Food of Korea

Singaporeans love food. Where Singaporeans go, we must seek and taste the local specialties, much like raving mad men on a search and destroy mission… err… almost but less brutal. Delicacies to tingle the senses. Where to begin? Some people love it, some people hate it. I was told that the Koreans do not really pay much attention to their food, so when you go there, just make sure you fill up your stomachs, but do not expect savory dishes that will linger in memory for ages. Is this true? I leave that decision to you.

The Koreans seem to really like things in steaming hot stoves. They put seafood, vegetables (mostly cabbage), bean curd, noodles and mix them up in the stove, much like how we do it for our steamboats. Nothing much to shout about, at least for the one that I tried. I guess the love for hot stuff goes back to the fact that their winters can be bone-chillingly cold.

Every meal is accompanied by side dishes, and Kimchi is of course a must-have. Other side dishes can vary, such as anchovies, bean curd, seaweed, and radish. One of those early cold mornings on Jeju Island, we were treated to abalone porridge. Mixed with ground nuts, anchovies, seaweed and other additional condiments, I could not taste the abalone, but it was delicious nonetheless.

One of the most mouth-watering meals, was BBQ-black boar. Pieces of the meat were literally thrown onto the grill covered with aluminum foil, and cooked to wonderful sizzling rhythm. After which you pick up the hot meat, wrap them up together with rice in raw vegetable, and pop them leaf and all into your mouth. Open wide and munch them all down! Yummy!

Not enough of hot meals in black pots? We tried the fish in spicy sauce. Not quite the Singaporean curry fish head kind of spicy, and the mix of ingredients are definitely different. If I remember correctly, boiled potatoes and tapioca were part of the side dishes. Not quite sure about this dish though, as I prefer it a little less fishy and maybe a little lemon or lime might add to the flavor.

Ginseng is a well-known quality product of Korean, and you should not miss the Ginseng Chicken. Not too much though, and eat it with carrot, otherwise you might find yourself having nosebleeds! My wife found this dish a bit bland to her taste, but I like it the way it was. They even provided free Ginseng wine to go with the meal. Excellent!

Another variation of cooking pork with cabbage and vegetable mix is to sort of fry it with a little bit of oil. All you do is to keep stir-frying the mix, while you pick them off the pan and down the juicy bits with rice.

The big Korean lady in the picture above is sort of famous for her fruits. Apparently, she was actually featured in the papers once because she went over to China to study Mandarin, in order to communicate with tourists from China, Taiwan and perhaps Singapore. She can actually speak quite fluently. What’s so amazing about her stall, is that she gives out free samples before you buy anything. She says you do not have to buy the fruits if they are not sweet. And my, those big pears and peaches are definitely sweet and succulent! Pretty expensive too compared to what we pay for in Singapore!

Beef, it seems, is expensive in Korea. Thus in those few days that I was there, pork, cabbage and kimchi were the stables. For a little bit of variation, they serve what we call “tang hoon” in Singapore to the hot pot. After a couple of days, it does get just a little bit boring.

Learning the process of how Kimchi is made is an interesting experience though. I took a picture of a lady preparing the fermented cabbage. Without going into details about the mix of ingredients for the sauce, spreading the sauce onto the cabbage is a tedious process. You have to do it leaf by leaf, and look at the amount of cabbages she has to go through each day! But Kimchi is a life-saver for any constipated stomachs… just take my word for it, so maybe all the tedious work is worth the trouble.

Still not done? How many meals did we have in a day? I don’t know. I lost count. This steamboat is a healthy mix of mushrooms, bean curd, carrots, some green melons and other vegetables. Most people seemed to have second helpings, and cleared out their shares.

A trip to Korea is not complete, without checking out their Zha Jiang noodles (right picture above). I don’t know what’s the difference between this and the Chinese ones, but I guess they evolved from the same sources. I was told both the Koreans and the Chinese claim that this dish originated from their respective countries. Doesn’t matter to me. I am just a guy who eats whatever comes his way.

Finally, a true-blue grilled pork, sizzling to your own needs, cooked by your own metallic chopsticks. The big slices of meat were placed on the stove and when they are almost done, we cut them into smaller pieces for easy consumption. You can eat it with rice or wrap them with cabbage. Equally tasty!

The noodle was actually for breakfast, and taste a little like Japanese miso soup. Ok, this one was not really anything to shout about.

After so much talk about the main course, how about some snacks and desserts? The Koreans seem to like hotdogs, and along the stalls near tourist attractions, you will find snacks such as these. They can have hot dogs on sticks, dipped in coats of icing, grilled pork on sticks, corn on sticks, some sort of sweet pan cakes. I did not try them all but they look very inviting from a distance.

Having ice cream on a hot humid afternoon is a treat in Singapore. Having ice cream in the cool evenings can be equally satisfying. And the serving is generous too! That twirling cone of icy decadence just begs to be licked and ravaged.

Phew! Have I finally come to the end? Believe me, writing this entry brings back memories of those delicious meals. My stomach is growling and I need to go find some food… Now.