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Friday, May 16, 2014

Gimbap

Gimbap (Korean Bapsang)
Gimbap is a must for school field trips and outdoor activities as well as family outings. Whether it’s the anticipation the night before or watching the early morning preparation by mom to pack these rolls in lunch boxes, there is no other dish that takes me back to my childhood like gimbap. Today, gimbap is the most popular on-the-go meal in Korea.

Traditionally, the rice is lightly seasoned with sesame oil and salt. The fillings are individually seasoned and cooked, yielding an interesting combination of textures and flavors. There are many variations of gimbap these days. This recipe is the traditional version my mother used to make for us on our field trip or picnic days. It takes some time to prepare the individual fillings, but the process is easy. 


Yields 5 rolls 
Ingredients:

● 2 cups uncooked short-grain rice
(standard measuring cup, not the cup that comes with a rice cooker)

● 1 tablespoon sesame oil

● Salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon)

For the beef:

● 180 grams lean, tender beef 

● 2 teaspoons soy sauce

● 1 teaspoon rice wine (mirim)

● 1 teaspoon sugar

● 1 teaspoon sesame oil

● 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

For the vegetables:

● 1 small bunch spinach 

● 1 teaspoon sesame oil

● Salt to taste ― about 1/4 teaspoon

● 2 medium carrots, julienned

● 5 strips of yellow pickled radish (danmuji) 

● 5 strips of seasoned burdock (sold prepared for gimbap)

For fish cake:

● 1 sheet fish cake (eomuk)

● 1 teaspoon soy sauce

● 1/2 teaspoon sugar

● 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

● 2 eggs

● 5 gim (dried seaweed) sheets

Cook the rice using a little less water than usual. (Fresh cooked rice is best for gimbap.)

Cut the beef into thin strips (about 1.5-centimeter thick). Mix well with the next five seasoning ingredients. Marinate while preparing the other ingredients. When ready, in a heated pan, stir-fry over medium-high heat until cooked through, 2-3 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat and prepare an ice bath. Blanch the spinach, place immediately in the ice bath, then squeeze out the water. Season with the sesame oil and salt.

Heat a lightly oiled pan over medium-high heat. Stir-fry the carrots until softened. Lightly season with pinch of salt.

Cut the fish cake lengthwise into about 2-centimeter-thick strips. Heat a lightly oiled pan over medium heat. Stir-fry the fish cake with the soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil until softened, about 2 minutes.

Crack and beat the eggs in a bowl with a spoon or a fork. Stir in a pinch of salt. Heat a small nonstick pan with a bit of oil. Add the egg, and swirl it around to cover the pan. When the top begins to set, flip it over. Transfer to a cutting board. Cut lengthwise into 2-centimeter-thick strips.

When all the other ingredients are ready, remove the rice from the rice cooker. While the rice is still hot, add the sesame oil and salt. Mix well by lightly folding with a rice paddle or large spoon until evenly seasoned. Add more salt to taste. The rice will cool down during this process.

Put a sheet of gim, shiny side down and longer side toward you, on a cutting board or a bamboo mat if available. Spread about 3/4 cup to 1 cup of rice evenly over the gim, using a rice paddle or, preferably, your fingers.

Lay the prepared ingredients on top of the rice close to the side facing you. Lift the entire bottom edge with both hands and roll over the filling away from you, tucking in the filling with your fingers.

Put firm pressure on the roll with the help of the bamboo mat, if using, to close everything in tightly. Then, continue to roll again, putting pressure on the roll evenly using both hands.

Rub or brush the roll with a little sesame oil for extra flavor and a shiny look. Apply some sesame oil to a sharp knife. (This will keep rice from sticking to the knife. Repeat as necessary after each cut. Wipe the knife with a damp towel if the rice still sticks.) Cut the roll into bite-size pieces.

By Ro Hyo-sun

17 financial firms get poor consumer protection grades

Regulators have decided to publicly shame financial firms with the lowest score in the consumer protection segment.

Seventeen firms given the lowest grade of “class 5” by the Financial Supervisory Service have been ordered to publicize the shameful record at entrances of their branches and online homepages in “red letters” for three months.

The 17 firms which drew frequent petitions last year included three first-tier banks and two credit card issuers: KB Kookmin Bank, NH NongHyup Bank, Standard Chartered Bank Korea, Shinhan Card and Lotte Card.

Among the others were Allianz Life Insurance, ING Life Insurance, PCA Life Insurance, Lotte Insurance, Dongbu Securities, Tong Yang Securities, Hyundai Savings Bank and Chinae Savings Bank.

The number of their combined branches nationwide surpassed 3,000. KB Kookmin Bank topped the list with 1,130, followed by NH NongHyup Bank with 1,187, Standard Chartered Bank Korea with 326, Lotte Insurance with 100 and Tong Yang Securities with 88.

FSS officials said they would expand the “name and shame” sanction in a bid to raise consumer protection in the overall financial market.

Some brokerages were found to have invited frequent complaints from customers due to breakdowns or glitches in their online trading systems over the past few years.

Petitions against some insurance firms filed with the FSS by consumers cited irregular application of contract terms for insurance payments.

Customers of one bank suffered losses due to irregular terms in sales of the bank’s financial products, including loans. A lender was also implicated in dubious loan agreements with small and mid-sized enterprises.

Their grade of class 5 means that they were “poor” in resolving customers’ complaints throughout the past year. The FSS announced their assessment for their 2013 performance last month.

In the commercial bank sector, Daegu Bank and Kwangju Bank received the highest grade of class 1 (or excellent), followed by the Industrial Bank of Korea, Korea Exchange Bank, Kyongnam Bank, Busan Bank and Jeongbuk Bank with class 2 (or fine).

Class 3 and class 4 indicate average and insufficient service, respectively.

Some of the 17 firms expressed discontent with the fresh regulatory measure. One executive said the FSS did not provide a long enough grace period to deal with the new disciplinary action.

Supervisory officials, however, said that the firms deserved to be censured, as they are judged to have made little effort to improve their customer services.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)

Major economies set for recovery: BOK chief

Advanced economies are shifting to a recovery track, South Korea's top central banker said Friday, recounting the discussions at a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) meeting held earlier this week.

Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol said that participants at the BIS meeting maintained their view on the economic recovery from a month earlier, citing positive indicators in countries such as China, Japan and the United States.

After attending a G20 meeting in April, Lee said that major economies are shifting their focus from dealing with a financial crisis to boosting economic growth.

The governor said while the U.S. economy was dented by severe weather conditions in the first quarter, the world's largest economy is expected to enter a recovery phase in the second quarter.

He also took note that the Chinese economy nearly met its first-quarter growth target of 7.5 percent, while solid domestic demand propped up the Japanese economy despite lackluster exports.

The central bank chief said the participants were attentive to the Chinese economy and lingering geopolitical risks in Eastern Europe. (Yonhap)

Monday, May 12, 2014

South Korea Ferry Crew: We Were Ordered to Abandon Sinking Ship

South Korea Ferry Crew: We Were Ordered to Abandon Sinking Ship

A crew member on the sunken South Korean ferry said on Thursday she and her colleagues were "under command" to abandon ship while passengers were trapped on board.
The unidentified crew member spoke briefly to reporters on the way from court back into detention. She was wearing a surgical mask and a baseball cap with a jacket hood.
Investigations are focused on human error and mechanical failure, but authorities have expressed anger at the actions of the crew, most of whom survived after abandoning the Sewol while passengers were still on board.

Sunken ship left port with 3 times maximum cargo load

TODAY
         
Hundred of passengers died after being told to stay in place rather than escaping the ship.
South Korea's president Park Geun-hye on Monday accused the captain and crew of the country's sunken ferry of "unforgivable, murderous behavior."
More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers from the same school, are dead or missing presumed dead in the April 16 disaster. As the ferry began sinking, the crew told the children to stay in their cabins.
- Reuters