Category: Food ‘Hoods

Woomi Dakgalbi, Chuncheon, Korea
Woomi is an old-school 닭갈비 dakgalbi restaurant that has been in the mountain lakeside city of 춘천 Chuncheon, South Korea, since 1970.
If you see the wagon wheel, you know you’re in chicken heaven. (Jeff Quackenbush photo)
This was the Chuncheon dakgalbi I remember from my teaching English in the city in 1997. That was before the 2002 Korean TV drama 겨울연가 Gyeoun Yeonga (Winter Sonata) turned the sites used for filming into a foreign tourism magnet as well as the 2005 closure of the U.S. Army’s Camp Page carried the city’s destiny in a totally different direction.
“Authentic” ingredients for the spicy marinaded chicken stir-fried dish Chuncheon is known for are 가래떡 garaedeok (large rice noodle), julienned sweet potato, diced Nappa cabbage, 껫잎 kkaenip (Perilla frutescens var. japonica), green onion, garlic and onion. Key components of the marinade are 고추가루 gochugaru (spicy red pepper powder), ginger, soy sauce and a dash of Korean- or Japanese-style curry powder.
More recent variations of Chuncheon dakgalbi include finishing touches of rice or noodles and lots of cheese.
This is where the tasty begins. (Jeff Quackenbush photo)
반찬 Banchan (appetizer or side dish) for our dakgalbi at Woomi was a small bowl of 동치미 dongchimi (“winter kimchi”) to refresh the palate. Leaves of romaine lettuce to slather with 고추장 gochujang (spicy red pepper paste) and wrap around the dakgalbi, raw onion and raw garlic.
This is where the tasty chicken ends up, laying on a bed of gorgeous lettuce with some raw onion tucked inside. (Jeff Quackenbush photo)
Going back to Chuncheon
Attending a friend’s wedding in mid-May was a good excuse to indulge in the many good reasons to visit Korea. For me, the most exciting reason was a return after 15 years to my Korean “hometown” of Chuncheon, located about 75 kilometers east-northeast of Seoul in 강원도 Gangwon province.
It used to be a two-hour train ride between Seoul and Chuncheon, but now there’s both ITX high speed rail — takes about an hour and has mostly reserved seats for ₩6,700 (about $7) — and a subway line — takes about 90 minutes with first-come seating for ₩2,800 (about $3).
If you have any doubt as to which train to catch, just follow the throngs of middle-aged men and women decked out in their matching hiking clothes and equipment. Most likely, they’re heading toward Gangwon for some prime hiking and camping somewhere in between.
For the possibly under-equipped hiker, an ajumma walked through the subway cars, selling wide-brimmed hiking hats, gloves and face guards.
This is not Joon-Sang and Yu-Jin’s Chuncheon station. (Jeff Quackenbush photo)
The first thing we noticed about Chuncheon’s ongoing facelift was the train station itself. The simple train platform we frequented, and seen in Winter Sonata, had been replaced by a architecturally modern glass-and-stainless-steel building.
This is what is left of Camp Page in May 2013: a water tower and a large green field. The imposing concrete wall topped with razor wire is long gone. (Jeff Quackenbush photo)
A second major difference: The tall razor-wire-topped concrete walls of Camp Page no longer blocks your entry into Chuncheon. Instead of spending an extra ₩2,000 in taxi fare to circumnavigate the base as we used to, we had a straight shot from the station through the former base grounds to downtown and 명동 Myeong-dong (the main shopping district).
We walked from the train station straight up 평화로 Pyeonghwa-ro/금강로 Geumgang-ro to the Myeong-dong plaza (on the right, just past 정강로 Jungang-ro). It would have been a 20-minute walk or a few minutes by taxi, but on the way we meandered through the underground shopping bazaar, which was under construction when we were last there.
“Dakgalbi Street,” an alley dakgalbi restaurants side by side, is off the central Myeong-dong plaza, with its Winter Sonata memorial Christmas trees on each light pole. (The trees recall a scene from the drama.)
Hubby and I would come to Dakgalbi Street after our morning classes, so being back there was like 1997 all over again. But at that time, rather than trees on light poles, the recurring motif in the shopping court was the soundtrack to the hit TV drama of the time, Star in My Heart, seemingly on a continual loop from music store outdoor speakers.
Woomi Dakgalbi (우미닭갈비)
Dakgalbi Street in Chuncheon’s Myeong-dong
50-5 Joyangdong (Chuncheon Myeongdong District), Chuncheon-ssi, Gangwon-do
조양동 50-5 (@ 춘천명동점), 춘천시, 강원도, KR
www.ccwoomi.com
October 25, 2013
Fun food find: Ssiat hotteok at BIFF Square, Busan
BIFF Square gets its name from the Busan International Film Festival. This annual film festival is one of the most prestigious film festivals in Asia. BIFF Square was the original location of the BIFF, which started in 1996.
Although BIFF Square no longer plays hostess to the prestigious film festival — it was moved to the newly built Busan Cinema Center (영화의전당) in 2012 — the square is still a busy place, lined with a wide variety of shops, movie theaters, movie paraphernalia and lots of street food stalls and restaurants.
After arriving in Busan from Daejeon during our recent tasty tour of Korea, Hubby and I scouted the square one weekday mid-morning with a profound craving for some 호떡 hotteok. Thanks to the Internet, we knew there’s something special about the hotteok sold at BIFF Square food stalls.
Like the child of a doughnut and a cinnamon roll, hotteok starts out with a base of wheat flour, water, milk, sugar and yeast. After the dough rises for a few hours, golf-ball sized lumps of dough are filled with a mixture of brown sugar, honey, chopped peanuts and cinnamon. Then it’s fried on both sides to golden brown and piping hot.
Most hotteok stands will set them aside and serve as-is. Buyer beware of the sticky, hot, sweet cinnamon syrupy filling.
However, Busan-style hotteok, called ssiat hotteok (씨앗호떡), or “seed hotteok,” brings a bit more to this street treat. A regular hotteok cake is cut from the side about half-way down and stuffed with a spoonful of pine nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
Deep fried dough generously stuffed with nuts, seeds, sugar and cinnamon is always good eats. The additional seeds and nuts may give the illusion of healthiness but who eats hotteok for their health?
BIFF Square is pretty easy to find. It’s in the same neighborhoood as the Jagalchi fish market and Nampo-dong shopping area.
BIFF 광장 (Square) Plaza and Flea Market
중구 남포동5가 18 (Joong-gu, Nampo-dong 5-ga, 18)
부산광역시 (Busan), 600-045
Directions: Take subway line 1 to Jagalchi Station. From station exit 7, the plaza is a five-minute walk.
August 1, 2013
Fatman and Seoul Eats in Ansan Asia Town
This past Sunday, I met up with Fatman Seoul and Dan Gray (Seoul Eats) in that little haven that I have grown to love this past year–Ansan Asia Town. I’m waiting for them to post what we did, as they had their high-powered cameras shuttering so much that I just gave up and pocketed mine.
Highlights:
Best Vietnamese food in Korea
Addictive braided Chinese doughnuts
Dan found shallots
Fatman and I got some Thai and Indonesian ingredients
Finding out that the beloved Uzbek cafe is actually a family-run franchise in Korea
If you are interested in joining us in one of our occasional food outings down there, Robert Wicks has set up a Facebook group, Amalgam Ansan.
Here are some of my shots of Asia Town and its restaurants from this weekend and this past year.
Taken before they renovated the streets
That's a durian shake in the background
April 7, 2009
Filipino Sunday Market
Filipino Market Stalls in Hyewha-dong
Something magical happens every Sunday in northern Seoul. Korea’s growing Filipino population come out and create what some call “Little Manila” on the sidewalk near the busy streets. Some say that it actually is like a snapshot of Manila itself.
Me?
I came for these.
Gorgeous, huh? These are not just any sausages. They’re longanisas. Sweet. Garlicky. Pork fat!!!
Actually they’re so full of pork fat that they’re difficult to cook without destroying your pan. But there is another option. You can eat them fully cooked yourself at the food stand that sells them.
I don’t know what it all is, but I do recognize a lot of pork, and that is a good sign. A plate of rice and three choices goes for 5,000 won.
Check it out! Clockwise from rice: some spicy peppery pork dish thingy, little savory meatballs, two longanisa sausages (I looked that one up on Wikipedia).
Oh, yeah!
The Filipino market also carries live fishies that are not commonly found in Korea, I guess.
And I haven’t seen long beans at my local E-Mart.
Even though the bottled and canned goods primarily cater to homesick Filipinos, there are a few items that I have heard Western ex-pats pining for, like corned beef hash and tinned sardines.
And for you Southerners out there, here’s where you can get your fresh okra fix.
I know we’re on the cusp of winter now, but I took these pics in the midst of summer. One of the most popular treats to come out of the Philippines is halo-halo, which is shaved ice with different jellies, fruits and purple sweet potatoes. It’s like Korean patbingsu.
This wonderful lady shaved the ice by hand from a big block using something like looked like a wood planer. She also sold me a string of those glorious longanisa sausages and cautioned me on how to cook them at home. The trick is to do it slowly and to take precautions to keep a black crust from permanently attaching itself to your pan. They’re very fatty, garlicky and sweet.
Getting There
Take the Light Blue Line (#4) to Hyewha Station 혜화 역. Go out Exit 1. Walk straight, and you’ll hit it.
Here is a Google Earth bookmark to add to your collection.
November 27, 2008
Ilsan’s Meat Street
Brant had been bugging me for a long time to go on a venture down Meat Street behind his apartment in Ilsan. It doesn’t take much to persuade me, but Ilsan is also a major journey for me. But wow, it’s great.
It’s rows and rows of restaurants grilling meats — mostly ribs — each trying to get your business.
On Easter Sunday, we finally did the Meat Street thing and had some ribs at this one joint. It was amazing. They had different styles.
The ladies liked the basic style.
The spicy style was a bit much for them. It was almost too much for me too, admittedly. I had ample Cass Red to numb much of my nerve receptors.
Let’s zoom in on that rib goodness.
Closer.
Closer!
Ooh, baby!
I think I need to take more trips to Ilsan.
Even their Dalk Ggochi (Chicken on a Stick) is bigger!
April 19, 2007
Vintage Post: Globing It in Itaewon

My birthday was Monday. On Sunday, a handful of friends met in Itaewon for an Indian buffet dinner at Chakraa. Yes, it’s the same Chakraa that ran the Valentine’s Day promotion. As I mentioned before, I’m on their email list. I knew of a special buffet promotion that weekend. In fact, they had knocked down the price even more when we got there.
Earlier that day, my girlfriend suggested we meet in Itaewon earlier. She wanted to get me fitted for a suit she was buying me for my birthday.
Get it? Birthday suit?
Nevermind.
Her job as a tour guide made her an hour and a half late. So I killed time by wandering around, trying to find new businesses (read: restaurants) in Itaewon.
If you don’t already know, Itaewon is the neighborhood next to the U.S. Army base. It’s set up as a special global tourist village. In reality, it’s like a foreigner ghetto. It’s not a tourist spot in the sense that Disney-sponsored Times Square is a tourist spot. It’s more like the Mos Eisley space port from Star Wars. You know, the one that prompted Obi Won Kenobi to proclaim, “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany.”
Nonetheless, it is the place to go to get your international food fix. There was one place that I was looking for and couldn’t find. Taco Amigo. It may be the second or third Mexican place in Itaewon, and it’s fairly new. I welcome any Mexican alternative to Pancho’s, the major Mexican restaurant on the strip. I’ve eaten at Pancho’s twice, and both times the service and food got me depressed. Taco Amigo was supposed to be a fast food taco joint.
As always, I found it right when I gave up looking for it. It’s down the street from Burger King, behind Gecko’s and Memories German restaurant. The menu is pricier than Taco Bell. But again, the ingredients are much harder to come by. And they are much cheaper than Pancho’s.
I bought a beef fajita and a beer. While I waited for my order, a Western looking man with a North American accent walked in and talked to the staff. He looked at me and asked, “What are you reading?”
“Beef fajita.”
“No, what are you reading?”
“Oh, reading.”
We talked a bit about my book. While I ate, I figured out that he was the owner of the restaurant, Wayne. He seemed like another outgoing memorable Itaewon character, like Gunther from the Three Alleys Pub. We had a great conversation, trading information on how to get Mexican ingredients in Korea. He told me that there is one tortilla manufacturer in Korea.
One.
So I may not have to get frozen dried out tortillas shipped in from overseas. He had to leave before I could probe his brain more as to how to get my hands on these domestic tortillas.
The fajita itself was pretty good. Wayne supplied me with a handful of hot sauces that are difficult or impossible to get in Korea, particularly the chipotle sauce.
The restaurant offers basically tacos, quesadillas, burritos, and fajitas in beef, chicken or veggie varieties. I personally would like to see pork as an option. Pork is heavily used in Mexican cuisine, and I’ve grown to prefer Mexican food using pork, good fatty pork. And I’m sure it would be a much more affordable menu item in Korea. Taco Amigo is definitely going to be a regular Itaewon stop for me.

I had a few more minutes to kill, so I picked up some lamb at the Foreign Food Mart. It’s near the mosque, next to What the Book. It’s muslim owned and is a great source for inexpensive Halal lamb. I have noticed that their variety of Halal meats has increased, along with foreign goods outside of Middle Eastern/Pakistani/Indian traditions.
Eun Jeong was hungry when we met. I coaxed her into going for a quick snack at another restaurant I wanted to try, Ali Baba. Ali Baba is up the street towards Thai Orchid. It’s an Egyptian themed restaurant with nice decor. We ordered a falafel sandwich and a tabouleh salad.

The tabouleh, to my surprise, had no grains in it. It was nice and light, though.

The falafel sandwich exceeded my expectations. It was light and spicy with a great sauce. And it won by also being cheap. Eun Jeong had never tried Middle Eastern food, but she was impressed and said she would go by there again for lunch, since her office was next door. The service, though, was slow and a bit sloppy. I didn’t feel too welcome there, like we were disturbing their lazy Sunday.
We finally met all our friends at Chakraa. I had been here once before, way back when John Kerry was running for President (remember that name?).
The floor manager waited all the tables himself, and he was very patient and personable with our group. The food was good and spicy, not toned down too far for the Canadian clientelle (cheap shot). And there was an endless supply of naan bread. I particularly liked the chick peas and the lamb. I could barely take advantage of the buffet because I had eaten the cuisines of two other countries before arriving.
But I did give it a good shot.
February 10, 2006