mary eats

Is in ISSAQUAH! Hello! The town that is famous for little more than producing one of the greatest indie bands, Modest Mouse, is also home to some very fine ddokboggie.

Perfection in ddokboggie is twofold. First the ddok. It must be cooked al dente. Not too hard, not too soft. I’m not a fan of the ajumas who plop down a plate of non-pliable ddok drowning in a watery red broth. I like it chewy, right away, only to get softer as my polishing off every last toothsome bite is in progress.

Then there is the sauce. A matter of personal taste I guess. I prefer sauce with the thickness of the tomato sauce in a can of spaghetti-o’s. A gentle weight in the mouth, a nappe any chef would appreciate, with the right balance of heat, sweet, and savory.

See the soju filled bottle of bek sae ju on the table, that could be the reason that 1. the picture is blurry, and 2. I don’t have a picture of the ddok boggie, but people I am giving you my word. This stuff is it!

Sa-Rang Chae

20 Front Street

Issaquah, WA

(425) 427-6880

Somehow I managed to get out of Korea with out ever trying Jok bal, or pig’s feet braised in soy sauce, on purpose.

The mosaic of lean meat, congealed fat, skin and dark meat, sliced thin on the bias led my stomach into a repetitious flip-flop, each time Kevin passed the strip of trotter restaurants near the Shilla on our way back from Dongdaemoon Market. Looking more like a deformed animal fetus doomed to a formaldehyde filled mason jar on a high school Biology teacher’s shelf, I never regretted not trying it, until, of course, now.

“I wanna eat something crazy,” my friend remarked as we looked over the menu at HoSoonYi in Edmonds. Soondubu, delicious, yes but crazy? No. Dwachigalbi, delicious yes, but again, crazy? No. Jok bal. Delicious? Couldn’t tell you, but crazy. Indeed, feet people. Feet.

I would like to add that the jok bal was listed on the menu under the header, “Sides for Hard Drinkers.” Such am I, drinking soju at 2 in the afternoon on a Thursday.

When the word passed my lips, our server, a petite middle-aged woman looked up in surprise, eyebrows arched near up to her hairline.
“Really?” “You want jokbal,”
“Yeah,” I replied sheepishly, “Soju too.”
“I like you” she snickered as she pointed her pen at me. At least, I thought, if I didn’t like it, I had earned some street cred with the Edmonds ajumas.

As it always does, it food began to arrive in a flood. First the banchan: baechu kimchi, then a more fresh cabbage kimchi, bean sprouts, one with the gochu-maru treatment one without, soy braised hotdog of the sea (odang), pickled mu, acorn jelly and roasted potatoes.

Then jok bal presented itself with the kimchi soondubu jjigae (not the best I’ve tried- that accolade still goes to Blue Ginger in Bellevue). My friend and I looked at each other, the jok bal, and the pink, fermented shrimp dipping sauce and dug in.

Sadly I have to report, the jok bal was cold. And the flavors I expected, soy, ginger, anise, but instead the gelatinous slices tasted pleasantly gamey with a slight commercially produced air. While we didn’t wolf it down (the same went for the dwachi galib which was under seasoned and bland) I snagged up the leftovers and am hoping to produce charcuterie greatness in the from of a jok bal sandwich for lunch today. What a little mayo can’t do.

I’m interested in trying jok bal again. If anyone has any NW suggestions for such please pass them on. If you want to see jok bal culture in Seoul, check out this video by Soul Glow.

When one of my chefs asked me to recommend some dishes at a local Korean restaurant I couldn’t have been more thrilled. Instantly I began rambling on and on over the virtues of dolsot bi bim bap and the sweet flavor of dwaeje galbi, putting on my best Seoul accent, stressing certain syllables, letting my tongue run over complicated vowel combinations only to find my five minute gastro-monologue interrupted. “I have no idea what you just said,” my audience of one blurted out. “You are going to have to write this down.”

You’re lucky to find menues with both pictures and photoes, but often they look like the one below

Learning to eat Korean takes time, and I’m not even getting into table manners and customs. My first foray into the world of gochujang studded delights were the cheap diners, kimbap nara, kimbap chunguk, where back lit stylized photos of dishes strengthened my confidence. But when Kevin and I started hitting the gabli joints we suddenly had to read the menus, searching out familiar words. Would we be able to get mandu (dumplings?) “Do you think they have ddokboggie?” I’d ask hopefully. Eventually the vocabulary came, if I couldn’t properly translate the prefix, I could at least recognize the suffix, generally a cooking verb.

Learning these few cooking verbs and nouns can help whether you find yourself at a Korean restaurant in Bellevue or a Kimbap nara in Masan.

kimbap above and dolsotbap below are both examples of rice applications in Korean cuisine

Bap: Rice. Unlike Chinese restaurants, one does not order a side of rice. Rice does accompany dishes like Kimchi stew (jjigae) and is a base in dishes like Bibimbap- mixed rice, or kimbap- rice wrapped in seaweed (kim).

stirfired pig’s intestines, found near Dongdaemun Market

Bokkum: Stir-fry. Here is an easy one: Bokkumbap. Fried rice. Or in early spring when it is baby octopus season in Korea, nakjibokkum.

Tables like these clearly indicate that you are in a grilling restaurant

Gui (Goo-y): Broiled or Grilled foods. Korean cuisine is synonymous with grilled meats and seafood. Most are marinated though some, such as many of the fish dished are grilled with a simple dash of salt, through they won’t all include the suffix gui. The names of these dishes are based on the main ingredient: Galbi, grilled short ribs.

two examples of cold noodles, perfect for hoe summer days

Gooksu/kuksu, myeon: Noodles. But don’t get too excited. The word noodle is about as prevalent as the word pasta in the west. These are dozens of noodles and noodle dishes in Korea and not all of them include the identifying word. The most popular noodles in Korea are made from both buckwheat (like Japanese soba noodles) and regular wheat flour. There are thick hand cut noodles and thin white somen style noodles. The only noodles that are stir fired in Korea (to my knowledge) are ramyeon (ramen), udong (udon), and the transparent sweet potato starch noodles (dangmyeon) used in chap chae. Some delicious noodle dishes include Kal guksu- hand-cut noodle soup with various veggies and kimchi. My favorite continues to be mulnaemgmyeon- cold noodles in soup with brisket, sliced pear, and a hardboiled egg.

The customary soup eaten on the hottest days of summer in Korea

Gook (Kuk), Tang: Soup. Soup accompanies most all meals in Korea, from humble seaweed soup to cures for hangovers that include fresh cow’s blood. What has to be the most popular soup is Samgyetang- a young chicken stuffed with rice, dates, and ginseng. What is the difference between gook and tang? The Korean Food Guide notes that the suffix tang refers to soups that have been simmered over low heat for a long time.

Raw slices of tuna above, and diced raw tuna on a bed of crisp raw veggies, examples of hwae

Hwae/hoe: Raw. Hwae generally refers to raw fish, cut like sashimi, and sans the rice, but yukhwae is a raw beef dish, similar to steak tartar. One of my favorite summer dishes Hwaedapbap is chopped raw fish atop sliced veggies on rice with a spicy chili sauce. Hwae-raw fish bap-rice. Starting to get it?

The godfather of Korean sauces

Jang: Jang translates into sauce. Korea’s infamous fiery chile paste so dear to my heart is gochujang, and then there is the mandu dipping kangjang, or soy sauce.

Haemulchongul, or seafood hotpot

Jeonkol/Chongol: Hot Pot. Darn near all the North Asian countries have some sort of one pot hot pot dish. In Japan it’s oden. One type found in Korea is dubujeonkol, or tofu hotpot, a collision of sliced tofu, ground beef, bamboo shoots, green onions and more.

Kimchi jjigae

Jjigae: Stew: Kimchijjigae, or kimchi stew, is a bubbling cauldron of tantalizing spiced (ok, usually just chili), chock full of its star ingredient. Served rice they usually accompany larger dishes like bulbogi or galbi, but are often eaten on their own.

Jjim, jolim: Casserole, steamed or braised dishes. Kablijiim, casserole of short ribs, dates, mushrooms, carrots, and gingko nuts, is one of the top 10 must eat Korean foods.

rice porriage with chinks of tuna, chamchejuk

Jook: The literal translation of this word is gruel but don’t let that put you off. Think instead of a thick porridge, made from grains steamed over low heat, peppered with everything from minced abalone to pine nuts and dates.

Panfried vegetables above and pan fried vegetable cakes below, examples of jeon.

Jeon/Chon: Pan fried, mostly referring to cakes, and vegetables that have been dipped in flour then coated with egg. One of the more recognizable jeons is pajeon, a green onion pancake that accompanies some meals as bancheon. During the plentiful squash season, it is common to find hobakjeon, sliced zucchini battered in egg and pan fried, on the dinner table.

mul, or water, mandu make for a quick lunch fix

Mandu: dumplings. Korea’s answer to pot stickers and gyoza. I’m a diehard fan of the kimchi variety. Another favorite manduguk- dumpling soup.

Namul, arranged elegantly on a serving dish. The orginal Korean hippie food?

Namool: Weeds. Ok, before you start thinking, weeds? Who eats weeds? I think of namool as herb like vegetables, smaller greens and sprouts, gently sautéed with the sometimes addition of sesame oil or soy sauce. Generally served as a side dish, some vegetarian and health conscious restaurants in Korea turn a sampler plate of rare foraged treats into a main dish.

batter and deep fried stuffed peppers

Twigim: Deep Fried. For purposes of familiarity, twigam can be compared to the Japanese tempura, but the main difference is that twigam is a heavier, heartier batter than its neighbor across the sea. At any one of Korea’s ubiquitous pojangmacha, street vendors, you’ll find plates of mandutwigam (fried dumplings), or yachetwigam (deep fried vegetables) piled high ready for wandering snackers. Twigam is rarely served in restaurants in Korea with the exception of the occasional side dish, bancheon, but is finding its way on to North American Korean menus thanks to our affinity for all that is crispy.

This is just an introduction into Korean cuisine, please feel free to give your 2 cents.

I finally made bulgogi, and honestly, I don’t know what took so darn long.

Bulgogi isn’t a complicated dish, in fact quite the opposite. A marinade is made; meat is sliced, then soaked, and then cooked.

Dating back to the 13th century, bulgogi does have a long history in Korean cuisine, and having been passed down from mother to daughter over the centuries, there appear to be as many recipes for the sweet soy marinade as there are Korean surnames.

This time I used the requisite soy, ginger, but replaced sugar with apple juice (I couldn’t find pear), though I’ve seen it done with kiwis. I used top serloin, something my husband soundlessy though effectively protested with rib poking when the whole foods butcher weighed out a pound at 15.99. We’ve decided to stop shopping at Whole Foods.

The whole thing was surpisingly simple. I used my mother in laws meat slicer to get the meat relatively thin (the guy at whole foods claimed not to have a slicer, but offered to slice it with a knife, so so so clueless)

I marinated the meat, giving up on microplaning the inch nub of ginger, instead throwing the whole fibrous lump into the pot.

Needing carbs and wanting to soak up the juices I added some ddok to the dish then served it all on a med of micro-greens with a dollop of ssamjang and a shaving of garlic. None of which was needed. I would happily eaten the meat off the plate with my hands.

Here’s my recipe
2 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp Honey
2Tbsp Apple Juice
1 T minced green onion
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced ginger
1 Tbsp Sesame Seed oil
1/4 tsp black pepper

1 pound beef serloin, thinly sliced

1/2 cupsliced ddok, soaked in water for 15 minutes

Garnish
A handful of washed micro greens
1 Tbsp ssamjang per person
1 clove garlic per person, thinly sliced

1. Combine all the bulgogi marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

2. Slice the meat (or add already sliced mea) to the marinade and stir to coat the meat. Let stand for 30 minutes.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the meat and marinade and cook. Drain the sliced ddok and add to the meat mixture. Cook until ddok is tender and meat has reached desired state of doneness.

On each plate lay down a handful of washed microgreens. Place a healthy dollop of ssamjang on each plate accompanied by sliced garlic. Top off greens with a serving of bulgogi.

I am also shopping around for a takbagi bulgogi (is that right) recipe.

So I’m curious, with all the variations, how do you cook bulgogi? What do you put in your marinade? How do you plate it, and have you ever considered enveloping it in puff pastry?

I know it is a bit off point, but having wrapped up my first quarter of school I can’t help but begin planning my Chef of the Day; a final of sorts for culinary graduates where we plan and execute a 5 course meal. I’m thinking of North Asian ingredients with Western European Techniques. For a main course I’m considering a Korean take on beef Wellington. And ideas?

I have gotten a slew of emails lately and while I’ve done my best to answer them, please add your 2 cents.

Anytime mints are a curious candy, once you have a taste for the vanilla mint, no other will ever do. Sadly I could not find an online source for Anytime mints. I did, however, find them at my local Korean Grocery Chain Pal-Do World. If you have a hankering for these I suggest contacting your local Korean grocery and begging, or try calling Pal-do and ask to special order a case. Those of you reading in Korea could stand to make a mint here. Ba-dam ba! I really didn’t intend for that pun, but seriously, you could start an export business out of your apartment.

Calories in Ddok. One of my favorite friends back in Seoul recently emailed me asking, no doubt dreading the answer, if there were a ton of calories in ddok. The sad answer? YES. Though I love ddokboggie and ddokgochi, and ddok guk, the long slender fingers of processed rice cakes are just about as bad for you as a bag of chips. Of course I have no hard-core evidence to back this up, but I vaguely remember reading a JoongAng Daily article about unhealthy snacks and sitting pretty next to a big mac was a bowl of ddokboggie.

Street Food in Seoul.
Recently I got an email from a reader about to visit the land of the morning calm on a stop over asking for suggestions on where to eat Street Food. You can’t throw a rock without hitting a pojangmacha, but some high concentrated areas for grazing include Dongdaemoon market, Myeongdong shopping area, and around Yongsan Station.

Korean Style Fried Chicken in Seattle
The NY Times article, featuring fantastic Korean foodie Zen Kimchi, has sparked interested in Korean Fried Chicken. Recently I was asked where to find this in Seattle, and here is what I could find. Imo’s in Pioneer Square does a Cornish game hen treated to a Korean style fry, and, according to ChowHound.com, a little place in Federal Way, past Federal Way Discount Guns. If you know of a place anywhere in the I-5 Corridor, let me know.

Finally beloved, who muses at belovedbabbling, is asking for Korean restaurants in the Downtown Seattle vicinity. Sadly, I am not an expert here. I know of The Shilla, possible one of Seattle’s oldest Korean restaurants, however I cannot attest to the quality of the food. Then there is Shilla Korean BBQ, a small Kimbap Nara-ish joint in the Uwajimaya food court. Any Suggestions?

“It took me over five years to write,” Martha Stewart said of her new book Martha Stewart’s Home Keeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home, which I DESPRATELY WANT FOR CHRISTMAS, KEVIN, MOM, DAD, AND JAMIE ($27 on Amazon!). At the time, I couldn’t help but think, “really? Five years? Come on. Seriously?”

But after working tirelessly on this post for over a month, I get it.

In wanting to get everything perfect for you, my dear readers, this has been my longest working post known to date. I’ve gone through countless edits, making sure both English and Korean spellings are correct (we all know I have problems with that), and descriptions are clear and concise. It didn’t take me five years, but yowza! I feel ya Martha!

Please enjoy.

Korea’s Kimbap restaurants, much like North American diners, provide customers with simple pleasures. You won’t find truck drivers fiddling with a word search over a slice of cherry pie, or tired waitresses refilling bottomless cups of coffee. What you fill find, however is a constant menu, full of cheap Korean comfort food, deliciously satisfying on the rainiest of afternoons, latest of nights or most horrid of hangovers- damn you soju.

Kimbap Nara, 김밥나라

Menus are always in Korean. At the orange facade joints (Kimbap Nara or KimBap Chungguk) check off your order on a paper menu like the one pictured below. White facade restaurants ( Kim Ga Nae) are “well being”-ish kimbap diners, and simply have the menu on the wall. The ajuma or ajushi will verbally take your order.

Here I have roughly translated a kimbap Nara Menu. Many of these restaurants offer the exact same menus save for a couple of dishes, so study up or copy, paste, and keep it in your wallet. Items are numbered on the menu, you’ll find the corresponding number below with the Hangul, then English, the price (1,000 won = 1 USD), and a quick description. I’ve starred my favorites incase you’re in the market to order something new.

Before we start, a quick word on Kimbap.

Do not confuse kimbap with sushi. The two are not the same. Sure, they share similar ingredients, seaweed and rice, and yes, like the maki roll, kimbap is rolled. But do not expect the sweet vinegary essence of sushi rice or the harmonious fillings found in favorites like the California or Avocado roll. Kimbap, is more proletarian than sushi and more affordable.
Like a taco, kimbap has its standard fillings. Most of the orange or red signed Kimbap joints will use damuji (a yellow pickled sweet radish), processed ham, carrots, some greens, maybe spinach, and cooked egg. Kimbap restaurants with a white sign are known for being “well-being” and will include a host of other ingredients, from sliced pear or apple to fake crab and odang, processed fish.

김밥류, Kimbap Ryu, Kimbap selections
1. 원조 김밥, Wonjo Kimbap, Dollar Kimbap, 1,000 won: The most basic of Kimbap, fillings include damuji (a yellow pickled sweet radish), processed ham, carrots, some green, maybe spinach, and cooked egg.
2. 야채 김밥, Yachae Kimbap, Vegetable Kimbap, 2,000 won: Filled with various veggies including carrots and spinach. Little variation from Won-jo Kimbap.
3. 김치 김밥, Kimchi Kimbap, 2,000 won: Standard kimbap fillings (ham, eggs, carrots, radish) with a healthy dose of kimchi.
4. 계란말이 김밥, Kaeranmal Kimbap, Egg wrapped Kimbap 2,500 won: Standard fillings. The kimbap is rolled in a thin omelet, then sliced.
5. 치즈 김밥, Cheese Kimbap, 2,500 won: Standard kimbap fillings including a slice of processed cheese.

Tuna Kimbap 참치 김밥

8. 참치 김밥, Chamchi Kimbap, Tuna filled kimbap, 2,500won: Standard kimbap fillings including tuna, gagnib (sesame leaf), and mayonnaise.*
9. 소고기 김밥, Sogogi Kimbap, Beef filled kimbap, 2,500won: Standard kimbap fillings including beef.
10. 누드 김밥, Nude Kimbap, 2,500won: Standard kimbap fillings, like an inside out roll, with the seaweed on the inside and rice on the outside
12. 유부초밥, Youbu chobap, 3,000won: Like inari sushi. Some places heavily season the rice with vinegar.*

식사류, Shik Sa Ryu, Meal selections
13. 김치 덮밥, Kimchi dapbap, 3,500 won: Kimchi mixed rice.
14. 오징어 덮밥, Ojinga dapbap, 3,500 won: Spicy squid, carrot onion mélange served either atop, or next to a healthy serving of sticky rice.
15. 제육덮밥, Jaeyuk dapbap, 4,000 won: Stir fried pork, carrots, squash, and onions in spicy sauce served aside a plentiful helping of rice.*
16. 카레덮밥, Karae dapbap, 3,500 won: Rice topped with curry sauce, diced potatoes, carrots, and mystery meat.
17. 순두부 찌개, Sundubu Jjigae, 3,500 won: Sometimes fiery bubbling cauldron of soft tofu, freshly cracked egg (don’t stir if you’d like it hard boiled), chili peppers, inoki mushrooms, a couple clams, onions and deunjang (Korean miso) paste. Served with the ubiquitous fire retardant sticky rice.*

kimchi jjigae

18. 김치 찌개, Kimchi Jjigae, 3,500 won: Always fiery bubbling cauldron of kimchi, plenty of chili powder and raw chilies, onions and the odd mushroom in a pork broth. Served with the ubiquitous fire retardant sticky rice.*
19. 참치 김치 찌개, Kimchi Chamchi Jjigae, 4,000 won: See above with tinned tuna.
20. 된장 찌개Dwen-jang Jjigae, 3,500 won: Sometimes slightly spicy bubbling cauldron of dwen-jeong paste, inoki mushrooms, onions, clams and the odd cube of tofu. Korea’s answer chicken noodle soup. Served with the ubiquitous fire retardant sticky rice.
21. 갈비 탕, Galbi tang, 4,000 won: Short rib soup with garlic and green onion.
22. 소내장 탕, Sonaejang tang, 4,000 won: Soup made with Cow’s intestines.
23. 육개장, Yuk Jae Jang, 4,000 won: Beef and green onion soup in a fiery chili pepper broth.
24. 다슬기 해장국, Dasolgi haejangguk, 4,000 won: Hangover soup, usually made with ox bones and soybean paste. Featuring fresh water snails. Sometimes made with ox blood.
25. 우거지 해장국, Woogeogi haejangguk, 4,000 won: Hangover soup, usually made with ox bones and soybean paste. Featuring, as I understand it, shredded dried cabbage leaves. Sometimes made with ox blood.
26. 비빔밥, Bibimbap, 3,500 won: A staple. Rice in a silver bowl covered with various veg and gochujang (red chili paste). Carrots, mountain weeds, cucumbers, sprouts, etc.
27. 돌솥 비빔밥, Dolsot bibimbap, 4,000 won: See above served in a hot stone bowl and topped with a (usually) fried egg.*
28. 양푼 비빔밥, Yangpoon bibimbap, 4,000 won: Bibimbap served in a large metal bowl, usually serves two people.
29. 돈까스, Donkkasu, 4,000 won: A pork cutlet coated in egg and dredged in crunchy panko breadcrumbs and deep-fried. Usually served with a nest of shredded cabbage and rice.
30. 치즈 돈까스, Cheese donkkasu, 4,500 won: A pork cutlet graced with a slice of processed cheese, battered and coated in crunchy panko bread crumbs and fried.
31. 생선 까스, Sang sun kkasu, 4,000 won: Breaded and fried fish.
32. 오므라이스, Omu-ra-ee-su 3,500 won: Fried rice usually containing ham, carrots, Asian melon (zucchini-like) and a few peas for color wrapped in a thin omelet and smothered in ketchup. Good morning Korea!

Ddokbaegi bulgogi

33. 뚝배기 불고기, Ddokbaegi bulgogi 4,000 won: The king of protein at the diner. Stewing bulgogi meat amidst sweet potato (glass) noodles in a peppery savory broth. Served with sticky rice.*
34. 김치 고등어 뚝배기, Kimchi godeunga ddokbaegi, 4,000 won:
35. 짜장 덮밥, Jjajang dapbap, 3,000 won: Rice topped off with the sweet black bean sauce, jjajang.
36. 철판 치즈 덮밥, Chulpan chiju dupbap, 4,000 won: Fried rice topped with cheese, or chee ju, on a hot plate.
37. 철판 불고기 덮밥, Chulpan bulgogi dupbap, 4,000 won: Marinated beef atop rice on a hot plate.
38. 철판 김치 볶음밥, Chulpan kimchi bokkum bap, 4,000 won: Kimchi fried rice with peas, carrots and ham served on a hot fajita like plate.
39. 철판 새우 볶음밥, Chulpan saewoo bokkum bap, 4,000 won: Shrimp fried rice with diced carrots and peas served on a hot fajita like plate
40. 공기밥, Gong gi bap, 1,000 won: Plain white sticky rice
41. 호박 죽, Hobak Juk, 3,500 won: Thick pumpkin like porridge.
42. 단팥 죽, Danpat Juk, 3,500 won: A thick red bean porridge.
43. 소고기 야채 죽, Sogogi yache Juk, 4,000 won: Thick rice porridge with meat and various veggies.
44. 전복 죽, Junbok Juk, 5,000 won: Abalone and rice porridge.

분식류, Boon Shik Ryu, Foods made from flour ie noodles, dumplings, etc.
45. 떡볶이, Ddokboggie, 2,000 won: The street snack with chairs. Simmered rice cake (log form) swim in a sea of spicy pepper sauce augmented with odang (processed fish), cabbage, carrots, onions and leeks.
46. 라볶이, Raboggie, 2,500 won: See above and add Ramyeon noodles. Bonus!
47. 치즈떡볶이, Cheese ddokboggie, 2,500 won: See Ddokboggie, add cheese. Bonus!

Cheese Raboggie 치즈 라볶이

48. 치즈 라볶이, Cheese raboggie, 3,000 won: See Raboggie and add cheese. Double Bonus!*
49. 김치 만두, Kimchi Mandu, 2,000 won: Steamed kimchi, pork, noodle, leek, onion and chili-filled dumplings. Comes with a small side of soy sauce.*
50. 고기 만두, Gogimandu, 2,000 won: Meat, noodle, leek, onion and chili-filled dumplings. Comes with a small side of soy sauce.

Mul mandu 물 만두
51. 물 만두, Mulmandu, 2,500 won: Small dumplings filled with meat and green onions, served in a pond of steaming liquid. Comes with a small side of soy sauce.*

Ddok mandu guk 떡만두 국

52. 떡만두 국, Ddok mandu guk, 3,500 won: Sliced rice cakes, meat dumplings, egg, sliced green onion, melon (zucchini-like), and other veggies in a broth.*
53. 떡국, Ddokguk, 3,000 won: A dish traditionally served on the lunar New Year; sliced rice cakes, meat, and egg in a beef broth.
54. 만두국, Mandu guk, 3,500 won: Dumplings and veggies in broth.
55. 항아리 수제비, Hangari sujaebi, 7,000 won: Sujaebe, a vegetable and dumpling. soup served in a pot. Not sure what the exact difference between this and plain old sujaebe is except this is for two people.
56. 라면, Ramyeon, 2,000 won: Green onions and chili powder take cup of noodles to a new level.
57. 떡라면, Ddok ramyeon, 2,500 won: noodles and green onions with sliced rice cakes.*
58. 치즈 라면, Cheese ramyeon, 2,500 won: noodles and green onions topped with a slice of processed cheese. Sounds ill, but the melted cheese helps tone down the heat of the broth.
59. 만두 라면, Mandu ramyeon, 2,500 won: noodles and green onions with meat dumplings.

짬뽕 라면, Jjam bbong ramyeon,

60. 짬뽕 라면, Jjam bbong ramyeon, 2,500 won: Ramyeon served in a pot boasting clams, squid, and a few baby shrimp.
61. 바지락 칼국수, Bagirak kalguksu, 3,500 won: Hand cut thick noodles in an anchovy stock with short neck clams.*
62. 쫄면, jjol myeon, 3,000 won: Thick noodles with mixed with spicy sauce and various veggies like bean sprouts, cucumber, carrots and the like.
63. 스파게티, Supagaeti, 4,000 won: Spaghetti
64. 짜장면, Jjajangmyeon, 2,500 won: Wheat noodles topped with a sweet black bean sauce concealing some veggies, carrots, and meat-ham.
65. 나라우동, Nara Udong, 2,500 won: Thick and slippery wheat noodles in a binto (fish) broth with green onion and tofu skins.
66. 김치우동, Kimchi Udong, 3,000 won: Thick and slippery wheat noodles in a binto broth with a heap of kimchi.*
67. 해물 우동, Haemul Udong, 3,000 won: Thick and slippery wheat noodles in a binto broth with various seafood including clams and prawns, maybe a mussel or two.
68. 물냉면, Mul naengmyeon, 3,500 won: A sipcy soup of chewy buckwheat noodles in a cold broth generally topped with sliced cucumbers and a hard-boiled egg.*
69. 비빔 냉면, Bibim naengmyeon, 3,500 won: Thin white noodles and thinly sliced carrots, cabbage and cucumber in a fiery red sauce.
70. 잔치 국수, Janchi guksu, 3,500 won: Known as banquet noodles, or wheat noodles in an anchovy broth topped with sliced egg, meat, mushrooms and other vegetables. Traditionally served at large banquets.

Bibim guksu in the background, Kongguksu in the foreground.

71. 비빔국수, Bibim guksu, 3,500 won: Wheat noodles mixed with various sliced veggies and meat in a spicy sauce.*
72. 콩국수, Kong guksu, 3,500 won: Thick wheat noodles in a cold soy milk broth usually topped with sliced cucumbers. Usually eaten in summer.

November 11th, day of the peppero is coming!

In all my years living in Seoul, I am amazed that I, Mary cheesyddokboggie Crowe could have missed something to interigal to the city’s dining scene, so essential to my culinary wellbeing, and something so, spicy, as Seoul’s Ddokboggie Town.

Yes, that is right. The spicy rice cake, leek and sliced odang snack, a favorite of children, adults, and me, covets an street of Seoul, chock-a-block with restaurants specializing in the fiery mess.

How I could have missed this, I don’t know. A mere few subway stops from my home, lies the key to my ever-expanding waistline. Saturday Kevin and I hit ddokboggie town just before the after school rush, taking in 50 years of ddokboggie history at Mabongnim Halmoni Ddokboggie (Grandmother’s Ddokboggie) Since 1953 grandma has been serving up paella like dishes of slender ddok logs, sliced green onion, thinly sliced fish cakes, ramyeon, chewy noodles, hard boiled eggs and fried mandu (which I think was fried in 1953) in a sweet spicy sauce. Cooked at the table while you wait, it is, as my husband put it, “a lesson in patience management.”

The ddokboggie in its raw form

Cooking the ddokboggie

almost ready
Try as we did, we couldn’t finish.

Disgraced by waif 20 something girls, and children who polished their dish clean, Kevin and I left Mabongnim Halmoni Ddokboggie with hands around our bellies, heads hanging low. We’ll gett’em next time.

Mabongnim Halmoni Ddokboggie
Seoul, Korea
Subway: Sindang Station, exit 8. Walk two blocks and turn right. Look for the restaurant with the larger than life-sized picture of Grandma on it.
Phone: 02 2232-8930
Hours: 8:00a.m.-1:00a.m. Weekdays –2:00a.m.weekends (Friday and Saturday)
Prices:$ Ddokboggie for two 8,000 won
Atmosphere: Fluorescent lights, stool seating, paper napkins.

Triangle Kimbap, or SamgaKimbap, is an easy first staple in a foreigner’s diet. Without our beloved pizza by the slice joints, we are forced to look elsewhere for a shot of carbs and protein. Enter Samga Kimbap.

Found at every mini-mart across the country, triangle kimbab is a rice triangle stuffed with cooked meat, tuna, kimchi, and a host of other tempting treats for around 700won, or roughly 70cents US. I’ve been a longtime connoisseur of the Tuna and Mayonnaise version.

Really, unless you don’t have access to a mini-mart, or are easily coned by smiling ajumas at supermarket kiosks, there is no reason to try and make these at home.

But being the latter I gleefully purchased my own Samga Kimbap kit, and here is how it turned out.

contents of the kit

seasoned rice on the left, tuna and mayo on the right

helpful step-by-step instructions

inside the triangle mold

the seaweed wrapping

the finished product

For the time and effort involved (and price of ingredients) I’ll be sticking with the bounty at my local family mart.

Lunch with Elaine is always a treat. The World Jewelry Museum curator has the old and twisted alleys of Insadong and Samcheon-dong down pat, and is always introduces me, right when I think I have Seoul’s food scene down, to something special.

Ok, I am stopping there. This post has been sitting in the edit file of my blog for over two weeks. I have tried many times to write a narrative that goes along with the following photos, but am struggling to come up with much that varies from a series of declarative sentences. So I am going to show, not tell, well, a little bit of telling, with some declarative sentences. Restaurant specifics at the end.

The restaurant is set in a traditional Korean house, hanok.

Lunches are not al a cart, but hanjeongsik, set meals.

Meals kick off with a soup to stimulate one’s appetite.

Second course features a wild green salad with dried mushrooms in a sweet pear dressing.

Kimchi and Mungbean cakes, or jeon.

Japchae, noodles with spinach and mushrooms.

Namul, greens, various kimchis, pickles, and deonjeong jiggae, soybean soup.

Service, free deep fried tofu and ginseng atop a spear of arugula (rocket).

Nwui Jo
Seoul, South Korea
02-730-9301
Some English spoken, English menu.
Vegetarians are easily accommodated, just ask the set meal you order to be vegetarian.
Service can be pushy, but over all pleasant.

Hidden in the back alleys, easiest to start from Anguk station, exit 6, head left, and turn right down the lane at the Jongro Police station. Follow the brick alley through a series of right and left turns (follow the green sign for the tea shop) Nwui Jo will be on your right.

“If it not be ripe it will drawe a mans mouth awrie with much torment; but when ripe it is as delicious as an Apricock” - Captain John Smith, 17th century.

Fuyu persimmons

October marks the arrival persimmons to Korea’s markets, tables, and tree branches. Having not tried one until I came to Seoul it was surprising to learn that the persimmon was a popular fruit in the American South in the 17th century, primarily used in baked goods, puddings, and such.

I recall having seen them in Olympia’s Eastside Co-op, sequestered to the far corner of the produce case, contained in a plastic tray, ripened to a barely stable mush, surrounded by a cloud of fruit files. Needless to say, I never purchased one.

Korean persimmon tree

Persimmons are a tricky fruit, the many varieties fall into two categories, astringent and non-astringent. The former, most likely tasted by Captain John Smith, contain high levels of tannins (red wine pucker) and cannot be eaten until it is puddingly soft. Non-astringent varieties, including the popular fuyu, sold in the Korean grocery stores and off the back of trucks, can be eaten hard or soft. However, the indigenous Korean variety, whose shape sags like a teardrop, is tres astringent. Better to look at, than to bite.

dried persimmons, kotkam

For Koreans, persimmons are commonly consumed and used in desserts. Dried persimmons are often stuffed with walnuts and sliced into rounds to be served with tea. They are also mixed with ginger to create a tasty “punch”, Sujonggwa, which is often served at the end of a Hanjeongsik meal. Persimmon vinegar is popular with the health conscious, as it is said to help digestion after heavy meals by dinking a glass of water graced with a teaspoon of vinegar. Bottoms up!
Hanjeongsik meals are multi course meals providing an array of side dishes.

Earlier this month my kitchen (toaster oven) was a flurry with persimmon related activity. Counted among the successes, a persimmon and jujube bar, a persimmon cream cheese tart, and wait for it, a persimmon cheesecake. Not so successful, getting the walnuts into the dried persimmons and slicing them into neat rounds, or the crust for the tart. I blame it on the toaster oven.

Persimmon and Jujube Bars with Lemon Icing
Adapted from an online recipe from the webstie recipes.epicurean.com
Prep time 45 minutes. Baking time 15 minutes
Makes 16 delicious cookies.

Ingredients for the persimmon bars
Ingredients
16 Korean dates jujubes
4 Soft persimmons
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, beaten
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup soybean or other vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt,
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon,
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Zest of 1/2 a lemon

1. Place the jujubes in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Cover the bowl with a plate and let soak for 30 minutes. Drain jujubes, remove pit and coarsely chop. Set aside.
2. Take four very ripe persimmons and remove skins, and stem. Using a wooden spoon, or your clean hands, press the soft persimmons through a fine meshed sieve. Discard seeds. Place the pulp in a bowl and add the lemon juice and baking soda. Set aside
3. In a large bowl combine the egg, sugar, and vegetable oil. Mix to combine.
4. In another bowl (yes, this recipe calls for a lot of dishes) mix the dry ingredients: flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, alternating with the persimmon mixture. Stir to combine.
5. Add the chopped nuts and jujubes.
6. Pour dough into a square glass baking dish, smeared with butter.
7. Bake in your toaster oven (or real oven 350 degrees) for 15-20 minutes, depending on the strength of your oven. Use a toothpick to test for doneness

8. Let the cookie cool in pan, atop a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes. Invert baking dish and remove cookie from pan. Let cool completely on rack

9. In a small bowl (the last bowl, I promise), whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Brush the glaze atop the cookie and let harden 15 minutes. Cut the cookie into bars and serve.

Not a baker? From www.sdfarmbureau.org comes other ways to enjoy fall’s bounty.

Slice Fuyu and spread with lime juice, salt, and chili powder. Eat with a slice of cheese or spread with peanut butter.

For an Autumn Salad, mix cubed Fuyu with grapes, pomegrante seeds, cubed apple, and pretty sliced green kiwi.

Top hot or cold cereal with little pieces of bright orange Fuyu.

Salsa is great when chopped Fuyu, onion, tomatillo, cilantro, and chili serrano are mixed together.

Smoothies can be blended using Fuyu, ice, lime juice, and milk. Sweeten if desired.

Syrup for hotcakes is delightful when peeled and chopped or blended Fuyu is cooked with butter and sugar.

Dehydrate thin slices of Fuyu to enjoy as a snack or to add to trail mix.

Eat up before they’re gone.