What I Ate in Korea, Part 1

During the Easter holidays, David and I took a trip to South Korea. My prior knowledge of Korean food was limited to the infamous spiced, pickled cabbage called kimchi -- and a lot of that came from references made by Lane Kim on "Gilmore Girls." Despite Lane's aversion to her Korean mother's cooking, I very much enjoyed all the dishes I ate while on holiday.

It's always difficult when traveling to a new place because you take a risk every time you choose a restaurant. Will they have an English menu? Will the dishes look like they do in the pictures? Will there be any nasty ingredients lurking under the surface? Most importantly, will you like what you ordered?

Overall, we were very lucky in our choice of eating establishments. I never had a truly awful meal in Korea, but of course some were better than others. I did my best to remember to take photos of my meals, and here are some of the highlights.

Bibimbap

Bibimbap is the Korean dish we ate most frequently--we were even served it on the plane to Korea from Hong Kong. Basically, it consists of rice topped with an assortment of vegetables, both raw and cooked or pickled. You can get it with meat and/or fried egg as well. The best part, in my opinion, is the sesame oil drizzled over the top, which gives the rice a unique flavor.

Barbecue

Korean barbecue is very famous, though I had not eaten it before. We only ate it once, when we met up with a couple of acquaintances in Busan. Pictured here is the pork -- kind of like thickly sliced bacon -- sizzling away with kimchi and garlic next to it. After it is fully cooked, you can eat the meat plain or wrap it in lettuce leaves like an Asian taco. Yum!

This was one of the most delicious meals we ate on our entire trip! When we went on a day tour from Seoul to the DMZ (the border area with North Korea), we stopped for a pre-arranged lunch, and we were served this amazing beef and onion dish, along with rice and lettuce wraps.

At most every traditional Korean restaurant, our meals were served with an assortment of condiments. Kimchi, of course, was always present, but the other little bites varied from place to place. We were served other kinds of pickled vegetables, bean sprouts, strips of tofu and greens. It was always fun to see what bonus foods we were going to get!

Kimchi pancake

I was told that I had to try a kimchi pancake while in Korea, and I am glad that I did. It was almost like a combination of an omelette or frittata and a pancake. Kimchi really has a nice flavor when it is warm, and it tasted very good in a pancake. However, this dish was quite heavy and felt a bit too fried and oily to be healthy.

Gimbap

I love sushi, but oftentimes I think I enjoy the wrap and the rice more than the fish inside. So, Korean sushi is perfect for me. I bought this gimbap at a covered cooked food market near Dongdaemun market. There were several stalls where women were making stacks and stacks of rolls, and I chose one that was not busy. The proprietor served her creation with a spicy sesame sauce, which made the tasty sushi even better.

All in all, my food experiences in Korea were scrumptious and satisfying. I would highly recommend Korean food to anyone, and I look forward to finding a Korean restaurant to try in Hong Kong as well.