5,246 Things to do with Rice

Haha ok maybe not...but there are MANY MANY variations to one of the most popular foods in Korea, called Topokki.  The spelling of the word also has many variations (ddeokbokki)...but I believe this is the official one.  

If you've been to Korea, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  If not, allow me to enlighten you.  Like LA has the "dirty dog,"  Korea has its trademark street food.  And that would be topokki.  It's made in bulk and sold in little tents and carts littered throughout the streets at all hours of the day and night along with odeng [fishcake in delicious hot soup with a little kick] and fried everything. The standard version looks like this:

[http://bit.ly/tKN1dv]

It's rice cake that is marinated in a spicy sauce that is just so delicious and addicting.  It's chewy.  It's hot. It's spicy.  And it's so good when you are cold, drinking, drunk, or just have the munchies.  And basically, everyone in Korea eats it.  That and ramen.  I see someone eating spicy instant cup noodles every single day.  Kids in front of a convenience store, students sitting on the stairs, adults chatting outside, etc.  Sometimes, they even add ramen to the ddeokbokki and call it rabokki.  And sometimes, they add seafood to that and top it with melting cheese.  The variation possibilities are truly endless and all are SO GOOD.

Anyways, last weekend, I went on the coolest field trip of my life.  Yes, it was like grade school where you get on a bus with your classmates and drive off to some factory to learn about how things are made.  BUT, field trips as adults are WAY more fun!   

For this one in particular, I went here:

[Topokki Food Research Institute http://www.topokki.com]

FOR THIS:

[what adorable little Asian rice cakes]

The purpose of this trip was to learn how topokki is made...from scratch.  Usually this class is for Korean children and foreigners don't get to see this, but we got a special opportunity through https://www.facebook.com/kexperiences 

This was by far the CUTEST factory I've ever seen!

[These precious little characters are all things that go into topokki...fish cake, rice cake, leek...i'm not too sure what the little peanut dude is doing there. There aren't any peanuts in topokki]

So began the learning... 

Rice Cake Making Process

STEP 1/2.  Soak the rice.

    

[This is the mastermind behind one of the tastiest foods ever]

STEP 3/4. Drain the rice.

  

[That's a lot of rice huh?]

STEP 1.  Pulverizer

  

[The rice is poured into a machine that grinds it into powder]

Step 2.  Add a little water, a little salt, and a whole lotta love.

Step 3.  Back to the pulverizer...but this time, it comes out looking like mozzarella!

[please keep in mind...this used to be rice]

Step 4.  Put the cloth on the metal box

[this is so the rice powder doesn't drop through the holes that line the bottom of this box]

Step 5.  Pour it in, pack it in

  

Step 6.  Cover with another cloth

Step 7.  And BOOM! Here comes the steam and the magic!

Step 8. Shaping

[It comes out as a massive block of rice cake that you can see the ddeok (rice cake) master pushing into this machine]

    

[Which is then squeezed out like play-doh (btw...never realized how weird that word is spelled) into hot water and then cut and placed in a crate by the rows]

[stacks on stacks]

[hilarious billboard to illustrate this process]

TIME TO TASTE!

[chocolate and rice syrup dipping sauces]

[rice syrup...really sweet like nectar and super yummy!]

[Thank you for the demo!]

Topokki Cooking Process

[on to the cooking lab!]

Ingredients:  meat, sauce, veggies, ddeok (rice cake)

Step 2.  Slice all the veggies

Step 3.  Saute veggies

[in order of hardest to softest (carrots first)]

[getting my cooking on]

Step 4.  Mix the sauce in with the meat and mash it all up

Step 5.  Saute meat

Step 6.  Add the sauce and the ddeok (rice cake)

Step 7.  Add the veggies

Step 8.  Garnish with sesame seeds and voila! 

[First time actually trying the meat version...like I said, the most common is red and spicy with fish cake, cabbage, and onions]

Variation 1:  Sweet Japanese Pumpkin sauce with broccoli and sweet potato stuffed ricecake

[OH MY GOSH. DEEEELICIOUS.]

Variation 2:  Cream sauce with chicken, broccoli, and mushrooms

[again...YUMMY IN MY TUMMY]

To top it all off, they let us taste (or a little more than taste ;] haha) some RICE wine called Makkoli!

[ultimate gluttony] and to think this was all made from rice

As if all of that wasn't enough, we also learned how to make rice chocolate!

From this:

TO THIS! MMMMM....

[Tasted kinda like a Crunch bar]

BEST FIELD TRIP EVER!

Taking "eating fresh" to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL.

I LOVE ADVENTURE.  I really do.  Getting bored easily leaves the only option of constantly searching for new and exciting experiences to keep a consistant level of exhiliration in my life. 

Over the weekend, my trip to Busan ended up being a great deal more exciting than I had anticipated.  I guess the lack of a plan had something to do with it in part, but never did I think I would be doing anything THIS crazy. 

AND HERE GOES NOTHING!!!

(please excuse the quality of the video...it was taken on my cellphone :] )

Yes. You totally saw right.  I just ATE the MOVING octopus. Why was it moving?  BECAUSE IT WAS STILL ALIVE!!!  but...after all the excitement, it's actually pretty good!

1.  You'll like it if you like sesame oil...because you have to bathe the little piece in it

2.  The texture is really really rubbery...but very tender at the same time.

I made sure to chew all the life out of it before swallowing!

3.  The little suction cup tentacles stick to whatever they can...chopstick, cheek, and tongue

4.  Apparently it's a lot of protein so skip the power bar and eat an octopus! :P

Next to try on my food list...silk worm larvae o.O

Mini Outdoor Petco.

Under the metro and down the street to teach En-g-lish I go (sung with the tune of "to grandmother's house" .... actually I don't even know if that's the name of the song...but you know. over the river...through the woods ladeedadeeda)

K so I was going to work and saw this right before I got to the door of my building.  Twas a mini outdoor Petco!  I haven't really seen anything like this in America before, so I was quite shocked that the bird "box" didn't have a lid...I mean...birds fly. Why aren't they flying away?  Are the shavings they perch on THAT comfortable?  Is the food THAT delicious--and by that I mean seedy?

Here you can see an assortment of little animal pets

So I asked the man, and apparently they can't fly away...he clips their wings so they can only hop around....I found this really sad actually.  When people ask, "If you could be an animal, what would you want to be?"  Many people respond with "a bird so I can fly!" ... I just got sad thinking about it! 

But apparently they like him, because they're more than willing to perch on his hand without pecking at his fingers

and there were HEDGEHOGS!!!!!  If you are my friend, you may know that I've been considering the purchase of a hedgehog...how cool would it be to walk down the street with one of these?!?  I know...and I'd name it Sonic...and then buy a squirrel and name it Tails. PAHA NOT!! But it would be a cool pet to have since it's so unusual. However, after seeing it this close and touching it, they aren't exactly friends to fingers.  those little quills don't hurt...if you stroke the right way.  It's kinda like a guy who keeps a stubble and can scratch your face when you kiss because you're moving against the grain. 

 Annnyways, ooh! look at the pretty red bird!

lol...he kinda looks like one of those creepy hagglers asking if i wanna buy a watch O.O

I pass these every day and I pray that someone buys one and saves them from their itty bitty cages.  I would've...if the guy didn't try to scam me and charge me $130 for a hedgehog when he told all the kids I teach that they're $50 each -__-

Korea's small animal pet market is HUGE!! Especially little kittens and teacup puppies!  I'll soon be heading to Chungmuro...the street lined with all these kinds of adorable little fluff balls :D