Korean Kimchi Soup

I have thought it through. I am going to take up digital photography lessons at National Art School of Sydney, Australia.

I've realised that I need to learn how to at least make my products look good in 2D. I sucked at photography. haha. These are the garlic shoots that I am growing.

Today was a long long day. We went to an organic farmers' fresh market at Chatswood in the morning. There was nothing much. Veggies look like they were dying or already dead, and were priced at sky-rocket prices. Normal purple grapes cost $13.95 per kg. What a joke. A complete waste of time and effort. Good thing we stumbled onto a Hong Kong cafe which sells decent, almost authentic Hong Kong cuisine.

Stella had braised pork knuckles with rice, $7.50, while I emptied the whole plate of braised e-fu noodles ($8.80). This place is really not bad. The 港式奶茶 I had here actually tastes like the 港式奶茶 in Hong Kong. Don't we all judge the ability of a Hong Kong cafe by the 港式奶茶 they serve? (they should pay me for advertising their cafe)

I think I measure the length of the day by how much money I spent. My total expenditure today came up to almost a hundred dollars. Ahh, that's why I feel so drained. It is the stress caused by excessive usage of money. Every time money flies from my wallet, energy seeps out too. -_- Then again, I don't waste money like water on unnecessary stuff like make-up or clothes. I buy practical things like gardening supplies and tool box for my kitchen tools. See.

Dinner, I made Kimchi Soup. My Korean classmate taught me how to. And now, I will pass it on to you. :D You'll need:

1/4 clove of garlic (crushed)
1/2 large onion (sliced thinly)
250g of beef or pork (sliced thinly)
2 cups of kimchi
250g of silken tofu (cut into whatever shape you desire. Koreans normally have it rectangular.)
A handful of beansprouts

1. Heat a bit of oil in a pot.
2. Saute the onions and garlic on medium-high heat.
3. Add beef/pork
4. Add kimchi. Cook it till juices of the kimchi are forced out.
5. Add water till it covers the kimchi and bring to boil.
6. Add tofu and continue on a light boil until the soup had thickened.
7. Taste it. If you like the thickness of the soup, add the beansprouts to it. Let it boil for a minute of two, then ladle it out onto a bowl.

Serves 2. Goes with rice. Please, do use a bit of commonsense when cooking. This is a very basic recipe that most Korean families use at home. So feel free to alter it in whatever way you like. Just don't overdo it. :D

Gardening after dinner! I was doing handicraft for the rest of the evening. Cutting boxes, decorating boxes etc etc. I call gardening handicraft too.

See, I told you I could grow poppies here. No kidding yeah. haha. I bought tomato seeds to grow too. I also bought 5kg of soil for $3 and stole some from my school. Enough soil to last me for quite some time.

I went on handicraft-ing and made a make-shift table stand. This is supposed to act as table legs. But I think I got abit carried away.

This photo was taken by one of my Korean classmate, Soek. He carries a really big professional camera everywhere and this is one of the many wonderful pictures he has taken without permission. I don't even know when this was taken. haha.

End.