Wang Thai

I've been to Wang Thai a couple of times in the last year or so, and despite the place being almost completely empty when I visit, they still seem to be soldiering on delivering some interesting dishes.

Their set lunch menus are fairly reasonable by Itaewon standards. Ranging from 15,000 to 20,000 won per person, you get two courses plus dessert and tea/coffee thrown in. Last time my wife and I ended up at Wang Thai we settled on Set Thai Lunch A for 20,000 won. To start, Tom Yam Gung, followed by Nuea Pad Bai Kraprao. We also ordered the Satay Ruam for 10,000 won and the Gaeng Peth Pet-yang for 15,000 won.

The Tom Yam Gung, Thailand's famed hot and sour soup came out first, chockablock with prawns, mushrooms and other goodies. It's delicious and my wife demands it every time we come, but to be honest it's a little too full on for me. Whenever it comes to the table, I hear Johnny Cash singing Ring of Fire in the back of my head and despite its temptations I stay well away.



Hot on its heels, was the Satay Ruam, a rather anaemic mix of "grilled" beef, chicken and pork served with peanut sauce. These skewers were delicious, but I could have done with a bit more grilling. They seemed worryingly pristine...



Next, the Nuea Pad Bai Kraprao: stir fried beef with basil leaves, chillies and garlic. Simple, yet effective. Pleasantly hot without being overpowering, though it could have done with a little more basil.



Finally, the Gaeng Peth Pet-yang came out (Roasted duck in red curry with pineapple and vegetables). I've always been curious about roast duck curries, but I'm not sure that I'll bother with them again. I adore our quacking cousins, but this sliced waterfowl ended up being a little bit too chewy. Any crispiness of the skin had been lost after its time in the sauce and while vaguely pleasant, it wasn't the incredible culinary experience I hoped it to be.

Service is always good and they were very happy to provide an extra dessert (Tapioca balls in coconut milk) despite us only ordering one set menu. I'll go back to satisfy my wife's hot and sour cravings, but it's certainly not top of my list of eateries to visit.

If you fancy trying Wang Thai then head out of Itaewon station towards Noksapyeong. Wang Thai is in the same large brick building as What The Book, on the third floor. You can call them on 02 749 2746 or visit their website here.

Violent Room Service?

At the Hotel Avenue in Changwon they offer their guests a slightly different option...

Not quite sure what they plan to sever... the room? The guest? Probably best I didn't call down when I stayed there last year.

A Different Kind Of Snack

One of my colleagues brought in some interesting gifts today. "Healthy Dried Jeju Oranges".

Quite a different snacking experience. These slices of desiccated orange pack quite a powerful tart punch. Deliciously sour, they're certainly not for those with a sweet tooth, but they're a refreshing tea time treat.

Now I just need to head down to Jeju island and stock up...

The Best Toy Of 2010

Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado I'd like to bring you the best toy of 2010. Available exclusively in 1,000 won shops in Jeonju, this beautifully crafted whimsical device is sure to please any small human in your life.

So here it is, please give a warm welcome to the Miraculous Writing Board!

Made from finest quality plastic and cardboard, this incredible toy is designed to satisfy the needs of the child on the go. Forget your Galaxy Tab or iPad, for the Miraculous Writing Board has many more cool and unique features for the technologically savvy.



This extraordinary writing board can be used not once, not twice, but 10,000 times. A feat of paper engineering. And those boffins in China guarantee it is a national environmentally healthy product absolutely innoxious. While others may suffer from numerous electronic tablet afflictions, your child will be guaranteed safe with the Miraculous Writing Board.



But wait, there's more! The Miraculous Writing Board is esay to write and clean and is perfectly suitable for repeatedly using. It also will be displaying amazingly once you start using this fabulous toy.



I think we can safely say that the Miraculous Writing Board is indeed an Exquisite article!

The Miraculous Writing Board is covered with beautiful illustrations of never before seen Princesses, allowing your little boy or girl to let their imaginations soar (All similarities to any American animated characters are purely coincidental). With the latest technological advancements, the Miraculous Writing Board will help your child learn the Alphabet in both lower and upper case, as well as letting them in on the mysterious secrets of multiplication, division, addition and subtraction.

With esay to use instructions, Miracle Writing Board is suitable for all the family. Write or draw at random, and clean it simply with a wet cloth or tissue. The content will disappear automatically within 24 to 48 hours if not cleaned and the content will come out again when being huffed.

Miraculous Writing Board's patented huffing technology guarantees that you'll be using our product again and again (10,000 times to be precise), and our ink can dissolution when encountering the water even after touching on any clothes or hands.

As a token of our appreciation we'll even give you your very own Miraculous Writing Board stylus. Simply, remove the caps and choose between fine or superfine (for very detailed work). Tic Tac Toe will never be the same, once you've used the Miraculous Writing Board.

As we enter 2011 why not take the time to purchase a Miraculous Writing Board for a friend, family member or colleague. This inexpensive alternative to recent tablet technology will have you and your fellow humans amazed and enthralled.

Experiments With Curry

Not wanting to go shopping and having a fridge filled with odds and ends make for a good excuse to experiment...

What follows turned out to be quite tasty.

You will need:

A large handful of poor quality frozen lamb
As much coriander as remains in the fridge
A thumb's worth of ginger
Six cloves of garlic
An onion stripped of its brown overcoat
A shriveled aubergine
Two wizened hot green chilies
A handful of peeled cherry tomatoes
Two green peppers
Spinach
Two teaspoons of garam masala powder
One teaspoon of cumin powder
One teaspoon of coriander powder
A quarter teaspoon of turmeric powder
A teaspoon of red pepper powder (if you fancy it)
The skin scrapings of a lemon and its juices
A modicum of salt
Just enough black pepper
Two teaspoons of mustard seeds
A glass of water
A can of coconut milk
A cup of tea
Some oil of your choosing

Carry on as instructed:

Defrost the poor quality lamb in a receptacle of your choosing, cut off any unappetizing scraggly bits and wash off any excess blood clots.
Finely chop the ginger and garlic and leave in a heap.
Hack at the onion until broken into pieces of your liking.
Dice the aubergine (removing any nasty bits), the green peppers and halve the cherry tomatoes.
If you are adventurous finely chop the hot green chilies, if not leave them whole.
Wash and tear up the spinach.
Finely chop the coriander, but leave a few leaves whole.

Shove the lamb, ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric, finely chopped coriander, lemon scrapings and juice into a bowl. Abuse gently.

Place some oil in a heated pan, chuck in the mustard seeds and after fifteen to twenty seconds shove in the onion. Add the garam masala, stir it around as if you know what you're doing, adding a little water if it looks like it's going to go black and horrid.

Dump the dirty lamb into the pan and wave your spatula ineffectually around the place.

Add the other vegetables and tomatoes. Toss them around a bit and when you get bored add in a glass of water, salt and red pepper powder.

Let this horrible concoction simmer for forty five minutes or so and then open the can of coconut milk. Discover that the milk seems to have completely solidified, then surprise yourself by digging a spoon down to the bottom and splashing coconut juices all over your best shirt and trousers.

Curse wildly.

Add the coconut milk to the rather unappealing mess in the pan and pray to Richard Dawkins for divine intervention.

Wait.

Make yourself a cup of tea.

Stir occasionally.

Discover that the curry keeps sticking to the bottom of the pan. Curse wildly a second time, turn down the heat and remain poised over the pan with your spatula.

The curry should have had a total of ninety minutes to contemplate. Half-heartedly throw the spinach in and stir sporadically until it looks vaguely edible.

Garnish with black pepper, lemon juice and the leftover coriander leaves. Serve with rice, chapattis or any other carbohydrate that takes your fancy.

Legal For Another Year

Started off the New Year with a bang as I headed down to the Mokdong Immigration Office for fun times with the officers. Fortunately in the past ten years they've improved enormously and I was in and out with my visa extension in less than an hour.

On the way back to the subway station I passed the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism International Seon Center. Seems to be fairly new and ever so sparkly... Official website here and more info here with the promise of temple food cooking classes.

Obsessive Compulsive Roasted Vegetable Arrangement

Experimenting with roasted vegetables yesterday...

Peppers, aubergines, garlic, oyster mushrooms and cherry tomatoes roasted with olive oil in a 200 degree oven then arranged in an obsessive compulsive fashion on the left hand side of each plate. Served with pesto covered spaghetti and a little grated parmesan.

Meringues!

It has been a baking weekend in the Ajosshi household, my wife has been busy scouring the patisserie books again and this time wanted to pipe and bake her own meringues. 90 minutes in the oven and out came these little beauties. Slightly wonky in places, but still very tasty.

New Year's Deliciousness

It's a good start to the year to come home to a chocolate cake...

Fortunately my wife has been experimenting and after a rummage through our collection of Cordon Bleu patisserie books decided to make the "Gateau Au Chocolat Classique". We happened to have some "Peruvian Black" pure cacao in our fridge and the resulting cake is beautifully moist, sinfully rich and a delicious start to 2011.

And yes, in case you were wondering, those are mini smarties on top...

Hello To The New

Happy New Year!

First post of 2011 has a nature theme. Back in April last year I wandered round the palaces taking photos of cherry blossoms and stumbled upon a paddling of mandarin ducks. Here's a few shots...

Hopefully I'll be able to spend a little more time chasing animals for snapshots this year.