What are your family’s top 3 favorite meals?

Fried chicken is a household staple for us. But chicken can get a little dull over time, so my mother has explored with several different recipes to spice things up, quite literally.

With my family’s adoption of the Korean Jesa ceremony several years ago we also started including healthy foods in out diet, like kimchi and pajeon. We have a local Korean grocer in Wake Forest (Han Ah Rum Mart) that we visit on occasion when we have the spare funds.

Another favorite for us is Tteok-bokki, rice cakes about the size of a French fry and consumed in a spicy sweet sauce accompanied by fish cake and sausages.

No meal is complete without dessert and we especially enjoy strawberries either with a nice dollop of Häagen-Dazs ice cream or some pudding or cake.

In the spring and summer my mother will craft homemade ice cream in a variety of flavors. We’ve had cranberry, mango, wolfberry, and orange ice cream.

Another Korean treat is the sweet red bean paste which can be found in Patbingsu (팥빙수) and Bungeoppang (팥빙수) the fish shaped pastry. We bought a shaved ice machine and waffle bowels to make a really nice treat.