Blood sausage and sea salt gelato.

I know of 2 different ways for making Kimchi chigae (Kimchi stew/soup/goodness). One is with dried anchovy broth, which actually tastes better than it sounds. And another is with pork. I'm not a big fan of pork broth, which is why I stay away from ramen (pork broth + noodles) and gamja tang (pork, specifically pork neck, broth + potatoes). So usually, I make it with anchovies, but today, I decided to make it using pork, in honor of my loyal tasters - C, HKT, and BP.




We had quite a spread, as we always do. Banchan (side dishes) that my mom had neatly packed for us in plastic Ziploc containers. Fresh perilla leaves and red leaf lettuce that I had made BP wash, leaf by leaf. Steamed rice with a sprinkling of what C and I call "purple rice" (heuk-mi). Grilled pork belly (leftovers from the kimchi chigae) with sesame seed oil + salt + pepper. And of course, the pièce de résistance - kimchi chigae. We talked about Danish pork belly, football, and the Kardashians.



The perfect end to my less-than perfect day: SCOOPS. If you ever find yourself on the dark and sketchy corner of Melrose and Heliotrope, follow the Christmas lights and the crowds of people into this small mecca for gourmands, like yours truly, where they serve innovative, DELICIOUS, and affordable(!) gelato. 2 flavors! 2 scoops! $2.75! The flavors change daily - and they never disappoint. Chocolate peanut butter! Oreo mascarpone! Vanilla malt! Strawberry balsamic! We sat around the table, indulging ourselves, and came up with our own creative combinations - Taro coconut! Blood sausage and sea salt! Pickled ginger and ahi tuna! Dduk-bok-ee (rice cakes with red pepper paste)!

Overall, today was an unproductive day, as evidenced by the gluttony captured on camera and this post itself. But today was good. Though my day was marked with random moments of uncontrollable sorrow and fear, I was smiling, laughing and more importantly, eating.