School Lunch (점심) & Mr. Pizza (미스터피자)

Here's today school menu:

Chicken Ginseng Soup (삼계탕)

Radish Kimchi (깍두기)

Fried Dumplings with Spicy Sauce (군만두)

Cooked Spinach (시금치나물)

After 6th period this egg was sitting on top of my desk. They told me it was for Easter; how sweet!

 Met up with my friend at Mr. Pizza and asked him to order for us. He decided to try their new special, The Korean BBQ Pizza with slices of rice cakes and asparagus with a cheese crust.

At first I was confused about how I should feel about this pizza. It looked more like an arts and crafts display than food and it was a real challenge to my senses. After the first few bites I thought, "This is one of the most amazing pizzas I have ever had!" And I wolfed down the remaining slices happily.

We also got access to their salad bar which served a variety of potato and sweet potato salads, fresh cut fruits and pastas.

Thank you, Korea.

- Angela

School Lunch (점심)

Overall, I really enjoy my school lunches. The school cafeteria is one of my favorite places to dine because it offers so much hearty and healthy delicious variety. However, most of my coworkers and students disagree with me and often complain the food is too salty or too bland. 

Here's today's menu:

Korean Egg Omelette with Vegetables and Ham

Pork Bulgogi with Zucchini and Onions

Multi-Grain Rice

Spicy Seafood Soup with Silk Tofu

Thank you, Korea.

- Angela

Princess Cake

You may have encountered this little green cake in Ikea, or perhaps a fine European bakery. What is so appealing about the princess cake? This traditional Swedish cake is unique for its green marzipan layer which encloses several layers of delicate fresh cream, raspberry jam, and soft cake. It is light in texture yet incredibly rich in flavor, with multiple layers of incredibly rich flavor. Its name (prinsesstarta in Swedish) comes from the love of the cake from princesses who were the daughters of Prince Carl, Duke of Vastergotland. This elusive cake does not appear often in your everyday bakery, which means one needs to travel far and wide to obtain one. I decided to remedy this and made own!

The first step is to obtain some marzipan and incorporate green food coloring to give it the signature color. Roll it out as if you were making cookies, and try to make the layer relatively thin while taking care not to rip it.

Prepare the whipped heavy cream filling, adding vanilla extract for more flavor.

After filling the layers, cover the cake with more cream.



Then carefully wrap it with your layer of marzipan.

Dust with powdered sugar and add a raspberry for presentation.

Delectable!

- Candice

Treats at School

In Korea, it's very common for staff members or parents of students to bring in treats to share with the staff. About once to three times a week there will be a little nugget of goodness waiting at my desk. Here are some treats from the past two weeks:

Rice Cake with Caramelized Walnuts (각색편)

I love the gluten-y texture of Korean rice cakes and this is one of my favorite kinds because it has an extra hint of sweetness from the caramelized center.

Juicy and Sweet Organic Tomato

Usually I don't eat whole large tomatoes as a snack but after this I think I will. It's quite refreshing.

Roll Cake layered with Strawberry Jam

The cake was utterly silky and heavier than I expected, like pound cake. Very satisfying.

Chocolate Covered Rice Cake Doughnut Hole

This is like an orgy of all my favorite sweets - chocolate and gluten. Addicting!

Multi-Grain Coffee Cake

The cake was very moist and had a wonderfully buttery and nutty taste.


Wrapped Rice Cake with Red Bean (쌈떡)

The rice cake part was actually a little savory and the red bean inside wasn't that sweet. It caught me off guard but I liked it.

Other common treats that are often passed out include pizzas, yogurt cups, cookies, vitamin drinks, a variety of other kinds of rice cakes, many other kinds of cakes and pastries, fresh fruit such as strawberries, grapes, and oranges, .

Thank you, Korea.

- Angela

Spicy Chicken Stew (찜닭)

Friday night looked something like this...

My good friend got admission into a popular English academy and he wanted to treat me to dinner to say thanks for helping him prepare for the interview. Given the weather conditions, I was craving something spicy and hearty.

Spicy Chicken Stew/ Jjim Dalk (찜닭)

What's in it: Chicken, soy sauce based sauce, potatoes, onions, carrots, red peppers, and thick sweet potato noodles.

The sauce is amazing with white rice.

Afterwards we headed to my favorite bakery and picked up one of my favorite cakes:

Green Tea Cake layered with Blueberry and Pistachio Mousse.

We took this to one of my favorite coffee shops and washed it down with a warm cup of black coffee.

Thank you, Korea.

- Angela