Eateries in Korea

team I just came across this blog which is a restaurant blog. You should check this out when you wish to dine out. Here tis...

http://hiexpat.com/restaurants-bars-and-cafes

Black Day

Yes team

In Korea, you have Valentines Day, White Day and.... Black Day !!!!!!!!!!

Yes team, the koreans have invented another money making day revolving around relationships !!!! This one though actually celebrates singledom !!!!! Yep even the singles get to party and celebrate.  

What happens is that people who didnt celebrate Valentines Day or White Day because they are single.   Hence ... Black Day has been created !!!!! Black Day is on April 14 and involves people who get together and eat Jagangmyeon for their singleness !!!!!

Jajangmyeon is a noodle dish consisting of wheat noodles soaked in soy bean paste, meat, vegetables and sea food.   You can see it here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdmiNDhRYDk

Its really good team ! You should try it !!!!!

Sea Snails - Golbaeng-i ( bai Top Shells )

It pays to open your eyes in the Super Market team.

Its when you do this, that you might indeed find a little gem for your palate, like I did tonight.

Seeking something OTHER THEN Tuna to put on my salad for the night, I decided to actually see what else was on the shelf OTHER THEN the differing varieties of Tuna on offer. What caught my eye was a little gem named sea snails, or Golbaeng-i ( 골뱅이 ) in Korean.

I cant quite remember the brand name so that basically ends the potential brand name plug for this, but team, sea snails are great !!!!!! I got mine out of the can so they were de-shelled for me, but you can have a look here team to see what can indeed look like when shelled and all.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zenkimchi/sets/72157606414977449/

This stuff is great. I found the snails to be very juicy, very nice and quite healthy indeed. I am certainly going to eat Sea Snails again thats for sure.

the wonders of a food named tteok

Team

One of the great advertisements for Korea is the food here. On most occasions, it simply is very very delicious indeed. And you have so many different varieties, kinds, and tastes of food going on that its hard to keep up with at times lol. You have it all here - Noodles, Kimchi, vegetables, exotic dishes, its all here. Heck even their snack food is great. And its on that note that I would like to talk about a delightful little snack food I had today. That food is called Tteok.

Tteok is basically a rice cake, usually in the form of Chapssal ( sweet rice ), and is made by steaming. Tteok is as common in Korea as say Chocolate is in the west, and it can come in many different forms, the most noteable being Pine nut, Jujube, mugwort, red bean paste and sesame seed.

Heres a pic to show you what Tteok is




Thanks to derrlen and youtube for this.

Hehehe maybe I dont need to show any more pics now because you have seen a few there !!!!

Oh well I will tell you some more anyway.

Tteok generally comes in 4 forms - steamed, pounded, shaped or pan fried.

Sirutteok, or steamed Tteok, is made up of sesame seeds, starch, persimmons, peaches, apricots and other fruits, and is generally made by first of all soaking the rice and then grounding it.

This is almost the same way that pounded Tteok is made, except that pounded Tteok also uses coated bean powder.

Tteok is also made to suit certain shapes at times. Some the shapes used include Leaves, and you also have Tteok made with honey also.

Last of all you also have pan fried Tteok, where the Tteok is made in a pancake form.

So there you have it. Team, look. If you ever get near a Korean shop or restaurant, then you gotta ask them to see if you can eat this stuff ! Do it !!! You wont be disappointed thats for sure !!!

More Kimchi !!!! Well....I mean.....almost.......

Should I talk about Kimchi again ??? You think so ?? Yeh ?? No ?? Not sure ?? Don't Know ?? Don't Care ?? Don't give a damn ?? Oh ...... You do give a damn ?? Well ... what do you think ?? Should I or shouldn't I ?? Hmmm.....

Well I tell ya what. I will let you decide that one okay ?? Good.

And while you think about the notion of me oodling you with more Kimchi, I will actually tell you about some of my other favourite Korean foods. Yes team. You got it - KIMCHI IS THE DOOR TO A KOREAN FOOD OASIS. And a plentiful one at that.

Admittedly team, I am not going to go through every single delight and delicacy here, but what I will do is direct you to some other useful websites to help you on your gastric journey to Korean food Utopia.

Let the journey begin....


http://korean-cuisine.blogspot.com/

This site actually looks pretty cool I think. I haven't met the site author personally, but her description states that well... shes a Korean American Mom who..well...loves to cook !!! And by the way the blog is presented it sure does indeed look like it. The site is not cluttered, there are some really nice pictures there to illustrate the different kinds of foods, ingredients and what nots, and it looks really accessible for every one to peruse through from the first time Korean cook to something that veterans and maybe even the odd Cordon Bleu chef might find tickling their fancy.

http://www.zenkimchi.com/FoodJournal/

Now this site really does set a standard for broadcasting in various forms the delights, highlights, sunlights, bright lights and well... any other useful lights .... the Korean cuisine has to offer. The thing that really captures me about this site is just the obvious love and passion that it generates towards Korean Cuisine. The pics look great, the site looks informative, the ideas generate fusion of thought ( gotta try that tandoori tteokboggi !! ) and ..... well......heed my advice. CHECK IT OUT !!!!!!

www.seoulstyle.com

This site is a real mecca for all things Seoul - AND THAT INCLUDES RESTAURANTS !!!!!! Yep you can see it all here team. The suave, the delectable, the delightful, the saucy.... its all here team !!!! Have a look and you shall no doubt see !!!

Okay team, enough of the free ads for other stuff yeh. Lets get onto some of the foods that I like here in Korea.

One food I really like is Doenjang Jiggae. And yes I hear you asking... WHAT ON EARTH IS DOEN-WHAT ???

Well on earth its... DOENJANG JIGGAE !!!! Now lets practice shall we...... DOEN-JANG-JIG-GAE !! Gooooood !! Nows lets repeat it again yes !! DOEN-JANG-JIG-GAE !!!! Excellent !! We shall have you speaking Korean in no time at all !! Oh yes.. Now .. heres the answer to your question ...

In a nutshell, it is this -



Once again, I do intend thank the wikipedia contributor for this pic, which is ZenKimchi !! You can see the pic here -- http://www.zenkimchi.com/FoodJournal. I love this stuff team. Its hot, spicey, and its basically stew with Korean Red bean paste, tofu, seafood and some other vegetables indeed. Its jolly good stuff indeed !!!

I also have to give a shout out to Tteokboggi too. This stuff is good indeed !!! The particular version of it that I really tend to like and devour is this one ...



Thanks to jetalone, http://flickr.com/photos/jetalone/753029139/, and wikipedia for this pic. Basically team, this dish is a mix of rice cake, meat, bean paste sauce, and maybe a little egg thrown in there too. Its really good and satisfies the eating soul when satisfaction is desired !!!!!

Finally for tonight team, you gotta eat this ...



Its Tteok !!!!! Basically its Korean rice cake and is a real Korean nicety, particularly at Lunar New Year time, where the making of Songpyeon, a type of Tteok, is a traditional thing to do. You can make it by steaming mung bean and red bean paste along with some other dried fruits. Its really good. Once again, thanks to takoradee and wikipedia for this pic.


So there you have it team. A few little extras for you to feast your eyes and your tastebuds on no doubt !!! Its okay if you don't want me to go over Kimchi again. Its pro.... WHAT !?!? YOU WANT MORE ON KIMCHI ??? AAARRGGGH !!!! Well .... then you have to wait for that one so I say !!! I do need to take a time out you know !!! seeya !!!!!