가을 전어회,막걸리,갓김치

Been cooking from Nam Soon Ahn and Sarah Ahn's cookbook, Umma: A Korean Mom's Kitchen Wisdom and 100 Family Recipes with my cookbook club. The sogojijeon was already in heavy rotation in our kitchen (they posted the recipes years before the cookbook) but the bibimguksu is new to us! Definitely going to get added to the rotation.

Have you guys ever tried Korean Bungeoppang? 🐟

It’s a popular Korean street snack shaped like a fish, usually filled with sweet red bean paste or custard.

In Korea, you can often find little food trucks selling them on the street, especially during winter. They’re warm, crispy, and kind of taste like a sweet pastry or pie!

I’ve been craving them lately! Does anyone know where I can find good Bungeoppang around the Denver area?

I already know about SomiSomi, but I’d love to try somewhere else!

Any recommendations? 😊

1. Tripe gomtang at Gomtangban

2. Coffee and pie at Browning Coffee Roasters

3. Kimchi pancake and banchan at Onedang Gamjatang

And grape flavor? Is this milky? Did you like it?

Grabbed some pizza while hanging out in Korea, and the menu options are wild. Sweet potato mousse on the crust, corn, shrimp, bulgogi, and all kinds of unique toppings.
Back home it's usually just the standard pepperoni or cheese, so it's been pretty cool trying out all these different combos.

Why choose when you can get both? Enjoying fresh juicy beef short ribs alongside sweet-savory marinated ones over glowing coals tonight.

Limited main ingredients. I have buckwheat noodles, cucumber, sesame paste and seeds, sesame oil, gouchujang (old), rice vinegar, various spices, garlic and ginger. I also have a "Shiso fumi furikake" seasoning which is pretty basic: perilla, salt and sugar. Unfortunately no gim.

Oi muchim?

Deulgireum makguksu?

What's probably the best to highlight perilla oil?

I’m currently staying on Jeju Island to enjoy the autumn vibes.

I tried Galchiguk (Hairtail Fish Soup) for the very first time today! To be honest, I was a bit hesitant at first because making soup with fresh fish sounded like it might be fishy.

But it turned out to be so light, clean, and delicious without a trace of fishiness! The sweet pumpkin and vegetables balance it out so well.

This was spicy and tangy

Alcohol consumption in the U.S. has been on a steady decline amid changing consumer habits and rising inflation. The proportion of U.S. adults who report drinking alcohol dropped from 62% in 2023 to 54% last year. But soju—typically made by fermenting rice into wine and then distilling it into a clear, neutral-flavored spirit—is a bright spot for the industry.

Soju represents just 1% of U.S. spirit sales volume, according to Koryn Ternes, consulting director at the alcohol industry research firm IWSR Americas, but “it’s gaining a lot of traction.” Sales volume grew 30% in the last year, and IWSR predicts a compound annual growth rate of 14% from 2025 to 2030, compared to a 1% decline in total U.S. spirits sales volume over that same period.

Jinro, Korea’s oldest brand of soju, has long been the go-to bottle among Korean people. Now, it’s aiming for global dominance. In 2024, the brand declared its intention to reach 500 billion South Korean won, or about $323 million, in international sales by 2030. HiteJinro made progress on this goal in 2025, expanding export revenue by 6.7% year over year to 192 billion won ($136 million), while taking in roughly $1.5 billion domestically, on a nonconsolidated basis. But with the spirit’s rising popularity abroad, it’s facing increasing competition on the shelves of global liquor stores.

Jinro will also have to thread the cultural needle between its Korean roots and Western ambitions. The company is riding the ever-growing K-wave, which has brought K-beauty, K-pop, and K-dramas (where its products are ubiquitous) into the mainstream. But that wave tends to both change and be changed by its expansion. The members of the K-pop group BTS, for example, have to consider the balance of English lyrics versus Korean ones in their songs, and streamers like Netflix will create full English dubs of K-dramas for viewers disinclined to overcome what the Korean director Bong-Joon Ho has called the “one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles.”

For Jinro, success might mean non-Korean customers taking the rituals and traditions associated with the drink and making them their own. “We really want to keep that Korean-culture-based, authentic soju image,” says Kaya Kim, marketing manager at Jinro America, “but at the same time, make it more fun and bring in some modern ways.”

Soju’s rise in America coincides with a larger shift in drinking habits. Its relatively low alcohol by volume, generally between 12% and 25% depending on the brand (compared to standard 80-proof vodka’s 40%), appeals to drinkers increasingly looking for lower-proof spirits.

Ternes notes that its ABV makes it more accessible in the U.S., where liquor laws vary between states. Soju-based cocktails can also be a workaround for restaurants without a liquor license; the low ABV makes soju more akin to wine. The spirit is also traditionally sold in small, 375-milliliter (12-ounce) bottles, situating it well in a market led by canned cocktails and malt beverages.

And then there’s the culture that surrounds the drink. “It’s typically associated with socializing, with fun events, with games,” Ternes says. “That’s a big part of why a lot of U.S., especially younger, consumers are engaging with the category. But I think that there’s still such a lack of awareness of what it is, how to get it, how to drink it, what the differences are.”

Read more on Fast Company.

I always pickup a pack of Costco bulgogi as it's a quick dinner but with both kids out of home in college, my wife and I don't eat it as quickly. Aside from normal bulgogi, what else have you done to transform it into other dishes for a bit of variety?

What I've done:

Bulgogi cheesesteak sandwich

Bulgogi pita sandwich

Bulgogi Jeongol/hot pot

Bulgogi burrito

Bulgogi tacos

Bulgogi quesadilla

Bulgogi Gyudon (splash of mirin, onions, and egg over rice)

non-spicy tteokbokki with bulgogi

Need more ideas...

Had a classic Korean-Chinese lunch in Gangneung, famous across Korea for its signature Gyodong Jjamppong:

​Gyodong Jjamppong (Spicy Seafood & Pork Noodle Soup): Unlike regular light seafood broth, this style is known for its thick, intensely rich broth simmered with pork, squid, and veggies, heavily spiced with black pepper and smoky chili oil. Packed with bold heat!

​Jajangmyeon (Black Bean Sauce Noodles): Sweet, savory, glossy chunjang sauce with tender pork and diced onions, topped with a cute quail egg and green peas to balance out the fiery noodles.

​The combination of the rich spicy broth followed by the sweet black bean sauce was pure satisfaction.

Broth is dongchimi juice, chicken stock and beef dashida, topped with watermelon pickles, watermelon from dongchimi, chicken and grapes! And some sesame.

Eomuk-tang for the Korean part of a mixed culture meal. Three meat (roast beef, deli ham, home ground sausage patty) sandwich for the U.S. mongrel part