Life in Korea:

"TTAK SSAL" (Chicken Skin)

"Ttak ssal', roughly translated in English 'you give me goosebumps' is how Koreans usually respond to a corny joke.

Hubby and I have not been blessed with the wit that makes stand-up comedians rich and famous, so I never dare tell a joke. But hubby, a brave soul he is, would occasionally take a crack at it simply for our private amusement or to fill a sudden silence. Although, I know that his humor would make my jaw drop, I always patiently listen.

Last night he took me to an indian restaurant for dinner. While waiting to be served, I posed this question to him 'what's the difference between chapati and naan?' to which he answered flippantly, 'what's the difference between a dove and a pigeon?' 'I see. So basically the same kind of flat bread', I said. For a moment, I thought it was settled. Then he said, 'Seriously honey, what's the difference between a dove and a pigeon?' 'Well, ' I said, 'a dove is all white and a pigeon has specks of black & gray.' Hubby shot me a look that made me think I gave him an idiotic answer. Then he explained matter-of-factly, 'you use dove to wash your hands; you use pigeon to wash your laundry.' 

(palle pigeon-- is a korean laundry detergent)

He then gave me a triumphant chuckle. All I could manage to say was 'ttak ssal'.

Favorite Indian Dishes

These are my favorite indian dishes. The flat bread is called 'naan', this is actually a flavored chapati...Naan is buttered & combined with spices. My personal preference is garlic nan..Chapati, i think, is plain flat bread baked on a round flat skillet. When I was in Cebu, a restaurant called the Persian Palate serves chapati with olive paste dip. Hmmm.

The picture above features the dishes we had in an Indian restaurant we visited in St. Julians, Malta. There are a number of excellent Indian restaurants in Malta, probably the best priced too, in all of Europe (because the ones in London are way too pricey).

Anyway, the bright red dish is the spicy beef curry and the darker dish is my favorite lamb vindaloo. Both dishes are served with a choice of chawal, plain white rice or naan and chapati. The rice pictured here is called biryani...this is chawal mixed with pieces of choice meat and veggies..similar to the Korean 'bokumbap' or  Thai or Filipino 'mixed fried rice'. The only difference is the texture of the rice.

I'm having these tonight. Hubby and I have a dinner date and he's taking me to the Indian restaurant just a few blocks from our Kangnam office....yeheyyyyy...

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Addendum:

Yes, hubby and I feasted on an indian cuisine. Instead of ordering my favorites I decided to try other dishes. I had lamb tikka masala and it was great!