Introducing Korean Food to Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Introducing Korean Food to Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Once my family had been to Orient Express in Seaside (California) and liked the barbecued beef called bulgogi and the array of little dishes called pan ch’an of sour vegetables flavored with sesame oil, I wanted to take my daughter Florence out for some more Korean food as an early dinner meal after picking her up from school.

My husband worked late hours at the time, so I treated early dinners with Florence as a cultural field trip when we went to ethnic restaurants.

I did some more background reading on Korean cuisine and called my editor at The Monterey County Weekly (Circulation: 200,000).

I asked my editor, if I could review the Hidden Korea Restaurant in Marina to introduce Monterey County residents to some other restaurants that serve Korean foods in the County.

The editor agreed to let me review the restaurant for that reason.  My review follows:

Hidden Korea: Marina’s New Korea Restaurant is off the Beaten Path, but Worth a Few Wrong Turns

The New Korea Restaurant in Marina is tough to find.  But, its elusive location has not kept customers away for the past thirty years.  Word-of-mouth brings in most diners.

My husband’s Korean colleagues recommended it.  I immediately liked the place when I walked in and saw the wood tables and Korean script poetry on the walls.

We started our meal with what I dubbed a Korean pizza: the haemul pajon pancake, containing scallions and seafood.  The rice flour used to make haemul pajon gives it a chewy texture.

Sesame oil and soy sauce give the pancake a savory taste that accents the seafood flavors.

Golden crust covered in the haemul pajon , which was cut into squares for easy dipping in soy sauce.  I thought the Korean pancake was delicious.  Like pizza, this dish can easily serve as a main meal for two.

My husband Laurent alternated eating between the two main dishes he ordered:

-maemal soondubu and bulgogi

-the spicy, dark red soup that no doubt gets its kick from the addition of gochu jang : Korean hot chili paste made from melted glutinous rice, soybean cake, red hot chili, and salt among other items.

Laurent stifled a few snuffles as he ate.  He said the soup was delicious as his cheeks turned pink.

He especially liked the pieces of tobu (Korean tofu).  Fresh mussels, octopus, and shrimp made up of the seafood contingent in his soup, but they were more like condiments than the main ingredient.

The thin filets of beef were very tender and some of the best that I have tasted on the Peninsula.  Every cook has his or her own secret for this dish, but the meat typically marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, and sugar before getting broiled.

The meat comes steaming to the table on top of brown onions.

Korea is unique in East Asia for its beef consumption; the Chinese favor pork and the Japanese favor fish.  In the 13^th century, Ghenghis Khan’s Mongol hordes overran the Korean peninsula and brought their taste for beef with them.

Koreans are picky about their meat looking for all cuts to liven up to the reputation of the beef on Korea’s southern island of Cheju.

With their country surrounded by water on three sides, Koreans have always featured fish and seafood in their cuisine.  My main entrée, nakji bokum, octopus stir-fry, was one such dish.

This dish is a spicy mixture with lots of hot, green peppers, so the faint of spicy foods should beware.

Spicy gochu jang paste goes into the stir-fry along with chili powder, sesame oil, strips of red peppers, carrot ovals, and onions.

I loved the hot spicy taste with the chewy octopus.  Some of the thinner tentacles were a little tough, but that happens when you cook thin and thick pieces together.

My favorite part of a Korean meal is the mixture of side dishes called pan ch’an.  Usually they consist of pickled vegetables seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil called haemul.

I liked the kimchi, which left a nice tingle in my mouth as did the cucumber kimchi.  The cucumber kimchi had a slight fish flavor to it.  Several Korean cookbooks note that the oysters used to season kimchi dissolve, leaving only their briny tang.

The chilis and chili powder that seem so typically Korean have not always been part of Korean cooking.  Pickled cabbage has been around for 4,000 years.

Chilies, an American agricultural product, entered Korea beginning in 1592 according to food historian and cookbook author Copeland Marks in his book The Korean Kitchen: Classic Recipes from the Land of the Morning Sun.

It was during a seven-year war between Japan and Korea that Portuguese Catholic priests, who were accompanying the Japanese troops, took the chili seeds and/or plants to Korea.

The Portuguese got the plants from the Spanish, who had brought them from Central America to Europe.  Koreans adopted the chilies just like the Italians adopted the American tomato.

We drank Korean barley-corn tea with our meal, which is different from black and green teas.  The Koreans prefer decaffeinated brew made by boiling barley and corn and, then, straining the liquid.

The tea soothed our tongues from the spicy foods.  I felt like picking some up in a Korean grocery store after we left this restaurant that definitely deserves a detour.

End of Article

Since I wrote that article, a very good cookbook on Korean food has been published called Growing up in a Korean Kitchen by Hi Soo Shin.

Before going to a Korean restaurant now, I would recommend reading that book, so you would know what is on the menu.

By Ruth Paget, Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Reference books about Professional Journalism Standards by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Books about Professional Journalism Standards and Rules that Apply to Full-time and Freelance Journalists (Stringers) by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

I know I have some family members who might be setting up blogtalkradio.com shows, so I want you to make sure that you know the professional standards of journalism and legal ramifications of unlawful behavior by both adults and minors. Minors with malicious intent have been ruled by the Supreme  Court as able to be tried and sentenced as adults.

People who want to do Vine video broadcasting on Twitter and other social media outlets need to know the rules of journalism that are pretty much outlined in the journalism textbooks below:

Principles of American Journalism: An Introduction by Stephanie Croft and Charles N. Davis:

Among this book’s excellent introduction to journalism, it mentions that social media has changed journalism by promoting conversations about article posts through the comment section.

Asking a question or presenting an alternative point of view is a way of promoting conversations and evaluation of ideas in the Knowledge Era.  (Knowledge = analyzing data and using it for profit in business, for example.  Being a software engineer, who can manipulate data instantly is a great skill.)

Also, in my opinion, a journalist who uses a source who is willing to be named and provides verifiable evidence of a claim with a hyperlink to the original study or survey is a much better source than an “unnamed government source,” who does not give any evidence to verify what is being said.

These “anonymous and confidential” sources could be totally made up or could be people whose work is being plagiarized or used by unscrupulous journalists who do not want freelance journalists to move up.

Providing some sort of written evidence with a hyperlink to the evidence would remove these suspicions from the source being quoted. 

The Anonymous “cyber terrorist” organization could just be a bunch of people who went to community college and not to a prestigious university whose Facebook comments are being lifted by media network workers.

The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosentiel

The Associated Press Guide to News Writing: The Resource for Professional Journalists by Rene J. Cappon

As a final comment, even freelance or “stringer” journalists should have press credentials.  Stalking is a crime even for journalists, because stalking on the computer or in person is a trait of rapists, muggers, burglers, and people who do home or apartment seizures.

Many “paparazzi” are also paid to pose media blitzes for upcoming actors and actresses who wish to obtain media attention.  Paparazzi are not supposed to physically threaten you in any way, including setting off flash photography in your face, which momentarily blinds you, or disturb your sleep.

And, you cannot use a person’s personal telephone number unless they have given it to you.  There is a function on iPhones for caller identification that many women use to avoid taking unwanted calls from salesmen.

The books above have most of the information you need the standards of professional journalism.

By Ruth Paget, Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Vauban: An Analytical Skills Development Game about Louis XIV's Defender of France by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Vauban:  An Analytical Skills Development Game about Louis XIV's Defender of France by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Level 1 - 

Examine the Vauban fortifications described in Marshal Vauban and the Defence of Louis XIV's France by Paddy Griffith and Peter Dennis.  

Think about how enemies would try to enter France without Vauban's forts.

Level 2 -

Vauban had to deal with war situations such as diseases soldiers could contract from killing diseased adversaries due to malfunctioning weapons resulting in hand-to-hand combat.  

His solution to this dilemma was to create the bayonet, which also saved on precious bullets.  This measure was taken to prevent the spread of disease among the troops and the civilian population, which provided food for the troops.  

The tasks at this level are to:

-figure out general ways to avoid disease in a community

-look at your community using the ways to avoid disease and note down what is being done well

-note down what could cause disease to spread in your community, especially during a natural disaster 

-with a group, work on projects to prevent the spread of disease 

 

-list one item in a separate piece of paper and work on: 

-possible solutions

-budgets for each solution

-action lists

-who will work on each action

-who will accomplish what by when by when 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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I

Civil War Game by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Civil War Game by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Social media sites like Skype.com and Gotomeeting.com have enabled people of both sexes, ages, physical ability, and language ability to analyze battles to see if modern technology could have changed the course of a battle and eventually the outcome of a war.  

The outcomes of war usually determine national languages, textbook versions of national history taught to children, and what language the laws of the country will be written in.

Outcomes of wars and battles are important, because victors write new constitutions and other laws and usually write their version of history in textbooks.

Most battles take place in areas that have certain similar geographical features despite taking place in different countries and at different times in history.  (This is why it is important to study geography, history, and foreign languages.)

For example, the Battle of Fredericksburg (Virginia) is a perfect case study of an uphill battle.

All uphill battles against a supposed superior force appear to be unwinnable unless some conditions might be present:

-the opposing side runs out of food and water

-there is loss of communication ability for relaying battle commands

-there is mutiny among the enlisted due to pay or pension for themselves or spouses

-lack of accurate weather information (This was a crucial element at Waterloo)

-poor morale cause by media criticism, especially of women and children

-lack of money due to disruption of commerce and therefore tax revenue base

In this large battlefield leading up to the hill where  cannons and artillery fired down on troops stood a house that is still standing.  Neither side wanted to ruin it.

This house may have been a pantry, canteen, library, and first-aid station like most Southern homes, but maybe there were some other reasons why that home was allowed to stand.

This is a little game and your Level I tast is to find why that home is still standing.  Is there a well?  A clean toilet?  Figure it out.

Level 2 – find out what those 6 conditions were like at Fredericksburg.  A lot of this information is available in the book The Civil War Battlefield Guide published by The Conservation Fundand edited by Frances H. Kennedy.

Could modern technology have changed the outcome of the battle.  Analyze this situation using the 6 conditions above and some others like electricity, rodents, disease, and strength without arms.  (Read Redwall by Brian Jacques to see what I mean by this.)

This is a stay-at-home or play-with-friends-at-home activity that teaches you about technology, history, and culture.  Victors decide who gets national arts grants.

Level 4 in this battlefield game is to analyze each battle in The Civil War Battlefield Guide in the way I outlined above.  Once you have your analysis done, go to Level 5.

Level 5 – Analyze the American Civil War by looking at what our industry was like. 

France and England bought cotton from the South for their fashion industries.  Fur was bought by these same countries for fox collars for the fashion industry as well from places like Wisconsin and Montana.

Were people in New England the middlemen for purchases of cotton such as New York and Philadelphia?

Did Chicago sell fur and food to England and France?

Find the tax base for money to run the government.

How would you sell these items today to keep money more money in the US and not go to war over cotton, fur, and interest on bank loans?

Cheat 1:  

This book is rather old, but it contains information on traditional immigration and settlement patterns in the United States - The Nine Nations of North America by Joel Garreau.

Cheat 2: 

Read President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.  In this short speech Lincoln states that this battle and this war were very important for determining what the United States was going to be as a nation now that it was free of the British.  

The Civil War is looked at in terms of North and South now, but the Mississippi Purchase orchestrated by President Thomas Jefferson also brought in a "West" element to this conflict.  

Lincoln grew up in Kentucky and went to Illinois to run for public office.  He was viewed by both the New England, New York, and the South as a Westerner coming from the rather unsavory and uncivilized territory of Illinois at the time. He also did not have a college education or law degree.

Those were attributes, though, when dealing with the marauding British and Spanish navies and merchant marine companies as well as French interlopers from Canada.

Cheat 3:

Look up Hampton Roads Virginia for a clue and that is all for right now!

Cheat 4:

There are some clues to why the Civil War turned out the way it did in an older book called The Negro in the Making of America by Benjamin Quarles.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Eating Cantonese (Chinese) Cuisine with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget and Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Eating Cantonese (Chinese) Cuisine with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

When I originally wrote this restaurant review of Chong’s in downtown Monterey several years ago, Chong’s was a Cantonese restaurant (notably featuring dishes with black bean sauce).

Now Chong’s has transformed itself into an all-around Chinese restaurant (notably featuring dishes with hot, red peppers) thanks to books like Fuschia Dunlop’s Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking and Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes for Hunan Province (Hunan is the province next to Sichuan which uses the same ingredients with less fiery results.)

This review remains relevant for comparing the Chinese community of the Monterey Peninsula to that of San Francisco and many other Chinatowns around the country.

When I described this Chinatown situation to the editor of the Monterey County Weekly (Circulation: 200,000), she was interested in learning more about China and thought Weekly readers might be as well.  The article I wrote follows:

After 40 Years, Chong’s Features the Familiar Dishes and Some Special Cuisine from South China

During a recent dinner party, I asked our friend C., who is Chinese, what his favorite restaurant is in Monterey.

“Chong’s,” he replied without hesitation.

He told me that Chong’s features many dishes from China’s southernmost area of Canton, which distinguishes it from other area restaurants serving dishes from northern China.

Northern Chinese who followed immigrants to the Monterey Peninsula account for the many Northern Chinese restaurants featuring Mandarin Chinese cuisine here.

In most Chinese restaurants around the country, including San Francisco’s Chinatown, you will find Cantonese cuisine.  The overwhelming number of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. came from Canton (referred to as Guangdong by the Peoples’ Republic of China), which includes Hong Kong.

Chong’s take-out menu says its cuisine is Szechuan from Western China, but a look at the menu shows a preponderance of Cantonese classics like shrimp with black bean sauce as well as Chinese-American classics such as chop suey, which were created by Cantonese chefs in America.

After our meals, our server confirmed that all the chefs at Chong’s have Cantonese origins.

The mild climate of Canton and its access to the sea make for a cuisine that prizes fresh vegetables, fish, and seafood served with light sauces.

Cantonese foods are consequently held in high esteem throughout China – similar to the way that French food is esteemed in parts of Europe.

Hong Kong reigns as the capital of Cantonese cuisine and many innovations using new agricultural products with traditional cooking methods come from this gastronomic capital.

When I saw that Chong’s offered steamed fish on its menu, I immediately ordered it while my husband Laurent ordered the shrimp with cashews.

A cup of egg-flower soup comes with the meal along with rice.

Chong’s dresses up its version of the egg-flower soup with tofu rods, chicken, tomato, celery, snow peas, and straw mushrooms.  I liked the soup, but the celery made me think I was eating American soup.

The steamed rock cod I ordered was large – probably twelve inches large from head to tail.  Mounded-up, shredded Chinese chives and cilantro covered the fish, which was surrounded by broccoli with long stems.

Chinese cookbooks poetically call broccoli prepared in this manner “jade tree.”  The fish looked dramatic on the platter with the sauce setting off the greens.

With this glorious dish in front of me, I imagined I was eating in a Hong Kong restaurant looking out at the twinkling lights of the harbor as I inhaled the savory scent that wafted towards us.

The succulent sauce, made from sesame oil, soy sauce, and a bit of freshly grated ginger, enhanced the flavor of the pungent chives and cilantro.  Chinese chives have a more pronounced onion taste than American chives.  These Chinese chives tasted great with the broccoli.

The flesh of the fish slid off the bones, which are big in rock cod, making them easy to remove.  Something this good does come at a higher price than most of Chong’s other menu items.  Even the fussiest foodie would like this dish.

The shrimp Laurent ordered came with cashews.  The shrimp had been stir-fried along with snow peas, straw mushrooms, carrots, and zucchini.  The nutty flavor of the sesame came through in the slightly thickened sauce.  The generous portion makes it perfect for family-style dining.

Laurent and I visited the following day to sample more food.  This time we tried the lemon-chicken and spareribs with black bean sauce.

A light, crunchy crust coats moist, white-meat chicken in Chong’s version of lemon-chicken.  The addition of slightly, sweet lemon sauce makes it feel like eating crunchy lemonade.  This is one of my favorite Cantonese dishes.

The spareribs arrived in one-inch pieces and did require some rather indelicate removal of the bones.  These specialties of the Cantonese countryside are coated with mashed, fermented black beans and garlic before they are steamed.

The flavor of the spareribs is earthy and salty at the same time.  Fermented black beans may require some getting used to, but they are favored ingredients all over South China.

During our two visits to Chong’s, we noticed that Chinese families and workers from downtown Monterey filled the tables.  Chong’s location by the Monterey Transit Plaza helps them fill tables.

End of Article

Once Laurent and I had checked out Chong's, I would take Florence there after school for early dinner while Laurent worked at went to graduate school at night.

By Ruth Paget - Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks, Teen in China, and Marrying France

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