One of the guests at my hostel is a chef. He tells me he's "eating his way through Asia." I've heard this expression before and could never relate to it. I like to eat, but my life doesn't revolve around it. Sure, I'll definitely try as much local food as I can, it's part of the culture, but its not something that I get excited about.
Even though I wouldn't classify myself as a "foodie", I thought some of you might appreciate a little firsthand insight on Korean food. I'll be your personal food reporter. Coming to you straight from Seoul!
Korea has a gaggle of goofy foods.
Walking through the streets of Seoul, I see a mix of unidentifiable edible items for sale.
Deep fried this and deep fried that.
Long spiral shaped potatoes.
Every kind of dried fish you can think of.
Waffles galore, even fish shaped waffles filled with red beans. Yes, RED BEANS! They are dee-lish!!
These silly creations were called "walking sticks"....
Everywhere you look in Seoul, there's something just waiting for you to eat it. In the subway, as you breeze through the hallways to catch the train, pleasant smells drift through the air and find their way to your nose. Freshly baked waffles, sweets and coffee....
There's an endless amount of coffee shops in Seoul. Surprisingly, the coffee is exceptionally tasty here.
Koreans have a strange obsession with eating peculiar seafood. The weirder, the better. Apparently. Octopus, squid, eel, oysters, clams, snails, crab, calamari, you name it. They even eat the octopus while it's still alive! There are horror stories of Koreans dying because of this food fetish after the octopus sucks onto their throat and causes them to suffocate.
Here's some pics I've snapped on the street of Seoul. Food for the Seoul...
(Disclaimer: Since identifying strange food is not my forte, I can't tell you exactly what's in these pictures.)
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| dumplings |
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| sugar candy |
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| bugs |
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| ??? |
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| dried octopus |
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| Korean pizza |
I don't eat foods that have eyes or breathe. Some say it's a pity, but really, it's quite alright. I'll taste test anything else. One thing I was glad I tasted was something called tapoki. It's like a thick chewy noodle swimming in a spicy red sauce. It takes forever to masticate these chewy monsters, but I kinda like them. Actually, I love them!
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| Tapoki! |
Of course, I can't talk about Korean food without mentioning the famous kimchi, which is essentially fermented vegetables (usually cabbage) smothered in a spicy red sauce. The cabbage is left to ferment for about 6 months to a year, sometimes longer.
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| hoards of kimchi |
I met up with my Korean friend, Hannah, whom I met while I was in Naples, Italy, where we stuffed ourselves silly with pizza pies and gelato. And didn't feel the least bit guilty about it.
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| Hannah and I. I like her shirt :) |
In Seoul, she brought me to a restaurant to have a real traditional Korean meal. One where you sit on the floor. Awesome.
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| AFTER we were done eating! |
There was a small amount of meat and fish thrown into the mix, which I left for Hannah. We were each given a small metal dish filled with white rice. The rest of the food was meant to be shared between us. For some inexplicable reason, Koreans use metal chopsticks. I already have a hard time using these utensils when they're wooden, so the metal chopsticks are nearly impossible for me to use. I stabbed at the food awkwardly as Hannah elegantly picked up each item with her chopsticks. Sitting on the floor barefoot, we chatted while we sampled each dish. We ate until our bellies stretched uncomfortably. I looked at the spread of food left and it looked like we hadn't even touched anything!
After our feast, we waddled through a couple local markets and watched as locals ate all kinds of funky seafood, meat and veggies....
If you're a foodie, Asia is definitely the place to be. One thing is for sure, you will never go hungry in Seoul!
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