Welcome to TigerSalad

On February 12, 2025 0 Comments - Uncategorized

a photo of website creator and chef writer of articles on travel, music, cooking

I built this website for sharing pictures, sounds and writing about travel, cooking, music or anything else I think is worth documenting. I wanted to have somewhere to do this without the distraction and noise of popular social media. Please take your time here: read, look at the pictures and listen to the sounds.

I have been a professional chef for most of my life and for the last decade I have been studying Korean food, language and culture. I have traveled to Korea many times to eat, explore and practice language. Cooking posts will mostly focus here.

There are a lot of pictures in these articles. Good photos are important to me so I have sacrificed some loading speed in order to post the highest quality photos my host site will allow. Please be patient while things load up. This site will work on your phone but, I recommend looking at it on a bigger screen. This is especially true for travel and photography posts. The site will look better and operate faster on a laptop or desktop.

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Anchovy Broth

On January 14, 2026 0 Comments - Cooking

Anchovy broth or myeolchi yuksu (멸치육수) is a basic fish stock. It is an essential base for many Korean dishes. It is very easy to make, has endless uses and large batches can be frozen in single use containers to use later on. The recipe can be as simple as just anchovies and water or it can incorporate a number of aromatic vegetables or even seaweed and dried mushrooms. The recipe below uses anchovy, kelp and just a few other ingredients to make a delicious stock. This recipe gives you about 8 litres / 2 gallons of stock. If this seems too big, just half or quarter all of the ingredients.

Ingredients:

8 litres / 2 gallons of water
40-50 medium large dried anchovies (around 100 grams)
8-10 small squares of dashima seaweed aka kombu (around 10-15 grams)
500 grams Korean radish
1 large onion
12 cloves of garlic

Dried anchovies can be found at Asian grocery stores. They come in a few different sizes from very tiny (1 cm) to fairly large (about the length of a finger). The ones I am using are on the larger side.

Dashima is thick, rigid and sometimes powdery looking dark green seaweed. You can find it in the dry goods section of Asian grocery stores in big long strips or a smaller bag of pre-cut squares. Either work fine. I prefer the little squares just because they are easier to work with in smaller recipes. There are lots of different dry seaweeds on the shelf. The one we are using here will say Dashima / 다시마 or Kombu if it is from Japan.

Process:

Remove the guts from the anchovies.

The guts in these bigger anchovies can be bitter so it is a good idea to remove them. I find it is easiest to split the fish from the back with a fingernail like this. The guts are the hard black mass behind the head.

After cleaning all the anchovies there is a fair amount of guts. You can imagine that there is enough here to affect the final flavour if they are left in. Gutting them is quick and easy and definitely worthwhile.

Peel and slice radish into nice uniform pieces. These can be saved and eaten later.

Everything goes into a stockpot along with the 8 litres of water.

Cover pot and bring to a boil over high heat.

Once the stock is rolling, reduce heat to medium and cover the pot. This will cook for 25-30 minutes. We will remove the kelp after about 10 minutes so set a timer.

About halfway through cooking (after 10 or 15 minutes max), remove the kelp (dashima). If you cook kelp longer, it will start to release tannins which can add unpleasant flavours to the stock. Afterwards, cover the pot and continue to cook for another 15 minutes.

When the stock is fully cooked after 25-30 minutes, remove the radish pieces.

Lay them out flat to cool. These radishes absorb all the flavours of whatever they are cooked with. These leftover radish pieces retain enough firmness and are so full of flavour that they are delicious to eat as is. Use them as a side dish. Or, dip them in your favourite twigim or tempura batter and fry them up.

I divide my anchovy stock into yogurt containers and freeze them. Each container holds enough stock to make one big portion or two smaller portions of soup/jiggae etc..

These will keep in the freezer for a few months at least. I end up using them much faster.

Uses:

This stock is the base for many Korean dishes including sundubu jiggae, kimchi jiggae, noodle soups, etc. In almost any savoury recipe that calls for water, substitute with this stock to make it extra delicious. Dishes like Tteokbokki reach new heights of tastiness when made with a good strong anchovy stock.

In the heat of summer, I will even drink this stock ice cold as is. It is that delicious and refreshing!

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please leave them below. I am always happy to hear from you. Thank you for reading TigerSalad : )

cooking, Korean

How To Make Vinegar

On January 11, 2026 0 Comments - Cooking, Fermentation

How does fruit become vinegar?

If you throw a bunch of sweet fruit into a container, natural yeasts already present on the skins will eventually consume the sugar in the fruit and produce alcohol. This alcohol will then get consumed by acetic acid bacteria in the environment and produce vinegar. Nature does all the work.

The problem with letting natural yeast go wild is that it is hard to know what flavours will result (good or bad), how much time it will take, and how much alcohol will result. Because the final acidity of the vinegar depends on the alcohol content, it is worthwhile to use a yeast with a known strength and flavour profile.

As for conversion of the alcohol into acetic acid, we could just leave a jar of fermented fruit juice covered with a cloth and allow naturally occurring acetic acid bacteria in the environment do the work. The problem here is that it takes a long time…several months at least. To shorten this time, we can inoculate our alcoholic fruit juice with a splash of live culture vinegar to get it started and provide it with a steady supply of oxygen via an air pump.

Making pear vinegar at home

In this recipe we will take ripe bosc pears and, over a month or so, ferment them into pear vinegar. I am mostly following a recipe from this excellent book by Rene Redzepi and David Zilber:

Ingredients:

4 kilograms ripe pears
35 millilitres liquid saison yeast (or another brewers yeast)
live culture (“contains the mother”) pear or apple cider vinegar for inoculation

Equipment:

A container large enough to hold your pears and leave at least 25% extra space. For this recipe I will be using two separate 4 litre / 1 gallon glass jars with lids and airlocks.
A tight lid and a brewers airlock (more on this below) for each container.
a strainer or fruit/cider press
a small aquarium air pump, hose and air stone (any pet shop will have these)
a blender or food processor is helpful but not necessary

Sanitizing Equipment:

Everything that comes in contact with this brew should be sanitized. Wash everything with soap and hot water, then sanitize whichever way you find convenient. Boiling, steaming and weak bleach solutions will work, but for convenience, I use a sanitizer called Star San.

Star San is available at home brew shops or online. You can mix a tiny amount with fresh water in a spray bottle for very effective and easy sanitizing. My local home brew supplier sells tiny bottles. Unless you are brewing huge amounts with massive equipment, a small bottle will last forever. I dilute it at about 2.5 millilitres per litre of water…that’s around 1/4 teaspoon per spray bottle…a tiny amount. This makes more than enough sanitizer for this whole process. It comes in a few different sizes and looks like this:

Process:

This recipe is divided into 2 parts. In part 1, we make alcohol. In part 2, we make vinegar.

Part 1: making alcohol

tray of ripe bosc pears — Choose a sweet variety of pear and leave them at room temperature to ripen until the fruit yields to light pressure. I bought these hard unripe bosc pears and it took almost a week at home for them to ripen up. If your pears happen to have stickers on them, just leave them on until they are ripe. I have tried removing stickers from unripe pears in the past and it often pulls up the skin leading to bruising or rot.

a packet of liquid saison yeast — I bought this yeast from a local home-brew supply store. You can also buy it online. I am using “saison” yeast as suggested by the Noma Guide to Fermentation but I think you could probably use another beer yeast if you can’t find a saison.

showing star san and spray bottle used for sanitizing — This is a tiny bottle of Star San and a 1 litre spray bottle. That 1/4 teaspoon is enough Star San to make a full spray bottle worth of sanitizer, probably enough to do this recipe 2 or 3 times.

all equipment spray sanitized including bowls and blender — Sanitize all your equipment before starting. Bowls, blender, spoons, ladles…whatever will touch the fruit.

pears with stems and blemished removed — Once the pears are ripe and soft, cut or pull away the stems and remove any stickers. If there are any signs of rot or mold, cut these out and discard.

cutting pears — If you are using a blender or a food processor, cut the pears into chunks. Don’t forget to sanitize the knife.

pears in a bowl, chopped into large chunks — Chopped up into big chunks. Seeds, cores and skins stay in.

pears going into blender — Pear chunks go into blender or food processor.

pureeing pears at low speed — Blend on slow speed and push the pears into the blades with a plunger.

chunky puree inside blender — We want rough chunky mash not a smooth puree.

finished mash in a bowl. chunky with seeds and skin — This looks (and smells) good. If you don’t have a blender, you can chop your pears by hand or even run them over a sanitized grater. It can be a little chunkier than what you see above. Do it over a tray so you don’t lose any juice.

adding liquid yeast to pear mash — Pour 35ml of brewers yeast into pear mash.

stirring in yeast thoroughly — Stir very well to ensure even yeast distribution.

fermenting jars, airlocks spray sanitized — Sanitize your container(s), lids and airlocks.

filling jars with mash — Pour the mash into sanitized container(s).

two glass jars with an even fill of pear mash — These are the glass jars I am using. I like them because they are easy to clean, it is easy to see what is going on inside and I can also use them for Part 2 of the recipe. Whatever container you use, you need to leave some space at the top. When the mash ferments, it will expand a surprising amount. The first time I did this, I figured that all the mash would fit into one jar (which it just did). But…when it started actively fermenting and expanding, it blew out of the top of the jar through the airlock and made a huge sticky mess. Leave space…at least 20% of the container.

top view of lids showing holes and seals for airlocks — These lids have a rubber gasket underneath to seal the jars and holes with rubber seals in the centre to accommodate an airlock. An airlock is a one-way valve that allows fermenting gasses to escape without allowing fresh air (and microbes) into the jar. These jars, lids and airlocks are available at home brew suppliers or online. There are a couple of different kinds of airlocks. Since I am using 2 jars, I will demonstrate both.

fill line for s airlock — This is an *S-type bubble airlock*. Water halfway up the chambers allows bubbles to escape as pressure builds up inside the fermenting container. Advantages: Simple, fun to watch, makes a gurgling sound, water doesn’t usually need to be monitored or refilled. Disadvantage: difficult to clean, especially if you happen to have an overflow as I have had. To use it, simply fill it from the top with sanitizer liquid until both chambers are at the fill line then put on the little perforated lid.

fill line for bucket airlock — This is what I call a *bucket airlock* (some will call it a *3 piece*). An inverted little bucket pops up and allows pressurized gas to escape while keeping outside air from entering. Advantages: Very easy to clean thoroughly. Disadvantages: visuals and sounds are less entertaining, a little more complicated to assemble (not really), water may evaporate and need a top up (but not often). To use this one, fill with sanitizer solution until it is in between the 2 fill lines. Then….

putting together bucket airlock — …insert the little perforated bucket upside down, on top of the centre shaft, then…

Once the jars are filled, the lids are on tight, and the airlocks are assembled…move them to a spot that is not in bright light and is at a cool room temperature. Around 20 Celsius or even a little cooler is ideal. Sometimes a basement works, or a garage. I have one or two poorly insulated outside walls which stay at a perfect 18-20 degrees in the winter so that is where I do my fermenting.

First Signs of Life

This is a time lapse to demonstrate how the two different airlocks work. This is obviously sped up but they are producing a good bubble every few seconds at real life speed. Below is a sound recording..

The ticking sound is from the bucket air-lock and the deeper gurgling sound is the S air-lock. I think the S lock is more fun to watch and listen to…but they each do the job : )

shows mixing of pear vinegar mash — Once a day, open the lids and give the mash a good stirring with a sanitized spoon. There is a tremendous amount of foaming and fizzing going on in the first two days. It is very active.

pre vs post mixing of pear vinegar mash. one has clear layers, the other does not. — Undisturbed on the left. On the right…after a thorough stirring.

When you are done stirring, replace the lids. Give the spoon a taste every time you mix it. Eventually you will notice the sweetness decreasing and the hotness (alcohol) increasing. Stir and taste and smell everyday until the bubbling slows and the mash has an obvious alcohol taste while still retaining some of the residual sweetness and “pear flavour” of the fruit. This will probably take 7 to 10 days.

Fermentation slows down…

For the first 2 days, fermentation was very active with both airlocks bubbling constantly. Towards the end of the second day the fermentation has slowed noticeably. The airlocks will bubble up a couple of times a minute at most. There is less fizzing when stirring and there is a slight taste and smell of alcohol on the spoon. By day 3, fermentation was very slow. Apparently, this very active initial fermentation followed by a very slow and steady period is characteristic of “saison” yeast. If you are using a different brewers yeast, the fermentation may be more consistent over time.

shows how waterline in s airlock shows that fermentation is active — The S airlock, with it’s 2 chambered design, clearly shows that there is pressure from fermentation gasses even if it is not bubbling constantly. This is an easy visual cue and another advantage of the S airlock. On the other hand, the bucket airlock needs a lot less pressure to force a bubble so, given the same activity, it will bubble a lot more often. One device you can see easily, one device you can hear easily. I kind of like having both going.

Keep stirring once a day, tasting for sugar and alcohol balance. Monitor activity at the airlocks.

Day 7:

By the 7th day, there is little to no detectable fermentation happening…no bubbling, no sounds, and the pressure in the S-airlock is equalized with both chambers showing the same water level. The mash tastes and smells of alcohol but the sweetness and perfume of pears is still there. This is perfect. It is time to strain the mash and move on to vinegar fermentation.

Straining the Mash

This is probably the most difficult part of this whole process. After doing this a few times, what you see below is the method I prefer but, it is not the only way. The goal is to separate the fibrous parts of the mash from the liquid so as long as you accomplish this, any method is fine.

two jars of pear alcohol. First stage of pear vinegar is done — Here is the pear mash on its last day of fermenting into alcohol.

sanitized tools for straining pear vinegar mash — Before starting, sanitize all equipment. For now, I will be using a coarse mesh strainer, a fine mesh strainer, a ladle, rubber spatula and a clear container to catch the juice. All of this was spray sanitized with Star San in a spray bottle.

two strainers — Set the fine mesh strainer over the bucket and the coarse mesh strainer inside the fine one. I find it is best to strain in stages where the first strainer will catch all the big stuff like seeds and peels and core fibres and the fine strainer will filter out anything smaller than that.

mash ladled into strainers — Ladle the mash into the coarse strainer leaving enough space to push and stir without making a mess.

demonstrating stirring and pressing to get mash through strainers — Stir and press the mash against the strainer to force all the liquid and smooth puree through. This is a lot of work. It takes time.

Only a very smooth puree gets through the bottom of the coarse strainer. Keep pushing and stirring until there is only seed, skin and rough fibre in the top strainer.

left over pulp and seeds from strainer — The remains. Put this fibrous stuff aside for now.

liquid coming out of bottom strainer — While working the mash up top, liquid will slowly seep through the fine strainer below.

The pulp in the fine mesh strainer will also need some stirring and pushing to get it through to the bucket underneath.

more leftover pulp — When you have pushed most of the liquid through the fine mesh strainer, you will end up with a coarse puree. Put this aside too.

The Fruit Press

If you don’t have a fruit press, don’t worry. Take your strained juice and skip down to “Neutralizing the Brewers Yeast”. If you have a fruit press or if you are interested in how one works , please read on…

this is a fruit press or a torchietto — This is a fruit press (this one is made in Italy and called a torchietto). I am going to use this to press out the last drops of liquid from the remains in the strainers. If you have a *large enough* fruit press, you can put all the mash through press right from the start and skip the strainers. I have tried that with this press and, it just isn’t big enough to process that volume without doing multiple batches and making a huge mess. I find that using the strainer method and then extracting one batch of juice from the already drained mash is much easier and yields more liquid in the end.

perforated basket inside bucket with spout. the inner part of fruit press. — The press has a perforated basket sitting inside a bucket with a spout at the bottom.

lining press basket with cheesecloth — Line the basket with a few layers of cheesecloth.

filling basket with mash pulp — Layer in your fibrous mash from the coarse strainer and your pulp from the fine strainer.

folding top of cheesecloth over the mash — Fold over the top of the cheesecloth.

shows press in action. A hand screw mechanism pushes a metal plate against the mash.juice flows from the spout at the bottom. — Here, the basket is inserted into the press. The hand-screw pushes a metal plate down onto the mash, pressing with great force. The juice slowly trickles through the cheesecloth, through the perforated bucket, out the spout and into a waiting container.

When you can no longer crank the handle with a reasonable amount of force, you are done.

shows a damp cake of spent mash after it comes out of the fruit press — When you remove the mash, you are left with a damp cake of pulp and fibre,

fruit press gave 500ml of juice from the strainer pulp — By using the press, 500ml more juice was extracted.

bucket measuring our total of 2.5 litres of pear alcohol to make into pear vinegar — Added to the liquid from the strainers, there is somewhere around 2.5 litres of viscous juice. It is quite thick.

Neutralizing the brewers yeast

pouring pear juice into a pot on stove — The alcoholic juice may still contain live brewers yeast which we do not want in the next fermentation. By heating the juice to 70 celsius for 15 minutes, any remaining yeast will be killed off.

heating juice to 70 celcius — I am using a probe thermometer here to measure the temperature. If you don’t have one, bring the liquid up to the point where it is steaming gently but not hotter. No boiling. Once up to temperature, cover the pot and leave it for 15 minutes.

after heating, cooling the pot to room temperature — Afterwards, cool to room temperature.

Part 2: Making Vinegar

In this second part of the recipe, the pear alcohol will ferment into vinegar with the help of acetic acid bacteria (AAB). We will kick start the fermentation with some live culture vinegar and then aerate it with a pump and air stone until it reaches a pleasant level of acidity.

an aquarium air pump and air stone which will be used in the fermentation into pear vinegar — This is a regular air pump, air stone and vinyl tubing from the aquarium section of a pet store. The tube and stone have been sanitized with Star San spray.

weighing pear juice — Weigh the finished liquid. In this case, the original 4kg of bosc pears has produced 2549 grams of alcoholic juice. This is one of the original glass jars from Part 1, washed and sanitized.

weighing live culture vinegar — To kick-start the ferment (aka “back-slopping”), add 20% of the juice weight in live culture vinegar. In this case, my juice weighs around 2550 grams, so 20% would be 510 grams of live culture vinegar. I am using some pear vinegar that I made last year for this. You can usually find live culture apple cider vinegar in many grocery stores or health food stores. Just look on the label for something that says “with the mother” or “contains the mother”. This works perfectly too.

510 grams of last years pear vinegar to “back-slop” this new batch.

pouring live culture vinegar into pear juice — Pour the live culture vinegar into the pear alcohol.

inserting the air stone into the pear juice jar — Drop in the sanitized air stone, making sure it rests on the bottom.

jar sealed with mesh and elastic to keep out the flies — To keep flies out (especially fruit flies) you need to seal the top of the jar with mesh and elastics while still allowing the air hose to exit. This is tricky to get right. I am using some fine plastic mesh, elastic bands and an office clip to keep everything as tight as possible. Tape can also help seal gaps. Eventually you will need to be able to get in here and taste it and then put it all back together so keep that in mind when you are assembling this.

jar on shelf bubbling with air from pump — The jar sits over on a shelf with the air pump close beside.

The aeration setup.

The alcohol should turn to vinegar within 2 weeks. I will leave this bubbling away for a full week before I taste it. In the meantime, I will give it a good sniff everyday to see how the acidity is developing. Once it begins to smell like mild vinegar, I will open it up once a day for a taste.

After a few days, there is a layer of sediment at the bottom of the jar, shaped by the current from the air stone. Once the vinegar is done fermenting, this sediment layer can either be stirred back for a thicker, more viscous vinegar or it can be filtered out for a more watery, light mouthfeel.

After 7 days, it is starting to smell sour. It tastes great. Good acidity but still fruity and sweet. I have pH test strips around so I tested just to see…

The pH reads right around 4. This is in the right range of 3.5 to 4. I want it to taste a little stronger, a little more acidic, so I will leave it another day or two.

When I pulled up the air stone to have a look, there are little blobs of vinegar mother (acetic acid bacteria and cellulose) forming on the stone…where the greatest concentration of oxygen is.

After 9 days of fermenting, the vinegar tastes perfect to me. It is a little more sour than a couple of days ago but still with a fruity aroma and flavour.

The air stone has grown a slightly bigger colony of AAB bacteria and cellulose as well.

One last strain will catch any heavier sediment.

The colour, taste and smell are perfect.

Just like before, this will need a stir to keep it moving and to keep the fine mesh from clogging up.

Total yield from 4kg of pears is somewhere around 2.5 litres.

Just for fun, I dipped a test strip and it came out around 3.5pH, which is indeed a little more acidic than a couple of days ago and right in the perfect range for vinegar.

Bottled and labeled, i will store these in the fridge to keep the flavours as fresh as possible.

Now what?

Compared to most store bought vinegars, homemade vinegar is surprisingly delicious. Use it on salads, spritz it over cooked veggies, use it in sauces…it will brighten up almost any dish. You can even drink it straight up or put a few splashes into soda water for a refreshing and healthy drink.

This is a truly fun and fairly easy fermentation project. There is a small initial investment for a little bit of specialized gear but once you have it, it can be used over and over. Just about any sweet fruit can be made into vinegar using this process. In the past I have made vinegar out of ripe persimmons and it was also delicious. I think I will try plum vinegar next, berries in the summer.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please leave them below. I am always happy to hear from you. Thanks for reading TigerSalad!

cooking, fermentation

Makgeolli

On December 25, 2025 2 Comments - Cooking, Fermentation

What is Makgeolli / 막걸리 ?

Makgeolli is a Korean alcohol (or sool 술) made by fermenting rice with a natural starter called nuruk (누룩, sounds like noo-rook). I have heard it called “rice wine”, “rice beer” and “Korean sake” but it has very little in common with any of those. Makgeolli is its own thing. A few good ingredients and a complex, multi-layered, simultaneous fermentation by a large variety of bacteria and yeasts make this a uniquely Korean sool. It has its own distinct flavours, textures and history. It is unlike any other rice ferment.

The recipe below is not the most simple but the preparation and process are fairly straightforward. My goal was to make the recipe easy to follow so I have included lots of pictures and even some sounds.

Important considerations before you start

There are 2 stages to this recipe and, from start to finish, this brew can take anywhere from 3 weeks to a month. In Stage 1, during the first three days or so you will need to stir it up a few times. In Stage 2, you will need to stir it again for a few days after which it is mostly just waiting and tasting occasionally.

Each stage of this recipe takes several hours to prepare. In Stage 2, you will spend 5 hours just washing, soaking and steaming rice. It’s best to plan ahead so you have enough time to get through the process in one shot.

Temperature is important. You will need to find a spot that is room temperature or a bit cooler for fermenting this brew (20-25C). Higher temperatures can cause your brew to ferment too quickly and may cause some off-flavours. Cooler is always better.

Equipment

You will need a glass or pottery container to hold your brew. 8-10 litres is a good size.

***You can find these glass jars at many Asian grocery stores or supermarkets.***

**These ceramic onggi jars are sometimes for sale in Korean grocery stores or markets**.

I think most people use glass. I have ceramic onggi jars around the house so that is what you will see in the pictures but either will get the job done. You will also need a piece of fabric or cheesecloth and an elastic band to cover the top of your jar. This ferment needs to breathe and will release a lot of gas. A fabric cover will let it vent and keep insects and dust out.

You will need a steamer of some kind. Bamboo steamers are cheap and very useful. I have a medium size one with two decks that I will use to steam rice for this recipe. If you have a pot with a stainless steel steamer insert, that will also work. Lastly, you will need a piece of cheesecloth or other fabric big enough to wrap the rice in the steamer.

Ingredients:

There are only 3 ingredients here: rice, water and nuruk.

Nuruk is made by forming moist cakes of grain (usually some combination of wheat and barley and rice) and hanging them in open air to attract wild yeasts, bacteria and mold as they dry. These are then pounded into rough granules to use as a fermenting starter. Bags of this powder can be found at Korean grocers under the english name “Enzyme powder” or just look for the Korean name “누룩” on the bag. There is a picture of a bag of nuruk in the ingredients below.

You can make makgeolli with many different kinds of rice. For this recipe I am using a short grain sweet rice called chapssal (찹쌀). I think that this rice is most likely to make a successful and easy drinking first brew.

Here is what we need:

500 grams sweet rice flour (this is just rice milled into a fine powder)
2 kg sweet rice (chappsal)
2.5 litres filtered or spring water
250 grams nuruk plus another 250ml filtered or spring water to hydrate it

ingredients for making makgeolli — Sweet rice flour, nuruk and sweet rice.

Process:

The recipe is broken into 2 parts. In Stage 1, we will ferment the rice flour for a number of days (around 3). In Stage 2, we will add steamed sweet rice and finish the ferment over the next few weeks. A two stage recipe like this is called “Iyangju”.

Stage 1

rice flour and water — Measure out 250 grams rice flour and 2.5 litres of spring water.

mixing rice flour and water in pot over medium high heat — Combine rice flour with water in a heavy bottom pot and heat on medium-high while stirring constantly. This takes some time to come up to temperature but it is important to keep it moving so that it doesn’t burn. We want this to come up to boiling temperature. It will be thick and steamy when done.

Eventually, as the mixture nears the boiling point, it will get very thick. Once it is very thick, take it off the heat. The video here shows just how thick it should get. This thick rice slurry is called juk (죽), sounds like “jook”.

finished juk for first stage of makgeolli — Transfer the juk to a clean bowl and let it cool down to room temperature (no hotter than 25 celsius). Stir it from time to time to release some heat from the centre. This takes a long time, maybe a few hours. You can speed this up by putting the bowl into an ice bath and stirring until it cools.

weighing nuruk — While the juk is cooling, weigh out 250 grams of nuruk.

nuruk mixed with water — Add 250 ml of spring water and allow it to hydrate. At this point, give the nuruk a good sniff. I think it smells like a dusty antique book that was abandoned in a damp basement for years. If you get any other interesting impressions, please leave them in the comments.

steam sanitizing a clay onggi jar — In this picture I am sanitizing a clay onggi jar with steam. I have these jars around so that’s what I use. Most people will use a glass jar instead (8-10 litre/2 gallon capacity). Whichever container you use, make sure to wash and sanitize it by steaming, boiling or using a food safe brewers sanitizer like Star-san. We are looking to sanitize *not* sterilize so filling your container with boiling water and letting it sit for 10-15 minutes is fine.

mixing nuruk and juk — Once the juk cools to room temp (25C or below), combine it with the hydrated nuruk in a clean bowl.

nuruk and juk after mixing — Mix very well. If you stir long enough, the thick juk will eventually become more liquid making it easier to pour into your container. This can take 5-10 minutes of stirring.

pouring mixture into onggi jar — Pour all of the mixture into your sanitized container.

first stage of makgeolli ready to ferment — It will rest in here for the next few days as the first stage of fermentation gets under way.

I like these clay jars because they don’t allow any light inside. I can keep them anywhere. If you are using a glass jar, try to keep it somewhere dark or cover it with a towel. The yeast and bacteria are happier away from light. ***IMPORTANT:*** place your container somewhere where the temperature is between 20 and 25 celsius. Higher temperatures can result in very fast fermentation and unwanted flavours. Room temperature or a little cooler is ideal. This ferment also needs air so, cover the top of your container with some cloth and seal it with an elastic band to keep out insects and dust. Do not put on a tight lid.

shows need to cover fermenting jar with breathable cover of mesh or cloth — I found this cover at a Korean supermarket. It looks like a mesh shower cap made specifically to fit these jars. Any piece of fabric or towel sealed with an elastic band works just as well.

stirring twice a day — Twice a day, open up the container and give it a good stir, making sure to get all the sludge in the bottom mixed in.

first bubbles show active fermentation — There will probably be a little raft of bubbles starting a day or so into the ferment. These are the first signs of life.

more bubbles the next day — This is after around 2.5 days. My brew is very active with lots of bubbles and a strong sweet scent. I dropped a microphone over the edge and put the cover back on and made a recording. The field recorder and mics are sensitive so they pick up every pop and fizz.

This is the sound of a very active ferment. It sounds almost like running water or something frying in a pan. This level of activity means this needs a little more time. Once it settles down, you can plan to start Stage 2.

This is a day later, about 3.5 days in to Stage 1. You can hear that the activity has slowed down quite a bit compared to the first sound file with just a little fizzing and popping. It is now ready for Stage 2.

Stage 2:

In this stage we will wash, soak, drain, steam and cool our 2kg of sweet rice. And, afterwards, we will add it to our fermenting container.

Wash the rice by hand. Be gentle here. Try not to crush the rice or grind the grains too much. Just gently swish it around with an open hand from bottom to top.

pouring off water while washing rice — You will likely need to wash the rice at least 10 times. Mix it with lots of fresh water, dump out most of water, refill with fresh water and repeat…The goal is to wash it until the water is mostly (like 80%) clear. The first few washes will be very cloudy like this one and then gradually it will clear up with each wash.

clear water after 12 washes — I washed my rice 12 times and this is the last drain. You can see that it is much clearer than the above picture but there is still a little sediment. This is fine.

rice soaking for 3 hours in bowl of fresh water — Cover the washed rice with fresh water and let it soak for at least 3 hours at room temperature.

rinsing rice — After soaking for 3 hours, drain the rice into a big strainer or colander. Rinse it with fresh cold water.

draining rice for makgeolli — Let it drain for around an hour. It will still be damp but not dripping wet.

sample of a bamboo steamer — Prepare your steamer. I will use this double deck bamboo steamer.

lining bamboo steamer with cheese cloth — Whichever steamer you use, line the baskets with a large square of clean fabric or cheesecloth.

filling steamer with rice for makgeolli — Fill with rice. For best steaming, don’t pack them tight right to the top. The rice and steam need a little space to cook properly.

Bring water to a full hard boil before putting the steamer over it.

Once the water is rolling, cover with the steamer.

rice in steamer over pot of boiling water — If all the rice fits in a single steam basket (bigger than mine), set a timer for 40 minutes and let it steam hard. Make sure to start with enough water so that it doesn’t boil dry or check half way through and top it up. If your steamer has 2 decks like mine, set a timer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, switch the top and bottom trays and set a timer for the remaining 20 minutes. Switching the trays will make sure the top and bottom rice steams evenly.

While the rice is steaming, prepare a cooling tray by lining it with a fuzz-free towel or cloth. Wet the cloth in water and squeeze it out as hard as you can so that it is just damp not wet. This will keep the cooling rice from sticking to it. I am using a baking sheet covered with a linen tea towel.

After 40 minutes, remove the basket(s) from the steamer. The rice should be cooked but dry. It will be translucent and have a bouncy texture when you chew it. Korean brewers call this steamed rice “godubap”. It will fuel the fermentation for Stage 2.

finished rice cooling on tray — Empty the the steaming baskets onto the tray and spread the rice out to cool to room temperature. This will happen pretty quickly, 10-15 minutes. Rice will stick to the rice basket cloths..do your best to pick it off by hand but don’t worry if you can’t get it every grain. The rice should not stick to your damp towel cooling tray.

adding steamed rice to the brew container — When the rice has cooled to room temperature, add it to the fermenting container.

It will seem very full and dry but over the next few days the rice will break down and start to liquefy as it ferments.

Stir it very well, seal the top with cloth and elastic and return it to your cool and dark fermenting spot.

Stage 2, Day 1

brew after 1 day — The rice has absorbed almost all of the liquid. It looks just like a pile of cooked rice. Over the next few days, this will change as the rice gets broken down. Listen to this:

It is bubbling and fizzing. Not as much as in the first stage but still sounds pretty active.

It feels just like very wet cooked rice. Continue to stir twice a day…

Stage 2, Day 2

brew on day 2 — The rice looks softer and wetter than the first day.

After stirring, you can see how the rice is starting to breakdown and liquify. It looks like hot oatmeal.

Moderate amount of bubbling…it has a thicker sound to it.

Stage 2, Day 3

brew on day 3. Rice is plump and breaking down — The rice is even more plump and wet. There is a somewhat thinner raft of rice on top and more liquid underneath.

After stirring, it is obvious that the rice has broken down and there is more liquid than solid in the mix. This is the last time we will stir this brew. Clean up the sides up your container as much as possible above the brew. Use a rubber spatula or a damp cloth to give it a wipe. There is an alcohol smell now. I can also taste alcohol on the spoon after stirring.

A steady moderate amount of bubbling.

Now we wait

For the next 2 to 3 weeks or so, open up the jar every few days and listen for activity and monitor any changes on the surface. Smell it and taste it for alcohol strength by sticking a spoon or chopstick into the mix.

The Match Test

By lowering a lit match into your container, you can get a visual cue for how much fermentation is going on. An actively fermenting brew will give off carbon dioxide. This will snuff a match quickly. The brew below is around 10 days into Stage 2. The match test shows that it is still actively producing CO2. The match goes out as soon as it gets past the rim of the jar. Eventually, as fermentation slows, you should be able to lower a match right to the surface without it going out.

This is just a fun measure of how active the fermentation is.

Stage 2: 2 weeks after adding rice

The brew is starting to have a nice boozy sweet smell. There is a thin shiny layer of liquid forming on top of the rice mash.

Stage 2: 14 days after adding steamed rice.

Over the last 2 weeks, the bubbling has become much slower but the brew is still active.

Brew is showing signs of being done

We are now 18 days into Stage 2 (3 weeks total fermentation time measured from the start of Stage 1). The bubbling has practically stopped with very little activity (not enough to even get one bubble during a 10 second sound recording). The brew smells and tastes of alcohol. Compared to a few days ago, there is now a very clear layer of liquid on top.

brew is finished fermenting as indicated by clear layer of liquid on top of rice — In this picture there is a clear glassy layer of liquid above the surface of the rice.

The Match Test Take 2

Unlike the first time we did this, the match stays lit even if I hold it right against the surface of the brew. This is good indication that little to no fermentation is happening and the brew is ready for filtering.

Filtering the brew

This is a very useful tool in the kitchen. Premium kitchen stores sell them but they will probably be cheaper at a restaurant supply shop. This particular strainer is called a “fine mesh chinois”. The mesh is fine enough to strain makgeolli without filtering through a cloth or bag. Cloth filtering works great and is more common. I prefer this just because I have the chinois around and I find it a little less messy.

Before filtering give your brew a good stir to get the sediment off the bottom.

It should have a very creamy texture with little chunks of rice and nuruk suspended inside.

The onggi jar is awkward to work with here so I will dump everything into an open top container first.

straining brew through fine mesh strainer — With my fine strainer over a second clean container, I can begin transferring the brew and slowly filtering it.

Milky liquid and fine sediment will pass through but the heavier, thicker remains will not.

The mesh will eventually clog up so you will need to stir it constantly and gently scrape up the inside walls of the strainer to keep the liquid moving through.

jigemi: the leftover solids from brewing makgeolli — When it gets really thick, you can gently press the contents of the strainer against the sides to squeeze out the last drops. What you are left with is a very damp rice mash called “jigemi”. Most people will toss this out but, if you have a look online you may find uses for this boozy mash. I recently learned that you can make another drink out of this called “moju”. I will probably try this in the future and post up a recipe.

bottling the finished brew — Once the straining is done, transfer your brew to bottles for storage. I recommend plastic soda bottles. They are safer. If your brew is still fermenting it will continue to produce gases which can break a glass bottle if the pressure gets too high. I like to use these plastic Perrier bottles. Before filling each bottle give your brew a good stir. This will keep the sediment even from bottle to bottle.

Mission accomplished. You can drink this right away if you like. Mine will go in the fridge for a few days.

picture shows the separation of clear alcohol and sediment after 48 hours — After a couple of days, the brew is starting to separate into a clear layer on top and a milky layer of sediment on the bottom. It will continue to settle over the next week or so.

This is around 2 weeks after this brew was bottled. There is now a layer of clear liquid above and thick sediment below.

Terminology around nuruk-fermented rice alcohol and how to enjoy your brew:

Depending on a few different factors, there a few different categories of rice alcohol. Without going into a lot of detail, here is a basic list:

Makgeolli: sedimented brew with less than 10% alcohol
Takju: sedimented brew with more than 10% alcohol
Yakju: clarified rice brew (the clear top layer in the above picture)

Our two-stage brew, long-fermented in a cool environment will almost certainly have more than 10% alcohol by volume. This means that it is a “Takju” and I think it is best to drink it as is. Gently turn the bottle over a few times to distribute the sediment and enjoy.

If you leave the bottles to rest, after a week or so, all of the sediment will settle to the bottom and there will be a very clear sediment-free layer on top. This is “Yakju”. You can pour it off slowly so as not to disturb the sediment and enjoy just the clear alcohol on it’s own. You can also pour it off, rebottle only the clear layer and age it indefinitely. It will change and develop new flavours over time.

If you pour off the Yakju, and dilute the sediment with fresh water, you will end up with a weaker drink in the under 10% alcohol range: this is Makgeolli. OR..you can also dilute your Takju with water to lighten it up and bring the alcohol concentration down…this would also be Makgeolli.

If I want something really refreshing and thirst quenching to drink with spicy food, I will often dilute my Takju with sparkling water. The brew is lighter and slightly fizzy and the flavours open up in a little different way…similar to the way an ice cube or a little water affects Scotch whiskey.

Commercial Makgeolli:

You have probably seen plastic bottles of commercial makgeolli at your local liquor store or in convenience stores in Korea. This cheap and tasty drink has it’s own charm but it does not have that much in common with a traditionally fermented brew like we have made. This commercial Makgeolli is usually fizzy, watery, has very low alcohol content and it surprisingly sweet, almost like a soda. It is sweetened with aspartame to make it more palatable and to prevent further fermentation in the bottle (and pressure related accidents while it is transported).

In contrast, our home brew has little to no fizz, a much higher alcohol content and is not especially sweet. In fact, it will lean closer to the dry and tart side with complex rice-y, boozy flavours and a thick creamy mouthfeel. You will taste and feel the alcohol very quickly. It is delicious! And, it is unlike anything else. Korean rice alcohol is entirely it’s own thing and it is next to impossible to compare it to any other brew.

The home made brew is thick, creamy, tart and strong.

Commercial brewers making traditional Korean sool

Over the last 5 years or so, some commercial brewers of traditional Korean sool have emerged. The first in the US was Hana Makgeolli, founded by Alice Jun. Alice and her team have produced a range of small-batch rice brews ranging from traditional Takju to, most recently, a potent full-strength Soju 60. I have linked a video below of Alice explaining the range of traditional Korean sools as well as Hana Makgeolli’s current offerings.

It was probably close to 10 years ago that I had the pleasure of meeting Alice in New York City when she was still developing recipes in her Brooklyn apartment. I got to sample an early brew “under the table” over Poke-bowls at a Manhattan SunriseMart. To this day, it is still one of my best New York experiences! Alice is one of the loveliest and most generous people I have met and she has a deep understanding of Korean rice alcohol, learning first-hand as a child helping her dad with traditional home brews. I highly recommend having a look at the above video for a comprehensive Sool School and if you are lucky enough to be able to try Alice’s brews in person, don’t hesitate to visit her shop and brewery.

As always, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please leave them below. If you try this recipe and like the results, please let me know. I hope you enjoy making your own rice brew as much as I do. Cheers! : )

cooking, Korean

Winter Solstice

On December 21, 2025 2 Comments - Photography, Toronto

The shortest day

December 21st is the shortest day of the year. Daylight shrinks to barely 9 hours with sunrise just before 8 am and sunset just before 5 pm. I know I am not the only one who feels the weight of this time of year. Many people I know seem to enter some kind of seasonal depression, sometimes (but not always) tempered by Christmas festivities.

Toronto is a lovely city for the three warmer seasons but not so much in winter. From now until spring the sun rarely shines and the occasional bright morning inevitably turns to gloom by the afternoon. Most years, there is not much snow in the city and winter temperatures tend to fluctuate above and below the freezing point. Snow quickly melts into salty, grimy pools that later freeze into sheer ice. Sometime in the new year, Toronto enters a deep freeze that lasts anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months. These cold days can bring sunlight but it doesn’t last for long and the city soon sinks back into murky grey.

When traveling, sometimes people ask me what Toronto winter is like. I am sure they are imagining crisp cold air and bright blue skies meeting a sparkling white horizon. I am always a little sad to tell them that, at least where I live, it is mostly salt crusted dirty streets, grey days and long dark nights.

orchid blooming during winter solstice — Blooming White Orchid on winter solstice

Toronto bank towers in black and white — King Street Bank Towers

Winter Blues (except when it snows)

Even though I live in this colourless city, I can still enjoy winter. The cold doesn’t bother me, and of all the natural phenomenon in the world, I am always deeply moved by the magic of a big snowfall. Every time. I love the way it mutes the city noise and how it transforms the urban landscape into something soft and beautiful. I can’t think of too many things that make me happier. Unfortunately, it doesn’t usually last very long before the next melt cycle.

Deep in the typical gloom of Toronto winter, I have a hard time seeing anything that I want to photograph and writing becomes a lot more difficult. Creativity shrinks back. I tend to retreat into reading books, watching films, listening to and learning music and language studies. A lot of input, not much output.

From spring to fall I was writing on here at least once every two weeks and I had so many pictures that I sometimes had trouble organizing them. Lately I have been doing less creative writing. And I have not wanted to pick up my camera as much but, I have taken a few pictures that I like. I will post them up here with no other purpose than sharing a few good, mostly unrelated, shots.

Rosedale station at night with strong diffusion filter — Rosedale Station from a failed photo project involving strong diffusion filters. I especially like the green lights on the turnstiles inside.

concrete subway station at Downsview Park — Downsview Park Station: All concrete grey on grey. On my way to get yeast to ferment pear alcohol. I shot this in black and white but a colour photo would look about the same here.

2025 in review

For a long time, I had planned to take a year off from work and 2025 was it. Originally I thought I would get right into planning my next career move but, instead, I was flooded by the desire to create and to learn. Not in any organized way…just to follow threads as they appeared and to accept and act on ideas and inspiration without any resistance and with the least amount of judgement possible. The result was a ton of writing.

This website started as a travel diary for an early spring trip to Japan and Korea that I took with my daughter. Sick of all the trash and advertising on social media, I thought this would be a fun alternative. In the end, it became something I loved doing and something I am quite proud of. I still revisit the trip quite often. The photos are good and the articles are fun and pretty well written.

When I got back, I wanted to keep writing and TigerSalad became a place for me to document photo projects, recipes, articles, ideas and sounds…all things I used to dump (in some compromised way) onto social media. On here, I rarely involve my phone and I can write as much or as little as I like. To date, I have written over 70 articles.

Surprisingly, TigerSalad has done ok. I get a decent amount of traffic and I know that the people who are visiting are interested in what I am doing rather than getting directed here by some stupid algorithm . I don’t link ads or pop-ups and so, I make zero income from it. Fine with me! Instead, I have a discreet donation link where people can send me some dollars which I put into website maintenance if they enjoy the articles. Even though I had zero expectations, a few generous amounts came through in the first few days. Thank you!!

On top of those 70 or so website entries, I have been doing other writing on the side. I have started some long form fiction (in other words, a book). Whether or not it ever gets finished or sees the light of day is not so important to me. I just enjoy writing it and learning about the inner lives of my characters as they unfold. I like the people in the story. They make me laugh and I care about them and I want to know what happens next. That is enough for now.

In the last few months, I have also picked up a few paid jobs doing copy writing: captions for social media projects and website copy. I really enjoy this work. I will labour for hours choosing the sharpest word, the most effective sentence, the most concise and economical phrase where necessary. To me it is like solving a puzzle. I love it. And, I do it all facing my big windows with a hot coffee and a sleeping cat on my desk. It is like a dream and I wish I could keep doing it. Let’s see what happens…

Varsity stadium sign toronto — From a series I planned around black and white photos with strong backlight and hard contrast. This is the sign outside Varsity Stadium on Bloor Street

Danforth and Braodview Streets at sundown — Danforth and Broadview shooting into the sun.

ROM at sundown — ROM with strong shadows and contrast. The little people give scale to the huge crystal building. The sunbeams bouncing and reflecting off the buildings is beautiful.

Bloor Street with harsh backlight — The old Hudson’s Bay Company on Bloor. Hard light and contrast. I like the flag shadows.

Backlit highrises and concrete elevated subway tunnel. That tunnel looks so Eastern Europe to me.

Christmas is coming…

I have a few close friends who are sincere Christians with a strong connection to their church and community. Christmas has a deep spiritual meaning for them. It is a time for celebration. The effort and joy that they put into this season is awe inspiring. It is fun to witness and some of their energy definitely rubs off on me.

As for me, I was mostly raised without any religion. Czechs, along with Japanese and Chinese are among the worlds least religious people. My family never went to church and religion was never a topic of conversation. Christmas was important but it centered entirely around family.

When I was very young, my parents (barely 20 years old) were new immigrants to Canada with no family here at all. I don’t remember too much of those days. I think our Christmases were probably more like house parties with lots of music, drinking and smoking with me sleeping in a pile of fur coats on a bed somewhere. But, over the next few years, my family began to grow as my parents began sponsoring their brothers and sisters to move to Canada.

At some point in my early adolescence, our family was suddenly huge. Aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, everyone gathered at our house for the Christmas season. For around a week between Christmas and New Years Day, our house was packed with aunties cooking and baking and uncles smoking and drinking and talking non stop. Food was everywhere. People slept over and stayed for days. One meal would blend into the next. Endless packs of cigarettes would burn to ash over hours and hours of card playing and laughter. To me, it was heaven. I can’t remember a time when I felt more warmth and happiness.

Of course, as years pass, time takes its toll and my once huge family Christmas has all but disappeared. Death, disease, divorce and relocation for work have all played a part in chipping away at the giant celebration of the past. These days, Christmas is always coloured with a little sadness. I miss that huge family made up of the people I have loved the most. I especially miss my uncles who have died, the ones who worked awful jobs and had nothing, but would still manage to tuck a few hundred dollar bills into my pocket every Christmas. XOXOXOXO.

These days, my family is very small. Still… we have our Christmas rituals, we eat our turkey dinner, exchange a few gifts and enjoy the love and warmth of the season. We are lucky to be able to do so. Although Christmas arrives with a little sadness and a little loneliness, I still look forward to it and feel fortunate to spend the hours with people that I love. Merry Christmas!

Best Christmas Song: “The Christmas Song” Nat King Cole (chestnuts roasting on an open fire..)

Best Christmas Food: Turkey (brined)! Stuffing (must have bacon or sausage)! Cranberries!

Best Christmas Movie: “2046” Wong Kar Wai. Not exactly a Christmas movie but a lot of its key moments happen at Christmas. It is really my favourite movie. I watch it once a year at night on the 25th.

OCAD and AGO at dusk — AGO blue building and OCAD university at dusk with blue sky

Upcoming Projects

Although I haven’t posted up anything lately, I have been busy photographing and documenting a few fermentation projects. My apartment is cool in winter so it is a perfect time for long ferments. I have a batch of 2 stage makgeolli (Korean rice alcohol) that is almost done. A detailed recipe with tons of pictures and sounds will go up soon. I will also be fermenting pears, first into alcohol and then into vinegar. This will take well over a month but it is in the works.

TigerSalad has a fair amount of recipes and I use them all the time. Originally, I had recipes scribbled down all over the place on loose paper and the backs of receipts etc… I started putting the recipes on here because I wanted to make an online cookbook for myself so I can have everything in one place. I really dislike cooking from videos, and most online recipes have too much filler and way too many ads and pop ups. My recipes are designed to be clear and logical, with lots of photos to make even complicated things doable. Try them…they work.

University of Toronto at night — Foggy autumn night University of Toronto campus

Remembrance Day wreaths at U of T — Two old-timers looking at Remembrance Day wreaths U of T

Man walking dog on rainy night in Philosophers Walk toronto — Man walking his dog in the rain Philosophers Walk

Winter Photos

I hope it snows soon. Big snow. Lots of it. I am looking forward to getting out in the city with my camera and capturing Toronto in some of its handsome winter moments. Like this one in St James Town last year:

Big City Winter Survival Tips:

1-Go outside! It’s not as cold as you think and the more you go out the more you will get used to it. There is lots of oxygen and less pollution in heavy cold winter air. It is energizing.

2-Don’t try to look cool or fashionable in winter. Just dress up in warm layers of clothes. Unless you are very wealthy, it is hard to be warm and look cool at the same time. Just give up!

Happy holidays from TigerSalad! See you soon with a home made booze recipe just in time for New Years!

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions please leave them below. I look forward to hearing from you. It is the only way I know you have been here…other than vague stats from Google : )

photography, toronto

Autumn Cemetery

On November 4, 2025 6 Comments - Photography, Toronto

Toronto Cemeteries:

I am lucky to live within walking distance of 3 beautiful old cemeteries: St James Cemetery, The Toronto Necropolis and Mount Pleasant Cemetery. I spend a fair amount of time in these places. Here, gigantic old trees grow to their full natural forms, never chopped and deformed to make way for electrical wires. There is no constant hum and noise of traffic. The are only ever a few people and they usually seem quiet and contemplative. Even their dogs don’t bark. I took these photos over a few autumn days walking through St James and Mount Pleasant cemeteries.

Orange, red, yellow and purple leaves together in St James Cemetery — I didn’t manipulate the colours at all. This is natural saturation from the light just before sunset.

Death (and Beyond?)

As a child, I remember finding dead birds in the grass under big windows and examining their intact but unmoving bodies. I thought: “It looks like a sleeping bird but, something is missing…it’s not asleep and somehow, it’s not really a bird at all anymore.” It wasn’t something I could see…but something I could sense. A cold absence. Going to an open casket funeral some years later, I had the same feeling while peering over the heavily made-up face of the old woman in the box: this is not really a person anymore.

Growing up, I never lost my curiosity about death and I paid attention to cultural and religious differences around the subject. I had so many questions. Where do we go, if anywhere? Do we return in a new form? Do we really face almighty judgement for our behaviour during our short time here? If death separates us, will we meet again? Do we just say these things to comfort ourselves when we lose someone or, do we really believe them? Maybe living is just like a light switch: Now it’s on…you are alive. Now it’s off…darkness…forever. I guess only the dead have all the answers and, at least in my life, they remain silent.

Autumn foliage on display in St James Cemetery Toronto

What I know for certain is that the dead can live on in our thoughts, in our memories. They can be present in that way. When I visit a cemetery, I am always mindful of the fact that I am walking among graves and not in a city park. And even though the dead are silent, I feel like I am meeting them in some way. Reading their names out loud and calculating the bracket of time stamped on their headstones I wonder what they might have done while they were still here. Who did you love and what did you care about? How did you manage to grow so old? And why did you die so young?

Remains:

Long ago, reading a Rohinton Mistry novel, I discovered the Zoroastrian practice of laying the dead out on a Tower of Silence for the vultures to eat the flesh from the bones. The idea seemed shocking at first but later, I learned that this custom is a final act of charity: to feed the flesh to the birds rather than letting the body go to waste. The living help the dead to perform a final act of good will. In the West, this might seem like an objectionable practice. But, the Zoroastrians would probably think that incinerating a body in a gas oven and placing the ashes in a jar to display is strange and wasteful. There are so many different ways that the living dispose of the dead. Religious or cultural beliefs usually dictate the method, but more recently, economics of space and cost are influential as well.

Sunlight shining through orange leaves in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in autumn

Bright orange leaves on the ground around tombstones in St James Cemetery

These days cremation seems to be most common method while certain religions still insist on whole body burial. “Green” burials (where shrouded bodies are interred to decompose in a natural area) are becoming increasingly popular. Burial at sea for servicemen and civilians still happens. A few small areas of the world still practice mummification. In Tibet, because there is only rock underfoot, the dead are left on a high peak to decompose or be eaten in what is known as a sky burial. Similarly, indigenous tribes in parts of British Columbia and the US southwest used to perform tree burials, where a body wrapped in a shroud gets placed in the high crook of a tree for nature to use.

Large monument in Mount Pleasant Cemetery

About Cremation

I have noticed quite a few job openings for crematory workers lately. The pay is high and there are almost no requirements other than being able to lift heavy things (one end of a corpse I assume). Not knowing much about the process of cremation, I did some research.

As expected, bodies are placed in gas ovens and burned at high temperatures over several hours. But not everything turns to ash. Bone fragments remain, and these get put into a “cremulator“, which works much like a coffee grinder. Bone fragments go into a hopper, get ground up and deposited into in a paper bag below. The bag of ash and powdered bone is sealed, labeled and placed in a container to be returned to the family. Artificial joints made of metal remain intact after cremation and, if the family does not request to have these parts returned, the metal is recycled and repurposed.

In Japan, cremation is handled a little differently in that the bone fragments are not ground up. Instead, they are collected and placed into an urn which ends up in a family grave or mausoleum. Family members use ceremonial chopsticks to pick bone fragments out of the ashes starting with the legs and ending with the skull. This way, the person will not be assembled upside-down in the urn. It is interesting to imagine of the remains getting handled directly by the family, something that seems so unthinkable in the west.

St James Cemetery Toronto in autumn with orange and yellow leaves

Mount Pleasant cemetery with red leaves in fall

Traveling

While traveling in different parts of the world, I often wonder if it is ok to photograph cemeteries. I visit them everywhere I go but I never take pictures if there is a ceremony going on or if any family is around visiting the dead. Once, I discovered a beautiful cemetery on a steep hill in Kyoto. There were several families washing graves and leaving offerings so I didn’t take any pictures. But, I was moved by the devotion with which the visitors cared for the graves. It was my first time seeing anything like this.

I have pictures of old cemeteries in Zizkov, Praha, where my mom grew up, ones she would have passed by everyday. They probably look exactly the same now as they did back then. My grandmother is in there somewhere although I haven’t been back since before her death, around the time of Covid. I look forward to visiting her sometime soon.

Gwangju

After reading Han Kang’s Human Acts (a deeply affecting book set around the days of the Gwangju Uprising and massacre in 1980), I felt a need to travel to Gwangju on my next trip to Korea in 2017. On a bright and chilly autumn morning, I got on a bus and arrived at the Gwangju Memorial.

Other than a few attendants at the museum, I was the only person there. It was a truly beautiful place, especially on that day, flooded with sunlight and the colours of fall. After a walk through the memorial and the museum, I wandered on the footpaths which eventually opened up onto an old cemetery in the hills. It was breathtaking: the silence, the beauty. There was nobody else there so I took photos, two of which are below. I remember the distinct feeling of not being alone even though I was the only person in this huge open space.

Just west of the May 18th Memorial, Mudeung Cemetery, Gwangju, 2017

We don’t talk about death much around here….

I think about death pretty often. And the older I get, the more I think about it. Never in a fearful or sad way…maybe more like a calm acknowledgement that it is inevitable. I am much farther from the starting line than I am to the finish line, and people have been disappearing from my life for years. More than half of the family members I knew growing up are now gone. Childhood friends have disappeared. Even people I have known who were much much younger than I am have had their lives cut surprisingly short.

Death is always accompanied by the deep sadness of those left behind. But, I think it is also an important and positive reminder that you….you are still alive. Whenever I am walking through a cemetery, I am reminded that I will be joining the club in the not so distant future but, more importantly, that I am still alive right now. It’s a potent warning that time is short and shouldn’t be taken for granted. Every minute you are alive is another minute you are closer to death. Really. No exceptions.

As to what happens after our heart stops and we draw our last breath…who can say? I do know that when I am in a cemetery, even though I might be the only person walking among the acres of trees and headstones, it is impossible to feel lonely there. I just never do. Are the dead keeping me company? Are they watching from somewhere?

We don’t talk about death so much in the West so I hope this doesn’t come across as something too uncomfortable or sad. I would be happy if it was just the opposite. Every morning, I wake up feeling genuinely excited to start another day. I can’t wait to see what happens next. I open my eyes and I think: “Ah…I am still here. Thank you!” Every day.

I like this picture because you can see the highrises of St James Town just across the street from the west fence of St James Cemetery.

photography, toronto

Samgyetang

On October 8, 2025 0 Comments - Cooking

What is samgyetang?

Samgyetang is ginseng chicken soup. “Sam” for insam (인삼), the Korean word for ginseng; “gye” refers to chicken; “tang”(탕) is a soup. It is a hearty and delicious soup that tastes great during chilly months. It is also surprisingly popular during the hottest days of the year in Korea where eating steaming hot food is believed to have a cooling effect on the body.

My first time…

The first time I ate this soup was on a chilly afternoon in Seogwipo City on Jeju Island. Hungry and cold, I was wandering around an area known for restaurants. It was the off-season so many restaurants were closed and most others were serving Jeju black pig samgyeopsal, something that is difficult to eat on your own. Feeling defeated, I decided to go to a nearby convenience store to at least buy some kimbap. On my way I spotted a small house with a sign that simply said “삼계탕” (samgyetang) but this little house didn’t look like a restaurant at all.

When I cracked the door open to peek inside, I was surprised to see an older woman sitting on the floor in front of her sofa, watching TV. I quickly apologized and tried to leave, but she got up and gestured for me to come inside. Hardly knowing any Korean, I simply said “samgyetang”? She nodded and gestured for me to sit on the sofa. She unfolded a small square table in front of me and then disappeared. I sat alone in this room, watching TV and silently wondering if I had made some kind of a mistake. But, a few minutes later, she came back smiling and put 2 or 3 dishes of simple banchan on the table in front of me. And, a little after that, she came back with a steaming black earthenware bowl containing a single small chicken in a bubbling broth.

I ate this delicious steaming meal as fast as I could without burning my mouth. The woman seemed pleased when she saw all the empty plates. I gestured to pay, she accepted my money with a nod and a smile and I was on my way.

That meal seems like a mystery to me to this day. Was it really a restaurant? Was it a dream? It seemed like some kind of a magical chapter in a book. Someday I will return to investigate. These are the best kinds of travel experiences. There is something deeply lonely about traveling by yourself, but I think that it also opens many doors that may not have otherwise materialized at all. Like the door to this little house where I first ate samgyetang on a chilly afternoon on Jeju Island, perched on the edge of a sofa watching TV.

Ingredients

I made this recipe in a single large pot with a small whole chicken to eat family style. If you prefer, you can also make 2 separate portions out of this using the same amount of ingredients and 2 Cornish hens instead. It looks prettier when you serve each person their own whole bird and it is a lot less messy. Chickens are quite a bit less expensive and easier to find than Cornish hens so this is what I usually use.

1 small to medium chicken (or 2 cornish hens)
15-20 whole cloves of garlic
2 fresh ginseng roots
4 dried red dates (jujubes/daechu)
1 cup short grain rice (you can substitute with glutinous rice/chapssal)
2 green onions
salt and pepper

I am always able to find fresh ginseng at Asian grocers. Same goes for red dates: you may see these called Chinese red dates, jujubes or daechu (대추).

***At the end of the soup recipe there is a recipe for dipping sauce to go with it. Scroll to the bottom for that one. You can make it while your chicken is cooking.

samgyetang ingredients — Raw ingredients.

Process

soaking rice — Wash and then soak rice for an hour or so.

splitting and pitting red dates — Split the red dates and remove the sharp pits.

dividing ginseng roots for samgyetang — Wash and divide ginseng into individual small roots. If they are thick pieces, you can cut them to make them more bite sized. I have seen some people peel ginseng but I never do.

stuffing chicken with rice, ginseng, dates and garlic — I usually prop my chicken up in a bowl so it doesn’t flop over and spill out. Stuff the chicken tightly with rice. Insert garlic cloves, ginseng root and red dates along the way.

Pack the chicken with the rice, roots, dates and garlic until the cavity is completely full.

I like to tie up the legs with butchers twine to keep everything inside but this is optional.

Place the chicken a pot large enough so that it can be covered with water. I am using a stoneware pot but any soup pot will do the job. You will probably have leftover rice and garlic/ginseng/dates. Add these to the pot around the chicken.

ingredients assembled for samgyetang. Chicken goes into pot — Add enough water to cover the chicken. It’s ok if it is peeking out a little.

Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a slow simmer. You can add a little salt now if you like. Maybe 2 teaspoons. Afterwards, each person can season to taste with salt and pepper at the table.

Cover the pot and cook for an hour. By this time, the chicken should be cooked through, the rice will be fully cooked and the garlic cloves should be soft.

finished soup — After an hour, this looks perfect.

Serving

Chop your green onions, put some on the soup and serve the rest at the table.

If you are sharing a whole bird, everyone can tear off pieces with tongs and scoop out some rice and broth with spoons as we did here. If you serve a single hen per person, it is a little less savage and messy (and maybe a little less fun).

Soy and vinegar dipping sauce

Ingredients

100ml (around 6 tablespoons) brewed soy sauce
50ml (around 3 tablespoons) white vinegar
12-13gr (1 tablespoon) white sugar
1/2 medium white onion
1 green long chile or jalapeño

I like regular harsh white vinegar for this recipe. You can substitute rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar but I would avoid using wine vinegars. Use regular brewed (Japanese style) soy sauce, not Korean soup soy sauce. Use an equal amount of honey if you prefer it over white sugar. You can leave out the chili altogether but, I would recommend just taking the seeds out if you don’t want any spice. The “greenness” of the chili adds alot of flavour here.

Process

ingredients for soy vinegar dipping sauce for samgyetang chicken — Raw ingredients.

Cut onion into 1cm dice. Slice chili. Remove seeds here if you don’t want any spice.

finished soy vinegar dipping sauce — Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until combined. Let this sit for at least 30 minutes before you use it. Leftover sauce will keep for a long time in the fridge. It is delicious with almost anything including as a topping for plain white rice.

This is one of my favourite soups. Hot and satisfying, it is especially good when you are feeling a little sick or run down. It is one of those meals that seems to instantly fortify the body much like my other favourite seolleongtang.

If you need a homemade kimchi recipe to go with any of your Korean cooking, click here.

If you have any comments or questions, please leave them below. Thanks for reading.

cooking, Korean, soup

Vegan Napa Cabbage Kimchi

On September 9, 2025 0 Comments - Cooking, Fermentation

This is a tested recipe for anyone who does not eat meat, anyone with shrimp allergies or anyone who does not like the fishy taste of fish sauce. Once this recipe ferments, you will have a tasty vegan kimchi that you can use just like any other kimchi. It is a variation on a cut kimchi recipe that I posted previously. If you are interested in making a kimchi with all the seafood included or if you are interested in more information about kimchi in general, you can find that by clicking here.

Ingredients

1 large (2kg) Napa Cabbage
80 grams/3oz (around 1/2 cup) Diamond Kosher Crystal salt for brining
up to 2 Tablespoons kosher salt for seasoning (not for brining…save this for later)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
275ml (1 1/2 cups) water
1/4 cup rice flour
1 tablespoon white sugar or maesil plum syrup
1/2 cup peeled garlic cloves (around 20)
1 tablespoon ginger peeled and sliced
1 white onion peeled and chopped
1 asian pear or apple peeled and chopped
1/4 up to 1 cup (30-120 grams) korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
2 bunches (12 or so) green onions sliced
1 cup carrot matchsticks
1 cup korean radish matchsticks

Try to weigh your salt rather than measuring by cups. Diamond Kosher is a popular salt in my area. If you live in the US, you may be using Morton’s. This salt is much saltier by the cup. Same goes for sea salt if this is what you are using. Whichever salt you use, it is better to weigh it. Avoid using table salt.

Rice flour/rice powder is just finely ground sweet rice. Mochiko is a popular brand but any brand will work.

Korean chili flakes are all very different from batch to batch. Some are mild and fruity and some are sharp and very spicy. It is better to start with less, taste, and then add more if you want it spicier.

Process

Cabbage preparation

Quarter the cabbage and chop off the stalks.

In a large container, rinse the cut cabbage in fresh cold water.

Drain it for a few minutes before salting.

Brining

Making the kimchi paste

While the cabbage is brining, make the kimchi paste:

Combine the water and rice flour in a pot over medium high heat. Stir constantly until the slurry get very thick and starts bubbling a little. Afterwards, set it aside until it cools to room temperature.

Peel and chop ginger, asian pear (or apple), onion and garlic. Place them in a food processor and mix into a uniform sauce.

It should look something like this when it is done. If you don’t want to use a food processor or blender, you can also chop these ingredients by hand. It does not have to be this smooth.

Add maesil plum syrup or white sugar to your cooled rice flour slurry. I am using maesil plum syrup because I have it on hand but white sugar works just as well.

Mix in the sauce from the food processor.

Add in the chili flakes. Start with a small amount, taste it and then add more if you want more spice. You can taste and add more now or later in the process. Chili flakes can be mild or very spicy so it’s hard to give a fixed amount to use. Depends on your preferences and the chilis you have. As long as you like the flavour, you have done it right.

Mix well and give it a taste to judge the heat levels.

Cut the carrot and the Korean radish into matchsticks. I used this Japanese Benriner brand veggie slicer but you can use a knife instead. They don’t need to be perfectly uniform. Slice the green parts of the green onions into 1-2cm pieces.

Mix well, let it sit for a few minutes, and taste it again. This is a good time to adjust the spice level AND the salt level. If you think that the paste is a little bland, season with small amounts of salt until you like the flavour. In a regular kimchi recipe, brined baby shrimp and fish sauce add a large amount of salt. Because we have left them out, we have to bring up the salt level a little in other ways. The soy sauce will do some of the work, but you will probably need to add a little salt here as well. I ended up using around 2 tablespoons but you do not have to use this much. It better to put less now and add some later on, even days later. Once it is too salty, it is nearly impossible to fix.

The kimchi paste is done. Once the cabbage has finished it’s 2 hour brine, these will get combined.

Put it all together

Once the 2 hour salting time is up, wash the cabbage 2 or 3 times in fresh cold water.

Put it into a strainer and allow it to drain completely. This can take 10-15 minutes. Wait until no more water is running out of the bottom of the strainer.

Mix them together and taste it again. Adjust salt and chili if you think it is necessary. If it tastes ok, you are done!

I am using a stoneware onggi jar to ferment this batch of kimchi. I have them around the house so this is what I usually use. Mason jars or a glass storage container can work just as well. You can also use plastic containers but keep in mind that they will probably always smell like kimchi after you have used them. Whichever container you choose, make sure to leave the lids loose so that fermentation gasses can escape.

Leave your container at room temperature until the kimchi is fermented to your liking. This could be as little as overnight or as long as several days depending on the temperature of the room. Taste it a couple of times per day. When the kimchi is nearly as sour as you like, store it in the fridge to slow down the fermentation. If you prefer fresh crisp kimchi, you can refrigerate it right away.

Now what?

For ideas on what to do with your kimchi take a look at this post.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. I am always happy to hear from you.

Thanks for reading!

cooking, kimchi, Korean

Seolleongtang

On August 28, 2025 0 Comments - Cooking

Seolleongtang is the first meal I ever ate in Korea. After a 15 hour flight and a long train ride, I finally arrived at my Insa-dong hotel sore, exhausted and hungry. The closest restaurant was directly behind the hotel, attached to the parking lot. This unassuming restaurant turned out to be one of the oldest in Seoul: Imun Seolleongtang. I had a big hot bowl of this plain milky beef soup and within an hour I felt completely refreshed. This simple soup seemed to erase my body’s memory of being crushed in an economy seat for the last 15 hours. It was like magic.

Since then, I have been back to Korea many times and I always start and finish my travels with this simple meal. Imun Seolleongtang has since received Michelin recognition and so it is busier (and more expensive) than ever with lots of tourists coming in to snap photos for instagram and tiktok. The staff seem to take it in stride, brisk and efficient, though maybe somewhat less friendly than I remember nearly 10 years ago. Also gone is the sloppy bucket of juicy and chunky kkadugi in the middle of the table and the big basket of chopped green onion. These now arrive in less bottomless portions after you order. But, even though some things have changed, the food is still as delicious as I remember and I still go to Imun as well as another smaller family run Seollongtang restaurant nearby.

Homemade seolleongtang

Seolleongtang always seemed kind of mysterious to me. Where did that milky colour come from? How was this simple soup so nutty and delicious? It arrives at the table completely bland and unseasoned but the addition of a little salt and pepper, kimchi juice and green onion turns it into something deep and complex and unforgettable.

Like a good food detective, I decided to launch a full investigation. After much reading and video watching, I discovered that the secret is really in the style of beef stock, in the process rather than the ingredients. The recipe below is a two-part process. First you will need to make the milky bone broth. Once you have this broth on hand, turning it into finished seolleongtang is a very simple and quick process. You can find the complete recipe for the beef bone broth by clicking here.

Ingredients

*this is for one big portion or 2 smaller portions

1 litre Korean milky beef bone broth
250gr beef brisket point
cooked white rice
cooked somyeon/somen noodles
2-3 green onions (scallions)
salt and pepper

I used brisket point. You can use any beef you like. Tougher cuts will take longer to soften up and more tender cuts will take less time. I like brisket because it is somewhere in between. It has the deep beef flavour of a tougher muscle but is slightly more tender so takes a little less time to cook. If you like, you can soak the meat in water for a few hours to remove some of the blood but, this is optional.

Process

raw seolleongtang ingredients — Raw ingredients. This is leftover rice from yesterday. I am cooking a whole portion of noodles but probably will not use them all in here.

sliced brisket point — Slice beef into thin bite-sized pieces. ***Note***: if you are making seolleongtang and the bone broth on the same day, you can cook the uncut chunk of meat directly in the broth and slice it after it is cooked. Either way will work. I think that slicing the meat first and then cooking might give it a slightly drier texture but I don’t think it makes that much difference in the end.

cooking somen noodles — In a seperate pot, precook your somyeon according to the directions on the package. The ones I am using take around 3 minutes.

Drain the noodles and rinse them with cool water.

Add in slices of meat. Cover the pot and simmer the meat in the broth until it is as tender as you like. I let this brisket go for about 30 minutes.

Add noodles. You can put as many noodles as you like.

assembling finished seolleongtang — Scoop in some rice. You can also serve a bowl of fresh rice on the side. I usually end up putting most of it in the soup anyways so I will add it now.

While the above ingredients are warming through, slice up some green onions.

Once everything is warmed through, it is ready to go. Serve it with kimchi, salt, pepper and green onion on the side. As you add salt, you will notice that the bland broth suddenly comes alive with rich nutty sweet and beefy flavour. Add some pepper if you like. You can also add in some kimchi juice if you want to give it a little spice or acid. This is usually served with a juicy kkakdugi and this radish kimchi is a perfect accompaniment to this dish. Some time ago, I made a batch of watery kkakduki to eat with seolleongtang but I ate it all before I got around to cooking this. Cabbage kimchi is also good. You can find the kkakdugi recipe by clicking here. This doesn’t look too impressive at the table does it?

All the good stuff is hiding in the milky broth.

a look at the finished and seasoned soup

The verdict?

This turned out to be very very good. Maybe 4 out of 5 stars. One star off because, as good as it is, it doesn’t quite measure up to the flavour of Imun Seolleongtang in Seoul. But, honestly, I can say the same thing about all Korean food made outside of Korea. There is always a little something missing when you make these dishes yourself or, eat them in restaurants back home. I think a big part of this is the high quality of ingredients in Korea but, there is also generational knowledge and experience that adds flavour to these dishes and makes the magic hard to replicate. Imun Seolleongtang has been making this same dish for over 100 years and legend has it that the same stock pot has been continuously boiling fresh bones every day for the whole time!

Having said that, I am really happy with the way this turned out and I feel just as refreshed after eating a big hot bowl of this flavourful soup. 시원하다!

If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the space below. Thanks for reading!

cooking, Korean, soup

Beef Bone Broth Version 2: Hard and Fast

On August 26, 2025 0 Comments - Cooking

Korean Beef Bone Broth vs Western Versions (hard and fast vs low and slow)

Some time ago, I posted a recipe for beef bone broth (stock) that involves a very long cooking time at a very gentle simmer (click here for this low and slow version). The result is a mostly clear, brownish, meaty and gelatinous stock. This is most often what chefs make in a western kitchen…it will typically be used as a soup or sauce base.

This recipe is almost identical in ingredients and process. The main difference is that this recipe cooks at a harder rolling boil for a shorter time. Even though the steps are almost identical, this small change results in a completely different stock. This one is just as gelatinous but, it is a silky opaque white colour with a nutty and delicate flavour. This stock is a base for dishes like mandu-guk (dumpling soup) or seolleongtang in a Korean kitchen. And, I think this is the version that most people think of when looking for “beef bone broth”.

Ingredients

4kg (almost 9lb) beef marrow and knuckle bones cut into pieces.
1.2kg (around 2.5lb) cow foot cut into pieces
water

The Korean grocer in my neighbourhood usually has beef bones already cut up and frozen in bags ready to go. If you don’t have access to something like this, any butcher should be able to sell you beef bones for stock. A separate Halal butcher in the neighbourhood stocks frozen cow feet which he chops up for me on his meat saw. Cow foot adds gelatine to your stock which will give it a rich mouthfeel. If you can’t get cow feet, you can leave it out and substitute more bones.

The weights above are a guideline. You can make this as big as the biggest pot you have to hold the bones. I have a 12 litre stockpot and this is a good amount for me. The ratio of bone to cow foot does not have to be exact but I wouldn’t use more than 20-25% foot to bone.

There is no salt in this recipe. Season the stocks as you use it, depending on the dish you are preparing.

Process

This recipe is a slightly abbreviated version of the slow-and-low stock recipe. The process and ingredients are almost exactly the same so I have left out a few of the more obvious photos. If you want more detail on any step, just reference the recipe at this link.

Wash and soak bones

beef bones soaking in water — Rinse the bones and cover them with cold water. You can see the hip bones on the left and cow foot on the right. You don’t have to separate them. I kept them separate so that you can see what each looks like. Soak them for a minimum of 6 hours or so. Better still, cover them and leave them in the fridge overnight. If you have time, change the water every few hours (this is optional).

After soaking, blood and other impurities will leach out into the water and it will be noticeably red. Pour all the water off and rinse the bones a few times.

beef bones after soaking — After soaking, the bones will look more pale pink than red.

Blanching the bones

Place all the bones in a stockpot that has enough room for the bones plus a few centimetres of water plus some extra room for boiling. I am using a 12L pot here.

raft of blood from blanching of bones — Bring the water up to a full rolling boil and let it go for around 5 minutes. During this time, any remaining blood will leach out of the bones and coagulate into a brownish floating mass on top.

rinsing bones in sink — After 5 minutes of boiling, dump the bones and the dirty water and give all the bones a good rinse with fresh cold water. Wash your stockpot too.

Making the stock

Add bones back to the clean pot, cover with fresh cold water. Bring the heat up until the water comes to a steady roll. This shouldn’t be boiling at full speed but the water should be actively rolling all over the surface.

This is what a good medium rolling boil looks like. This is critical to the success of this stock. With the stock rapidly moving, some fats, collagen and proteins will emulsify with the water. This is what gives this stock it’s characteristic white colour and nutty flavour. Make sure the stock is moving well without boiling over.

boiling the beef bone broth — Boil the stock uncovered for around 8 hours (more is ok if you have the time). It will evaporate pretty quickly so every hour or so, add back enough boiling water to keep the water level up. I boil a full kettle of water to top it up. If you use cold water, the stock will most likely stop boiling and it will take time and attention to bring back up.

An hour or so in and you will notice that the stock is becoming milky. This is a great sign.

It is so opaque that even in a shallow spoon, you can’t see through it.

After 8 hours or so…

Remove the bones from the stock and strain the liquid.

bones strained out of broth — If you look at these bones compared to the bones from the other recipe, you can see that these bones still have some life in them. At this point, you have the option to ***put the bones back in the pot***, cover them with fresh water and **repeat this whole process**. After another few hours you will get a second stock that is a little thinner and milder in flavour. In pro kitchens, we call this “remi”, short for “remoulade” in French (basically means reboil). Once this is done, you have the option of having 2 separate stocks, one richer, one more mild OR you can choose to blend them together for something in between.

These bits of connective tissue and marrow were strained out of the finished stock. Everything here is edible. If I were making seolleongtang today, I would use them in the soup. If you don’t like eating this kind of thing, just discard with the bones.

Here is the finished stock in a small glass beaker. It is thick and milky.

Cool your stock in a sink or ice bath until it is room temp or below. Refrigerate overnight.

removing fat layer from finished bone broth — Once the stock is cool, remove the hard layer of fat from the top. This is pure clean beef fat. You can use it for frying and it stores for a long time in the fridge or freezer. Optional, of course.

You can see here that the stock itself is nearly as white as the fat layer.

Good solid jiggle…cow foot adds a lot of bounce to a stock.

At fridge temperature, I can easily stand a spoon up in the stock. It is that firm. The colour is just beautiful.

broth prepared for freezing — I usually portion my stock into yogurt containers, cover with plastic wrap and lids and freeze it. The yield from this recipe was around 6 litres of rich delicious milky beef bone broth. If you reboiled the bones, you would have twice as much. Unfortunately I didn’t have time or freezer space today. Next time for sure!

What to do with your bone broth (stock)

This is the essential milky base for Korean soups like seolleongtang (click here for recipe), doganitang or mandu guk. However, you can also use it as a base for almost any soup where you want good body and deep beef flavour. You can even drink it as is or add just a bit of cooked rice and chopped green onion for the simplest, easiest to digest, healthy and protein rich meal.

If you have any questions or comments or if I spelled Seolleongtang wrong, please let me know in the space below.

cooking, Korean

Chicago 48hrs

On August 24, 2025 0 Comments - Photography, Travel

Chicago

Chicago seems like a city that is doing a lot of things right. The more time I spend here, the more I like it. There are endless low rise/high density neighbourhoods with sprawling canopies of old trees giving shade from the summer sun. A healthy independent retail scene fills countless blocks with small stores catering to every niche in fashion, decor, music, etc. Restaurants seem to be thriving as well. In 48hrs, we had great meals at places from classic sandwich shop Mr Beef up to Michelin star restaurant Sepia. Special mention to Jersey Mike’s for one of the best fast-food submarine sandwiches I have ever eaten. The CTA L-trains, stations and entrances are clean and efficient with colourful tiles and architecture that fits in perfectly with their surroundings. The lake is bordered by easily accessible parks, public spaces and beaches, theatres, sculpture and botanical gardens. There is so much more. It is the first place that comes to mind when I think of great American cities.

About the photographs

This was a short and busy road trip so I didn’t take as many photos as I would have on a slower adventure. But the tradeoff was that I got to see and do many fun things in short time with great company. As a die-hard solo traveler, I am starting to warm up to the idea of traveling with others (depends on the people though!). This time around, following the lead of my friend’s two sons as they scoped out cool spots in the city was an absolute pleasure. Hope we can do it again someday.

Just before this trip, I installed a mild diffusion filter on my camera lens (Tiffen Glimmerglass 1). It has tiny specks of reflective material sandwiched between two glass plates that serve to scatter and diffuse light. Mounted on the front of my Fujifilm X100 lens, in daytime photos it tends to smooth out transitions between between bright and dark areas. Points of light (especially at night) show some halation (they glow softly like halos). It is a mild effect but I think I like it…

Travelling companions: Matias, Milosz and Luke. I like the weird greenish LED light halos under the bridge.

A couple of Chicago landmarks

Chicago Theatre, a landmark in the city since 1921. You can see the halation from the lens filter around the lamp post lights.

Wrigley Field, another famous landmark and home to the Chicago Cubs. Opened in 1914 and named after the Wrigley Company, makers of the famous chewing gum some years after they acquired the stadium in 1921. I just noticed that this says “Hornitos: A shot worth taking”. Haha…that is a good line.

Millenium Park

The “Bean” (actual name is Cloud Gate) in Millennium Park. It is a 66 foot long and 33 foot high polished stainless steel sculpture. Artist Anish Kapoor took inspiration from liquid mercury. It is always crawling with tourists but absolutely worth visiting to see the surrounding architecture get bent out of shape (also to take fun-house selfies). I tried to catch some interesting reflections and angles.

Probably one of the best places in the world for mirror selfies. I am in here too..

I like seeing the actual buildings next to their distorted reflections.

Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing nestled behind the dreamy wildflower meadow in Lurie Garden.

Frank Gehry’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion, an outdoor concert venue in Millennium Park. There are a few hundred people sitting in the grass watching the film Sense and Sensibility.

Free public tennis courts in Millennium park. You can really see the halation in the lights here.

Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)

This time around, we only used the L-train although I have used buses in the past. The CTA seems like a clean and functional system. The L-train stations have beautiful tile-work but I didn’t have enough time for pictures. Next time I come back, I will focus a little more on the L-train and stations including sound recordings.

The compact L-trains mostly travel on elevated (L) tracks around the downtown area. Underneath the narrow rail corridors are cafes, restaurants and shops. These trains are bright and clean, weaving seamlessly throughout the fabric of the urban centre. I like being able to travel with sunlight in the windows and views of the Chicago architecture. It is well worth the price of admission.

Chicago Architecture

I think I could spend a week just looking at buildings in this city. Below are a few of the better known ones. But, at least for me, all the beautifully built and maintained low rise apartment buildings are just as impressive. The number and variety of perfectly preserved low-rises in residential neighbourhoods is astonishing. This city is a real knock-out.

The Marina Towers (aka the corncob buildings) taken from under the Wabash Avenue bridge. I never get tired of seeing these beauties. The corncobs were designed by Bertrand Goldberg, a student of Mies van der Rohe. And, I could be wrong, but I think the black building leaning into the photo on the right is the IBM building designed by Mies van der Rohe himself.

Another shot of the same spot. I like the glow of the street lamps and the lit-up couple underneath.

Sometimes large scale textures show better in black-and-white images. I was tempted to shoot this whole Chicago trip in black-and-white. I think this city would look especially handsome. Just think of how New York City looked in Woody Allen’s “Manhattan”.

This is one of my favourite shots from this trip. It is a serviceman climbing a steel ladder above the loading area behind Sepia Restaurant. This is a great example of how the glitter glass filter softens the transition between the hard daylight from above and the dark alleyway below.

The way home

I was amazed at how beautiful US gas stations and rest stops are. Not enough time this trip to really document them but I did get in a couple of shots on a midnight break on the way home, just back over the Canadian border. Next trip I will focus on these colourful oases in the pitch black countryside.

Gas stations and trucks stops are so photogenic at night, especially in the deep dark of rural areas.

Luke shooting film…green because I messed up my white balance setting…I like it though.

This was a short but fun mini-vacation. Hope we can do it again soon with more pictures and sounds. As always, if you have any comments or questions or if you don’t like the plural of oasis, please leave your thoughts below.

chicago, photography

TigerSalad

Ideas-Photographs-Sounds: Home and Away

Ingredients:

Process:

Uses:

How does fruit become vinegar?

Making pear vinegar at home

Ingredients:

Equipment:

Sanitizing Equipment:

Process:

Part 1: making alcohol

First Signs of Life

Fermentation slows down…

Day 7:

Straining the Mash

The Fruit Press

Neutralizing the brewers yeast

Part 2: Making Vinegar

Now what?

What is Makgeolli / 막걸리 ?

Important considerations before you start

Equipment

Ingredients:

Here is what we need:

Process:

Stage 1

Stage 2:

Stage 2, Day 1

Stage 2, Day 2

Stage 2, Day 3

Now we wait

The Match Test

Stage 2: 2 weeks after adding rice

Brew is showing signs of being done

The Match Test Take 2

Filtering the brew

Terminology around nuruk-fermented rice alcohol and how to enjoy your brew:

Commercial Makgeolli:

Commercial brewers making traditional Korean sool

The shortest day

Winter Blues (except when it snows)

2025 in review

Christmas is coming…

Upcoming Projects

Winter Photos

Big City Winter Survival Tips:

Toronto Cemeteries:

Death (and Beyond?)

Remains:

About Cremation

Traveling

Gwangju

We don’t talk about death much around here….

What is samgyetang?

My first time…

Ingredients

Process

Serving

Soy and vinegar dipping sauce

Ingredients

Process

Ingredients

Process

Cabbage preparation

Brining

Making the kimchi paste

Put it all together

Now what?

Homemade seolleongtang

Ingredients

Process

The verdict?

Korean Beef Bone Broth vs Western Versions (hard and fast vs low and slow)

Ingredients

Process

Wash and soak bones

Blanching the bones

Making the stock

After 8 hours or so…