Saturday, February 28, 2009

Food in Korea

A week in Korea.

The first question out of everyone's mouth is, "Did you eat some hella good spicy food?" Yeah, of course. That's what this post is all about, the super cheap, mad flavor food of Korea. If you want to know about places where you and a date can sleep in hot salt, or how Seoul has lasers at every tourist attraction, or Hooker Hill, you'll have to wait till I have some more time to write.

DSC_2809

Bibinba, available at most shopping mall food courts around the world.

DSC_2813

Street food was plentiful. A pickup truck full of peanuts was not an uncommon sight.

DSC_2829

Rice porridge. If you are hurting from a night of spicy barbecue and copious drinking, this makes a good breakfast.

DSC_2831

Spicy shrimps. Remember, alcohol can counter spicy food.

DSC_2834

Black noodles. I've heard that you should eat this on April 14th if you didn't have anyone to celebrate Valentine's Day with. I say this is a conspiracy by the ultra right wing noodle conglomerates of the communist north.

DSC_2871

Frying up some Korean bacon. Those peppers are mad hot. Remember, alcohol can counter spicy food.

DSC_2873

Lettuce and black sesame leaves to wrap your meat in.

DSC_2874

Almost finished. You can fry anything on the grill. Go ahead and just dump the whole plate of garlic on there.

DSC_2875

Don't forget the liquor. Soju is the common rice wine that is drunk in Korea. It goes down smooth. There are a lot of flavored drinks, like this one, Guk-hwa-ju, made with chrysanthemum flowers. Remember, alcohol can counter spicy food.

DSC_2876

In your lettuce, wrap some meat, kimchee, garlic, sauce... whatever and eat it. Remember, alcohol can counter spicy food.

DSC_2878

DSC_2879

DSC_2880

A typical meal has about a dozen side dishes.

DSC_2938

Fermented milky rice drink. It's called something like Malak. I don't know. It may or may not lead to an interesting night.

DSC_2939

Korean izakayas are similar to Japanese izakayas, except more about drinking and less about the food. And more about socializing. People wouldn't dare talk with another table at a Japanese izakaya. In Korea, it wasn't long before everyone is pouring each other drinks and dancing on tables.

DSC_3025

Real sausages from a real street vendor. It costs about a dollar.

DSC_3030

Thirsty? Try a pine bud drink. Tastes like apple juice, but smells like pine resin. Awesome.

DSC_3031

Rotti. I'm not sure what it is, but there was a Rotti Bun shop across the street from a Roti Boy, down the block from a Roli Roti. Crispy baked bread with a gooey middle is the best I can come up with.

DSC_3032

Shellfish soup that tasted like pee.

DSC_3036

Korean style sashimi. You point at the sea life in the big tanks outside and they prepare it. From front to back we have Mi-deo-deok ( sea squirt), some sort of sea cucumber, and something that is called "dog's dick" in Korean.

DSC_3037

The sea squirt was pretty good. Very soft. The other 2 things were not. And, yeah, dog's dick looks like dog's dick.

DSC_3038

Maybe this raw fish is Jeoneo-hoe, gizzard shad fish. The difference in Korean and Japanese sashimi is that in Korea, you get the whole fish served to your table.

DSC_3039

The leftover fish parts are thrown in a pot to make a soup. I think this is Agwijjim. Spicy fish soup. Remember, alcohol can counter spicy food.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome food pics!

Unknown said...

These pictures make me hungry!
Lots of interesting Ban-Chans(side dishes)..