No Buldaaaaaaaak 🥵

Blame Kendrick for the extra a’s

안녕! It’s Ari, your chatty Korean friend and Valentine’s Day reminder. 💌 I took a long break due to a cold, IBS, and more 😇—I guess the martial law crisis took quite a toll on me. But now I’m feeling better and have plenty of stories to make up for my absence!

Today’s newsletter includes my mom’s recipe, an instant ramen recommendation, an upcoming K-drama, and a mini Korean learning tip. Let’s dive in!

Napa Cabbage Jeon

If you thought Koreans only make kimchi out of napa cabbage, you’re wrong! There’s another way to cook this winter vegetable, and it’s napa cabbage jeon—a delicious, crispy treat that will make a healthier alternative to potato chips and a great vegetarian snack. 😋

Today, I want to share my mom’s special recipe because, trust me, she makes the best napa cabbage jeon. It’s incredibly simple and requires only three ingredients:

• Napa cabbage leaves (as many as you want)

• Frying powder

• A meat pounder

How to Make It

1. Flatten the leaves. After washing and drying the napa cabbage leaves, use a meat pounder to gently hammer them. This makes them easier to fry and helps them crisp up better.

2. Mix the frying powder. In a bowl, mix frying powder with water to create a thin batter. You can use any frying powder, but my mom prefers rice frying powder for extra crispiness.

3. Heat the pan. Put some oil in a heated pan and place the flattened leaves directly onto the pan.

4. Drizzle the batter. Instead of dipping the leaves into the batter (as you would for regular jeon), drizzle the batter over the leaves little by little as they fry. This technique makes the jeon extra crispy and thin—so crispy that they crunch just like potato chips!

5. Flip and cook until golden. Fry both sides until they turn golden brown.

6. Cut into pieces. Once cooked, cut the jeon into bite-sized pieces using scissors or a knife before serving. If you hear a satisfying crunch as you cut, congratulations! You’ve just reached Korean mom-level napa cabbage jeon skills. 👏👏

(Optional) Dipping sauce

Frying powder already has plenty of flavor, so I usually enjoy this dish without a dipping sauce. But if you’d like one, check out the video 👆 for a simple dipping sauce recipe. You’ll also see a slightly different version of this dish in the video.

I guarantee this will be the perfect lazy weekend snack. Try it out, and bon appétit! 😋

No Buldaaaaaaaak 🥵

Dear international readers, we need to talk.

You guys love Buldak too much. So much, in fact, that thanks to overwhelming demand from overseas, South Korea—the homeland of Buldak—has run out of its own fiery noodles. Major convenience stores like CU, GS25, and 7-Eleven have stopped receiving shipments because Samyang Foods simply can't keep up with both domestic and international orders. Our precious spicy noodles are being shipped off to the U.S., Europe, and beyond, leaving Korean convenience store shelves tragically empty.

This isn’t the first time, either. Last year, Buldak became a viral sensation in the U.S., causing a supply crisis there. And now Korea itself has fallen victim to this global obsession. Convenience store owners are frustrated and customers are disappointed, according to a report.

So, dear readers, enjoy your beloved Buldak, but please—leave some for us. 🙃

P.S. If you’re looking for another fiery alternative, my all-time favorite instant ramen is Teumsae Ramen 👆—arguably just as spicy, if not spicier. Give it a try while we Koreans recover from this crisis.

What Age Would You Live in Heaven? 👼

A new K-drama Heavenly Ever After is about to serve us a hilarious, heartwarming take on the afterlife. And based on the trailer, it’s already looking like a heavenly mess.

It all starts when Lee Hye-sook, an 80-year-old woman, dies and takes a train to heaven. Upon arrival, she’s screened like a traveler at an airport and is asked: "What age would you like to live in heaven?"

She chooses 80 because her late husband once lovingly told her: "You were pretty at 20, beautiful at 40… but the most gorgeous at 80." 🥹

But things take a heavenly turn when she arrives at their assigned home in the afterlife and opens the door to see…

👀 Her husband. In his (probably) 30s.

And his reaction to her being 80? Not so angelic. Betrayed by his obvious disappointment, she’s left stuck in eternity with a younger, flustered husband—as they hilariously try to navigate their second chance at marriage.

Since it’s made by the same creative team behind The Light in Your Eyes (2019), a heartwarming and deeply emotional series, I bet this new drama will be just as touching—and a guaranteed tearjerker.

Mark your calendars for April 19! 🕊️✨

Mini Korean Learning Tip: Kendrick Lamar ❤️

As you might have guessed from this email’s title—yes, I watched the Super Bowl halftime show, too. And I’m absolutely obsessed with Not Like Us, TV Off, and Kendrick Lamar’s other songs. (For those who don’t know, the extra ‘a’s in the title were inspired by the way he says “mustaaaaaard” in TV Off.)

Since I couldn’t understand the lyrics at all, (too fast for me) I turned to Universal Music Korea, which uploads Korean-subtitled pop music videos on YouTube. While it’s still hard to fully grasp the meaning without background knowledge (I only know that Not Like Us is a diss track against Drake, another American rapper), the subtitles helped me a lot.

If you’ve ever wondered how the lyrics of Not Like Us 👆 or other pop songs are translated into Korean, check it out. It might help you learn Korean through pop music—not just K-pop.

Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful weekend with your loved ones. 🥰 If you’d like to help make future issues even funnier and better, consider buying me a coffee! ☕️ I might be back next week with an announcement. 📞 안녕!