All posts tagged: korean

Korean Spiced Chili | with sweet cornbread

Published by

Spicy chili and the sweetest, cake-like cornbread merged together to make me incredibly happy with this meal. It’s been cold, drizzly, and the sun disappears sometime before I get off work…this is what I needed. This is what you need. This chili’s blend of Korean gochugaru, chipotle peppers in adobo and cumin are a mouth full of spice, love and warmth. Mine is vegan, and, wow, bring on the fake stuff! I loved the vegan meat I got at High Street Market in Itaewon. It had a great consistency and I didn’t miss the beef at all. Top it with your all time favorites: avocado, cilantro, sour cream, Greek yogurt, corn chips, cheese, green onions and all other manner of deliciousness. Keep the cheese out though if you want to keep it vegan. I’d also like to rave about the chips I used. These tortilla chips are also a new favorite! You can find them at IHerb for a bit cheaper than High Street Market; they are made from beans but are won-der-ful! It’s winter. Be …

The Beastro | new american in hongdae

Published by

The Beastro is a well known and well hearted American bistro in Hongdae. It’s basically the Target of Western dining in Korea, everyone can take away something pretty good from it. My foodie pal Phil and I headed over there one gloriously awesome autumn day to have breakfast, cocktails and to overhear conversations in English. After living in Korea for some time, I really have begun to hate listening to stranger’s banter that I actually understand. I think I really always hated it, even back in America. Why is there something so irritating about listening to people talk about things that are not remotely about you. I’m sure I’m not alone here. Being in a restaurant and not understanding anything, living in a beautiful bubble of dumbness, there is something otherworldly about it. It’s one of the reasons I love Korea. Bubbles. My ridiculous sensitivities aside, the meal was very on the mark. I was excited before even going after reading the menu online and seeing a mushroom tart. MUSHROOM. TART. Did they know I was coming? They …

Hanbox | September/October!

Published by

Hello all! We have a new box lined up for September/October with an adorability factor off the charts! There’s animal themes, there’s pink, there’s stuff you don’t want to miss out on! For instance: macaron pill cases panda paraphernalia bunny phone accrotrements    For your very own Hanbox delivered right to your door, be sure to visit the website by clicking on the picture! It’s easy, it’s inexpensive, it’s Korean!

Chuncheon | The Home of Dak Galbi

Published by

This has been a mean and petty summer. Nearly every day since  July has been blistering and it’s too hot to enjoy getting out of the apartment and brushing off the cabin fever. My school had it’s annual quick summer vacation and I took the time to go on a foodie adventure to Chuncheon, where one of my favorite Korean dishes, dak galbi, is said to have originated and pretend I was one of the castmates of my favorite Korean show, Tasty Guys. My plan was simple: eat too much and ignore the sweat beaming through my shirt. Tasty Guys is a reality eating show where 4 loveable comedians eat more food than you ever thought was humanly possible. It’s just…wow. They can really pack it in. So I visited a city based on food and I pretended to be a host of a Korean TV show. I think that’s totally acceptable, right? Luckily, there are several wonderful things to do in Chuncheon, which I will post about later, so we didn’t just eat all day. But, the food was …

Another Happy Review!

Published by

You guys, I’ve been so happy this week! We received a very sweet review with excellent pictures to accompany our promotional box  with The Homespun Chics! Sarah reviewed each item individually and has nice insight into our motivations behind including each item. According to their website: The Homespun Chics is a PR-friendly lifestyle and review blog owned and operated by a mom and daughter duo. We are in constant search of quality products & subscription boxes, crafty projects, places to travel, and delicious recipes. We offer fun reader giveaways and coupons when possible. The Homespun Chics strive to promote businesses and people that inspire us! A mom and daughter duo….too cute! And a big thank you to Sarah for reviewing our box! Please check out their review! NEW! Hanbox Subscription Box Preview   You can check out our website or put your order in for a subscription too! Hanbox    

Buying Cruelty Free in Korea | with Free Printable!

Published by

Welcome to another update to Buying Cruelty Free in Korea!  This post includes a free printable and a product review! Since the KARA website discontinued their updated list of cruelty free products in Korea, I’ve been working on a simple list of my own that I can quickly refer to when I’m out or when I feel like shopping online. I made it into a printable for you! You can print it out for free or download it onto your phone to have when you are out. My goal is to expand the list and make it a regular feature of the blog. This list includes both Korean and some foreign products. I wanted to show that you can find both in Korea and that it is getting easier than ever to find cosmetics, toiletries and other products not tested on animals. I will soon be giving reviews of some house cleaning products, so stay tuned! Click here to download a free PDF of your list! New Item Review: Petal Fresh Products Just like most …

Hanbox | My New Venture

Published by

This month my Portland-based friend Gina and I finally started promoting a shop that has been a couple years in the making…our own subscription box business! Our shop idea has gone through several key changes through our planning and vast amount of discussions. In the end, we decided a Korean lifestyle box was the way to go! We are in love with this idea! Now, it seems like such an obvious thing to do we both love Korea and the Korean culture. I have always loved shopping for all the unique Korean products and giving them to friends and family back home. Now I can do it lucratively! 😀 So we have created Hanbox! This is easily one of my proudest moments…this idea we had that came to fruition. Hanbox is our Korean lifestyle subscription box. Each month we will carefully choose the items to include from the wide varieties of Korean accessories, stationery, cosmetics and more. We chose the name and logo from the hanbok, a traditional Korean dress. We think it perfectly encapsulates Korea and her style. We hope …

Cruelty Free Products in Korea | April Update

Published by

Would you like more information? Please check my Cruelty Free in Korea Page!   The number of cruelty free products we can buy in Korea is growing and it is getting easier for me to spend all my hard earned money on cosmetics and toiletries as of late! Worth it. However…One disappointing bit of news to report is that KARA  or 카라  (Korea Animal Rights Advocates) no longer has an English website. It had loads of information and a wonderful list of companies you could buy from that have cruelty free products available here in Korea. I will definitely be contacting them to beg for the website back, or at least the list, and I hope you will too if you used it! This is the last list from KARA. Hopefully it is all still accurate. 😀   The first group are those companies who do not test on animals, do not use animal ingredients and do not export to China. The second group are those companies who do not test on animals and do not export to China. The third …

Cornbread Waffles with Kimchi & Eggs

Published by

I recently redid my kitchen basically because my toaster oven died. The old girl served me well for three years but it just couldn’t handle my cooking prowess anymore.  My upgrade was exceptionally larger and could no longer go on top of my bitty refrigerator anymore. So I had to buy a new table to fit the new oven. The new island transformed my kitchen from boring to modern and fun. And my new oven came with LOADS of free stuff including baking sheets, a pizza pan, roasting pans, muffin pans, an electric food scale AND a waffle maker! Korean “service” never ceases to amaze me! (service = free stuff!) I have been pinning waffle recipes like crazy and decided that this weekend was the weekend to break that waffle maker in. I was craving savory and so I settled in on a cornbread waffle recipe to hit the- rainy Saturday brunch -spot. NOTES: These are best eaten the day you make them but I froze a bunch to toast up and slather with butter later. …

Buying Cruelty Free | in Korea

Published by

Would you like more information? Please check my Cruelty Free in Korea Page! Where I’m from, in America, buying cruelty free is a simple choice. You can buy it easily (and oftentimes cheaply) from most stores. There is also an amazing amount of choice, something I desperately miss living in Korea. Actually, for the first six months of my stay in 2012, I didn’t buy cruelty free because I thought it was a lost cause. But, all it really took was a little research and I could have found quite a few options from some of the most common beauty stores and large markets in Korea. I’ll admit, it’s even easier here in Seoul. I hope this list helps you if you’re new to Korea, or new to cruelty free products, and wondering what you can buy that is not tested on animals-something truly shameful in this day and age. 😦 If you are not a cruelty free shopper, I’m not going to throw horrible pictures of tested animals in your face (you can do your own …