Happy Early Halloween

This is a picture from emergencyfan that I found on Serious Eats.  It’s a skull pasted over with cream cheese and thinly sliced meat.  Lunch anyone?

Happy Halloween

Do You Want To Be The New Vegan Korean?

Today is a sad, sad day.  As of 6:30 p.m., Pacific Time, October 8, 2009, I am no longer going to refer to myself (rather brashly) as The Vegan Korean.

Oh I’m still vegan.  Actually, now that I’m starting to read up on animal rights stuff more and more, I am leaning more toward that direction than ever before.  I also like the fact that eating vegan is cheap, because I am really cheap.  I would say that I’m also easy but looking at  my sad little love life, apparently that’s just not true.

Also, last time I checked I am still Korean, though the relatives of mine who actually live in Korea would argue that I am 99% American and only 1% Korean, and even that much is questionable.  Luckily, I am still on my father’s family registry (register?), so I can still abuse the Korean social welfare system, if I were to so desire.

Nay, it is work, the bane of all bloggers who haven’t figured out how to sell their $oul, using just the right mix of adspace and timely content, that is sucking up all my life-space.  As much as I love this little blog and all you nine readers (or is it ten now?  Gosh how time flies), I can honestly say I love being a lawyer more.  As always, feel free to flame me/make fun of me in the comment section below.   Also, I can’t stand to let another several months go by without updating.  But let it go I must, because let’s be honest, in reality, I’m not a food blogger.  I mean, did anyone really doubt this? I ask you, who writes about eating tofu out of the package?  I only did, not out of any interest in “keeping it real” but because it’s my sad little reality and you just read about it. Hell, I didn’t even give the damn thing time to warm up on the counter.

But I want to see more vegan-korean goodness, so I can’t just up and pull the plug.  I could say it’s because I’m not a quitter, but obviously that’s a lie since I’m quitting right this very moment as I type this.  No, the solution is to find a younger, hipper, more energetic and (hopefully) better-looking version of myself to carry the torch. Maybe Vegan Korean 2.0 could even let me be, say, a guest blogger, for those of you who need your fix of whining about men and tales of tofu eating.

I know you’re out there Vegan Korean 2.0.  Email me.

LA Times article explaining why I have no osteoporosis

LA Times Article, “Fruits and vegetables, good for the bones?

Two years ago, I was urged to go to the doctor to get checked out for osteoporosis.

I have just about every risk factor imaginable.  I am thin and small.  I am Asian. Relatives have advanced osteoporosis.  I forget to take my calcium.  I was on Depo-Provera for five years (don’t do this, it’s terrible).  Finally, I hate drinking cow’s milk.

I was repeatedly warned by family and friends that I probably had osteoporosis because I never drank milk.  Everyone tells you to drink cow milk because they say you’ll get osteoporosis otherwise.  All the milk ads says it does a body good.  And in school, I learned that in order to grow up big and strong, I had to guzzle down cow milk every day, all day.

The above-mentioned LA Times article connects high protein diets with high bone loss, and milk is very high in protein. The article doesn’t say anything that I haven’t read in The China Study and elsewhere.  Proteins are made up of amino acids.  Lots of (amino) acids in the diet makes your body more acidic and your body compensates by releasing alkaline materials (calcium) into the bloodstream. If the body has to do this too often, the bones empty out and become porous.  Simple and straightforward.

What’s misleading in the article is that it says that the difference in bone loss between people who eat acid-forming (read:  high-protein diets) and alkaline (low protein diets) is small, 2-4%, but then later on in the article, it says that over time, an alkaline diet could decrease the risk of bone fractures by 30%.  I believe that the 2-4% number is reduction of bone loss in one year, and if that’s the case, that is a huge difference, not a small one.  Not stating the time frame in the article is a huge omission.

I personally disagree with the commonly held notion that milk is good for bone health, both through the reading I have done and my own anecdotal evidence.  The China Study and other books clearly show why cow’s milk could not possibly have a good impact on bone health, due to the high protein content relative to the calcium content.  Also, I have a friend who is an avowed milk drinker, who got a hairline fracture in her shin after an easy five mile walk with me.  Finally, every non-vegan female I know in my age range and above has some osteoporosis.  But because “everyone” says so, it must be true, right?

As for me, I was urged to go to the doctor. I finally made an appointment with a doctor who does bone density scans.  Before the scan, I told her I probably had osteoporosis and wen through all my risk factors with her.  The doctor peered into the screen and mentioned that even women in their twenties usually have some small signs.  However, she said I didn’t have any osteoporosis at all!  She said that was really rare.  She said that most women she sees have at least the beginning signs of osteoporosis.  She said that she has even seen women in their twenties with full-blown osteoporosis! She was really shocked by me and kept looking at the screen. To be perfectly honest, I was just as stunned as she was because I had steeled myself for a not-so-good diagnosis.  But I shouldn’t have been.  I had known that eating a vegan diet high in fruits and vegetables and low in protein-rich foods (milk/meat) would protect my bones and this was the proof.

another blog link

Jessica’s Dinner Party posted a really awesomely easy recipe from A Korean Mother’s Cooking Notes for a cucumber banchan.  What I like is that the cucumbers are sliced thin before dressing, which makes this recipe very fast.

Her pic which is actually on her blog and not mine:

http://www.jessicasdinnerparty.com/2009/08/sweet-and-spicy-cucumbers/

The Face On Your Plate, by Jeffrey Masson (2009)

I never saw myself as an animal rights activist.  I’m not a particularly kind person.  Also, I don’t particularly like animals.  I mean, I like animals, but I don’t necessarily LOVE all of them.  For instance, I’m not a big fan of my neighbor’s cat.  I actually don’t even like cats much, being a dog person.  I also don’t care for bugs and having lived in the city, never had access to farm animals as pets.

But other signs are there.  I go to the PETA.org website and check out the “Hottest Vegetarians over 50″ every year.  I like Toby Maguire.  I LOVE Chris Evans though apparently he is eating meat now, in order to bulk up (what a shame, he didn’t need to bulk up for me).  I love whole grains, especially brown rice.  Tofu also has never done me wrong.  I love my dog, even when he smells.  I even tsk tsked when I read Quarrygirl’s expose on LA “vegan” restaurants .

So why the longtime resistance?  I guess it boils down to personality differences.  I tend not to be into shock value unless comfortably hidden behind an anonymous blog name.  I didn’t see myself as the type of person who would throw paint on someone.  That’s strange, considering my career path as a lawyer, but I digress.

I just read this awesome book.  It’s called “The Face On Your Plate” by Jeffrey Masson (2009).  I must say it was surprisingly compelling, and I say “surprising” only because I have read or at least skimmed through a lot of these kinds of books and thought I had seen it all.

Jeffrey Masson is a lifelong vegetarian and so it was very interesting to read his point of view.  I liked reading about how he grew up in a vegetarian household.  I liked reading about his philosophy that I guess stemmed from that.  Even his brief foray into tuna-eating (experimental college years) was enlightening to me.  Finally, it was very interesting to see how he evolved into who he is now.

His research was interesting to me as well.  He found a study that concluded that fish do feel pain (the indicator was apparently that when injected with some substance, they rubbed their lips and apparently the study authors were able to conclude that this was not just a reaction to the injection).  Also, he commented on some story about a female chef who said that she took really good care of the pigs for the restaurant, but in the end, slaughtering the pigs who trusted her enough to go with her to their death was a betrayal by her to them.

In any case, I don’t know why I’ve resisted all this time.  I still admire people like T. Colin Campbell who are vegans for primarily health reasons, but Masson and my friends have really convinced me that I was just resisting the inevitable.   BTW, you guys really should read Campbell’s book, “The China Study”, because if there is any doubt that vegan eating is better for your health, this book will kill it.  That’s assuming your diet doesn’t consist of vegan cupcakes and whole packages of tofu.  *blink* *blink*

Blog Name Change

I had a good discussion with Mipa and Lu and have thus changed the name of this blog to reflect that.

If you look at the website for the Vegan Society, or even just do a wiki search, you’ll find that the original meaning of the word veganism “denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practical — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals” (copied and pasted from wikipedia since I just don’t want to look stuff up right now).

Do I fit this definition?  No.  While I don’t like the use of animal products, my primary reason for not eating/wearing animal products is definitely more environmental/health related.

I can see why vegans get up in arms when non-vegans use their term.  However, I have to admit to seeing a very distinct change in the way the word is used these days.  I think that is where my confusion was.

Who knows?  Maybe I’ll change to being a true vegan.  I stopped being an atheist after twelve years, so anything is possible.

BTW, thanks to Lu and Mipa for being such good sports and also, of course, being two of my eight (oh wait, is it nine now?) awesome readers.

Now I just have to move the url and we’re set.

Braised Tofu

http://weekofmenus.blogspot.com/2009/07/braised-tofu-vegetarians-can-braise-too.html

Week fo Menus Blog

Here is a great post from the “Week of Menus” blog, with step by step pictures on how to make braised tofu (dubu jjim) .  BTW, I am not copying the picture, it’s actually a direct link to the original.

Vegan/Non-Vegan Comparisons

So, as  you might know from my previous post, I made a foray into the carnivoric side recently.  After 12 years of mostly vegan eating (with a few, rather spectacular falls off the vegan wagon, with pretty bad consequences) I am now able to eat animal products without the rashes and horrible aches and pains that I used to have.

What I find really interesting, shocking in fact, is that after a whole week of eating every possible product based on dead animal flesh and milk that I could get within a 50 mile radius of my home, I came to the startling (at least to me) conclusion that many times, vegan food actually tastes better.

I don’t just mean “tastes better” to someone whose tastebuds have been hardened by many a sun-dried veggie burger on flaxseed “bread” (hey no offense to anyone, I kinda fit this description myself), but I mean tastes better to someone who still thirsts for the flesh of dead animals.

First, I noticed that I can really taste the milky aftertaste in cow-milk ice cream.  I had Breyer’s girl scout cookie flavor (okay), also various haagen dazs flavors including that ice cream cone one (not bad) and the reserve line hazelnut gianduja one (terrible).  I also had chocolate and mint chip from Milk in L.A.  I then had mint chip and rocky road at Rite-Aid.  Finally, I had a hot fudge sundae from McD’s, which used to be my favorite as a kid.  Cow’s milk is not very clean tasting. I can always tell, even with eyes closed, when I’m eating cows milk based stuff, because of that aftertaste.

I’m really becoming a big fan of the various coconut milk based “ice cream” lines, and I think there are many carnivores who would dig this stuff and just don’t know it yet.  Not only do they have amazingly rich flavors, you get that light coconut backdrop and not that cow milk aftertaste.   Doesn’t hurt that somehow the coconut milk based lines are much lower in calories too, despite the fact that they taste richer.  Unfortunately, coconut trees aren’t very local, so I’m not being a good locavore when I eat coconut-milk based ice creams.  I am trying to make up for it by eating lots of my backyard grown kale.  *blinks penitently*

I really think tofu is underrated so much in the West.  There are so many ways to use it and it’s such a clean food, at least I think so.  Mmm, tofu.  I had the Mongolian “Beef” with steamed tofu at Pickup Stix.  I got the brown rice and salad side options.  So goood.  I loooove Pickup Stix.  I can’t believe I just said that but there you are.

I don’t really get the appeal of hamburgers.  They’re very greasy.  I like grease, but not that much.  The best part is the salty, gooey cheese, imho.  I have had a really good hamburger before, and that was mostly because it was medium rare.  That said, I’m not sure it’s worth all that grease and trouble in order to just have something hot to go with my bun and cheese.

I think if someone made vegan bulgogi or galbi sandwiches, that would be, like, the ideal sandwich of all time.  I think the best thing about bulgogi is the marinade, as the meat itself doesn’t have much personality.  I’ll get all kinds of meat-eaters arguing that the cook just didn’t know how to treat the meat correctly, and they are right.  However, why bother?  Tofu is pretty hard to screw up (hey, it comes already cooked) and you just add the marinade to it and cook it however long you like and it usually comes out half decent.  You never have to worry about toughness.

I also went to an all-you-can-eat buffet about ten miles from my house. This was the type of buffet that featured sushi and Chinese food and Korean food.  We have several of those near my house.  I was struck by how dried out the food looked.  I was also struck by the fact that everyone was eating the food despite how dried out it looked.  I always used to feel left out when my friends would go to these places and I couldn’t eat anything, but now I can see that I wasn’t really missing out on anything.  Awesome.

One thing I will admit is that there is no vegan equivalent to really awesome dim sum.  I mean, it was just as good as I remembered it.  Chalk up one for the dead animal eaters.

So, what other comparisons can you come up with?

Jesus Made Me Eat Meat

Sooo….

For the last twelve years, I’ve had some pretty weird health problems associated with pretty much all animal products.  I get scales on my hands if I happened to eat eggs.  I got a rash if I ate fish.  I got major acne if I ate any kind of beef or fowl.

No more.  I am cured.  As befitting me and my life, I was cured in the strangest way possible.  First, I stopped being an atheist and converted to Christianity after twelve relatively uneventful years as an atheist/agnostic.  Then I saw my friend getting healed from this Christian healer.  I went home and decided I wanted to heal myself as well, so I prayed for that shit.  It worked!  It worked instantly!  After twelve years of constant health issues, I’m cured!

My boss says it was all psychosomatic, but I can’t see how that could be.  I had tried every frigging thing on the market to fix my problems, all sorts of drugs to over the counter remedies, to home remedies and nothing really worked.  Also, a lot of times I would get a reaction out of the blue and then I would have to backtrack and find out what it was from.  It’s not like I was willing it to happen.  I do find it weird that religion  has solved my health problems, but I’m not really going to question it at this point.

I think my boss or someone else mentioned that my miraculous cure was a placebo effect of believing it would work.  I looked up “placebo effect” and anyway I know all about that crap, after studying it for my degree.  According to Wikipedia, the word placebo is Latin for “I shall please”, from a “Latin translation of the Bible by Jerome“.  In any case, if my belief that it would work made it work, so help me God, I’m a believer!

In the ensuing week, I had sponge cake (egg), various ice creams, various chocolate cakes, about a dozen doughnuts, three pizzas (not slices, whole pizzas), ribs, chicken, pho, xiaolongbao, dim sum from Elite Restaurant, salmon, some kind of fry bread with chicken breast on it, In & Out hamburgers and fries.  I know I had other things, but frankly my animal-fat induced coma pretty much obliterated half my memories of the time.  I gained a solid ten pounds, in case you were wondering.

After all the carnage, I have some conclusions to draw.

First of all, Bocaburger’s Riblets still reign supreme.  They’re so easy to cook, always tender and very convenient.  Also, I found out while eating beef and pork ribs that I don’t like gnawing meaty fibers off a bone.  Too much work and not much payoff.  I did like Lucille’s sweet sauce, which I poured liberally all over my food.  I don’t like how fibers got stuck in my teeth.  Bocaburger Riblets never have fibers.  Also my breath smelled bad afterward, which was kind of weird.

Second, I don’t get the appeal of chicken breast at all.  I forgot how dry it was.  It’s very, very dry. I like the fake chickn breast much better, as it’s moister, tenderer and just all around tastier.

My vegan cakes still reign supreme.  I went to a really good bakery, Susina Bakery, in L.A. I tried their most popular cake, some kind sponge cake with whipped cream filling and berries.  The sponge cake was very dry and the whipped cream tasted like cold fat and not much else.  I wanted to have some kind of pudding in the middle instead.  I picked out most of the berries and left most of the cake.  I am going to make vegan mocha peanut butter cupcakes this weekend.

In & Out burgers are not as good as I remember.  I guess I’m so used to the tenderness of fake meat that the dryness of the real thing kind of throws me.  Also the bad breath thing really throws me.  I really stank.  I could smell myself all day.

I missed vegan pizza.

I missed seeing vegan people all happy in a restaurant where they could actually eat.  Instead, I sat amongst blank-faced diners who were usually Asian (as I am Asian and I like Asian food) and many of them were not in shape.  In fact, many diners I saw were overweight, which I was kind of surprised by.  I like vegan restaurants because vegans tend to be fitter and the few vegan guys that are out there tend to be thin and hot.

Oh and I got my hands on every possible high end ice cream I could get my dirty hands on. The coconut milk line from Turtle Trails Almond Mocha Fudge is still my all-time favorite, with the possible other contender being the Hazelnut Fudge flavor from Coconut Bliss.  Regular ice cream has a distinct buttery aftertaste that I don’t like.

Finally, I got my period and it was really painful.  As a vegan, I never had problems with my period.

As of this week, I am no longer a compulsory vegan, but a voluntary one.  I’ll never stray again.

Hot Days and Noodles in Soy Milk (Kongguksu)

On the hottest day of the year, Koreans apparently eat something hot in order to “sweat the heat away”.  I love my people, but honestly I think this is completely stupid.

In fact, the thing to eat in order to sweat the heat away on the hottest day of the year is…boshintang.  Oh yes, dog meat soup.   I often hear stories of friends who had pet dogs that mysteriously disappeared, only to have little Rover served up to them for dinner on a hot day. I just thought I’d mention boshintang, because finding Rover’s bludgeoned skull turn up in your soup bowl is just one more thing that vegans don’t have to worry about.  What is odd is that more Koreans don’t become vegetarians.  I mean, they don’t really eat that much meat to begin with, and it’s only one step further.  Hmm…

Instead, vegans can soothe their souls on a hot day with noodles in iced soy milk.  When this dish is good, it’s REALLY good.  I’ve had it where the proprietor (or my dad) made the soy milk right on the spot and the soy milk was so creamy and rich, I wanted to bathe in it the way I wanted to bathe in a vat of chocolate after reading “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.   It’s served ice cold, and gently napped over freshly cooked and chilled wheat noodles.  Garnished with some slivers of cucumber, maybe some other garnishes, and seasoned by the diner with a little salt, nothing is better on a hot, hot day, although you do miss out on the excitement of having to fish out Rover’s eyeball out of your bowl.

Maangchi has a recipe and video on her site that is pretty close to my dad’s so I am pointing you to her site (not that she needs more visitors, but who cares, she is awesome!)   However, it is quite a bit of trouble to make and kind of messy, so if you can find a restaurant that does a decent version, go pop by and enjoy a $5 ($7?) bowl of noodles bathed in cold, creamy soymilk without all the fuss.