I would hate to find a rat in anything I purchased. That seems like the worst kind of surprise ever. Unfortunately, that's what awaited one consumer in Korea upon opening a bag of frozen mixed vegetables.

The person contacted and filed a complaint with the Korean Food and Drug Administration after purchasing the frozen veggies from a Costco there. The Korean unit of the company acted quickly to recall all Willow Wind Organic Mixed Vegetables, which were imported from California. Of course Costco suspended sales of the product, as well.

The thought of a rat in anything that I've bought is not a pleasant one. I know that some things just happen, but I'd like to think that a rodent would be caught before it got into a product. I know we've seen a lot of product recalls lately, so don't you thing that manufacturers would work a little harder to keep foreign objects out of their products? What do you think?

Alright, this post has been waiting in the wings for a few days because I couldn't decide whether I was proud to identify myself with the country that developed this, or wanted to drop my shaking head into my hands behind my laptop like I did with the pizza cone.

Apparently, the Korean fast food chain that has arrived in the US via New York and New Jersey, BBQ Chicken, has come up with a new way to make fast food even faster for you. The Col Pop is scary convenient, and by "scary convenient," what I really mean is, "scary." The top of the cup holds popcorn chicken, while the bottom of the cup holds your soda, and keeps both at the optimum temperature. Technology-wise, that's kind of neat. Eating-wise, I'm not sure that this is all that convenient.

The guys over at Serious Eats did a test drive of the Col Pop and though I couldn't figure out what the final conclusion was, it seems that it wasn't all that bad. I'd just like to see them try the spaghetti-version of Col-Pop.

Man, the Asian countries have it so good.

First we hear about Dunkin Donuts going to Shanghai and offering things like honeydew flavored doughnuts, then we find out that Costco in Taiwan is pretty much the picture of bulk Asian food awesomeness. (I didn't even know that Costco was anywhere except the United States).

Teczcape documented a trip to Costco in Taiwan, and though the ridiculously long lines at the rotisserie chicken counter and the requirement that all payments are made in cash are nothing to envy, I couldn't help but covet the bulk bags of kimchi (in the picture, lower left bag in the cart). It's Costco, so who knows about the quality of the kimchi, but at least it's not Kirkland brand!

Some time, maybe last year, maybe it was the year before that, we mentioned a curious way to make and eat pizza -- in a cone. We saw it first in Seoul, South Korea, and then saw that Crispy Cones was opening franchise location in the US.

Since pizza and pasta are never far from each other, it certainly makes sense that we'd see pasta in a cone!

Okay, it doesn't make sense at all, even if the pitch is that the cones makes eating pasta more convenient and portable. Pizza makes sense because the pizza cone is essentially a more formalized version of the way many people eat large slices of thin crust pizza -- folded up. Why on Earth would one put pasta in a waffle cone?!?! Even if it is technically portable, we can't imagine that all of the ingredients, particularly long strands of spaghetti come tumbling out of the cone once you take a bite.

"Taking the international sweet tooth by storm." Surely such a phrase could only have been penned by the a PR person for an ice-cream chain.

And so it has.

This gem comes from the press release announcing Cold Stone Creamery's expansion into Mexico and Southeast Asia. I'll admit it's a better turn of phrase than "taking the international sweet tooth by cavity." Full disclosure, I've never eaten the Creamery's ice cream, I suppose I should since there's one in a mall near my house.

The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based purveyor of fresh-made ice-cream that's blended to order with mix-ins on, you guessed it, a cold stone, started scooping up international markets back in 2005, when it opened its first overseas store in Tokyo. Since then Coldstone has opened 22 more stores throughout Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan.

Its first Mexican store will open in September. There's been no word yet as to whether the Creamery stores South of the Border will forgo the signature stone slab in favor of a gigantic molcajete y tejolote to mix the ingredients with the ice cream. The company's next international markets will be Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. I don't think it's gonna happen, but I'd love to see the Creamery's Southeast Asian stores use young coconut, jackfruit and some of the brightly colored gelatinous squiggles that are a staple of the region's frozen confections.

After I posted about the Pickle Sickle, I came across the above at superlocal's flickr page. It's a picture of a truly great popsicle from Korea. It's watermelon-flavored, and the "seeds" are actually chocolate chips.

We need something like this in the U.S. Regular popsicles and fudgsicles and those things that look like red, white and blue rocket ships are fine, but this is really a work of art. And doesn't it just look refreshing?

Actually, I'm having a flashback to my childhood. I think I had something like this when I was a kid. I'm not sure if it was on a stick or maybe a treat that was watermelon-slice shaped that came in a box. Anyone else remember something like this or am I thinking of something else?

[via Serious Eats]

If there's one food I couldn't live without, it's kimchee. It makes sense, since I'm Korean and all. And you would think that 1) being Korean and 2) it being my favorite food, I would know how to make the spicy, pickled cabbage, but I don't. I'm sure I could read a "recipe" and do it, but unlike other "packaged" foods, kimchee from the store tastes pretty damned good. You see y'all, making kimchee is a major to-do, and it's so much easier to just run out to a local Asian market and buy the stuff already made.

That is why I just about fell over when I read that Barbara of food blog Tigers & Strawberries made kimchi at home. Her post has written and photographic detail of the whole stinky, spicy process, from raw Napa cabbage to the final full bottle of kimchee that's fermented for three days.

Health magazine has picked the five healthiest foods that you can get from five different countries. The list isn't complete, of course (I'm not even sure if these are the healthiest foods in the world), but it's a quick guide to the healthy foods that a few different countries have given us.

Spain has given us olive oil, Japan soy, Greece has given us yogurt, and lentils come from India. I've never had kimchi, from Korea, but that's on the list too. You can get recipes for each food at the link above as well.

So readers, what about the United States? What healthy foods have we contributed to the world? And no, Ring Dings don't count.

I came across an article on traditional Korean royal cuisine while perusing the The Korea Times this morning. OK, I lied about reading the Times, I'm not sure how I linked to the article.

Also known as surasang, Korean royal court cuisine was served during Korea's Joseon Dynasty, which ruled the country until 1910. As you can see the meal is laid out on three tables, a main one set with a multitude of banchan (small appetizer-type plates) along with rice and soup and two smaller tables with other dishes. Other than noting that a female assistant would taste each dish to ensure that the monarch was not being poisoned, there's not many details about the food itself in the Times piece.

Curiousity led me to open up my friendly Wikipedia where I soon found a 1,500-word article that proved not only to be a good introduction to surasang, but a pretty comprehensive study of Korean cuisine in general. It's worth reading just to know the Korean words for various types of banchan.

In case you're wondering, sura means a bowl of boiled rice or rice with added grains, and sang means table. Hence surasang. Now all I need to do is find out where to try surasang in New York City.

If you live on either coast, or even in the Midwest in a major metropolitan area, you'll have no problem finding an Asian grocery store. Korean-specific markets are a little harder to find, and if you're somewhere where there isn't a huge population of Korean people, well, you might find yourself at a loss when a craving for kimchee strikes. You can make it yourself, or you can click over to koaMart, an online Korean food grocer.

Sure, they do the dry, non-perishable goods like ramen and rice, but they can send perishable goods like tofu and kimchee as well. I've never shopped at the store since I live in Los Angeles, but if I were in say, the mountains of Colorado (or really, really lazy) I might give them a try. Shipping isn't cheap, but hey, when you need your pickled, fermented cabbage, you gotta do what you gotta do.

I don't know about you, but I like Korean food vibrant – popping with peppers, kimchi and fresh garlic. This sort of fare commands a commensurate libation. Specifically soju, a spirit distilled from rice combined with other grains that typically weighs in at about 25 percent alcohol.

So I was shocked to learn that Korea's soju makers are waging a battle to produce lower-octane versions. Jinro, Korea's No. 1 soju maker, recently unveiled a lower-alcohol version to cater to young people who can't handle the real thing.

Jinro's new Chamisul Fresh comes in at just under 20 percent. I just don't get it. These kids need to eat more raw oysters rolled in pork belly.

Did anyone else catch Tony Bourdain's No Reservations last night? I did. He went to Korea and I was slightly disappointed.

First, let's do a little recap of the episode.

Tony has been to several places in Asia, both for the show he did for the other network, and for No Reservations. He's been to Vietnam, Japan, China, and India. Nari Kye, a producer on the show, has been hounding Tony about going to Korea, her Mother Land, so he decided to go, and takes her along as his tour guide.

The two most popular cuts of beef for Korean barbecue are cross-cut shortribs (galbee) and thinly-sliced ribeye (bulgogi). However, marinating a whole side of beef, or in this case, a flank steak ,in the same seasonings, grilling, then slicing the grilled steak after cooking is a good way to enjoy Korean barbecue as well. Most Koreans wrap up a slice of beef with a little spoonful of rice and some red pepper sauce in a lettuce leaf, but I usually leave the rice out and double up on the hot sauce.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 Tbsp sesame oil, 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp. minced ginger, 4-5 minced garlic cloves, and a dash of black pepper.

Place a 2 lb flank steak in a large zipper seal bag, along with the marinade. Let steak marinate for about 30 minutes, turning the bag occasionally to cover all sides. 

Grill the marinated flank steak for about 5 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove the steak from the heat and let sit, covered, for at least five minutes. Do not touch, poke or prod it.

Thinly slice the beef across the grain. Serve with whole leaves of red leaf lettuce and goh-choo-jahng (Korean red pepper sauce).

That's right. South Korean astronauts may be taking a specially designed type of kimchi with them when they travel on a Russian spacecraft in 2008. The news comes from a recent Los Angeles Times article about kimchi's presence in the academic and scientific communities in Korea. The kimchi that the Korean astronauts will take is intended to help their digestion. Some of you may recall news about kimchi's possible ability to stave off avian flu, and the Times lists several other health claims associated with the fermented national treasure. Mice fed kimchi were apparently less stressed and had fewer wrinkles. Still, other research suggests that eating too much kimchi may be linked to increased risk of gastric cancer. According to the Times, South Koreans consume 77 pounds of kimchi annually and rates of gastric cancer are 10 times higher there than in the U.S.

[Photo: Kim Kyung-hoon / Reuters]

I love baby bok choy. Regular bok choy tastes great, but I think I am beginning to have this fascination with all things teeny tiny cute and miniature. Of course, baby bok choy tastes a little different - they're sweeter and more tender.

Cut baby bok choy lengthwise into quarters, rinse, and dry off. (You can rinse before you cut, but it's easier to get any sort of nasty stuff that's caught between the leaves if they're sliced open). In a saute pan with high sides, bring about ¼ c. water or vegetable broth to a boil (The bok choy will give off some water later, too). Add 2 Tbsp. Korean ggoh-choo-jahng (spicy red pepper paste), 2 Tbsp soy sauce, and about 4-5 cloves chopped garlic. Reduce to simmer, and add bok choy. Let braise until bok choy are tender.