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Caviar server

After reading the Rice Cooker topic, I realized that many DR people, many more than I expected, are using rice cookers. I have been using one for more than 20 years but due to time constraints I started buying instant rice two years ago. Het-Bahn is the one I mostly use. Het-Bahn means fresh steamed rice. It has been manufactured by Cheil Jedang (briefly called CJ food - which branched out from Samsung) since 1996. Soon after being introduced it became a great success in the market and stimulated other companies to make similar products. Because of the ease and speed of cooking, it makes it possible for Korean airlines to serve rice dishes for the passengers. You open the seal slightly and microwave for a minute and you have fresh steamed rice. It is vacuum packed so it isn't necessary to store in the fridge. As a Korean and a working woman, I often carry a lunch box. Whenever I want steamed rice quickly, I microwave a pack. When I cook fried rice, I use Het-Bahn because cold steamed rice works better than freshly steamed rice. CJ provides not only Het-Bahn white rice but also brown-rice, mixed rice with barley or black rice. I think the CJ brand is the most reliable of all that I have tried. You can buy an individual pack or a box of a dozen in Korean grocery stores. I know this sounds like a commercial, but the convenience and taste make this a good choice on those days when you want rice in a hurry and don't want to wait for the rice cooker.

Because the beer is 33 cl (centi litre). Why 333? Because it is 333 ml (milli litre). I know it should be 330 ml but they named this way.

We had a family dinner tonight. I ordered fried dumplings (10), sweet and sour pork and the Jajang myun plate for 4 people. The Jajang myun is served on a big plate as a double portion and is a bit spicy. We liked it very much. The total was $44.07 including tax. The kitchen was a bit slow so we had to wait a bit for Jajang myun plate. The Sweet and sour pork was tasty, too. The one year old really liked the noodles and the radish kimchi, but spent a lot of time eating the sweet and sour pork. He wasn't overly fond of the pineapple but he really liked the pork and the sweet sauce (I liked it too. It wasn't overly sweet, it added just the right sweetness to the dish).

Jahng-Won Bahn Jom opened in Annandale recently. (I don't know if it has an English name) It is located where Jin-Sung Garden used to be. A restaurant with the same name used to be in Rockville and closed for a while. I am not sure that this one is under the same ownership. (Some of staff looks familiar because I have seen them at other restaurants.) We went there last Saturday for lunch and it was packed. The specialty is hand-made noodles. I ordered black bean noodle (Jajang myun - my bench-marking food for Korean-Chinese restaurants) and my hubby had the spicy seafood noodle soup (Jampong). I loved the noodle texture. The sauce contained decent amount of pork meat and was very good. My hubby told me that the spicy noodle soup wasn't quite spicy enough for him but that the seafood was plentiful and the noodles very tasty. Compared to Dah-Rae Won which serves the same kind of hand-made noodles, I prefer Dah-Rae Won's noodles because Dah-Rae Won's noodles have better texture. When a noodle master makes noodles, he throws the dough onto a butcher block so you hear the thump sound from the kitchen. The more the dough gets beaten, the better the texture. It is definitely an energy and time consuming process. When I visited Dah-Rae Won, it was not busy so there was more time to make the noodles so it may not be a fair comparison for Jahng-Won Bahn Jom. In comparison to Joong-Wha Won (the other Korean-Chinese restaurant in Annandale), I would say Jahng-Won Bahn Jom is definitely better because of the better noodle texture, better banchan (very good radish but no cabbage kimchi--very strange) and brighter dining room. The service and the price are similar to each other. It is worth trying Jahng-Won Bahn Jom and so we are going there again tonight.

I will make a final call to the restaurant this afternoon so please let DanielK know if you are not able to come. I am trying to make exactly $20 for each person. Actually I made my order list last night if 15 persons are coming. Hope everyone likes what I order tonight. See ya!

I stopped by there yesterday to buy kimchi and made a reservation for 10 of us at the right hand side corner, which is, two tables with chairs not in the room. You can ask them where dr.com's table is.

I wish you find a correct one (modem).

FYI, I would like you to know the followings: 1. The word 'Gamasot' means a big cast iron pot. It reminds the Koreans of huge portions of soup or rice cooked in the traditional way. Therefore, the restaurant's specialty is definitely soup such as Soll Long Tang, Gal-bi Tang, Yuk Gae Jang and so on. 2. Most of famous Soll Long Tang places like Gamasot or Gam Mi Oak in NY, serve Mo-Dum Soo Yuk (it's similar to Bollito Misto). It is a byproduct of Soll Long Tang because different cow parts like brisket, knuckle bones, triple and liver are boiled together. It will be a great chance for you to enjoy Korean style Bollito Misto. There is no special sauce, the dish needs just salt and pepper. 3. The usual Korean foods such as Bulgogi or Dolsot bibimbop are also available.

I went to Wharf last weekend and had crawfish crab imperial. RT's serves crawfish Etouffee and Warehouse grill and bar serves crawfish-crab imperial and crawfish & shrimp beignets.

I just saw Teaism's website and they carry Jasmin pearl green tea. If you think Super H in Fairfax is too far from you, Teaism in DC might be the alternative.

Don, I would say the pupose of Nurungi is either palate cleanser or after dinner drink. It is not served for the part of main meal because it is a byproduct when the steamed rice is made. On a traditional Korean table, water is served at the last moment even though there was no clear serving order. If the host or hostess prefers Nurungi, it is served instead. Another thing, always a spoon is used for eating rice or soup for Korean meal. There are some different usage about spoon and chopsticks between China, Korea and Japan. I will talk about it later.

There are options available on the KitchenAid website. What I got is SNPA & FGA which extrudes the dough and grinds meats. According to 'Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking' written by Marcella Hazan, she doesn't recommend the pasta maker using extrusion technique. I followed her pasta dough recipe and tried to use my pasta attachment but it didn't work well. The dough was too sticky so I rolled and cut it manually. Next time, I will follow the dough recipe from the manual.

We, 7 people gathered at Oegadjib tonight. The menu I ordered was: - Dong-dong Joo (unfiltered rice wine) & Seafood pancake (pah-jun) - Spicy stew (short rib and octopus) - Ssam-bob tasting menu (greens for wrapping[shiso leaves, lettuce, bokchoy, kelp, etc], Korean miso stew, grilled fish and spicy pork barbecue) - Bossam (brined napa cabbage, fresh oyster and Kimchi stuffing) - Tofu Kimchi (steamed tofu and stir-fried Kimchi with pork belly) Unfortunately I ordered too much so it wasn't a $20 Tuesday dinner, it was a bit more. I apologize to the people who came. I think that everybody got their money's worth.

We had a wonderful $20 Tuesday dinner at Lighthouse Tofu last night. (2 people didn't come so it was party of 8.) What we shared were: -Seafood pancakes - 2 orders -Bulgogi -Spicy stir-fried baby squid and noodle (#13) - 2 orders -BBQ short ribs Followings tofu soups are individually ordered: -Beef/Pork (spicy spicy) -Mushroom (spicy) -Mixed seafood/meat (spicy) -Oyster (spicy spicy) The total price was $143.xx (? - correct me if I am wrong) so we paid $21.75 each including tip. The dinner was wonderful. Thank you Catharine for organizing the dinner!

Thank you, DR people! I am so happy to be one of you.

I saw the paper screen when I went there on Aug 29th. I think that it was requested by the customers who wanted to have semi-privacy. I would like to say this to the folks who wrote into Sietsema's chat saying they felt stared at for being non-Koreans: I felt stared at for being a non-American when I was at a BBQ restaurant in North Carolina. It is the human nature.

Please count me in.

Sorry. I've got mixed up. You are correct.

Cold noodle with icy broth is Pyong-Yang style. It comes with very chewy noodle. Spicy cold noodle without broth is Hahm-Hung style. Its noodle is not as chewy as Pyong-Yang style because it contains more buckwheat flour. Actually it was more like winter food tradition in the northern region of Korean peninsula because radish was available around October in early 20 century. The founder of Woo Lae Oak was from the north west coastal area and Woo Lae Oak is famous for Pyong-Yang style. In Seoul, Woo Lae Oak is the best restaurant for the cold noodle in Pyong-Yang style category. As far as I am concerned, Woo lae Oak in Pentagon city has been closed. I've never been to the Fairfax branch, so I can't tell you how the taste is. I agreed with sunshine. Han Sung Oak also has very good cold noodle.

We went to Gamasot last Sunday after we came back from the Jersey trip. Somehow we ended up ordering the same food, spicy beef soup. I haven't had it for long time and many restaurant didn't impress me with it. When the soup arrived, I was a bit surprised by the diabolic color. Dark red! However, the taste was amazing. It wasn't too spicy. Plenty of shreded beef and veggies. Finally I found the almost perfect spicy beef soup.

Vidalia Dino Vermilion Tallulah Gamasot Gombawoo Ray's the Steaks Overwood

If anybody needs 2 tickets I can sell them. Please PM me.

Adding to Pat's report, we had Chinese Bacon with chopped leek, stir-fried Chinese broccoli, Yushiang Pork, Spicy fried tofu.

FYI, the Annual Buffalo Nite will be held in September 26th, 6 - 9 PM at the Dirksen Senate Building. The real food from Buffalo will be served.