Kimchi Mamas

New Year Dumplings...and a Giveaway!

New Year preparations have already started in my neck of the woods.  Yesterday, we all headed over to my parents' house to make mandoo.  We don't have a set recipe for what goes into our dumplings, but there is pork, beef, extra-firm tofu, sprouts, kimchi, green onion, garlic, salt, and pepper.

This year, my youngest was able to participate!  We put her in charge of making the flatter version we use for fried mandoo:

And here is my dad, our resident mandoo-making expert, showing his patented technique for making the plumper kind used in soup:

On New Year's morning, the kids will dress up in their hanboks and bow to their grandparents, saying, "새해 복 많이 받으세요!"  Then they'll receive some money and some blessings, then we will all chow down on the dumplings we made!

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To ring in the new year, we're giving out presents!  One of my fellow Kimchi Mamas has a couple brand-new hanboks she'd like to give away to our readers!  They are gorgeous and have really hip colors and styling, so hip in fact, it's hard to find hanboks like these in the States.  

There will be two winners, one for the little Kimchi Babies (size 2, suitable for first birthdays and hopefully a year or two afterwards):

girl

or

boy

...and one for the slightly older Kimchi Kids (size 6...suitable for ages 4-8, depending on how tall they are):

girl

or

boy

(Just to reiterate, there will be one size 2 winner and one size 6 winner, and they will choose the gender they want.)

Enter by submitting a comment below with one of your family's New Year traditions, along with your preferred gender and size.  We will close off comments on January 14th, select a random winner from each size category, and ship the hanboks out in time for Lunar New Year!  Good luck!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Kimchi Mamas! Since I'm not big on gifts, I'll share a few laughs.

I thought the latest post on AAK! was hiLARious. Especially the answer to "re:I need help."

This post on Metrodad totally made me laugh.

'Tis all.

- Mary

 

 

Kimchi Mama Honor Roll: Lt. Dan Choi

I've had my eye on Lt. Dan Choi for a long time.  A West Point graduate and Iraq war veteran with a specialty in Arabic language, he ignited an intense national debate over the ethics of Don't Ask Don't Tell when he publicly came out of the closet on "The Rachel Maddow Show."  He was the first Arabic linguist to be discharged from the military during the Obama administration under Don't Ask Don't Tell, but quickly re-enlisted to fight another war: the war for social justice and equality in the military.

And it turns out that Lt. Choi's own Kimchi Mama played a role in all this by doing what Korean moms do best: nagging him about marrying a Korean girl and making Korean babies.  She nagged him so much, in fact, he said: “I am not going to marry a Korean girl, nor am I going to marry a white girl.  I am gay, and I was born that way, and I tried to pray the gay away.” (source: Iowa Independent)  Once he came out to his parents, coming out to the rest of the world was easy by comparison.

And now, less than two years since he uttered the words "I am gay" on television, Don't Ask Don't Tell has been repealed by the Senate. In response, Lt. Choi released a statement:

President Obama, you are not off the hook. The compromise bill passed today puts the moral imperative squarely on your desk. Sign an executive order instituting a full non-discrimination policy throughout the military. If you do not, if you drag your feet and politicize this with your theoretical calculations as you have these past two years, you will be guilty of abetting those who loudly proclaim homophobia from their platforms and pulpits. Provide them no shelter or safe haven. Institute justice now.

Wow, right?  Them's fightin' words: fearless, passionate, and intelligent.  

Lt.Choi's accomplishments both as a soldier and as a civil rights leader are too manifold to list individually here, but let me just say that for the West Point grad, Arabic linguist, infantry soldier, church-going, justice-fighting, and darn handsome young man he is, he is pure Korean mom swooning material, and therefore the inaugural member of the Kimchi Mama Honor Roll!

Lt. Choi, as the Koreans say, FIGHTING!!!  We heard you are currently in the hospital, so we wish you a quick recovery back to health so you can return to what you do best: fighting the good fight!

Additional Source: http://ltdanchoi.com/

The Kimchi Chronicles and OTT

The Kimchi Chronicles advertised as A look at the new PBS series on Korean food featuring Marja Vongerichten, the chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's wife.

This looks like it'll be really fun (and mouth watering) to watch. 

I'm just learning about the amazing lady who hosts the whole series.  She's a Korea-born former actress and model currently living in NYC.  Apparently, she's awesome at cooking up the Korean deliciousness so she really knows her stuff.  She's a true fellow Kimchi Mama!

And it's Open Thread Thursday.  I've never put one of these up, but thought I would since I had this cool PBS  series on my mind and wanted to share it.  What's on yours?

You Win Some, You Lose Some

My son, Isaac, is currently in first grade, and this academic year has proven to be one full of self-discovery and -actualization.  I always thought hearing his first words was the most breathtaking parenting moment, but witnessing him trying to place himself along the myriad of spectrums of identity, has been nothing short of magic.

The other day, he told me how some boys like to play rough while others liked princesses, and how he was somewhere in the middle.  Believe me, that is some pretty insightful analysis from a boy whose favorite YouTube video features a cat hiccuping and farting at the same time.

A few weeks ago, while I was volunteering in his classroom, I came upon a pen pal letter he had written.  It went something like this:

Dear Pen Pal,

Hi!  How are you?  My name is Isaac and I am Korean.  Are you Korean too?  I am very good at addition and pretty good at subtraction, and I am a good listener.  What do you like to do?  I hope you write back soon.  Bye!

Isaac

Did you see that???  He said he was Korean.  Be still my heart!  I can die now, my work on earth is done.

So when it came time for this month's show and tell (the assignment was to bring something that symbolizes your family's winter traditions), I asked him if he wanted to bring in his han bok and talk about how Koreans celebrate New Year's, namely how we go to our grandparents' house, bow to them and get money, then eat a huge meal involving soup, fish, and the like.  He was keen on the idea, and we rehearsed a few times to make sure he was prepared.  

The morning of his presentation, we had another walk-through and I nearly fainted when he said, "My name is Isaac and I am going to talk about New Year's.  This is my, uh...my...Hong Kong, which is a kind of Chinese or Japanese thing you wear."

I suppose we are all works in progress, right?

The Warrior's Way

Jang Dong Gun is starring in a Hollywood film called The Warrior's Way with Kate Bosworth! I'm a little bit excited. Are you going to see it?

He was a lead actor in two huge Korean films, TaeGukki (Brotherhood of War) and Chin-goo (Friend). He tied the knot with Go So Young, a beautiful Korean actress, earlier this year and they had a baby couple of months ago. I hope it's better than Ninja Assassin... I didn't watch that one but I heard it wasn't that good. Sorry Rain!

- Mary

Marital Status and Gender in Korean Family Words

My last post got me thinking... marital status and gender are so important in Korean culture, relative to U.S. of American culture. In Migook (Beautiful Country - the Korean word for USA), how you are addressed by the members of your family doesn't really change when you get married and doesn't depend on your gender. In Korea, it changes a lot when a person gets married. Likewise, what you call another person depends a lot on gender, both of the one being called upon, and the one doing the calling.

1. A woman sometimes calls her boyfriend "oppa" (older brother, older male friend) when they are dating, but after marriage, the use of the term "oppa" to call your husband is generally not promoted. One is encouraged to use the word yobo or jaghi instead. If you called your husband oppa in front of your in-laws, you might get a "look" from your MIL or a stern scolding from you FIL. But some in laws might be OK with it too...