Grandma

Ah, I think around our age, our grandmas and grandpas are slowly getting old. I know we are all in the process of getting old, but they are slowly getting old to the point where you can actually feel it everyday, you can see it everyday, and it slowly materializes into this big blurry cloud which numbs your knuckles and bones and everything inside. Sometimes even makes your mind fuzzy! And from what I have been experiencing,  this is not a pleasant experience.

For my mother's mom, who had a light stroke a few years ago and is in a rehabilitation hospital, she visits our house once every month. So last week we visited a temple and stayed there for a day, as she is a devout buddhist. It is my second temple stay throughout this summer, as I visited with H a few weeks ago. Even though I am not buddhist, waking up to clear sounding of the monk's moktak is a somewhat enchanting experience. Not to mention the 108 bows... which you deeply bow up and down for 108 times, remembering your actions? sins in the world? Around the end your legs (at least my legs were) are shaking and beads of sweat drips from your thighs, arms, forehead.. And for the next few days, your legs wobble whenever you try to walk down the stairs. And the temple is all about going up and down stairs to enter the main sanctuary. 


Oh, but the temple food makes everything so much bearable. It is so simple, with just plain rice and a few side dishes, but maybe it is just the experience of eating in a quiet room where only people's spoons and chopsticks clicking can be heard, but every bite with kimchi, or some sort of greens stir fried with sesame oil, cold refreshing soups with seaweed.... you can feel what you're eating, at that moment. 

Every week, my mom also visits my grandma's hospital, with more sidedishes to share with the hospital food. It is often abalone porridge or pine nut porridge,  once she stir fried some mushrooms with onions, beef and garlic broiled in soy sauce... Now that I, the declared cook of the house, she comes to me to help her with ideas.
"Yoon Jeong, what should I take this week? I can't think of anything new.."
And my grandma used to be an amazing cook as well. I remember when I was young, visits to her house meant a full satisfied belly. I would giggle in joy to myself, "Good food coming!!"

So to satisfy my grandma, I looked up some recipes and we created:

This is eggplant stuffed with beef! Added chopped onions for more flavor. hehe. 

Stir fried beef (bulgogi! for those who know famous korean dishes) and stir fried mushrooms and onions. Simple, I know. 

This one of my favorite dishes! 찰밥. Its rice, but not just any normal rice. We add mung beans, dried dates, chestnuts, red beans.... So it is sweet, savory and salty and sticky rice! I love this rice. It is good eating with side dishes, but also just good enough on its own. 

And you see the crystallized burnt bits on the bottom. The ultimate chewy goodness!

The sticky rice dish is what my mom always makes for me before I leave Korea, which makes it more special. I remember last winter she made a huge pot full of this rice, and packed it nicely in a small Tupperware, but we realized we forgot to pack it with me to the airport... :( Almost cried that day, and I didn't cry when I was just saying bye to my mom...just kidding.

I am never going to forget that Tupperware again. First thing I am going to pack in my bag. FOR SURE. 

Back to grandmas. Honest reviews. The eggplant was a bit underseasoned, the rice wasn't as salty as she wanted, but she is still bragging about her temple stay to her roommates at the hospital :) Yay!