Cook-and-Eat Korean Pork Bulgogi

It's been a while since I've posted anything with the tag cooking. That's not for lack of preparing food at home.... I've actually made a point over the last few months of eating at home a bit more, and I've taken that up a slight notch since retiring two weeks ago. The reason I've blogged so little about it is that I haven't stretched my skills in the kitchen lately. I've been preparing a lot of the same, simple meals. Why? Well, one, I like them, and two, they solve for time and effort. But recently I tried something a little different.



I saw packages of cook-and-eat Korean meats at the grocery store a few days ago. They're all branded Gen Korean BBQ, which is a chain of about 50 (according to their website) Korean restaurants around the US. There are a few near me. I've been curious to try them— I love Korean BBQ from having traveled extensively in Korea years ago— but haven't gotten around to it. Part of the reason is my spouse is taking a medication that, as a side effect, makes red meat taste metallic, so all-you-can-eat beef BBQ is no longer an "us" activity. I figured grabbing a package of ready-to-cook bulgogi would be the next best thing.

Inside the package is a single vacuum-packed sleeve of marinated meat. I like that it's packed well and isn't overly full of vegetables or sauce. It cooked up nicely in a skillet, though since it's pork the natural fats sizzled and spattered a lot. I used a mesh cover on the skillet. In Korea, pork BBQ restaurants give you plastic bags to put your nice jackets in, because if you don't protect them they'll get covered in aerosolized pork juice and smell like a grill house for days!



To go along with the pork bulgogi I made some rice from a pouch and warmed up a few slices of cornbread Hawk had made a day or two before. Yes, bulgogi and cornbread together— soul food with my Seoul food!

The pork bulgogi was excellent. The meat was tender and flavorful. It had the right amount of gochujang spice (made from red chili powder and fermented soybean) to be "Korean spicy" while not overpowering. I like gochujang because it's a combination of spicy and savory without being burn-your-tastebuds hot. And again, the amount of sauce was appropriate, as was the amount of onion mixed in. They're there for seasoning; this is a meat dish.

Overall I was impressed with how high-quality this pork bulgogi was for a prepackaged, cook-at-home dish. It's genuinely restaurant quality. It's not cheap, though. I think I paid about $13 at the grocery store for the 14oz. package. Beef bulgogi was a few dollars more for the same size.

Now Officially Retired

Today was my official last day of work / start of retirement. Yeah, it seems like I've been retired for almost two weeks now. That's because after I submitted my notice of resignation exactly two weeks ago, my company walked me the following Monday.

I've been doing a whole lot of... nothing much... to soft-launch my retirement. Yes, I had/have great plans for what to do in retirement, but I'm caught in a slow period right now. Hawk has been working through medical issues that have made her unable to travel and do outdoors adventures. Recently I decided that since she's on the DL (disabled list) I might as well go on the DL, too. Thus my choice to see a dermatologist about removing a lump on the back of my head. No cardio exercise or even going to a pool for me for a few weeks.

One thing I've reflected on at this two-week anniversary is this meme I've shared a few times when discussing retirement:



I'm happy to report that I am no longer feeling like the sad person in this illustration. I'm not yet the happy person recording cell phone video of sunny long-range vistas— though I know that will come eventually. Once we get off the DL together.

What's changed? I figured before a combination of two things were making me feel down. One was unsorted feelings about quitting my job, for good. The other was misgivings about "What if the money in retirement doesn't last?"

Well, the latter's already getting a bit of a test with how markets have been slumping the past two weeks. And it's not bothering me. I built our financial plan to handle bumps like this. Nearly every day I revisit the numbers to remind myself it's working.

That leaves unsettled feelings about quitting as the culprit for my feelings of sadness and anxiety. Two weeks later isn't a hugely different vantage point to revisit this question, but in terms of how I'm feeling about it, it's close to night and day different already. I have no question about whether I was right to leave that job. I am so over it now. Zero regrets.