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Published: April 2nd 2012
I decided that I want to talk about and show some of the food that I like to get on a pretty regular basis. In Gwangju, I've yet to find much western-style restaurants, so I'm going to be trying a lot of different Korean dishes throughout my time here, which I'm really excited about. For now, however, I'm going to present to you the basics.
The first meal that I'm going to talk about is called kimbop. Kimbop looks a lot like a sushi roll, but it's not. Kimbop is a roll made up of Kim (dried seaweed paper), rice, assorted vegetables, egg, ham, and any other protein you want (I get mine with tuna). It also has assorted sauces, but the most distinguishable tastes like mayonnaise. It's a great meal or snack, and it's easy to share with others. I honestly eat a roll of kimbop, at least, four times a week.
The second meal that I'm going to talk about is tteok mandu guk, or rice cake and dumpling soup. This is one of my personal favorite soups. It's a pretty inoffensive soup that has a very appealing taste to many westerners. The dumplings consist of assorted
finely cut vegetables and diced pork. In the soup itself you will find more vegetables such as carrots and kim, a cooked egg, and the spongy rice cakes. Don't think of these rice cakes as a dessert, because they're not. By themselves, they're quite flavorless, but in a soup they soak up all the flavor of the broth, and become little pieces of amazing. As you see in the picture, they sprinkle sesame seeds in it too. This soup is amazing.
For the third one, i'm going to continue with another soup. This one is called kimchi chigae. Kimchi chigae is another bowl of heaven. Beware though, this little bubbling bowl of lava will burn the mess out of your mouth if you don't let it cool off. As a matter of fact, as I write this, I feel the tenderness on the roof of my mouth from the kimchi chigae I ate this afternoon. I'm not exactly sure what's in kimchi chigae, all I know is that if it's done right, it's incredible. Obviously this thing is loaded with kimchi. There is also what appears to be onions, and assorted meats. Usually you will find tuna, and what
I believe to be pork. The broth is where this soup is at. It's packed with flavor, and it has just the right amount of spiciness, which for me guarantees that you will go through a lot of water before the end. I always order a side of rice with this meal. I dump it in and let the flavorful broth soak into it. Ummm...I want some right now.
Last, I'm going to talk about Japanese curry. Japanese curry is one of the most wonderful things that anybody has invented. There's not much description needed beyond it's god's gravy. What is under the curry can be important too. In the picture, I'm eating donkasu, or a meat cutlet. Specifically, I'm eating a chicken cutlet and rice with my curry. Seong Eun was eating asparagus and tomatoes with hers. Curry is such a simple concept, but it works in so many ways.
Well, that's it for my first edition of Food Story. There will be many more where this comes from, and, hopefully, I will be talking about more and more unusual food. Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a comment below. I would love to read what
you think.
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carol hellrung
non-member comment
Thank you...
Loved your first food blog. I remember Dan liking kimchi and eating it for Breakfast each day while he was in Korea.