jap chae

  

                                         

Jap-chae is one of the Korea's representative dishes made of dang-myeon(Sweet potato noodles) and other vegetables such as carrot, onion, spinach and mushroom. Sometimes fried egg, fried meat and sesame is added as well.  There's no specified ingredients but can be varied according to in-season vegetables. 

  Main ingredient, Dang-myeon is a type of noodle made of potato/sweet potato starch. So it is more gooey than ordinary noodle made of flour. To compare with Philippine local product, Sotanghon is similar. But Jap-chae is thicker and stickier. 













From long time ago, Jap-chae is loved dish for national holiday, birthday and family gathering, etc. Actually, Jap-chae requires quite long time to prepare because each vegetables should be sliced. If you feel lazy to prepare at home, why don't you try in a restaurant near your place?:)

unique food in Korea1. San-nakji (alive small-octopus)

San(alive) + Nakji(small-octopus) - as the name says, it is one type of sashimi that we mix with sesame oil, smashed garlic, etc. Surprising thing is that chopped part of small-octopus is still moving on the dish. I hear that San-Nakji is the most shocking dish of Korea to foreigners' eyes. 


 See? small octopus is still alive!XD
Anyway, you really have to be careful and chew well before swallow. Because there are some accidents that alive small-octopus blocks airway that results brain death or death. 

 Soo-Ji from girl group 'Miss A'. In Korea variety show, she is eating San-Nakji directly from mud flat. 

I can't say, it is WIDELY loved by koreans because there are people who can't eat san-nakji. However, it is unique and funny experience to feel korean food and culture!:)

bibim-bap

Bibiam-Bap is compound word of Bibim(mix) + Bap(cooked rice). As the name says, it is cooked rice with various cooked vegetable and meat. And we use red pepper paste or other sauce as a seasoning to enrich the taste of bibim-bap. But the unique thing is that red pepper paste doesn't affect the original taste of each vegetables.  

Bibim-bap is known as healthy food. Experts say that the most ideal ratio of meat and vegetable is 8:2. As you can see in the picture, the proportion of vegetable is larger than meat in bibim-bap. It's really good dish for the modern people whose vegetable intake quantity is too small.

 Several years ago, MTV 'VH1 All Access' introduced how Hollywood celebrities control their weight. At 'Celebrity Diet Secret' corner, Gwyneth Paltrow who is famous for Iron Man and Avengers' cook introduced Bibim-bap as the best dish to maintain good health and weight. 

Nowadays, some airlines serves bibim-bap as in-flight meal.
 I'm not sure about others but it is the best!! in-flight meal for koreans!haha

As you noticed, flavor of bibim-bap varies according to the types of vegetables you put and the amount. 

 Dol Sot Bibim-Bap. Dol Sot means stone pot. They put bibim-bap ingredients inside the heated Dol sot, so the food is really hot! 





Cheese Bibim-bap.
of course it's not traditional dish but it was developed recently to target young people or foreigners!




While posting about Bibim-Bap, i feel hungry:(haha 
I'll mix remained banchan(side dishes) with cooked rice as a dinner todayXD

Interesting Korean food cultureXD

1. Korea egg shell is light-orange color! 
I was surprised to see Philippines' white colored egg shell at first. now, I'm more used to eat white colored egg 

                VS  



2. I think the most popular Korean dish is Kimchi, ryt? cabbage kimchi is common and widely consumed type but there are more than 300 types of kimchi! can u believe it?! actually, we can't count the exact number of it because it varies according to ingredients and the method on how to make it. Anyway the variety kinds of kimchi shows how koreans love to eat kimchi! 

 


Kimchi refrigerator!
there is specialized refrigerator just for kimchi in korea. We mostly make kimchi once a year and eat that kimchi for whole year. So keeping it fresh and delicious is really important. Kimchi ref was first launched on 1995 and now, almost all households own at least 1 kimchi ref!XD funny, ryt?



3. Koreans like to eat cooked rice with many Ban-chan(side dishes)

  what i noticed while living in the Philippines is that Filipinos are eating cooked rice with one or two side dishes. That's the thing that koreans are mostly surprised. 
Of course we don't eat daily meal like the one in the picture, but we prepare cooked rice with at least 3-5 side dishes and also soup(guk or tang). If you visit some of Korean restaurant, they will serve dining table like the one in the picture:))


4. We eat hot food on the hottest day of the year!
as you know, there are four seasons in Korea - spring, summer, autumn and winter. Winter is so cold that we can see snow but summer is as hot as Philippines! So koreans eat healthy food to overcome these hot weather



Two foods above are the most commonly consumed dishes for summer! Samge-Tang(chicken soup with ginseng and other ingredients) and Boshin-Tang(dog soup). Yes, not every Koreans but we do eat dog soup,haha. 
Anyway, koreans eat hot food(especially soup) in the hottest day of the year!XD

5. We really do like spicy food
I think most of Filipinos already noticed that many of korean foods are spicy, and we really do! As an example, we eat spicy shin-ramyun with more spicy kimchi! if i don't eat ramyun with kimchi, i feel something is missing!:( Some people add green onion or chili power when cooking ramyun!

Since I've been living in abroad for a long time, my taste is quite habituated to Filipino food or western food. But my stomach still feel uneasy when i keep on eating hamburger or spaghetti! I need to eat kimchi or korean style food at least twice a week!haha

chapagetti

I posted about Ramyun(Korean noodle) before and I'll introduce new type of noodle today! this is Chapagetti from Nong-Shim. 

Chapagetti is compound word of chajang-myun + spaghetti

 Chajang-myung is originated from China but it was modified to fit Koreans' taste. When Koreans think 'Chinese food', chajang-myun comes into mind automatically. Funny thing is that we can't find such thing in China!:P anyway, chajang-myun is widely loved by koreans as a substitute for meal and it is leader of delivery food(there's at least 1 chajang-myun restaurant every town so we can order by call anywhere). 

 

Left: Family outing season2 - Yoon Ah from Girl's generation is eating Chajang-myun

Right: the movie 'My sassy girl'

Chapagetti is instant version of Chajangmyun that you can easily cook and eat at home

Recipe is similar as Pancit Canton! 

first, boil noodle in the water. After the noodle is cooked, drain about 70% of water. Then mix with black sauce and olive oil which included in the package. 

now, Cup Chapagetti is available as well. The chinese boy on the cup is so cuteXD

You can meet chapagetti in most of SM and robinson supermarket!

Try convenient and delicious black noodle!^^*

samgyupsal (pork belly)

              


           You might be familiar with samgypsal if you like to watch korean drama or if you have korean friend. Samgyupsal is that inseparable from koreans and our culture! Anyway, to introduce samgyupsal shortly, it is thick, fatty slices of port belly meat. It is cooked on a grill and you can directly eat from a grill(let's call it korean barbecue style)! Aside from samgyupsal, koreans cook and eat many types of meat directly from grill.



                  

Left: from the drama 'my girlfriend is Gumiho'. The main actress, Shin, Min Ah is eating korean barbecue. 
Right: from the drama 'a man unable to marry'




 Gal-bi(rib). we cook and cut meat using scissors on the grill and eat directly without serving on dish or something. Since i was too familiar with this kind of cooking method, i thought all of the people in the world are used to cook and eat directly from grill. But I heard that foreigners(i mean, non-koreans) are not using scissors to cut food on the table, is that true??!


    Gop-chang (beef/port small intestines). you might feel uneasy to try this food at first. Actaully  some korean girls can't eat Gop-chang. But i like it personally:P                                    






See? cook and eat directly from grill is common culture of koreans and we do like to eat it as a dinner with family or friend!


However, koreans never eat one food without side dishes!haha 

 lettuce is MUST ITEM for grilled meat. we like to eat meat with lettuce, onion, garlic and Ssam-jang(soybean paste mixed with red pepper paste, garlic and sesame), etc





 And finally, SOJU!
soju and samgyupsal is like associated foods that koreans automatically recall soju whenever eat samgyupsal!
i still don't know the real taste of soju (it's because i'm still young?:Phaha) but samgyupsal + soju is really widely loved menu by koreans for its delicious taste and moderate price






You can meet various types of samgyupsal and Korean barbecue restaurant in the Philippines. 

 Hwangso makchang. located in Malate, Makati, Pasig, Paranaque. Many Filipinos are visiting here, too!



 Choice buffet. located in Hobbies of Asia, Pasay city. 


Try with your family samgyupsal using korean barbecue method!>_<!  

tteokbokki (rice cakes in hot sauce)

   One of the Koreans' best snack is tteokbokki! It is loved by many people from elementary student to working people for its delicious taste and cheap price. It is made of sliced rice cake, eggs, odeng with pepper paste sauce. It is spicy yet sweet and delicious!!!

we call this place as 'po jang ma cha'(street vendors) and every Koreans would have memory of eatting tteokbokki with other foods here with friends. Actually, pojangmacha is the one that I missed the most while staying in the Philippines. I can make or buy tteokbokki here but it feels different from eating in pojangmacha. If you have chance to go Korea, you should try eat tteokboki here with other foods like 'soon dae' or 'odeng'!

People created many ways to enjoy tteokbokki as it is loved by Koreans for a long time!

Cheese tteokbokki! 

As the name represents, it is tteokbokki with cheese topping! Cheese mitigates spiciness of tteokbokki!

 

tteokbokki + Ramyun = Ra bokki

If you want to try tteokbokki in the Philippines, this is tteokbokki specializing restaurant locates in 1st floor or Avenue mall, Makati Avenue - Shin dang dong tteokbokki