Maangchi's letter to you: Happy Luna New Year's Day!

Recipes for garlic green beans 🧄 and jujube ginger tea! ☕️ [Maangchi's letter] Today, Feb.1st, is Lunar New Year’s Day! Actually I greeted you by saying Happy New Year in last month’s newsletter which was the new year by the solar calendar. Many Koreans celebrate both new year days (including me) and most Koreans treat Lunar New Year’s day more seriously. It involves family travel to their hometown to get together, meet relatives, exchange gifts, and make and share a lot of delicious dishes. Each lunar year is represented by one of 12 zodiac animals. This year is the year of the tiger. Whatever we do or see, I’m sure we can learn something new. What can we learn from this animal? Maybe fearlessness? Yes, let’s be brave! I wish you all the best of health, success, and happiness in this new year! A couple of days ago was the coldest day of NYC this winter. I’ve been eating [jujube ginger tea]( these days but my jujubes (daechu in Korean) ran out, so I had to go to Hmart to buy them. This photo was taken in Times Square on the way to the store. New recipe: garlic green beans [Garlic green beans] Garlic green beans For my first recipe of 2022 I chose these [garlic green beans]( (Kkeopjilkong maneul bokkeum: 껍질콩 마늘 볶음), something that I always make and that just happen to be healthy. I love the soft texture of the well-cooked green beans stir fried with onions and lots of garlic. It’s a great side dish for rice and very simple to make. By the way, [this recipe]( was a big hit and the video has more than 1.2 million views now! Why do you like the recipe so much? : ) People went crazy for these garlic green beans. New video: Jujube ginger tea [Jujube ginger tea] Jujube ginger tea There are a lot of health benefits to jujubes and ginger, and Koreans have long used them for their medicinal value. They have antioxidants to protect from serious diseases like cancer, and plenty of vitamin C and calcium. They help fight depression, circulate blood, and strengthen teeth and bones. Which benefit do you need most among these? I love the line: “it helps circulate one’s blood.” Whenever I finish this tea in the morning, I feel my blood runs nicely lol! But the real reason to make this tea is that it is delicious, and it fills your house with a wonderful aroma while you’re boiling it! Check out [the recipe here](. Sweet and Crunchy Korean Fried Chicken [Dakgangjeong] Dakgangjeong [TheTravellingFoodie](from San Francisco seems to make dakgangjeong very often. They say, “This one is my crowd pleaser anytime I need to feed a gathering! No other Korean fried chicken recipe matches up! The absolute BEST!” Yaho! : ) Check out [the recipe here](. Pegster & her daughter's bibimbap! [Bibimbap] Bibimbap [Pegster]( was willing to be her 21 year old daughter’s sous chef. They worked together and made such gorgeous bibimbap for the first time! They loved it. She said, “The larger bowl is for my husband who also enjoyed our dinner.” So cool! Timberman's Cheese Buldak [Cheese buldak] Cheese buldak [Timberman]( from Arizona posted this photo on my website under the title: “It’s better than pizza!” Timberman has been cooking Italian food for more than 30 years, so you will guess how honored I felt when I heard this. “This wonderful dish is now on the list of meals I have to make at least once a month… When my daughter asked me what this dish was, I said ‘Korean pizza.’ When she asked where the bread was, I told her that the rice cake was way better than bread!‘ [Check out the recipe here](! Aidann's Vegetarian kimchi! [Vegetarian kimchi] Vegetarian kimchi [Aidann Greenwolfe from Kansas City](, MO made vegetarian kimchi and said: “It was kimchi day yesterday and I made this following your directions. You’re right, this vegetarian kimchi is so delicious using the homemade stock.” The kimchi paste looks bright red and juicy. Fantastic! [Check out the recipe here](! [Steamed eggplant (gaji-namul)] Steamed eggplant (gaji-namul) Whenever I go Korean grocery shopping, I seldom forget to buy eggplants because steamed eggplant is one of my favorite side dishes. Check out [Ilcorago’s]( steamed eggplant (gaji-namul in Korean). It looks so tender, sweet, and a little spicy. They said: “So easy and so delicious!” [The recipe is here](. Messages from my readers & viewers My readers and viewers always make me smile, cry, inspire me, amaze me, and make me think. Here are some of their messages that I chose to share with you! Are you new to Korean cooking? Don’t be afraid and read [what Aikido said](. You can start Korean cooking just like Aikido whose 1st choice of Korean recipe was [spicy garlic fried chicken](. It sounds like Aikido has already a lot of confidence in Korean cooking now: I am completely new to Korean food, however, I followed your exact instructions and the dish tasted like heaven. Even my 2 kids, who are not big fans of any spicy food, emptied their plates…they told me this dish was at a restaurant level… Her Korean husband is surprised whenever his wife cooks delicious Korean food! The husband may think like this: “How is it possible she cooks Korean food like my mom used to make without knowing the Korean language!” : ) [My husband is Korean](and he is always happily surprised when I cook a surprise Korean dish because he knows I can’t read Korean. Someone asked an important question that you might be wondering, too. When you make [miyeokguk]((seaweed soup aka Korean birthday soup), you have to soak the dried seaweed before cooking. [Cyra G asked](: Can I still put to refrigerator the unused seaweeds that I already soaked to water? My answer is, “Of course you can, but you should use it up in a couple of days.” Some comments make me so excited. Check out [what Drone said](: I caught an octopus in San Diego today, and I used this video to prepare it! I can’t agree more with this commenter about [jujube ginger tea](! I just made this and it is DELICIOUS! my stomach was a little upset and once I had a cup of this tea I felt so much better. You are the best Maangchi! [Jane]( [Jane]( [@ddalkijane]( is ❤ + 4892.5 and made these Spicy stir-fried pork + Apple dipping sauce for her hubby's birthday today! @[maangchi]( [( [10:12 PM - 7 Jan 2022]( See you next time and stay warm! I will see you next month on March 1st! Keep being happy with your delicious Korean cooking! If you type any Korean dish into [the search box on my site](, you can find it (if I have a recipe for it). I use the search box all the time because that’s the fastest way to find the recipe I want among my hundreds of recipes. Love, Maangchi ❤️ Did you enjoy this issue? [Yes]( [No]( [Maangchi]( Maangchi [@maangchi]( My monthly letter to my readers & viewers is sent on the first day of every month at 3pm EST! It includes all the recipes from that month, stories & photos from me, funny & touching stories & photos from my readers, & any news about upcoming events. In order to unsubscribe, click [here](. If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe [here](. Created with [Revue by Twitter](. Made in Manhattan, USA