Mar 29, 2012

Top 10 Predicted American Idol 2012 Season 11 Winners|US

Top 10 Predicted American Idol 2012 Season 11 Winners|US

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The top 10 singers for American Idol Season 11 have just been announced, and the battle just keeps on getting better and better. Song selections will be harder, criticisms are going to be tougher, and the scrutiny will be more intense than ever. This is the part where all of America and the rest of the world are rooting and cheering for their favorites to win. Although the top 10 have been chosen, who among these talented men and women will take the next title of the next American Idol of 2012?

 


10. Heejun Han

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This idol with an obvious Korean descent is singing solidly with songs given to him. However, he struggles at providing something interesting that spectators would remember him by.

9. DeAndre Brackensick

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He has choice of songs that demands the reach of high notes. Aside from being able to accomplish them successfully, he also makes it look and sound clean.

8. Erika Van Pelt

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Known to be smooth in her delivery of tone and pitch, Erika has shown great potential when she sang “Edge of Glory.” As she has been influenced by rock, hope that she gets the hang of other song genres.

7. Elise Testone

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Her version of “Let’s Stay Together” has been loved by viewers, despite having it nailed by President Barack Obama recently. Her talent is good, but she needs to run her social juices so that she can be noticed positively by the masses.

6. Colton Dixon

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His looks precede his reputation to the choices of songs he can deliver well. His rugged rockstar look is well favored by judges and spectators alike.

5. Joshua Ledet

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Judges stood while he was performing “When a Man Loves a Woman” even exclaiming that it was one of the most amazing performances in American Idol history, although some say that his act is getting kinda old.

4. Jessica Sanchez

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Aside from having an Asian-Hispanic origin, Jessica Sanchez has great potential of winning this year’s American Idol due to her powerful, effortless, and high vocals that made Whitney Houston’s songs worth remembering.

3. Skylar Laine

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Belonging to the country category, Skylar Laine is one of the singers this season that has good attitude, strong presence, and care free disposition that makes her the perfect country singer. She just needs to improve on range to make herself complete.

2. Hollie Cavanagh

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Hollie Cavanagh can sing, and she can do it very well. Her songs like “Reflection” and “The Power of Love” show that she has staying power in her current position as second. If she gets together her stage presence and versatility in different songs, then she may nail number one.

1. Phillip Phillips

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He holds a guitar, he sings perfect, and he’s talented. If there would be anyone that can outmatch his suitable armada, then no one can take that spot away from him… except if the judges change their mind.

ludwieg mies van der rohe (1886-1969) World Photos 25

ludwieg mies van der rohe (1886-1969) World Photos 25

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Mar 28, 2012

15 Most Unusual Korean Dishes|Health & Food

 

15 Most Unusual Korean Dishes|Health & Food

In my recent article, , I explored 10 of the most delicious and satisfying Korean foods. In today’s list, we look at dishes that most of us living outside of Korea find very unusual. Despite this, it is worth trying all of the dishes if you get a chance as they are such unique and tasty aspects of Korea’s amazing culinary heritage.

Budae Jjigae

Army Base Stew

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After enduring the second world war, and then the Korean War, the Korean people were left hungry and in need. In order to feed their families, many parents who lived near US army bases took surplus supplies of army goods such as spam and canned frankfurters and added them to a basic kimchi stew. The end result was Army Base Stew. This stew, which can have virtually anything in it – including eggs and ramen noodles – has spread across South Korea and is wildly popular to this day.


Dakbal

Chicken Feet

14Chicken feet are probably one of the least unusual entries on this list, considering that most countries with a Chinese restaurant can get Chinese-style chicken feet. The texture of this dish is very unusual to western palettes – it is sinewy and chewy. Once you get past the idea that you are eating feet, this dish is truly delectable and I couldn’t recommend it enough.


Gejang

Raw Crabs

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These delightful little crabs are not cooked before consumption; instead they are seasoned with various sauces and eaten raw. Interestingly another raw seafood dish of baby crabs is soft enough that you also eat the shells which are not unlike a slightly harder version of an M&M shell. These are very popular in Korea, and you will see bundles of these crabs tied together in chains at most fish markets.


Haemultang

Live Seafood Soup

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While the idea of live seafood soup sounds rather awful, it isn’t as bad as you think. The seafood is all raw when taken to the table, but it is cooked in a very hot soup prior to consumption. The soup contains gochujang (hot pepper paste) and is spicy, sweet and full of flavor from the amazing array of vegetables and herbs that are added (including crown daisies!) This soup is extremely popular in Korea, it is delicious, and it will soon become one of your favorites if you try it.


Tarakjuk

Milk Porridge

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It is commonly believed in the west that Asians don’t eat dairy products. In fact, in both China and Japan, small amounts in the form of ice cream and occasionally milk or yoghurt are consumed – though seldom in cooking. Korea, on the other hand, has a long and venerable tradition of cooking with milk. Tarakjuk originated as Royal Cuisine, and milk has been drunk and cooked with in Korea since the fourth century. This undoubtedly reflects Korea’s great love of eating unusual things for their health benefits and not just taste, and it makes them unique in that area of the world.


Dotorimuk

Acorn Jelly

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While acorns are poisonous, the toxins can be removed by cooking. In parts of Korea (especially mountainous regions), acorns grow in huge numbers. During times of hunger in the past, the people living in the mountains discovered that acorn could be cooked and powdered to provide a starch that can be cooked. The result is a jelly with a very subtle and slightly bitter flavor. When seasoned with soy based sauces and vegetables it becomes a truly delicious side dish.


Hongeo

Fermented Skate

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Korean’s aren’t the only people to eat fermented fish, but this is definitely one of the strongest smelling you will find in the world. Skate doesn’t urinate like other fish – it passes its uric acid through its skin. When it is fermented, the uric acid breaks down into a compound which smells exactly like ammonia. The smell of this fish is so strong that some people recommend breathing in through your mouth and out through your nose to reduce your exposure to the odor.


Cheonggukjang

“Dead Body Soup”

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Dead body soup is so-nicknamed in the west because its odor is so strong and repellant to many. In fact, there is a story (undoubtedly an urban legend) that states that some Korean students living in Germany cooked this soup in their flat, only to have the neighbors call the police fearing that they were keeping a corpse in their home. The soybean paste used for this soup is only briefly fermented (unlike typical soybean paste – pictured above), which means that much of its strong ammonia smell remains. It has largely whole soy beans which stick together with a slimy, gluey substance. But, despite the dreadful description and smell, it is incredibly delicious. Before you think to refuse it on the grounds of its smell, think of how so many of us love to eat blue cheeses, and the strongest of the French soft cheeses like Livarot.


Sundae

Boiled Intestine Sausage

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Other than the name, Korean sundae has no relation to western sundaes. Sundae is a cow or pig’s intestine, stuffed like a sausage with various ingredients. They are a type of blood sausage and can be stuffed with seafood to give you a squid sundae (I bet you never thought you would hear that) or a dried pollock sundae. Typically, the dish is boiled or steamed. Sundae is a very popular street food in both South and North Korea, and you should try it if you get the chance


Gopchang

Barbecued Intestines

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Gopchang is similar to sundae, except that the intestines (small and large) of a pig are grilled without any stuffing. The texture is very chewy, and while the dish is often served cooked alone, it can also be used as an ingredient in other dishes such as stews. Gopchang really is incredibly delicious and it is usually very fresh, so you can be sure of the best taste. When eating it you often have a dipping sauce along side. Despite what it is, this is something most westerners should not have too much difficulty eating


Dak Dong Jib

Chicken Gizzard

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A gizzard is part of an animal’s digestive tract which functions to grind down food. It is made of thick muscular walls. Dak Dong Jib is often wrongly referred to as chicken rectum, but this is not accurate. It is actually a form of sundae and is very common (and popular) in North Korea. Because it is such a heavy dish, it is very popular as a drinking side dish as it helps to absorb alcohol. While it is very common in North Korea, you have to hunt a little harder in South Korea to find it.


Beondegi

Silkworm Larvae

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Beondegi is another Korean street food. It comprises steamed or boiled silkworm pupae, which are seasoned. As well as being a popular snack on the streets, Beondegi is often served with alcohol. When you find a vendor selling silkworm pupae, you can be fairly sure that roast crickets are also not too far away. This is one of those dishes that take a little steel to try for the first time, but when you do you can appreciate why it is such a popular snack.


Sannakji

Live Octopus

If you search youtube you can find various video clips of people eating Sannakji. The octopus is taken fresh from the water, quickly gutted and expertly chopped into many pieces. You then eat it while it continues to writhe on the plate in its myriad parts. This is the only dish on the list which also comes with a danger warning: octopodes’ suckers continue to function even when they are chopped up, so they must be chewed very thoroughly. There have been a number of deaths due to eating Sannakji, because the octopus managed to suck on to a person’s throat.


Bosintang

Dog Stew

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Canine meat is surprisingly common in many Asian countries, and Korea is no exception, though consumption is much less than average there, with dog meat being the fourth most common meat eaten. A special breed of dog is preferred for consumption, and there is a different word for dogs fit for eating and dogs fit for pets. Many Koreans are opposed to the consumption of dog meat for similar reasons to Westerners, but it is quite legal and most restaurants purchase their meat from trusted dog farms. Bosintang is a stew made with dog meat that is eaten on the three hottest days of the year (sam-bok) in order to keep strength up. The texture and taste is not unlike goat. Generally, you find bosintang at restaurants that specialize in the dish. If you want to read a fascinating article that discusses the ethics and laws around this dish, read “Dog – it’s what’s for dinner“.


Gaebul

Live Spoon Worms

Spoon worms are marine animals, and if you look on youtube for videos of them in a tank of water you will see that they bear an uncanny resemblance to a certain part of the male anatomy that I won’t mention here. When consumed, they are cut into bite sized pieces which continue to move (like sannakji) on the plate. I chose this entry for number one because it is not only unusual for us in the west to eat moving creatures, it is even less usual to eat something we are so completely unfamiliar with that we don’t even recognize it. Despite the somewhat alien appearance of these sea worms, gaebul is meant to be very delicious and certainly safer to eat than the raw octopus if you are a lazy chewer.

The 10 Most Disgusting foods In The World|Health

The 10 Most Disgusting foods In The World|Health

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“Think” Fear Factor and Iron Chef combined and you have THE potentially most disgusting buffet of expertly prepared food delicacies on the planet. The world is truly a diverse place especially when you launch a gustatory exploration of what have become curious ick-factor foods for a modernized, watered-down, American palate. Truth is as “foreign” as most of these dishes can be, many have deep cultural underpinnings, some of them the side dishes of famous feasts and the tables of kings. 

All the vital organs of just about any species have been consumed at one time or another and some of them are rich in the best dietary nutrients. Amazonian ants, half-cooked fetal eggs, wriggly worms of all kinds and stages of life, hoofs, beaks, ears, and eyeballs have all been efficiently put to good culinary use. Prep methods are just as enticing: fermenting, pickling, infusing, boiling, blowtorching, decomposing, and simply served live and wriggling.

Culinary Thrill-Seeking for Some, Time-Honored Traditions for Others

If you’re a gag-seeker, foodie adventurer, or looking for some tantalizing new ethnic dish to serve to guests that goes well beyond the ordinary dinner party fare, here are some of the notoriously “I hope I’m never served…” foods, and how they’re prepared, from around the globe.

1. This Cheese is So Gross It’s Been Outlawed…

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Casu Marzu, a pecorino cheese and Sardinian specialty, surely wins among most disgusting cheeses of the world. The direct translation is “rotten cheese” and rightly so: blocks of otherwise beautiful Italian pecorino cheeses are purposely prepared to become the natural breeding grounds for nests of maggots—the natural harbingers of rot and putrefaction. As if pecorino wasn’t pungent enough…

Like many distinct ethnic practices and traditions, formaggio marcio, is a generations old culinary delicacy, with roots in familial history. The process of producing casu marzu, aka “maggot cheese,” is considered a process of finely metered fermentation. However regionally traditional the consumption of maggot-laced cheese, it hardly jives with modern food preparation and sanitation mores, therefore the offending cheese is officially illegal. Don’t let that stop you from searching for a chunk along your Italian travels, even if it will run you a steep number of Euros and from a “black market” peddler. “Godfather, you want formaggio marcio? We’ll get you formaggio marcio, don’t you worry.” Reports are it tastes exactly as you might imagine: strong pecorino, the crawly snot-plump bodies of insect larvae, and the slimy fat they’ve made of the digested cheese. Oh, and the worms jump off the cheese while you’re eating it. Mange!

2. Mongolian Boodog

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They don’t call it “Outer Mongolia” for nothing. Nomads, sans stainless steel gourmet kitchens, ages ago found more ingenious ways to cook a whole goat, sometimes marmot (but they may have fleas that host bubonic plague, so goat may be a better choice)—from the inside out, after you’ve hung it upside down, bled it and broken its legs. The stuffing is a bit non-Western, too: smooth hot stones crammed into every cavity imaginable and even up under the leg skin where you would have yanked the broken the bones out. Blowtorch the beast ‘til desired doneness; it can also be roasted over an open fire. That’s authentic Mongolian barbecued meat, .

3. Soft-Boiled Fetal Duck

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Balut takes a top spot by a landslide among the gross egg category, which should include 100-year old eggs. Balut is a fairly common and unassuming street food available in both the Philipines and Vietnam. It has also earned a widespread reputation as one of the all-time grossest ethnic delicacies. Most of the eggs with which Americans are familiar are unfertilized eggs. The balut, though are fertilized duck eggs, incubated or allowed to grow invitro for a certain length of time, usually a few weeks. Peel back the shell and along with a typical soft-boiled eggy interior is also the small inert body of a fetal duck—small bones, feathers, beak and all, some more developed than others. Most accounts suggest slurping it right from the shell with a pinch of salt. There is a right way to “enjoy” balut. 

4. Whole Sheep’s Head

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Sheep’s head has been a traditional delicacy served in a number of world regions, including the Mediterranean and Northern Europe. You’ll find smoked versions and recipes forsheep’s head soup, usually presented whole and intact, sometimes with brains, often without (risky to consume). The eyeballs and tongue are particular delicacies. In America, most meats are separated from their heads, their feet, their tails—so we can forget about the fact that we’re eating something that once had a head, feet and a tail and at that point we no longer call it cow or pig, but T-bone steak, and bacon. Herein lies the grisly factor in sitting down to a meal of whole sheep’s head.

5. Octopus, Straight-Up

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Anything still alive and squirming is food for a “most disgusting” list. Raw seafood is legendary in most Asian cuisines, Japanese sushi and Korean kimchi are notorious raw realms. Raw octopus is common as is still alive octopus, served straight-up on a plate or in a bowl. Baby octopus (sannakji) may be served cut into bite-sized, still-wriggling pieces, suction cups and all, or slurped squirming, whole. Octopus is exactly as you might imagine: rubbery, chewy and fairly tasteless and some brave adventurers report the suction cups sticking on the way down. Regardless, the dish has been a valued part of Korea’s cuisine for centuries and is considered a vitality enhancer and a health food.

6. Vacationing in Alaska: “Don’t Eat the Stink Heads”

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Salmon is a staple of the native Alaskan diet and natives have traditionally used all parts of the fish. One of the traditional delicacies is fermented salmon heads. Colloquially the dish has earned the name “stink heads.” Essentially the heads of King salmon are buried in the ground in fermentation pits, put into plastic or wooden barrels, even plastic food storage bags, and left to let nature do its thing for a few weeks or more. The heads are then harvested and consumed as a putty-ish mash.

“Stink heads” as a distinct ethnic cuisine have been covered in various mainstream media the latest of which is The Food Network’s “Bizarre Foods” show. In and of themselves salmon heads are not repulsive, whole fish dishes are a legitimate part of rustic AND haute cuisine everywhere and King salmon is a real world delicacy. What has struck the “gross-out” nerve is the overriding fact that much of the stink head prep process is less about fermentation and more about rot and decomposition. The dish, by modern culinary standards, is nothing but rotten salmon heads, albeit treasured tribal fare. Imagine, a bucket load of large King Salmon heads left outside during the warm summer months for a few weeks….Outside the native Alaskan culture the stink head topic is nothing but a novelty, but health-wise the tradition of stink head consumption poses a real and continued challenge to regional Alaskan healthcare professionals faced with frequent and, sometimes serious, totally avoidable botulism cases.

7. Deadly Fish: License to Cook

One of Japan’s most elite delicacies is also one of the most dangerous dishes you’d ever put in your mouth. The fugu fish is a cute little puffer fish, hardly “most disgusting,” but grossly lethal, certainly. Coursing throughout its vital fish organs is deadly venom—tetrodotoxin-- a natural defense system that renders its attackers paralyzed. Ingest enough of this fish’s poison and you’ll go belly-up, too dying a slow death from conscious paralysis and asphyxia. Currently, no type of anti-venom exists to undo what’s done from fugu poisoning. Regardless of the risk, in Japan’s most luxurious restaurants trained and licensed fugu chefs deftly prepare fugu for high society types, fugu aficionados, and culinary thrill seekers. Chefs adhere to strict preparation, sanitation, storage, and disposal guidelines to minimize risk. 

Has fugu killed anyone? You bet it has, though annual deaths resulting from fugu consumption nowadays are few and generally accidental. For true gastronomic satisfaction the best chefs are able to prepare fugu laced with a remaining trace of venom, which reportedly tingles on the tongue, providing the eater with a sensory brush with death. The potential risk makes fugu even more a thrill to consume and one forbidden to hit the Japanese Emporer’s dinner plate.

8. Jellied Moose Nose

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The ‘jelly’ part makes it sound sweet, like a clear jelly you spread on a nice thick slice of toasted sourdough. But jellied is how the moose nose is prepared, not jelly as in bread spread. This is, after all the cooking is done, a traditional and time-honored Alaskan dish of real sliced moose snout. White meat or dark?

The list could go on AND even more interestingly be drawn from the perspective of someone well outside the American diet. A non-American list of most disgusting “delicacies” would probably begin with the All-American hotdog and a bag of pork rinds: “A ghastly, but clever disguising of cast off animal parts that do nothing for your health or virility.”  

9. Bat Paste – Make sure you try this last because it could kill you.
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First, net a bunch of flying mouse, fruit, or fox bats in a remote village.

Drop live into a pot of boiling water or milk.

Roast to desired doneness.

Chop and make into paste with Thai herbs and spices.

Or when you have an abundance of fruit bats, try this optional Fruit Bat Soup recipe 

Bats are part of the native cuisine in Thailand, parts of China, Guam and more, but they are considered notorious disease carriers. You might want to consider dropping them to the bottom of your culinary To-Try list.

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