Herb Restaurant (곤드래밥), by Woodblock Museum, Wonju

One of the tastiest restaurants I've been to, located at the bottom of the hill from the Gopanhwa Museum, 곤드래밥 restaurant. Awesome home-cooked food with great country ambience! The menu I believe is totally vegetarian, and totally good, and very reasonable priced too -- all under W10,000.

Gotta just love the country feel!

Can't remember what we ordered since everyone mostly ordered different items (lots of stress on the cook and her husband) but every dish was loaded with veggies and rich in natural homey flavors, and every dish is a recommend. 

This is the house menu - pumpkin and herb dolseotbibimbop. Simply amazing!

I'll definitely be back to the Gopanhwa Museum. I love the place, the monk who runs it and his wife, the whole ambience ... and the restaurant at the bottom of the hill. I've got future weekends already planned ... here just outside of Wonju!

Everest, a Nepalese Restaurant

Among the 10 highest peaks in the world, Nepal itself boasts eight of them, including the world's highest, Everest, in its northern region. Everest is also known as "Sagarmatha", meaning "the head of the earth" in Nepali and "Chomolongma/Qomolungma" meaning "goddess mother of the world" in Tibetan. It was determined as the highest peak in the world by British during the Great Trigonometric Survey, and the official name "Everest" was given in honor of Sir George Everest, the British Surveyor General. Until May 1999, the height of Everest was widely accepted as 8,848m (29,029ft) as determined during 1955, but the American Everest Expedition team revised Everest's official height and stated it to be 8,850m (29,035ft) that year. The recent height is still a contradiction.

The Everest restaurant, serving phenomenally delicious Nepalese and Indian food, is located near Dongdaemun subway station, exit 3, in a Nepalese district. The food is divine. The atmosphere is pleasant. And the restaurant is proud of its cultural contribution in both culinary arts and in cultural authenticity. And by taking the name "Everest" the restaurant evokes the largest icon of Nepal, the huge mountain, and in the front of the restaurant menu is the above information on the mountain and its naming. Everest is also the oldest Nepali restaurant in Seoul and that is also proudly posted in the front of the menu booklet:

"During the year of 2002, Everest Restaurant was established, first of its kind of Nepali restaurant in South Korea. Since then, we have been serving our customers with aromatic and tingling taste of Nepali, Indian and Tibetan delicacies. Nepal, landlocked between China and India has lots of similarities with India and Tibet. Nepal has lots of commonness in religion and commonness in food is no exception. So, here in Everest one can find the great fusion of Nepalese, Indian and Tibetan culture and food. Your visit to Everest is more like a virtual mystical tour to these three countries." [sic]

Promising write-up indeed! Mystical? Well, yes, a bit enchanting, but the food .... DIVINE!

The Nepalese restaurants tend to serve off of brass-ware, the ware for honorable Buddhist monks,
and so the customer is being honored in the serving.

Oh, the food is simply amazing, a beautiful blend of flavors that excise the mouth and harmonize with the tongue. India food is too hot, but Nepali food is my kind of cuisine perfection!

Nepal is a country that cultivates peace, probably since their history was very tumultuous and feudal so now is a time for finding an alternative. I love it: Never Ending Peace And Love.
Truly a beautiful culture ... with amazing food and delightful milk tea served after a meal. Yum!

Jangsaengpo Whale Museum

Jangsaengpo Whale Museum opened its doors on May 31, 2005 and is the only whale museum in Korea. The museum and corresponding Ecology Experience Hall are located in Jangsaengpo, the historical heart of whale hunting. The museum seeks to collect, preserve, and display artifacts and information about whales, which are slowly disappearing despite the moratorium on whaling in Korea since December 31, 1985.

While the museum and ecology hall are very informative and educational for kids, the Ecology Experience Hall has one major drawback. It claims "ecology" via nomenclature but it is not ecological to the handful of dolphins inside. The Ecology Experience Hall opened on November 24, 2009 because of growing popularity with the Whale Museum, and it boasts the first and so far only (thank goodness!) dolphin aquarium in Korea. I say thank goodness because the dolphins have a very tiny bathtub to swim around in 24/7. Yes, they give a few shows to break up monotony, but they are clearly unhappy. They swim in circles, mostly counter-clockwise, smacking their heads repeatedly on the water surface. This behavior disturbed me so much that I googled it and found that, yes, it is tell-tale behavior for boredom, unease, and stress. Spectators might think that the dolphins are playing but the creatures really have no where to play. They have to swim, but there's not much space for their big bodies to swim in. Spectators come in for the 15-30 minute shows, maybe play some on their smart phones while waiting, then watch, and immediately stream out. The visitor area is larger than the aquarium, and the dolphins never leave. The aquarium in the Ecology Experience Hall might be fun and entertaining for people as they flow quickly past, but it's no picnic for the several dolphins that are confined in there for life. Not much of an ecology center if you ask me.

Whales and Dolphins in Korean Waters

This list of whales was painted on a wall at the Jangsaengpo Whale Museum. I rather doubt a few of them were ever in Korean waters, but I didn't make this list. It seems that the listing is based on sightings of the creatures in Korean waters at some point in history.

In any case, the whales/dolphins/porpoises in red are the ones that typically are seen migrating off the Ulsan coast.

보리고래 - (Sel whale) 18m, 30ton
대왕고래 - (Blue whale) 30m, 179ton
쿤부리고래 - (Baird's beaked whale) 12m, 1.2ton
향고래 - (Sperm whale) 18m, 57ton
귀신고래 - (Gray whale) 16m, 35ton - (spring & late fall)
참고래 - (Fin whale) 26.8m, 75ton
밍크고래 - (Minke whale) 8.6m, 12ton (spring & late fall)
긴부리고래 - (Spinner dolphin) 2.4m, 90kg
북방긴수염고래 - (Northern right whale) 18m, 100ton
부리아드고래 - (Bryde's whale) 12m, 22ton
쇠돌고래 - (Harbor porpoise) 2m, 90kg
은행이빨부리고래 - (Gingko-toothed beaked whale) 4.9m, 2ton
상광이 -  (Finless porpoise) 1.9m, 45kg (spring)
흑등고래 - (Humpback whale) 16m, 35ton
고양이고래 - (Melon-headed whale) 2.6m, 275kg
범고래 - (Killer whale) 9.8m, 10ton
들고양이고래 - (Pygmy killer whale) 2.6m, 225kg
참돌고래 - (Common dolphin) 2.3m, 135kg (winter)
까치동고래 - (Dall's porpoise) 2.4m, 220kg
낫돌고래 - (Pacific white-sided dolphin) 2.3m, 150kg
점박이돌고래 - (Pantropical spotted dolphin) 2.6m, 120kg
혹부리고래 - (Blainville's beaked whale) 4.7m, 1ton
민부리고래 - (Cuvler's beaked whale) 7.5m, 3ton
꼬미향고래 - (Pygmy sperm whale) 3.4m, 400kg
들쇠고래 - (Short-finned pilot whale) 6.1m, 3.6ton
큰이빨부리고래 - (Stejneger's beaked whale) 5m, 1.5ton
흑범고래 - (False killer whale) 6.1m, 2.2ton
큰돌고래 - (Bottle-nose dolphin) 3.9m, 600kg
추돌고래 - (Northern right whale dolphin) 3.1m, 115kg
줄발이돌고래 - (Striped dolphin) 2.6m, 156kg
흰고래 - (Beluga / white whale) 4.5m, 1.5ton
쿤머리돌고래 - (Risso's dolphin) 4m, 500kg
쇠향고래 - (Dwarf sperm whale) 2.7m, 272kg
뱀머리돌고래 - (Rough-toothed dolphin) 2.8m, 150kg

Whale food and products

This information was found in the museum. Supposedly whale meat is only served legally in Jangsaengpo, and people flock from all parts of Korea to have the whale meat eating experience. Though it is common knowledge that whale meat is only served in Jangsaengpo, a couple of years ago there was a flower festival in Seoul and in the festival were some very strange foods like baby chicks fried whole. Whale meat was also served, and I remember being completely surprised because I knew of the Korean moratorium on whaling.

Though there is a moratoriam, whales are washed up, hit by boats, "die" in undocumented ways and there is always plenty of whale meat in Jangsaengpo. Makes me wonder... Anyway, the posting introducing the types of whale meat:

Food Made of Whale Meat 

Whale meat is famous for its 12 different tastes and colors with parts. Dishes made from whale meat vary, including assorted raw whale meat, whale stew, steamed whale meat, whale steak, canned whale meat, and whale curry.

The whale dish of Ulsan won the Bronze Prize in the 2nd Seafood Dish Competition in the 2006 Seoul World Tourism Food Exhibition. Winning the prize became the momentum to further the development of a special cuisine made from whale meat.

Foods derived from whale include edible oil, margarine, capsules, calcium, bacon, sausage, canned food, bread and cake, which are mainly derived from the whale's fat, cartilage, bone, belly and red meat.

Whale meat is selected as the leading delicacy in Ulsan, and it has become such a favorite that visitors to Ulsan are said to have been treated well only when they have tasted whale meat.

Whale meat drew national attention as the Jangsaengpo-dong, Nam-gu became famous as the largest whaling outpost in Korea, attracting whaling aficionados to Ulsan. When whaling was prohibited in 1986 and whaling disappeared, Ulsan became the only place where you can taste real whale meat in Korea.

Whale meat is good in the prevention of adult diseases because of the fat and high protein content. The meat is healthful and rich in iron and other ingredients, and it is often prescribed for dermatitis and allergy.

Jangsaengpo is famous as the place in Korea where cuisine based on whale meat was first developed. In the heydays of whaling, there were about 30 restaurants in Ulsan serving whale meat. these days, such restaurants can only be found in Jangsaengpo.

And of course there are (or were) many products made from whale meat and product:

click to enlarge

Location and other nearby related attractions

The museum and ecology hall are located right on the waterfront. Across the small street facing the waterfront is a string of a dozen or more restaurants all marketing whale meat in some form. I wanted a vegetarian meal but there was none to be had, so I had to take the bus back into Ulsan to get my veggies. The closest dish to vegetarian that I could have gotten was bibimbop with the raw whale meat removed. It didn't look appealing without its central attraction.

Pricey ... but that's one of the costs of novelty.

Jangsaengpo is recognized as the migration site of Gray Whales and supposedly the only spot from the peninsula from which whales can be seen. Therefore, this spot has been designated Natural Monument No. 126.

For those wanting to see whales (of course pay attention to seasons - noted in the red characters in the list above), then there are two boat routes visitors can take to go whale spotting.

The present cost for an adult to go whale-spotting is W15,000 (route on right) or W20,000 (left pictured route).
For more info, http://whalecity.kr  //  (032) 226-1990~1

For bus numbers getting here and to some nearby sites, go to Ulsan Tour of Ancient History: Munmu Tombs, Petroglyphs, Whaling.

New "No Smoking on the Street" Law

While walking around Dongdaemun Gate, also known as Heunginjimun (designated Treasure No. 1 in Korea), a cat rounded the corner and when I called it, it was friendly enough to approach me, which was very surprising as Koreans don't like cats and can treat them quite brutally at times. They even have a name for the street cat -- it's "thief cat" 도둑고양이. The euphemism represents the sentiment toward the lawlessness of the street cats. Thank goodness that within the last very few years, people here are becoming more open-minded about cats and many are actually having them in their homes, very unlike 15 years ago!

Anyway, the cat never fully approached me. I didn't have food, it saw that, and it sauntered on, but not before I noticed the odd-sized tag with message hanging from its collar, very unusual as cats just don't have collars here. I got a picture, zoomed in, and was really surprised by the message: 

흥인지문 반장 금연 "No Smoking - East Gate Administration Leader"

Even the "thief cats" are now serving the purposes of the government on the new no-smoking-on-the-street law set in place April 1, 2015.

Here's an article published in the Marmot Hole on the new policy set in place just four days ago, on April 1, 2015. And no, the law is not a joke!

Smoking Ban - April 1 No More Fooling Around

On January 1, 2015, South Korea by law completely banned smoking in all bars, restaurants, and cafes (including smoking rooms) regardless of size.  Starting tomorrow, April 1, they’re no longer fooling around:  the three-month grace period on enforcement ends.  Smokers could pay fines of 100,000 won and shop owners up to 5 million won for violating Korea’s anti-smoking law.

Korea has gotten serious about smoking.  

• In 2012, a World Health Organization (WHO) conference held in Seoul recommended South Korea change its lax laws on smoking and drinking, citing public health issues.  
• December 2012 - All restaurants and bars were issued one week’s warning that such establishments with a floor area greater than 150 square meters could no longer allow smoking.
• 2013 - Korean law banned taxi drivers from smoking but did not specify whether their clients could smoke.   
• June 8, 2013 - PC bangs (PC rooms) became smoke-free zones.  
• January 1, 2014 - The smoking ban for restaurants and bars with an area exceeding 100 square meters became law.
• December 12, 2014 - The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the government planned to ban smoking in billiard halls and indoor golf driving ranges in 2015.
• January 1, 2015 - The ban on smoking in all bars and restaurants, regardless of size, became law.

The backlash has begun.  On March 3, I Love Smoking, an online community representing the largest network of smokers in South Korea, filed at the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of the smoking ban in all restaurants, claiming the ban infringes on people’s rights to happiness, suppresses individuals’ rights to run a business, interferes with businesses’ freedom, and interferes with businesses’ rights to profit.  Good luck with that.  In 2011, 299 internet cafe operators filed a complaint against the smoking ban in Internet cafes, and the Constitutional Court upheld the ban.

Regardless and according to Yonhap News,

“The new ban has caused all kinds of conflicts between the restaurant staff and diners who smoke,” (I Love Smoking) said at a press conference held in front of the court in central Seoul. “It has also eaten into business owners’ profits, some to the point of considering closure.” 

The group said as an alternative, the government could prohibit smoking at all restaurants during the day but allow bars and clubs to seat smokers in smoking sections in the evening. 

…The government could use the extra taxes smokers pay toward subsidizing the costs of creating smoking sections at restaurants, which on average cost 10-30 million won (US$9,100-27,000), the group said. 

“Independent restaurants can’t realistically afford the cost without subsidies,” it said.

click to enlarge

South Korea remains among the smokingest nations in the OECD, ranking 13th in the world in cigarette consumption and second, behind Greece, among OECD nations.  Cigarette prices, prior to the tax increase, in South Korea were among the lowest in the world by PPP.  The much needed price increase reflecting the negative externality cost in cigarette consumption and proper use of zoning laws protecting non-smokers, brings Korea in line with laws, trends, and thinking in other OECD countries.  I’m a libertarian minded non-smoker who wonders how Korea’s ajeosshi-packed Constitutional Court will rule let alone why the Constitutional Court would even hear the case.

  

The History of Budae Jjigae

Koreans have eaten jjigae (very thick stew) perhaps since time immemorial, but with the coming of the Korean War when food was scarce, a new kind of jjigae was born - budae jjigae, almost literally "military stew". With the advent of the US soldiers, who were considered rich next to the impoverished Koreans who lived a hand-to-mouth subsistence, Koreans were first introduced to what it was like to have a surplus of meat. They themselves didn't have the surplus but the Americans did, and around the US military camps some of the US army supplies of canned meats like hot dogs, spam and other packaged meats sometimes found their way into the Korean economy. With the meats that were given to them, exchanged for work, or gleaned from the garbage, Koreans made jjigae by adding the meat to boiling water and whatever else they might have along their their ubiquitous red pepper paste and kimchi.

Although the jjigae was "born" in the Korean War, it ironically came to be called Johnson tang - tang is another kind of soup, not quite so thick or hearty as jjigae. The stew was named after US President Lyndon B. Johnson, and here's the irony, Johnson became president (1963-1969) a decade after the Korean War, the circumstance that actually "created" the thick soup. Therefore, it appears that calling the stew-gumbo Johnson tang was due to the stew's gaining popularity around Korea as Korea had more access to military supplies because many US soldiers continued to be employed in South Korea and pass through South Korea on their way to fight in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam war, the time era when Johnson tang became more widely known, was a time of economic development for the Koreans, particularly as many South Koreans fought in the war as hired soldiers, earning valuable income for their homeland. Thus, with the exposure to the US military goods, namely canned meats, a new food tradition was started in South Korea and has continued to grow in popularity since. 

Budae jjigae, "military stew", is linguistically tainted however with a shadowy military past and connotations of impoverishment, particularly around US military camps. Therefore, in the late 1990s Uijeongbu, a city bordering the north of Seoul and where a large number of military personnel reside, tried to remove the military connotations from the now-popular food by stipulating that henceforth the jjigae was to be referred to as Uijeongbu jjigae. Not many restaurants complied, but other restaurants picked up on the new nomenclature and began calling their stew Uijeongbu budae jjigae. In Uijeongbu and in other spots around Korea, there are budae jjigae streets where a high concentration of budae jjigae restaurants offer variations to the stew: curry budae jjigae, stir-fried budae jjigae, among others. With budae jjigae, about anything is possible for the pot, examples being ddeok, cheese, beans.

The popular Korean dish that was born of adversity is still popular today, and now is called a "fusion food", a new term applied to foods which are a combining of homeland Korean chow mixed with some foreign element, e.g. cheese kimbap is another fusion example and the first time I had it, I just about gagged! In Korea (not surprisingly) there is even a Budae Jjigae Festival with thoughts that it will help "revitalize the economy" and "make us remember the meaning of the Korean War"; it is also said to "unify the local community" although no one has explained to me how this will be a result of eating the stew.

Budae jjigae has even been spread to Japan and from Japan it has been brought back with other "fusion food" changes. I think budae jjigae is a good example of how Korea has changed over the past century - it has gone from being a proud homogeneous society to one that accepts the blurring of cultural lines as long as something Korean still shines through the cultural borrowing.

Credit in outlining this information and particularly for the pictures

goes to my students Lee Cherin and Choi Yeonhee.

Korean Beef, American Beef

This amazing article revealing some of the anti-bacterial measures taken to put more meat in the supermarket is  weightily revealing. Here in Korea, Koreans almost unanimously state that their beef is far superior to the known-to-be highly contaminated meat of the U.S. This belief has been perpetuated since the Beef Riots in 2008, and since then, restaurants, school cafeterias and other places post signs near their lunch lines or wherever that the beef served in their restaurant is Australian beef, or even the very expensive Korean beef. Well, this article rather blows the belief that Korean beef is better than U.S. beef.

 

Know What’s in Your Food

By Lee Seung-hee

South Korea is one of the most health-conscious countries in the world. A TV show here, ``Vitamin," which aims to provide nutrition and disease related information, has gained popularity since 2003 and influenced the general population to be more concerned about nutrition and aware of chronic diseases deriving from diet.

``What to eat and what not to eat" is a common interest in everyday Korean life. Once a specific food or a nutrient gains the reputation for being healthy, it really gains in popularity. For example, ox tail soup is known to alleviate arthritis and beef blood soup is good for soothing menstrual cramps.

If a specific food or nutrient gains a negative reputation, it gets stigmatized. For example, it is known that salt is blamed for elevated blood pressure and animal fat for developing plaque in blood vessels.

However, do we know what's in our food besides the nutrients? Did you know that antibiotics are fed to livestock? Korean livestock farmers used 0.91 kilograms of antibiotics for every ton of livestock in 2002 compared to the United States' 0.14 kilograms, according to a report from the Korean Animal Welfare Association (KAWA). Livestock farmers in Korea spend more money than anyone else in the world on feeding antibiotics to their pigs and cows.

Wait. Antibiotics? Are we eating sick animals that have been treated by antibiotics? No. It's a precautionary measure, just in case they get sick. But if they are not sick, why are they being fed with the exact same antibiotics that are used for clinical purposes? It's because it is almost impossible for animals to survive in a crowded farm environment without the antibiotics.

KAWA reported that the unsanitary, enclosed and artificial environment requires farmers to administer various medicines. Therefore, farmers administer antibiotics regularly even when livestock are not ill to prevent animals from getting diseases, because if one pig gets sick it can easily spread to others in the farm, and eventually farmers will lose money. It is much more economical to use antibiotics than to deal with sick or dying farm animals.

Although this model is beneficial for farmers, is it beneficial for people who are eating meat that's been tainted with antibiotics? Farmers administer antibiotics in order to improve the immune system of the animals and to ensure their survival, but the overuse of antibiotics leads to humans' development of resistance to certain diseases.

One solution seems obvious ― could we just keep the animals in a clean, un-crowded environment? In 2000, the article ``Nutrition transition of South Korea," published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition by Popkin, B. et al. showed the total daily meat consumption of Koreans has increased from 6.6grams per person in 1969 to 67g in 1995, while daily consumption of cereal and grain products has decreased from 558.8g to 308.9g during the same period. Such a demand has prompted farmers to grow more livestock. Due to limited land for raising livestock, overcrowding animal farms has become a common and accepted practice.

Fortunately, the Korean FDA announced a ban on the seven most frequently-used antibiotics in animal feed. The swift action was spurred by worrisome results in 2008 showing that steady use of antibiotic feed can develop into antibiotic resistance. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is planning on providing subsidies to environmentally-friendly farmers that don't use antibiotics. Selected farmers will be given cash over a period of three to five years in order to support their environmentally-friendly facilities.

This is a very progressive and advanced decision made by the Korean government at a time when the U.S. continues to struggle with its antibiotic usage in meat production. Such change is desirable, and we do see many antibiotic free meats in U.S. grocery stores.

Unfortunately, in 2008, major Korean grocery stores carried some eggs and chicken that were advertised to be antibiotic free but were found to contain the antibiotic Enrofloxacin. On top of this problem, these ``antibiotic-free" products are sold at 1.5 times the price of regular eggs and chicken. Such a discrepancy results in distrusting consumers, which may damage farmers who really do practice antibiotic free farming.

Even I was cynical about purchasing antibiotic free, organic and environmentally-friendly produce while I was in Korea because I was so skeptical from various news stories that showed untrustworthy, mostly corporate farmers breaking regulations. However, when I buy organic, free range, antibiotic free produce in America, I am confident that it is organic. This is mainly because I know the USDA has a strict certification process and ensures quality through vigorous follow-ups with certified farms.

Therefore, in order to set our tables with reliable and trustworthy foods, we the consumers should be more aware of such consequences and demand more structured and strict regulation among certified antibiotic-free farms.

``Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do," is a famous and appropriate quote by Johann Wolfgang van Goethe. Now that we know antibiotic usage in livestock can cause harm to humans, the government has ``applied" a ban on the use of some antibiotics in livestock farming and is ``willing" to protect people from potential antibiotic resistance. It is our turn to take another step to ensure these antibiotic-free farms and products meet regulations. Purchase meat from local antibiotic free farms near you, support trustworthy farmers and increase the demand of such products. Don't eat with fear but eat with philosophy ― just know what you're eating and what's in your food.

The writer is a nutritionist and a second-year doctoral student at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health studying Human Nutrition. Her research interest focuses on promoting healthy eating among the low-income urban population in U.S. She can be reached at seulee@jhsph.edu.

Pooja, a Nepalese Restaurant

In the Dongmyo station vicinity there are many middle-eastern-Asian types of restaurants. Coming out exit 8 of Dongmyo station and directly above the exit on the third floor is the Himalayan Restaurant. This is perhaps my favorite of them all; it's cozy, rustic and nostalgic, and has pretty decent seating meaning wood and not plastic, which I hate in ethnic restaurants. Out of all the restaurants in this area, they also have the best palak paneer, my favorite, so course they would be my favorite restaurant! Also out exit 8 and a few minutes walk crossing one road is the Pooja restaurant, which several of my friends and I when to tonight. I understand there is an Everest restaurant out the same exit; I haven't been there yet, and then Naamasa (spelling - oops!) is out another exit and a quick 4 minute walk from the station.

 

Anyway, one of my friends is engaged to a Nepalese and insisted on trying this restaurant and sampling their interpretation of their ethnic food. She was able to explain why we were served in metal bowls, an act giving great honor to the customers and used only in ceremonies in their country, and she introduced special foods, sometimes giving a little cultural snippet about its origins and variations. And because of her use of some Nepalese and having visited some of the same villages the owners were from, we got special service which included lassis for everyone! Yum!

 

I ordered polau, a delightful Indian basmati rice, peas, carrots, red pepper and cashew stir-fry, and sampled the less spicy curries brought to the others. The curries we ordered tonight were palak paneer (green - spinach with "cottage cheese-like curds"), paneer butter masala (orange-red - spicy "cottage cheese-like curds" with butter, onions, tomato and red pepper), dal makhani (yellowish-brown - black beans with cream and herbs), and chicken makhani (bright red). Even though a couple of my friends had said 'cut the heat', then seriously wondered if they had been misunderstood and heat had actually been added. In any regard, the food (except for the palak paneer by unanimous vote) was very good! I'm still partial to the Himalayan restaurant but this was definitely a nice treat, especially because of our culture-guide friend who raised awareness of some of the culture mixed in with the food.

Japanese Restaurant near the Blue House

Ah, Japanese food, especially the 회 or raw fish is absolutely divine. I love love love raw chilled tuna with rice and raw salad greens topped with a sweetened spicey red pepper sauce. And in Hyehwa-dong near where I used to teach is a fabulous raw tuna restaurant. Uh, actually saying 'raw tuna' in English makes the dish sound disgusting, so it's much better to refer to the tasty tuna in Korean (참치회) as the culture connotations mix better with the flavors of the food.

This particular Japanese restaurant had a very attractive external appearance. A small rustic looking building with paned glass, which is rather odd in Korea, and the glass panes were painted with wandering stems of 5" cherry blossoms, Japan's national flower.

Inside the decor was cozy and quaint. The small tables were of rustic build - wood pieces of various sizes and painted in various faded colors were nailed in hodge-podge designs and chairs were brown wood warm. The counter lost the rustic and gave a more modern appearance with a long glass display case enshrining the raw fish choices and delicacies to be served. My friend was particularly hungry after hiking and eating a piecemeal breakfast so ordered a menu set with noodles and a side order of raw fish. I ate up the ambiance.



Such a friendly attractive setting with good food and service! Though I'd like to recommend the restaurant, I didn't get the name. Boo, I know. However, on the wall, there was a copy of a historial map of the area, and their map indicated with a red dot their location. From the description I've given and this map, the place would be easy to find for any interested.

Nostalgic Diner in Insa-dong

Just three months ago via a stateside friend I "met" a fellow anthropology graduate, Leah, who ventured to Korea and this past week welcomed her mom for a brief visit to her new country of residence. Somehow I met the mom over the internet too and we three decided to finally meet in person and have an afternoon hiking adventure behind Sungkyunkwan University. After a hike up the hills in the steamy weather and down the other side, we ended up in Insa-dong where we had to decide which Korean food would be most appetizing as an introduction to the mother. We settled on a bi-bim-bop restaurant to treat Josephine to some vegetables and rice prepared with a pungent soybean soup.

To attact foreign clientele, menus in the touristy Insa-dong are posted in both English and Korean on A-frames outside their respective restaurants. It used to be there was no menu except the one hung on the inside wall, but touristy areas post their menus outside their restaurants, and many restaurants in the bigger cities now offer booklet menus to guests seated at tables [the concept borrowed from the West]. Looking at the pictures of the food spreads on an A-frame, I was explaining the bi-bim-bop to Josephine when suddenly a Korean woman interrupted and spouted how she'd like to recommend the bi-bim-bop to us because it's such a traditional food and loved by all Koreans and blah blah blah. Errrrgh, sometimes I get very annoyed with people who interrupt conversations, especially when I'm in a deep in a conversation and am completely devoid of a blank lost look ...

The female passerby probably thought she had really recommended a classy meal to the "poor, uninformed" foreigners because we did go in. Not only did the food look tasty on the A-frame posting, but also the restaurant can easily market itself for ambiance with its rich wooden decor of a hanok-style construction somewhat reminiscent of 50 or more years ago. We sat in a courtyard, with a cheap plastic canopy overhead to keep the air conditioning in and mosquitoes out; I rather think that those two functions were its only functions as the looseness would certainly not hold water in any kind of rain shower. The food was splendid, and Josephine enjoyed her introduction to one of the choice cuisines of Korea. The place was really crowded with more Koreans than "foreigners", which is a good sign of a good restaurant. But at the cash register, the restaurant took on a more historical charm for above the register was a wall hung with old photographs of Korea, pictures of daily social interactions, dress attire, means of making a living and most were representative of the working class, and not the yangban class! When the cashier saw me looking at the wood framed photos, she got excited and volunteered explanations on many of them. I was especially enthusiastic about the pict of a peasant carrying a amount of large baskets on his A-frame carrier; I'd never seen or heard of anything like it!

"Mud" Paintings in a Restaurant

옛날농장, Long Ago Playground, is a meat restaurant in the Hyehwa culture area. The menu specializes in grilled meat with multiple side dishes and a variety of traditional soju, Korean liquors, to complement the traditional meal with.


The heavy split log tables and benches lined the walls and each wall contained a different spark of sentiment from "long long ago", exemplifying the name of restaurant. The false mud walls were painted a smoky yellow with browns and ucher dry-brush paintings of traditional tomb iconography, for example, mythical stylized birds, hunters on horseback as portrayed in a famous tomb mural, and lowing cows in the mud and stone stable walls.

On another wall was a monk sitting astride a tiger (in perfect contentment as if he were going to the next world) and the famous storybook tiger smoking a long pipe.

The 농장버섯탕, mushroom stew, was spicy and loaded with a variety of mountain mushrooms. Side dishes included the ubiquitous kimchi, processed fish cakes, sweetened black beans, garlic stems with shrimp, a mountain vegetable, tiny anchovies, a sour white kimchi soup for cooling the mouth, a dipping sauce and then mixed grain rice. A very quality meal with great surroundings!

A Cultural Taste of Vietnam

Browsing a street in Hyewha, one of the vital culture zones for youths at leisure, the warm brothy soup at the Paris-Hanoi restaurant caught my eye and led my nostrils. Vietnamese food is tasty, light and refreshing. A pot of jasmine tea and a petite teacup were on my culturally vermilion table even before I sat down to order beef pho (noodles). I love the ambiance of Asian restaurants and the ambiance at Paris-Hanoi clearly showed the historical culture-exchanges between China and the Kingdom of Anam (the former name of Vietnam). Red predominated and sprigs of fake but authentic looking flowers graced slim lacquered vases. Dragon images and lattice decor reflected the Asian spirit. On the round inlay-worked shelves, however, were uniquely Southeast Asian art and the fuller-faced Buddha of a dark metal typical of the south.


Other cultural similarities yet differences lie on the table. Though round chopsticks are used in both Vietnam and China, Vietnamese use shorter chopsticks than the Chinese but slightly longer ones than the squarish Korean chopsticks. The Vietnamese also use the culturally borrowed short bowl-shaped soup spoon of the Chinese whereas Koreans use a long handled flattish-bowled spoon.

The soup bowl came with its side-dishes of lemoned onion slices, instead of the ubiquitous pickles or kimchi of Korea, and fresh bean sprouts with lemon to squeeze. Two sauces, one sweetish and nutty and the other peppery, are for mixing and spicing up the soup broth to one's own taste. And while noodles are in all three cultures, each culture has its own unique cut and varying ingredients not to mention soup bases and principle herbs for flavoring ... and today's Asian flavor is definitely Vietnamese!

Hot and Cold Foods

Back in the States the "Five a Day" campaign is strong. The concept behind "Five a Day" is for people to eat a healthier, balanced diet by incorporating five food colors in their meals: red, yellow, green, white and black. Each color represents an aspect of health. Red is good for circulation, yellow for digestion, green for metabolism, white for cardiopulmonary function, and black for growth and reproduction.

Hot and Cold Foods
In Korea food colors always seem to fall under the "red" category, namely due to the ubiquitous red pepper paste, red pepper powder and now red pepper oil added to the vast majority of foods and side dishes. Eating the color range is therefore obviously not a value of Korean society; however, Koreans have another unique system of classifying their foods, as either "hot" or "cold", with "hot" referring to the temp and not the spiciness of the food. The source of these temp-related food beliefs originates from two contrasting Chinese proverbs: 이열치열(以熱治熱) which translates loosely into English as "fight fire with fire", "beat the heat with heat" or as one of my students more accurately put it "stoke the furnace within you to burn the heat out of you" ... and the opposing proverb, 이하치하, which equates to "fight cold with cold".

Cultural eating traditions on 이열치열 are most apparent on a hot summer day when Koreans line up to eat samgyetang, a piping hot soup bowl concoction of a whole chicken stuffed with rice, jujubes, ginseng, ginger and garlic (all heat-promoting foods) and served bubbling in a stone bowl. Also, the three "dog days" or the hottest days of summer as faithfully recorded on the lunar calendar (초복, 증복, 말복) are for Korean men to go and eat dog to maintain their virile manly stamina in the exhausting heat which drains the power from the body.

이하치하 is not a current spoken concept in South Korea although traces of it exist. One example is the eating of naengmyon, cold buckwheat noodles in iced broth, in the winter to rid the body of excessive coldness caused by the outside chill. Even a decade ago, naegnmyon wasn't readily available in the summer but surprisingly to the westerner, the cold noodle bowl appeared on the winter menu posted on the wall. Even more ironic to the westerner, eating cold to eliminate cold was much more prevalent in the northern part of the Korean peninsula than in the southern, and the noodles and how they are served are named after regions of present-day North Korea: Pyoungyang naengmyon [pictured left], which has a more watery broth over the noodle and Hamheung naenmgmyon [pictured right] which has a spicy red pepper sauce. On Sakhalin Island, Russia, which has strong Asian influences, ice cream kiosks thrived in the winter time and rather frequently close their shutters in the summer. Perhaps too, in Michigan long ago, the eating of real snow cones made from the snow had some origins in "fight cold with cold" and wasn't strictly related to the availability of snow only in the winter.

In just the past 5-6 years, I've noticed the excessive usage of ice by westerners has made inroads in the Korean culture as, before when I went to a restaurant even in the summer, I was served warm or lukewarm water. At that time, Koreans were still shaking their heads at the concept of cooling the body too fast with ice-water and so shied from using ice cubes believed to upset the body balance. Nowadays, summer or winter, when I go to a restaurant and take a seat at a table, the little metal cup of lukewarm or hot water filled from an oversized tea kettle always kept on a giant heater or stove has been replaced by a chilled water bottle from an oversized fridge accompanied by the little metal cup ... now, not only does the customer no longer get body-harmonizing warmth but he or she must serve him- or herself.

Sipping in Style in Seoul

Birthday celebrations are great over food, particularly when added with a touch of the exotic, and Seoul now has a wide diversity of foods and atmospheres to have an unusual but very memorable dining experience. An all-time favorite is Taj Palace. The food is Pakistani by name, delightful in flavor from the middle-eastern blend of spices and herbs, but the memorable experience tonight was the owner adding his native Kashmiri heritage in a pot of tea brewed specially for the birthday party: a rich mix of Darjeeling tea, cinnamon, cloves, possibly anise, pods and other seeds and spices.
The samovar he used was copper cast with silver overlay, which was then hand-carved, and has been transported on trips from Kashmir to the Himalayas on horses, yaks or whatever transportation they used in order to serve warm drinks on the cold journey. Being unable to build fires en route in such cold conditions, the Kashmiri samovar evolved into a giant tea pot with built-in burner, a hollowed space for two or three small pieces of charcoal to be burned, which brings the tea to a quick boil from internally generated heat. And because of the hollowed compartment for the charcoal, the Kashmiri samovar is unique in the world.
The downside of the internal combustion system is the wear on the inside where the tea is being boiled, and so every four years the silver coating inside the samovar must be replaced, otherwise the copper bitters the tea, making it what can be guessed as a very un-holy tea-drinking experience.
The samovar in the restaurant easily could serve 10 guests, but is nothing in size to the family samovar back in Kashmir, where tea was made in the morning but no one started drinking tea until two hours after breakfast and then it was drunk throughout the day. The owner had another samovar in the restaurant, and it would serve only two cups of tea. The picture here is of the two-cup samovar and two water pitchers made of equally heavy metals.