Gochugaru

JWise Food, Photo of the Day

Korean Red Chili Flakes or Gochugaru

A side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, which I’m sure is the same for me as for others, is the amount of cooking we have been doing. We’ve always branched out of the foods we are familiar with, which over the years has brought us to eating things such as grasshopper, horse, donkey, veal nerve, duck tongue, bullfrog, javelina, pig eyes, brains, and ears, and most recently a Cajun Turducken.

Back in June, I made our first bowls of kimchi sundubu-jjigae and we fell in love with it. How in love with it? We just finished our second pound of gochugaru chili powder. At the base of this hearty Korean stew lies sundubu paste and that paste relies on a large amount of chili powder. I wasn’t very discriminating the first time I bought gochugaru; I went to a nearby Asian store and grabbed what I thought was “the real thing.” Getting back from vacation this week, I needed to make a fresh batch of sundubu paste which required me to revisit the YouTube video that got all of this going. I knew I would be finishing an opened bag of chili powder (our second bag this year), but I was prepared as I’d bought another bag at H-Mart some time ago just for this moment.

Watching the video the guy suggested going through the trouble of getting “real” Korean gochugaru. I thought I had the real thing as it had Korean writing on the package, so what else could it have been? It could be from China which was exactly what I saw on the older package and the new one I just opened. I consulted Amazon to rectify this and found out that authentic Korean chili powder is not all that easy to obtain. When I did find it the price made me think twice. The new “Korean Origin” chili powder costs $30 a pound compared to $10 a pound for the Chinese stuff. I had to remind myself that Asians pack and price spices different than the American market and on checking out my local store with the name-brand stuff on offer I discovered that a pound of regular old ground chili costs between $20 and $55 a pound when bought in those small bottles.

So, obviously, I was making sundubu paste because we were looking forward to our first bowl of kimchi and tofu stew since getting back home. For that, I needed to head out to H-Mart to get the rest of the ingredients but this time I decided to also stock up on about a month’s supply of silken tofu. The tubes are 11oz each or 312g; I bought 10 of them which will let us make 5 portions each of sundubu-jjigae. Come to think about it, we’ve eaten more than 25 pounds of tofu during this last half of the year. I needed another quart of kimchi, our 4th this year which is probably 4 times more than we’ve bought in our first 50 years on Earth. While this may sound mundane, I bought some fresh American- and Chinese-grown shiitake mushrooms; they were sold out of Korean shiitakes. My local “American” grocery stores don’t carry fresh shiitakes. If you sense a bit of incredulity in that, you’d have heard it right. Yes, my cynicism sometimes has me feeling like the local stores only sell Wonder bread, peanut butter, hamburger, chicken, frozen pizza, Ragu pasta sauce, and 94 types of sugary breakfast cereal.

Regarding the sundubu-jjigae with the “fake” chili powder: It turned out great, and now, with about a pound of paste in the freezer, it’ll be a few weeks before I can make a new batch but when I do, I’ll be using Korean-grown gochugaru. Maybe I’ll blog again about our experiences with this fantastically umami stew once the new chili powder comes in but how much can one write about this stuff?

Oh, there’s a downside to this return to blogging about normal life, each new post moves down my masterpieces of eulogistic praise regarding our recent trip to Oregon. I sure would like to recommend that you take the 2 hours to read the 32,956 words of my screed, but short of that you could also just check out the wonderful photos. I can’t emphasize how much more interesting that other stuff is compared to writing about kimchi and tofu stew.

High Value Targets

JWise Photo of the Day

Parking lot mobile security camera in Phoenix, Arizona

I had to go shopping today, not Christmas shopping, just grocery shopping. You read that right, I went grocery shopping at a regular grocery store, not Whole Foods either. When I walked in, masked-up of course, I didn’t think twice about anything other than that we are just back from vacation and need food this morning so we can eat today. Having been gone for 19 days, we came home to the empty fridge, just as we left it. I grabbed a few things moving quickly to minimize my time in-store, used the self-checkout, and had placed my bags in the car when I realized what I was looking at: a security camera.

I told myself, “Hey, wake up John, that’s a mobile security camera setup….at your grocery store!” It’s the holiday season so I remember from way back when the sheriff’s department putting cherry-pickers in mall parking lots to monitor the safety of shoppers, but back when malls were a thing people might be walking to their cars carrying hundreds or thousands of dollars of goods. If some nefarious type person wanted a good haul robbing someone, a mall would be the place to target some easy victims. BUT I’M AT THE GROCERY STORE!

I had to go take a closer look at the solar-powered D3 Edge Security Platform from LiveView. Three hundred and sixty degrees of view, infrared camera, lights, speaker, microphone array, and its own power source driving this thing wirelessly so someone in the store can have their eye on the parking lot – I was somewhat impressed. Thinking harder about it, I started questioning, why is this really here? A couple of answers became clear: 1st, during a pandemic and hoarding there are things that have greater value to those that can ill afford them such as toilet paper, diapers, sanitizers, etc. and 2nd, we have a serious unemployment problem and reduced wages that put pressure on people to acquire foodstuffs in any way possible. So instead of heading to the mall, which nobody does anymore anyway, head to the store and rob someone of their $300 in groceries because beef and eggs are expensive these days.

Now I have to stop and give some hard thought to this. I think about what we saw in the Bay Area of Northern California where some freeway offramps are appearing like trash explosions, but when you look closer you spot encampments of homeless people in ramshackle tent communities. Bizarre eye-sores have spread across hillsides, among the brush along the freeway, and are nestled in tight spaces under bridges. It really is astonishing to see the level of homelessness spread from slum areas to the edges of major highways. If these are the signs of those who are at the end of possibility, what of those who are struggling and at risk of falling to the edge? They have to pay rent; food becomes a secondary expenditure if you can find things at Dollar Stores. When those are too expensive you head to the food bank, but what happens when food banks are running short due to holiday demand? Head to the grocery store parking lot and snatch a couple of bags from someone’s cart who looks vulnerable, that’s what you do. Grocery stores must be aware of this and hence Robo-D3 Edge Security Officer is on duty and standing by.

Voted

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John Wise in mask voting in Phoenix, Arizona

Not for a moment would I have ever dreamt that voting would make me as emotional as it did today, but that’s just what happened. It wasn’t who I was voting for or even that I was voting, as I’ve done that plenty of other times in my life. It’s not that I was confronted or badgered at the drive-thru ballot drop-off location. I wasn’t turned away. I hadn’t forgotten my ballot at home.

Voting in Phoenix, Arizona

When we drove up to the only polling station open for early voting here in Phoenix on a Sunday, there was a traffic jam. Arizona’s ballots just went out this week and I got mine yesterday; I’d imagine that was about the same for many people. With horns blaring and many of the cars painted with slogans letting others know they were voting today along with flags fluttering in the wind, there were no less than 50 cars waiting to drive through this parking lot to drop off their vote. People were cheering and celebrating but strangely there was not a single sign of support for Donald Trump. Our surprise overwhelmed Caroline and me.

Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona

Driving away kind of misty-eyed we made our way over to the Heard Museum and although we’d not be able to stay long, it didn’t matter as we are members. Instead of seeing much, we spent the majority of our time talking with one of the docents named Mel who could not have been more enthusiastic for a form of art he too is typically not a fan of, modern art. So, we only spent time a little meaningful time with about half a dozen pieces and had a cursory glance over the other works on exhibition. We’ll certainly have to come back soon.

Caroline Wise at the Phoenix Art Museum

I’d like to point out that last weekend we paid a visit to the Phoenix Art Museum which was just open again for the first time since COVID hit. The painting Caroline is checking out is from William T. Wiley titled, “Modern Ark – After Brueghel.”

The First Day of Not Summer

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A fallen leaf in Phoenix, Arizona

Today is not the 1st of September, it’s not Halloween, it’s not yet Thanksgiving, nor is it the election. It is the first day of not summer. While it was two days ago that we finally dipped below 100 degrees (38c), today was marked by the first leaves I’ve seen falling to the ground as a nod to the fact we’ve passed summer. Some would call this fall or autumn and then they might want to reassure me that winter is on its way, but I live in the Desert Southwest of the United States and we have two seasons here; summer and not summer. This is not a lament, it is simply pointing out contrast to other places.

Here on 10/10/2020, we are still in shorts and short-sleeve shirts and while out on the first walk around our neighborhood this morning it was a brisk 72 degrees (22c). I asked Okay Google what the temperature was in Flagstaff, 130 miles (210km) north of us, and it was a very chilly 42 degrees (5c), close enough to freezing that I’d have needed a jacket. These falling temperatures also signify a milestone in our quality of life indicators as we are now able to open our windows for nearly 3 hours in the morning and hopefully in the next 30 days our air conditioning will shut off for the last time this year and not have to be turned back on before April 2021.

This has typically been the beginning of our travel season after the kids have gone back to school and vacations are over. Thanksgiving is the last major travel period on the calendar for the masses until Memorial Day on May 31st. But this isn’t a normal year so who knows how our travels will pan out in the coming months.

There’s not much more to note about the summer that just passed as I think the 75 blog entries I made between June 1st and today pretty much covered things while not summer is just starting to unfold. As a matter of fact, to kick things off we’ve decided to take a short drive north to Montezuma’s Castle National Monument for a walk around. The full report will be posted tomorrow.

Update – It’s two hours later and we are home, there will be no visiting anything other than home today as on our drive north an accident well ahead of us brought traffic to a halt. We were committed and felt we’d forge ahead but after more than an hour to travel merely a third of the distance until the jam cleared, we gave up. This is so indicative of 2020.

A Different Shade of Blue

JWise Photo of the Day

Blue Sky over Phoenix, Arizona

Last year the first signs of fall occurred on October 1st with yellow and orange leaves strewn about. This year fall arrives with a deeper blue sky to replace the scorching summer canopy which appears bleached and oppressive from mid-June through most of September. According to the 10-day forecast, we still have another 9 or 10 days of 100+ degree temperatures but by mid-October, we should finally be able to turn off our air-conditioner until next May. Here in the Desert Southwest of Phoenix, Arizona, we are also experiencing a brief second spring where after a summer of dormancy plants leap back to life with a splash of color and an explosion of bees.

Bumblebees too are in abundance this year, more than we’ve seen in previous years. We are keeping our eyes open for praying mantis as we saw one outside our door a couple of days ago which is an uncommon sight. With these days where our mornings are finally dipping down to the pleasant low-70s (20-24c) the songbirds make their return from wherever it was they were hiding out when daytime temps pressed into 115 degrees (46c). No sign of the mockingbirds yet, but our eyes are open wide looking for their telltale jumping from their perch and their car-alarm sounds.

For the next 8 months, we’ll be reminded time and again why living here in Arizona can be so terrific as the blue of the sky featured in today’s photo will be ever-present. Come January in the dead of winter we’ll be “shivering” on 70 degrees (20c) days with mornings that can dip as lows as 40 degrees (5c). The funny thing is that while the majority of the year is absolutely pleasant, it is the 4 months of summer that just passed that defines the environment of living here and that definition isn’t exactly nice.

Of course, the blue skies tell you nothing of the color of attitudes or the climate of the intellect that spread from the shores of the Pacific coast to the Eastern seaboard, down to the Gulf of Mexico, and up to the Canadian border. If you have read my blog posts before you can’t be blamed for expecting a lament about the poor cultural weather extremes we are experiencing lately and I can’t underplay how much impact they have on me, it’s like being on the most beautiful mountain top except it’s -40 degrees with winds whipping by at 100mph, the woods are burning, and the rumble of a slow approaching meteor bears down from above.

So as I stare into the blue horizon above looking for a silver lining, I must rely on future travels, adventures, and thoughts where I’ll try to discover what all of these patterns I spend so much time collecting might ultimately mean. I know that there’s something hidden in the obvious that I’m failing to see, and so I just keep on taking notes and firing off these missives as I search for what it is I think I have to say. Or, maybe I already know the story I want to tell, I just don’t know quite how yet? Well, you can bet I’m working on it, heck I even have a working title.

Retired Shoes

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Old shoes

After walking 1,776,239 steps for a total of 826.94 miles these shoes, which were my very first curbside pickup purchase, are being retired. Maybe you are thinking: In the world of blogs, writing about the end of life of your shoes is the best you’ve got? Well, back when I was 16 years old in 1979 there was no ubiquity of data regarding the minutiae of the mundane. Here in 2020, I can tell you that I paid $48.85 at Dick’s Sporting Goods on April 25th, and picked up my shoes at 3:05 p.m., because of the email confirmation that was sent to me almost instantaneously after a clerk put the shoes in my trunk. The order was first processed after PayPal transferred my money at 12:29:24 and, while the shoes were ready for pickup at 12:53, it would take me a while to get ready and drive the 8.5 miles. About 14 minutes after Caroline and I left we were at our location thanks to Google Maps. I checked in with a link in the confirmation email and about 10 minutes later was on my way home.

To be even a little more exact: I should have removed 8,738 steps of the 10,546 I walked that day as the first 4 miles were done before the trip to pick up new shoes, but that’s okay. The impact of the inaccuracy is negligible as if I told you that each mile cost 0.05907 cents or 0.05936 to walk it would still be essentially 6 cents per mile. At a per-step cost, this becomes an exercise in silliness though maybe this entire entry is but for the sake of completeness, my per-step cost figures in at 0.00002685 cents or 0.00002698 per step depending on which cost of mile one refers to. Come to think about it, I probably have enough information at hand to know the price of each breath I take.

By the way, I feel I got the value out of these shoes as it seems most walking shoes are rated for about 300-500 miles of activity. Obviously, I took these a lot farther than that and wore off a lot of sole but if I’m gonna pay almost $50 for a pair of shoes, I want to know they’ll serve me well.