You know it’s 김장 (kimjang) season, the time when kimchi is made in large batches to last throughout the winter, when you see the following outside every market:
two large carts filled with packaged napa cabbage and one large cart filled with bags of large Korean radish
For a cooking exercise with our kindergarten students, we made 깍두기 (Kkakdugi), radish kimchi. Obviously they can’t use real knives, so their task was cutting pre-cut strips of radish into small cubes with plastic knives.
Here’s our steps for radish kimchi!
Ingredients:
Korean radish
red pepper powder
salted shrimp
minced ginger and minced garlic
chopped green onion
sugar
a pinch of salt (not pictured)
Korean radish, cut into stripsred pepper powdersalted shrimpminced ginger and minced garlicchopped green onionpinch of sugar
After you’ve cubed the radish, apply a good helping of the red pepper powder:
Mix the red pepper powder with the radish:
And continue adding the rest of the ingredients:
a little salted shrimpgreen onionginger and garlicand finally sugar and a pinch of salt
Mix all that up and you’ve got your radish kimchi! It tastes delicious fresh, but let it sit overnight in a sealed container to really become delicious!
깍두기!my awesome co-teacher who pretty much did everything while I took photos of the kidstwo classes of kindy in one room at blue desks, watching the teacher mix the radish kimchi
Instagram knows that I like cafés, and one day it recommended a Godzilla-themed café that I instantly put on my to-visit list. Surprisingly, I happened to be in the area the very next day and made Mary trek out to visit it after we visited the Trick Eye Museum (underwhelming, to be honest) and the Love Museum (erm, over… something, it’s definitely something).
Café Ookii has a “no kids” policy and for good reason: the walls are lined with Gojira toys spanning all evolutions and editions of the well-known *checks kaiju wiki* “Irradiated Prehistoric Amphibious Creature.”
I ordered an iced americano, which was passable, and couldn’t resist one of their massive kaiju cupcakes which was mostly just icing. In retrospect, I wish I would have gone with one of their cutely designed cookies instead.
Two things of note happened while we were there: 1, I discovered that the woman who had swapped out my conch stud for a ring had managed to close the ring around the strap of my mask (which thankfully was a disposable one I could cut at home), and 2, a young man, obviously drawn to the Godzilla-aspect of the café, came in and struck up an intense conversation with the owner and barista.
two framed Godzilla posters
various Godzilla figurines
various Godzilla figurines
various Godzilla figurines
various Godzilla figurines
way to the bathroom, featuring a plant on a stool and a framed Gozilla poster
a Godzilla figurine holding a roll of toilet paper
various Godzilla figurines
various Godzilla figurines
four framed Gozilla posters and a side view of the bar
various Godzilla figurines with a bright yellow poster on the wall featuring a cartoon Godzilla
various Godzilla figurines
a massively iced cupcake next to an iced americano
a massively iced cupcake in brown with big loops of icing and two crazy edible eyes on top
a figurine of the original Godzilla actor in a white tank top and shorts, his hand resting on a Godzilla costume head
a view of the exterior, featuring a sign saying Cafe Ookii against a mountain backdrop; it is on the corner and in a red brick building
If you’re in Hongdae, take a trip out to see this unique café!
Koffee & Kpop 