Kimchi jjigae

When kimchi gets old, it becomes an excellent ingredient for various other dishes! The most common dish made with aged kimchi is kimchi jjigae. It’s a go-to stew in Korean homes. Growing up in Korea, we had a lot of meals just with kimchi jjigae and a bowl of rice. I don’t remember ever getting tired of it. There are many ways to make it. The popular version, which is also my favorite, is made with fatty pork. Kimchi and fatty pork is a match made in heaven. To add extra flavor, cook the kimchi

FoodMarch 7, 2014

Scholars discuss hallyu’s influence on Southeast Asia

From K-pop to Korean dramas and TV shows, South Korean popular culture has been enjoying high popularity globally, especially in the Asia-Pacific, which has more hallyu fans than anywhere else in the world, according to a recent report by the Korea Foundation.In turn, scholars are zeroing in on Southeast Asia, one of the largest markets for South Korean popular cultural content today. Academics from around the world gathered at the third annual “International Hallyu Workshop” in Seoul on Friday

March 7, 2014

Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Noah’ hits Korean theaters

“The Wrestler” and “Black Swan” filmmaker Darren Aronofsky’s controversial biblical blockbuster “Noah” is arriving in Korean theaters on March 30.Based on the biblical story of Noah’s Ark, the film stars Academy Award-winning Australian actor Russell Crowe as Noah ― the man chosen by God for a great mission before the coming of an apocalyptic flood.Actress Jennifer Connelly (“A Beautiful Mind,” “Blood Diamond”) is starring as Noah’s wife, while Emma Watson (“Harry Potter,” “The Bling Ring”) is p

FilmMarch 7, 2014

Deconstructing forms

Artist Kim In-bai is presenting faceless, abstract sculptures in his solo exhibition celebrating the reopening of Arario Gallery Seoul.Titled “Eliminate Points, Lines and Planes,” the exhibition seeks to break stereotypes of human figures. Instead of faces or heads for his human forms, the artist used geometrical forms.His latest works, shown seven years after his first exhibition at Arario in 2007, look edgier than his previous sculptures, which had round faces. They are a combination of geomet

PerformanceMarch 6, 2014

Lupita Nyong’o and Jared Leto rock Prada’s show

PARIS (AP) ― Upstaging a Louis Vuitton show is hard, but somehow Miuccia Prada managed it, thanks to Lupita Nyong’o and Jared Leto. The Oscar winning pair ― whose exact relationship is the subject of speculation ― were both invited by the Italian designer to attend her plastic-wrapped fall-winter Miu Miu show in Paris.And if that wasn’t enough attention-grabbing, Nyong’o had to move seats in order to fit a tardy Rihanna in a fur leather jacket in the Miu Miu front row. Meanwhile, former Balencia

Arts & DesignMarch 6, 2014

Buddhism puts everything on show

From temple food to stationery items imprinted with Buddha characters, everything about Korean Buddhism is on display at an exhibition in Seoul, offering a glimpse of how the religion is evolving to cater to modern-day Koreans. “I hope that this exhibition provides an opportunity to reflect on (the historical and current state of) Buddhist culture and look toward what the future holds,” Ven. Jaseung, chief of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, said during the opening ceremony for Buddhism Expo

CultureMarch 6, 2014

The abs strike back in ‘300’ sequel

The glistening abs are back in “300: Rise of an Empire,” and they’ve been doing crunches. Like its forerunner, the 2007 hit “300,” “Rise of an Empire” again plunges us into bloody, hyper-stylized Greek history: mythology with muscles. The computer-generated warfare franchise is now a third of the way to a six-pack. Made clearly to capitalize on the popularity of “300,” “Rise of an Empire” is something like collected behind-the-scenes from the Persian invasion featured in “300.” Whereas the first

FilmMarch 6, 2014

‘Stories We Tell’ reveals family secrets

Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley is mostly known in Korea for her 2011 drama “Take This Waltz,” a tale about a freelance writer who becomes bored of her stable marriage and falls for an artist who lives across the street.The emotional struggle of Margot, the protagonist of “Take This Waltz,” may make more sense after watching Polley’s personal documentary “Stories We Tell,” which deals with her late mother’s extramarital affairs.The documentary premiered in 2012 at the Venice International Film F

FilmMarch 6, 2014

Plot against U.S. had roots in Dallas

Dark Invasion: 1915: Germany’s Secret War and the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in AmericaBy Howard Blum (HarperCollins)History is all about retelling tales that need telling. In “Dark Invasion,” Howard Blum has rescued a batch of compelling ones and woven them into grim, fascinating remembrance.How many recall Frank Holt, aka Erich Muenter? This adoptive son of Dallas was a bird as strange as Lee Harvey Oswald.Outwardly, he was a professor of German, married to the daughter of a Dallas Meth

BooksMarch 6, 2014

Matthew Quick back with wacky novel

The Good Luck of Right NowBy Matthew Quick (Harper)Matthew Quick, the author of “The Silver Linings Playbook” and several YA novels, has written another book for adults, “The Good Luck of Right Now.” Fortunately it is already optioned by DreamWorks, and you can wait for the movie ― because the last thing you should ever do is read this deeply wacky book.Written as a series of letters to Richard Gere after the protagonist’s mother dies and he finds one of Gere’s “Free Tibet” fundraising letters i

BooksMarch 6, 2014

Earth confronts man-made sixth extinction: Kolbert

Elizabeth Kolbert started her journalism career as a stringer for the New York Times and worked in the trenches there as a political reporter, but once she took a job at the New Yorker and made the environment her specialty, she became an exemplar of explanatory journalism. Her books and articles have won every conceivable journalism and science-writing award.Good thing she has her bona fides lined up, because her new book, “The Sixth Extinction” (Henry Holt, 319 pp.) is sure to cause a big-time

BooksMarch 6, 2014

Anna Quindlen explores new chapters in the life of a 60-year-old woman

The only thing that might have made “Still Life With Bread Crumbs” more enjoyable would have been a summer’s day so I could have read it outside, instead of huddled near a space heater.It’s the seventh novel from Anna Quindlen, the former New York Times columnist who won the Pulitzer Prize, wrote regularly for Newsweek and published the slender “A Short Guide to a Happy Life,” which has sold more than 1 million copies, many to moms, aunts, grandmothers, family friends and others looking for a li

BooksMarch 6, 2014

Oakwood Premier Incheon appoints new general manager

Oakwood Premier Incheon appointed veteran hotelier Kim Sung-hyun its new general manager, the hotel said on Thursday. Kim entered the hospitality industry as a full-time worker at Millennium Seoul Hilton in 1992 and held diverse positions in the Hilton Group over 11 years. He was a member of the task force to prepare for the opening of the Hyatt Regency Incheon in 2003 and served as general manager at Seokyo Hotel and Jeju KAL Hotel. “I’m happy to work in the fast-changing Songdo International B

PeopleMarch 6, 2014

Paul Potts talks about his ‘One Chance’

British tenor Paul Potts paid his 11th visit to Korea on Saturday, but this time he was not here to perform. The “Britain’s Got Talent” winner attended a Seoul press screening of James Corden’s film “One Chance” on Tuesday, which depicts his dramatic rise to operatic fame based on his 2013 autobiography of the same title.“The book and the movie are separate but they have the same theme and they have the same message, and that is achieving your goals,” Potts told reporters after the screening of

FilmMarch 5, 2014

An opera producer’s ambition

Sol’Opera, an opera company that started in Busan eight years ago, is set to stage a series of large-scale outdoor productions next year. “We’re planning an outdoor opera festival in Busan jointly with Italy’s Arena di Verona,” Lee So-young, founder and president of the company, said in an interview with The Korea Herald. “It’s going to be a festival with three or so programs on offer ― a gala and two operas, probably.”  It has signed a co-production agreement with the Arena di Verona, the world

PerformanceMarch 5, 2014

Jejudo faces oversupply of lodging

Korea’s southern resort island of Jejudo faces an oversupply of hotel rooms, according to local officials and industry insiders. As more and more tourists complained about the difficulty of booking rooms due to a shortage of hotels, the Jeju government eased regulations and stepped up efforts to attract builders and investments. However, their efforts seem to have gone too far.“Hotel rooms have outnumbered tourists. Unless the number of tourists increases remarkably, we will have a problem,” sai

TravelMarch 5, 2014

Cold, gray day doesn’t stop Mardi Gras revelers

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ― Revelers endured winter temperatures and a chilling rain along parade routes Tuesday as New Orleans’ 2014 Carnival season neared a close. Die-hards, some in Mardi Gras costumes, braved the weather along the traditional St. Charles Avenue parade route and in the French Quarter. “We’ll drink, drink, drink until it gets drier,” said Dean Cook of New Orleans as he walked Bourbon Street dressed as a pirate with vampire fangs. “Mermaids love the water,” he said of his wife, Terrina

PerformanceMarch 5, 2014

Universal Music seeks merchandising deal in Korea

In a music market solidly dominated by K-pop and other local music trends, the international music scene is still looking to make its artists known in Korea. Universal Music Group, one of the world’s leading music recording companies, along with its subsidiary merchandising company Bravado, is planning to expand and incorporate its products by adding a touch of local flavor. In the past, Bravado made its first real mark in Korea when introducing its popular smartphone cases featuring the images

PerformanceMarch 5, 2014

Square dancing heals the heart

LOS ANGELES ― Dan Lawyer was on the dance floor with a woman who wasn’t his wife.Betty Lawyer would usually lend her husband out for at least one dance a night. The women outnumber the men by so much at Cowtown Square Dance Center, she had to. But tonight, she was sidelined by a knee injury and had to be satisfied with watching the other members of the Cowtown Singles dancing club weave and circle and shuffle across the hardwood floor, reclaimed from an old wooden boxcar.Many had danced for so l

CultureMarch 5, 2014