i started the day by writing out a grocery/to-do list. there were so many things i couldn't fit it all on a post-it note and had to get a sheet of printer paper.

i got to market basket by 10am to get some supplies. earlier my sister had called: she was doing her own supply run, going to costco/trader joe's. since i had the car, i filled up two grocery bags with cans and bottles to return. i ended up with $2 worth of deposits.

i got to the cafe by 10:50am to start my bonus work day. even though i had a lot to do, i estimated it'd only take a few hours at most, and i'd be free by the afternoon. that turned out to be wrong and i didn't leave until 7pm.

i started with something easy: baking some chinese sausages in the oven. while that was going on, i started making the taiwanese paocai. i had 18.5 lbs. of cabbage. i barely had enough containers to put them all and had to divide everything up into 3 large stainless steel bowls and a cooking pot. these cabbages were heavily discounted and after cutting them open i realized why: there were dark leaves, not sure the reason, but i had to remove those portions. after breaking all the leaves apart, i weighed everything again to see how much i had left: 15.7 lbs, a loss of nearly 3 lbs. of cabbage. i then salted everything and left it to reduce, turning the cabbage every so often.

my sister was in-and-out at the cafe, dropping off supplies.

the other big thing i had to do was deep fry the salt & pepper chicken. since i had the fryer out, i figured it was also the perfect time to try making some korean fried chicken. around 2pm i started researching recipes. there are two parts to korean fried chicken: double-frying the chicken for extra crunchiness, and making the spicy korean fried chicken sauce.

i found two recipes for a wet fried chicken batter, both for 2 lbs. of wings. the maangchi recipe was drier and included an egg, while the korean bapsang was wetter. i ended up going with the bapsang recipe. i set the battered wings aside for later.

i didn't start frying the salt & pepper chicken until 3:30pm. i became aware of the clock because i was going to ride my bike home and i didn't bring my lights so i had to leave before sunset which was around 5:30pm. frying was grueling work. i dusted the chicken in fine and coarse sweet potato starch before frying. the chicken was large enough that on average only two pieces can fit inside the fry basket. i had the back door open to blow all the oily smoke outside, but that left me freezing as i was working in only a t-shirt. i finally finished after an hour, fried up two boxes of marinated chicken.

my 2nd aunt showed up around that time as well. she came to drop off some of her household compost. shortly afterwards it started to rain. that simplified my choices for getting home since i wouldn't be able to bike. it was either get a ride from my sister, take the car, or walk home. but that was something for later, as i still had a lot of work to do.

i started frying the korean chicken. i had to clean the fry basket first as there was so much caked on bits of breading. the wet batter made a mess, and i learned right away that you can just leave the battered chicken in the basket since it'll stick. so i cleaned the basket a second time for the second batch of wings. after i was done with the first pass (6 minutes), i fried them all again for the second pass (5 minutes). it was crowded but i managed to fit everything into the basket.

once the wings were fried, i had to make the sauces. by then (5pm) i was so exhausted, i basically improvised two sauces: spicy and soy garlic. the spicy sauce was too thick, the soy garlic was too watery. i applied the sauces with a brush and invited my 2nd aunt to try some wings. she said they were okay but because i didn't get the sauces right, it wasn't exactly bonchon. the wings were super crispy and cooked perfectly, very much what you'd get from a korean fried chicken place. i just need to work on the sauces for next time. maybe also try a batter that isn't as well, possibly the maangchi recipe.

around 5:30pm i finally got around to assembling the taiwanese paocai. it took more than an hour, but i ended up with 9 containers of paocai plus a full container of leftover vinegar sugar pickling juice. packaging is pretty messy since what looks to be water is actually sweet vinegar that gets sticky if i don't clean it up.

i finally left the cafe by 7pm. i went over to my sister's place to see esmei and to grab an umbrella so i could walk home. it wasn't so much raining as there was a fine mist permeating the air. i was too tired to walk home and realized i could save time by driving back instead (though i'd have to search for a parking spot), so that's what i did.

i found a parallel parking spot close to my house by my car wouldn't fit. i ended up parking nearly 3 blocks away in a spot that may or may not be kosher (i'll find out tomorrow morning).

i stripped off all my clothes as soon as i got home. everything reeked of frying oil, even my underwear. i took a shower to get rid of the stink. i brought home the leftover korean fried chicken and ended up having that for dinner along with a well-deserved brown cow.

there's still a bunch of cafe things i need to do tomorrow. the forecast says it'll be rainy for much of the week. here's hoping the bad weather will keep the customers away so we won't be so busy.