kimchi and friends

The sun will always rise.  Puppies will always be cute.  I will always have an unhealthy attachment to my bed.  And there will always be leftover filling after a meal of dumplings.  That's just the way it is.

I had very little desire to make more dumplings (especially since I have enough to fry up for another post), which is how I stumbled across this.

Freaking genius.  I didn't even have to season it because the pork already had it.  I did add some thin slices of onion though because it was there.

Naturally my always dependable companion Sriracha was first to the party (and by 'party,' I mean 'dinner for one').

 But it wasn't enough.  It is still a derivative of dumplings after all.  That's why black vinegar and sesame oil (a combination I taught everyone to convert to) joined the fun next.

So here's basically the same picture again with those minor but very important additions.

 And even though every bite of that one patty was perfect, my mind wandered to my meals for the coming week.  (You should know that I keep an ever-changing sticky note on my desktop dedicated to planning out my lunches and dinners -- breakfast is always coffee and chocolate because my body is a temple.)  Which entails perusing the fridge to remind myself what I have.  Which is how I finally finished up my pickles.  

 They look like two best friends with wild technicolor hair.

And because Audrey saved my life by spontaneously purchasing kimchi some odd weeks ago, forgetting about it, and then letting me basically use up half the jar... I made her vegetarian patties with half the kimchi batter plus cabbage, carrot, and onion.  I have to confess that I totally forgot about salt until it was on the pan, so I sprinkled each patty with my reserved pretzel salt.  She ate it with a fried egg, and I couldn't believe I didn't remember that sooner.