Korean Food 101
-
Another Hilarious Bibimbap Ad
CORRECTIONS AND UPDATES: The Bibimbap Backpackers contacted us and informed us that they have been working separately from Seo Kyung Duk since 2012. Even though it wasn’t mentioned in the post, they also want to verify that they get no government support. They regret the ad they posted and will try harder to contemplate their…
-
WTF: Domino’s Korea’s New World Cup Monstrosity
I ain’t gonna be gentle about it. Korea has some fucked up pizzas. The American-based chains are the worst offenders, trying to outdo each other in how outrageously disgusting their next pizza will be. I think they’re doing some high stakes trolling competition with each other. “What can we trick Koreans into eating before even…
-
Critic Burns Trendy Itaewon Restaurant via Epic Email
Background on this. An Itaewon restaurant wanted a local magazine to review it. After eating there, the reviewer sent this email in reply. I was given permission to re-post this. Names have been redacted. Hi XXXX, how are you?I’m writing concerning the status of the article about your restaurant. Let me preface it by saying…
-
Salade a la dorade crue sauce coreenne
Cela fait un moment que l’Occident a découvert les mets de poisson cru. Depuis, nous avons vu tant de restaurants de sushi et cela proposant tous à peu près les mêmes choses. N’est-ce pas maintenant qu’il est temps de changer et varier le plaisir de cet ingrédients ? Le pays voisin du Japon, en Corée…
-
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. 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…
-
Doenjang Pork Chops
The Bos Life, the supplier of artisan meats, recently sent us some of their fine meats and asked if we could help them spread the word about them. Among the ZenKimchi team, I volunteered to take on the challenge. When I saw that the sample pack would contain some pork chops, I knew I had…
-
Confessions of a Kimchi Craver
There was a brief stretch in my first month in Korea when I stopped eating kimchi. I blame culture shock. I had not yet grown my Asian palate and had made the expat’s error of expecting certain colours and shapes to correspond to familiar tastes. I spent far too much time pondering the explosive flavours…
-
Korean Style Arrabbiata Sauce
“Fusion” Korean-Italian dishes aren’t unique in Korea but they’re often quite pretentious. Pasta dishes in general still convey a “luxurious” image in Korea and this somehow justifies the often exorbitant prices in restaurants for Italian dishes (with their names italicized on the menu for added effect). Arrabbiata sauce, however, is an inexpensive and common spicy sauce in…
-
Review: Schneeballen Korea's Schneeball Cookies
Like any city, Seoul goes through seemingly random food trends and fads. Once such a trend hits, you’re bound to see the same food or dish almost everywhere from street food carts to even high end restaurants sometimes. One such trend that has arrived in Seoul recently is a type of German cookie/pastry called…
