Sonlight 5 Non-Western Cultures Hands On Activities Weeks 1 through 9 Compiled by Gail in Texas. She gathered this info from the SL 5 forum, e-mail loops, and books. GENERAL RESOURCE INFORMATION OR ACTIVITY IDEAS: PASSPORTS: make passports for each child and let them fill in information from each country they "travel" to this year. Fold construction paper or other paper to make a cover, add some pages, glue in a small, wallet-size picture, add name, birth date, hometown, etc. When you study a country, have child make a stamp and put it in there. EDUCATION CONNECTION has some great cultural arts and crafts kits. http://www.educationconnection.com DOVER COLORING BOOKS (on many countries and cultures) http://www.woodlandmouse.com/bookshop/color.htm Look for other paper dolls at www.amazon.com. VIDEO VISITS (video series on different countries) check for this series at your movie rental stores Children Just Like Me, DK book, follow-up book by DK, Celebrations SOUVENIRS FROM THE COUNTRIES WE "TRAVEL" TO: (from Terri VanNoy) I went to the MS State fair today and picked up a catalog put out by the Women's Mission Union (WMU), which is the women's mission organization that supports foreign missions and GA's (think AWANA). Anyway, in this catalog they have gifts that are inexpensive (from $2 - $50 with a lot more being around $4) that you can buy from foreign countries. The NEAT thing is that it tells the country and the connection to the missions going on there. For instance, it might tell who makes the gift and that they really don't need the money for food but need it for education and clothing. It might tell you that the items are made on a stationary bicycle lathe that a missionary came up with to help the people in his church earn a living. The money does not go to the WMU but to the people who make the gifts. This is their way of helping the people earn a living. I thought with the 5th studies, these might make neat gifts for grandparents making the selecting more meaningful having studied missions and also get kids telling grandma what they learned about that country. Just a thought...I have no connection to WMU other that I am Baptist. They have a web address here: http://www.wmustore.com. I am assuming that the same detailed info. about the gifts will be on the web site. The follow countries are represented: Bangladesh, Bosnia, China, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakstan, Mali, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Tanzania, Thailand, and two home missions in Alabama and MN. Include Bible covers, ornaments, letter openers, napkins, etc. and all look very nice. SERIES BOOKS: X, the Culture; and X, The People (where 'X' is the name of the country) by Bobbie Kalman Trailblazers WEEK 2-3: PACIFIC ISLANDS FOOD: CHAMORRO CHICKEN: a marinade for chicken or beef from Guam 2 minced garlic cloves 1/2 onion, chopped 1/4 tsp black pepper 1/2 cup white vinegar 1/4 cup soy sauce Combine all ingredients and marinade one chicken (cut into individual pieces.). The longer it sets, the better. I like to start the marinade the night before and leave it in the refrigerator. PANCIT: It is actually from the Philippines, but Guam has adopted it as its own! 1 onion, chopped 4 cloves garlic, crushed 1 cup shrimp, boiled, cleaned and sliced 1 cup leftover pork, chopped 1 cup cabbage, chopped into strips 2 carrots, slivered 4 tbsp soy sauce 1 cup water 14 oz package pancit (canton) noodles Sauté onions and garlic in wok or large skillet. Add meat, cabbage, carrots, soy sauce and water. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Place noodles on top and spoon liquid over noodles. Cover and steam until soft. --I use cooked chicken instead of shrimp and pork. That's the way I remember it from Guam. The noodles can be found at most oriental grocery stores or military commissaries. INTERNET WEB SITES: Papua New Guinea: send a greeting card (e-card) from Papua New Guinea http://www.niugini.com/cards/ WEEK 4: AUSTRALIA GAMES: LE HERRADURA, OR HORSESHOE QUOITS: played by the Spaniards and the Incas of Peru and spread to the ranches of the United States and Australia. Although horseshoes were traditionally used, you can play a similar game with any heavy rings. Two stakes are driven into the ground, and players take turns to try to throw horseshoes over them. Agree your own line from which to throw and a system of scoring. You will need scores for getting the ring right over the peg, hitting the peg, or being the nearest to it. KANGAROO HOP RACE: can be played either as an individual race or a relay event. To play, make yourself look like a kangaroo by holding your arms up to your chest with your fingers pointing down and your elbows tucked in. Then, keeping your legs together and bent at the knees, make big kangaroo hops as quickly as you can along the track from the start to the finish line. If it is a relay race, the teams lineup behind each other at the starting line. On the starting signal, the first member of each team kangaroo-hops to the finish line and back again, and then tags the next member of this team. The first team whose members all complete the course wins the race. FOOD: AUSTRALIAN DAMPER: This bread made by bush settlers may be baked on the open fire or in a regular oven. As is typical of hand-me-down recipes, there are as many version as there are bush babies. One recipe we read says to use beer instead of milk, then wrap the dough around a stick and cook over an open fire. 2 c. self-rising flour 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp sugar 3 T. butter 1 c. milk Mix the flour, salt and sugar together in a bowl. Cut in the butter until fine crumbs form. Add milk to make a soft dough. Knead lightly on floured board until smooth. Shape into round loaf, brush with milk, and bake at 375 degrees F. for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the loaf makes a hollow sound when tapped. ADDITIONAL READERS: "The Gift Stone", (Australia) Robyn Eversole INTERNET WEB SITES: Australia Lesson Plan: http://www.kusd.edu/lessons/ellessons/australia.html Puzzling Down Under: http://multimedia2.freac.fsu.edu/fga/1993/puzzle.htm Week 5: NEW ZEALAND GAMES: FOLDING ARMS: any number up to about twenty can play, and all you need is one ball, such as a tennis ball. All the players except one stand in a line next to each other with their arms folded. The remaining player stand in front of the line about four yards away with the ball. The player wit the ball may throw the ball to someone in the line, or he may just pretend to. The player who is being thrown to has to make up his mind very quickly; if he is too slow at unfolding his arms and misses a ball that is thrown to him, he is out, but if he unfolds his arms and the thrower only pretends to throw the ball, he will be out for hat, also. The winner is the round is the last player left in the line, who then becomes the next thrower. FOOD: KIWI MUFFINS: don't eat more than 3 or it will give you diarrhea 2 T wheat germ 1/2 tsp salt 1 c. flour 3/4 c. raw sugar 1 1/2 c. bran 1 tsp baking powder 4-6 mashed kiwi Mix above all together, set aside. 1 tsp baking soda 1 egg 8 ounces milk Mix second set of ingredients together. Add to above mixture. Melt together and then add to mix: 2 T. butter 1 T. molasses Spoon into muffin tray, filling tins 1/2 to 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until they look done. WEEK 6: ANTARCTICA INTERNET WEB SITES: Virtual Trip to Antarctica: Leave from New Zealand where you see what it takes to get ready to go and then you land a McMurdo base. http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson042.shtml Historic Guide to Ross Island, Antarctica http://www.theice.org/historicguide.html Diving under Antarctic Ice http://scilib.ucsd.edu/sio/nsf/ Additional Readers: Black Whiteness, about Admiral Byrd's six month stay, alone in Antarctica Destination: Antarctica, by Scholastic Trial by Ice about Shackelton's adventure WEEKS 7-8: JAPAN GAMES: JANKEN: Japanese version of "Paper, Rock, Scissors". First, choose a "changer," who is the player who sets the challenge for the rest. You use your hand to represent stone, paper, scissors. Stone is a closed fist. Scissors is two fingers extended. Paper is the hand held flat wit the palm turned up. The changer stands in front of the group with his hand as a fist and moves it up and down three times from the elbow saying, "Jan, ken, pon." At the last "Jan, ken, pon," the changer quickly makes either stone, paper, or scissors. If he makes stone, the other players must make paper because paper covers stone. Similarly, scissors cut paper and stone sharpens scissors. The person who twice makes the correct sign the quickest becomes the next changer. If you have a large group, you might need a referee to see who is quickest. INTERNET WEB SITE: Create your own haiku poetry: first line is two syllables rather than five http://www.lsi.usp.br/usp/rod/poet/haicreate.html FOODS (to eat with chop sticks, of course): TUNA TATAKI: Serves 4 4 Tuna steaks Black peppercorns, coarsely cracked Dipping Sauce: 1/2 cup Peanut oil 1 ounce Sesame oil 2 ounces Soy sauce 1/2 ounce Garlic -- grated 1/2 ounce Ginger -- grated 5 spice powder to taste Roll tuna in cracked black pepper then sear it in a very hot cast iron pan without oil. let cool slightly, then slice thinly. Serve with dipping sauce. Slice tuna very thin, serve with sauce down and garnish with pickled ginger. A great appetizer. Background on Tuna Tataki: We think of Japan as a single island, but it actually is four large islands and thousands of smaller ones. The volcanic and mountainous terrain boasts lush forests and heavy rainfall, much of it from monsoons, and the scarce farm land is used predominantly for rice. As one would expect, fish plays a major dietary role, both fresh and preserved. In the third century BC, Korea's already developed rice growing techniques were passed to the Japanese by the Yayoi, a migrating tribe that settled in Japan. Rice came to be used for more than eating, including paper, fuel, wine, building materials and animal feed. During the development of Japan, the Chinese contributed soy sauce, tea, chopsticks and imperial rule. Other influences arrived in Japan via Korea, including Buddhism, which, despite the pre-existing Shinto and Confucian religions, became the official religion in the sixth century. For the next 1200 years, meat was officially forbidden to the Japanese people, Then in the sixteenth century the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch, came looking to corner the trade market with Japan. The westerners introduced fried foods, which is why the breaded, fried tempura seem so very un-Japanese; while the Japanese enjoyed this type of cooking, it was not something that evolved naturally. Tobacco, sugar and corn were also brought by the traders. Around 1600 (and lasting until 1868), Japan's shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (of James Clavell's famous novel, "Shogun") feared the Europeans would spark great wars; so he closed the ports and expunged the foreigners. During this period of isolationism, Japan's culture became even more deeply rooted. The main religions of Buddhism and Shinto emphasize the seasons and this came to be reflected in the foods served. In fact, it is because of Buddhism that meals feature five flavors and colors, respectively being: sweet, spicy, salty, bitter and sour; and yellow, black, white, green, and red. US Commodore Perry forced the Japanese to renew trade with the West in 1854, and soon a new Japanese ruling order took power. Interestingly, the new Emperor Meiji staged a New Year's feast in 1872 designed to embrace the Western world; it was completely European in detail and for the first time in over a thousand years, the people publicly ate meat. JAPAN: What to Eat Compared to other nations, Japan's cooking uses almost no spices. Instead, the emphasis is on the pure, clean flavors of its indigenous ingredients: fish, seaweed, vegetables, rice and soybeans. With very little land, agriculture and livestock are limited, although Japan is famous for its fattened delicacy, Kobe beef. Raw fish is masterfully prepared as sashimi or as sushi, where it is served with rice. In fact rice is served at all meals, as is typical of many Asian cultures, but in Japan the word for rice and meal is the same: gohan. A meal in Japan is not a meal unless it balances three facets: the artistic presentation of the food, including its garnishes and its layout; the selection of the plate or serving piece; and the taste of the food itself. A diner is meant to appreciate the harmony of all three. Japanese meals are designed with beauty in mind, but also with simplicity and modesty. The diner should absorb and appreciate this Zen-approach with each meal (racing though a meal is not advised). Evening is the main meal, starting with an appetizer and small cups of sake, fermented rice wine usually served warm. The meal itself is served on a low table (you will be asked to remove your shoes, please) and guests sit on cushions on a floor covered with tatami mats. The meal itself usually consists of a simmered dish, a salad, a fried, steamed or broiled dish, rice and soup. The dishes are simply prepared, but the combination of flavors, textures, and foods creates the elegance and variety that so typifies the Japanese style. (Remember that, because of Buddhism, meals feature the five flavors and colors, of sweet, spicy, salty, bitter and sour; and yellow, black, white, green, and red. ) The courses are served simultaneously and eaten at random, with no particular order. Rice with pickles and green tea signify the conclusion of the meal. Noodles are a typical lunch, and noodle shops abound. Udon are wheat noodles frequently served in soups, while the soba or buckwheat noodles are commonly served as salads, although these are not hard and fast delineations. Vegetables are rarely served raw, but usually with vinegar, pickled or preserved, simmered or deep fried, as with tempura. Root vegetable grow well, so carrots, burdock root, daikon radish are commonly served. As with these firm vegetables, cucumbers play a large role as garnishes, being cut into fans, petals or other fanciful creations. Some of the most impressive are the 'fishermen's nets' made out of a single strip of white daikon radish and seen commonly in sushi bars. Unlike China, Italy, France and other countries, Japan places little emphasis on regional variation. Perhaps it is because there are not as much geographical differences within its boundaries. Still, certain areas have their own unique culinary dishes, but by and large, the country focuses on the same overall style of eating. While today's celebrity chefs in the US expound on the seasonality of foods, as if they should receive special recognition for such promotions, the Japanese have long integrated this practice within their philosophy as well as culinary pursuits. Expect to be offered certain treats peculiar only to that time of year. May, for example, brings the sincha or new tea harvest. If you are traveling to Japan in winter, mandarin oranges symbolize the sun and are presented as gifts of the New Year. Spring features cherry-blossom rice. September recognizes the moon, and simmering white dishes -- abalone, cucumbers, and bamboo shoots -- are served and appreciated. If you are not familiar with chopsticks, dining at Japanese or other Asian cuisine restaurants may present a challenge. But once mastered, eating with this simple instrument is a genuine pleasure, since you are not confronted with a variety of unfamiliar eating utensils. An oshibori towel, in a wrapper or on a small tray, gives you a chance to wipe your hands (or even your face) before you begin the meal. Except in Chinese restaurants that provide plastic chopsticks, you eat with wooden chopsticks that come in a paper wrapper. Take them out, split them in half, and hold the two halves in one hand with your thumb, forefinger and middle finger, as if holding two pencils. Then let the middle finger slip between the two sticks. One stick will rest between the forefinger and middle finger, the other between the middle and ring fingers. Watch how other people manipulate the sticks to figure out how to pick up pieces of food correctly. To deal with soup, pick up the small bowl with one hand and sip from the edge of the bowl. You can dip your chopsticks into the soup to pick up small chunks of bean curd or thin slices of seaweed. Noodles served on a wooden tray are simply picked up in bite-size portions. If served in a hot broth, alternate between picking them up and lifting the bowl to sip the broth. Slurping is a sign of a good appetite and eating with pleasure, and is in this instance, perfectly acceptable. SOPA NOODLE SOUP: The Japanese have been eating noodles for over 2000 years. The long soba noodles symbolize a long life. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat flour, and are sometimes colored with green tea or beets. The noodles can be bought fresh or dried. Soba is very popular in Japan and is served cold with soy sauce and vegetables or in a hot, flavorful broth. Here's a recipe for a comforting hot bowl of noodle soup. (Serves 2.) 1 vegetable bouillon cube 1/2 tsp sugar 2 C water 1 scallion (green onion), chopped 2 tsp soy sauce 1 package of bundled soba noodles (check Asian section of supermarket) 1] Place all the ingredients, except for noodles, in a saucepan. Heat on low. 2] When the bouillon has dissolved, place 2 bundles of noodles in the pan and stir until the noodles are soft, about 5 minutes. 3] Pour the noodle soup into two serving bowls. YAKSOBA: chicken breasts, cut in cubes or strips Two large carrots one large onion one or two large zucchini package of spaghetti noodles (thin preferably) cooked soy sauce oil Put a small amount of oil in a large frying pan. Slice the carrots and zucchini into coins and chop the onions into small pieces. Add these to the hot oil and stir fry. Once these are crisp-chewy, add the noodles to the pan. Stir and add oil to prevent sticking. Add a measurement of soy sauce to flavor. You may add salt and ginger to taste. We love this meal. Some supermarkets sell Japanese noodles with seasoning packets for Yaksoba which taste really good too, but this other is simple and works just as well. ADDITIONAL READERS: (Picture Books) Tea with Milk by Allen Say - true story of the author's family returning to Japan to live Grandpa's Town by Takoaki Nomura - story of young Japanese boy going with his grandpa to the public bath Moshi Moshi by Jonathan London - 2 American boys visit a pen pal in Japan Look What Came From Japan by Miles Harvey - this is a non-fiction book that talks about many of the products we get from Japan (good pictures) Carp for Kimiko by Virgina Kroll - story about the Japanese holiday of Children's Day Turtle Bay by Pirotta - Japanese turtles lay their eggs Dwarf Giant by Anita Lobel - Japanese folktale The Samurai's Daughter by San Souci - medieval Japanese legend *Hiroshima No Pika by Toshi Maruki - a moving story of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and how a mother and child try to flee the destruction, based on true accounts Pink Paper Swans by Virginia Kroll - a young American girl learns the art of origami from an elderly Japanese neighbor Festivals of the World Series: Japan by Susan McKay - a non-fiction book with many pictures and info about Japanese holidays A True Book: Japan by Heinrichs - a small factual book that is easy for young readers and has good basic information on Japan (Readers) Grandfather's Journey & Tea w/Milk by Alan Say Crow Boy (Japan) Taro Yashima A Pair of Red Clogs (Japan) The Boy of the Three Year Nap (Japan) Allen Say White Serpent Castle by Namioka, 16th century (good samurai mystery series) The Boy and the Samurai by Haugaard Samurai's Tale by Haugaard The Cheerful Heart by Vining, (Post WWII) Hiroshima by Hersey (tells the story of the bombing from the perspective of 5 residents) VIDEOS: "Hiroshima Maiden", a video about a Japanese girl who comes to American for surgery on the scars from the Hiroshima bombing. By Wonder Works. "Shiokari Pass", a Billy Graham movie, a beautiful love story. "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" "Japan, the Island Empire", 50 minutes. International Video Network in San Ramon, CA "Shogun" TV mini-series WEEK 9: KOREA FOOD: BUL KO KEE: Ingredients: 1 pound boneless sirloin steak 1/4 cup soy sauce 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar 2 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil 1/4 teaspoon pepper 3 scallions, minced finely 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced Steps: Trim fat from steak. Cut diagonally across the grain. Put rest of ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Add steak strips. Stir until steak is well coated. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Drain steak ( that's what the recipe said, but there was nothing left to drain when we made it). Stir-fry in a heated skillet or wok over medium high heat for 3 minutes or until browned. May be served with rice (we did). Serves 4 Note: Beef is scarce and expensive in Korea. The physical location of Korea alone has fostered cross-cultural exchanges with China and Japan throughout history. It is hard to say whether Korean cooking influenced the Japanese or Chinese dishes first, or vice versa. All three countries share the balances of sweet, salty, bitter, hot and sour -- the five flavors -- in their approach to cooking and eating. A typical Korean meal will have many dishes. Dinner is the primary meal with lighter meals for breakfast and lunch. Some variety of kim chee, the national dish of spicy pickled cabbage and other vegetables, is present at all of them. Chopsticks and spoons are the main eating utensils. Background for food: Korea's 5000 year history makes it one of the oldest Asian cultures, despite its being less familiar to Westerners than its neighbors of China and Japan. Founded by Mongol tribes with shamanistic beliefs, Korea developed its own distinctive culture which became even more strongly preserved during the monarchy's era of the Hermit Kingdom. Later, under the Choson dynasty, it became known as the Land of the Morning Calm. Today, most Koreans are Confucianists or Buddhists, although the missionaries have developed a strong Christian following in the South, and also among the Korean emigrants to the US. A peninsula thrusting between China and Japan, Korea has a terrain that can be most beautiful but also most rugged at the same time. Jagged mountains pushed up from the sea are criss-crossed by rivers and lush green grasses, hence its nickname as "the Switzerland of Asia." Winters in the north can be harsh and severe, while the southern climate is hot and tropical. Only 20% of the land is arable, and of this half is given to rice cultivation, with spots of acreage devoted to cattle grazing. It is also a principal supplier of ginseng root, said to have medicinal properties. Korea is a peninsula set in some of the world's best fishing waters, so it is no wonder that seafood, fresh and dried, is the primary protein source for the Korean people. Wars have had their effect on this nation, with the splitting of North and South Korea after the Korean War being the most recent result. Ages ago, Mongol invasions put it under Chinese domination in the 13th century, later to be followed by Japanese annexation from 1910 to 1945. But the physical location of Korea alone has fostered cross-cultural exchanges with China and Japan throughout history, with Korean influence keenly felt in Japan long before recent times. Koreans themselves are a proud people. Known for their passionate tempers, they have been called "the Irish of the Orient." But they are also a happy people who love to laugh, and they maintain strong family ties. The halmoni, grandmothers, and their husbands are commonly included in their children's and grandchildren's picnics and other activities. If you have ever awoken to a view of Korea's cloud-enshrouded mountains, walked through the green grasses or tested the waters of a fresh mountain stream, you will know why they call it the Land of the Morning Calm. What to Eat: Korean food is highly seasoned, more so at the peninsula's southern tip than in the north. The national dish of kim chee, spicy pickled cabbage and other vegetables, is not for the faint of heart. Walk into a Korean market, and you will almost think you are in Mexico: huge bags of ground red chilies line the shelves -- clearly this spice is used in quantity. It is hard to say whether Korean cooking influenced the Japanese or Chinese dishes first, or vice versa. In any event, you can find overlap with slight variations among these three cultures. Koreans, for example, have been cooking on tabletop charcoal grills shaped like a Mongolian warrior's helmet for centuries. All three countries share the balances of sweet, salty, bitter, hot and sour -- the five flavors -- in their approach to cooking and eating. Korean food uses less oil than Chinese, but it is also not as bland as the cuisine of Japan. Indeed, Japan shuns the use of garlic, which the Koreans use in such quantities that the Japanese have called them "garlic eaters." From a culinary standpoint, we would not consider this a derogatory statement in the least. Koreans also indulge in sashimi, although these raw fish pieces are cut more coarsely and larger than their Japanese counterparts. As with other foods, Korean sashimi is typically eaten wrapped in lettuce leaves. Oddly enough, despite fish being the mainstay of the Korean diet (along with rice), beef dishes are the most prized of the native recipes. Bulkogi (Korean barbecued beef strips) and kalbi-jim (braised spare ribs in soy sauce and spices) are two of the most popular dishes -- ones that have survived even beyond the introduction of Buddhism by the Chinese. The ancestral love of beef does not historically make up the average Korean's daily diet, though. Fish and vegetables, fresh and preserved, and served with rice have been more common. As with many cultures, the long winters forced the people to devise ways of eating when fresh foods were not readily available. A typical Korean meal will have many dishes -- following the five flavors approach -- and be served on a low table. Chopsticks and spoons are the eating utensils, except for fingers which are used for eating sushi, barbecue, and foods wrapped in lettuce. Dinner is the main meal with lighter meals for breakfast and lunch. Some variety of kim chee is present at all of them, as is rice. Besides rice, noodles are a favorite starch and may be served by themselves or in large bowls of soup. Korean ginseng root, native to the land and now cultivated heavily for export, is believed to have medicinal properties and may served as tea, or fresh with honey or cooked in other dishes. One of the splashier presentations is gulchupan, translated as Nine Heavenly Varieties, and consists of a black lacquer box with eight compartments encircling a stack of thin mung-flour pancakes in the center; the diner fills the pancakes with the compartments' ingredients, such as bean sprouts, meats, omelet, cabbage, cucumber, prawns, etc. A fun and easy communal meal is the hotpot, or sin sul lo. Boiling stock is heated in a special stovepiped container, with hot coals below, and meats and vegetables are dipped in a "moat" of stock and left to cook, then fished out with chopsticks to be eaten with a dipping sauce and rice. What to drink: Beer or rice wines, or Makkolli, a fermented rice liquor. Note: Translations from Korean to English can vary drastically, largely because their range of a consonant's sound is broader than ours and their phonetic alphabet translates differently. Consequently, the same word may end being spelled hwe, hwey, huee or huay, all meaning "raw." Mixed Vegetables With Beef Chapche Much like a precursor to Japanese sukiyaki, this dish is redolent with vegetables, noodles, beef and is artfully garnished with egg strips. 4 Servings Ingredients: 1-3/4 oz (50 g) bean threads 5 oz (150 g) lean beef 1 green onion 4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water 1/3 oz (10 g) dried cloud ear mushrooms, soaked in water 1 oz (30 g) carrot 1 green pepper 2/3 t salad oil Salt and pepper Shredded omelet (recipe below) Sauce A: 2 T soy sauce 1 T sesame oil 1 t each sugar and sake 1/2 t. mirin Crushed garlic, roasted sesame seeds, finely chopped green onion Sauce B: 1 t roasted sesame seeds 2/3 t soy sauce 1/2 t sugar 1/3 t sesame oil Crushed garlic, pepper, MSG 1. In salted boiling water, cook bean threads 3-4 minutes until transparent. Remove from heat. 2. Drain and cut into 2-1/2 in (6.5 cm) length. 3. Cut beef into julienne strips. 4. In a bowl combine sauce A and add beef to marinate. 5. Slice green onion diagonally. 6. Remove stems of shiitake mushrooms and cut into julienne strips. 7. Cut ear mushrooms into bite size pieces. Cut carrot and green pepper into julienne strips. 8. Heat salad oil in a skillet and add green onion. Cook briefly and season with salt and pepper. In the same manner cook all vegetables. 9. Heat salad oil in a skillet and cook beef strips. 10. In a bowl combine sauce B. Add bean threads and mix well. 11. Add vegetables and beef. Mix lightly and transfer to serving bowl. Garnish with shredded omelet. How to Make A Shredded Omelet: Korean dishes often use this as a colorful garnish. The yolks and whites may also be cooked separately to add two-tone colors. Do not brown the surface when cooking. 1. Beat 1 egg heat lightly (do not whisk), add a pinch of salt. Pour into hot thinly greased skillet or square omelet pan. 2. Roll the skillet round to spread evenly, over very low heat. When the surface is nearly dry, separate the edges and turn over; cook slightly. 3. Cut into 1 to 1-1/2 in (2.5-4 cm) width and place in layers. Shred finely. 1 egg yields 3 T (1 to 2.5 oz, 40g) shredded omelet Braised Short Ribs With Vegetables Kalbee Chim, 4 servings Ingredients: 1-3/4 lbs (800g) beef spareribs 1/3 medium carrot (1-1/2 oz, 50g) 2 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water 1 green onion 1 green pepper 2-1/2 oz (70g) bamboo shoot (canned) 1 T each salad oil and mirin 1 t roasted sesame seeds Shredded omelet (recipe above) Marinade Sauce: 5 T soy sauce 2-1/2 T each sake and mirin 3-1/2 t sugar 1/2 t crushed garlic 1/8 t ground chili pepper For richer flavor, add boiled chestnuts, ginkgo nuts or pine nuts if available. Cook the dish low and slow and add sesame seeds and red chili for deeper flavor. 1. Cut spareribs into serving pieces. Remove any membrane and excess fat. Place bone side down and make a deep slit in center. Then using the knife flat, slice meat in half leaving the end uncut. Slice the other side and open out flat. 2. Make incisions at 1/4 in (0.7 cm) intervals. This process not only helps the meat to absorb the marinade but also makes eating easier. 3. Combine all marinade ingredients and add spareribs. Let stand 3-4 hours. 4. In a saucepan, heat 1 T salad oil. Add drained spareribs and cook over high heat. Reserve the marinade sauce. 5. Pour enough water to cover and simmer until the meat is tender. Add remaining marinade and continue to cook, until the liquid is boiled down to half, constantly skimming. 6. Slice carrot. Cut up remaining vegetables and add to the pan. When heated through, stir in mirin to glaze. Pour in sesame oil and immediately remove from heat. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and shredded omelet. ADDITIONAL READERS: "See Saw Girl" "Year of Impossible Good-byes" by Sook Nuyl Choi "Peacebound Trains" by Haemi Balgass