visit prep for #3 Ajumma

I'll finally be visiting my recently bereaved #3 Ajumma tomorrow, so this morning, I'm beginning the prep for a load of galbi (marinated beef short ribs) and oi muchim (a kind of quickly made cucumber kimchi) to tote over to her place. I've tried bringing Western food over to her before, but she seems to have very provincial tastes. I have no idea how well the galbi is going to go over; we'll know soon enough, I suppose. I don't think I'll actually start marinating the meat until tonight; over-marinating can leave you with super-salty beef.

Last night, I got a 2.5-kilo load of L.A.-style galbi (i.e., thick cut) from Costco for about W70,000. At my local grocery, the same galbi, in a 1.5-kilo package, costs W60,000. So you can see why it pays to shop at Costco, especially when it comes to buying things like meats and cheeses in bulk. Last night, I saw that Costco also had two other things: (1) a gigantic bag of shelled pistachios for W20,000, and (2) Kirkland dinner franks, which are back after a long absence. I didn't notice that the franks were back until I was on line for the cashier: another dude in the line piled them on to the conveyor belt, which caused me to utter a reflexive "Dammit!" that I failed to stifle.

I had grabbed the pistachios while I was shopping, but I guess I'll be tripping out to Costco again soon to get me some moodahfookin' franks. If you're familiar with Kirkland dinner franks, you know they're pornographically huge and, in my opinion, not the best franks in the world to be eaten as is. They are, however, the perfect processed meat to be chopped up and tossed into a load of baked beans to add flavor and meaty texture. If you insist on eating them as you would regular hot dogs on buns, then they're much better after you pan-fry them (and bury them under chili). You can also stick them in budae-jjigae, where they make the perfect complement to Korean stew, spam, and crumbled hamburger.

And now: on with the galbi and oi muchim prep.