html

http://macs-foodkorea.blogspot.com/2009/02/crunchy-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
How about some chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Image from here

And remember girls your in Korea so Feb 14th is all about girls giving boys chocolate .
White Day March 14th is when boys give girls chocolate and black day April 14th for the lonely heart who got no chocolate

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