Exciting Dishes in Korea

Travel backlog alert! Korea 2015 :) Elbert and I stayed there for a week, thus it's the longest travel Elbert and I did so far. We were there in the first week of April - perfect timing for spring season! And, spring season in Korea means da...da...da...daaaaa....cherry blossoms! Yes, we had a lot of that (medjo naumay na nga ako nuon lol).

Anyway, we went to Seoul and a side trip to Jeju Island. Korea is so much better in person. If you find Nami Island (which was famous for Winter Sonata location shoot) amazing on TV, wait ‘till you see it LIVE. It was a spectacle of old and modern Korean culture which Elbert and I enjoyed a lot. The spring season made it even more enjoyable to walk around with nature.

Amidst growing popularity of Korean boy and girl bands amongst Filipinos (my niece is sooo addicted to BTS), the thing we love most about Korea is the FOOD. Oh my loving god, yes! It's the food! How do Koreans produce intricate and sumptuous meal and make it appear as if it’s the simplest thing in the entire planet? Ang galing, eh! 

So here’s the food/meal that we truly loved when we were in Korea. There was none we didn’t like. We loved everything even the go-to meal in 7Eleven. Promise.

Samgyeopsal 

A classic meal which is literally served in Korean households. The star of this dish is the pork belly meat slices which are typically marinated in different flavors. There was a corner restaurant near our accommodation which served samgyeopsal, and I am telling you, without exaggeration, the smell of the meat on the grill was just A-W-E-S-O-M-E. Naririnig mo talaga ýung sizzling!

I always enjoy eating samgyeopsal. I love the presentation and the process how you eat it. I actually love the idea of the lettuce wrap. It's very healthy :)

We were accompanied by a friend Tina to a very nice restaurant named Palasaek Samgyeopsal in Seoul. Parang pista lang ang serving!

A medley of flavorful fresh meat. Sobrang intense ang busog. 

Very fragrant seafood jiggae.  

Samgyetang

This is synonymous to goto or arozcaldo. It’s a Korean congee with so much flavor and health benefits as well. Ginseng is one of the key ingredients of samgyetang for flavoring. But it's the whole young chicken that really stands out in this meal. And, when I say whole, yes, it's buo :)  Samgyetang is served in an epic Korean stone pot to keep it warm. 

We visited Tosokchon restaurant in Seoul which is very famous in Samgyetang. It was served with side dishes like kimchi and house tea.

I ordered the black chicken samgyetang which is more expensive than the ordinary chicken samgyetang. Maitikman lang. He he.  Black chicken I understand is a very rare chicken breed and it takes a year to reach maturity. Kaya yan, medyo may kamahalan. 

Guksu

Korean noodles with pork strips - similar to Ramen but tastes a lot different. The stock is packed with satisfying pork flavor. And the pork strips were really soft, it melts in your mouth. Tina recommended this lovely savory noodle meal. And yes, it’s a thumbs up for us!  

We had guksu in a restaurant in Jeju Island which was really amazing. Staff were very accommodating even though we only communicated through hand gestures (most of them didn't understand English yet).

 
Gukbap 

Also served in the same restaurant were we had Guksu. Gukbap is a rice meal with a soup in it or a soup meal with rice in it (i hope you get that ha ha). The gukbap that Elbert had was with ox blood. Para rin siyang goto or arozcaldo with a twist. The ox blood is surprisingly yummy. Mabigat lang talaga siya sa tiyan.

  

Dak galbi 

I thought Dak galbi is a Korean version of chopseuy. The base ingredients of Dak galbi are gochujan (chili pepper paste which I’m so in love with) and tteok (rice cake). We had ours in Myeongdong which was prepared and cooked on our table. The server simply mixed the ingredients one at a time using a large skillet pan.

The cooking process was very exciting for me :D You could actually smell the flavor and the aroma of the gochujan. I think this is the key element of a good dak galbi. 

Sulbing 

This is Korea's version of pinoy halo-halo. This is something that you should try if it's your first time in Korea. The ice is amazingly produced as fine as snow. Nakakatuwa lang. We had sulbing in Insadong. 

Bimbimbap (in a box!)

Our bimbimbap experience in Korea was kind of different. We went to the famous Ms. Lee Cafe to try out their lunch box bimbimbap. All you need to do is to just shake the metal box and voila! Meal is served. It wasn't the best bimbimbap though, but the experience of being in Ms. Lee is worth a try.

We had our lunch bimbimbap after our visit from Nami Island. This branch is the one in Insadong.

What I like about Korean meals is that it's very fresh and healthy. It gives your palate a certain degree of satisfaction without feeling the guilt. I also love Korean utensils (ha-ha) - the metal rice bowl, the stone pot, the long necked spoon and flat metal chopsticks :)

Haengbog meogneun!