kimchi, beef, ramen, and small explosion

Suddenly out of nowhere,
I'm craving some Korean kimchi. It is strange because I don't usually like kimchi so this is strange. I taste a lot of different kimchi but I never fond of the taste.

Except one in some small restaurant in Jakarta (that i doubt if its still open today). It was 10 years ago maybe (now I feel old!). That was the first kimchi I ever like...ever. It is the only one that i can manage to eat.

Eating in Korean restaurant would be a luxury for me since they are quite expensive and they have *uncommon* type food so I rarely want to eat it. Couple times I went and i got really confused when I read the menu...they all look the same to me.

Have I mentioned that they all look RED for everything? (seems they love spicy things so much). It give me that eerie-creepy feel somehow seeing almost all the food in super-reddish color.

Anyway since in Finland it started to get autumny, coldy, windy and super darky (with additional cold and flu sickness also) plus I binge-watched this awesome Korean woman "Maangchi"

That kimchi-stew-soup seems so warm...spicy...and hot...
perfect for this time of the year!

I must make those!

But then again I was super-skeptical at first since kimchi sounds so fancy and hard to make. And I don't want to buy store-bought-kimchi, they usually horrible plus the Asian market is far from my home (I'm to lazy to go).

After couple googling and reading Maangchi blog again and again, I found a simple recipe to make in here.  I didn't use any raw squid or other raw seafood like the original recipe, It is scary just to think about putting them altogether...euuughyyy...

So let's start by chopping the most important part of the kimchi ; chinese cabbage! (kiinaankaali)

I love the cruchy-crunch sound they make when you cut these :D

I have a funny-stupid moment doing my *first* kimchi. 

I didn't realize that I should give more space in the glass jar that when I check it after 2 days there's some *fizzy-fishy* stuff happening. I was panicked and open the jar without thinking too much.

And then *sploorrrchh* the kimchi exploded bursting everywhere from the jar.

lesson learned here ; 
fermentation give you carbon dioxide reaction

*ouch*

*The culprit of the kimchi-explosion

After a painful kitchen cleaning, I split the kimchi in 2 jars afterwards to prevent more explosion. Fortunately its only the *kimchi sauce* that bursted out. All the vegetables are safe and really yummy to taste.

I am satisfied with the result and even make one more easy Korean dish "Yak-gochujang" (Fried gochujang). It consist beef, pine nuts, honey (mmmmm honeyyy) and Korean fermented chili paste "gochujang". This kimchi is really good when you mix it with other food, especially with ramen noodle soup.

I should try more Korean foods in the future after this ;)

5 things that make me smile : 29072014

Here in Helsinki we have a really HOT weeks.

We have over 30 degree Celsius with the sun shining brightly more than 12 hours.
Oh please don't throw shoes to me, i know for some country 30 degree are normal lol. I have been living in Indonesia and i know this *hotness* is normal in there.

But in Finland its really rare opportunity to get this hot. Though many of the Finns (the Finnish people) are rejoicing for this (you can spot the beach are super crowded) i'm not really keen for this since i like coldness more. Though honestly the half-naked-six-pack-guys strolling in the streets are ok for me...whooopss! *hubby-stare-at-me*.

*Ahem*, anyway I try not to complain too much since the summer is short in Finland. Soon the autumn come and the cold-darkness is here (People who live in Finland will understand this). But hey what I am blabbering about, let's just go straight to these pics that i took recently in my daily life :)

1. Japanese cherry blossom's trees in Helsinki. 
When my teacher said there is a small Japanese garden in Helsinki i was thrilled. She said they have this sakura trees blooming on this day (spring) so i went there right away after school, dragging my husband also.

2. Museums! 

A visit to a museum is always a good things.

3. Flowers, flowers, and more flowers!
This is called "lumipallo kukat" literally translated "snowball flower". My parent-in-law's have this cuties in their backyard and it is huge. The entire plant is bigger and taller than me in comparison. I think it is really cute and they all look like a perfect snowballs that i want to hug it ( not that i can hug a plant for real, they'll be dead crushed :p )

4. My corner - update
I have been trying to make my "working station" in the corner more comfy and green. I have a bit hard time to find a perfect plant for it since in this corner the window is quite small. I decided this ZZ plant is the perfect one (it have a "balls" that act like a water reservoir in the roots). I've been told that shopping malls and hotels often have this inside since it is really strong plants.

I found some thrifted whimsical wine bottle ( can you see there is a small grape shape inside? ), an unique vase and reindeer figure from IKEA ( that i think it looks like something from minecraft...probably :p ).

5. Gift from Indonesia
My dear friend sent me this tote bag from Indonesia. How cute is this? and it is a one of a kind since it is a handmade. She bought it from this talented person here and sent in to Finland. It is for my belated birthday gift since she was really busy but i appreciate it. Love this so much thank you! :D

5 simply heaven for me : 11112011

Wow i just notice it its 11-11-11 today, it's a really unique eh? Many couples do their wedding today so they can get a *lucky* date. My mom said she got 4 invitation for today and more of my friends complaining they even got more, lol ; )

back to the post ; p

1. christmas comes early , we bought a hanging christmas lamp for living room and get a christmas calendar from a girls scouts. Pretty!

2. dottie angel book, finally arrived! i fell in love at first sight when one of blogger showed this in their post. I love how detailed they put the design and using lot of whimsical stuff. Just lovely.

3. pack of cutie dried mushroom, my parents in law dried the mushroom we picked and it was awesome to have this for whole year ahead. They will *poof-ing* out when you put them in water. My partner *jokingly* said in the wild they will pop out from the ground with ploop-ing sound after the rain! ; )

4. strawberry plant, strawberry plant to keep indoor from my partner's dad, i hope this baby will thrive here so we can get a tiny-weenie-berries later.

5.  recreating famous painting, doing american gothic painting with my partner! We took photo first then he did the repainting on it. it turns out really nicely don't you think? make me want to recreating of other famous painting also ;D

comfort food.

What's your comfort food?

Have you ever been nostalgic, or feel homey, or sentimental with some type of foods?
It's called comfort food if you ever felt like this.

In my case, *noodle* is one of which remind me of my homeland.

It is strange how some humble, simple food can bring you back to some moment that you cherish.They make you relax and comfortable.

°picture : fried noodle with sunny side up