Stuffed to the Brim

        When we first arrived in Korea our good friends and most generous hosts JP and Agatha asked what we wanted to do while in Seoul. Jokingly, I said “eat,” because for starters I actually didn’t really know what there was to do in Seoul,  and also because I really love Korean food. I had no idea that my love was the teenage crush version of what was to become a full fledged grown up love affair. Or that my taste buds would soon be going on the orgasmic culinary explosion of a life time. Yea, we saw a palace here, did a little shopping there, but only because you can’t literally eat all day long...believe me, we tried, and even came close to succeeding.

Eel three ways. -photo courtesy of JP

 The hallmark of many Korean restaurants is the tabletop grill. One night it was filled with sizzling pork belly and onion, the next duck, the next eel.  Of course no meal would be complete without the accompanying panchan or what westerners would call side dishes. This translation however is very essentially flawed in that these “sides” are often equally the stars of the show. What are they exactly? I don’t know and I don’t care because whatever little pickled morsel I just popped in my mouth is so good it hurts. This type of feasting can only be rivaled by Thanksgiving, but hello this went on for 5 days, 2-3 times a day! No Thanksgiving has ever been taken to that level, probably because you really don’t wanna eat undercooked turkey and soggy green beans more than once a year.This food you want to eat forever.

Panchan fiesta

 One of our greatest meals came on a night without a grill. My companions and I took the subway out to what looked like a pretty seedy part of town. Buildings had paint flaking of them and I saw a few men stumbling drunk (they still looked nice though, no hobo chic). We crossed a freeway overpass and arrived at a warehouse. Inside was the most extensive fish market I have ever seen.  People were yelling at me from all sides to come check out their stalls and I didn’t know where to look first as I stumbled down the aisles wide eyed. Once again the lovely Agatha came to the rescue ordering some delicacies for us. If I were to make this venture solo I would never have known that there is an on-site restaurant cooking up whatever you purchased in the market. After we sat down at our table, Indian style on the floor, the usual opening of several bottles of soju commenced.  I didn’t feel the need to mention this earlier but please email me personally if you make it through a Korea trip without excessive consumption of this beverage.  After a few minutes the waitress returns with our sashimi. I know all about the radiation in Japan contaminating the worlds seas, but don’t worry the soju is there to help you forget such annoying details. As the waitress plopped down our next plate of food, our friend JP had the most ridiculous smile on his face. He pointed to the plate and despite being cut into bite sized pieces the octopus was writhing and wiggling right before my eyes. “This is my favorite,” he exclaimed as he brought some pieces to his mouth. “I love how it suctions itself to your lip as you try to eat it,” he added with a chuckle.  “When in Korea,” I squealed as I grabbed a piece between my fingers and screaming dropped it in my mouth. What in the name of Jesus? This dish is good! Not just eatable, not just for the sake of being polite good, but really super yummy good! Top meals ever good.

I heart Korean food this much.

I can't tell you many sights to see in Seoul, but if you like to eat it just might be worth a vacation.