i braved the 90ºF heat (well, i did have a/c running -_-) and cooked!

super sour forgotten-in-the-fridge kimchi that has been in the ripening for about 2 months now,

cooked with some fishcake & garlic scopes, over cold silken tofu.

we had some csa lettuce that needed to be eaten, and we wrapped rice and the above dish in it

to make some ssam.

it was a little too sour and tangy for ssam, so the leftover batch of kimchi will most likely be

used for kimchi jigae.

another night of ssam dinner (can't be helped) tonight, this time with

denjang stew, called "kang denjang" - very similar to denjang jigae, just not soupy,

and instead more curry-like stew - cooked with potatoes, carrots, onions, tofu & peppers.

i made that and put it over rice, then wrapped the mixed rice in lettuce & perilla leaf,

along with other banchan & kimchi.

mmmm~ can't get enough of ssam - so satisfying!!

i was craving ssam (korean lettuce wrap) so much lately, that when we saw perilla leaves

and a frozen seafood mix at the korean market the other day, i knew what to make.

i made a spicy stir fry of seafood (my first time cooking seafood at home!), and we ate it

wrapped in lettuce and perilla leaves (so fragrant) - along with rice and other banchan that

we got the other day.

it's so satisfying to wrap delicious things in fresh greens and stuff your mouth with all the

mix of flavors! mmm so good - we need to do this more often.

what else to ssam?

cooked up spicy shrimp stir fry again, this time with collard greens, little

dried shiitake mushrooms in garlic chili sauce, and of course, with lettuce

and perilla leaves on the side to make ssam.

i have to admit it was pretty good, :D but dinner from last night was just

too amazing that this felt definitely eclipsed by it.

m made me his version of the spicy shrimp dish with lettuce for ssam for dinner

tonight - so good with perfect amount of spiciness and sweet/tart flavors.

he put mushrooms & garlic, and unlike the wilted chard i put in mine, they really

complimented the texture and flavor of the shrimp.

not to mention how amazing everything tastes wrapped up in lettuce!

bonus photo of bento sleeping summer-style (planked) :

made some spicy shrimp stir fry with swiss chard, then wrapped everything

up in lettuce & perilla leaf ssam! mmm so good.

and we eat banchan straight out of the store-bought containers. yup yup.

i recreated this kang denjang stew with different ingredients, including a can of tuna.

then of course, with rice, banchan, and lettuce/perilla leaves ssam dinner!

something about the fragrance of the perilla leaves goes so amazingly well with the flavor of the denjang stew. so good - we ate up everything!

dinner photos at café 232 korean never comes out right, since it's so dark in there

for iPhone cameras - these have been brightened up a lot, but still very fuzzy & noisy.

but their food was pretty dang good!

we got denjang jigae (soybean paste stew) & samgyupsal (pork belly bbq), a very good combo

that we rarely get, if ever. the bbq was very good, pre-cooked (they're usually grilled right on the

table at most restaurants), and we even asked for some lettuce for ssam, which they obliged,

albeit a bit reluctantly - it may have been on the qt.

their stew is a bit on the spicier side than regular denjang jigae, but i like it because it reminds

me of the way my mom used to make it, with a little extra gochujang in the mix.

unusual for us, but still very good meal.

i made some spicy tofu kimchi stir fry with leftover sour kimchi in the fridge,

adding in some tinned salmon we had in the pantry. with some sides of avocado

and cucumber, we wrapped them all up (ssam) in lettuce and korean roasted seaweed,

with brown rice to accompany it all.

we were so stuffed afterwards yet not disgustingly full with food like this.

made some kind of unorthodox (because i put broccoli rabe & salmon)

version of denjang jigae, which turned out pretty yummy over rice,

especially on a rather windy night after a windy run.

next time i cook with denjang, i will make this "Kang denjang" with some

lettuce wrap (ssam) with rice. yum yum.

the most amazing (grand) korean meal for two at cho dang gol.
freshly cooked spicy pork and squid with ssam (lettuce wrap) set,
which also came with dwenjang jigae (tofu & soybean paste soup).
sooo good, soooo full.

late lunch at sakura tokyo, our go-to cheap janky japanese place. m got a kara-age (japanese fried chicken) platter (with shumai in lieu of the usual cali roll by accident) and i changed up my pace a little bit at got the salmon bowl and got all fancy for $7.50! they were both delicious, and i was surprised at how fresh the salmon sashimi was and also how much i enjoyed the cooked salmon part. chicken was, as always, perfectly cooked.

then for light dinner, m made salmon salad (salmon again for me!) and made them into little ssams for little mini bit-size salads. so refreshing and delicious! 

we biked into chinatown to enjoy such a beautiful spring day - we stopped at

columbus park, which was packed with people playing cards, chess, and some

amateur senior opera troupes performing in several sets.

we walked over to tokyo mart to pick up some sushi then to a bakery for some

egg tarts, then back to the park on one of the flat table rocks to enjoy our food.

definitely one of the better sushis i've had that doesn't cost an arm and a leg in this town.

then for dinner, i made another spicy seafood stirfy, as we've been on a ssam kick recently.

this time more like dukboki, with mochi sticks. the frozen seafood mix i got

this time had different ingredients & variants than last time, including octopus,

mussels, scallops, etc - although i made the sauce a bit too spicy/salty this time,

and we didn't have any perilla leaves anymore, it was still satisfying!

i finally got off the bed (feeling a bit better) and was able to cook a little for us. since m got us a huge batch of korean groceries last night, i decided to made some brothy, refreshing, kimchi miso soup for the rainy day, along with some gyeran-mari (omelette rolls) with perilla leaves layered in between.

m also got some cucumber kimchi (oi sobagi) - which i apparently can't stop eating (had loads with kimbap last night too) - and with other banchan and perilla leaves for ssam, this became a very simple but homey meal for us.  

i craved tofu and ssam, so i concocted this dubu duruchigi (spicy tofu stirfry). we didn't have much other ingredients or banchan in the fridge, so i used some kimchi (radish and cabbage both), veggies and tofu for the dish. it was a bit on the sweet side and a bit too saucy for my taste (i accidentally pour din too much sugar), but it did fix my cravings.