Seoul Lights Up for the Holiday Season - Korea.net

FOOD
Making Hot Foods Hotter
and Mild Foods Milder
Making a delectable meal requires a lot of time and effort. In Korea, new tastes
are continuously being created. Recently, fusion foods have become a trend.
Fusion food blends Korean ingredients with Western spices, captivating the
palates of Koreans and non-Koreans alike. Recent trends in Korean cuisine are
to make hot foods hotter and mild foods milder.
Buldak
Buldak (literally fire chicken) has become a standardized term in the dictionary
of Korean foods. Chicken is steamed to remove the fat and then basted with a hot
and spicy sauce made with kimchi and gochujang (red pepper paste). The boneless
chicken is then barbecued over charcoal.
Wine Samgyeopsal
Samgyeopsal, or thick slices of bacon, is a favorite for many Koreans. The pork
is grilled over charcoal or on a hot iron grill, dipped in bean paste and wrapped
in a lettuce or sesame leaf. Methods of eating samgyeopsal vary by regions and
restaurants. Wine samgyeopsal is marinated in wine overnight, which makes the
meat soft and odorless.
Saessak Bibimbap
Saessak bibimbap is a leading health food in Korea. Instead of using stir-fried or
charbroiled mountain greens, (the traditional ingredients of bibimbap), young
broccoli sprouts, turnips, lettuce, and other greens are mixed with gochujang (red
pepper paste), sesame oil and steamed white rice. The sweet scent of sesame oil
enhances the taste of the fresh greens and rice.
Osam Bulgogi
This fusion dish is a combination of squid (ojing-eo) and Korean bacon (samgyeopsal).
Pork is sliced into small bite-size pieces and mixed with slices of squid
and gochujang (red pepper paste) before grilling on a hot iron plate. This hot and
spicy dish is very tasty, as it is also fiery hot. ■
(Source: Korea Tourism Organization)
Sundae Town in Sillim-dong
Sindang-dong Tteokbokki
Bukchang-dong Alley
Exploring
Seoul’s Food Alleys
Sundae is cow or pig intestines stuffed with seasoned rice, onions,
noodles, and other ingredients. It can be eaten steamed or as a
soup. Located in the southern part of Seoul, Sundae Town in
Sillim-dong consists of small restaurants, which have been
operating for more than 30 years.
A 500-meter walk from Exit 4 of Sillim Station on Seoul
subway Line 2
About 30 small restaurants are gathered around Sindang-dong’s
Tteokbokki Alley. Thin, cylinder-shaped rice cakes are mixed in
gochujang (red pepper paste) to make tteokbokki, a favorite fast
food in Korea. Tteokbokki is commonly sold on the streets by street
vendors. Sindang-dong has also become a highly popular area, and
pop songs have been dedicated to this special area.
A 300-meter walk from Exit 8 of Sindang Station on Seoul
subway Line 2
Bukchang-dong Alley consists of small back alleys lined with
about 500 restaurants. From traditional Korean cuisine to formal
Japanese sushi and casual Western dining, there is a wide
selection to choose from. This vibrant area is also close to many
downtown hotels.
Exits 7 or 8 of City Hall Station on Seoul subway Line 1 and 2
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