How have you been? It's been such a long time since I have posted any blogs. I'm so sorry~! Please forgive me. It's been a busy few months for me.
As you can see by all the wonderful photos I've uploaded I went a short little vacation to South Korea. For those of you who do not know where it is, please reference the map below.
South Korea is the country that I am originally from and where I get a lot of my influences in cooking. It was a fun filled but short vacation that I took for about two weeks to see my family that I haven't seen in 8 years~! I had the stress of planning out each of my daily activities a few, I mean almost six months before leaving for my trip. Yay me~!
When I was younger there were different food items that I did not want to try because of the appearance or smell. This time around I had to be different and wanted to try different things. As you all know, I studied and graduated from culinary school to be a chef. The chef in me would not let my taste buds go without tasting and experiencing all that I could. Trying all the different ingredients helps when creating recipes and making flavor combinations.
The time I had in Korea was quite amazing actually. I met most of my family atleast once and got to go on a family vacation with them while I was there. The country itself has so many places for you to go visit and so much varieties of food to eat~! I love the food ~! I was very jet lagged for most of the trip so I managed to open my eyes every morning around 5 or 6am to get my day started. Here are some of the photos I took. Please enjoy and hopefully one day you'll be able to visit South Korea and taste all the wonderful food~! ^^
Day 1: Seoul, South Korea
Day 2. GeoJe, South Korea
This is in front of Dong Dae Mun (East Gate). There used to be walls which surrounded the city and there were four main entrances. This is one of them.
Cheong Gye Cheon
This place was so relaxing. This day it was so nice and sunny and had a beautiful breeze. A lot of people come here to take a break and get away from the stress of the day. Couples come here for dates too. It is so pretty and calming compared to the bustle of the city life.
Gwang Jang Si Jang (Gwang Jang Open Market)
Tteok BokKi and NokDu BinDae Ddeok (Spicy Rice Cakes and Crispy Mung Bean Pancakes)
There were atleast a couple hundred people visiting this day. It was so packed but we got lucky and found a spot to sit and eat. Look at that pile of Bin Dae Ddeok~! Super crispy and yummy~!
Banana Milk and Banana Milk Ice Cream~! I love you~!!! Can't you tell? ^^
Grilled Pork and SoJu
It is common practice at a lot of restaurants to have table top cooking especially with meats. SoJu is perfect with grilled meat. :)
Chun Cheon Dak GalBi (Spicy Stir Fried Chicken Chun Cheon Style)
This dish contained Korean sweet potato, cabbage, onions and rice cake. You can order it extra spicy per your request. Of course I ordered mine extra spicy. The spicier the better.
Wish we had this in the US. Baskin Robbins Apple Mint and Green Tea Ice Cream. I love how light and airy the apple mint ice cream was and how strong the green tea flavor was. The best dessert after a spicy meal. ^^
Cham E Seul SoJu and Cham E Seul Grapefruit SoJu
Staples to any Korean meal. If you love vodka you will love SoJu~!
Thanks to my cousin, I got to try the grapefruit SoJu.
DonKatSu. Everyone loves this. This was our "bar food" that we had with the SoJu.
Korean Style Fried Donuts and Red Bean Donuts. I love this stuff~!!
This is called Gae Bul. It is a spoon worm. This was eaten raw dipped in a spicy pepper sauce.
This is GalChi Sok Jeot. It is the salted and preserved intestines of the beltfish. I heard this is really expensive but of course I couldn't consume it in excess. The smell was a bit on the strong side but it was really tasty. If you love fish sauce you will love this.
MyeolChi Hwae MuChim (Spicy Raw Marinated Anchovie Mixed Salad)
MyeolChi Ssam Bap (Braised Anchovies Ssam)
Did not know that there were so many dishes that you can make with anchovies. Look at the size of the anchovies~!!!
KalChi Gui (Roasted Beltfish)
The Korean raw peppers (Cheong Nyang Go Chu) that you see sliced on top did it for me. This fish was moist and with the salt and spicy heat from the peppers, it was perfect with the rice. Yum~!!
I had to leave my mark here . This place was really good~!
GwangEoh Hwae (Halibut Sashimi)
This is Nak Ji Bok Kkeum. Its a spicy stir fried squid dish
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This is Jo Gae Tang. Its a clear brothy clam soup.
This was dinner at the resort made by all the ladies. KimChi and Pork Jjim. Braised kimchi with pork. Dang it was delicious~!!
This is called Sshi Rae Gi. It is the stems and leafy greens of a small turnip radish which is hung and dried like this. When you are ready to use it, you boil it first and then peel of the chewy exterior and use the tender interior. It has a delicious and meaty flavor than when it is in the fresh form.
This is Dol Mi Na Ri. Water Parsley. Delicious and good for your lungs especially. You can eat it raw or cooked into food. Its consumed in food as an herb or literally as a vegetable. It has a distinct flavor which helps enhance the overall taste of food and also gets rid of the offensive flavor some fish gives off in soups.
Dol Ha Ru Bang. These were in the garden of a home I visited in the country. These volcanic stone statues are generally found in JeJu Island and is a must see.
This was a great vacation and I can't wait to go back again. Maybe i'll see you there next time and we can share some SoJu over grilled Korean BBQ.^^
All photos taken by Lifestyle of Foodie.
Map Retrieved from Google.com Search Engine/National Geographic.com
