Danmudzsi, a sárga savanyított retek

A kész danmudzsi

A danmudzsi (angolos átírásban danmuji) a gimbap egyik hozzávalója, illetve a dzsadzsangmjeon (jajangmyeon) mellé eszik savanyúságként. Mivel belelendültem a kísérletezésbe, és szembejött a jégcsapretek (bezzeg két héttel ezelőtt... akkor hiába kerestem), megvettem, és nekiestem. Mármint danmudzsit készíteni. Aki már tett el savanyúságot télire, annak nem nehéz. Messze nincs vele annyi munka, mint az ecetes paprikával (gogosár paprika) vagy a káposztával töltött paprikával.

Két receptet kombináltam: az egyikből az adagokat vettem, a másikból az ízesítést.

Drama Reviews No. 10

Fight My Way – It wasn’t as funny as advertised in the teaser. The romance and the chemistry between the leads was okay but not off the chart. It could’ve been much better with such a cast, I blame it on the director and the writer. The frames and the lights were dull, the fight scenes were poorly made. What stood out for me were the side characters, the leads’ friends who were a couple (Ahn Jae-Hong and Song Ha-Yoon) and the coach (Kim Sung-Oh), they were scene stealers. It wasn’t bad, just lukewarm.

Suspicious Partner – It was hard to balance the humor and romance with the creepy crimes. I liked the trust developed between Ji-Wook (Ji Chang-Wook) and Bong-Hee (Nam Ji-Hyun) despite the bumpy start. I would've like it more if Bong Hee was portrayed as more capable, not as someone slow, who barely can pass the exams. The legal stuff and court speeches were not well written, but the visuals were great, and wasn’t a boring drama. I appreciated that the leads emoted so well and had so much chemistry.

Defendant – It felt over the top, too exaggerated. I liked the beginning, when I couldn’t figure out what’s the deal due to Jung Woo’s (Ji Sung) repeated memory loss, after that the story became somewhat predictable. Ji Sung’s performance in the second half of the drama was better. Uhm Ki-Joon managed to create another memorable villain character, a real psychopath, with perfect mixture of intelligence, evil and craziness. And with a friend like Kang Joon-Hyuk (Oh Chang-Suk) who needs an enemy? He was outright scary. The irony is that in this dark, twisted story the inmates were the good guys.

Whisper – This drama is better than the Defendant. The casting and the actors performance was spot on. I liked that all the characters were four dimensional, the line between good and bad was blurred, everyone had a shady and a relatable side. The corruption’s web was unimaginable large yet felt real (given the corruption size in my country). In every single episode was a twist, I couldn’t stay assured even for an hour. I wasn’t disappointed of the end, I saw it coming, if it was any different the drama wouldn’t be true to itself. Lee Bo-Young and Lee Sang-Yoon were perfect partners, complemented each other, but the romance was a little forced.

Individualist Ms. Ji-Young – The approach was too simplistic, the tropes of opposites attracts in this case wasn’t appropriate in my opinion. The clinging to girlfriend was overdone, it wasn’t even hilarious. I know it was a two episode mini-series, but still the problem was too easily solved.

The Best Hit <3 – The best. ’Dda Bong!’ It’s about a year that a drama got me this addicted. I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face while watching it. Maybe Yoon Si Yoon’s wide smile was contagious. It was a show that was funny and witty, the comic situations and the serious talk were hand in hand in almost every scene. I had the feeling that the whole cast and crew had a blast filming. I was amazed how cool the characters stayed when they learned about the time travel. No one freaked out. Not even the son whose dad snatched the girl he loved. C’mon, that was unrealistic even according to kdrama standards. But the love story of Yoo Hyun-Jae (Yoon Si-Yoon) and Choi Woo-Seung (Lee Se-Young) was so sweet and swoonworthy that I threatened to curse the show, if it’d kill it at the end. Fortunately it did not. Everyone was likeable. Even stalking fans. When I saw them with those cameras, I burst out laughing. They clearly didn’t know how to use them. At first they didn’t even hold it right. And when one of them took a picture of Ji Hoon (Kim Min-Jae) in the bakery with telephoto lens... Well, she probably wanted to take a macro photo of his nose hair.

2 Outs in the 9th Inning – The Best Hit put me in a retro mood, so I tried for a change an oldie. I think it’s okay to call it that if it’s a ten years old drama. Someone praised it on Dramabeans and made me curious. I want to thank her for that. I didn’t see the main actors in leading roles up till now, and I was amazed how good they are. Soo-Ae wasn’t stiff and self aware like many actresses, she was relaxed and natural, with a beaming smile, and you could read what was Lee Jung-Jin thinking ‘cause every muscle was moving in his face. It’s an understatement that their chemistry was great. I would like to see them in many dramas as leads, in meaty roles. Hong Nan-Hee and Byun Hyung-Tae’s transition from friends to lovers was fun to watch and felt realistic. The ending was somewhat flat, without fireworks, but all in all, it was a good show. Sadly the subs were not too good, but I’m still grateful for them. On the shallow note, I loved their fashion, especially the trapeze trousers. I still keep one of those in my closet. I’ve never seen someone looking so hot in saggy sweatpants and a T-shirt. And I was right, that camera wasn’t just a prop.

Kimcshi-készítés - első próbálkozás

Már rég szerettem volna enni kimcshit, csakhogy a városomban nincs keleti élelmiszerbolt, és a hipermarketek egzotikus étkeket és hozzávalóikat kínáló polcain még nem találkoztam vele. Ezért elhatároztam, hogy magam készítem el. Nem sok különlegesnek számító hozzávalót kellett beszereznem, csupán kínai kelt, halszószt, jégcsapretket és egyes receptek szerint rizslisztet. Az első kettőt meglepően könnyen találtam, jégcsapretket viszont sehol sem kaptam, pedig azelőtt sokszor láttam, sőt vettem is. Lehet, most nincs szezonja, azért nem kapható. Jobb híján fekete retekkel helyettesítettem.

Mielőtt nekifogtam volna, végigolvastam egy csomó kimcshi receptet, amikből kiderült, hogy többféleképpen készítik, szinte ahány ház, annyi szokás.

Megérett a fogyasztásra

Első nekifutásra a rizsliszt és sárgarépa nélküli változatot választottam.