Tteokmanduguk at Koong, Insa-dong.

January 23, 2012


Choraengi Rice Cake Soup with Dumplings 조랭이떡만두국 (Choraengi tteokmanduguk) at Koong

Tteokguk (떡국) is a traditional rice cake soup eaten in Korea to celebrate the new year. Long cylinders of tte0k rice cakes, cut on an angle and cooked until softly chewy and yielding are a necessary ingredient. Shredded or sliced meat, gim (김, laver type seaweed), ribbons of omelette and spring onion rounds add interest to the meaty stock. I’m certain that this celebratory food is best in the home, lovingly prepared and eaten with purpose of celebration.


Long cylinders of tteok.

Sometimes mandu (만두, dumplings) are added to form the variant tteokmanduguk (떡만두국), a preferable modification in my opinion. This version, eaten at Koong in Insa-dong is replete with small rice cake orbs, instead of the more common oval slices. These balls, called Choraengi, are present due to historical events, and hold their shape without softening and expanding in the soup as the others are wont to do. The broth, cooked for 12 hours, is clean yet full of flavour.  There is no egg, and it’s light on the gim, but four fat mandu more than make up for it. Filled with meat, tofu and chives with a thin wrapper, they’re simple and flavour packed. A huge picture of a Grandmother and Granddaughter adorn one wall, the elder having made these North Korean Gaesong-style dumplings for 75 years.

Cabbage and daikon kimchi, both sour and spicy red are provided, as well as a less common accompaniment. Dongchimi (동치미) looks like slabs of white diakon floating in cloudy water. It is a kind of kimchi that is only fermented for a short while, and is often not spicy. A spoonful of the ‘water’ tasted every-so-often clears and invigorates the palate wonderfully, with its lightly sour, complex flavour.

Koong serves other dishes, but is most famous for it’s tteokmanduguk and for good reason. It’s a tasty and satisfying, yet light version of a dish that I’ve only ever experienced as stodgy and oversalted, though my knowledge is understandably limited. Although it isn’t strictly a Korean New Years tteokguk, it’s the one I’d choose to eat. Happy lunar new year! 새해 복 많이 받으세요!

Koong
Choraengi Rice Cake Soup with Dumplings 조랭이떡만두국 – 8,000won.

Directions: Anguk station exit 6. Take the first major left down Insa-dong street. Keep walking until you pass the Ssamzie complex on your left, then take the next left. Take the next alley on your left and Koong is the first restaurant on the left. Or just look at the map.

Posted in Korean, Seoul, South Korea 2 Comments >>

Han Ramen at Hakata Bunko v2, Hapjeong

January 11, 2012

Hakata Bunko, that dingy ramen hole in Sangsu, has a brighter and less popular younger brother. Close to Hapjeong station, this second floor sibling has none of the grime of the original, nor the queues, just amazing ramen.

The menus at both outlets are the same: In Ramen, Han Ramen and a Seoul-style ramen made with chicken, fish and pork, a meaty mongrel as yet untested. Rice and chashu are also available. It’s difficult to get past the Han Ramen on this short menu. It is rich and strong, satisfaction in a bowl. The noodles are substantial, each strand chewy and made smoky by the inclusion of wok-seared white cabbage, onion and garlic, reminiscent of a BBQ. Adorned with tender shredded pork and optional freshly pressed garlic and powdered sesame, this soup isn’t just soup, it’s a meal. The broth is thick, fatty, collagen white and porcine, customers around the room pick up their fishbowl-sized bowls and drink. If you can finish the noodles with space to spare, order a bowl of perfectly cooked rice to stir into any remaining broth.

You won’t regret it.

Hakata Bunko
Hours: 12 noon to 11pm daily.
Order: Han Ramen 10,000 won. Rice 1,000 won.

2nd Floor, Mapo-gu, Seoul 394-93, Seokyo
02-332-7900

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Chan’s Espresso Bar, Hongdae

January 2, 2012

Seoul is teeming with coffee shops, from ubiquitous carbon copied franchises, to quirky, distinct and imaginatively designed and themed independents. And they’re often full. Having coffee (or other drinks like a sweet potato or blueberry latte) is a popular past-time. Unfortunately the majority of coffee available here is awful or overpriced or, as is more common, both. The Korean penchant for scorched Americano’s drunk through tiny straws has been detailed on these pages before, but regardless, good coffee is available for a price. Many places serve ‘dutch’-style cold brewed coffee made with old fashioned and pharmaceutical looking equipment, pour-overs, or siphon coffee, of which I know little. A small percentage of places serve great espresso style coffee, Chan’s Espresso Bar is one of them.

The menu is a short list of all the espresso variations you’d expect with the addition of a cortado, which is similar to a piccolo latte: a shot of espresso topped with steamed milk and just a little creamy foam. Chan’s version is longer than expected reminiscent of the antipodean flat white, in a very good way. The coffee here is made expertly with care and precision using Tim Wendelboe beans. The expected caffeine hit is foreshadowed by a coffee flavour rich and fruity blending well with the sweet milk, perfectly micro-foamed. If it weren’t for the 6,000won +* price tag and the undocumented opening hours (beware, it’s hard to find anything open before 11am or midday in Hongdae) Chan’s Espresso Bar would be my cafe of choice.

*To put the price tag into perspective, 6,000 won (~$5AU) can buy you a whole grilled fish meal, most of a bowl of ramen or Japanese curry, or a serving of my favourite kimchi jiggae with enough change left over to grab a bottle of soju from your nearest convenience store.

Chan’s Espresso Bar
Expensive, but worth it.

Cortado – 6,000won
Cappuccino – 6,500won

Location: Closer to Hapjeong and Sangsu stations than Hongdae. Check the map:

Chan’s Espresso Bar website (I don’t really understand it)

Posted in Hongdae, Korean, Seoul 1 Comment >>

Sweet red bean porridge (danpatjuk)

December 27, 2011

Holiday eating takes a turn for the better in Korea. Christmas isn’t widely celebrated, home kitchens with ovens are rare, so decadent spreads of western-style roasted meats and vegetables are uncommon, even for expats searching for a little touch of home. This story is not about Christmas food, but winter solstice (동지 dongji), the shortest day and longest night of the year. On the solstice, December 22nd, it is customary to eat patjuk (팥죽). A red bean porridge that can be enjoyed savoury with kimchi on the side, or sweetened, known as danpatjuk (단팥죽).


Saealsim in patjuk.

And why not eat it at the second best danpatjuk place in town, 서울서 둘째로 잘하는집? Literally translated to ‘the second best in Seoul’, this small eatery in Samcheong Dong serves a short menu of Korean sweet drinks and soups. On this frigid day the place is packed, people queue outside and every table is loaded with red danpatjuk bowls. The porridge, made from red beans, is very smooth and lightly sweetened. Served with cinnamon powder, chestnuts, whole red beans, gingko nuts and an almost fist-sized saealsim (새알심), a kind of homemade glutinous rice flour cake. Stir it all up to blend in the cinnamon, then eat. One bite is nutty, sweet and comforting. The next is saealsim-chewy and mild. A whole cozy bowl of warmth and contentment, the polar opposite current weather conditions.

‘The second best in Seoul’ is a famous danpatjuk joint located in Samcheong Dong, a quaint neighbourhood dotted with traditional hanok houses, art galleries and eateries. An area well worth a wander through, though best visited on weekdays, to escape the tourist crush, and during winter, so you can warm up with a satisfying bowl of danpatjuk.

Patjuk and danpatjuk can also be found at local markets, many ttoek shops, some Korean fast food restaurants like Kimbap Chunguk (김밥 천국) and the juk (porridge) franchise Bonjuk.

The second best (patjuk) in Seoul
서울서 둘째로 잘하는집

Order: 단팥죽 (danpatjuk) 6,000won for a medium-ish serving.

Subway line 3 to Anguk (exit 2) or Gyeongbokgung (exit 5) then check the map.

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Local Markets Seoul-style.

December 21, 2011

In a city where the big-box stores are plentiful and constantly unbearably crowded, it’s a surprise to find so many pleasant local markets. Seasonal produce is abundant and available cheaply at these street-side stalls. Recently it’s been mountains of napa cabbages and a short and stout variety of daikon, to be made into kimchi before the frigid winter hits. Mandarins, persimmons, apples, bananas and the occasional pomegranate round out the fruit selection until the strawberries appear shortly.

I’ve visited a few of these markets now and as well as fruit and vegetables, meat, fish and prepared foods are also widely available. Freshly made banchan, Korean doughnuts filled with red bean, ttoek, doenjang (fermented bean paste), tofu and dried chillies are everywhere. Boxes overflow with garlic, ginger, ginseng and more varieties of grain than you could know even if you spoke Korean. Dumpling wrappers, arrays of noodles and rice fulfil the starch requirement.  Stacks of leafy greens, pre-washed and ready to wrap grilled meats are carefully arranged. The seafood stalls wares range from still swimming, through displayed on ice, to dried or fermented. Vendors chat, peel garlic and ginseng or watch TV, and rarely speak English. A bit of Korean would go a long way here, but I’ve jumbled my way through sales with only miming.

I live nearby sprawling local markets like this one, Daerim Market in Eunpyeong-gu, and also small independent market-like shops, displaying a smaller variety of fruit and vegetables spilling out onto the street. And, as you can see from the photos, it’s open well into the evening. I am lucky to have fresh ingredients so readily available so I don’t have to buy similar produce, just older and handled more, pre-bagged, extravagantly priced and in air conditioned comfort at big-box stores like EMart.

Posted in Seoul, South Korea 3 Comments >>

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