melting pot.

the fact that tim is taiwanese and i'm korean isn't your average cultural clash. being in a inter-ethnic marriage didn't require a huge adjustment on either of our parts. it helps that we both only have the loosest ties to our motherlands. my korean-ness ends at listening to kpop -2pm, 2ne1, big bang are the current faves, all thanks to a past roomie of mine.

it was God's great goodness to me in keeping me from marrying into a korean family - i was spared a lifetime of mortification for my atrocious konglish & lack of cultural know-how. growing up, i always got away with blundering around with kindergarten-level korean. tim's taiwanese/mandarin beats my korean, but only by a small margin. and thankfully, both our parents are ultra understanding of this, so we've managed to dodge some of the stickier in-law interactions. i have mixed feelings about our loss of heritage. i'm pretty sure tim and i will send our future kids to some kind of language learning program - but, that's another story, another day.

essentially, we have similar priorities, values, upbringings and interests, not to mention our unity in Christ, so it rarely crosses our minds that we're taiworean. but every once in a while, we'll both feel our roots tugging at us - the strongest when it comes to: 1.) family, 2.) food, 3) language (minimally).

after getting married, i wet my feet in korean cuisine by cooking up things that i have never cared to learn to make in the past - stews, meats, fried rices, etc. tim is a good eater and has (thankfully) enjoyed most everything. still, i couldn't help but notice the growing differences in our palates. i like things spicy/flavorful/marinated/robust- indicative of my korean taste buds (see? i've got it in me somewhere). tim likes things more mild/less sauce/less dressing/less salty. i've never really enjoyed pork and mushrooms, and...well...chinese food is rampant with the stuff.

anyways, i thought i'd experiment & surprise tim one night by cooking up something from the chinese cook books i got. (i got 4 korean and chinese cook books from bridal shower/wedding. i use them excessively). unfortunately, this isn't really the kind of stuff that tim grew up on. fortunately, he loved the meal and gave it a 4.5!

the kung ka-pao! chicken was my kind of stuff! tasty, yummy goodness wrapped up in a little crunchy surprise. and, the good thing about cooking it yourself is that you control how much garlic/salt/soy sauce/ginger/etc. goes into your sauce, so it doesn't have that pungent and overly salty gunkiness of some take out places.

egg flower soup - tim had been requesting it for a while, so i finally nerved myself up to make it. uhh, what the heck was i waiting for? it was so easy peezy! it's basically: chicken broth/soy sauce/green onion/and...EGG! the neutral flavors balanced out the kung ka-pao

green onion pancake - too doughy this time around. i made it again about a week later, and according to tim, it had the perfect consistency of an authentic green onion pancake made in china! my sneaking suspicion is that he is just being overly encouraging, knowing my insecurities over my rookie wife ways.

=) excited to explore more culinary delights. any recc's for recipes? oh! and if you want the recipes, i will give.

p.s.: hAPPY 24th BIRTHDAY diane Cho! thanking God for having such a sweet soul as my best friend. i love you!!