Hello, hello! Guess where I am now? I’m in my Mother Country, Korea! I left Singapore last night and took an overnight flight with my parents to Incheon, and now we are spending a day here to recuperate before meeting my grandmother in Seoul, then traveling 4 hours down south to my “hometown” in Jeon-Ju.

I was very spoiled on my way back, too. I had 21 of my church friends out to send my parents and I off. They treated us to a multi-course feast, too. Remember Crystal Jade restaurant, where I had the four-colored dumplings with Jing Wen?

We went to another branch, this time specializing in exquisite Cantonese cuisine. Since it is located in Changi Airport, we met up for an early dinner before our departure. We were such a big group, however, that we had to split into two tables:
Look at us. One big happy family.
My parents and Pastor Vincent:
And here’s the pastor’s wife blessing us with her prayer:
  The food was served family-style, too, in big portions, one by one. And they were all meticulously chosen by our church’s own food gourmand, Vilon:
I’d say he’s the Jonathon Gold, the Mark Bitterman of our church in Singapore. Just look at that expression. It’s the kind of face and precise criticism that causes chefs to quake in their chef whites (or clogs).

First up, was the Mapo Tofu, or Braised Beancurd with Minced Pork & Chili Sauce:
This wasn’t my favorite, but Jing Wen dominated this dish. She loves tofu like I love cheese. I can get this dish anytime in America and I dislike soft tofu, but I had to admit this was done really well. 
The tofu was smooth like pudding, the sauce intensely flavorful from liberal pork meat, fat, and juices. Still, I tried to save my stomach space for the next dish, which was Sautéed String Bean with Preserved Vegetable and Minced Pork:
Yet another familiar dish you can get in America. If you like green beans, you’ll love this dish. It was cooked perfectly—crunchy yet softly cooked inside, glistening with flavorful oil, and jazzed up with some pork and pickled vegetables.
  The next dish is something you see regularly in Chinatown, probably hanging ostentatiously in a showcase window:
Roasted duck, Hong Kong style! I wish I could sound like a roast duck connoisseur as I analyze its level of crisp skin and tender flesh, blah blah blah…but all I can say is that it tastes good. I haven’t eaten enough roast duck in my life to compare it to others.
Next up, Stir-Fried “Hor-Fun” with Beef:
If you remember from this post, I’ve had hor fun (flat, wide rice noodles) but it was drenched in gravy. This one came dry-fried, but I didn’t taste anything “dry” about this dish, possibly because I was salivating so much while eating it…it was so good!
Once again, a dish you can get anywhere in Chinatown…so I highly recommend seeking it out! And if you like pig, and don’t mind the smell of it, I also recommend this dish:
 Roast suckling pig and Char Siew slices:
I avoided this dish because I couldn’t really stand the overpowering smell, but it was gone within seconds so I’m guessing it was good! But the best dish, in my opinion, was this dish:
Braised Kailan with Lingzhi Mushroom & Oyster Sauce
Oh my God! Delicious! The vegetable was just so fresh and perfectly cooked, and I adore mushrooms, so this was the perfect dish! The next dish was also surprisingly good:
”Yang Zhou” Fried Rice. I say with deep humility that this rice dish rocked my socks. I admit, rice can be pretty good if cooked the right way. Preferably, wok-fried Cantonese style with juicy shrimp, Chinese sausage, peas, cabbage, eggs and scallions.
The next two dishes paled in comparison, though. Here’s the Baked Spare Ribs with Sweet & Sour Sauce:
My dad told me he loved this dish, but I found it horrible, simply because it combined two of my least favorite things: ribs, and sweet & sour sauce.
But if you like ribs and sweet & sour sauce, do give it a try. Be prepared to pay quite a bit for it, though. This dish is not cheap! The next dish was also a sweet & sour dish:
Deep-Fried Diced Fish with Pine in Sweet & Sour Sauce.
Hm. I did try one and it was amazingly crispy with a lovely batter, but the pungent sweet & sour sauce kind of ruined the good fish. But the next dish was stellar:
Pan-Fried Diced Beef in Sliced Garlic
My second favorite dish!! This had TONS of deep-fried, beef-juice-soaked garlic in it, and you bet I scraped out every last crispy garlic I could get! And the beef was so tender! YUM! Every meal has to end with a sweet note, so the last dish was a unique dessert:
Chilled Water Chestnut Cream with Pomelo, served in individual portions
This dish was clear, light, and refreshing, with a lovely citrus note from the fresh Pomelo flesh.

I drowned my sorrows in yet another multi-course dinner during the flight back. Yes, I’m still miraculously in business class! Look, I can stretch out my legs and still have room to wiggle them around!
With pretty air stewardesses to bow to my every whim!
We were given a choice of western or Asian cuisine, and I chose western. They started me out with a small appetizer platter:
Smoked salmon with asparagus:
Cold rice noodle salad:
Fresh garlic toast:
And then, main course:
 Braised beef with ginko nuts, chestnuts, goji berries, and dates. Served with sauteed vegetables and white rice.
Next up, my favorite dish…a mini cheese platter!
 Blue cheese, cheddar cheese, fresh fruits, and a wedge of brown bread. And ending with a sweet note of cheesecake in strawberry sauce:
Suffice to say, my stomach was bursting by the time I was done and I slept like a baby. When I woke up, the plane had already reached Incheon Airport in Korea. I met up with my parents (they had to take another airline), and now we’re spending a night in Incheon.

Since my dad had worked really hard from his mission trip, we let him choose the place of venue to dine. Of course, he chose his favorite Korean-Chinese place near our hotel:
My parents always visit this place when they’re around, so the owner actually recognized us. She’s Chinese, so she seemed to relish in the opportunity to speak Chinese with her customer. Meanwhile, I relished in enjoying the interior design:
  We started off with the usual side dishes that come with all Korean-Chinese ciusine:
Fresh sliced onions doused in vinegar, kimchi, black bean sauce, and pickled radish.

Then we shared a dish of boiled dumplings:
Because this is Chinese style, the filling was heavy on meat and the dumpling skin was thick.
My dad ordered a bowl of spicy seafood noodles, called Jjam Bbong:
Pungent, spicy, and chock-full of onions, zucchini, and seafood.
My mom and I shared a deluxe plate of black bean noodles (jja jang myeon) for two:
This is one of my favorite dishes in Korea. It looks black and hideous, but is so, so good. I can’t explain the taste—you’ve got to try it for yourself. Ours came with abalone, shrimp, onions, and beef.
And for our sweet end, sweet, rich pieces of mooncake:
And right now, I’m cuddling with my parents, slurping on shitake oyster porridge, dumplings, beef jerky, chocolates, ice-cream, and the World Cup, where Portugal is brutally butchering North Korea.

Question of the Day: When do you feel like the luckiest person in the world? How do you like to be spoiled?

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Tagged as: beef, bread, cake, cheese, chicken, chinese, deep-fried, dessert, fish, fried, fruits, garlic, kimchi, Korean, noodles, pickles, pork, rice, roasted, seafood, shrimp, spicy, tofu