the foods of Chuncheon

23Aug07

Let’s talk about dakgalbi.

Dakgalbi is what Chuncheon is known for. That, and having Kangwon National University, I guess. Above, please observe dakgalbi pre-dakgalbi; i.e., it’s cabbage and chicken and gochujang and yams and rice cakes (ddeok), but it’s not cohesive yet.

A Korean guy stirs the dakgalbi (which is cooked on a communal griddle) as my friend Ray looks on. Notice the rockstar hair.

맛 있 어요! (Delicious!)*

At a lot of dakgalbi restaurants (maybe other ones too? I’m not sure), you’re given free cola and “cider” – Sprite, basically. It’s “service.” I.e., you don’t have to pay. Stacey is either regarding the dakgalbi or contemplating the fact that she’s the only entirely white person at the table.

To be honest, dakgalbi isn’t my favorite – it’s good, but it’s mouth-scorchingly spicy. Maybe I’m just a pansy. I prefer the rice that you can order afterwards.

They stir the rice together with the leftover dakgalbi and some other stuff. Then, if you are nice, the rice is shaped into a heart.

Seaweed (김) is “very delicious,” as my host brother would say…when it’s served with other things. I thought I liked seaweed so much that I could eat it by itself, so I bought a sixteen-pack of portable seaweed, and it turns out that I don’t like it quite that much.

Let’s talk about bar food. While we’re talking.

In Korea, drinking is invariably accompanied by eating, unless you are drinking outside a convenience store. Which is totally acceptable, by the way. People almost always order food, and it’s almost always better than American bar food, except for the copious quantities of mayonnaise. But free food usually comes with, too. The above – mandu and pajeon, or dumplings and fritters – was complimentary with a pitcher of soju cocktail.

That’s my Korean professor, 방성히 (or “Rachel Bang,” to use her “English” name). Accompanied by a pitcher of peach nectar + soju. Soju straight, as previously mentioned, is terrible, but soju with other things (juice, yogurt) is divine.

This is Spam and ketchup. For serious.

This is some sort of mayonnaise-based rice salad? I think. Not all the free food is good.

Anyway. More to come. I have time now that I live in Jeju-si.

*I use the word “delicious” more than any other here, mostly because it’s one of the only words I know how to say.

Filed under: Chuncheon, Korea, fried, goes with..., okay seriously Korea, summer   |  1 Comment