changes

soooo... i haven't been posting for a while because of the usual reasons. lazy. uninspired. but also because between this post and the last i have become a divorcée and obviously moved out on my own. my ex-husband and i are still on good terms and we 'share custody' of our two cats, which i am grateful for.


beet-pickled deviled eggs with kimchi of course i have been cooking a lot; much more so now that i live alone. i was lucky enough to find an apartment to rent with a great location and nice kitchen with enough storage to keep all my appliances and knick knacks out of sight when not in use.


(packaged) cod roe sauce on homemade noodles
one sizeable undertaking i tried in my new apartment was to make tofu. it was a lot of work that yielded a pock-marked block of bitter tofu; not sure if it was because i used epsom salt or didn't keep it at the right temperature. however, it did have a lot of okara/biji leftover for me to work with, which tasted a lot better than the tofu. i made patties with it and froze the rest. as you can see, i've also starting making bentos again but hardcore! i started using instagram and have been harvesting a wealth of inspiration from other people's lunches from all over the world.


owl tofu! with terong balado, spicy indonesian eggplant


kenchinjiru with okara instead of tofu


slices of fried tofu and tofu patties hopefully i can get back on the blogging horse instead of lazily posting on instagram. thanks to anyone who stuck around. ("

no recipe

so, danish summer is (or should i say "was") not all it's cracked up to be this year. there have been more cold/windy days than sunny, with lots of rain to add insult to injury. but that did make the local strawberries taste even better than i remember last year. there haven't been any strawberries jams or pies made, as we've been content with eating them straight out of their punnets. anyway, it hasn't been hot enough to avoid cooking on most days, so here is a bit of what's been going on in my kitchen.


mussels and soba


chili crab


a strange mix of balinese food; chicken in coconut milk, water spinach, fried tempe, and rice


jjajangmyun


soondubu


pho accoutrements. sorry, the soup was made from a packet. I:


pandan chicken.


clockwise from top right: spicy bean sprouts and green beans, water spinach, fried shallots, that chicken in coconut milk again, and coconut rice

i've been making a lot of indonesian dishes lately. i feel like a traitor, haha! in the following months i'll try to make more korean food. (:

more bali

ever since i got a few epic cookbooks on my last visit to the states, i've been itching to make another balinese feast! i invited two friends over the see the new flat; the perfect excuse to cook up a storm.. as if i need an excuse. eating this food makes me feel like i am somewhere warm, even though the weather is pretty crummy outside. clockwise from the top is masi kuning (yellow rice), be siap base kalas (chicken in spicy coconut milk, serosop (braised banana flower and jackfruit), urab bali (bali-style mixed vegetables), and in the center is berkedel jagung (corn fritters) and fried tempe.

be siap base kalas / chicken in spicy coconut milk
adapted from the bali cookbook by lonny gerungan
serves 4

1 chicken, about 1.3 kg
1 lemongrass stalk
3 tbsp vegetable oil
spice paste
3 salam leaves (if you don't have them, leave it out)
400 ml thick coconut milk*
1 tbps melted palm sugar (corn syrup is an acceptable substitute)
salt to taste

separate the legs and breasts of the chicken and cut the carcass in half. trim the lemongrass, bruise the stalk, and tie the leaves together in a knot. heat the oil in a wok and fry the spice paste for about 3 minutes. add the lemongrass, salam leaves, and chicken pieces, and then stir-fry for about 2 minutes. add the coconut milk, melted palm sugar, and season with salt. simmer the chicken for about 35 minutes, until the juices run clear. serve the chicken in the sauce with rice.

*if you want to take this dish to another level, you can make the thick coconut milk yourself. grate the flesh of a coconut, mix with a cup of lukewarm water and soak for 15 minutes. squeeze and knead the soaked coconut in the water. strain, pressing out all the liquid through a fine strainer set above another bowl.

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spice paste for chicken
9 candlenuts
½ tsp white peppercorns
½ tsp black peppercorns
5 shallots, peeled and finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
5 bird's eye chilies, sliced
5-cm piece of fresh galangal, sliced into coins
3-cm piece of fresh turmeric, peeled and finely chopped

use a mortar and pestle to pound the candlenuts and peppercorns into a fine paste. you may be tempted to use a food processor, but the taste and texture is definitely different. add the shallots, garlic, chilies, and turmeric, and pound again to a paste. add the galangal and bruise it a bit, leave it in larger pieces so you don't accidentally bite into one...

masi kuning / yellow rice
adapted from the bali cookbook by lonny gerungan
serves 4/6

500 g white rice (i used jasmine)
1 lemongrass stalk
1-cm piece of fresh turmeric, peeled and grated
100 ml thick coconut milk*(see above)
3 salam leaves
1 tsp salt

trim the lemongrass, bruise the stalk, and tie the leaves together in a knot. put the rice in a pan, add the coconut milk and enough warm water to cover by 2 cm. add the lemongrass, turmeric, salam leaves, and salt. bring to a boil and cook uncovered for 8 minutes. stir the rice with a wooden spoon, bring down to a simmer, and cook until the water has evaporated. transfer the half-cooked rice to a steamer, ensuring it rests above the water. i put the rice in a fine-mesh strainer in a pot with water at the bottom. cover and steam until tender, about 15 minutes. you may have to add more water to the bottom after a few minutes if it all evaporates.

it was a pretty risky setup, as i'd only made the long bean and sprout salad and the yellow rice before. everything was good except the occasional bite of supremely bitter galangal, which my indonesian friend suggested leaving in larger pieces, and *gasp* under-cooked chicken. i was really embarrassed about the latter, especially since i wasn't the one who got that piece. though i have come a long way with cooking, i haven't really been practicing on animal proteins so much. luckily at least one of my friends was brave enough to come to dinner at my place again.. well, you win some and you lose some. ^^;

sort of balinese dinner

when my friends asked about my trip to bali, i told them it was 50/50. good because of the great food and beautiful scenery. bad because everyone was trying to make a buck off me and my family, some people even borderline harassing us, and also i got sick. but i guess the food left a bigger impression on me than i thought! i love balinese food and the hellish spiciness. when i took a cooking class at the villa, the chef and i made the fish in banana leaf so spicy that i was the only one eating it (with sambal!) after my family members each took a single bite.

lately i have been craving indonesian food like mad! it may or may not have anything to do with the fact that my husband and i have temporarily moved to a flat which is much closer to the asian markets by the central station. now that the shops are almost neighbors to us, i feel like making only asian food all the time! but of course i know my husband, so there is always a loaf of rye bread lying around the kitchen for when he doesn't want to eat 'weird' food. :P


yesterday i had friends over for dinner and made bali-style beef rendang, accompanied by coconut rice, bali-style salad, and sambal. though the ingredients list and amount of work may look daunting, the taste of the finished dish is definitely worth it. of course this is copenhagen, not ubud; so some of the ingredients weren't available to me. for the salad, i swapped out lesser galangal for fingerroot and the coconut was just regular dessicated coconut that i toasted in a dry pan. honestly, it was still very good! however the rendang disappointed me a little since it was not dry, as the authentic stuff should be... actually it looks like dog food! whatever, i love a good sauce and this sauce was incredible! all in all, it should have cooked for much longer to get drier and browner. but there are plenty of leftovers to cook longer. (:

sambel tomat (spicy tomato sauce)
adapted from chef rai nuriana at furama villas
yield: about 500g

75 mL vegetable oil
100 g shallots, peeled and sliced (the small ones you get at the asian market)
50 g garlic, peeled and sliced
60 g bird's eye chilies, sliced (obviously use less, seeded, or bigger chilies if you can't take the heat)
25 g palm sugar chopped
1 tbsp belacan (roasted shrimp paste)
300 g tomatoes, chopped
quarter of a kaffir lime*
salt and pepper

heat the oil in a heavy saucepan over moderate high heat. add shallot and garlic and saute until golden. add chili peppers and saute until softened. then add shrimp paste and brown sugar and saute until the sugar browns a bit. add tomatoes and saute until soft. remove from heat and cool down. coarsely grind the cooled mixture using a mortar or blender. heat the mixture again and add kaffir lime, salt, and pepper to taste before serving.

*unfortunately i could not find fresh kaffir limes in copenhagen so i used a regular lime. not the same taste at all, but i did what i could. i highly recommend you use kaffir limes instead of regular limes if it's available. ):

beef spice paste
adapted from chef rai nuriana at furama villas

3 shallots, peeled and chopped (the smalls ones you get at the asian market)
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
30 g galangal, peeled and chopped
6 bird's eye chilies, chopped (obviously use less, seeded, or bigger chilies if you can't take the heat)
15 candlenuts, chopped
3 tsp coriander seed
3 tbsp black peppercorns
30 g palm sugar, chopped
150 mL vegetable oil
6 salam leaves
3 star anise
1½ tsp belacan

grind all the ingredients coarsely in a food processor EXCEPT oil and salam leaves. heat the oil in a heavy saucepan or wok, then add the ground mixture along with the salam leaves and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. set aside and cool before using.

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rendang daging (braised beef in coconut milk)
adapted from chef rai nuriana at furama villas
yield: serves 6 people as a main

beef spice paste (recipe listed above)
6 tbsp vegetable oil
1.2-1.5 kg free-range beef
6 stalks lemongrass, bruised
6 salam leaves
6 kaffir lime leaves
3 cups water
1½ cup coconut milk
salt and pepper
fried shallots to garnish (or eat straight out of the bowl!)

heat the oil in a heavy stockpot. add the spice paste and fry over low heat for 2 minutes. add the beef, lemongrass, salam leaves, kaffir lime leaves, and water. bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer for about 30-40 minutes. add the coconut milk and bring it back up to a boil. reduce to a simmer again and cook until the meat is tender and the sauce thickens, about 1-2 hours (but don't be afraid to cook it for longer as long as there is a little liquid in the bottom of the pot). season to taste with salt and pepper and garnish with fried shallots. serve with steamed rice and sambal.

if you're making this the same day you will be serving it, be sure to make a little extra, as it tastes infinitely better the next day! P:

peanut butter

today i spotted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the lunch table at work. on white bread. in denmark, any bread that is white is usually labeled with the all-encompassing word, 'franskbrød' which directly translates to 'french bread.' this was not french bread (authentic or otherwise), but snow white sandwich bread with empty calories. immediately i asked the owner "are you american?" in danish. she said yes, and it turns out she is from virginia and training at our hospital for one semester. we talked for a few minutes while a couple of our coworkers watched in silent surprise. normally i don't talk that much and she doesn't speak danish so it must have been a shock to the other nurses to see us chatting so comfortably.


in typical american style, i absolutely love peanut butter! in desserts, in sauces, on slices of apple for a quick breakfast. but even though i like it so much, i understand how weird it seems to other cultures. i remember on my last day of work at another hospital in denmark, my boss brought a jar of peanut butter just for me to our breakfast table. all the nurses wanted to be good sports and try a bite. the reactions were similarly disgusted; a couple of them spit their peanut buttered toast out into a napkin as politely as they could. oh well, at least i got to take the rest of it home with me, hehe! before i left, one of the nurses asked me "so... what's it made of? is there butter in it?"


last week i made gado gado for the first time. it's basically vegetables, maybe tofu or egg, rice, and sauce. just like bibimbap, the name means to mix! only the sauce for gado gado is mostly peanut butter. it was incredible! the taste was very familiar... i'm pretty sure i had it a couple times at the villas my family and i stayed at in bali. i feel like i could eat that sauce with anything... on noodles, in sandwiches, over pancakes...! (:


i served gado gado with the lovely coconut rice from ottolenghi's cookbook, plenty. can you tell i love this book? the aroma from the rice drove me crazy; it was so delicious. the taste is very subtle but it still came through the peanut sauce. whenever i smell rice cooking, i think of my mom. when i was still living with my parents, my mom would almost always start dinner right after she got home from work. even though she has a demanding job as a nurse, she still put us over herself. now that i've moved away and my little brother is going out at all hours, my parents told me they go out to restaurants much more often and my mom cooks less. though it's pretty inexpensive to eat out in orange county, it makes me sad to hear my mom doesn't cook as much anymore!


mom, i miss you! i can't wait to eat your cooking again, even if it's just rice and some week-old banchan you made. ^^

tahu goreng

if you found this page, you must have noticed that i changed the name of my blog. annoyingly, the old atherosclerosis URLs don't redirect back here... but then again, that would be a pretty hefty task to accomplish. and it's not like that many links lead back here... anyway, one thing that spurred the shift was that my husband and i just bought a flat together! the kitchen we have how is extremely small by american standards and even a little on the wee side for danes. our new kitchen will still not be as big as one in a typical american home, but it's almost twice the size of our current hole-in-the-wall. i can't wait to teach myself more about cooking and food photography in a bigger flat that will be all ours... at least for a couple years. ^^



 nowadays i find myself paying attention to detail and noticing things that i normally wouldn't have. i'm sure it has something to do with the time i've been putting into drawing again. i've always been afraid of frying in anything more than a half-inch of oil, but today i made tahu goreng, or fried tofu. you can find the recipe at køkken69 and see how much better it looks on her blog. i almost left out the small detail of frying the tofu, as weird as it sounds. on the package it stated that it had already been fried. but i'm glad i convinced myself to do it, because the texture was so great against the crunchy bean sprouts and the peanut sauce. obviously the original recipe's sauce looks much finer but i actually enjoyed the crumbly bits of peanut and random bite of garlic. i ate it with brown rice noodles which soaked up the sauce nicely. and yes, i used dark soy sauce. i finally caved and bought a bottle each of light and dark after a year of only using 3 types; regular old kikkoman, gluten-free. and kecap manis. there's a detail that never should have been left out. seriously, it's worth it to have an array of soy sauces. o_o

not-so-sankt hans aften

on june 23rd, denmark celebrates sankt hans aften; which is also known as midsummer or summer solstice. normally danes will flock to a big bonfire by a body of water to drink beer and eat sausages with snøbrød (bread cooked on a stick over a fire). the fire is supposed to symbolize burning a witch, as it's not nice to burn effigies anymore. but this year i wanted to avoid the crowds, especially after distortion; which has caused me to swear off beer for a while due to the stench of it mixed with urine for the entire week following the festival. luckily, my friend arranged a little grill party in her backyard which was pleasantly quiet and, well, undanish.


for this occasion, i chose to make one of the recipes that i learned in bali. the plan was to take a ghetto cooking class which would hopefully be taught by a mom (or even better, a grandma!) in her home with several other participants. but i didn't do enough research and my parents ended up treating me to a cooking class with the executive chef at the villa we stayed at in ubud. but a word of warning before you embark on this recipe: it's fairly labor-intensive! i got to my friend's apartment and was chopping, pureeing, cooking, and folding banana leaves from 5pm to nearly 7!! definitely not something you should take to a dinner party, no matter how casual it is. i felt sorry for my friends watching me fold each banana leaf while their tummies grumbled... ;_;

seafood spice paste
adapted from chef rai nuriana at furama villas
yield: about 1 kg

400 g green chilies, seeded and sliced
3 small green birds eye chilies, seeded
225 g shallots, peeled and sliced
1 head of garlic, peeled
100 g ginger, peeled and sliced (are you seeing a pattern here?)
175 g fresh turmeric, peeled and sliced
125 g candlenuts
2 tbsp toasted belacan
2 tbsp crushed coriander seeds
200 g tomatoes, sliced
2 tbsp tamarind pulp
150 ml vegetable oil
250 ml water
2 lemongrass stalks, bruised
3 salam leaves (if you can't find them, just leave it out)
salt to taste

puree all the ingredients in a food processor or mortar except lemongrass, salam leaves, salt, and water. pour the paste into a heavy saucepan along with the remaining ingredients and simmer over medium heat for 1 hour or until the water has mostly evaporated and the paste is golden. let the paste cool completely before using it. you can save it for later by freezing it in an ice cube tray and afterwards putting the cubes into a freezer bag.

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pesan be pasih (grilled fish in banana leaf)
adapted from chef rai nuriana at furama villas
yield: serves 2 as a main, 4-6 as an appetizer

300 g fish filets, chopped into big bite-sized pieces
125 g seafood spice paste
1 medium-sized tomato, cut into thin wedges
salt and pepper to taste
4 salam leaves
8 sprigs lemon basil
banana leaf, cut into 4 squares about 15 cm
bamboo skewers (or chives/spring onions/something to tie the parcels)

season the fish with salt and pepper and add the seafood paste. place one salam leaf on the center of the banana leaf, top with a fourth of the marinated fish (but if it looks like too much, cut back a bit), 2 tomato slices, and 2 sprigs of lemon basil. fold one third of the banana leaf over the filling and roll up tightly, securing with a bamboo skewer. (alternatively, you can also use spring onions or some long greens to tie them like i did. just make sure the greens are wet so they don't burn, letting the parcel fall apart.) repeat until you've filled all 4 banana leaves. cover the parcels and let them marinate in a cool place for 30 minutes.

you can steam them for 7 minutes, grill them for 9 minutes, or bake them for 9 minutes at 180°C. just watch out that they don't get burned or overcooked or else they'll be dry as hell. serve with rice!

i think they turned out pretty well, despite my frazzled preparation and lack of salam leaves. i think they were enjoyed by my friends as well - there were no leftovers as i unfortunately underestimated the amount that the recipe would yield. luckily there were plenty of other delights to shove into our mouths; the host made many sticks of delicious chicken satay using a recipe from rasa malaysia accompanied by a fiery chili peanut sauce that i resorted to simply spooning over my rice. the only danish thing about our dinner was a few sausages on the grill... which we didn't mind, seeing as those weenies were seriously outnumbered. a latecomer brought her own marinated pork belly and cutlets to grill; after two pieces they just pushed me over the edge, i was so full! but there's always room for dessert, which was a strawberry coconut cake. and sangria. lots of sangria.

...uh, happy sankt hans aften! hope we do it this way again next year. ^^

bali! part 2

the place where i had the second most memorable meal with my family in bali is certainly no secret. the dirty duck diner has popped up quite a few times on travel guides for the area, but for some reason the concept didn't really appeal to me. i was happy to eat at warungs, tucked away cafes, things i hadn't read about on blogs or guides. but i'm glad we decided to eat here, even though i was feeling extremely unwell from getting soaked in the rain at tanah lot and having the runs all week. it's easy to see that business has been good there! the restaurant may look medium-sized from the front, but it stretches way back with little lantern-lit ponds and private huts that are open but are a good distance away from neighboring diners.


we started with a baby octopus salad and fried red snapper. the fish was perfectly cooked, and the tender potatoes surprised me since i hadn't seen them in any indonesian dish prior to this. apparently they are grown locally in bali. the octopus salad was good too, but the fact that the avocados were under-ripe bothered me a bit. if they're not in season, please don't put them in the dish; it's not necessary. i was actually denied avocado drinks at all the cafes because although it was on the menu, they didn't have the fruit in stock.


the pork ribs came with rice, shallot with lemongrass or sambal matah, spicy tomato sauce or sambal tomat, and a salad. the ribs themselves were good but a bit dry, so not as delicious as the ones my mom makes. of course we ordered the duck as well, which came with more of those lovely potatoes. it was very good and though it was half of a duck, there wasn't enough! unfortunately it was also a little dry... i assume because of the volume of customers, food is cooked beforehand and left in a warmer; that would explain how the dishes came out so quick! my family and i weren't ravenous, so these 4 dishes (and only once rice!) was fine for us.

despite our indecision and long conversations, we never felt rushed in any restaurant or cafe in bali! a stark contrast to denmark, where i sometimes feel like i'm a burden on the waiter/waitress for asking for a glass of tap water with my meal. this place was no different, as no one came over to disturb us unless we looked like we needed assistance. the bill for the less-than-awesome food and one large bintang beer came out to around $40USD, pretty damn expensive for bali standards. still, to spend a nice evening with my family in a relaxed, beautiful restaurant was definitely worth coming to the dirty duck diner for. sometimes you just get tired of seeing roaches and lizards running around the kitchen where your food is coming from. :P

bali! part 1

i can't believe i forgot to write about bali!


the purpose of my visit to indonesia was mainly visiting my younger brother who is working at alila. i hadn't seen him in over a year and a half, so a meet-up was in order! the icing on the cake was that my parents were also flying to bali from california so this was this first family vacation we'd had in ages. simply put, the food was amazing; i didn't have one bad dish. however, i did get the runs starting from the second day (probably from contaminated ice cubes) so that did slow me down a bit. stupidly, i didn't tell my family until almost the last day, thinking that i didn't want to ruin our vacation. in hindsight, i could have become seriously ill in the heat and i was constantly in danger of getting dehydrated. haha, anyway.. D:


suckling pig, or babi guling from a warung. can you count how many pieces of fat there are?
somewhat ironically, the most memorable meals i had with my family there were (relatively) the most expensive. all the food and grocery was extremely cheap to me, coming straight from copenhagen, while it was probably just okay to my parents. having lived in jimbaran for 2 months at this point, my brother was already used to the prices and would exclaim "expensive!" to most any entree that was priced over 25,000IDR, which is about $2.30USD. don't get me wrong, the warungs (small local restaurants) all served up amazing food for very little money, though most of them left a lot to be desired in the hygiene department.



in seminyak, we went to potato head. this restaurant/club/bar that my brother led us to is something of a secret, or at least it was when we got there. a hip place like this can't stay under wraps for long. sitting there watching the sunset with my family, i felt like i could have been at some new beachfront cafe in newport beach back in california. except the water looked way cleaner.


we weren't all that hungry so we all opted for cocktails and cheese; don't worry, we had a driver. i'm really glad we decided on that because it was beyond my expectations. i always assumed that asian places would not be able to put together a decent cheese plate, but boy was i wrong! i really regret not taking something to write with, because i can't remember any of the names. it was a reasonable 85,000IDR. the cocktails were equally delicious, also not too strong or too weak.


before the sun set, people of all ages were getting in and out of the pool. kids, people my parents' age, people my age. my brother and i agreed that we loved the vibe of the place with kids playing on the lawn while their parents were making eyes at each other at the bar. though potato head is extremely hip, there is no pretentiousness when you can hear children laughing.

accident and anticipation

at the end of the month i'll be traveling to bali to visit my little brother, who is working there. i haven't seen him in over a year and my parents will meet us there, so i am obviously looking forward to this trip. and the food isn't making me any less excited; i fell in love with indonesian food the very first time i tried it. imagine my delight when an indonesian friend invited me over one night to experiment with a recipe for pepes tahu, or steamed tofu in banana leaves. i think our parcels came out beautifully! we ate it with plain white rice and my new favourite rice condiment; sambal badjak. i hope to eat many more meals like this in bali; can anyone recommend an authentic cooking class there? P:


some good news: a friend of mine recently gave birth to a baby boy! i visited her in the hospital and promised to make her some seaweed soup so she could regain a bit of the recently lost nutrients. so a few weeks later, i came by with all the ingredients and we had dinner together. in return, she gave me some corn tortillas that her parents had brought from mexico the previous week. i was ecstatic! one of the cuisines i miss most here is definitely mexican. i used the lovely tortillas to make galbi tacos. the meat was accompanied by pickled carrots, cherry tomatoes, refried beans, cabbage, and gochujang. the dane ate two of the korean tacos and approved. but i think it would have been better with some kimchi... it reminded me about my trip to california in april; i'm so relieved to have the tickets booked, it's been too long since i was in the states last!

the bad news: if you're squeamish, you may not want to read the next paragraph.

unfortunately i got into a cycling accident 2 nights ago, so i will probably show up in bali to greet my family somewhat scarred. i was riding out to meet some friends at the pub on a friday night and some guy was snaking all over the bike lane. his friend rang his bike bell (to signal that someone wanted to pass), he moved out of the way, but when i tried to overtake him, he swerved back into me. i don't remember much of the fall except skidding forever on my face and something landing on my ankle. a nice guy (not the one that hit me...) helped me up and reminded me to exchange numbers with the other guy, even giving me his own number in case i needed a witness. i was keeping my cool until he said, "i think a bit of your tooth is missing."

i realized now how vain i am and yet i was totally taking my teeth for granted. i wouldn't say they are perfect (not exactly pearly white) but i wore braces for about 5 years and a retainer at night for several years after that. when i got home and saw that i had a chipped tooth, i cried and cried. the dane came home from work immediately to tend to me and of course gave me the old "well it could have been a lot worse. glad you're okay." i yelled at him then, being cranky from scrubbing asphalt out of my chin and picking a fragment of my own tooth out of my upper lip (good heavens!)... but he is so right. i escaped a bad cycling accident with just some scrapes and bruises (that will go away eventually), a chipped tooth (which can be fixed easily and hopefully the other guy will pay for it...), a fat lip, a tiny bit off my chin bone, and a twisted ankle. i could easily have broken my leg or disfigured my face for life. i suppose i can embrace the fact that this happened for a reason. i was taking big bites, using stairs, having an unscarred face, and just walking like a normal person completely for granted. hopefully things can soon go back to the way they were, before i take off to indonesia. but until the swelling in my lips goes down and i get my tooth fixed, it'll be soft food for a while. =_=

the contents of this 50kr plate have names, i just don't remember them for the life of me. spicy, sweet, sour, and salty! somewhat similar to korean food. clockwise from the top was steamed cabbage, eggplant with sambal oelek, anchovies with peanuts, some sort of corn fritter, and rice in the middle. i don't know anything about this type of food but the tastes were so sharp and memorable. there was also an empanada-ish pastry and a chip studded with peanuts that my two indonesian friends had me sample. those fried goodies would go too well with beers.

the writer (who took us to the bazaar at the indonesian embassy) suggested there might be a cultural presentation like this one at the korean embassy. with thoughts of hoddeok and patbingsu racing through my mind, i checked online as soon as i got back to the apartment. unfortunately it doesn't even look like the korean embassy is open to the public. boohoo. ):

along with food stalls there was a dance and a musical performance that was just plain trippy. i really like the soothing sounds of these 'bells.' after the show, i checked out the small market stall that had cooking ingredients. all of the bottles and cubes(?) were foreign to me. i'm sad to say i'm still clueless when it comes to indonesian food. what i do know is that i want to taste that firey sauce again! i'm looking at you, eva. :P