Family Feast

I've finally thrown in the towel and started my own blog, after months—no, years—of friends telling me to hurry up and get started. I guess the time finally felt right; the main impetus being that my memories of cooking school and then working on the line at a NY restaurant are fading fast. All the blood, sweat and tears that went into that journey are almost forgotten, save for a tiny twinge here and there in my hands, arms and back, reminding me that I once used to haul ass in a hot kitchen up to 12 and 14 hours a day. Even though all of my close friends still identify me as a cook (and horror of horrors, a chef) and at the very least, food-obsessed, I've been feeling a bit distant from food; I guess I kinda needed a break from that relationship. But now that I've fattened up and moved back to California, I'm feeling like it's time to get back to it. Back to the bosom (of all things food).

That said, my mom and her sisters are fabulous cooks—kickass when it comes to making Korean food (well, after all, they grew up in Seoul). The feast pictured above was deeRISHous: We chowed down on perfectly seasoned, spicy kimchi jjigae, doenjang jjigae (fermented bean paste soup), oh-so-tender kalbi. My aunt also whipped up a batch of egg-battered zucchini and another of white fish, pickled cucumbers, and crab and arugula salad to accompany the meal. It was a meal to inspire and ignite my ambitions to get back into the kitchen. God, I love Korean food.