Hite: Cool and Fresh Korean Beer. And some sort of rice wine alcohol that is supposed to make you live long. I thought it was best I drink that since the next day was my birthday.
As far as the names of the dishes and the 3 different types of alcohols that I drank, this information is sadly missing. I repeat, drinking makes me lazy. Or it makes me think that I already took a picture of my drink and wrote down the name of my food, when in fact, I didn't.
Kimchi Crepe (super delicious but not nearly as powerful as kimchi on its own)
Grilled Raviolis and a Veggie Fritter
Korean BBQ!!!! Soooooo delicious!
For the BBQ, basically they bring you a mound of raw meat that is mixed with thinly sliced fresh spring onion, and then there is a juice that surrounds it in a little well. I have no idea what is in this sauce, but I'm fairly certain that it contains soy sauce and some vinegar.
The plate is heated, and once the juice starts to bubble away, your friendly Korean waiter slash owner slash chef comes by and pushes all the meat into the juice with a pair of very fancy chopsticks that I think have been created solely for this purpose. The meat then cooks, at which time you can't touch it! And you just have to wait, and sit, and stare, and drink, and bathe in the wafts of meet juice steam that keep getting blown in your face. It's literally torture.
Desert was a piece of green melon, so I didn't feel the need to take a picture. You all know what green melon looks like.
This place is pretty cheap as well, and is generally filled with Asian looking people, which is always a good sign. There's one guy who seems to be doing everything himself, which is pretty admirable. And every time you order a little shot of very strong, unpronounceable differently colored alcohol, he opens a new bottle for you. Can't be very cost effective but delicious none the less.
I can help with names!
ReplyDeleteIf you had a strong, transparent rice liquor, it was probably soju. If you had a milky, white rice cider served in a bowl, it was makkeolli. I've never heard that either make you live long - just that they make you drunk!
The pancakes are called pajeon or kimchijeon. Raviolis are called mandu. The fritter is probably a 'jeon' of some kind too - most battered and fried dishes are called ~jeon.
As for your meat sauce: Korean cuisine revolves around a small number of condiments, among which gochujang (fermented red chili pepper paste) and doengjang (fermented soybean paste, which tastes meatier and spicier than japanese miso). Garlic, soy sauce and rice vinegar usually taste more familiar to us.
By the way, we've never actually met in person, but I'm your cousin-in-law (or something) that lives in Seoul. Hi!
You must be Raphaelle! Nice to meet you cousin in law!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your help with the names! This was my first experience of Korean food and I have to say it was phenomenal. And your knowledge of Korean food is impressive! But you live in Korea right? So I'm not suprised :)
Just clicked on your blog and saw the beautiful pictures of food that you've taken...your photos are absolutely gorgeous. Those grilled wheat gluten stick thingies look like heaven!
Well, thanks for your help and nice to meet you! :)