CUISINE > Spicy chicken and potato stew

Spicy chicken and potato stew: This easy-to-make dish is perfect for cold winter, as it is hearty and flavorful. Fill you tummy with a serving of this rich, yet reasonably low-cal chicken stew to endure the cold winter night.

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

1 chicken (medium), cut into 8 or 10 pieces

2 dried hot chili pepper

Cooking oil

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

1/2 medium carrot, peeled and cut into chunks

1/2 stalk of green onion, sliced diagonally

1 medium onion, peeled and cut into chunks1 hot pepper for garnish, sliced diagonally

Seasoning ingredients:

2Tbsp hot chili pepper paste

2Tbsp soy sauce

1Tbsp sesame seed oil

1Tbsp sugar

1Tbsp hot chili pepper powder

2Tbsp minced green onion

1Tbsp minced garlic

2Tbsp minced gingerA dash of sesame seeds

2 cups water

Direction:

1. Cut up the chicken into 8 or 10 pieces. Wash under cold flowing water and let it drain completely.

2. Drizzle a bit of cooking oil in a frying pan and brown the chicken pieces until golden on the outside. Pat the browned chicken pieces with paper towel to get rid of extra oil.

3. Cut the potato, carrot and onion into bite size chunks.

4. In a pot mix the chicken and 2/3 of seasoning mixture. Pour in the water and let it come to a boil.

5. Put the potato, carrot, and onion pieces, as well as cut up green onion and diagonally sliced peppers. Add the remaining seasoning mix. Cover and let it simmer until the ingredients are cooked thoroughly, about 30 to 40 minutes.

Tips:

1. Let the chicken cook on high heat at first, then reduce the heat after the chicken is cooked somewhat. This way the seasoning seeps into the chicken pieces.

2. For those of you who are watching weight, instead of browning the chicken in oil, try blanching the chicken pieces in boiling water. You may mix in a bit of Korean bean paste to eliminate the smell of chicken.

3. Instead of minced ginger, you may substitute it with a tablespoon of instant coffee, cinnamon powder or even curry powder to get rid of the unsavory chicken smell.

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS > 'The Host,' 'The Restless' Invited to Brussels Fantastic Film Festival

The movies “The Host” by director Bong Jun-ho and “The Restless” by director Cho Dong-oh have been invited to compete in the international category of the 2007 Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, according to Pusan International Film Festival Senior Programmer Kim Ji-seok on March 18.The Brussels Fantastic Film Festival will be held in Belgium April 5-17. Other Korean movies that have been invited to participate in the non-competition category include Lee Si-myung’s “Vampire Cop Ricky,” Cho Beom-jin’s “Aachi & Ssipak,” Ahn Byung-ki’s “Apartment” and Lim Ah-ron’s “Mug Travel.” The festival is regarded as one of the world’s top-three fantastic film festivals along with Spain’s Sitges Film Festival and Portugal’s Oporto International Film Festival. Previous award winners of the festival from Korea include Kim Ki-deok’s movie “The Isle” and Chang Jun-hwan’s “Save the Green Planet.”

SIGHTSEEING > Famous Spots to Enjoy Cherry Blossom

In Korea, cherry blossoms are considered the symbol of spring, and the cherry blossom trees will be in full bloom across the nation. Cherry blossoms are said to reach their peak a week after they bloom and the sight is simply beautiful.The most famous cherry blossom festival is held in Jinhae, located in South Gyeongsang Province. Since 1963, Jinhae Naval Port Festival has attracted some one million tourists every spring. This year, the cherry blossom trees are expected to be in full bloom around this Saturday. So the festival is scheduled to be held from March 23 through April 8. The most visited places during the festival are the 5.6 kilometer Anmin Road, the Naval headquarters, Che-wangsan Park and Yo-jwachon Bridge. A view from Chonja Peak will reward its hikers with a spectacular view of Jinhae’s cherry blossoms. There will be other festivities, such as the parade honoring General Yi Soon-shin, an air-show, a fireworks display and traditional musical performances.Jeju Island, the biggest island located in the south of the peninsula, will also hold a cherry blossom festival from March 30 to April 1 at the Jeju Sports Complex. The tropical weather of the island provides the perfect environment for flowers to bloom beautifully. For Seoulites who can’t travel all the way to Jinhae to enjoy the cherry blossom, Yoido is the place to go. Every year, the Spring Flower Festival is held in Yoido attracting about 2.5 million visitors. The 5.7 kilometer Yoonjung-ro behind the National Assembly building has 1,400 cherry blossom trees and other spring flowers, such as forsythias and azaleas. Another popular place to enjoy the cherry blossoms in Seoul is Namsan Park. In addition to the most popular route between the Namsan Library and the Pal-gak-jong Pavillion, the whole mountain will be covered with all kinds of spring flowers.

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS > SS501 To Hold Large Fan Meet-and-Greet

Popular boy band SS501 will hold their first large-scale fan meet-and-greet in Japan as they advance into the Japanese market. The event will be held at the AX Hall in Shibuya for members of their Japanese fan club, Triple S Japan. SS501 is currently on a short break after finishing the taping of a special program on the 13th but will fly back to Japan for the fan meeting.The band will meet with fans, perform 5 songs and each member will display their individual musical talents through special performances. An official of the band’s label said that though there are 2000 seats at the Shibuya AX Hall, the number of those who registered to attend the special fan event far exceeds that.

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS > Take’s Lee Min-hyuk To Enter Military

Singer and actor Lee Min-hyuk (25) from the group Take will become a soldier on April 3. He will be stationed in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province for 5 weeks and receive basic training. After filming MBC’s Best Theater “Blood Sea,” he took some time off and prepared to enter the military. Lee debuted in the entertainment industry with the group Take in 2003, but gained great popularity through an advertisement. He then concentrated on acting, appearing in various dramas and movies, such as “That Guy Was Attractive” and “Dasepo Girl.”

Jeon Ji-hyun in Stripping Contest for Mobile Phone

Superstar Jeon Ji-hyun has set tongues wagging by competing with a male model in taking off her clothes in the commercial for the new Samsung phone. Users of the color jacket phone in the Anycall series can, as the name suggests, change the phone’s jacket to go with the outfit they are wearing, the firm said. The producers of the commercial plumbed for a stripping contest to highlight the feature. In it, Jeon takes turns stripping with the male model in front of a cheering audience, treating each item as if it was the last only to reveal another layer underneath.

Jeon had apparently found it a challenge to peel off several layers of clothing like an onion within the short 15 second spot. Though only seven types of clothing appear of the commercial, Jeon actually wore 20. Producers took pains to select the clothes, searching through Seoul’s markets every night to find clothing that would suit both Jeon’s slinky form and the phone she is selling. The clothes also had to be easy to take off in a short time. Eventually, a mixture of polyester and nylon and a special material called supplex used in the movies were chosen.

sourch : chosun.com

CUISINE > Seollongtang (Beep Bone and tripe Soup)

Seollongtang is prepared by boiling the bones of cow legs and knees with ribs and head for about one day. The broth of seollongtang is white and thick, but not greasy. This dish originates from the ancient times, when one day the king was stuck in a village during a severe storm. To feed the hungry king, the peasants of the village had to kill their bull and boil it in plain water. That's how seollongtang came into being.

The legend says that “seollong” was the name of beef broth during the Goguryeo era, probably because of its white color as “seol” means “snow” in Chinese. Seollongtang was very convenient to cook in ancient times, when there were no refrigerators to store meat for a long time, as it is prepared by cooking almost all parts of the cow's body, except for skin and filth, in a huge iron pot.

- How to cook:

Four servings

Main ingredients: 1/4 of cow feet, 1/4 of cow leg bones, 1/4 of knee bones, 100g of beef shank, 100g of beef ribs, 4 liters of water, 4 roots of green onions, garlic, one chunk of radish, ginger, 1/2 of onion

Beef seasoning: salt, chopped green onions, chopped garlic, black pepper

1. Chop the bones of cow legs, feet and knees, and soak in cold water for about an hour.
2. Clean the chunks of beef shank and ribs.
3. Briefly boil No. 1 ingredients in boiling water. Remove the water.
4. Put the parboiled bones in a pot, add water and thickly chopped green onions, radish, ginger, garlic and onions.
5. When the beef becomes tender and the broth thick enough, add the chunks of beef shank and ribs, and boil on low fire for a long time. Then, take out the meat, cool the broth and remove grease.
6. Separate meat from bones, and chop in small pieces. Cut beef shank and ribs into small pieces as well, and season with chopped green onions, salt, chopped garlic, and black pepper.
7. Fill a heated bowl with seasoned meat and add warm broth. Don't add salt to the broth when heating it again.