BUKJANG KOREAN RESTAURANT

It is always nice to have a Mother and daughter outing. Having a grown up child means you can talk to each other like friends and its always a plus factor if she happens to be of the same gender as you. Since both  can while away the hours simply by talking about, well, what we Women always talks about, Men, shopping, make-up and more shopping.

We tried out a Korean Restaurant in Guildford, Surrey (152nd and 101Avenue) named Bukjang Korean Restaurant.  My daughter who looks like a Korean exchange student has these penchant for all things korean. I swear she can speak like a native (she's a product of Mysoju craze).

The entrance of  Bukjang didn't wow me. Upon entering,  it was airy, spacious and obviously new, the plastic for the seats where still visible. Being early lunch time, it was not yet full.  Which was a plus factor for us, so we can choose the nicest spot and just look around.

For the side dishes,  they served them is small bowls:  kimchi, steamed soya sprouts, pickled cucumber, pickled potatoes, soup with green onions and soya sprouts and fermented soybeans. We were getting full just eating them, they were very well spiced.

For an appetizer we ordered the Seafood pancake,  when it came it was so huge, they provided scissors to cut it. It was full of fish bits, mussels, squids and shimps with green onions. It came with a dipping sauce made of soy with fresh onions. It was refreshingly light and delicious.

I ordered Bibimbap, a Rice delicacy with veggies (carrots, zucchini, sprouts, mushrooms, spinach, onions) beef and fresh egg on top.  It came in a hot stone bowl that zinged the rice and made it crunchy (tutong). My daughter insisted I put lots of chili sauce on it, I poured just a little and it came out spicy. I enjoyed the dish very much. I might even recreate my own version of Bibimbap in the future.

 My daughter ordered the Gamjatang, its a pork neck and potato stew, served with rice on the side. I tasted it and it was too spicy for me. I told my daughter (yes, she can cook!)  that I prepared her version which was tastier.

It was a very hearty meal for a lunchtime date. We were thinking of getting DQ Blizzard, but we were too full.

We will definitely go back and try out some more of their menus. The cost of our lunch was $30.00+ relatively cheap for a  very delicious and filling meal. 

CALLOS

A spanish dish that is a staple in my family "handaan" or gathering is the Callos. It is made out of ox tail, legs and tripe in tomato sauce.

Growing up, I used to remember my Dad going to Divisoria to buy cans of chorizo de bilbao, for the life of me I can't seem to remember the brand, but it used to come in a red can with lard sticking on it.  The smell of the chorizos were so pungent that I used to sneeze whenever he sliced them, but they sure make a whole lot of difference in the taste. My Dad's Callos was the best that I've ever tasted.

1k beef
1k pork
1k pork leg
1k beef tripe
1tbsp. vinegar
1dash of salt
4 cups water

In a pan put all cut ingredients (pork, beef and tripe) with salt, vinegar and water,  boil till tender. Set aside broth, meat and make sure to debone pork leg.

1 whole garlic bulb (minced)
1 medium size onion (minced)
2 medium size tomatoes (cut into bite size pieces
1 can tomato sauce
1 can chick pea
1 can olives
1 can chorizo de bilbao ( cut sausages into bite size pieces)
3 medium size bell pepper (julienned)
3 medium size potatoes ( cut into bite size pieces)
3 bay leaves (laurel)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp. olive oil

Heat olive oil. Cook garlic, onions and tomatoes. Add chorizo de bilbao and bay leaves. Pour tomato sauce and two cup of the meat broth. Simmer. Put potatoes and all the meat. Simmer. Add more meat broth as needed. Pour chick peas and olives. Simmer. After ten minutes add  bell pepper. Season with salt and pepper.

Now the secret to a good Callos is the chorizo de bilbao. Make sure you use the good one don't substitute for a cheaper one, your Callos will not taste authentic.