Cucumber Kimchi Making?

As agreed, I am back at Uncle Daniel's place for a session of Kimchi-making. But this time, I brought a guest - Huiwen - my Taiwan buddy!

Kimchi is a staple in Korea - I don't know any Koreans who don't enjoy Kimchi. Not yet.

Presumably most married women should be able to make their own kimchis for the family.  (I assume of all natures- radish, cucumbers etc.) 

So, without further ado, we arrived at Uncle Daniel's place to find his so-very sweet wife ready for action with all the raw ingredients needed for the session. Namely, onions, spring onions and cucumbers.

So we each had a part to play in the preparations by slicing, peeling and chopping.

This is the teach at work.

 

 Me looking so domesticated!

Hey yo! No skiving with the kid - taking selfies and all!

  

To balance the equation, here she is taking our share of selfies!

 Seriously, I should have been more serious and take notes instead of selfies, cos I cannot recall what are the next ingredients. All I remembered was the mixing, stirring and playing etc.

Was that salt and vinegar?

 

Oh well... to some extend, the fun was not in learning to make the kimchi, but the time spent having all our hands dipped in the same pot, mixing the vegetables thoroughly and working the sauce through all the vegetables as a team in momentum.

Needless to say, the Kimchi came out "daebak"! Can't expect any less from the expert home-maker!

We even got the approval of her girl!

At the end of the day, what was really memorable was that of spending time together, working towards a common goal. 

The night ended well with another session heart-warming dinner, reading stories to the girls and basically just chilling at home with them - just so awesome!

Ending this day on a high!

Kimchi Making @ Seoul Station & Cheonggyecheon Light Up!

Thanks to 언니, she is always giving me ideas on how to spend the weekend.

This weekend was really fun cos there was a huge gathering at Seoul Station to promote Kimchi-making. 

This event was only entitled to foreigners, without charges. All you need is to sign-up for it.

 (As part of the Korean Culture) 

 

We were assigned to our designated table once we registered our attendance. 

Each table was covered with HUGE cabbages and other kimchi-making ingredients.

The ladies in hanbok where our designated kimchi-making instructors.

We need to quickly take a picture before our hands got dirty!

And the kimchi-making began!

As the ingredients were all pre-packed, the process seems simple. 

 Everything was big. Big pots. Big cabbages.

Me cutting the radish as the instructor supervised me!

Then, it was just putting all the ingredients together in the big pot.

Work the ingredients in altogether and ensure all the radish has been coated with the paste!

Super chili red.! I can already feel the spice!

 

Time to add the big cabbages into the paste.

According to our instructor, every layer of the cabbage was to be well-coated. You need to spread the paste evenly to ensure a consistency. 

We coated them layer after layer.

Almost done!

 

All we need was a group picture to claim credit & pack them separately for take home!

We had to have a feast before the day ends & were sponsored with Maekgoli! 

Alas! All the participants were to form a huge circle in the big field, holding hands and singing "Arirang" - a classic Korean folk song. The feeling of camaraderie was really strong. 

As a foreigner, you feel accepted and integrated into their culture. It was a warm and homely feeling. Possibly also because the Korean instructor was like a mum - guiding you how to make, holding your hand and leading you along the way. Oh - I miss home! 

Final group shot before the session ended.

Since Cheonggyecheon was nearby, we hung out for dinner and were pleasantly surprised to see the stream lit up with colorful floats and lanterns. 

It was like Ching-gay parade on the water!

It was extremely crowded. People were packed both sides of the stream from the stream level to the ground level. (Stream was 1 level lower than the ground level, like a basement?)

I don't think romantic would be the right word to describe this. 

But it would have been nice for dating couples to hang out here.

I want to go for more of such outings!