i've always considered myself a relative pragmatist. that is, a pragmatist with a core of total lovey-dovey mush. i've also always thought of my parents as fairly snoozey people. i mean, these are my parents! they get up, they go to work together, they spend their sundays at church (yawn!). then i found out something that made me look at my parents in a whole new light. and also explained why i'm such a sucker for a good love story.
both of my parents are korean immigrants. my dad arrived in the US first, over 35 years ago. he ended up in north carolina, where i was born and raised, because my aunt was a war bride and her husband was originally from the south. my dad had been living in the State for a few years, making his living as a bachelor in various odd jobs. in his free time, my dad was a literary nerd and would spend his time sending letters to writers whose poems and stories he had read and liked. luckily for both my brother and me, my mom was a literary nerd who liked to write...and one of her poems was one that my dad liked. so, poem begat letter, begat another letter, then another...then a pen pal friendship.
after a few months, my dad was due to go back to korea to make his bachelor debut. no joke. i mean, in 1970s korea, an american bachelor was a hot property! his trip back was scheduled for december and korean winters make new york winters look amateur. according to my dad's version of the story, the day that he was due to land in korea, there was a whole host of young ladies waiting to meet him - friends' daughters, neighbors' daughters, firemen's daughters - what have you. but because of the snow, the only one with enough gumption to come out and meet him was...eunice, my mom!
philip and eunice were married on december 31st, 1975. they recently celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary.
i actually don't know what my parents' first meal together was and i could guess what their favorite meal is (some deriviate of rice and kimchi, the korean version of meat and potatoes). but for their meal, i wanted to make kimchi pah-jun or bindaedok. pah-jun/bindaedok is like a korean scallion pancake and is usually made with seafood but my mom's version is simple - just kimchi. i remember standing on our porch as a little girl, watching it rain while my mom made kimchi pah-jun on the electric griddle plugged in outside.
i don't think rain inside my studio would be quite as charming, so i made some adjustments and used a regular pan on the stove to make mine. i used a cheat available to those of you who live in urban centers with large asian populations (and corresponding, asian markets) - premade asian pancake mix. i also used another cheat available to those of you who know better than to try and make your own kimchi - premade kimchi! luckily, kimchi is now readily available at many grocery markets.
*i like to use kimchi that's a little too ripe...the kind that usually goes into stews. i also added some scallions for extra flavor. judging by the results, you don't lose any flavor with these cheats. but for you purists, here's a recipe from epicurious you can try:
