My first meal in Korea

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> I'm staying at my aunt's ("eemoh" in Korean) apartment in YangJaeDong--a suburb in Seoul, Korea. She is an amazing cook. This is the meal she prepared for me upon my arrival from the Incheon International airport.

The large stone bowl in the middle is Korean Bean Paste soup. It's our version of Japanese Miso soup.

Let's go clockwise, starting from 6 o'clock, up and around the large bowl of soup.

- A bowl of multigrain rice with red beans ("hangawi"). It's a lot healthier than eating white rice.
- Spicy raw crab legs with hot green chilis ("gaejang"). Packs a lot of flavor! It's sort of like ceviche, but with soft shell crab.
- Spicy pickled squid with sesame seeds ("ojinguh jut"). I must admit I've never really been a fan of this because it's got a slimy consistency...
- Pickled radish strips with fresh oysters. They serve this at most Korean restaurants in the states, but it doesn't taste as good because they used canned oysters.
- Radish stems in sesame oil
- Seasoned perilla leaves ("ggaennip"). Perilla is a member of the mint family. There are many different types of perilla plants. In Japan, they refer to it as "shiso." You might have had it deep fried at sushi restaurants when you order tempura. In Korea, we use both the seeds, which are much like sesame seeds, and the leaves of the perilla plant.
- Steamed spinach
- Sea cucumber in soy sauce
- Shitake mushrooms and carrots sauteed in sesame oil and minced garlic. This is one of my all time favorites. Yum!

The large plate of noodles in the upper right is called "Jabchae." It's sweet potato vermicelli noodles with spinach, julienne carrots, mushrooms and lean beef cooked in sesame oil.

The large plate bottom right is a seafood pancake "haemul pah jun" with green onions.

The small bowl in between the two large plates is seasoned pollack roe with sesame seeds on top. I LOVE this dish. It tastes similar to caviar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe

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Photos

My first meal in Korea
My first meal in Korea

Comments

[Hana Mae]

restaurant to Jenn
omg! I thought you went to a restaurant until I read the blog.