Cycle 5 – Item 139
24 (Sat) May 2014
Dragon Sukiyaki
3.5
by YI
at his home
-Amsa, Gangdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea-
with the Family, camping crew
Home Visit 5: To Watch DJ Play Soccer (Day 2)
- Day 1 (5.138 Original Gui Chicken)
- Day 2 (5.139 Dragon Sukiyaki)
- Day 3 (5.140 Pak Nasser’s Nasi Lemak)
The camping crew was invited over to YI’s house to celebrate his birthday.
Dinner parties at his place are legendary, among us, because: (a) he has piles of disposable income and spends it without restraint on his passions, like cooking, so the ingredients are always of the highest quality; (b) he is very passionate about cooking and enjoys trying to impress people with his culinary prowess, so the spread is likely to be interesting, at least; (b) he has some skills, so the dishes are usually pretty good.
I don’t recall if I ever tried consciously to impress anyone with cooking. [LJY, you’d remember best from those early days when I really started getting gastro-geeky – did I seem like I was trying to impress anyone?]. Nowadays, my objective is primarily to feed, ideally with nutritious food, hopefully tasty.
For the sukiyaki – I’m calling it “Dragon Sukiyaki” (the “Y” in YI = Yong = dragon) – he layered the cabbage and beef and perilla leaves, then cut them into cross-sections, making for a nice visual and also allowed for each bite to contain an equal bit of everything – brilliant.
While I’m all for indulging in my own passions, of course on a much much laughably smaller scale, I’ve found that learning to cook within budgetary restraints presents challenges that can be overwhelmingly satisfying when successfully solved, like producing a great roast with a cheap piece of meat.
(See also BOOZE)
(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)
