Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hyeon Een]

I wasn't planning on making this topic after the "Worst food in Korea" topic I made yesterday because it would seem too obvious. However today I found a (joint) new best food.

The food in question is barbecued eel with yang-nyeom sauce (장어불양념구이). This was absolutely fantastic. It was barbecued up on proper coals and served with a dipping sauce made of soy-sauce plus maybe vinegar and chillis (I'm guessing on the ingredients). It straight up did not taste like Korean food. It tasted like mediterannean food. It was delicious.

It was also served with a kind of radish kimchi I'd never had before. I don't know what made this radish kimchi so special but it was awesome. It was a water kimchi, but it was in some kind of green sauce which tasted like it had some kind of mint in it and a variety of other ingredients. It didn't taste Korean. There were lots of other great sidedishes too.

I haven't had a new "WOW THAT'S AWESOME" taste experience in Korea, about Korean food, since about a month after I arrived here. This shit actually tasted interestingly different to most Korean foods. It was awesome. Usually a new food is like "Oh, that's nice, it tastes like _______" (fill in the blanks with a suitable Korean food)

My other joint favourite food is a dish which a lot of you will already know. It is a cut of pork which is barbecued called 갈매기살 which means seagull meat. But it's not seagull it's pork. When barbecued up it almost tastes like beef. It's delicious. Fantastic. I lucked into finding it almost on the first day I arrived in Korea and I've been eating it ever since. It's served in most decent sized barbecued-pig type restaurants. Far better than sam-gyeop-sal or crappy sweetass galbi. Eat it. You won't be disappointed if you haven't tried it yet. Every now and then I run into a foreigner who's never heard of it though, so I thought I might spread the good news a bit further by educating the one or two people here who haven't recognised the superiority of this cut of meat over all other pork-cuts.

(Actually there is one other cut of pork I like better but I don't know what it's called. I've only ever got it at festivals where they've been roasting whole pigs and had it sliced off. I think the English name might be "luck of the draw" but it's been fantastic every time I've had it.)


So what's YOUR favorite Korean food? For purposes of boredom-elimination bibimbap(ESPECIALLY dolsot), Galbi, samgyepsal, kimchi, McDonalds, Burger King, funny jokes about Western foods, rice, kimchi, bulgogi, kimchi chiggae, and doenjang chiggae are elimated from this discussion. Thank you.


[Yes this is also an unsubtle effort to help me find new delicious foods]

[MissSeoul]

Someone said his favorite korean food is Pa-Jon ( Pa = green onion ), I don't know anyone ever tried NokDu-jon ( NukDu = green mung bean ), this was one of my late husband's favorite ( He was a Swedish American ).

[Wrench]

Shabu Shabu.,, Oh wait isn't that Japanese..

In Korea I think its the best.. I like Gamjatang and Samgapsal and Kalbi, sometimes Tokkpoki is good as well.

[jennateacher]

Yu Ja Cha

Citron tea. Great stuff in the winter. Aslo can be used as marmalade in a pinch.

[rothkowitz]

Lots of Korean foods can taste great IF they are well-prepared,not over-cooked and use good quality ingredients.

Also a big problem is that restaurants will cook in huge batches.Everything gets thrown in at the same time and then they boil the bejesus out of it.

If you make smaller batches,or even-being a restaurant you fill orders as they come in,you can quickly get it ready and it's served optimally.On Korean cooking shows I never even see the cooks testing how it tastes.

For example,a simple codfish soup.Actually fillet the fish,don't cook it until it resembles rubber,and,um,use good fresh-not frozen-cod.

When you're paying the same that you would for a main dish back home,this ought to be a given.

[xtchr]

[crazy_arcade]

[rothkowitz]

I'm not so sure I'd describe Japanese food as bland.

I can usually taste the individual ingredients with Japanese food.

With Korean food,much less so.

A student essay years ago said that pepper was liberally used to promote saliva and to make people feel fuller.

[migooknom]

bo ssam, sundae gukbap, jok bal, bone haejang guk

mmmm

the really good stuff are the ones that aren't the most foreigner friendly...

[RACETRAITOR]

You can't exclude Suwon galbi from this list. In the right restaurant there it's better than anything.

[rothkowitz]

How much does it go for in Suwon?

Galbi is priced by weight(150gm,250gm or so)but this includes bone which is about half of what you're paying for.

Is it worth a trip out to Suwon?In particular,is there a place where the ajummas are a bit more relaxed and let you cook it at your own speed.Nothing worse than the "eat up and f-off" pushiness of a lot of restaurants,expensive or otherwise.

[RACETRAITOR]

You know how every city has a food they're "famous" for.

My favourite place was a small restaurant near Sungyunkwan University on the northern end of Suwon. There were a few good restaurants around there. You go out the subway exit leading toward the university, and just follow your eyes to the bright lights. I really don't remember at all, but there was a street of them there. Hell, there were streets of them all over the place.

There are different types of galbi. You can get certain kinds without bones at all. You can also get helpings of galbi for 40 000 won which tastes no better than the 7000 won plate, in some restaurants.

[Donkey Beer]

samgyebsol and boshingtong soup are both very good.

[tiger fancini]

Not sure about the Korean spelling but byo-da-gi-hay-jan-gook is pretty damn good. Gotta love that pig spine meat!!

[markhan]

I may be biased since I am Korean-American but I think Korean food has a great potential it it is done right. Unforunately there are way too many non-professional Ajumma operating Korean eateries. Also, banchan can be extremly good if they are fresh - sadly, they are not since most are pre-made.
And, ingreidents in Korea are way too expensive. I think beef is at least three times more expensive than the State.
So even simple things like Soondubu Chigae (Soft Tofu Stew), if you add some shrimps, mushrooms, and others, it can be really delicious.

I dont really have a favorite Korean food since i eat Korean food most of the time. But what i really like about Korean food is that it can be harmonious. For instance, if you order something greasy like Samgypsal, you get banchans and fresh condiments like chopped scallion, raw garlic, and not to mention Daechang Chigae that balance out the greasy taste. Eating Bossam plain can be,, well,, plain, but you add that salty shrimp juice wrapped around in perilla leaf with a little bit of Kimchi...

Done right, it can be damn good.