Fun way to host dinner in your tiny apartment

If I had a big house with a big kitchen, I would be hosting breakfasts, lunches, brunches, dinners, snacks, and midnight snacks for my friends. Unfortunately, that is not the case in Korea. Some apartments have kitchens that are smaller than a bathroom, while having no built-in oven is also common in most Korean homes.

With that said, I still make an effort to cook up something easy to feed my friends. As long as you have a big enough table to fit all your friends, this easy dish is sure to please everyone!

While being one of the healthiest, cheapest, and easiest dish to prepare, there's barely any cooking involved! ...I KNOW!

Spring rolls (this recipe feeds 4 people)

What you'll need:

-Rice paper

-Rice noodles (1/2 box)

-1 cucumber

-3 bell peppers (any color)

-1 carrot

-bean sprouts (1/2 bag)

-green onions

-lettuce

-cilantro**

-pork (going to a butcher is cheaper. ask for the donkatsu meat, cut japchae style, 5,000Won)

-shrimp (optional)

for the sauce:

-hoisin sauce

-peanut butter

-Sriracha sauce**

(Most of these items can be bought at any grocery store in Korea)
**(these items may be a bit difficult to find in Korea)**

How to prepare:
-Cut all the vegetables (except lettuce and cilantro) thinly to the length of your index finger and lay it out on a plate so it's easy for the guests to grab.
-Boil the pork until just light pink and drain. The meat will keep cooking and since it's cut so thin, it should really only take one minute. The longer you cook it, the tougher and drier the meat will be.
-Boil the noodles, drain, and rinse under cold water. Follow the instructions on the box. Some may tell you to soak the noodles beforehand.
-If you want to add shrimp, I suggest buying the already cut/peeled/cooked kind. Just dunk it in some boiling water for 30 seconds and drain.
Sauce:
-Mix one part peanut butter and one part hoisin sauce. That's it.

How to make:
-Have some empty plates filled with warm water big enough for the rice papers to fit. It really doesn't take long for the rice papers to get soft.
-The easiest way to make this is by laying out a piece of lettuce on top of the rice paper, spread some peanut sauce on it, lay all the veggies, noodles, and meat in the middle. I like to also put some Sriracha sauce on top. Grab one end of the rice paper and carefully and slowly roll the ingredients in as if making sushi.

A friend actually taught me how to make this and I have been making it literally WEEKLY for the past few months. And because it's so healthy, I really think it played a big part in my weight loss lately!

2012.

Picture courtesy of Karolina K.

I've done the countdown in Times Square, I've done it at church multiple times, but I have never experienced a new year like this.... :)

Since my lovely friends in Suwon were in charge of the Christmas party, I thought it would be appropriate if I took care of the New Year's. This party was pretty much planned last minute and I think it's safe to say that it turned out pretty awesome. Old and new friends showed up fashionably late and ready to party.

Unlike America, the land of easy party foods, it was tough to come up with snacks to feed my guests. Thanks to handydandy HomePlus, Dave and I were able to whip up some yummy and wallet friendly goodies.

Pomegranate White Sangria
This drink only needs 4 ingredients: Pomegranate seeds, any white wine, sprite, and slices of orange for decoration. This easy to make drink was probably the biggest hit at the party.







Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Sandwiches

Sounds like a handful, but this delicious snack is so easy to make!  Just take the Korean version of Ritz crackers, spread some PB on it and make sandwiches out of them. Melt some chocolate, in this case Ghana chocolate (also popular in Korea), and VOILA! If you want to be fancy, just roast some peanuts, crush them up, and sprinkle on top.

For those who watch their figure
We have a couple of vegetarian friends that we definitely did not want to disappoint. These finger snacks were made by spreading some cream cheese on toasted bread and topping them with  water crest and slices of cucumber. Sounds extremely healthy, but tastes awesome too.







Korean Cho-Bap

I guess this also falls under the vegetarian category. You can find Cho-Bap in sushi restaurants around here, but making them at home is definitely cheaper and it takes no time to make these. A big pack made to feed 4 people cost less than 6,000Won. Just mix rice with the seasoning that comes in the pack, roll them into little balls and stuff them into the delicious marinated tofu pockets that's also included.







We had other snacks like chips and salsa, PB&Banana sandwiches, and pizza. Overall, making all this deliciousness took no time. Dave and I definitely did not slave over the stove and we had more than enough food to feed over 10 people.

Since most of my money was spent on restaurants my first year here, my new year's resolution is to cook more at home. I miss all kinds of food from back in America, and will definitely try to recreate my own version of them using ingredients available in Korea. 2012, please be good to me!

Final spread