Travelogue: Spring Break 2009 -- Seoul

[Peter Green]

March 30 – Not With a Bang…

With Scud dumped at the airport and headed East, and the cell phones returned safely (CDMA is Korea’s standard, so no swapping chips) we were left with the question of what to do next. There was a good two or three hours to kill before I could check in for my flight South

Eating did come to mind.

Drinking passed by our brain cells, but was quickly hurried out the door. Last night had stretched too far into this morning, and for once wisdom stayed our hands.

But eating at Incheon can be a chore.

Incheon Airport - that is. Incheon itself is a place I would’ve liked to have visited – hosting the only official Chinatown in Korea, and also well-known for its clams. Plus, there’s that old fortress that held out against the Mongols for a few years.

The place has been around awhile.

The problem is, to get to Incheon City you have to drive almost all the way back into Seoul. They’re building another bridge (they’re always building another bridge – check out the Han River in Seoul on Google Maps sometime. It looks like Neo’s face when Agent Smith does that thing to his mouth), but that wouldn’t be ready anytime this morning.

However, there are a couple of islands nearby, and some cheerful tidal flats that shared those self-same bivalves. We could get to these from the airport without spending half our remaining time and a fortune in tolls, so that settled matters.

We ate in the shadow of Silmido.

We scouted the shoreline. In the summer this place would be packed with picnickers and young couples, taking in the sunshine and enjoying the seaside.

Now, it was a closer fit to our mood.

Grim.

Still, even in this near-freezing weather, there were people out scouring the beach for clams. One of many things I like about the Koreans is their innate sense of foraging. They’re always looking for something good to eat (and they find it). That’s part of why I like Laos, too.

We found a place with a big parking lot and a view of the sea. The big parking lot was empty, but we liked it that way as we weren’t too certain about our parking.

’As you’d expect, there was the usual tank out front with the semi-drowned bodies of aliens that had gone astray from Area 51. Sure, you’ll spot the clams, scallops, and mussels, but who’ll ever recognize the others?

And there’s something odd about the meatiness of those big scallops.

The point of choosing your place with a view is that it should afford you the opportunity to sit way in the back away from the light.

This place was delightfully 1980s. Lino floor, pink hand-made curtains for the door to the kitchen, and the plastic patio chairs. Give me a roll of toilet paper for the table, and I was good to go.

Yeah, it was one of those sort of mornings.

But it was fun. Jason and I could cover more stuff, particularly films, and talk family stuff.

The scallops were excellent. Done up with spring onions and gojuchang and vinegar, ready to eat. The alien bits, skinned and still squirming, were a little harder to take in our delicate state.

We still ate them

The hotpot, though, that the oysters had gone into, was stretching us a bit. Still, broth is good for hangovers, and I had a long stretch ahead of me.

But then the main course, the clams, kind of overwhelmed us. There was a mass of stuff in shells. I know, these should be easy to eat, but the shear effort of working through this much stuff was slowly pushing us out of those cozy blue plastic chairs and onto the floor.

It had been a long night.

I stared, heartbroken, at the razor clam I was trying to eat, and just said, “nuts”.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t that exact word, but this is a family food site.

I checked my watch. Jason checked his watch. And then we decided to declare victory and call it a day.

I had a plane to catch.

Next – Pollen Idols (which takes us to Bangkok, of course)

[OnigiriFB]

Yay! It's about bleeping time *pokes Peter in the gut*

[v. gautam]

Thanks Doddie, for the details. The finish looks beautiful, and the Lines, as with most Korean and Japanese sensibilities, be it architecture or pottery, are haunting and exquisite, at least to my eyes.

What I find intriguing is how they get ddeok to pop. Now with grain, there is a hard seed coat, and the popping varieties are bred with an area of thinner epidermis that gives way first, as the steam pressure builds up within, a moisture content not more than 14-16% by weight of the air dry grain.

Ddeok appears to violate these conditions: a) no differential resistance; b) relatively high moisture content compared to either dry/soaked paddy or converted rice, two popped forms of unhusked & husked rice commonly seen in rice growing lands.

Very interesting and ingenious. The other remarkable thing is the Korean use of Hens & Chickens for pickling [the plant]!! Who would have dared??!!

[Hiroyuki]

’As you’d expect, there was the usual tank out front with the semi-drowned bodies of aliens that had gone astray from Area 51.  Sure, you’ll spot the clams, scallops, and mussels, but who’ll ever recognize the others?

Aliens? But the creatures on the top right side of the image look like hoya (sea pinapple) to me.

[Peter Green]

’As you’d expect, there was the usual tank out front with the semi-drowned bodies of aliens that had gone astray from Area 51.  Sure, you’ll spot the clams, scallops, and mussels, but who’ll ever recognize the others?

Aliens? But the creatures on the top right side of the image look like hoya (sea pinapple) to me.

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"Sea pineapple"? That's a good name. It beats "ttogebbi club" (the Ttogebbi are the gaurdians at the entrance of the temple, armed with a big, knobby club).

Along with the infamous gaebul, mongke is of those things we just don't see on the other side of the Pacific....or Atlantic....or Indian......I can't vouch for the Arctic.

Tell me, in Japan is it also just eaten raw, or do you do anything with it? In Korea I only come across it at seafood meals, where it is always included in the precursor as a sashimi.

[Hiroyuki]

Haven't we discussed hoya in the Japan Forum?

Here on your own thread!

[Peter Green]

Haven't we discussed hoya in the Japan Forum?

Here on your own thread!

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That's it! Sea squirt had been the name, with sea pineapple as the "aka".

Sorry for that. When you get old like me, the memory is the third thing that goes.

Hoya: I'm not familiar with hoya. I've never had them before. A quick google search tells me that they are popular in the coastal areas of Miyagi and Iwate prefectures, and have gradually become popular in other areas like Tokyo. They can be eaten as sashimi, sunomono (vinegared dishes) with cucumbers and other ingredients, tempura, and nimono (simmered dishes), and so on.

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I wonder how that would work as tempura? The meat is very firm on those things, and fairly strong in flavour.

[Hiroyuki]

I am as old as you are. (We were both born in 1960.)

I don't think that the firm texture is a problem. What do you think of octopus and squid tempura? The strong flavor should be a problem for many. Hoya is an acquired taste for not only Japanese in general but people living in those prefectures.

Anyway, take a look at all those hoya tempura. Mouth-watering?

[Peter Green]

I don't think that the firm texture is a problem.  What do you think of octopus and squid tempura?  The strong flavor should be a problem for many.  Hoya is an acquired taste for not only Japanese in general but people living in those prefectures.

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Good point. I like squid tempura, but I find that almost goes buttery, while I prefer my octopus grilled or simmered if not as sashimi, and mongae/hoya shares that same crunchy cartiliginous (which sounds like a lawyer) character. But the flavour of mongae/hoya I find much more....distracting would probably be the best word - in comparison to octopus.

Anyway, take a look at all those hoya tempura.  Mouth-watering?

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I really liked the look of this one. Is that seaweed that they've fried in with it, the green parts?

[Hiroyuki]

I don't think that the firm texture is a problem.  What do you think of octopus and squid tempura?  The strong flavor should be a problem for many.  Hoya is an acquired taste for not only Japanese in general but people living in those prefectures.

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Good point. I like squid tempura, but I find that almost goes buttery, while I prefer my octopus grilled or simmered if not as sashimi, and mongae/hoya shares that same crunchy cartiliginous (which sounds like a lawyer) character. But the flavour of mongae/hoya I find much more....distracting would probably be the best word - in comparison to octopus.

Anyway, take a look at all those hoya tempura.  Mouth-watering?

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I really liked the look of this one. Is that seaweed that they've fried in with it, the green parts?

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Yes. I'm not 100% sure but I think it's wakame.