The world loves dumplings, and in Korea, they are called mandoo. In the Myeongdong district – one of the many shopping drags in Seoul, the high-end shops and entertaining Konglish names of shops stand among seemingly hundreds of places to nibble. Kohl Guhk Soo has been around, in one form or another, for many decades….
Author: Theo
The83k, in the ROK: Kim Jong-Il and Ginseng Soju
This bottle came from North Korea. The liquor in it originally was drunk long ago by my uncle and his friends. The soju in it in this picture was infused with wild ginseng also brought over from Jong-Il-Bob CrazyPants Happy Fun Land. Farmed ginseng is pungent and pricey, but the wild stuff is much more mellow-tasting, takes…
The83k, in the ROK: Best Breakfast EVER.
We landed in Incheon and sailed through customs. The employee at passport control was brusque and possibly hungover. Or maybe just ticked that her gig forced her to hang out at an airport at 4:30 in the morning with people who smelled of feet, cabbage and stale wine. I’d never met my uncle or his family…
The83k, in the ROK: Asiana flight 235.
Kids. Free booze and seatback video are all very well and good – but bi bim bap at 30000 feet is pretty fricking sweet. Bi bim bap is rice and sauteed vegetables, occasionally topped with some sort of protein, tossed together with red bean paste and an egg fried just enough to set the white. The yolk becomes the…
The83k, in South Korea.
They don’t really eat a lot of Korean barbecue in Korea. Since beef is at a premium over there, the stuff is so damned expensive (they’re pretty snobby about letting in imports from other countries, including the US.) It’s saved for special occasions. So kids: no bbq, most likely. But for ten days – Uncle Theo’s…
The Eighty-Three Thousand | I like food. I hope you do, too. 