December 2022 Newsletter
I’m traveling in Italy and writing this letter to you from a hotel room in Rome! My monthly letter sent to you on the first day of every month is very special for me, so no matter where I am, I can’t wait to meet you virtually.
I’ve tried to see great arts, architecture, culture, and of course food in Italy. I had a meetup with my readers in Rome and I also happened to meet some of my readers on the street! Some were also traveling and some were living in Italy. I have so many interesting stories to share with you! Wherever I went, you were always in my mind, especially about the food I tasted. "I’d like to show them what I tasted!” I also wanted to find some Korean grocery stores to add to my website so it would help you guys with your Korean shopping here in Italy. I filmed some videos here that I’ll edit and post soon through my YouTube channel and social media. But even after more than 2 weeks here, I feel there is so much to see and do in this wonderful country.
I’m also writing to you from a new newsletter mailing platform, Substack. I was using Revue before this but it’s owned by Twitter and I heard the rumor that it will be shut down soon. I wanted to move early, to make sure I got all my readers and letters moved to a new platform. You probably don’t notice anything different about Substack except now you can read all my past letters on my new Substack page!
New recipe: Soy butter chicken
My non-spicy soy butter pan-grilled chicken recipe is juicy, sweet, garlicky, buttery, and rich! Sound good? It’s also so fast to prepare. After a short time marinating you just mix the chicken with the sauce and put it on your hot grill pan right away. Then it’s just some minutes cooking and done! Many people have let me know they already made this and loved it.
New recipe: Quinoa nurungji
This quinoa nurungji is an easy way to make tasty and delicious scorched rice soup! Nutty, warm, and comforting, the soup is great as breakfast or lunch when paired with a few other side dishes or kimchi.
I used to make nurungji without using quinoa and just started adding it recently. I brought some of my quinoa nurungji with me to Italy and one morning boiled it in water and with a few side dishes I had a wonderful breakfast. I will post a short video about it soon!
Ankana’s soy butter chicken!
It looks so juicy and buttery and tasty! Ankana made this not long after I posted the recipe.
Sweet crunchy Korean fried chicken
It looks so crunchy, juicy, and sweet! As soon as I saw Makkel’s photo, I decided to make this dakgangjeong for my family over the upcoming holidays. This chicken never goes soggy, and everyone loves it! It’s my second most popular recipe, after my kimchi recipe. It’s foolproof!
The first time Felina made kimchi
This was Felina’s first try at making kimchi and it looks fantastic! Her question made me smile:
“How often is ‘opening once in a while’ when placed in a sealed jar?”
I think she must have heard that someone’s kimchi burst or exploded. This never happens to me because as soon as the kimchi is made I keep opening it to eat some here and there. All the built up gases fly away. All I can say is, once in a while open it and say hello. “Good morning!” : ) I gave her a longer, more detailed explanation on my website, you can check it out if you’re interested.
Bok choy soup
Don’t you feel like having this hot soup in this kind of cold weather? When we see this hot bubbling soup, it makes us feel warm. I usually use cabbage for this soup but I used bok choy and tofu in this recipe. You can make it so easily!
Making cheese buldak for homework!
Meridian said, “Kids home from school for strike and my son's Foods teacher told them their homework was to cook an international food, so I'm getting Maangchi’s cheesy buldak for lunch that I didn't have to make myself.” Basically the teacher made her child into a good son! : )
Messages & comments from my readers and viewers!
Kimmohan let me know he learned many Korean recipes from me and eventually he opened a Korean restaurant in India. I was so happy to see on TripAdvisor that he has hundreds of positive reviews and many people say he has the best Korean restaurant in all of India!
I'm from Nepal. I learn many Korean menu from you and I open my own Korean restaurant in India. Thank you Maangchi!
Kimmohan's restaurant
One of your family members is a picky eater? Then check what jenefevillacruz said:
I cooked this [Beef and mushrooms stir-fried over rice] right after I watched it. My husband loves it. He is very picky eater but every now and then, he would request me to make it. Loves this!
26 pounds kimchi making day by gefrast!
It is Saturday, 6 o'clock in the morning, and today will be kimchi-day! 26 pounds of cabbage are waiting to be processed... the anticipation!
katinaixchel is ready to make miyeokguk (seaweed soup) for her daughter who will deliver her grandbaby soon! So nice of her!
I will make this for my daughter after she delivers my first grandbaby (it’s a girl) in February. Her delivery date is my birthday 2/17 so I hope and pray for a healthy strong baby and safe delivery for my daughter. What a birthday present this will be for me! I make this quite often on my children’s birthdays as well ❤️
Everybody’s story about how they started cooking my recipes is different depending on the year or recipe. My long time follower maiscuzina’s story about her Korean cooking started with my japchae recipe! I’m also curious about your stories, too.
I used to make your japchae Korean noodles. Our guests loved it. Since then, it has become my favorite Korean food!
Someone left a good tip for making a vegetarian version of my soy butter chicken recipe by using tofu instead of chicken. How is it possible to make tofu taste like chicken?!
You press the tofu 30 minutes, and freeze it overnight. Then the next day thaw it out and press it for 30 minutes again. This technique works (I have tried it). The texture is like chicken.
hvacstudent who never cooked Korean food before was planning to make Korean fried chicken for his Korean wife of 12 years. I hoped his wife will be happy with the chicken he made. Then he replied!
She was happy! My mother-in-law never said my cooking was good but this time my cooking was good! Hahahah thanks!
Oops! My next newsletter will be sent to you next year! : ) See you next month on January 1st 2023! I hope you have great holidays and be happy with your delicious food!
Hello Maangchi! So good to see you on Substack! Are you going to set up a free subscription here so that people can subscribe to your posts? Love you!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR Manngchi!