Korean Fare

Korean side dishes, called banchan

Before coming to South Korea, I had never heard of Korean food. Ever. When I told people that I was considering moving here, everyone said, "Hope you like kimchi!" I had to look it up online to see what it was. Honestly, I was frightened.

Since moving here nearly three months ago I have fallen in love with Korean food. Not only is it colorful and delicious, it's very nutritious. Some sources say Korean food is the healthiest cuisine in the world. I'm pretty sure those sources are Korean. Still, it's quite good.

I'm sure I've only tried the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many varieties of Korean fare, but some of my favorites so far are bulgogi (Korean BBQ), naengmyeon (cold noodle soup), lotus root, dok bok ki (similar to a rice pasta, though they're called rice cakes) and - yes - kimchi. Kimchi isn't really a main dish, it's pretty much always served with banchan (side dishes) which come with all Korean meals. In Korea, there's no tax on food in restaurants, no tip and all the side dishes are gratis. You can eat an amazing meal for less than $8... and I've even had amazing meals for less than $2.50!

It's quite a relief that the food here is amazing, and I'm looking forward to all the new dishes I have yet to try. Luckily I get to try a lot of new things since I basically just point at the menu and hope whatever they bring me didn't used to be someone's pet. It's always an adventure...

Seafood soup. I found out later that some of the weird, brain-like things in the soup are "warty sea squirts". Appetizing, huh?

I'm learning how to make some Korean food... and this is my first attempt at preparing lotus root. It turned out really well!

Dok bok ki from a street vendor. You stand at the cart and spear the rice cakes with a long toothpick, and to drink, they pour you hot fish juice broth out of a vat of boiling fish cakes. Mmm... refreshing?