Another day in Seoul

I still feel more alien here than I do in Europe, but less so than I did 48 hours ago. Managing the subway yesterday was actually quite simple: 40 minutes to our destination, including a change of trains from one line to another at a distant station. As long as we paid attention, consulted the map and followed the signs, it was remarkably easy. No false starts, no mistakes. (Note: like Paris, Prague, London and Washington, DC -- to name a few -- the Seoul metro is clean, well-signed, well-ventilated and people-friendly. New York, are you listening?)


Our destination was a neighborhood where eyeglasses can be gotten far cheaper than in the US (see picture at left.) As the picture below shows, we were successful. We also wandered the densely crowded streets a bit and went into what appeared to be a restaurant supply store: room after room of dishes, teapots, serving vessels, espresso sets -- much of it very beautiful, some of it everyday and ordinary. We were oft tempted, but of course we need none of it, so we resisted.

We also ate an excellent lunch at one of the dozens of tiny places we passed and bought an ice cream cone on our way back. My point is, all of this was remarkably easy even though we speak no Korean and many of the people we dealt with spoke no, or little, English. Even buying prescription glasses was not difficult, and the salesmen we dealt with knew only some English. 


My friend Don asked for more specifics about Korean food, so let me try. The most ubiquitous Korean dish is KimChi (kimchee, kim chee) and comes in hundreds of varieties, but is most commonly Napa cabbage, radish, turnip or another vegetable, highly seasoned and fermented. It is served as a side dish with an entree or is the basis for a soup, stew or other preparation. We always have a jar at home and one of our favorites uses is to accompany eggs in the morning. To the uninitiated it might be hot (spicy); we are so used to it that we rarely find it so.


My favorite two dishes are listed below -- thank you, Wikipedia. For more info, Google kimchi or Korean food. (Another great dish is Korean barbecue: thinly sliced meats cooked tableside and wrapped inside lettuce leaves with varying accompaniments. Noodles and rice are prominent in Korean food as well; Ransom had a bowl of noodles yesterday while I had bibimbap).


Bulgogi (불고기): thinly sliced or shredded beef marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, sugar, green onions and black pepper, cooked on a grill (sometimes at the table). Bulgogi literally means "fire meat". Variations include pork (Dweji bulgogi), chicken (Dak bulgogi), or squid (Ojingeo bulgogi).


Bibimbap (비빔밥, "mixed rice"): rice topped with seasoned vegetables such as spinach, mushrooms, sea tangle, carrots, bean sprouts, and served with a dollop of gochujang (red pepper paste), and variations often include beef and/or egg. Everything (seasonings, rice and vegetables) is stirred together in one large bowl and eaten with a spoon. One popular variation of this dish, dolsot bibimbap (돌솥 비빔밥), is served in a heated stone bowl, which permits the dish to continue cooking after it is served, and in which a raw egg is cooked against the sides of the bowl. Yukhoe bibimbap(육회비빔밥) is another variant of bibimbap, comprising raw beef strips with raw egg and a mixture of soy sauce with Asian pear and gochujang. Hoedeopbap (회덮밥) is another variation of bibimbap using a variety of cubed raw fish.

This picture, and the discussion above are NOT related. Anyone want to guess why this picture is here? Answer next time.