We're no stranger to Korean culture; from Korean songs to Korean drama and of course--Korean food! I wasn't into anything related to Korea until my former manager introduced me to K-food. At that time, I wasn't familiar with what Samgyeopsal was, and all I wate whenever she would ask me out would be Korean Fried Chicken ala Bonchon. Out favorite go-to place that time was this Korean restaurant along Don Antonio in QC. It wasn't until I tried Samgyeopsal in Don-Day that I absolutely fell in love with it. And while it's always a treat, it can also get pretty expensive. 

A few days ago, my sister asked if I can cook for them so I decided to go Korean. Fortunately there's a Korean store near the condo which has specific cuts of meat meant for Samgyeopsal. If I'm buying from the grocery, I usually get the bacon cut but it's not quite the same. I also decided to cook Cheesey Ttteokbokki with Odeng (fish cake). I decided to add more cheese so it can counter the spiciness since my younger sisters are eating. I also bought Leek Dumplings, Kimchi and Spicy Ramyeun. For the specifics, I'll be listing them below. 

Okay, let's begin! I will be listing the ingredients you'll be needing for the following dishes. For the Samgyeopsal : pork, lettuce, garlic, onion, perilla leaves and Samjang paste. You know the drill, just combine everything together on a bed of lettuce or perrilla or both and you're good to go. For the Spicy Ramyeun : you can buy any Ramyeun you ant, I prefer spicy, I just add a few crab sticks, egg and top it with cheese for that gooey, creamy ending. For the Cheesey Tteokbokki : tteokbokki sauce, tteokbokki, Odeng, onion, cabbage, mozzarella and cheddar cheesse! Just cook based on package instructions and add the cheese. The Kimchi dumplings : I pretty much just fried them and made sauce out of soy sauce, honey, gochugaru (red pepper flakes), mirin, vinegar and sesame seeds! For the sides I prepared onions, garlic, kimchi and pickled radish. 

Let me introduce you to this baby, Samanco! I first had a taste of this fish-shaped ice cream at Donday, at eat-all-you-can Korean restaurant. I loved the taste because aside from Vanilla Ice Cream, it also had red bean paste which is something I really love! (Thinking about Starbucks' Green Tea with Red Beans? I only eat the red beans because I hate tea. Lol.) I wouldn't want to go all the way to Malingap St. just to buy the fish-shaped ice cream so I felt kinda sad 'cause I only get to eat it when we go there for buffets--well, until I discovered Samanco at Mini Stop! Yay!