Two weeks later… In case you thought this whole Asian experience is just fun and games, it’s not. I am here to work and work has been busy and I’ve been exhausted. So, back to Korea (which I can’t believe was two weeks ago)…
I became a huge fan of Korean food after having it all of two times in NYC, so I was super excited to actually go to Korea and try the food there. (If you ever make it to NYC…you know, since Korea might not be the top of your travel list, pay a visit to Koreatown. Worth it.)
I had a list of foods to try. Sadly I didn’t get to all of them. But I did try some I didn’t know about. Amazing. Enjoy!
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| Wood coals all ready to go for my delicious galbi. This place was recommended by one of my apps…it was amazing. |
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| Meat cooking… I don’t think I could ever be a vegetarian. |
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| And cooked. All the little dishes are various forms of vegetables, most pickled, including kimchi–a Korean specialty. |
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| This was the display outside a “restaurant” where I did not eat. The vat in the back with the red soup in it was some sort of soup (duh)…and it just didn’t look super sanitary. I also found it funny that they cover their fake food in plastic wrap. I’m assuming it’s fake anyway… |
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| While I’m all for street food, this assortment of meats and fish sitting out in the open (not especially cold) air for who knows how long didn’t work for me either. |
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| And then I came across fried dough with veggies and noodles inside (they had a bulgogi one, but they were out of it by that point in the evening). It was delicious. But since when is anything wrapped in dough and fried not delicious. |
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| This is possibly my favorite street in Seoul (of the ones I was on). It’s this great little tourist trap with all sorts of shops, restaurants, and street vendors. I might have spent half of a day there. |
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| The Korean version of ebelskiver filled with red bean paste. I didn’t have any (not a huge bean paste fan), but it was super fun to watch this woman work at lightening speed making them. |
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| These are little pillows made out of super fine threads of sugar (floss) and filled with nut mixture. The video below shows the people making them. Kind of fun. I actually only had one of these after I got back (I bought some at the airport to take back to my coworkers) because I wasn’t super excited about eating them. But I should have been because they were good. And I bet they were even better fresh. |
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| There were lots of waffle places around. Not sure why. But I finally broke down and had one because they just looked too good. And they were good! |
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| Yeah. More fried dough. This one was filled with a brown sugar and almond concoction. Koreans like to fry things. |
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| Ginormous dumplings. Again with the frying. |
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| Just in case you need to get your drink on without missing a beat. Yes, plastic bags. Keepin’ it classy Korean style. |
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| Another little ebelskiver thing happening…only this one was automated. Super old school technology…and totally effective. |
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| These are a sort of ice-cream cone. They had them hanging here and then you waited in line to have one filled with soft-serve. I also didn’t try this (there’s only so much a girl can eat in a day), but they looked awesome. |
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| Bibimpap. Recommended by several people and a first for me. It’s this rice and veggie concoction that comes in this iron bowl, still sizzling. |
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That all looks so good!Funny kimchee story. The couple that hosted thanksgiving last year met in Korea. He was in the army and she is Korean. Anyway, I wasn't very excited to go (I was very homesick, and sick for that matter…in my 1st trimester) and told Brian that if she served kimchee I was going to be so pissed! Well, she did, along with traditional thanksgiving stuff' but guess what turned out to be my favorite dish? The kimchee!
This is food I can get behind.