What I Ate: Yukgaejang

I'm back at work today after a much needed winter break that felt all too short. It's kind of a bummer but it's also always exciting to start a new year. I've got my new calendar up. Last year I had baby animals. This year, I have a calendar titled "Oh My Dog," with you guessed it, a new dog featured each month. It's all v. exciting, I know.

Anyway, even though I have resolved to lose a little weight this year, that doesn't mean you'll see fewer delicious food posts here. I'm just planning on eating a little less and moving a little more each day. I can still fit through doorways and I don't need to ask for a seat belt extender on airplanes so I don't need any drastic life changes. I'd just like to feel a little less snug in my jeans. So, with that announcement out of the way, let's move onto today's post. After this introduction, it'll be relatively wordless because it's a 'What I Ate' style post. I've shared yukgaejang before so if you need the steps, you can just take a look back at the post I shared two years ago. Lord, how foul is it that I can refer back to recipes from multiple years ago? Wow, time, you are a rude beast. Just slow down a bit, would you?

I love a good spicy soup. By the way, spiciness totally ups your metabolism so this is definitely a diet dish.

Seriously, as a Korean who grew up loving spicy foods, there aren't many foods that look better or more appetizing than a bowl full of red soup. The red indicates that it's spicy and it brings me joy.

By the way, funny story about my friend M. In college, we were eating at a Thai restaurant and someone at the table next to us had a fiery looking red soup. M got super excited, asked the waitress for the same dish; she didn't even care what it was. When the soup came out, she sipped a spoonful and disappointment immediately crossed her face. I asked her what was wrong and she said that the soup was red because it was tomato based and not because it was spicy. She was so disappointed. Yeah, for Koreans, bringing us dishes of red food that aren't spicy will just brew lots of disappointment and despair.

Luckily, this one's really spicy, so we were all smiles at this table.

If you'd ever wondered (which none of you probably ever have, ever, so why am I even bothering?) I'm not left-handed. I just have to hold up my spoon with my left hand because I have to take photos with my right hand. I've attempted to hold my camera with my left hand but my hand covers the viewfinder and I end up with out-of-focus weird photos at uncomfortable angles. I just thought I'd mention it because I think my hand always looks a little claw-like and weird because I'm not ambidextrous and holding my silverware with the "wrong" hand feels a bit off. Who cares? Is what you're thinking now, isn't it?

xoxo.