Saturday, August 9, 2014

Back in Sydney: Shenkin lunch


Back from our overseas trip, and in the Shenkin cafe in Newtown, Sydney, shared a lovely hearty lunch with my son, inspired by Israeli dishes: shakshuka eggs for me--eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce, in this version with eggplant and haloumi as well, and pita bread--and Israeli breakfast plate for my son, featuring smoked salmon, avocado, poached eggs, and 'labbane' or yogurt cheese, with olive oil and of course pita bread. Fabulous!

Friday, August 8, 2014

Four days in Seoul, 6: Cook it yourself

Had a great meal on the final day in Seoul: a 'shabu' meal where you get a whole bunch of lovely ingredients at your table--thinly sliced raw beef, a plate of various vegetables, plus later noodles and to finish off a rice mixture to use up the last bits of sauce in the pan--which you cook yourself at your table, in a pan of bubbling broth. Delicious and fun!




Four days in Seoul, 5: Buckwheat dumplings and ginseng soup


Very traditional old-style dinner menu on one of the days in Seoul: lovely buckwheat dumplings filled with chopped wild vegetables; and nourishing chicken and ginseng soup, featuring a whole(very small) chicken cooked in a ginseng broth. Simple, delicious and quite soothing to the stomach as well as we were feeling rather an overdose of chilli from previous meals!

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Four days in Seoul, 4: Wonderful Korean barbecue in Dongdaemun

Dongdaemun, even in shopping-mad Seoul, is full of places to shop--from swish department stores to ramshackle market stalls. And full too of great places to eat! And we had a Korean classic there, barbecued meat, but not your usual burnt offering. Here it's deliciously tender deboned marinated pork ribs, cooked over charcoal at our table, cut into small pieces when cooked and eaten wrapped in lettuce leaves, with all kinds of tasty side dishes, condiments and sauces added, from thinly-sliced garlic to kimchi, thinly-sliced radish to (very hot!) green chillis. Perfect!





Saturday, August 2, 2014

Four days in Seoul 3: Street stall food in Myeongdong

On the second day, for dinner, we went for food from street stalls in Myeongdong--an egg bun, a stick of chicken satay, some tempura vegetables, and for dessert, a lovely honeycomb wafer, washed down with fresh lemon juice. It was all pretty nice but not as excellent as the restaurants, or, surprisingly, as good value either! But very picturesque and lots of fun to wander around! Here are some of the fabulous stalls--not all of whose wares we sampled!





Four days in Seoul 2: Super lunch in Bukchon





We went to have a look at one of Seoul's several palaces on the second day and after a hard morning--and part of the afternoon!--tramping around the royal residence and poring over the exhibits in the National Folk Museum, we were pretty hungry and well in the mood for some nice satisfying Korean tucker!
On the suggestion of the staff, we went for a 'set' plus an extra thing: the 'set' consisted of hot spicy octopus and cabbage, with, to cool off after it, delicious cold soup made with seasoned acorn jelly(looked like bits of pale brown noodles, tasted and felt like tofu, but made with acorn flour rather than soy)and vegetables, and plain rice, and to accompany it of course the ubiquitous condiments--very good ones too, not just kimchi but preserved, sweet-marinated thinly-sliced radish, bean sprouts, and shaved white radish; and as well, separately, lovely pork and vegetable dumplings. A triumph!

Friday, August 1, 2014

Four days in Seoul 1: First day

We are in Seoul for four days before heading home to Australia and are very much enjoying discovering the city and Korean culture--including its wonderful cuisine! We've been eating out in great restaurants that offer a variety of delicious traditional food, at great prices too. And with each copious main course you also get platefuls of traditional Korean condiments and sides--including, of course, kimchi!
The menu for the first day: Lunch(in a restaurant in Myeongdong area--bibimbap in a stone pot(rice with lots of mixed vegies, beautifully cooked and very tasty); and a lovely beef soup, with thin, tender slices of beed a sweetish broth, plus of course the entrees/condiments of which there were heaps!
Dinner, again in the same area(where we are staying), but in a different restaurant: short-neck clam and prawn soup(quite nice if a little inspiid), and spicy pork in a black bean paste sauce(very, very good).And of course, condiments, though not such a variety as in the first place!