South Korea - Seoul Food
June 12, 2009
Filed under Uniquely Far East
South Korean food just so happens to be one of my favorite, right up there along with Japanese food (it’s similar, but different). As such, I was delighted to be trying out all kinds of delicacies on my last visit to Seoul, South Korea. Here are some snaps from my culinary adventures in soulful Seoul!
To start with, here are some street-side snacks easily found all over Seoul. The one on the right is a long wooden stick with pieces of chicken stuck into it. The sweet marinated meat is then grilled to tender perfection and served hot!
On the left is Korean fried rice, with a generous serving of eggs layered into the dish itself. While on the right is a giant bowl of chillies in soy sauce, a common condiment it seems. Fortunately, it looks spicier than it tasted.
Here on the left is one of my favorite meals, other than the grilled meat buffet you’ll find further down. It’s called Bi Bim Bap, loosely translated as Korean Mixed Rice. It’s a serving of meat and various steamed vegetables over rice, with an egg on top of it served on hot-stone bowl. You mix the ingredients together, “cooking” it just the way you like it before eating it right off the hot-stone. On the right is Ginseng Chicken, which you add taste and flavor by pouring alcohol (soju I believe) into it.
And here now is my personal favorite, BBQ meat, or as they call it, Bulgogi. Slices of beef (chicken or pork works as well) are marinated in sweet bulgogi sauce before cooked to suit each person’s taste and eaten with various side dishes.
On the left is how I prefer my Bulgogi, thin slices of meat combined with garlic and a dash of chili (hidden), then wrapped in fresh lettuce. Yumm! Also, Korean meals come with various side dishes such as pictured on the right. Our table is always a beautiful mess!
Finally, something creepy I saw to end this post. Maggots? Larvae? Not too sure. But I stumbled upon them quite often while I was in Korea. Unfortunately, I couldn’t gather enough courage to try them out.
This post is part of Photo Friday, a Blog Carnival held by Delicious Baby. Check them out for photo-sharing goodness, or take part in the carnival yourself.
About the Author. Nikolas Tjhin. A graphic and web designer in its previous incarnation, Nik’s journeyman career has seen him do work for various creative studios in Wisconsin, Minneapolis, Singapore and Jakarta. Now, he’s settled down for the time being and focusing his efforts as the editor of an Asia travel zine, Unearthing Asia.
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annamatic on Fri, 12th Jun 2009 8:24 am
Hi Nikolas, those last things are beondegi (silk worm larvae) on the left and boiled snails on the right. Traditionally kids liked to have them for snacks but these days not so much. The beondegi smells nasty and I don’t particularly like their texture. I haven’t seen the snails around for a while…
Peter Carey on Fri, 12th Jun 2009 2:04 pm
I was getting hungry right up until those last two!! Thanks for the ‘travel’!
Amy @ The Q Family on Fri, 12th Jun 2009 2:12 pm
OH.. Everything looks so yummy!! I’m so fortunate to live near Atlanta as we have the large Korean population so I have my fix of my Bi Bim Bap and Bulgogi quite often. I have to say Korean food tends to be on the spicier side than Japanese food. It’s easy to see why I can’t resist Korean food.
marina villatoro on Fri, 12th Jun 2009 3:16 pm
Hi, It’s breakfast time for me right now, and up to the Larvae (yuck) I was drooling, now I’ve kind of lost my appetite:)
Photo Friday - Beautiful Lago Amatitlan
Cate on Fri, 12th Jun 2009 4:10 pm
The last images are silkworm lavae known as bundaegi. Smells horrible, like old wet socks but it’s a treat with the children.
Good pics, I love bibimbap–miss it as well.
Tim on Fri, 12th Jun 2009 4:34 pm
Now you’ve made me hungry, and I just finished lunch
Very nice food shots. The color and textural look just screams “Feed Me”
Dominique on Sat, 13th Jun 2009 3:57 am
The bulgogi looks most intriguing to me…the snails and the silkworm larve…not so much so
amida on Sat, 13th Jun 2009 6:37 am
My mouth was watering — up until that last picture! Nonetheless, I now have a serious hankering for some Bibimbop!
Lynn on Sun, 6th Sep 2009 4:13 am
I’m living in HK. I’m desperately looking for Korean hot stone bowls. My brother in Sydney loves cooking and he wants to try Bi Bim Bap at home.I wish I could get him those stone bowls for his birthday. Any idea where I could buy them?
Nik on Sun, 6th Sep 2009 9:42 am
Hiya Lynn,
Unfortunately, I can’t help you out much with that, since none of us here live in HK. Perhaps a local HK can help out?
My advise however, would be to simply try out your local grocery store and ask for it. Or if not, you can even try asking a local Korean restaurants as to where they get their utensils!
Good luck, and enjoy your Bi Bim Bap! Yumm! =)