Korean Food

15 more days to go before we leave Seoul... I thought i would post my favorite Korean dished so i could use this as reference in case i forget their names in the future. Please excuse some of the food shots. They might not look appetizing at all because most of the time i only remember to take photos halfway through the meal.

1. Bibimbap - Traditional Korean rice bowl with lots of veggies, seaweed, egg and your choice of meat or seafood topping seasoned with sesame oil and red pepper paste.


2. Pajeong - Savoury pancake with either seafood or kimchi filling. Served with sesame and soy dipping sauce.

3. Dakgalbi - "Dak" means chicken in Korean. It's a Sweet and Spicy chicken dish with red pepper sauce and lots of vegetables cooked in an iron grill right on your table.


4. Galbi - Beef shortrib barbecued on a charcoal grill at the center of the table. The way to eat the barbecued meat is to put in on the center of a lettuce or sesame leaf, smear some doenjang (fermented soybean paste) on the meat, top it with pickled radish and grilled garlic, fold the leaf over and take a bite. Yummmm....


5. Jjeyopukum - Sweet and spicy pork cooked with red pepper sauce very similar to Dakgalbi. Usually served with coleslaw or macaroni salad.


6. Gyeran Mali - literally translated means "rolled eggs". It's like a fried egg crepe with fried rice filling. Other variations include cheese, vegetable or kimchi fillings.


7. Mandu - Korean dumplings. Like the Chinese dumplings there are different types of Mandu - fried, steamed and boiled. The mandu i enjoy the most is the bun kind from Shinsegae food court. It looks like siopao but with spring roll filling.


I realized most of the popular Korean dishes in Manila have already been "filipinized" and adjusted to suit the Pinoy palette. The Korean food they serve in Kaya and Kimchi are mostly soy-based while authentic Korean food are mostly cooked with the red pepper paste. I guess the red pepper paste may be too spicy for most Pinoys. Another difference I noticed is that authentic Korean stews and barbecues are always served with some kind of vegetable which is not the case back home. It's not to say I have any complaints with the Filipino version. I'm just simply pointing out the differences so you won't get surprised if you don't find the same Kimchi beef stew here in Seoul.