I hate it when my food has eyes!

This past Friday, we received the last ever care package from Korea that Elly will receive here in Nova Scotia.  (She's taking early graduation and leaving me at the end of January.  But let's not get me crying :(    Boohoo!  She'll come back to Canada for college AND back to her NS home for the holidays.)  

Care packages from Korea are always welcome in my house.   It means good food:  

.......  like these Korean snacks that will get devoured while playing Skipbo over Christmas (if they make it that long!) 

..... and a huge box containing a huge can of delicious kimchi, homemade by Elly's mother.  She made it with lots of love .... and lots of gochuchang 'cause Man! It is soooo spicy hot!

There were also some things I'd never tried before; and me?  I'm game to try just about anything!  

Dinner that evening was (working from the top and going counter-clockwise):

• steamed brown Korean rice = yum;
• topped with pieces of Korean kim (nori) = yum;
• with a side of sweet 'n' crunchy lotus root = yum;
• and some sweet 'n' spicy daikon radish kimchi = yum;
• AND ..... Wait a minute!  What the heck are those on my plate?  Those little silver creatures with the wee eyes?

THOSE, my friends, are dried anchovies with peanuts in a sweet soy marinade.  Seriously, does anyone like anchovies, let alone dried and crunchy with their little beady eyes staring back at you?  

But being the scientifically-minded gal that I am, and seeing as I'd already put myself out there by stating that "I'll try anything", I went for it.  And surprisingly, they were delicious.  You taste peanut and salt and soy and crunch and thankfully not what you'd expect from a wee little fish head.  Really, really yummy!

The next day, I finally cooked a dish I'd been meaning to for a few months:  black sesame porridge or Heukimja-Juk.   You start by soaking short grain rice for 3 hours; then you toast black sesame seeds, grind them together in the blender and cook slowly and carefully until it has thickened.  Sprinkle with a few pine nuts ..... or create a happy face like Elly did.

Elly said it reminded her of being a little sick girl at home and her Mom would take care of her and serve her porridges like this (and one made with abalone??).  

It was really good; a little bland but nothing a dribble of honey didn't fix.  After some more research online, I found that I can make it with regular sesame seeds (much less expensive), brown rice, a little ground chia seeds and coconut sugar for a very tasty nutritious breakfast.  (I figure a sprinkle of heart-healthy dark chocolate chips wouldn't go amiss either!)





Eating can be such a fun and tasty adventure.