busan once again

April 22, 2014 sarah lee

부산 횟집

On our way to Vietnam in January, I spent a few days in Seoul + a quick overnight trip to Busan. For those who haven't checked out Busan yet, it's the 2nd largest city & the largest port in South Korea located in the Southeastern tip. Even with limited time, we were able to make room for one proper meal. We were all business when it came down to deciding on where we would dine for our only evening in Busan. So we went to the expert. Busan Hwejip-부산 횟집, was recommended by Busan resident and amazing blogger Sally Shim (who hails from Portland). This just had to be one of the best, if not the most memorable dining experience for me in Busan. I've been to this city a handful of times, and was never thoroughly impressed with their seafood in the past. As they are really known for that. This time around, I think I underestimated what this city has to offer. Although the selection of food options in general are less than Seoul, I have to give it to them when it comes to shellfish.

going back to the roots-let's start again...

October 27, 2013 sarah lee

My sweet addiction: shaved milk+fresh house made red bean paste+house made rice cakes.

Okrumong 오루몽 was among some my favorites.

So I was thinking about writing a serious post on all of the places I went to during my 2 month stay in Korea. Oh what the heck, I just had to start this post off with a large image of my favorite Korean dessert-Red Bean Bingsoo (aka 'Pat bingsoo'). Growing up in a Korean home, you just knew that it was the best treat when your mom busts out the ice shaver that takes like 30 minutes to shave a cup of ice, pours milk and bean powder, throws some fruit and rice cakes, and of course the glorious red bean paste. Then when you have 2 younger brothers, forget it. Game over. You can barely get spoon of this down without a battle. I wasn't a huge fan of red bean paste during the early years, as I just couldn't figure out why it tasted the way it did. Definitely an acquired taste. Did you know that a persons taste buds changes every 7 years??? Is what a teacher friend told me once...which I can definitely relate to because I hated fish growing up, and now it's my first choice of protein. Random story. But true. Anyhow-I love how simplicity of this dish, and the key is to have shaved milk, house made red bean paste, and house made Korean rice cakes. Definitely tempting to make my own version of this in Brooklyn. Next summer that is :)

So my favorite part of this trip was the red bean bingsoo. There were some amazing things that I tried for the first time, or new discoveries. However, the *winner* was definitely this dessert. I think I ate it uh...every week? haha. This explains the extra kilos my body picked up along the way.

the untold story of south korea's salt farms

September 26, 2013 sarah lee

The most eye opening experience that I had recently was a 2-day road trip in South Korea's beautiful Jeollanam-do (절라남도) province towards the tail end of my trip this month. What I have learned, tasted, uncovered, and felt was truly an experience that stands alone.

Through this journey, I hope to be more truthful in my work and in what I share moving forward. This was the first time visiting Korea's salt farms, and what I have discovered was both beautiful and sad. What I'm about to share may come to a shock to most of you. Perhaps this story will encourage you to rethink about the salt we intake, especially if you reside in Korea. If it doesn't, I have no other comments. This story really, really hit home for me.

So it begins here…

Kim Mak-dong (김막동) has been farming salt for over 40 years in Hae-nam, Jeollanam-do province (해남 절라남도). What encouraged him to start clay farming was a visit from a Buddhist monk early on during his career, which recognized that his salt farm is located in very special grounds near the South Sea (which is bounded by the southwestern part of the Sea of Japan, and by the southeastern part of the Yellow Sea). Just to give you a brief description of how sea salt is formed: the sun evaporates the dilute seawater brine. In general, there are 3 main methods used to produce salt: solar, evaporation, & rock mining. For the evaporation process, it takes 7-10 consecutive sunny days to produce sea salt.

Most of the sea salt farms in Korea use black PVC tarps for the evaporation process. Why? Well, this material expedites the evaporation due to the color and material, in which this process is considered a modern way of farming salt. You can see this method used in many salt farms around the world. Today, there is literally just one clay salt farm left in all of South Korea (to my knowledge) that produces natural sea salt-Kim Mak-dong's clay salt farm 'Topanyum (토판염).'

seoul for a moment

August 26, 2013 sarah lee

Photo taken at O Kitchen 3 in Gwanghwamun Seoul, artist Oh Jeong-Mi

Dear fellow readers-just want to leave a note to share that I'm currently in Seoul for a few months working on a project. Been a bit tied up so will be sharing my adventures with all of you soon~ Thanks for your patience and see you all soon^^

exit strategy: leaving korea painlessly

October 22, 2012 sarah lee

'I am just leaving the country, not the people'
a little bird told me when I was leaving...

Friends, family, and readers-I have left Korea recently to pursue some amazing opportunites in the U.S. Although I have left the country that I dearly love, I hope that all of you will continue this food journey with me as I eat my way around the U.S. and other countries. My experience in Seoul cannot be put into words, and the memories and stories will always remain with me. Thank you, thank you, thank you for walking with me all these years!

Everything starts again...

the dirty dirty about the secret love sauce: linus exposed

September 17, 2012 sarah lee

Before you even start reading this, your curiosity may have peaked just at the title of the post. So what's this 'dirty dirty' about Linus Kim? Well, the story starts from Alabama where he grew up in the 70's-80's. This guy probably loves barbeque more than anyone I know. We've been friends since 1997. Ok, that sounds so ancient. I've seen Linus through thick and thin, we drove each other crazy over the years, but maintained our strong friendship. I think it was our jjimjilbang moments that saved our friendship as it was the 'neutral zone', where we would pig out on Korean snacks and watch Korean dramas. A man of many talents, but one thing that stands out with the most gusto: his skills and knowledge about pork. He really does have a refined palate that you can't even be sneaky when you cook, because he'll call you out on all your secrets! haha.

andong

September 10, 2012 sarah lee

Jars of hwangari at Hahoe village.

Food tour in Andong. Start time 7am. 3.5 hours.

Actually it was more than just a food tour. More like 'Korean style oriental herb healing tour,' as it's actually titled. The tour was led by 'Big Farm', which is a creative hub for agriculture here in Korea, alongside Ongo Food communications. They teamed up to lead this tour for mostly foreigners in Korea who were interested in diving into the world of farming.

ariake at the shilla

August 28, 2012 sarah lee

For this post, I think I'll just let the photos speak for themselves. I can confidently say... that this is the best sushi I have had in Korea! Recently, a friend introduced me to this sushi haven at the Shilla hotel-Ariake. We were fortunate to dine at the sushi bar, and the experience was just pure joy. A few things that I have never tried before-like the squid sashimi with yuzu zest-wow. I'm personally not a huge fan of squid, but the way Chef Song prepared it almost paper thin, with the texture so rich and buttery-I'm converted. I thought they marinated it in something profound, but soon found out that it was just the pure quality of the squid, haha. The toro & uni were exceptional, and I observed some techniques that were truly quite unique & refined at Ariake. Perhaps you can only see this kind of sophistication at hotels like the Shilla and of course Japan? Haha. Oh do I hope to visit again soon~

bloom & goûté

August 19, 2012 sarah lee

So here's another cafe to put on your list if you're in Seoul. Coffee+flowers+desserts+brunch+Linus' southern smoked bbq pork!!!

The first Bloom & Goûté was off of the main Garosugil street for years-this is their new location which is one street over that recently opened this summer, still in Sinsa-dong. For those familiar with Garosugil/Sinsa-dong area, you will notice that there have been some major changes in the last few years. Quite different from when I lived there a few years ago. The local, artsy, boutique cafes are slowly disappearing, and the big brother is taking over the whole block! Ugh. However, the previous owners will not put their guard down...instead they seem to relocate their business near there for their loyal customers. Bloom & Goûté is just one of those cafes. Similar to their first location, they have a flower shop inside the cafe, as well as a good selection of desserts and coffee. I actually prefer their new location, as the interior is done well, and there is a huge improvement on their savory menu. Their savory menu only provides brunch, but the best part about it is that their croque monsieur & the eggs benedict has my good friend Linus' smoked pork! Ok, I checked this cafe out for this very reason. Never would have come up with southern style (Alabama that is) smoked pork with melted gruyere & parmesan cheese in a sandwich! You may have heard of Linus' famous smoked bbq in Seoul, doing pop-up's and catering events...I will be doing a follow up post about his goods.

peninsula

August 15, 2012 sarah lee

If you're in Seoul, you will quickly notice the number of Italian restaurants everywhere. Most western dining experience in Seoul includes pasta and pizza. Okay, I stopped asking myself why...the the first few months of my arrival, haha. Do Koreans really love their noodles and cheese or what? However, with this said not every place that serves Italian does it well. After being disappointed countless of times, I started making/eating Italian at home. Then you might find a few good restaurants ones here and there...

korean royal cuisine-days 5-10

July 16, 2012 sarah lee

This spread is considered 'anju' or food that's paired with drinking.

You can achieve quality taste without msg in royal cuisine.

You may think that the quote above is pretty random or weird. The sad truth is, is that so many Korean restaurants (I will boldly say majority) in Korea, use a lot of msg. When I first moved here a few years ago, I struggled with indigestion for a year! Only to find that it was the Korean food that caused it. Not to say that there aren't restaurants who do it the proper way and leave msg out of the picture all together. During this course, after carefully learning how to marinate and season food without any additives, everything was quite clean and authentic! So you can achieve the quality taste at home by using natural ingredients to prepare amazing Korean dishes.

korean royal cuisine-days 3 & 4

July 5, 2012 sarah lee

Theme for day 4- '궁중상추쌈' or royal lettuce wraps.

Day 3 & 4. I just have to say these past few days were a lot of fun. Not only were the things we had to make challenging, but the history portion of the class was quite interesting. For those who live in Korea (mainly speaking to ex-pats, foreingers) you may ask yourselves when eating Korean food why everything is pickled, marinated, and you don't see a whole of just 'fresh' veggies. Well, a bit of history that I learned. During the days when the King ruled the land, everyone had to produce items for 'the palace' or '궁'. However, since it took days to have the items delivered to the palace, you never found raw fish, fresh veggies, and even some fruits. Everything had to be dried and preserved before it entered the palace. Therefore once it entered the palace grounds, the chefs had to create dishes soley upon what they received. So when studying royal cuisine recipes, everything is marinated, fried, cooked all the way trough, etc. This explains a lot as to what we know of Korean cuisine today. However, the farmers & peasants ate the most fresh vegetables & fruits, and 'bibim bop' gave birth in that very comnumity (thus I hear they live for a long time). Interesting how this dish is one of the dishes that is most recoginized today when it comes to Korean cuisine!

korean royal cuisine-days 1 & 2

July 3, 2012 sarah lee

Alas, the Korean royal cuisine course that I have been waiting for has begun this week. I was hoping to do a daily post, however I think I'll update every few days (my friend Tom from tomeatsjencooks will so not forgive me for this!). Normally this course is offered in a span of 4 months, but for folks like me who is too impatient to endure the 4 months, we do a 2 week intensive 'crash' course instead, haha. So where exactly am I taking this course you may ask?

ghetto gourmet: dining in the rough part 6

June 4, 2012 sarah lee

Steamed pork 'bossam' 보쌈 론 빌라쥐

I am embarrassed to admit that the two plus years I have been in Seoul, I have yet to take Korean cooking classes. Although I have been cooking Korean for some time now, never really got around to learning the authentic Royal cuisine courses offered in Korea. Aside from the usual excuses like 'no time, no money, not sure where to go, blah blah blah' I have finally committed to signing up for classes this summer! I've got real hopes...

'the back kitchen'-seoul's first pop up!

May 5, 2012 sarah lee

The Back Kitchen Seoul...

Here's the story of two food lovers who met in Seoul through the wonderful world of blogs.
Wanna hear a nutty story behind our first pop up?
So it begins.

Joe McPherson from Zen Kimchi and I randomly discussed doing a pop up in a car ride back in March. We never shared a kitchen before, let alone run a 40 seat pop up! So we decided to make our lives more complicated and fun by setting the date on Seoul's first pop up. Yeah, we're nuts. So what the heck is a pop up you may ask? Well, you may have heard of supper clubs or underground restaurants. Similar concept, but you basically take over a space (preferrably a kitchen space in an existing restaurant), come up with a creative food menu, and feed folks who want to eat your food. Oh by the way, there is money involved. Either a set fee for the meal, or suggested donations. For our pop up, the suggested donation was 35,000 won/guest for a 5 course meal. Uhm, I think this was a steal! hahaha.

ghetto gourmet: dining in the rough, part 5

April 21, 2012 sarah lee

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We had our ghetto gourmet dinner 5 back in January, sorry for the late posting! For this dinner, it was my turn to cook. Let's just say, I think it took some time to get my gears going when I cooked this meal. However, all of our friends were so patient and helpful with making this dinner as smooth as it was! Sid Kim is our guest writer for this post. I met Sid over a few years ago, first when I made a guest appearance on his TBS food program 'Seoul of Asia' (back in the day when I was working for Edward Kwon). Then from what I remember, the next few times we met, it involved wine in social settings. Now we're food buddies. Sid is one of those guys where you just want to give him a big hug when you see him! Always a smile on his face, and for some reason if you're having a bad day, just chatting with him for a few minutes will make you feel better. He's like the big brother you want to have. Not to mention his food palette and knowledge is something else. Perhaps Eunji's amazing cooking has 'spoiled' his taste buds, hahaha.

A bit of info about Sid: He is the director and founder of Wise Education, an educational consulting company that prepares students for entry to prestigious U.S. schools. "I love to eat, travel, eat, write, eat, drive fast cars, eat, ride motorcycles, and eat."

Thanks Sid for sharing your story on this dinner!

toh lim

April 15, 2012 sarah lee

What is one's Korean American experience with Chinese food? For me (and I'm sure many others may share this experience) it was growing up with Korean/Chinese fusion: jjajangmyun (black bean paste noodles), jjampong (spicy seafood soup) and some form of sweet and sour pork amongst others. Then again, I think this is what's most popular in Korea as well, and many may actually think this is authentic Chinese!

afternoon getaway

March 31, 2012 sarah lee

Just as Spring started to say 'hello', Eunice, Barbara and I went antiquing and enjoyed a nice Korean lunch spread in this quaint town in Gyeonggi-do province (northwest of Seoul). It was that one first warm day in March that welcomed us with sun! The photos here are these random boat houses that we spotted by chance, right behind the restaurant we ate at (sorry, can't remember).

Ahh, it was great to take a quick getaway from the city...

back kitchen seoul

March 26, 2012 sarah lee

Seoul in the City and Zen Kimchi will host Korea’s first ever pop-up restaurant! Yes, Joe McPherson and I will be cooking up a storm! These (usually) secret temporary restaurants have been a popular trend from L.A. to London. Called “Back Kitchen Seoul,” this first endeavor will open for one night and one night only on April 21st from 6-10 p.m. The theme will be re-imagined Korean ingredients. There is no official charge for the family-style dinner, just a W30,000 suggested donation for ingredients, time and effort. Drinks are extra.

This is a good chance to try food you won’t find anywhere else in Seoul while meeting interesting folks. The pop-up will be at Café Gondry in Anguk-dong. You can get more information and RSVP at zenkimchi.com.

Hope to see you guys there!!!

pizzeria d'buzza

March 6, 2012 sarah lee

I think this may be one of those posts that my friends have been waiting for. I have to admit that I was kind of holding back a little because I wanted to savor this pizzeria to my self. Ok, maybe with a few others. Although I did recommend this spot to other folks in media, food bloggers and close friends. It came to a point where if I don't share this place with my readers, it would just be unfair. Really.

I stumbled upon this pizzeria in Hannam-dong last fall, recommended by another chef. The moment I sat down I fell in love with the quaint interior, and my expectations slowly arose. As I thumbed through the menu, my hunger got stronger. Then, when I noticed that there were no English mistakes on the menu, I was sold! Hahaha. For those who live in Seoul, you will so understand. My first visit, I fell in love with their calzone and their prosciutto/rucola pizza. Their pizza reminds me of my favorite Neapolitan pizzeria in Chicago-Spacca Napoli. The thin, slightly burnt crispy crust with the utmost fresh ingredients. This is it guys. Seriously. You may just want to 'stop all pizza research' here!