Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I'm not sure how they are now, but a good old classic pizza-after-little-league place was Mando's in Decatur, AL, down the street from the famous Big Bob Gibson's BBQ. There was a good story about the owner of the restaurant, who was an immigrant from Cuba (in the 1950s, I think), and locals helped him start up the pizza shop.

Yeah, of course, Danny. Drop me a line when you do.

I had never considered trying those donuts until you posted about them. This past weekend we were walking around in Apgujeong, and a Mister Donut was giving out free Pon de Rings. Couldn't believe they were this good. Bouncy texture and fun to chew. Not overly sweet.

Good times. Good times. The grilled ddeok is my favorite, too. Like popcorn cooked over the fireplace.

All the manufactured kimchi I had in America sucked. Look at the difference between the jars/bottles in America and the bags in Korea--or even better, compare it to the kimchi factory in the Bizarre Foods episode. In Korea, kimchi is smothered in paste, and the paste ferments the cabbage. In America, it's put in a liquid brine and treated like a pickle.

I actually was one of the main consultants of the South Korea episode that'll air this coming Tuesday. You know, I didn't get that condescending vibe at all. Basically, the "bizarre" schtick is used to grab eyeballs. Then they work on ways on exploring the heart of a culture's food and why people eat what they do. Twenty, thirty years ago, Americans considered raw fish and whole cooked fish "bizarre." Ten years ago, Americans were squeamish about seeing someone eating snake or testicles on TV. Now it's all pedestrian thanks to shows like these that make the exotic more accepted.

Anyway, I'm gradually posting behind-the-scenes stories of the Korea show from pre-production onward on the ZenKimchi Korean Food Journal.

http://www.zenkimchi.com/FoodJournal/?p=585

Oh, and his name's Zimmern, not Zimmerman.

A little tradition we started in the ZenKimchi household a few years ago is what we call "Korean Sloppy Joe's." And they make a great bibimbap ingredient. I like mine with lots of sesame oil and with barley cooked in the rice.

http://www.zenkimchi.com/FoodJournal/?p=116

Don't forget croutons. That's where the leftover rolls went at one Italian restaurant I worked at.

Pomegranate was the big thing last year in Korea. It found its way into everything. One of the most popular items was pomegranate vinegar. So that may explain why the Korean frozen yogurt chains are adding pomegranate flavors.

This past year, the flavor craze in Korea has been blueberry. Maybe that'll show up next.

Daniel doesn't know what he's talking about. I blogged about the corn ice cream a long time ago. It's awesome!

I grew up with Wintzell's, and I noticed that they had fried pickles recently. It's a fairly new thing.

I'd say, in the Mobile area, the pioneer of fried pickles was a small chain based in Natches, MS, called Cock of the Walk. They are/were a catfish restaurant with a rustic steamboat them and "flipped cornbread." Went there particularly for their coleslaw, fried pickles and pickled onions.

I have a few picks of my most recent trip to Wintzells on my Flickr account (look for "ZenKimchi"). Just in case you're interested.

Cool! Glad it worked out.

As for authenticity, I was playing and trying to recreate the flavor of the first kimchi jjigae that "did it" for me from a little blue collar diner down the street from my first place in Ansan, South Korea. I regularly ordered from there, and I asked them how they did it. They said they put a little this and a little that, but the one ingredient that stood out in my memory was sugar.

I also sometimes throw in some soju in my jjigae (when Significant Other isn't looking).