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hockey rink nachos. I am a sucker for these... especially if a rink ups the ante with salsa, jalapenos or sour cream

Maangchi is the BEST place for Korean recipes- including her easy, DIY mak kimchi (cut, rather than hand stuffing each leaf of a whole cabbage)

I made it here last month.

How did kimchi burgers not make this list? They're one of the easiest things to do with kimchi besides stew.

Other Korean approved uses: kimchi pajeon (spring onion pancakes, served as an appetizer), kimchi fried rice (season rice with garlic, ginger, and kimchi liquid, then fry with chopped kimchi), topping on kogi-style tacos (which was sort of mentioned in passing).

Quesedillas, grilled cheese are a toss up - because cheese isn't entirely native to the Korean diet, but they *are* obsessed with tossing cheese into random things, such as kimbap or ramyun.

Kimchi jjigae is fairly simple though -- just cover the kimchi with water, add as much liquid from the kimchi jar as you can, simmer at least 45 mins until kimchi is very very soft. Mix in drained tuna, cubed tofu and cook another 15-30 mins. Add gochuchang (red chili paste) or gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) if it's not spicy enough.

Serve with white rice!

@lemons tteokbogi is a Korean "street food" -- most Korean restaurants don't serve it (and yes, they might get offended if you try to order it -- imagine if someone came into a nice American-style restaurant and ordered hot dogs or a giant pretzel with cheese)

this dish is usually made with gochuchang, Korean red chili past, and some David Chang's recipe at Ssam bar uses both gochuchang AND ssamjang, blended with silken tofu to make the sauce creamier.

I would also recommend using sesame oil (or part canola part sesame) to grill the rice cakes. You will get a way better flavor!!

It's actually a great way to use up the dark parts of a leek!! If you know you'll be making stock in the near future, just hang on to them in your veggie drawer. If you don't make stock often, start an "odds and ends" bag in your freezer -- throw in cheese rinds, dark parts of leeks, chicken bones, etc. to flavor up your stock!

Check your area for large ethnic grocery stores. When I lived in Washington this was the biggest way that I saved money -- produce and meat were all cheaper. You can feed yourself for a LONG time if you can buy a whole chicken for $4.

Also check the prices on grains in bulk -- you can get a ton of rice, dried beans, quinoa, etc. usually for cheap.

Save all of your odds and ends -- bones/carcasses, ends of veggies (like the dark part of leeks, etc), stems from fresh herbs, rinds from cheeses -- they will help to flavor up stocks and soups.

Chili is usually incredibly cheap to make - especially if you use dried kidney beans. Stock up on tin tomatoes and ground beef when they are on sale -- they can be made into meat sauce, chili, tacos & salsa, etc.

the best ways to save money are to see what's on sale in the circulars every Sunday, plans your meals meticulously, make a shopping list and stick to it. If fish is on sale, have fish. If pork is on sale, have pork. Eat veggies that are in season. Make your own bread.

I have the 9-cup Stainless Cuisinart DLC-Prep and love it. On very very rare occasions I do wish I had sprung for the 11 cup, but then when I have to put it away and take it out again, I'm glad to have the mid-sized model.

The only requirement of yours it does not meet is that it is *not* quiet. But then, I doubt you're going to find any food processor or blender that works quietly!

@kazari your tip about leaving tteok in soup (ie: tteok guk) is spot on -- and most recipes fail to mention that point.

I always have at least 1 bag of the tubes and 1 bag of the slices in my fridge/freezer for tteokbogi and tteokguk. Thanks for highlighting such a key Korean ingredient, Chichi!

Just left DC -- and LOVED the food there.

Great Ethiopian places on H Street (esp. Dukem)
Pho and pupusas in Columbia Heights
Kushi (down past Chinatown)
Kramers, James Hobans, Front Page, Levantes (DuPont Circle)

VA has a ton of great Korean restaurants (Annandale area)

And I'll second @kathleen's push for Oyamel and Churchkey

And if I were leaving NYC I'd stock up on Momofuku pork buns and buttered rolls from the breakfast carts.

My roommates in college were perfectly happy to eat noodles with butter and cheese and animal crackers, so we shared few communal food items: butter, eggs, mayo/condiments, etc. Sometimes we would split the Costco bag of frozen chicken breasts.

But I think in your situation, I would move toward cooking for yourself and buying your own groceries.

roasted garlic in place of fresh
crumble some feta on top
paprika
cumin
cayenne or red chili flakes or a drizzle of chili oil

a good fresh sourdough -- I take special pleasure in finding this, since I've never successfully made a sourdough from scratch.

Homemade: cheese & herb pull apart bread, multigrain with sesame, poppy, fennel & pumpkin seeds topping

From Mom's kitchen: pumpkin gingerbread smeared with cinnamon cream cheese icing

Sometimes for a quick lunch, I"ll just boil up any noodles (rice, egg, glass, sweet potato) I've got on hand, toss with kimchi and scallions.

Kimchi chiggae gets even easier than the Momofuku recipe mentioned: Mix all the liquid from bottom of the kimchi jar with 4-6 c water, simmer kimchi until tender (1 hour). Mix in cubed tofu & 1 can flaked tuna meat, cook another 15 mins. serve with hot white rice or chapchae noodles.

Or the way Koreans eat it: wrap a nori square around a bite of rice and kimchi, pop into your mouth! Simple and delicious.

Otherwise, I second kimchi bokkeum bap (fried rice) and kimchi pajaeon (the pancakes -- but should be made with pajeon or pancake batter, not shredded potatoes)

@chuck - if you don't have it, don't sweat it -- unless, as others have mentioned, you were planning to make daikon radish kimchi. (though, I doubt you would be posting this q if that were the case) Korean cooking often comes down to "use what you got" and everyone's kimchi is a little different.

@CJ I'd be wary of kimchi after a month. I usually say 2-ish weeks but in the 3rd week you could make kimchi chiggae (cover with water, mix in 1 can tuna meat, 2 c. small cubed tofu, simmer 1 hour until kimchi is soft), bokkumbap (fried rice with kimchi) or kimchi pajeon (kimchi green onion pancakes)

The "funky" smell is fairly distinct. Fresh kimchi is more garlicky and sharply spicy. Funky kimchi is sour and pungent.