244 replies to this topic

[Peter Green]

Thanks, everyone.

My apologies on how slow the posting has been on my side, but we've been having way too much fun here. I'm noticing that my posting rate is inversely proportional to the square of the number of family members around.

Here's a quick synopsis:
October 8-10 we've now got covered.
October 11 (coming soon I hope) Incheon
October 12-13 back in Seoul
October 13-14 the East Coast
October 14-15 Seoraksan
October 15-17 we're back in Seoul

In answer to the waistline question.....I'd like to think we were staying trim, but Jason was in work yesterday, and the comment was "Man, you've put on weight!" "Yeah, yeah, my uncle Peter is in town".

Last night was incredibly good beef - hanu - marbled like a good Carrera villa. And then it seemed like we had a good reason to mix soju and yogurt.....

As Yoonhi says, it's easy to understand now why so many of our Korean friends are retiring back in Seoul.

I wonder if there's a Betty Ford clinic here........

[philadining]

I don't suppose you remember the name of the artist that did those spiders? Because I'm sure they have one of them in Tokyo, in Roppongi Hills. It's hard to forget something like that.

Sorry to jump in, but those look like Louise Bourgeois spiders.

Oh, and yet another great travelogue Peter...

[SheenaGreena]

AY ddeokbokki! I love ddeokbokki! Your picture of the ddeobooki looks really good, and spicy. Was it sweet? The dak kalbi looks scrumptious! I love the fact they put perilla in with the dak kalbi. I love that stuff perilla. So much so I had vision of myself with wads of the perilla leaves as pom poms...okay now that you all know I'm a little touched in the head lets move on... unsure.gif

Domestic:

Either Peter and has family are gifted with really great metabolism or maybe they are walking a lot? The last time I was in Korea DH said I dragged him to all the street food stalls and restaurants in korea. Well he was exaggerating but not by much. cool.gif I was a little afraid to see the scale when I got home but I had lost 7 pounds from all the walking. Hmmm wonder if we can market the eat walk in korea diet. Where everything is healthy! rolleyes.gif tongue.gif

you like perilla? me too. Every summer when I visit my parents, I like to go in the backyard and eat whole kkaenip leaves by the fistful. You have to be careful, cause bugs like to sneak underneath the leaves and hangout.

the last time I was in korea I ate like a fat ass. I ate so much food, eating at least one meal a day out for a month and I ate my fair share of street food and korean snacks. I thought I was going to gain 50 pounds, but I lost almost 20 lbs. It was probably all of that walking around in the hot summer sun all day.

peter, isn't it funny how everything korean is good for you? My mother always forces me to eat all of the pork fat on my pork. "Sheena, eat your pork fat, it's healthy kind and good for you"

since when was pork fat healthy?

[Peter Green]

peter, isn't it funny how everything korean is good for you?  My mother always forces me to eat all of the pork fat on my pork. "Sheena, eat your pork fat, it's healthy kind and good for you"

since when was pork fat healthy?

Sheena, how can you question the benefits of pork fat? I'm shocked!

I've got Jason and Yoonhi on the lookout in the department stores. I have complete faith that we're going to find an add for deep fat fryers saying that they're "fresh and healthy".

And thanks, Phila! I wasn't able to place the spiders, but now that I've got a name, I can bring it up in conversation with my nephew like I know what I'm talking about.

We're off back to Coex to satiate Serena's need for shopping and video games.

Peter

[SheenaGreena]

so when are you coming to boston to adopt me and take me with you on your culinary journeys?

is your nephew single? Maybe I will just marry into the family

[faine]

Man, this account is friggin' magnificent. I have got to go to Korea as soon as humanly possible. That duck looks obscenely delicious.

Is there a big difference between baiju and soju? Or are the variants on the same rocket fuel type alcohol?

[Domestic Goddess]

Peter, just a heads up. The World Exposition on Toys is now being exhibited in COEX Exhibition hall (on top of COEX mall). Maybe you'd like to bring Serena there too. The exhibition ends on Sunday. Billy and I will be going there with my Ubekhistan friend Oksana with her son on Saturday. We might eat at Jackie Chan's restaurant for lunch.

[Peter Green]

Is there a big difference between baiju and soju? Or are the variants on the same rocket fuel type alcohol?

Hi, Faine,

I'm not certain what baiju is. If it's Korean, I'll find out. The Japanese shochu is very similar, although slightly stronger (soju is only around 20%).

I'll devote some comments soon to soju.

Cheers,

Peter

[Peter Green]

Peter, just a heads up. The World Exposition on Toys is now being exhibited in COEX Exhibition hall (on top of COEX mall). Maybe you'd like to bring Serena there too. The exhibition ends on Sunday. Billy and I will be going there with my Ubekhistan friend Oksana with her son on Saturday. We might eat at Jackie Chan's restaurant for lunch.

Thanks, Doddie! We were just there today, but our feet were wearing out so we didn't do the Toy exhibit (and Yoonhi's a little delicate after last night's binge at a hojangmacha). Serena was......well, let's say "unhappy" about this.

There's also a Robotics Expo (which we did do) in there too, so it'll be a good day for you guys.

Cheers,

Peter

[milgwimper]

AY ddeokbokki! I love ddeokbokki! Your picture of the ddeobooki looks really good, and spicy. Was it sweet? The dak kalbi looks scrumptious! I love the fact they put perilla in with the dak kalbi. I love that stuff perilla. So much so I had vision of myself with wads of the perilla leaves as pom poms...okay now that you all know I'm a little touched in the head lets move on... unsure.gif

Domestic:

Either Peter and has family are gifted with really great metabolism or maybe they are walking a lot? The last time I was in Korea DH said I dragged him to all the street food stalls and restaurants in korea. Well he was exaggerating but not by much. cool.gif I was a little afraid to see the scale when I got home but I had lost 7 pounds from all the walking. Hmmm wonder if we can market the eat walk in korea diet. Where everything is healthy! rolleyes.gif tongue.gif

you like perilla? me too. Every summer when I visit my parents, I like to go in the backyard and eat whole kkaenip leaves by the fistful. You have to be careful, cause bugs like to sneak underneath the leaves and hangout.

the last time I was in korea I ate like a fat ass. I ate so much food, eating at least one meal a day out for a month and I ate my fair share of street food and korean snacks. I thought I was going to gain 50 pounds, but I lost almost 20 lbs. It was probably all of that walking around in the hot summer sun all day.

peter, isn't it funny how everything korean is good for you? My mother always forces me to eat all of the pork fat on my pork. "Sheena, eat your pork fat, it's healthy kind and good for you"

since when was pork fat healthy?

I love Perilla! When living with the parents I had several plants growing every year in the back yard. I would go out there to see if the plants were big enough to start picking from. LOL well There has been a couple plants that didn't fare too well with me around, but man I love the stuff.

My Emo Halmoni's family owns a farm, and one of the crops they grow is perilla. So, one of my favourite childhood memories is waking up very early in the morning and heading out to the field (well on a side of a hill) and smelling the scent of perilla in the air. Man it brings back memories.

Sometimes when the plants are too small to pick from I will gently rub a leaf between my fingers to smell the lovely scent. I never grew enough of the plants to scent the air.


I had to laugh about the pork fat! my mom used to say the same thing, but now I am trying to lose weight she tells me to eat it in moderation.

[prasantrin]

Ketsup flavour!  But I brought those from the Middle East for my nephew to try out on his friends who haven't seen these.

You can get Ketchup chips in the Middle East? I thought those were only for Canadians! Or are they imported to the ME for all those ex-pat Canadians? Can't get them in Japan, but I can get salt and vinegar!

[Peter Green]

You can get Ketchup chips in the Middle East?  I thought those were only for Canadians!  Or are they imported to the ME for all those ex-pat Canadians?  Can't get them in Japan, but I can get salt and vinegar!

I suspect it's part of the "if we can't move the stock anywhere else, then ship it to the ME".

They were just what Jason wanted, but Yoonhi almost didn't let me bring them as she doesn't consider Pringles to be potato chips (being pressed and molded dehydrated potato dust).

Hey, we're reading this stuff now - dried potatos, vegetable oil, rice flour, wheat starch, maltodextrine, emulsifier e471, sugar, natural and artificial ketsup flavour, autolyzed yeast extract, acidity regulator, dextrose, salt, flavour enhancer MSG, garlic powder, onion powder, colour, paprika extract, spice (dried cloves and clove oil), and more flavour enhancer (disodium glunyoate).

Sounds good. It must be healthy.

She wins. It's a "potato snack", not technically potato chips, as chips have to be "slices of something".

She is willing to concede that, technically, it could still be considered food.

I'm getting off topic again, aren't I?

[Domestic Goddess]

Psst, Peter, where we met you was in Icheon city, not Incheon (where the international airport is). Just a head's up.

And if it is not confusing enough, it is also spelled Ichon. And it is also a name of a subway stop in Seoul.

[nakji]

Yo, I was worried. I used to live in Incheon, and I was like, "Incheon? Why the hell did he go to Incheon?".

But Icheon is much nicer.

I have never been to Ichon.

This message has been brought to you by my Thursday night bottle of wine.

Thank you.

[Peter Green]

Psst, Peter, where we met you was in Icheon city, not Incheon (where the international airport is). Just a head's up.

And if it is not confusing enough, it is also spelled Ichon. And it is also a name of a subway stop in Seoul.

Yup! Yoonhi finally read through what I've been writing, and slapped me silly over that.

And I think we drove past another Incheon pm the way back from Seoraksan.

I'll just play dumb white guy. I'm a natural.

[Peter Green]

October 11 Thursday
Refreshed from a (relatively) early night, we went to Icheon to see Doddie and Billy for a traditional meal. The bus ride was an easy matter, only an hour from station to station, and then we took advantage of our meeting spot – Dunkin Donuts – to have a cup of coffee.


Black coffee, that is. And a proper sized pour. Traditionally, the Koreans serve instant, and they portion it out in thimble sized cups. Weak instant. I am not a fan of Korean coffee shops (tabang). Dunkin’ may not be the best coffee in the world, but it’ll do the job.

Doddie and Billy showed up, and it was instant recognition all around. Okay, maybe I don’t really blend in in Icheon…..

We dropped in at the same place that Doddie had taken Jason True – Sonmok Nadul Hae - a traditional Korean meal restaurant, with a lovely assortment of panchan, chigae, and main dishes. Doddie’s already described it before in her ssalbap thread, but let me use up some space here for the photos.


First, the array of dishes is huge. A normal Korean meal might have six or eight panchan, but here you end up with 25 or more plates of stuff on the table. Just to get all of those out there and positioned would, you think, take ages.

This is the really fun part.


They wheel your table setting out as a huge wooden tray. Ideally two people (but we saw one waitress do it) fit the tray to the table and then just slide it into place.



So, what’d we have? I won’t try to cover everything, but the fermented crabs were really good. Crab is always so good, but so much of a pain to eat. Here it’s easy. You just put the body into your mouth and bite down. The raw/fermented meat then just oozes out into your mouth, like you’ve bitten into a large pustule.



There was comforting chigae of golden beegee (stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive), which is a byproduct of making tofu. In the West, this is what gets used in making veggie burgers. And there was some roast pork to be taken with the lettuce and perilla/sesame leaves - I was looking at this on Wikipedia, and even though the Koreans call it sesame leaf, it’s actually a member of the mint genus. Whatever, I love the taste of it fresh.

And the pickled seaweed (miyok) was excellent, with that sunimono flavour. So, too, were the mushrooms (but not in a sunimono way).



And there was fish, thin and robust. I think this was a mackerel, as it had a good oil level in the meat.



The kim chi was fine, but the spinach and gim (seaweed sheets) took Serena’s attention, while Billy went for the shredded beef, soaked in soy.



And the rice was, of course, just the way it should be. A lighter rice, and almost translucent. Icheon is one of the key agricultural zones in Korea, famous for their beef, their orchards (peaches!), chilis, and especially for their rice (but for more on this, check out Doddie’s thread). Unfortunately, I’m missing the Icheon Rice Festival by a week. I have full faith that Doddie will cover it, and this should be a lot of fun.

While the food was good, Doddie and Billy were the best part of the meal. It’s a lot of fun getting together with her, and going over our guilty sins – like taking pictures of everything that happens in our kitchens, and of spending way too much time in egullet. She’s got amazing enthusiasm for everything she does. Not that we left Yoonhi out (I do have a sense of self preservation). When you live overseas, there are always common experiences that make for good table sharing over food. Serena was in bookworm mode at the start, but she warmed up as time went by, and she and Billy were enjoying themselves, looking at rocks, and starting to think of trouble they could get into by the end of the meal.



After lunch we stopped in at one of the ceramic places nearby. Icheon is also famous for its pottery, and hosts an every-other-year ceramic expo (and check out Doodie’ thread here).

Yoonhi’s sister phoned us during the day, and when she heard we were in Icheon, her immediate reaction was “that’s the place for pottery”.



The exhibit next to the restaurant had some very elegant pieces. The Su An Ceramic Research Centre, with the founder’s pedigree on display outside, listing where he graduated from, and what prizes he’d won. I’m always partial to the cracelature of celadon, and that green colour that’s really hard to describe (so I won’t). There was one theme of carp spiraling in a school up a slender wine bottle that I really took to, but Yoonhi had some words to say about packing. Oh well.

We returned to town to the bus station, as Doddie had a meeting she needed to be at, and then we three Greens did a bit of a stroll up the walking street (no vehicle access) that runs through town.

Koreans are really, really good at getting people to come into their stores. We’d only just stepped onto the street when a loud speaker starting speaking to us. We saw it was a guy at the cash register of the 99 cent store, with a headset on speaking into a mike non-stop. “C’mon in! Hey, you in the red shirt, get in here! That lady in the blue top has already picked up five things!”

Kind of extroverted.

We came out of there with a new rice scoop (chugok), some spatulas, and a little hand grater. You never know when these things’ll come in handy.



I’ve been told that this is the transliteration of “Cologne” (or the German “Koln” – where’s my umlaut?). It just comes out rather unfortunate here..



Korea does a land-sale business in flowers. Whenever there’s a new shop, you have to pack the entryway with these things. Tripod mounted, or just leaned against the doorsills, they look like triffids decked out for the debutantes ball.

I was pretty good about keeping the camera holstered for much of this, but all it took was the first butcher’s shop on the avenue to get me going.


The heads are on proud display here (someori). They’re also advertising ribs (kalbi), and feet (chokbal).


Here they’re advertising gift sets of meat.


Tripe, tripe, glorious tripe. Here there are two of the four types. What a wonderful animal the cow is to have so many stomachs.


This looks like a whole stomach, which is something I should ruminate over.



And blood. Great when congealed and taken like jello in soup. (I can’t really ever recall trying real Jello in a soup. I wonder what that would be like?).



Bundles of garlic for sale on the pavement, the stems dried out.



Fresh clams (over on the right front). Boy, do I miss clams. And those mini conches that you winkle the meat out of. There’s a bag of baby octopi up at the back, and crabs up on the left. Shrimp fry, and more stuff that doesn’t go to waste in this country.



Bracken fern (gosari), lotus roots, and what we think may be bellflower root and potato stems (in the back).



Two old guys were having soju and sashimi, and asked me to join them for a cup. You’re never without friends if you drink soju. Plus, it’s healthy for you!



And then there are the famous chilis of Icheon (and the not so famous carrots, aubergine, and cucumbers – but they’re still good), and there’s a package of those tubby mushrooms that just make me think of Japanese cartoons.



I love mushrooms. I am always willing to take photos of fungus of any sort (okay, no pictures of my toes, I promise). And that’s algae bundled up like a witches scalp in the styrofoam. Beans in the blue bowl, I do believe.



Pig’s feet for sale, all cooked up and ready for a gnawing, and spring onion pancake (pacheon) on the tray.



And we found some roasted barley for making boricha. We were out of this back home, so we picked up a kilo. Plus they had roasted corn for oksusucha (more “tea”). I know, I know, you can’t technically call it tea if it didn’t come from a tea plant, but we’ve got tradition on our side here (and we’ll call them sesame leaves – kkaenip – even if they’re not from sesame plants).



These little nests were shredded dried chili. They looked too good to pass up, so I grabbed a handful.



I’m drawing a firm “I don’t know” from Yoonhi regarding these three things. There was an old lady around the corner from the bori guy selling these. Dried flowers, the middle one may be chrysanthemum, as it says “suk”. Anyone want to jump in?


And then there’s gochugaru – crushed red chili. All sorts of different consistencies and grades. This is how you get those wonderful reds in the chigaes that just can’t be recreated back home.





There was more seafood, muscles and clams with sacks of ice on top, the water dripping down onto the pavement below.



And behind the shells were pretty little octopii, orange now, instead of the purply-red.



And more of the fruits of the sea to keep everyone happy (at least me).




Pears. Korean pears. These are seriously addictive. We used to buy boxes every year when the season was in, but then they stopped carrying them where we lived, as the price had become so high that we were the only ones eating them. Refrigerate, and then peel them to reveal that white crispiness that drips sweetness as you crunch in……Korean women are experts at peeling fruit. Give one a knife, and she’ll have the skin flayed perfectly in seconds…..it makes me nervous at times…….

Finally it was time to think about getting back to Seoul to meet up with Jason for dinner. The buses leave regularly, so it’s never a long wait. Serena spotted some shoestring potatoes, so we sprang for a cupful for her for the ride.


Surprise. Deep fried yam. Cold, and hard enough that I could probably use them to nail together a back porch.

She was not amused.

Edited by Peter Green, 18 October 2007 - 05:13 PM.

[Peter Green]

Well, it had to happen. Our first really rainy day here in Seoul. I should be getting the family up for an outing, but I don't see the need for speed right now.

Maybe it'll be the Rodin collection today. Yoonhi was talking about that last night, although it's not like her to be interested in Godzilla's enemies.

This afternoon I've an appointment at the Cordon Bleu. It'll be interesting to compare the established school here in Korea with the brand new facility in Bangkok that we saw last month.

And this evening it's Nanta! Korea's famous cooking/acrobatic/dance show.

Getting tickets has been a pain, as you have to book online, and when you go to book, you need your Korean citizen's number. Jason's a returned Korean, which gets him almost all the rights of a citizen (but no voting, and he doesn't get to do military service), but he has a different prefix on his number, so the booking doesn't work.

We tried going to the office, but they said "go online". We told them we couldn't book as we weren't Korean, they said "get your tour operator to book". We told them we didn't have a tour operator, and they said "goodbye".

We finally got some Korean friends here (Yoonhi met them in Vancouver in the summer, and they've two girls Serena's age) to book us the tickets, so we're set for 8p.m. tonight. I've seen clips of the performance on Chinese TV, and it looks hilarious.

Hmmmm.....maybe I should bring the chairs in out of the rain?...

[SheenaGreena]

I want to eat 50 of those pears, but they have to be ICE cold.

speaking of which, how cold is it in korea? Is it time for those fish stuffed with red bean? yum yum How about hoddeok?

[Peter Green]

I want to eat 50 of those pears, but they have to be ICE cold. 

speaking of which, how cold is it in korea?  Is it time for those fish stuffed with red bean? yum yum How about hoddeok?

Having rushed out in the rain to pull in the chairs from the patio, I'd put the temperature at "%&#% cold". The wind's died down, though, and visibility is back up.

This is the first bad day in Seoul. Otherwise it's been in the mid20's centigrade most days, and only in the teens at night.

However, cold weather just makes hot food taste better, say I.

[Domestic Goddess]

Sheena, it's def. cold and def. time for the fish stuffed with red bean. I'll take pics of it later for you. Hoddeok is always available all year round.

Peter - great pics! Thanks for the glowing description of moi and my Billy. *blush* Hubby was appeased with the pictures you posted of the food. He was so disappointed I didn't take pics of our meal (I said you had a better camera and I was enjoying eating so much).

I have converted my hubby to the first step of becoming an eGullet foodie. Now to get him to post and read in here.

Edited by Domestic Goddess, 18 October 2007 - 09:50 PM.

[Peter Green]

yum yum How about hoddeok?

Sheena,

My reference tools have woken up, and yup, we've already had some hoddeok. That was at Seoroksan. The rate I'm going at, we may not see those pictures for weeks.

What's the name of the fish with red beans stuffed inside? I'm drawing a blank on that one.

Cheers,

Peter

[Domestic Goddess]

I found the name!

Bunggeo-pang

Bunggeo means goldfish and it's the shape of the mold where the batter is poured. Then it it filled with red bean paste and is a favorite Autumn and Winter snack all over Korea. I'll take a couple of pics of it later.

And I found a very informative link with pictures of it on: Korean Winter Food - Bunggeopang

Edited by Domestic Goddess, 18 October 2007 - 09:46 PM.

[milgwimper]

Sorry I am still new to Egullet so I don't know how to speparate the posts or post between the quotes, so I will try to make it clear as possible.

Anyways...On the unknown herbs :

The one that says "clothes"Namool = I found it to be Rhus verniciflua Stokes, The lacquer tree.
I looked it up on a korean website herbmart. Sorry I don't know what the policy is for linking here but I am sur eyou can find it fi you look. But one of my korean dictionaries says it is poison ivy, and the other has other words for poison ivy. ARGH

The other listed keeps telling me I am misspelling it in korean, and I have no idea what is is in english or latin. I am thinking it is crysanthemum because of the sook.

Anyways I hope it helped and not made the confusion worse.


The food and Company!

I have to agree that I don't like the dabang for coffee but I do love the teas! Thanks for reminding me that I need to get some bori, and oksusu for tea. I am running low myself.

The marinated crabs! Yum in our family none of the males will touch it, but my mom and I chow down! I love this too, but my favourite has to be the raw crab mucchim with spicy paste...

I loved the picture with Doddie, Billy, Serena and yourself, too bad Yoonhi wasn't in the pic. It looked like everyone had a great time.

Doddie you look so pretty and I love you hair!

The pics are awesome and I want to be there! Wow I haven't seen that many banchan on the table in a long while. Thanks for posdting the pics it almost made me feel as I was there! *sniff*

The chokbbal looks so delicious! Yum Yum! I miss the seafood the most though. I do get some seafood but not the variety that your pics show...not even the variety I used to get in california. *sigh*

The Korean pears! I love the korean pears nice an cold on a warm day. I love the chame (yellow melons) too.

Talking about perilla I told my husband we had to start growing it indoors starting tomorrow.

Nanta! I so wanted to see that the last time I was in Korea, but getting tickets was pretty impossible task. I don't know why they make it so hard for people. I just found there phone number for reservations if anyone is interested. I hope you enjoy the show!

[Peter Green]

Oct 11 – Back in Seoul

The bus ride was uneventful, which is a good thing. A smooth one hour back to the station out on the east side, and then we did a quick tour of the Techno Mart, as Serena was in search of games.

Well, Techno Mart was a bit of a bust. Floor after floor of camera equipment (some videos, but primarily stills), a smattering of movies and games but none of interest to the girl, especially when she came to understand that the games would probably be in Korean, the usual cell phone counters, and graphic boards and such like.

The stopover was only saved by two items.

One: some really good looking fridges. These were beautiful, with lower freezer sections, sleek finishes, and all sorts of flashy controls. You can network these, and have internet screens for access, internal scans for inventory, expiry dates. Way cool. Gone are the days when the Korean appliances were second to the ones you’d pick up on the base at Yongsan. And, with the fridges were the kimchi fridges. These things, the size and shape of a small chest freezer, will keep the kimchi at an even temperature and humidity during the ferment, replacing the old George Romero method of putting them in the ground until it’s time for them to raise themselves.

Second: we’ve got the parking lot girls. These young ladies, in the most tasteful of latex miniskirts and knee high boots, bob and weave and dance through the parking instructions for cars coming in, and still with a little bow as you go by. I could watch them all day (or until Yoonhi whacks me on the side of the head).

The Green Line (no relation to my family tree) got us back home from there, and we came back through the lobby, past the table of menus, and up the elevator.



When I’ve been elsewhere, particularly Europe, I’m always struck by the proliferation of posters and flyers for rather, well, personal services. Here, it’s food. There’s the table especially laid out in the lobby, but there were also flyers taped in the elevators, and stuff getting slid under the doors.

These people are serious.

(I particularly liked the yellow bunny menu – which said “You love me?” on its tummy. It’s a Chinese restaurant, which means noodles).

Home and washed, it was time for dinner.



Tonight it was mapo jib over in Dogokdong near Maebongyok (Maebong station). I think I’ve got that right. Yoonhi’s sleeping, and it’d be worth my life to wake her up for this. This was down the alleyway (golmok) or rather the eating alley (mokja golmok).



As you can guess, the specialty is pork. Charcoal bbq’d pork rib specialty.


As usual, the panchan is out in a flash, and we could start getting some nibbles started. Mulkimchi of sliced Korean radish (mu) to keep us busy.



The pork comes out in the marinade, and there’s a helping of garlic that’ll be roasted with it. Korean marinating is wet. Very wet.



And there’s ddeanjang (bean paste) to have with the meat.



The meat’s a good cut, none of this thin-sliced stuff I’d been used to in North America, and the cloves of garlic go into a little foil cup for roasting (we love roasted garlic).



(Sorry for this shot, but I was getting blurry). As usual, we go running with scissors and snip the meat into bite-sized pieces once almost cooked (it’ll finish as we prep the wraps for ssum). The perilla (there, I’m using it) and lettuce enfold the meat, spring onion, ddeangjang, garlic, and pork, you pop it in your mouth, and move onto the next one.



The chigae was a good broth worked up with kim chi, and then dressed up with some chunks of pig blood. The staff were wondering if I’d eat it! Hah!



Once we’d slowed down on the pork ssum, we called in some mungbean nengmyun (cold noodles).



This we used to make up individual servings of bi bim nengmyun (mixed up nengmyun). Just like bi bim bap.




And dessert was those sweet little grains of fermented rice in sugar water – sikkae.



This place was packed by the time we were getting ready to leave. Jason remembers it from when it was a hole in the wall, and really beaten up, but they’ve had a lot of renovation work done in the last year. The kitchen looked good, new stainless steel everywhere (although the wiring always makes me wish I was wearing rubber bum boots).


We did a stroll up the alley. I’m almost tempted to take a short vacation and just try and eat one of these. Even that is fairly ambitious.



Serena did her part though, ordering up more chocolate gelato across the street.

It was getting late for the girl (even with her gelato sugar buzz on), so we sent her and Yoonhi back home (okay, it was getting late for Yoonhi, too) and Jason and I headed over to Rodea Drive in Apgujeong.

As you can guess from the name, this one of the posher parts of town. You pay more to eat and drink here, just because of where you are. On the bright side, that tends to raise the overall quality, and draws in the crowds. And, as trendy is everything you see more experimenting with stuff, and less adherence to tradition.

Our purpose here was to try the fruit soju. For this we headed down into Café Ahn, also known as AFS – “alcohol fruit soju” – which does sound kind of redundant, but what the heck.

The décor is …..eclectic. It was broken off into quadrants, each with its own style, and some Austin Powers’ 1960s cushions in the middle.



As soon as we were sat two plates of appetizers came out, one deep fried mandu (dumpling), and the other – frankly – unidentifiable. We think it was marinated seafood bits. But we weren’t here for food…..well, not this food.



What we did want to try (and remember, you have to order food with your drinks, “anju”) was the snails - golbaengyi. These were served mixed up in noodles and kimchi. Tough little guys, with a very distinctive flavour.



But, the star of the show (and our very raison d’etre) was the apple soju. This comes out in a big bowl with lots of ice. What it doesn’t come out with is lots of soju. Really, it’s seen as more of a lady’s drink, but we don’t put up with such condescension to the fairer sex.

So we ordered two more bottles of soju and dumped them in.

That was about right.



Rather than a cup, you’re served from hollowed out apples. It’s a nice touch, but you get really tempted to eat your cup at some point when the soju triggers the munchies.

All of this of course led to an interesting evening. We caught up on old movies, and new movies that I need to see. And, of course, on food plans for the next couple of weeks.

Lots of food plans.

[Peter Green]

Anyways...On the unknown herbs :

The one that says "clothes"Namool = I found it to be  Rhus verniciflua Stokes, The lacquer tree.
I looked it up on a korean website herbmart. Sorry I don't know what the policy is for linking here but I am sur eyou can find it fi you look. But one of my korean dictionaries says it is poison ivy, and the other has other words for poison ivy. ARGH 

The other listed keeps telling me I am misspelling it in korean, and I have no idea what is is in english or latin. I am thinking it is crysanthemum because of the sook.

Anyways I hope it helped and not made the confusion worse.

Thanks, Milgwimper! This one was a mystery. But, what would we do with poison ivy????

Cheers,

Peter

[milgwimper]

Anyways...On the unknown herbs :

The one that says "clothes"Namool = I found it to be  Rhus verniciflua Stokes, The lacquer tree.
I looked it up on a korean website herbmart. Sorry I don't know what the policy is for linking here but I am sur eyou can find it fi you look. But one of my korean dictionaries says it is poison ivy, and the other has other words for poison ivy. ARGH 

The other listed keeps telling me I am misspelling it in korean, and I have no idea what is is in english or latin. I am thinking it is crysanthemum because of the sook.

Anyways I hope it helped and not made the confusion worse.

Thanks, Milgwimper! This one was a mystery. But, what would we do with poison ivy????

Cheers,


Peter

LOL yeah it would be a little bit crazy to use poison ivy. Well I looked it some more, and it is the lacquer tree. It is apparently used for medicine, and some other things Korean use it for but I cna't decifer. Sorry, that is about all I can tell you, other than that there is research on this plant for cancer research.



The BBQ pork looks really good, and thanks for the beautiful picture of the Perilla leaf. It took me a while to find the scientific name of the plant so I could get seeds (this was 10 years ago). Then I realized most places only sold the japanese green kind which to my taste is milder, but now I have a lot of seeds and only a balcony now.

I love the fact that Korea has all these streets with food, and side streets with food, and street stalls with food. Hmmm wonder if their facination with food is due to history of famine? Anyways I am happy. I love Korea tv because 1/2 of the shows have to do with food. Even the drama shows have food pics...

Oh the Golbaengi Rocks my Socks! Yum, although I am used to a lot more veggies and no noodles, but was it good? Although I think the toughness has to do with how long they are cooked. But it is all good. Still wondering if you had a chance to try the rice paddy snails. No pressure!

[Domestic Goddess]

Milgwimper - thank you (for the nice compliment)! Would you like some perilla seeds? I bet I can find them here in my tiny agricultural town of Janghowon and it'll be no cinch to mail them to you.

[milgwimper]

Milgwimper - thank you (for the nice compliment)! Would you like some perilla seeds? I bet I can find them here in my tiny agricultural town of Janghowon and it'll be no cinch to mail them to you.

Oh thank you Doddie I appreciate it, but I do have some seeds currently. Now if they are viable I will have to see. If they don't sprout could I ask you send me some seeds?I will know sometime by next week. I live in germany so if you want something please let me know! I am willing to make care packages with food!

I told my husband that Peter's pictures of the perilla leaves were making my crazy, and I needed some, so this weekend I'm gardening. I have a whole bunch of the canned seasoned perilla from my Mom. She knew how crazy I would be without some in my life. I wonder if perilla have some kind of addictive quality to them? Will I need to sign up for a 12 step program?

I never want to be cured!


Dinner today will be jangjorim (beef in soy sauce), gaennip (season perilla) some chinese pickles (dont have any kimchi but the pickles are good. ) and kamja jorim or kamja dwenjanchiggae haven't decided yet.

Dessert will be banana bread with chocolate chips. (p.s. I ate this for lunch too... )

Sorry Peter for hijacking your thread. :)

[Peter Green]

Sorry Peter for hijacking your thread. :)

Hey, don't fret. This is what threads are for!

We just got back from Cookin' Nanta and then beers at Platinum. A great show. Yoonhi's now scared of what sort of mess I'm going to make in the kitchen when we get home.

Here's the trick for booking! Get a Korean friend (or a concierge or whoever) to book the tickets for you online. That's the only way to prebook.

Or, show up at the ticket office 1 hour before, and there's a very good chance that there'll be open seats. Tour operators are block booking seats (primarily for the Japanese), and these get released just before.

If you want to be chosen to go up on stage, sit on the aisles.

And be prepared to fend off flying things.

Cheers,

Peter

[milgwimper]

Sorry Peter for hijacking your thread. :)

Hey, don't fret. This is what threads are for!

We just got back from Cookin' Nanta and then beers at Platinum. A great show. Yoonhi's now scared of what sort of mess I'm going to make in the kitchen when we get home.

Here's the trick for booking! Get a Korean friend (or a concierge or whoever) to book the tickets for you online. That's the only way to prebook.

Or, show up at the ticket office 1 hour before, and there's a very good chance that there'll be open seats. Tour operators are block booking seats (primarily for the Japanese), and these get released just before.

If you want to be chosen to go up on stage, sit on the aisles.

And be prepared to fend off flying things.

Cheers,

Peter

I will have to remember your advice about prebooking. It was terrible trying to get tickets the last time we were there, so DH ended up taking me out for some hwe. DH didn't eat any and couldnt bear to see me eat it but I did. He as of last year or so started to eat raw fish. Still won't eat raw crabs. ut just leaves more for me!