Journies of a Foodie- Prt 3- Seoul Food

One of the best parts of going to Korea last year was eating with my friend Juno! She has a passion for Korean street food and culture and I have a passion for eating! Despite ending up with pneumonia at the end of my trip I had a great time and left with a deep love and desire for great Korean food. Still have yet to find decent Korean food in HK, if you know of a good place let me know! I need some bim bim bop!

I coughed really badly after this photo was taken. I was not aware there was chinese mustard in my bean sprouts!

Food is an essential part of Korean culture. Most people in Korea eat a small breakfast and medium lunch and then a very large dinner. Dinner is a family gathering event, everyone shares which is nice I think. Let's go through the foods. I apologize to Juno if I get any facts wrong. It's been about a year since she told me these things and I'm a little fuzzy on some of the details.

Fish Donut Things

I don't actually know the Korean name or the correct name of these things. They are delicous though! And they in no way taste like fish. They taste like a beneight dough and then are filled with a red bean paste. Very warm and crispy and fun to eat because of the shape! I love any food with a fun shape!
This is why I still eat dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets.

Ribs

We ate Korean beef ribs in Suwon. It was my best day in Korea mainly because of this meal. It was amazing! The portions were huge! How do Korean people eat so much and stay so tiny? The ribs are put onto a burner at your table and are cooked in front of you! Super yummy smells! Then a nice waitress cuts the ribs and you chose your portions. Only bad thing about Korea is the metal chopsticks. After 3 years in china I still kinda suck at chopsticks and the metal ones are even worse for me because they are tinier and slipperier! I must have dropped my food and chopsticks a lot in China! I remember coming home with a lot of stained clothing from that trip... But the stains were delicious...

The big green thing is a seaweed pancake... That I didn't like so much!

BTW, Metal Chopsticks

They only use metal chopsticks, spoons and bowls in Korea because of one of their emperors. His father was poisoned and so he switched all the utensils of Korea to silver which would change colors if the poison was added to the food/drinks. Such a smart king, although not very economic.

Blah, Blah, Blah

I was on the airplane to Korea and the woman offered me chicken or "blah blah blah" I had no idea what it was so I ordered the chicken which was tasty. I found out a couple days later "blah blah blah" was actually bim bim bop. A clay pot dish made with veggies, rice, an egg and some meat. It has a spicy bean paste on the side. I only put a little on. I watched Juno do her food. Man, she likes her food spicy! Bim Bim Bop was super warm and filling! It made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and the people who made it for me were very nice and kind to me. But sorry to disapoint ladies, I'm not Russian...

Blah, blah, blah... Note the chopsticks

Noodles

Koreans do noodles too! And although it didn't compare to the noodles I had in Taiwan the a couple months earlier. I was sick and Juno took me to a noodle bar in Insadong that is famous for it's noodles. She thought it would make me feel better. And it did! Similar to Chinese dumplings with a spicier broth, the noodles were great on a cold day where I got to see the palace.

My Korean noodles in Insadong

Plum Tea

This is something I discovered all on my own! On my last day, Juno had to go back to work. BOO! So, I went off with some new friends from Canada and discovered plum tea at one of the palaces in Seoul. It was delicous! I highly recommend it. It was my favorite discovery on the trip. And Juno just sent me a care package full of plum tea. YEA!

Krispy Kreme

A trip is not complete without a visit to an American joint you can't visit in HK. Hooters in Taiwan, Wendy's in Japan, Cookie Dough Icecream in Australia. I hit up one bad American place per trip usually. And with this trip it was Krispy Kreme. Growing up in the south, Krispy Kreme is essential to my childhood identity and getting multiple trips for hot donuts in Korea with Juno defined the trip for me. I was a pretty bad junkie begging for another hit and she was very accommodating. And I think she was surprised by how many I could eat!